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She Just Happened -- by Echo
Rating: PG
Description: Willow and Spike really start to notice each other, sequel to Visitors.
Disclaimer: It's Joss Whedon's world. I just live in it. Don't sue me.
The 'gang' was hitting the research again in the watcher's apartment. There was a rumor a group of demons wanted to set up shop in Sunnydale. Xander had a chocolate bar he ate absently as he read the page in front of him. Anya had her headphones on. She was stretched out on the couch on her stomach. Her foot tapped on the arm of the couch as she turned the pages of the book she looked at. Willow sat at Giles' table her lap top in front of her. Giles was pacing with a cup of tea in one hand and a book in the other. His concentration evident. Spike was looking through what he like to call 'The Big Book of Demons'. It had drawings of most of the known demons in it. It was also mind-numbingly dull. He looked up at Willow's profile.
She was wearing sweats and a T shirt. Her shoes had long been discarded. Her toes were painted with dark blue polish. She had no make-up on. Her hair was pulled back with a clip. He'd never seen a more alluring picture. Her face was serious as she studied the screen in front of her. He'd been thinking about her since the night she came to his place for no apparent reason. She was always looking right in his eyes. It made him uneasy. What the hell was she looking for?
She could feel his stare. She turned her head slowly and looked at him. He looked good tonight. He had on a black button-up shirt with his black jeans. The top two buttons weren't buttoned. She found herself staring at the skin exposed there. He was so pale. She could see the veins in his skin. She had to stop this. She turned back to her laptop.
He swore his skin had started humming when she looked at him like that. There was an intensity to her gaze that hadn't been there a week ago. She got up and walked to the kitchen. He studied her. The was a very subtle sway to her hips. It wasn't as defined as most women's, and that made it sexier. She came out with a bottle of water and sat back down.
He thought back to the first time he'd seen her at the Bronze with the slayer. He'd dismissed her completely. He would never be so hasty again. She had a grace to her most women had no hint of. She was as pale as any vampire and that only set off her hair and eyes. She was all bright red hair and big green eyes, and so feminine. She had such girlie reactions to things. She giggled. She squealed. She got teary-eyed about things. The many times he'd grabbed her or fell on her told him she had things hidden under the clothes she wore. Plus, he remembered casting a glance at her on Halloween a few years ago when he'd tried to kill the weakened slayer. He remembered thinking he didn't know the slayer had such a hot little friend in her little black skirt and burgundy half shirt. Later, he'd realized who she was. It was only these past few months he'd really known her as anything other than the witch or the slayer's friend. She was a horrible liar, and that amused him the most. When she blushed, she was all beauty. Spike was beginning to wonder why he never noticed the woman in the girl before. And then the reason burst in the door.
Buffy was tired. She stomped across Giles' apartment and collapsed onto the floor between Xander and Spike. She was laying on her face.
Spike smelled blood. "Rough night?" Buffy rolled over and looked at her. That's when he noticed the state she was in. She had a dirt smudge on her face, grass in her hair, and a tiny bit of blood at the corner of her mouth. "I hope you killed whatever it was that got the lucky shot in."
"Huh?"
"You're bleeding."
Everyone rushed over. Giles bent over her to examine her mouth. "I'm fine. Really."
Xander peered at her. "How can you see that? It's barely there."
"I smelled it."
"Oh, that's refreshing."
Giles looked worried. "Perhaps you shouldn't patrol alone. Especially with our demon friends planning on settling here."
"I said I was fine."
Everyone went back to their research. She laid back on the floor and closed her eyes. Spike took the opportunity to study her up close. He'd never noticed Willow because he'd always been thinking about Buffy. Well, about killing her anyway. The slayer was a tiny girl with a fantastic shape to her. He'd always thought she was cuter than any of the other slayers he'd run into and much funnier, too. The others had taken it so seriously. Buffy was serious, but she managed to have a life as well. Spike knew this was the reason she'd lasted so long as the slayer. She never let herself be JUST the slayer. Plus, it also helped that she had friends who willing to put themselves at risk just to help her.
"What are you lookin' at?"
"What used to be the biggest pain in my ass ever."
"I would have gone with the biggest kicker of my ass ever." Xander grinned.
"Sod off."
"Good comeback, blood-breath. What else you got?"
Spike nudged Buffy. "Would you kill him for me?"
"What's in it for me?"
"I'll watch some more hideous Molly Ringwald flicks with you."
Buffy thinks. "Mmmmmm, not today. Too tired. I'll kill him tomorrow."
"Buff!"
"Sorry, Xand, but Molly always wins me over. You know that."
Willow watched them with a small twinge of jealousy. Spike had been looking Buffy over. All guys did. She should be used to it, but she just didn't want to watch anymore. She grabbed her shoes and put them on.
"Hey guys, I'm gonna go. I'm pretty tired."
Buffy sat up. "Let me walk you before I do my last sweep."
"No, it's ok. You rest a while. I've got my cross and a stake. I'm good."
Xander closed his book. "You sure, Will? I could walk you if you wanted."
"I'm sure. You guys stay. Bye. Bye, Giles."
"Goodnight, Willow."
The door closed. Buffy looked at Spike. "Follow her."
He'd been following her since she left Giles' apartment. he'd been following her for days. She was walking slow. He saw the vampire right before she did. She spun around with a cross in one hand and a stake in the other. The vampire hissed. He was enough of a distraction for the second one to grab her from behind. He took off running towards her. Screw being sneaky.
Willow was taken completely by surprise when she was grabbed around the waist. She'd dropped the stake. She started kicking and screaming her head off. She caught the first vampire in the face with a lucky kick. The second was having a hard time holding on to her. He stumbled and spun around, so she didn't see the first being staked. Her attacker was trying to keep the cross in her hand away from his body. He stumbled close to a tree. She put her feet on the trunk and shoved off. The force sent them falling backwards.
Spike heard her screaming. He took off running. He came over the hill just in time to see Willow falling to the ground in the arms of a vampire. And Angel staking the other one. Angel? Spike was running full speed. He yanked Willow out of the arms of the vampire holding her. Willow tumbled to the ground and watched Spike beat the hell out the vampire who'd grabbed her. Then she noticed Angel standing behind them in game face holding a stake. And she just reacted.
Angel was surprised when Willow threw herself at him. They fell to the ground, and she was hitting him. He deflected her blows and lifted her off of him. She just kept trying.
Spike wiped the other vampire's dust off his shirt and looked up to see Angel trying to keep a hold on Willow. She was screaming. Spike marched over and yanked her out of his sire's arms.
"He's evil again!"
Spike looked at him. "No, he's not."
"How do you know?"
"Look at him. No leather pants."
"You know, I haven't been evil for a really long time. I'm tired of getting that every time I show up in Sunnydale."
"Why are you in Sunnydale, mate?"
"He's spying." They both looked at Willow. "Well, aren't you?"
"Willow-"
"Don't lie. You're almost as bad at it as I am."
"So maybe I wanted to make sure you were ok."
"I'm fine. We're all fine. Go back to LA." She stalked off in the direction of her dorm.
"She's mad at you."
"Shut up, Spike."
"Listen, Soulboy, we're doing fine without you here. You can run on home now."
"Don't you touch her."
"I beg your pardon?"
"I've seen things. You hurt Willow. I kill you."
"What the bloody hell are you babbling about? I'll touch whoever I bloody well please. Willow happens to be my friend, Peaches. I would never hurt her, but if I did, you'd have to stand in line behind the slayer, the King of Losers, the watcher, the mother, the demongirl, and the GI Joe wannabe to kill me. Now, do as the little witch says and clear out of here. Wouldn't want Buffy to see you. You put her off her game."
He turned and walked in the direction Willow went. Angel watched. Like hell he'd leave.
Willow was almost to Stevenson Hall when Spike managed to catch up.
"Willow." She turned and threw herself at him sobbing. Spike was at a loss. He wrapped his arms around her and patted her back. "It's all right, Pet."
She wiped her eyes with the back of her hand. "I'm sorry. It's just too much." She turned and ran into the building.
Spike stood there. She was right. It was too much. He'd actually felt rage when he saw her in trouble earlier, and fear. He'd been so afraid he wouldn't get to her. Afraid for some human. A beautiful, intelligent, wonderful human. <Bloody hell> She made him feel something. He cared about her. He wanted her. He wanted to know what she was looking for when she'd looked so deep in his eyes. He wanted to know why she'd changed towards him all of the sudden. There was this tension between them that hadn't been there before. It was different than the 'I'm gonna bite you' or 'I'm gonna kill you' tension. He couldn't identify it. Just when he was doing alright with his place in the whole slayer world she had to go and happen to him.
Spike didn't really have a plan. He just walked into Stevenson Hall and headed for the stairs.
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