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Changing Hearts Series - Hidden Truth -- by Ruby
Rating: PG-13
Description: Anya meets with Spike, sequel to Set in Motion.
Note: Spoilers -- Wild at Heart, The Initiative.
Disclaimer: Joss owns all.
Anya stepped through the front door as Spike moved aside.
"Is it safe?" she asked quietly.
He nodded, "She won't be over until tonight."
He went to a chair and sat down as she took the sofa. "I'm beginning to wonder if you know what you're doing," he told her. "It's been two weeks."
"And he's backed off, hasn't he?" she asked. "Buffy and Xander have been taking up so much of his time, he hasn't had much choice but to leave Willow alone."
"Aside from a couple of phone calls, which she refused to take," he admitted. "But this isn't just about getting him to back off. I don't want that bastard worming his way back into their little group. I want him gone."
"He isn't back in, not really," Anya assured him. "And when we're finished with him, gone is exactly what he'll be. Willow told Buffy about the phone calls, so she and Xander have been trying harder than ever to keep Oz preoccupied. He's really beginning to believe he's in tight with them. He's letting his guard down, Spike."
His eyes flew to her, and he slid toward the edge of the chair, "He told you something."
"You told me when you first asked for my help that there was a reason he's been so quiet about where he went and what he did after he left town," she reminded him. "You were right. He was at Buffy's, watching movies with us, a couple of nights ago. He and I were in the kitchen making popcorn, and I made a little comment about how hard it must be not to have had sexual intercourse since he'd done it with Willow."
Spike dropped his head to his hand and groaned, "You didn't."
"What? I was just making conversation," she said, the wicked twinkle in her eye betraying the innocent tone of her voice. "And then he mumbled something like it hadn't been that long."
Spike raised his head slowly, staring over at her. She flashed him a sly smile, "So, I made a few compassionate noises about how awful it would be if Willow found out and how difficult it must be to keep it all to himself. Gods, these humans are so easy to manipulate. Sometimes, it's hardly any challenge at all."
Spike couldn't help grinning, "You're one of those humans now, in case you've forgotten."
"Which makes it all the more fun, strangely enough," she nodded gleefully. "Anyway, he finally broke down and told me."
The vampire waited expectantly for her to continue and exploded impatiently when she remained silent, "Told you WHAT?!?"
"Oh, right," she responded. "Well, he kept his pants zipped, right up until a few days before he came back. He said he'd been traveling south, just kind of stopping along the way whenever he felt like it. Then, one evening, he pulled off in a small town east of San Diego and stopped at a restaurant to get something to eat. The young woman who waited on him was just finishing her shift, and according to Oz, she pretty much invited herself to eat with him. Her name was Ivy--he never even bothered to ask for her last name."
"Would you like to tell me what was on the menu, or do you just want to get to the point?" he grumbled.
"I'm getting there! Ivy leant a sympathetic ear while he poured out his troubles--minus the howling at the moon bit, I'm guessing--and she comforted him with all sorts of nauseatingly disgusting words and invited him back to her apartment for the night."
"Which he accepted," Spike guessed.
"He accepted a lot more than that," she nodded. "He ended up in bed with her."
"Bloody hell," the vampire grinned. "This is almost too good."
"He woke up the next morning feeling all empty inside, and that's when he decided to head back here," she continued.
"It took shagging a waitress to figure out he wanted to be with Willow? She'll love that."
"You can't be the one to tell her," Anya warned him.
"And neither can I."
"Well, he sure as hell won't. So how--"
"_She_ will. I found her," she told him.
"You found...How?"
"Called information," she shrugged. "There's only one Ivy in that entire little town.
The End
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