KAITLIN
Title:Kaitlin
Author:HarleyAngel(Webmistress of BTVS WRITERS
CHALLENGE)
Rating:PG-13 to R
Disclaimer:JOss owns all, but if he dies in a
vat of boiling oil, I GET SPIKE AND WILLOW..oh,
maybe Angel too.
Distribution:ONly here. Ask if you want it.
Spoilers:NONE
Summery:Spike turns out to have a big heart
when he discovers a little girl in need of a new
home.
Sunnydale-2000
As Spike rounded the corner of the alley, he stayed back when he
heard the screams and sobs of a woman. Two vampires were taking an evening
meal of her. He didn't interfear, that was their nature, but he was curious
as to who the prey was. After the woman lay sprawled out dead on the ground,
he casually made his way up to her. Noone he knew. Spike turned to leave,
then heard it.
Obviously, it had been too soft for the others to hear in their blind
hunger rage, but it was the unmistakable sound of a sob.
Spike turned on his heals and carefully scanned the alleyway in
search of the wimpers. His eyes went wide when he found the source.
Haunched down in a small dark corner were two pairs of little eyes
and a small body, holding itself closely, rocking, obviously in shock.
As he approached, Spike could make out the form as a little girl of
no more than five years old. She was shivering violently and her eyes were
filled with terror induced fear. This changed everything.
"Damnit." he swore under his breathe. 'Just walk away. It's none of
your buisness.'
Spike turned to leave, but haulted when he heard a quiet sob. The
little girl was crying for her mother, obviously the woman laying on the
ground. No matter how cold he was, how cruel he was, this was a child who
would die on her own and noone would find her anytime soon. Despite his
minds protests, his undead heart won.
Spike knelt before the girl and she started to sob and tried to
scramble away. He caught her carefully pulling her into his arms and
soothing her by stroking her hair gently. "Shhh. Pet, it's ok, I'm not going
to hurt you. It's ok.....calm down...shhh, shhhhh....."
The little girl became quiet in his arms except for a few sobs as he
rocked her. He lifted her into his arms, her legs wrapping around his waist
and her tiny arms clasping his neck. He held her up and quickly retreated
back to his lair with her.
"Feeling better, luv?" he asked the little girl quietly. She was
brave and did not try to run, remembering how nice he had been to her after
what happened to her mother. She was laying on his black satin covered bed.
The little girl nodded mutely. "Here, drink this." he said holding
out a glass of water. She accepted it an sat up further, but found she was
weak. Spike lifted her up, holding her under her arms. After she drank the
water, he sat it on the side table, stroking her hair gently. The little
girl stared at him softly, then crawled out of the covers into his lap,
hugging to him tightly. Spike was shocked to say the least, but comforted
her all the same.
"It's ok, pet, your safe here, ok?" the little girl nodded. "What's
your name?"
"Kaitlin." she said in a tiny voice.
"I'm Spike."
The little girl giggled. "That's not a name."
"Oh, it's not huh?"
"No."
"Well, you can call me whatever you want, then."
"Can I call you poppy?"
"What?" he asked, perplexed and amused by her choice.
"Poppy."
"Why?"
"That's what I used to call my brother before he got dead."
"Oh...." Spike felt really bad for some reason. This poor girl had
lost alot."Sure, pet. Where is your daddy?"
"He ran away."
"Do you have any other family?"
The girl shook her head. Spike frowned.
"I'm all alone, Poppy." she sobbed. "I don't know where my home is."
she whispered.
Spike sighed, he was going to regret this, he knew it." Here, pet.
Home is here, now. Poppy will take care of you."
The little girl hugged him tighter. "Good."
TWO WEEKS LATER-
"Pet? Peeeeett??? Where are you......" Spike smiled to himself,
sneaking around the house. He knew exactly where she was, but decided to
give her the benifit of the doubt.
Kait giggled from her position in the closet. Poppy couldn't find
her, and it was funny as heck.
Spike went around back so that she couldn't see him and snuck up
standing outside the closet door.
Kait couldn't see him anymore. She figured that while he was looking
somewhere else, she might as well make a break for it. Slowly, she opened
the door and tip toed out.
"BOO!" Spike growled from behind her.
Kait screeched and tottered off as fast as her little five year old
feet could catch her. Spike laughed and jogged after her, still leaning over.
He quickly grabbed her up from under her arms and swung her up, growling
playfully, setting her on his left hip and holding her under her little
toosh. Kait giggled and held onto him.
"AGAIN! Again! This time you hide, poppy!" she giggled happily.
Spike sighed and gave in, again. "ONE more." he let her down and she
covered her eyes with her tiny hands. Spike jogged off and dashed behind a
pillar, peaking out from behind it.
Kait opened her eyes and looked around, smiling. She ran off toward
the direction he went. When she reached the hall, she was stumped, she knew
he was here somewhere. Suddenly, she saw him start out from behind a pillar.
She quickly sprinted and he stopped when she snatched him and wrapped herself
around one of his legs. He laughed and started to walk with her hanging
onto his leg. He went carefully into his bedroom and lifted her up, setting
her on the bed and grabbing one of his old shirts from the early 1900's from
a shelf and stripped her of her overalls. He had taken the liberty of buying
her a small but sufficient wardrobe. Pants, shirts, a few plain dresses,
shoes and small things for her to use as accessories. He also bought her a
few toys and a small brown bear for her to sleep with. Slipping her into the
shirt and placing her benieth the covers before turning out the lights and
getting in with her.
At first, he had insisted that she sleep in another room or on the
couch, but she would come running into his room in the middle of the night
with nightmares from that horrible night he rescued her from. Finally,
he gave in and let her stay in there with him. It was actually nice. It made
him feel like something he could never be....a father.
"Poppy! Poppy, wake up! The sun is gone down!
Poooooopyyyyyyyyyyyyyyy!!" Kaitlin groaned as she shook the sleeping vampire.
He wouldn't wake up.
Spike had been up since she first started shaking him, but wanted to
tease her. He layed there smiling to himself. After a few moments, she
gave up and crawled off the bed in her long shirt. Walking into the kitchen,
she pulled a chair from the table and stood on it, lighting up the whole
room by flicking a switch on the wall. After climbing down, she made her way
over to the lowest counter and pulled out a large box of cherios and got some
milk from the fridge. Spike had made sure always to put the human food he
now had to supply, in the lower parts of the kitchen so Kait could reach them.
She got out a small bowl covered in Mickey mouse and Donald Duck pictures
that she had insisted on him buying because she used to have one. Spike
always made sure to go out when she was asleep and not be gone very long
incase she awoke.
Spike stood and stretched in his black silk PJ's. Making his way to
the kitchen he found the little girl struggling with the bowl of cereal,
trying not to spill anymore. Cherio's were all over the floor and cabinet as
well as milk and sugar. He almost cracked up laughing right there. He made
his way into the entryway so that she could see him and leaned against the
wall.
Kait spotted him. "Morning Poppy."
Spike laughed. "Cor, Squirt, what happened?"
"I tried to make some breakfast. I'm sorry I got so messy...I
couldn't help it." she pouted, afraid that he might be angry.
"Well, I should have gotten up to help. It's ok, I can clean it up."
he smiled at her and walked over to the cabinet, lifting her up in his arms.
"I'm not done!" she cried.
"I'm just moving you to the table, Kait, calm down."
After setting her at the table and bringing her the cereal, he
cleaned up the mess and put everything away, then joined her after making
himself a cup of blood. (heehee)
"Poppy, can I ask you something."
"Sure, baby, what is it?" he asked looking up from his cup.
"Why do you drink that iky red stuff everyday and not food?"
Uh-oh. Here it came. He had to tell her, what else was he supposed
to do. Shit. "Well, Kait, ok, listen. Do you know what a vampire is?" he
asked the girl slowly.
"Yeah! I saw one movie where there was this vampire that had this
white hair that he could take off his head and he was really funny. He
danced with this lady and they couldn't see him in the mirrors and then he
stoled her and he started kissing her neck and drank her blood and she
became a vampire until he got hit by the sun while he was a bat. It was
funny. I can't member the name though." she babbled.
Spike had to laugh. She knew quite a bit about them, but much of it
was wrong. "Well, have you ever met a real vampire?"
"Momma used to say they weren't real. She said that I should stop
being stupid and think of real things." she frowned.
Ooh, that hit a nerve. In both of us. "Well,your momma was wrong." he
said softly.
"She was?" she almost sounded hopefull.
"Yes, she was. There are vampires, though I seriously doubt that they
are anything like the chap you described a moment ago." he smiled.
"Really?? Do you know any????"
Spike frowned. "Kait, I want you to know that vampires aren't all out
to hurt and kill people, ok. Some of them even care. (Angel coming to mind?)
And I want you to know that I would never hurt you, ok, luv?"
Kait was confused why he would say that stuff. "I know you won't Poppy.
You'll protect me from all those vampires." she smiled.
"Yes, from all those OTHER vampires." he said, looking her in the
eyes.
"The other vampires." she said, then paused. She may be little but
she was very smart and Spike knew she would catch that. "Poppy?"
"Hmm,? Yes, pet?" he asked.
"A-are YOU a vampire?" she asked, a little edgy.
Spike frowned and turned back to his cup, looking at it. "Yes,
kitten. I'm a vampire."
Then he heard her say something that he never expected to hear.
"Can I see it??"
Spike looked up to see her standing in her chair, bouncing with
excitement. "Can I? Can I?? Pleeeeeeeeeeease!"
Spike smiled and laughed. "Kitten, it looks alot different that you
think it does. My face changes. " he explained to the hyper little girl.
"COOL!" she squealed and jumped off of her chair, running over to
Spike. She reached for him to pick her up.
Spike sighed with a smile and lifted her up onto his lap. "This may
be a little scary, ok?"
"I'm not scared of you, Poppy. " she smiled.
"Great, now I'm not scary anymore." he mumbled, then slipped into
game face. Kait gasped and he slipped back into human, trying not to scare
her.
"Bring it back! Bring it back!" She moaned, bouncing on his lap.
"Ok, ok..." Spike lifted his game face again and let out a playful
growl at her. Kait giggled and lifted her hands up to his face. Spike
stayed still as she ran her hands over the ridges of his forhead and his eyes.
She looked at the gold eyes and smiled.
Kait let her hands go down to his lips and lifted each side to the
gum, exposing his long teeth. "woww...." she breathed. Spike laughed when she
let go of his mouth.
"So, squirt," he said when she stopped touching is face. "What do you
think?"
Kait smiled and stared up into his shimmering gold eyes.
"Your eyes are pretty, poppy." she smiled and hugged him tightly.
Spike laughed and hugged her back. Kids sure were strange. He slid
back into his human face.
"Tell you what, squirt, how about we go out tonight?" he asked
pulling back to look at her.
Kait's eyes lit up. "REALLY???"
"Yeah, we can do whatever you want."
"Ok, can we go to Disneyland?"
"Ok, anything but THAT." he laughed.
Kait gave a small pout, but moved on. "Ok, how about we watch a movie
and go to the playground. I haven't been to the playground in a long time."
she smiled.
"Movie and playground it is....how about we switch that and do the
playground first?"
"OK!" she smiled, jumping off his lap and running to the bedroom for
some clothes. Spike followed in suit and helped her pick out some jeans and
a pink t-shirt that had tweety bird on it. Spike decided on his usual outfit
and they were off.
"Poppy! Poppy, watch!!!" Kait giggled from the top of the slide.
"Kaitlin, be careful up there. You could fall." he said, but still
smiled as she sat down and came flying down the slide into his arms. He
lifted her and swung her around before setting the giggling girl down to play
some more. She grabbed his hand and dragged him along, pulling and trying to
run, but Spike just kept a nice walking pace. "Come on, poppy!!!" she groaned.
"Slow down, kitten, we have a while." he said softly.
Kait led him over to the merry-go-round and jumped up on it, holding
on as Spike pushed it slowly around, but fast enough to keep her amusement.
After about five minutes, the toy was no more fun and she ran off to find the
monkey bars.
Spike followed her and watched as she swung and hung upside down on
the monkey bars, making her shirt fall to her face. She quickly tucked it in
the front of her jeans. "Look! Your upside- down! See? I can swing like a
monkey poppy!"
Spike laughed. "That's cause you ARE a monkey, pet."
Kait got down and pouted at him. "That's not very nice." she then
forgot about it and ran off back to the slide. She laughed and climbed up to
the top. "I want you to go down with me, Poppy!" she giggled, sitting down.
"No, that's ok. I think I'm stay here."
"Please!"
"No."
"PLEASE!" she put on her puppy face.
"No..." he started to waver at the face.
"please, Poppy...please??" she looked as sad as she could.
Spike sighed and climbed up behind her, lifting her onto his lap and
sitting on the slide. "Just once."
"ok." she whispered and he pushed. They went slipping down the slide
and landed on the ground. They both laughed and Kait insisted that they do
it again, despite his earlier warning. He frowned, but did it again, and
again, and again. Then he did it by himself, making her giggle.
"OH, you think that's funny, huh?"
Kait giggled and ran off to the swings. Spike ran after her and
found her smiling at him from the swing. "Push."
"Oh, so now we give orders."
"Push, Poppy, push!" she bounced on the swing.
Spike sighed and pushed her softly on the swing. He continued to
push her back and forth for the next ten minutes listening to her giggle and
tell him that he was a funny man.
Kait jumped off of the swing and ran over to Spike, gently tapping
him on the leg before giggling and backing away.
"What was that for, Kitten?"
"Tag, your it!" she laughed and tottered away, running. Spike changed
into game face, since she always seemed to like it when he chased her like
that.....though he had no clue why. It was really strange. He laughed and
jogged after her as she ran around the merry-go-round.
Buffy heard a growl and turned, preparing to face a demon or a
vampire, only to be greeted by darkness, however the growling continued.
She frowned and followed the growl, Riley just as confused and right behind
her. As she turned the corner in the park to the playground, she was shocked
at the scene that greeted her. Spike was chasing a little girl and was in
game face.
"Oh, god, I never though that Spike, however bad would do something
like this." she whispered and immediatly took action, jumping out from behind
the bushes and grabbing the little girl away, just as Spike was about to grab
her.
"SPIKE! What the hell are you doing?!?!?! This is a little girl!
Stay back, you bloodsucker!" she yelled and held the girl close. To her
surprise, the little girl struggled and tried to break free from her grasp.
"It's ok little girl, he won't hurt you now." Buffy told her, but
the girl still struggled.
"I would never hurt her anyways!!!" Spike growled, changing back into
his human face. Kaitlin was crying now and struggling less, but she was
reaching for him. Spike tried to crawl to reach for her, but Buffy warned
him back with her crossbow.
"Why then, were you chasing her? You scared her to death!"
"I think that's what your doing now! Let her go!" he yelled, tring
to advance.
Buffy looked at the little girl in shock when she spoke."poppy...."
she cried.
Buffy looked back at Spike. "What the hell?"
"Let my little girl go!!" he nearly screamed.
"Your-" Buffy loosened her grip and the little girl immediatly pushed
free, rushing into Spike's waiting arms, crying as he hugged her to him,
still glaring at Buffy and Riley.
"What's going on here?" Riley asked.
"That's what I want to know." Buffy put in.
"Come on Kait, were going home." Spike said quietly and lifted the
girl up into his arms, stroking her hair as he started to walk away.
"Wait! I want an explaination, Spike!" Buffy ran after him.
"I can't now." he said quietly, motioning to the little girl.
"But-"
"Not now." he growled.
"Then bring her to the next Scooby meeting and explain then."
"I don't think-"
"Scooby Doo?" the little girl lifted her head.
Buffy giggled. She was cute. She had the cutest little innocent face
that clashed with Spike's rough one. Her eyes shined bright with her old
tears. She wiped her eyes.
"Um, well, that's what we call out group of friends." Buffy told her.
"Are you Daphnie, then? Cause you look like her." she smiled.
Buffy blushed and Spike laughed. "Yeah, she does, doesn't she?"
"Spike.." Buffy warned.
"Fine, we'll come, but control your group." he said and walked away,
the little girl quickly forgetting the incident a few moments ago and waved
happily to Buffy who giggled and waved back. The meeting was going to be an
interesting one.
NEXT WEEK....
"Poppy, where are we going?" the little girl asked, not too happy
with the idea of getting dressed up. Spike had decided that she needed to
look like a little girl and so dressed her in a small plain blue dress. It
wasn't anything fancy, just a daydress, long with no sleeves. No frills or
bows, but still cute. She wore small blue tennis shoes. She stood fidgiting
as he tied her shoes for her, then stood taking her hand in his and walking
toward the door.
"To the Scooby meeting like I promised Buffy." he said quietly,
hating that he was doing this for her....so he decided to think of it as
taking Kaitlin to learn about other people and felt better.
"OH! Daphnie??"
Spike laughed and led her out into the night. "Yeah....Daphnie."
Spike arrived at the school and walked down the hall, hearing the
meeting in progress and the conversation way off that of demons and vampires,
but how everyone was doing. He told Kaitlin to wait outside the door and
the little girl nodded.
"Well, lookie here, if it isn't the Scooby Gang." he smiled as he
walked into the room. The group jumped and Buffy glared at him.
"What are you doing here?" Giles asked, standing up to take the
defensive.
"Calm down, Watcher, I was invited."
"Invited?" Willow asked. "By who?"
"I invited him." Buffy said.
The group, well, except for Riley stared at her like she was nuts.
"Why, Buffy?" Giles asked.
"Because I caught him out in the park doing something VERY strange
and I wanted him to explain to me why."
"What was he doing?" Oz asked, confused.
"I believe I can answer that." Spike walked back to the doorway.
"You say one thing, and you will not live to regret it." he warned the Scooby
gang, sitting around the table in the library. He stopped and reached his
hand out toward the dark of the hallway.
"Come on, pet. It's ok." he said softly, shocking the group with his
tenderness towards anything, let alone a person.
A tiny hand took his and stepped out into the light. She wore a soft
blue dress that brought out her blue eyes, wide with wonder and curiosity.
The little five year old girl with soft light brown hair stepped closer to
Spike.
Buffy smiled softly.
Riley sighed.
Willow gasped slowly.
Oz looked confused.
Xander stared
And Giles sat down.
"This, "Spike began, "Is Kaitlin. Say hello, squirt." he said softly.
"Hello, Squirt." she said in almost a whisper. The group giggled
quietly.
Spike rolled his eyes.
Spike led the little girl, at Giles' motion, into the room of
strangers, to which she clung to him even closer. He stopped at the table
and looked down at the little girl tugging on his duster insistantly. "What
is it, munchkin?"
"Uh..."She groaned, stretching her arms up and leaning on her tip
toes to let him know she wanted to be held. Spike sighed unneccesarily,
then leaned down and lifted her into his arms.
"Hello, Kaitlin." Buffy said to the little girl.
Kaitlin turned toward her and smiled. "Hello, Daphnie." she giggled.
Buffy laughed and the group looked confused. "Scooby gang." she
explained.
Spike sat down and Kaitlin stood between his legs, surveying the
group. she pointed to Willow. "Your Thelma." she said factually. Willow smiled at this.
For the next few minutes, she named the rest of them. Xander was
Shaggy, Riley was Fred, Buffy was Daphnie and Willow was Thelma. Then she
looked confused.
"There's no Scooby Doo? And I don't know who you are." she pointed
at Giles.
"I think Oz would be Scooby, considering." Willow said and Oz smiled,
nodding.
"Why?" Kaitling asked.
"Well, cause, um..."
"He's a werewolf, sweetie." Spike said.
The little girl giggled and smiled at Oz. "cool! Poppy is a vampire."
she said, smiling at Spike, who groaned at her pet name use.
"Spike, two questions." Xander said.
Spike looked at him.
"Ok, why did you tell her about Oz, she's little and shouldn't even
know about you being a vampire. And another....Poppy??" he smiled.
Spike groaned. "First, she already knew all about monsters and stuff,
so it didn't matter to her. I already told her what I am and she has known
for a while. She actually finds my game face funny." he glared at the little
girl, who giggled." And as for .....Poppy.....I don't know, it's what she
calls me. I don't know where it came from."
Kaitlin smiled. "What about him?" she pointed to Giles.
"He's like the writer, kitten, he tells them what adventures to go on
next." Spike explained quietly.
"OH! Neat!" she smiled at Giles.
"Now, how about you call them by their real names, pet, I don't think
you can call them those pet names all the time."
Kaitlin frowned, but looked around at them.
"I'm Buffy." Buffy started and pointed as she named the group. "This
is Riley, Willow, Oz, Xander and Giles....guys, this is Kaitlin. Now, Spike,
care to explain the scene in the park?"
"She wanted to go play in the park, so we went to the park and I
watched her play." Spike explained.
"Huh-uh!" Kaitlin shook her head. "You played too, Poppy. 'Member
the slide?"
Spike groaned and shook his head.
Buffy smiled. "But you were chasing her in game face...why?"
"We were playing tag! He was it and he couldn't catch me cause I'm
like the Road Runner! Beep! Beep!" Kaitlin giggled and bounced in the seat a
little, still standing.
Buffy giggled. "I bet you are." she paused. "Now, what about the
slide, Spike? Or should I call you Poppy?"
"Shut up, Slayer." Spike growled.
"Don't be mean,Poppy." Kaitlin scolded.
Spike glared up at her and growled. She just giggled. "Your silly,
Poppy." Kait giggled and kissed his nose before turning to the smiling group.
Spike groaned and dropped his head, embarrassed that a little girl
had reduced him to a 'Silly Poppy'.
The rest of the night, the group asked Kaitlin about herself and what
she liked, then Riley hit a nerve.
"What about your mommy? Where's she?"
Spike looked up in fear, knowing that that was not the question to
ask. Kaitlin stood stiff, staring down at the table as tears started to
form in her eyes. She was turned around by Spike and fell stradled into his
lap, burying her face in his chest to cry, flashes of the horrible night
tearing at her heart. Spike rubbed her back softly.
He spoke quietly so that Kaitlin couldn't hear him very well. "She
was killed by vampires. That's how I came upon Kait. The vampires didn't
realize there was more than one and the little girl had managed to scramble
into the corner where they couldn't see her. I came just as they were
leaving and found her back there. I just couldn't leave her there. I may be
bad, cruel and a killer, but she's a little girl and doesn't deserve to die
in an alleyway next to her dead mothers torn up corpse." he said softly, then
looked down at the little girl who had now fallen asleep.
"I'm sorry." Buffy whispered.
"Poor kid." Xander said, getting a nod from Oz and Willow.
"Well, "Spike opened up. "We're going home now. See ya, wankers."
smiled then picked up Kaitlin and walked out.
The group felt bad and priveliged in a way, having been able to see
a side of Spike pretty much noone else had seen but Kaitlin. Caring.
Spike layed the little girl down on his bed and started away to get
a drink.
"Poppy?" her quiet voice sang.
"Yes, luv?"
"Your my best friend. Will you stay with me forever and ever?"
Spike smiled. "Yeah, pet. Forever and ever." then he went into the
kitchen.
"forever and ever...and ever....ev...." Kaitlin chanted drifting off
to sleep.
EIGHT MONTHS LATER.....
"Happy Birthday to you, happy bithday to you, happy birthday dear
Kailtin, happy birthday to you!" the group sang. Buffy brought out the cake,
white with pink frosting and sat it on the table. Spike lifted Kaitlin up
and held her as she blew out the candles on her cake that had the words
'Kaitlin is Six'. on it. It was all Willow could manage to write.
Kait's hair had grown down to just past her shoulders and she was a
little taller. She wore a pink dress with frills on the edge that she had
insisted she wear for her birthday party. It was held at 7:00 pm at Willow's
House since her parents weren't there ever. She smiled around at all her
friends. Buffy, Riley, Willow, Oz, Xander, Giles and her best friend and
current caretaker, Spike, a.k.a. Poppy. She loved them all. They had become
her new family. But Spike was her home, too.
He smiled down at his little munchkin, who smiled back at him.
"Time for pin the tail on the donkey!" Buffy announced. Spike rolled
his eyes and turned to cut the cake while they played the game.
Buffy smiled at his back and leaned down to whisper at Kaitlin. She
placed a tack in the ribbon for the tail and ushered the girl who reluctantly
went to it.
Spike yelped as a small metal object was stuck into his butt. He
whipped around, the tail still hanging from his rear and glared down at
Kaitlin who was looking as innocent as an angel.
"What the hell did you do that for??!" He growled."Your supposed to
pin the tail on the DONKEY!"
Kait giggled. "But Buffy said that YOU WERE the donkey." she smiled.
Spike glared at Buffy who was trying to hold back her laugh and
turning red in the process.
"Your a donkey." Kait giggled happily.
Spike pulled the tail out and set it on the counter, then smiled.
"Well, your a monkey." he said recapping the monkey bars.
"Uh!" Kait crossed her arms.
Spike mocked her and crossed his arms, "UH!"
Kait's jaw dropped and she stomped, trying to intimidate him.
Spike just stomped back moving toward her, then tickled her sides.
"Go open your presents, squirt."
Kait giggled and squirmed then ran off to her presents and sat down,
her other friends following her. Spike sat down and Kait crawled up onto his
lap, bouncing down in it and grabbed her first present from Buffy. It was a
pair of new shoes. She smiled sweetly and put them down quickly grabbing her
second one from Buffy. Buffy laughed to herself, knowing that Kait didn't like
getting clothes, but God knew she needed some new shoes. She ruined them in
the park. She smiled widely at her second present. It was 'Pinoccio'. She
loved the movie and ran over to Buffy hugging her. Then, she ran back to the
table and stood in front of Spike grabbing a present from Giles. He had
given her a few childrens book, mostly of Disney. The group learned earlier
that she loved to read. She ran over and hugged Giles, then ran back again.
His second present was a Disney read-along tape of three different movies
and came with the books too.
Next, she reached for Willow and Oz's presents. Since they were
combined, they had gotten her three presents. The first was a Barbie with
bendable joints. She also loved Barbies. (What little girl didn't?) The
second was box of accessories for the barbies. The third was a big jug of
bubbles with six different kinds of bubble makers. A heart one, a round one,
a double ring one, one where two rings were across from each other, a giant
round one and one that looked like a butterfly. She giggled and jumped up
and down, then ran over and gave each Oz and Willow a big hug, then ran back
and picked up Xander's gifts. The first one was a small little kids radio
and a play microphone so that she could sing along with it. The second was
a pack of small butterfly stickers. She adored butterflies.
The last, Spike's gifts sat in the middle of the table. The group
was suprised to find that there were six presents from him. A lot more than
the rest, but he had reason, knowing her better. The first was a pair of PJ's
She had been sleeping in his shirt for the entire time. She laughed, knowing
why and hugged him for each gift afterwards til there was one left. The
first five were PJ's, candy, a stuffed monkey which she thought wasn't very
funny, but it was still soft so she hugged it and clung to it for the rest of
the night. She named it Poppy after Spike, to which he rolled his eyes. The
third was some play jewelry for her to pretend with, the fourth was a
necklace that was designed a pattern of beads that lead in small white, long
blue, small white, long clear, small white, long green and small white. In
the center there was a heart outline with metal rimming that made small hills
One side of the heart was black, the other side was dark blue. The fifth was
a sing along Disney video, which he knew he would regret. The sixth package
was small and when she opened the box, there was a note. She tried to read it.
"G-go, go.....owt..outsss- i..da....Go ouwtsiida....Go outside!"
She said triumphantly, then paused, looking at Spike strangely. He just
smiled and ushered her to the backdoor, followed by the group. He flipped on
the back porch switch and Kait gasped happily, giggling.
In the middle of the lawn, hanging from the old tree in the back was
a swing. It had a wood seat and two ropes that held it in place. She
giggled happily and hugged him tightly running to it. It was a little high,
but she managed to sit on it once Spike lifted her up and sat her down in it.
She smiled back at him.
"That's not all," he said. He pulled a small plastic egg out of his
pocket and handed it to her. She smiled and took it as he held the swing
still for her. She opened the egg and smiled widley when she saw what it
held. The ring. The very ring from the quarter prize machine that she had
wanted. She remembered what had happened. He had taken her shopping for
clothes and a few toys and they were leaving the store and that's when she
saw it. The most beautiful ring in the world. It was a metal band painted
in gold that you could adjust to almost any size. On top, there was a giant
clear gem. It looked like a diamond and was in the shape of a heart. It
sparkled brightly. On either side of the ring were two symbols. One side
had a little cupid, the other a heart with an arrow through it. It was the
most amazing thing in the world. She had begged Spike to let her try and get
it. It was in the machine that had the small claw. She tried three times
and finally Spike said they had to go. She had won a peice of candy, a
small pink heart that had a hole for a necklace and a pog with a picture of
a skater on it. She frowned as Spike ushered her outside and she felt her
heart sink. She wanted the ring so badly it hurt.
Spike himself smiled at the memory. He led her to the car and told
her to wait there and that he had forgotten to get some soap and bread for
sandwitches. After quickly obtaining the items, he had rushed back to the
machine and spent seven dollars in quarters before finally being able to get
it. He smiled and stuck it in his pocket, knowing that he would give it to
her a week from then at her birthday party.
Kait cried and jumped up into his arms, hugging him. "Thank you!
Thank you! OH, I love it! I thought I would never see it again!"
The group looked on confused, then Buffy spotted the ring on her
finger and smiled remembering how fondly the girl had spoken of the ring.
It was very pretty for a toy ring.
"I'll never take it off, Poppy, never!" Kait whispered into his ear.
ONE MONTH LATER.....
Spike pushed gently at the swing that Kait sat in at the park. She
closed her eyes, enjoying the flying sensation. Spike smiled down at her,
then looked at her finger that the ring was on. She hadn't taken it off
except for to take a shower or go to bed and even then, she made sure that
she remembered to put it on right after she woke up or got out of the water.
She wasn't without it anytime else. She wore the necklace alot too, but not
as much as the ring that meant so much to her.
Spike stopped the swing suddenly and Kait looked up at him. He was
staring off into the night and was now in game face. Kait knew that meant
trouble. She jumped off the swing and ran to his side. He immediatly
grabbed her and swung her up into his arms starting away. He stepped back a
few steps and turned to leave only to be faced by two commados from the inititive.
He turned the other way and saw that three more were coming from that way as well
as one from the side inbetween. He couldn't go backwards due to the fact that
backwards was right towards their headquarters.
Kait's eyes glimmered in fright as tears spilled from her eyes as she held
tightly to Spike's neck. He growled feircly, warning them as he gripped the
little girl tighter to him, determined to keep her safe. He knew there was
no way out.
"Kait." he whispered and barely moved his lips so that only she knew
he was talking. "Kait, listen to me. You have to run, ok? " Kait shook her
head as tears streamed down her face. She wasn't going to leave him. "You
have to. I'm going to make a clear path for you and I need to to run as fast
as you can to the school. It's the closest and safest place. The Scooby gang
will be there. If they aren't I need you to hide out till dawn. Can you do
that for me, luv?"
Kait knew he was serious and that this was not a good time to argue,
but she was so scared that she would never see her Poppy again. She nodded
slowly.
"Good girl. Ok, now, remember ok? Fast as you can." he started to
put her down.
"I love you poppy." she said aloud, sobbing.
The initive soldiers were confused, but held their ground.
"I love you too, kitten. Remember that." he said and growled. He put
his hands up as if surrendering and slid back into human form.
Kait was confused. He was giving up? She shook her head until he
gave her a glance. She understood.
The elite lay down most of their weapons in their hands and advanced.
He stood still giving them enought time to get close enough, then quickly
sidekicked two of the elite, sending them into a tree, unconsious. He whipped
around to Kait.
"NOW, KAIT!!!!!" he yelled. Kait didn't waist a second look at him,
but ran as he morphed into game face and started fighting with the rest of
the soldiers. He punched one as hard as he could, dodging the next and
taking that second to quickly watch Kait retreat. "RUN, BABY!!!! RUN!!!!" He
yelled after her. One of the men by the tree got up and staggered, then
shook himself and ran after the little girl. She was pretty fast and had a
great head start on him.
Kait could hear her Poppy's screams for her to run and knew that he
was loosing. She screamed inside and darted around the corner, then jumped
into a nearby thorn bush, clapping her hands over her mouth to stop herself
from drawing his attention. A few moments later, the commando sprinted by
her and continued down the street. She looked out and saw him turn another
corner, then dashed from the bushes, jogging now, due to her tired feet,
toward the school. She sighed to herself when she reached it and ran inside
and darted down the hallway. She huffed as she busted into the library and
scanned the room quickly before rushing up the small stairs into the loft.
Quietly, she shifted herself into a sitting position and hugged her knees to
her stomach, her eyes wide, tears covering her face as she rocked back and
forth. Suddenly, then memories hit her. She was in the alleyway almost a
year ago. She had scrambled into the corner, eyes wide, tears pouring, her
body scrunched and rocking as she watched her mother being ripped and torn to
shreds before her very eyes. Now she was here in a dark corner with the site
of the man she had come to love being beaten still in her memory.
The Scooby gang entered the library. They had been out on patrol when
they found Spike fighting off six initive soldiers. They quickly chased
them away and helped Spike, in great pain, to walk to the library. He was
bruised and bleeding slightly from the battle and was limping. He pushed
them off, scared to death, well sort of death, that Kait was still running
from the soldier that went after her. But he had to try.
"Kait?" he groaned out into the open library. He hadn't told them
that he had sent her there.
Buffy tried to pull him to sit down on the couch. "We'll find her
Spike."
He pushed her away. "Kait! Kaitlin?!"
Kait's head snapped up at the sound of her Poppy's voice. She crawled
over to the edge of the catwalk. "P-Poppy?" she asked in a small voice.
"KAIT!" he smiled.
Kait gasped and stumbled carefully down the stairs. Spike fell to
his knees as Kait ran to him and threw herself into his embrace. She
squeezed her arms around his neck, burying her face in his neck.
"Oh, Cor, Kaitlin, I though you were hurt. Oh, cor......." he mumbled,
rubbing her back.
The group stared on at the suprisingly emotional scene.
Spike pulled Kait away from him and looked her from head to toe.
Her shirt was torn as were her jeans and she had scrapes and bruises lining
her soft peach skin.
"Pet, what happened? Did he hurt you?!" Spike started to get angry.
"NO......I....I jumped into a thorn bush to get away from him. I
didn't know it was a thorn bush, though." she looked down.
Spike smiled and hugged her again.
"I'll get some anticeptic and some bandages." Giles offered
retreating into his office.
Spike lifted Kait up and carried her with him over to the couch,
sitting her down in his lap and pulling her to lean her head on his chest.
"Just rest, Kitten, just rest."
Kait nodded absently and closed her eyes.
Kait awoke some time later to find herself in Spike's bed with small
bandages on her. She shifted, catching the attention of Spike who was
standing by the window, smoking a cigarette. It was night and cloudy. He had
decided to open the shades since the weather for the next few days was going
to be cloudy and rainy. No sunlight would shine through, so he was in no
danger. Kait stood and made her way over to him, wrapping her ams around his
hips and pressing her face into the side of his jeans. Spike looked down and
smiled, gently stroking her hair with his hand until she looked up at him
with soft blue eyes.
"Come on, baby, let's get you something to eat, ok?" he said quietly.
Kait nodded and took his hand as he led her into the kitchen and
fixed her a grilled cheese sandwitch.
SIX WEEKS LATER....
Kait and Spike had taken as much precasions not to go out as much as
possible, but Kait missed the park sometimes. Buffy would make arrangements
to distract the elite so that Spike could take Kaitlin to the park. She
loved the swing the most. He would push her back and forth, but she always
got nervous when he was a beat off, scared that the incident would happen
again. She would look back up at him, only to find him smiling down at her.
She would smile back.
Spike and Kait made their way home from the park, hand in hand as
usual. Spike didn't even see it coming. His guard was down, but this was
an extremely odd way to be attacked. One moment, they were walking on their
way, having a soft conversation about that day, the next a black van had
ripped down the street and the door opened, two men scooping up Kait as she
screamed for Spike, and was gone and instant later.
Spike grasped for her, but fell when the van drove away quickly. He
growled and screamed out into the night for Kaitlin. But it was too late....
..she was gone. So he collapsed to the ground, doing something he thought
he'd never do in his undead life.....he cried.
TWELVE YEARS LATER....
Spike had never gotten over the taking of the beautiful little girl
he had come to love. Riley, despite Spike's many interrigations, knew
nothing now that he was out of the elite. The entire group tried to help
Spike through it,but he just dissapeared into his dark home, only coming out at night to
feed and visit the playground.
For the last twelve years, Spike had never gone one night without
going to the park. He would stare at the toys and see her there. Then, he
would go to the swing. That was the hardest thing for him. He would stand
behind the swing pushing an invisible figure in the seat. He would smile
with tears in his eyes when she looked up at him happily and called him Poppy. He loved it
when she called him that. He would stroke the air as if her head was there
below him. He could hear her laughing, hear her giggle when she closed her
eyes and swung, letting the wind be her wings into her imagination. She had
told him once that everytime he pushed her on the swing, she could reach the
sky and she was flying. But she was never there without him. He was always
with her, holding her hand as she flew through the clouds and they could
almost touch heaven. He would laugh and say that he would someday fly her
all the way up there. He never did.
Spike sighed unneccisarily and continued to push her, feeling his
blood tears fall.
The figure walked softly through the park, her arms tightly wrapped
around her waist. It hadbeen a long time since she had been here. After the
death of her foster parents, she left Minnisoda immediatly heading for
Sunnydale, somewhere in her mind remembering someone call it Sunnyhell. That
made her laugh. She had memories here. Lots of them. Almost all of them
were filled with pure joy and innocent happiness. She knew her way around
the area. She knew why too. She remembered him...she said she would and
she remembered. She absently looked down at her right hand at the small
plastic ring that dangled there. She had had it since forever and not once
had she taken it off except to bathe and sleep sometimes, but always kept it
near and safe.
Kaitlin inhaled the familiar air as she neared the playground. She
turned the corner to enter and head toward the old swing that she remembered
swinging on so well and stopped dead in her tracks. Tears welled up in her
eyes. Peroxid blond hair, long black duster, combat boots......she gasped.
Spike whipped around to find a beautiful young woman standing about
twenty feet away, tears in her eyes. She was about a half foot shorter than
him and had long light brown hair and peircing blue eyes, full of emotion.
Her navy blue encased arms were hugging tightly around her waist. Her jacket
hung just below her thighs. A dark, dull pink cartigan benieth it and tight
blue jeans. She also wore black leather heeled dockers. But her eyes stood
out. She was afraid, shocked, scared and happy. That last emotion confused
Spike.
"Go away before I rip your throat out!" he yelled, not wanting to
deal with frightened and lost women tonight. He would kill her if she was
afraid he would if she didn't leave now and stop disturbing his nastalgia
trip. She just stood still, staring him in the eyes. Her eyes began softer
and stared him.
"I said leave." he warned, turning away, back to the swing.
"...poppy?..." she nearly whispered.
Spike stopped the swing and stiffened, then turned to her. Her eyes
said it all. "Kaitlin?" he choked out.
She nodded and lifted her right hand. There on her finger rest the
ring from so many years ago. It was still sparkling brightly, like her eyes,
filled with tears. Spike couldn't move, he just stared.
"It wasn't your fault, Poppy." she said quietly, moving closer.
Spike also stepped a little closer wanting nothing more than to grab her and
hold her forever, not letting her ever leave his arms.
"Yes, it was. I should have held you tighter, pulled you closer. I
should have held you in my arms and not at arms length." he whispered.
"I'm here now and I'm at arms length. You can fix that." she said
quietly.
"Oh, Cor, kitten." he sighed and pulled her into his arms, holding
her against him. Kait's arms immediatly went around his waist, pulling
herself into the duster. It wrapped halfway around her and his arms
enveloped the rest.
"I've missed you so much Spike." she said.
"I missed you too, Kaitlin. Come on, let's get somewhere safe." he
said pulling her with him, his arm wrapped around her shoulder, his duster
still holding her form closer to his. She looked up.
"The library?"
"The library." he smiled.
THE LIBRARY....
"Giles, this is hopeless! This demon doesn't exist! I don't see why
you don't just ke-" Buffy's words were cut off as Spike pushed the doors
open and ushered himself and a beautiful young girl into the room. He led
her to the couch and sat her down next to him.
Everyone stared. Giles, slightly aged, was still the watcher. Buffy
looked older, but was still pretty with her shoulder length hair. Willow
was at the books, scanning through them with Xander. Both looked older.
Willow had long hair and Xander had less hair and a small beard. Oz was no
where to be seen. He had been gone long ago. Xander and Willow had been
married as had Buffy and Riley. Riley had been shot, however three years
ago, being found as a traitor to the initive. It devistated Buffy. He wasn't
killed, but couldn't walk. He was at home, sleeping.
Kait smiled at Spike and stood.
"Spike, who is your friend?" Buffy asked, suspicious.
"Hey Daphnie." Kait said quietly. Buffy gasped, immediatly
recognizing Kait's Scooby term. She jumped up from the table and ran over
to her, hugging her tightly.
"KAIT!" Kait hugged her back.
Willow and Xander made their way over, as did Giles and waited their
turns for their hugs.
"Ok, kitten, I think they've had enough."Spike said and Kait laughed
and made her way back to him.
"So, Kait, what happened to you?" Buffy asked sitting next to Willow.
"Well, after the initive took me from Spike," she squeezed his hands.
" they did some tests to make sure I was human and ok. They tried to erase
my memory, but they were so strong that when something reminded me, like a
swing for instance, the repressed memories came rushing back. I remembered
Spike, who and what he was, how much he cared enough to take me in and care
for me. I remembered the park and the swing, and you guys and then, I
remembered the bad things. After the tests and repression doses, they set
me up with a foster family. But a week ago, they were killed in a fire. I
was the only one to survive, considering I was the only one not home. I
didn't care though. They were so horrible to me. They treated me like I was
in their way...never like Spike treated me. And I thought, if a monster can
proove that humans can be less humaine that him, then I would rather be with
the monster.....not in a bad way, poppy." he nodded, understanding. "After
that, I left the town, it was somewhere in Minnisoda and headed strait for
here. I had to sell alot of my stuff for gas and slept in the car at times. I was driving through most the
night and day though. I ate a few things, but not much. All I could think
of was the hope that Poppy would still be here when I came and when he
wasn't at home or here, cause I would have seen his car, I felt so sad, so I
went to the one place that had ever brought me joy besides those two places..
the park and that's where I found him, at the same swing I was going to." She
smiled back at him and snuggled in tighter. "So, now that I'm here, I don't
know what I'm going to do. I haven't figured out where to go from here, where
to stay-"
"Don't you even quetion that." Spike warned, looking down at her.
"Your staying with me, no question. As to where you'll go from here....you
can do whatever you want, but know I'm not letting you out of my sight
again."
"I think I can live with that." she smiled and hugged him. "Well, I
can talk more later. I need some sleep. Do you think we could go home now?"
she asked Spike.
"Of course, kitten." he stood, pulling her up with him. "Bye."
The group waved them out, smiling.
Spike unlocked the door to the dark house and pulled Kait in after
him, still holding her hand. She was about to say something, but shut her
mouth. Some things in the house were different, but most were the same.
Spike released her hand and looked at her. She wasn't the little
girl he had once known, she was now an eighteen year old woman, grown and
attractive. He smiled and looked at the floor, then to the couch. "You can
sleep in here if you want to. I can get some blankets and stuff so you'll
be comfortable-"
"If.."Kait interupted." you don't mind, I'd like to sleep with you
tonight. You know, to be safe and stuff."
Spike smiled and swallowed his lump. "Sure."
Kait smiled and walked past him into his room. She opened his
closet as she heard him in the kitchen getting something and found what she
was looking for. She went into the bathroom and changed, then came out to
find Spike fixing the bed with his back to her. He had no shirt on and his
shoes were abandoned at the foot of the bed. She smiled at how he actually
was really hot. She knew he would see her as a child, but could still look.
No laws against it. She placed a hand on her hip and leaned against the
frame as he finished.
"What did you get?" she asked, startling him slightly. Spike put
the food for her down on the nightstand and turned to say something only to
be silenced by the scene before him. Kait was dressed in his old 1800's
shirt like she had been years ago. Then, it had had to be tied up to it
wouldn't drag on the floor. Now it hung just past her thighs. Her long
thin peach legs stretched out benieth it, her bare feet rubbing circles in
the wood floor of the bathroom. Her hair was up in a clip and random strands
hung down around her smiling face. The light from the bathroom did little
to help conceal her in the shirt. Her curves fit perfectly to it and the
ruffles of the long sleeves gently covered her thumbs.
Dropping her hand, she figured she had gotten his attention. She
pushed herself off of the frame and strolled carefully over to him, looking
at him, then climbing into the bed, pulling the covers over her legs as she
sat up, her eyes never leaving his. She gently pat the empty spot on the bed
beside her and he walked around to the other side and slipped into the bed
next to her. Smiling to herself, she looked over at the food that he had
brought her. Grilled cheese. She smiled and silently ate the food. Spike
turned away, covering his waist with the covers to hide himself. She noticed
and smiled to herself.
Spike awoke the next dusk to find something warm snuggled up against
his back with a soft arm draped over his waist. He could feel hot breathe
steady against his neck and the hairs stood up. Slowly, so not to wake the
person, he rolled over and came face to face with the sleeping Kait. She
looked like an angel with her hair glowing against the moonlight. He ran a
soft finger along her cheek. Just as his hand was about to drop from her
face, hers captured it and brought it to her lips to kiss it. Her eyes
slowly opened and met his with a glare full of an emotion that made Spike's
undead heart almost beat. Love.
Kait smiled and sat up, releasing his hand and stretching with a
soft yawn. After rubbing her eyes, she smiled back down at Spike and layed
back down so that her chin was resting on his chest as she gazed into his
eyes.
They stayed like that for a few minutes before Kait crawled over
him, straddling him, them moving off to walk over towards the window that
she had seen so long ago. Smiling, she stood where he had that night and
wrapped her arms around herself. Spike stood and grabbed a blanket from off
the end of the bed. He walked over to her and started to wrap it around her,
but she pulled it out of his grasp and dropped it to the floor, then took his
hands in hers and pulled him up against her back, wrapping his arms around
her waist. Spike was shocked for a moment, then allowed his arms to wrap
around her as he hugged her from behind, resting his chin on her shoulder.
Kait sighed and leaned back, starting a steady rocking motion.
Kait began to humm softly the tune, 'When you wish upon a star.' and
Spike chuckled, causing her to giggle as well as they looked out into the
dark. Kait looked down and spotted the old swing still sitting there.
Smiling, she turned in his arms and wrapped her arms around his neck smiling
at him before taking his hands again and silently leading him outside.
"Kait?" he asked quietly as they walked into the backyard of the
house.
"Swing me, Spike. It's been so long." she whispered sitting on the
swing.
Spike grinned and walked up behind her, pushing softly on her back.
Kait closed her eyes and felt herself flying again with Spike at her side.
He held onto her hand tightly and she wove her fingers into his as they flew
almost all the way to heaven.
Read the sequal: All The Way Up To Heaven