Title: Strip Tease 11

Email: tirel@pcnuthut.com

Author: Velvet Crypt

Disclaimer: Joss is God. I own nothing.

Spoilers: Season 6 ending. AU after that.

Summary: The Finale.

Willow sighed and rested her chin in her hands. “They are just so adorable together,” she murmured to Fred. The LA Scooby leaned against Willow and watched the two newest additions to their table. Xander hadn’t once removed his arm from around Spike’s waist; as a matter of fact, he had hooked his thumb in the waistband of Spike’s leather trousers.

For his part, Spike dropped his head backwards onto Xander’s shoulder and was unconsciously nuzzling his lover’s cheek with his forehead. As Xander began to speak, Spike gazed up at him adoringly at him. Neither woman had a clue what Xander was saying as they stared at the loving couple in front of them. But they read the body language quite nicely.

Something about a BDSM store elicited sadness in Spike and a protective embrace from Xander. Spike curled into Xander and the sadness turned into lust when Xander started talking about Nine Inch Nails. Lust melted back into adoration at the retelling of Spike’s first invite and Xander began playing with Spike’s golden curls as he told of forgiving Spike for everything.

Xander let Spike take over for a bit and traced loving paths around the vampire’s hairline, pausing to smile and nuzzle the pale neck when Spike replayed his apology for all he’d done to the Scooby gang. Xander wiggled seductively against Spike’s back at the description of Spike’s first dance. Spike caught his breath and gazed backwards into Xander’s deep brown eyes, ignoring the impatiently waiting crowd for a chance to lock eyes with his lover.

Xander took up the reins again and shared their first dance, but neither Willow nor Fred heard a word. They saw the whole thing in their minds, though; as they watched Xander and Spike relive it in tiny touches and secret smiles.

They each fought back tears as they witnessed the boys’ pain and desperation to be loved for all they were and clasped hands under the table in an imitation of Xander and Spike during the retelling of a poetry reading and a picnic dinner. They caught something about Spike’s poetry and then Willow burst into tears.

The others at the table stared at her in bewilderment. “That was your first time together, wasn’t it?” she whispered. Xander nodded and pulled Spike to him in a tighter embrace.

“What the hell, Willow?” Buffy gaped. “They’ve been talking about stripping and sleeping together for the last ten minutes. How’d you get that they just now had sex?” Willow covered her mouth to hold in a giggle.

Fred rolled her eyes. “Haven’t you been watching them?” she snorted. Buffy still looked confused. Fred shrugged. “Never mind. Please, continue touching,” she instructed the boys.

Touching? Buffy mouthed at Cordelia. Cordy shrugged and leaned forward again. “More of the nasty, sweaty, groping descriptions please.”

Spike took over, blathering on about some Ferengi something-or-other, but Willow saw a tiny boy, dark haired and sad eyed, watching as her parents gave her extra spending money for their convention trip. Blah blah blah…sex…hotel room…oh! Tears filled her eyes again. Love. Oh, Goddess, they told each other they were in love!

As if it were happening all over again, Spike and Xander became one person, closing their eyes and melting into each other. Long moments later, Buffy cleared her throat and the boys started, glancing back around the table sheepishly.

“And when we got back, Mogur asked up to come over to LA and do a favor for Lorne,” Spike finished.

“That was the most beautiful thing I’ve ever seen,” Willow breathed. Fred nodded in agreement. Xander and Spike just preened at the sighs.

Buffy leaned over to Cordelia and whispered, “Do you think you have to be gay to get it?”

Cordy nodded. “I’m thinking it would help.”

“Well, Xander,” Wes set his drink back on the table carefully. “That is indeed an amazing story. How long do you plan on being together?”

Xander tensed and tightened his arms around Spike. “What exactly do you mean by that, Wes?” he asked coldly.

Wes inclined his head thoughtfully. “I see that you know exactly what I mean by that, Xander,” he said with a hint of reproach.

Xander glared at him, which he simply took in stride. “I am in love with Spike,” he stated. “Love, Wes. I’ll do anything I can to be with him…to stay with him.” His chin went up and his entire body screamed defiance.

Buffy eyed the Watcher and her friend carefully and then her own gaze widened. “Oh my God, Xander,” she eeped. “You cannot possibly be considering letting him turn you? That’s just insane! It’s suicide! What are you thinking?”

“I’m thinking that I love him, Buffy,” Xander snarled coldly. “I’m also thinking that it’s my life, therefore my decision. In addition, I’m thinking that after tonight you don’t ever have to see me again so it’s really none of your fucking business.”

Buffy stared goggle eyed at her former loyal Slayerette, her mouth gaping. Willow and Fred huddled into a single entity, trying to escape the invisible daggers shooting across the table. Wes and Cordy sat stone faced, letting nothing of their thoughts show on their faces. Angel had developed a tic above his eyebrow and he stared straight at the table, lips pinched tightly together. Poor Gunn just sat in confusion.

Surprisingly enough, the voice of reason came from Spike. He turned slightly in his lover’s arms. “Pet, she’s just worried about you,” he said quietly. Xander turned his glare on Spike, who just shrugged it off. “I’m a vampire. She’s a Slayer. You’re her friend. It’s her job to be scared for you and suspicious of me. And, you know, even we’ve never discussed the whole turning issue.” He took a deep breath. “Maybe I don’t want to turn you.”

Xander looked as though Spike had slapped him. His head visibly rocked back. “Y-you don’t…want me?” his voice quavered a bit.

Spike tried to grasp Xander’s hands but the horrified human kept them out of his reach. Spike sighed. “Love, you know I want you. That I want to be with you for as long as possible. But at the cost of your soul? At the cost of who Xander is?” he shook his head. “I can’t say that that appeals to me in the slightest.”

Xander shot up off of the chair. “I can’t believe you’re saying this, Spike.”

Spike stood as well, holding out a hand to his agitated lover. “Please, love. Let’s not talk about this now. We can discuss it later, just the two of us,” he pleaded.

Xander snorted and backed away. “No, Spike. I don’t think so. For some reason I can’t seem to deny you anything when we’re alone together. You can talk me into anything.” He smiled humorlessly. “I wonder why that is? Oh, that’s right…” he slapped an open palm to his forehead. “I can’t deny you anything because I fucking love you!” he screamed. The room went silent. The thrum of the music continued in the background, but no one was listening to it anymore.

“I love you, too.” Spike whispered. “You know I do.”

“Just fucking not enough to keep me,” Xander retorted.

Spike twitched and clenched his fists. “Did you hear nothing I just said to you, idiot?” he growled. “I will not sacrifice your soul just to keep your body with me.”

Xander glared. “My soul. My soul. Did you catch that, idiot? It belongs to me and I’ll fucking well trade it in on whatever the hell I want!”

“So, this is all about what you want, is it whelp?” Xander flinched at the re-emergence of the hated nickname. “Oh, well far be it for me to attempt to interfere, then,” Spike snapped sarcastically. “I’ll just be over here, ignoring the fact that while vampires do tend to live a long time, we eventually turn to dust. And what happens to us then, you ask? Oh, that’s right…we burn in hell for all of eternity!” Spike was building up a good head of steam, his arms stiff at his sides and spittle forming at the corners of his mouth.

Xander’s eyes teared up, the light glinting off of the moisture in them. He seemed to melt in on himself. “I guess I wasn’t clear,” he whispered. “When I told you I’d love you forever, and that I’d do anything to be with you…that meant spending an eternity in hell if necessary. As long as I’m with you, there is no hell.” He spun on his heel and shoved his way through the crowd blindly, tears finally rolling down his cheeks.

Spike stared after him, speechless. Every eye in the room swung from Xander’s retreating back to the vampire’s pained expression. He slowly turned back to the table in the front. “Am I wrong?” he whispered. “Am I wrong to want better for him?”

Silence.

“No,” came the quiet voice of the Slayer. Heads swiveled to her. “No, you’re not wrong for wanting better for him. And neither am I,” she sighed. “The problem is that we aren’t wanting better for him, Spike. We’re wanting what we want for him.” She leaned back in her chair, feeling suddenly tired. “I want to wrap him in a bubble and keep him safe like I’ve been doing since we were fifteen. I want to protect him from the evils of the world and the darkness that might hurt him.”

She shut her eyes briefly. “But I can’t do that anymore. Hell, I don’t think I ever really could. When Xander loves, he loves with everything that’s in him. Self-preservation be damned.” She and Spike traded wry smiles. “Not to mention that he seems to be in love with one of those evils.” A look of pain crossed over Spike’s face. “And,” Buffy continued, watching Spike carefully, “that evil doesn’t seem so dark anymore.”

Spike nearly collapsed into the chair. “I’m not, Buffy,” he shook his head. “Not evil, not dark. At least not when it comes to Xander. I’d never hurt him,” he winced. “Well, other than what I’ve just done.”

“You haven’t hurt him, Spike,” Angel spoke up softly, raising his eyes up from the table. “You’ve just denied him something he thinks he wants. That’s not hurt, that’s just pissing him off.”

“Angel is quite correct,” Wes nodded. “Xander sees only, as do most people in love, the short term. He believes that, while he may have a lifetime with you, that won’t be enough. But really, how long is one lifetime? How does he know that in 30 years, he won’t have decided that you and he are no longer compatible?”

Spike fought the urge to growl. “I’m not choosing to keep him human so that he can change his mind about us in 30 years, watcher,” he snarled. “I’m refusing to turn him because I don’t want him to spend an eternity in hell for me.” He stood quickly. “You know what? Never mind. This is between Xander and me.” He nodded to Willow, Cordy, Gunn and Fred. “Nice seeing you again Red, Cheerleader. Nice meeting you, Gunn, Fred. If you’ll excuse me, I have a boyfriend to find.”

With that, he disappeared into the darkness of the room.

“ Well now…aren’t you all just so concerned about Xander,” Willow slammed her tiny fist down onto the table. Buffy jumped, her eyes shooting from Spike’s back over to Willow’s angry green eyes. Willow turned her glare from Buffy to Angel and then to Wes. “Not one of you has realized, apparently, that we do not have sole ownership of the only two vampires in LA!”

Eyes widened as Willow stood. “Xander is quite possibly the most important person in my life. I’d like to keep him in my life. And all of you are not helping to keep him there!” She waved a hand imperiously at the exit. “My best friend just walked out that door thinking that all of his friends are against him and his lover doesn’t want him enough to turn him. What do you think Xander will do?” she asked mockingly wide-eyed.

“Will he…A) Go back to his room, think about it and finally realize that everyone just wants the best for him and he should listen to reason? B) Take his stuff and run away again, leaving with no notice again and consigning himself to a life of loneliness because he ran from his one true love? Or C) Think, hey! Spike and Angel aren’t the only two vampires in LA! I bet that somewhere, there’s got to be a vampire that will turn me since the ones I know won’t do it!”

She finished by flinging her arms into the air and staggering backwards as the alcohol played havoc with her equilibrium. Fred reached out to catch her and she pulled Willow into her lap. Looking helplessly at the others, she nodded. “I really don’t know Xander, but if I were in his situation, that’s the one I’d pick.”

Buffy groaned and slammed her head onto the table. Cordy just nodded. “Yeah, that’s Xander. Impetuous and air headed.” She looked apologetically at Angel. “I know you don’t really like him, Angel, but he was my boyfriend once upon a time. And I’d really rather he not get himself killed going to just anyone.”

Angel looked up in astonishment. “Am I hearing this right? Willow, Fred and Cordelia all want me or Spike to turn Harris?” He looked around the table incredulously. “Can this get any weirder?”

Gunn raised his hand hesitantly. “Well, if he’s gonna get turned no matter what anyone has to say about it, the least you could do…caring about him and all…is to do it yourself.”

Angel’s jaw dropped.

Wes cleared his throat and looked slightly embarrassed. “I suppose that between Ms. Rosenberg and myself, we could curse him with a soul. That would at least give him a fighting chance to redeem himself for allowing a demon to take possession of his body.”

Angel couldn’t even form a sentence.

“So, what about the happiness clause?” Cordy asked.

“Oh, hmmm, yes,” Wes nodded, sitting forward. “When Ms. Rosenberg cast the original curse on Angelus, she was only working with the tools she had available. And she was working in a bit of a time crunch. In the years since, I have been perusing several tomes of curse magic and believe that I might have found a way to modify the curse enough that the happiness clause can be left out.”

Buffy perked up. “So, why can’t you do that for Angel?”

Wes smiled excitedly, a rare expression on his face these days. “Technically, I can. The only problem is that he would have to lose his soul so that he could be recursed. I can’t modify the curse while he’s under it. It would be the equivalent of trying to change a belt in a car engine while it was on and running. Very messy.”

“That’s great!” Buffy squealed. “So we just need to find Xander, kill him, turn him and curse him. Once we see how well that works, we can make Angel lose his soul again, recast this curse and…poof! No more Angelus!”

Angel sat, blinking slowly, looking from one member of the table to another. “Is there no one here who thinks that turning Xander is a bad idea?” he practically begged. When silence met his question, he sighed and stood. “Fine. But I reserve the right to tell you ‘I told you so’ as many times as I like.”

Buffy stood with him, grinning. “Fine, whatever,” she beamed. “Let’s go kill Xander.”

Angel followed his former girlfriend through the bar, watching her bouncing curls and wondered for the nth time…is Shanshu really worth it?

______________________________________________________________________________________

Spike burst out of Diabolique, sucking in a breath of fresh air. As he did so, he caught a whiff of his lovely boy. Following the scent like a bloodhound, he found Xander sitting on a bench not too far from the club, head in his hands. He could smell the salt of Xander’s tears and his heart wrenched at having caused sadness in this beautiful creature.

Silently, he sat next to Xander and waited for the boy to acknowledge him. Minutes later, Xander turned to him in annoyance. “What the hell do you want, Spike?”

“I want to talk to you,” came the gentle response.

Xander snorted. “What is there to talk about? You won’t turn me. Fine. I get it. Now, piss off.”

Spike grinned. “I love you, Xander.”

Xander looked up, miffed at the humorous note in Spike’s voice. “What are you smiling about?” he demanded.

Spike shrugged. “Nothing. I just love you. Now. In the future. Forever.”

Xander looked pained. “But not enough to turn me.”

Spike shook his head. “Not now. Maybe not 10 years from now. But in 10 years, we can do a helluva lot of searching for an alternative to burning in hell. I’d like to give us that chance. If, in 10 years, we aren’t any closer to an answer, then I’ll turn you.”

Xander’s eyes lit in hope. “Are you serious?”

Spike nodded. “I don’t want to be. I don’t want to risk you at all, but I know that you’ll just run off and do something fucking stupid if I don’t at least give you another option.” Xander looked guilty. How the hell had Spike known he was planning on finding a vamp for just that purpose? Spike smiled knowingly. “I love you. And I know because I’d do it for you,” he added softly, reading through Xander’s guilt.

“So, will you give me 10 years, love?”

Xander nodded, a smile creeping over his lips. “Yes, Spike. I’ll give you 10 years.”

Spike leaned forward to capture his love’s lips, sliding his arms around the supple warmth, relishing it and knowing that it would be just one of the things about Alexander Harris he would miss when he turned the boy. And he would. He knew it. He’d do anything Xander asked at this moment. He couldn’t imagine the hold that the dark haired beauty would have over him in 10 years. He sighed inwardly. ~Cross that bridge when you get to it, mate. When you get to it.~

Buffy and Angel watched from behind a hedge, maybe 30 feet away. She sighed and he plucked her hand from its place at her side. “Think we should interrupt them?” he whispered.

She shook her head. “No. We have 10 years, remember.”

Angel looked startled. “You’re not going to tell them?”

Buffy grinned. “I was joking, doofus. Of course I’m going to tell them.” She turned her gaze back on the passionately kissing men. “But I’m not about to interrupt the greatest show on earth to do it.”

Angel rolled his eyes and settled in for a long wait. ~All I can say is that frickin shanshu better be worth all of this.~