Chapter Five: SPIKE

"Is there something between you and Xander that I should know about?"Buffy asks as she takes out bed sheets from the linen closet. "Because it'd be way simpler to just make up one bed."She adds, humouring me.

A stray of sinking sun sneaks in from the closest window and falls gracefully onto her fatigued face. She squints before she hands me the linen and scrunches up her nose in a way that makes me want to fall in love with her all over again. Love. S'funny, is what it is.

Her comment has a joking tone, so I repay it the way old Spike would've. The way Xander's taught me to do. Teach me again, Alex. Teach me to be fearless again.

"What's easier for you?"I ask, tilting my head instinctively to the right. "One bed or two?"

Buffy beams, but I can tell she's past the point of caring. She shrugs and throws me another pair of sheets.

"The light blue flowered ones are for the bed, and the yellow ones are for the futon."She smirks as she heads to Teresa's bedroom to check up on her. "I'll leave you to duke it out with your partner."

She shuts the door to Teresa's room softly, careful not to wake the newly appointed one year old, effectively leaving me alone in the hall.

Teach me to be fearless again. I wish I knew exactly why Faith left her. Then maybe I could understand… S'only been two months and I know Buffy's hoping that maybe things will clear up before long. I wish I could share her optimism.

Teach me to cry again. Wet tears are better than dry ones, Harris once told me. And he smiles when he sees my wet cheeks as he climbs the stairs to help make up the beds.

His thumb comes out and wipes the right side of my face dry.

"I know."Is all he manages to say.

And it's so bloody maddening that I have to stand here, not able to do anything. Teach me Harris. Teach me to love again.

Xander shakes his head before he takes the sheets from my arms.

"Come on."He says, his voice barely a whisper. "There's nothing any of us can do."And he turns and makes his way to the spare bedroom.

I can only nod and follow him while I study the tattoo beneath the back of his neck. ANYA is spelt out and it's enough to shake me out of whatever pathetic human state I was in.

When Spike left Buffy's bed to help fight the good fight in Madagascar, he had one goal in mind: To learn how to be human again. Xander was reluctant at first, and Spike couldn't blame him, but the brunette eventually came around and managed the impossible and convinced Riley that they could use more fighting hands.

Sam had accepted him almost immediately, but Riley however… Spike had been the butt of many ‘hostile 17' jabs and still is. But he managed to put all of that aside after witnessing that the blonde was truly there on good intent. Some people do change, Mr. Corduroy.

Seemed like Xander was the best teacher for Spike and that Spike was the best student for Xander. Together, they gelled perfectly. Maybe it was because of their history, of them knowing each other so well that they complimented each other flawlessly. But then… There was also Teresa and Buffy, two people for whom they would climb the highest mountains and sail the most dangerous seas. Cliché, but true. The Glorified Brick Layer and Captain Peroxide were a team, much to everyone's surprise, and they set out to do some good.

Spike's has his eyes on the redhead as he wonders how she can live her life in another dimension and just drop by for visits. Doing something that dangerous just for the sake of… love? But he also knows that love makes you do crazy, unthinkable things, and knows not to question it any further than that. He wonders just enough to whet the appetite, and so far, that's been enough.

However, as his eyes scan the room and land where Xander's sitting, comfortably cradling Teresa in his arms as they both intently listen to Willow explain something quasi-vague about another thing, he knows that doing crazy, unthinkable things will be in their near future. Love. It's funny, is what it is.

Look, I'm tired of defensiveness and weird, mixed signals. I have Faith for that.

He notices Faith standing casually behind Buffy, with her head softly propped on the blonde's shoulder and can't help but smile as he sees the brunette's left hand thumb intimately crooked in one of Buffy's belt loops. You're in love with her. God, how could I have been so blind? He feels soft inside at just the sight of them, and it makes him sigh and wonder if things will ever be considered normal in their lives.

"So if the sun illusion isn't done with magicks, then what is it?" Sam questions Will and it snaps Spike back to reality.

Willow has no time to answer before Spike does.

"It's a trick." He breathes, finally putting a few pieces of the puzzle together. He gives Will a glance to see if she agrees and after a quick nod from the witch, he continues. "We're dealing with a faerie, aren't we?"

Willow nods again before she rests her head in an open hand.

"Faeries?" Gravis says, before clamming up. Spike knows that the mechanic feels way out of his league on these matters, and that he's only here to protect Terry, and sympathizes with him when he dares to speak out.

"You mean like gentlemen with thistle down hair?" Teresa asks, eyes wide with excitement, and Spike smirks in return.

"Red? You wanna take the lead or shall I..?" He asks and when she shrugs, he takes the floor.

Spike has seen things over the years. Odd things. That's what happens when you roam the Earth for more than a century. You get to know its little secrets—its nooks and crannies. There's a hole in the world. Feels like we ought to have known.

"Magicks can be traced, yeah? They leave an aura where they were cast and all that rot."When he sees Buffy and Willow nod, he keeps going. "But since Red said this can't be traced, then its not magicks. It's a trick. Craftsmanship. Magic made out of thin air—it's an art, kinda like carpentry or stonemasonry."

"So…"Riley still looks lost and Spike can't help but smile. Riley might fight these things, but Spike isn't sure if he always believes them.

"So, we're dealing with someone who does magic as a trade. And well, there are only two choices. A magician and well, a faerie."

"Why are magicians ruled out?"Sam asks, and Spike sighs.

"They're not ruled out, but it's most unlikely. Since the last fictional accounts of magicians concerned Jonathan Strange and Christian Bale, it's very unusual that a real magician hasn't surfaced yet. But faeries on the other hand… Well, they've been around for ever."

Willow nods and regains the floor after she makes sure everyone is still on the same page.

"The trouble is, faeries are immune to magicks. And there is very little that describes them. Therefore, that makes them almost unknowable. Apart from the tooth fairy and Tinkerbell, and a few vague accounts concerning Houdini, there isn't much out there."She explains slowly, softly letting her eyes fall on Spike. "But I'm guessing Spike here has a little more insight. And maybe something that could lead us to Faerie Land?"

"Faerie Land?" Gravis breathes and Spike notices that the mechanic isn't the only one with a doubtful facial expression.

The blonde sighs before shrugging in his white shirt again.

"Kingdom or whatever you wanna call it. A faerie's crib isn't supposed to be on this plane. They're more into abstract livin' and they only come ‘round to play puppet masters when they get bored. They don't usually have MO's but when they do…"

"They stop at nothing to get their nimble fingers on their prize."Willow finishes and they all absorb this quietly until Xander asks the question they've all been wondering.

"Where's Faerie Land?"

"This Scoobs and Noobs idea of Red's won't sodding work, and you know it."Spike says and Xander shrugs as he packs a duffel bag full of supplies.

"Sure it will. There're ten of us, and one of them. If we split up, it'll work to our advantage."

Spike stays silent as he keeps his eyes glued to a picture on their bedroom dresser.

"Manny said that the prophecy isn't due to happen for another twenty years. Why is this happening now?"He wonders aloud and Xander doesn't answer.

Limply, he picks up the frame and looks over Teresa and Xander's smiling faces. The framed picture had been last year's birthday gift to the former carpenter, and even though Spike had spent more than a few hours etching ‘Uncle Al' on the bottom panel of the frame, it still came out crooked and looking childish.

"Harris."

"Yeah?"

Spike sighs and rests his forehead against his open palm. Yeah? He doesn't know.

"Spike, there's nothing to worry about. The plan is flawless. You, me, Buffy, Ry and Will are gonna find a way into Faerie Land, if it even exists, while the others stay here under the shield. And Manny's idea to move over to Seychelles wasn't too shabby."

"I know. I just…"

"Worry too much."Xander finishes softly as he sits beside the blonde. "You gotta stop doing that. Terry'll be fine. Buffy looks primed. Faith and Manny have that no nonsense glint in their eyes and Sam and Gravis are just, well, I'm not really sure, but Willow assures me that they're part of the equation."

Spike chuckles lightly before bringing out his finger to trace the ‘A' on the ANYA tattoo at the base of the brunette's neck.

"Your eye-strap is too tight."He notices softly and Xander nods slowly. "Want me to loosen it?"

The innuendo isn't lost on both of them and Spike smirks when Xander swallows hard. "Anytime."

(Commercial break! Have you had your daily dose of Fibre yet?)

The nights in Fianarantsoa are cool and dry, and Spike likes to slip on a Shetland wool sweater to keep the warmth in. The sweater is old and coming undone at places, but Spike still wears it every night, regardless of its condition. He's wearing it now, as he's sitting on the back porch with Faith and Buffy flanked at his side, staring out into the night.

The trio is sipping Jim Beam and smoking away a pack of Camel's that someone conveniently found laying around in Sam's coat pocket.

"You know what's funky?"Faith ventures softly and Spike raises an eyebrow, clearly not in the loop. Seems like Buffy isn't in the loop either because her answer isn't a far cry away from what Spike was thinking.

"Funk?"She ventures and Spike chuckles aloud, ignoring Faith's amused glance.

"The fact that we're all non-smokers."She says slowly, and Spike finally understands where she's getting at. It's not the fact of saying something important, but it's just the fact of filling the air with something. Because the silence was excessively loud for them to bear.

"We'll do just fine."He says softly, letting a Camel perch on his lips carelessly. "It's what we do."

They stay like that for a while until Buffy lets out a quiet laugh.

"You know what this reminds me of?"She says and Spike waits for the rest to come. Like the good ol'days in Lenwood?

"Of what, Babe?"

Buffy stays silent and turns her head to land her eyes into Spike's. There's still a connection there, and he's thankful that it's still living. Somewhere in there, he knows that he can still rely on her for things; and now with Teresa, he knows that she feels the same way. And he's glad that the bond didn't fray when he left her hospital bedside a few days after Teresa was born.

"When Spike first came to Lenwood two weeks before Terry was born. Where we'd just sit outside on the rotten porch, enjoying the night."She breathes and Spike smiles softly. "I wish things were that simple again."

He hears Faith sigh and decides that maybe he should give the two Slayers some quiet time before the big day. Reluctantly, he gets up from his wicker chair and bids them goodnight before he opens the screen door to venture inside. Xander'll be waiting.