400 words. Spike/Buffy or Spike~Buffy, depending on how you want to read it. PG-13
A different ending to the season 5 episode Intervention.
As always feedback is greatly appreciated.
No False Hopes
Taking a last deep breath, Buffy plastered a perky smile on her
face and pushed open the crypt’s door, leaving behind the warmth of
sunlight for a cold that had little to do with the dampness of Spike’s
home.
“Spike! You’re covered in sexy wounds!” she exclaimed, holding back the
real question, the one that would let her know, maybe, if Spike had
betrayed Dawn’s existence to Glory.
Sexy was far from the truth, she noticed as she continued to play the
charade. His bruises were swollen, turning purple and yellow in places,
testament to Glory’s tender attentions. And Spike hadn’t talked. He had
just said as much, and Buffy believed him. No one could lie that well,
not even him.
A relieved sigh escaped her lips as she kept looking at Spike,
wondering how to thank him. He tilted his head and frowned, squinting
at her through his one good eye. She knew he knew when he dropped his
gaze.
“And my robot?” he asked, lying back down on the sarcophagus and closing his eyes.
“The robot is gone. It wasn't even real.” She took a step closer to the
sarcophagus and dropped her voice slightly. “What you did, for me, and
Dawn ... that was real. And I won't forget it.”
He opened an eye and gave her a slightly hopeful look that she
interpreted all too easily. She didn’t want to give him false hopes,
though; she couldn’t allow herself to be that cruel.
“I’m not saying I’m going to fall in your arms for it,” she added, the
words coming out slow but strong. “I don’t love you, and that’s not
going to change from one day to the next.”
“’T did for me,” he muttered sullenly.
“Yeah, I guess it did.” She gave him a small smile. Part of her envied
his ability to fall fast, hard and so completely. “But it doesn’t work
like that for me. I can’t promise you love. But I’m willing to offer
friendship.”
He struggled to lean back on his elbows and she remained still under his gaze even though she wanted to fidget.
“Friendship,” he repeated, slightly questioning. “Same friendship you give your mates?”
She wanted to remind him she had known the Scoobies far longer than she had known him, but it wasn’t the point.
“The same. If you want it.”
He nodded, and it was enough.
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