madimpossibledreamer (![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
madimpossibledreamer) wrote2020-08-18 02:50 pm
madimpossibledreamer) wrote2020-08-18 02:50 pm
Torchwood Aftershock: Halloween 17
Main Points:
Buffy the Vampire Slayer/Torchwood crossover
Summary: Would you look at that, more stuff from 2012. This one is a follow-up to a Choose Your Own Adventure Halloween adventure I may or may not finish eventually where Xander ends up with Captain Xan in his head. I'm sorry about Spike's accent being written so thickly you could cut it with a knife. I'm trying to do better in my recent stuff. I don't actually know if I'm succeeding. Also there's a paragraph marked possibly up for cutting, only I never got around to any actual editing so you get to see that one too. It does have a bit of that Xander vs the Scoobies feel that is not my cup of tea, my spoonful of jam, etc, so I don't know how it ended up here. Episode tag to The Zeppo. Canon sex, only given that Xander's actually in a relationship at this point it's not consensual. (Jack might be up for threesomes and all sorts of poly, but I can't believe he'd not care about consent and not care about good communication. So that's reflected in Captain Xan.) So...this is the aftermath, so it's more hurt/comfort, but it definitely 100% calls for a Viewer Discretion Advised warning. Also Faith is Dame Not Appearing in This Fic, but given the episode and mention and...yeah, she gets tagged.
Word Count: 2633
Rating: Teen
Pairing: Spike/Xander
Warning: Offscreen noncon, the r- word related to noncon is actually used. Viewer Discretion Advised. Stay safe, my lovely readers!
The Zeppo
Giles awoke to insistent pounding on the door. He resolved to ignore it. That was, until it kept going for three minutes, paused, then continued.
He put on a robe and scrabbled for his glasses, at last finding them and perching them on his nose, rubbing at his eyes as he stumbled down the stairs.
He opened the door to see Spike and immediately grabbed a stake, handily by the door.
“No time for that, Watcher. I didn’t know anyone else to go to.”
The vampire was worried. Massively worried. And he wasn’t bothering to hide it either, which was a bit unsettling. Still, he was one of the enemy and all that.
“Spike, with very little respect, your problems are our triumphs,” he answered coldly.
A glint of anger entered the vampire’s eyes, but he didn’t try to attack. “Xander.”
Now Giles was angry, too. “What about him?” He was perfectly aware, for instance, of Xander’s continuing obsession with the blonde vampire. "If you have hurt him..."
Spike sneered. "Don't be daft. Wouldn’t ‘urt a ‘air on ‘is ‘ead, not unless ‘e asked for it.”
Something was very wrong.
The blond couldn’t sit still, kept fidgeting until finally he started pacing. “I come ‘ome and ‘e’s...there’s something wrong with ‘im. I came to you ‘cause out of all of the Slayer’s gang you’re the most likely to ‘elp. If you stake me, fine, I’ll dust gladly long as ‘e doesn’t end up slitting ‘is own throat.”
Giles laughed bitterly. “If this is a trap, you could have made it more convincing. As it is, it’s one of the worst stories I’ve ever heard.”
Fangs were bared at him. “Don’t you think I know ‘ow it sounds? ‘t’s true, though. And if ‘e ends up dying because you’re a sodding git ‘oo wouldn’t believe me, I will hunt you down and Slayer or no Slayer I’ll bleed you slow and painful.”
He sounded worried, and genuinely in pain. Still, letting Spike get the jump on him wasn’t part of his plans for the evening.
“Truth is, pretty much soon as that daft cunt of ‘is gave ‘im up, ‘e ended up with me. Wound up fightin’ off a group of vamps for my sake. Can’t believe it m’self most of the time. ‘E’s a White Knight, why’s ‘e with me? Swears ‘e sees somethin’ in me, though. Sometimes I wonder if ‘e isn’t as barmy as Dru. Don’t get me wrong, it’s not a fault o’ ‘is, and you’ve probably known from the Watcher’s Diaries I tend to fall for dark-haired beauties ‘oo aren’t exactly all there in the ‘ead, bless their barmy existences. Thing is, they’re not less or broken, like everyone seems to think. Just see the world differently, and they’re oh so beautiful like that. Fact is, probably couldn’t unlive without that. Love’s bitch, that’s me.” Strangely enough, it was as if he wasn’t even there. As if Spike had been storing up that speech inside himself for a long time, piecing together thoughts until it was so much he couldn’t hold it inside anymore. (Take out?)
Giles snorted. “You’re trying to tell me that you’ve fallen into a...erm, relationship with Xander.”
Spike actually snarled. “‘m telling the truth, you stupid git. And I’m not sure what ‘appened, but like I said, I came ‘ome to our apartment-not the one ‘e’s got for appearances sake for you lot, the real one-and ‘e’s tryin’ to kill ‘imself.” Anger twisted the face. “’ve dealt with it before, with Dru. Days she wouldn’t eat, not even the most tasty ‘umans I could bring ‘er, and now and then she’d try to walk in the sun. But Xander...’e’s ‘uman. Normal. Suddenly ‘e’s not, suddenly ‘e’s tryin’ ta slit ‘is veins, and I don’t know ‘ow it ‘appened. Dru was tortured by Angelus. ‘m thinkin’ a spell or something. I just...I need ‘elp. Can’t do this on m’ own.”
Half of the words weren’t meant for Giles, just kept spilling out. The vampire was clearly upset. He probably wouldn’t have used the words barmy or anything otherwise. And if Giles wasn’t wrong, there was also anger at the fact that he’d been abandoned. “Out of everyone he knew, Xander would come to you for comfort.” He made it a question, a sarcastic one at that.
Spike snorted. “As if ‘e’d tell all of you? You didn’t notice anything wrong with ‘im before, you think you’d notice anything now? I’m the only one ‘oo knows, mate. ‘E didn’t want all of you ta know ‘is pain. Got enough to worry about yourselves, which is complete shite. If you’re at all ‘is friends an’ family, you got a right to worry, but ‘e doesn’t want to make it any worse. Not like you’d see anything any’ow. Did you realize ‘e’s been abused since ‘e was young? Nah, ‘cause you’re too busy with your own lives. ‘E’s been fired from the few jobs ‘e’s ‘ad for taking sick days just ‘cause ‘e was in too much pain to go in. Took me to convince ‘im ta get the apartment, one of which I’m payin’ for ‘cause ‘e wouldn’t ‘ave enough money otherwise. Get ‘im away from the sick drunk that decides to smack ‘im all over the place just ‘cause ‘e’s a lout that never wanted or deserved a son. Some of the days ‘e came in an’ was sore, wasn’t ‘cause of last week’s Big Bad that decided ‘e was a perfect Xander-sized punching bag. An’ it’s ‘cause ‘e’s so used to it ‘e doesn’t mind bein’ bait. Takin’ one for the team, well, least it isn’t senseless violence from the people ‘oo are supposed ta care about you.” The vampire pointed a shaky, angry finger at Giles. “No one should ‘urt ‘im, mate. And ‘e ‘ides it so well, but sometimes I can tell ‘e wishes someone would just notice. You’re supposed to be ‘is family, for the sake of all that is evil, why don’t you just know somethin’s wrong by lookin’ at ‘im?” Something in the tirade was very convincing. Maybe it was the absolute fury and possessiveness.
"If you're lying..." he began, running upstairs to change quickly and grab his keys.
"Yeah, yeah, I know, I'm dust. Now 'urry up already. Boy ta save," Spike yelled at him.
When they were in the car, Spike waited for a moment, then began talking again. "I know there was an almost-apocalypse again today. Sunny'ell's too famous for that, innit? But you lot didn't let 'im 'elp out. Told 'im to stay outta your 'air, tryin' ta keep 'im safe." The hands clenched, and he took a deep breath. "Fat lot o’ good that did. When I came 'ome today, 'e was cryin' an' 'ad a knife in 'is 'ands. Bit of blood already, but 'e was cryin' so 'ard 'e missed. Didn't smell like alcohol or drugs or anything. Something wrong with 'is scent, though. I..." He paused, putting his head in his hands. "Take a left 'ere. 'E was fightin' so much I...I knew 'e needed to take a nap. I drugged 'im. Might of done more ‘arm than good, but 'e wouldn't settle down. I 'ope it 'asn't worn off yet."
Giles didn't need special senses to smell the desperation in the vehicle. "'E was babbling about being contaminated. You wouldn't know, but 'e sometimes gets really down. Not sure what 'e did ta deal before I came along. Worries me though." In a flick, there was a lit cigarette in Spike's hand, and he took a deep drag, trying to calm down.
The car hadn't even stopped before Spike was flying out of it and up the steps into the building. He had a key to the apartment apparently, frantically shoving it in and turning it. "Come on, Xan, please don't be dead. Never forgive you."
Giles wasn't far behind, and caught up in time to see Xander, legs pulled to his chest, glance up from the wall opposite with a tear-streaked face. "Nah, not dead."
The vampire practically flew across the room to pull the boy into a comforting hug and Xander rested his head against the duster, crying harder again. Instantly, Giles believed the story completely. It took absolute trust for Xander to be in this position, and Spike wasn't ripping his head off for potentially ruining the precious duster.
A little while later, Xander was sat at what was apparently the dining room table-a bit small, but if it was only for the two of them it made sense. Giles was sitting across from him, looking worried.
Spike bustled in from the kitchen, steaming cups in his hands. "Tea," he announced, and Xander shot him a grateful smile. He took a sip and made an indecent noise.
"What's wrong, luv?" Spike asked, pulling a chair next to the child and covering one hand with his own. Xander turned his hand over to interlock their fingers, looking like the comfort he was deriving from their joined hands were the only things keeping him from absolute oblivion.
"I thought you could smell it," he answered after a little while, hesitant.
"Could smell something's wrong, yeah, but don't know what it is. You 'ave to tell me, sweet." Spike was treating him gently, like he was a statue of glass that could explode into a thousand shards if not handled properly. It was amazing to see. Giles hadn't known that it was possible for a vampire to be this compassionate, and shook himself before he started treating the entire problem as academic.
"I for one would very much like to know what's going on here."
Xander's smile was a little guilty. "That's...a story for later, G-man. Spike, please don't kill me." His voice trembled. It was a sort of joke, except no one was laughing. Despite his words, the Watcher got the feeling that he didn't believe the vampire would ever hurt him. "Faith..."
He didn't get any further. His throat choked up, and it was a miracle he wasn't sobbing. Spike's jaw clenched, but he was rubbing reassuring circles on Xander's back. "What about 'er, luv?"
They could barely make out the words. "I couldn't stop...she..."
Spike sniffed at the neck again, and then roared.
"Spike, move away from Xander," Giles stated quietly, now on his feet, stake in hand.
The blond vampire also stood, furious. "'m going to kill 'er!" He moved to go, but a weak, trembling hand caught his coat.
"If you go after her, she will kill you. I don't want you to die. Trust me, staying here, helping me...better than letting your hate rule you and get you killed." Xander sounded very small and very scared.
"But she..." Spike ran out of words. It was time for him to hunt, not stand about talking.
"What happened?" the Watcher asked with the same quiet, cold fury that should have anyone facing the Ripper trembling in their socks.
Spike answered, since Xander didn't seem to be able to. "She raped him."
By this point, Giles had come to a point of his life he’d never thought he’d reach-he was in complete agreement with a certain blond vampire. He was barely preventing himself from going out and attempting to strangle the other Slayer with his bare hands. Unfortunately, that’s all it would be-an attempt. With the Slayer strength of hers...
Spike probably would have rushed off already, despite the warning he’d gotten, if he hadn’t been needed to deal with a sobbing, barely in control Xander.
Eventually, Xander had quieted, even smiled at the two of them. “It could have been worse.”
“How?” Giles asked quietly, then felt something unpleasant die in his throat. “Not...your parents didn’t...”
A small smile. “Not really, no. Not here. I can remember...I can remember things that didn’t happen. Why I was so happy about being sold to an army which didn’t much care for me other than how good I was at killing. But I’m not him. It didn’t happen, not to me...” the voice broke again, and Spike inserted himself behind Xander, pulling him flush against the chest, maximizing comfort. “It’s okay, Will. It’s fine. It may take a bit, but I’m okay. I can remember worse, and...well, it would’ve probably been, if she was my first.”
Giles was about to speak. Then he thought about the question and realized the probable answer and shut up instead. He did not want to have anything other than a vague inkling that he would bury in his mind forever.
“The worst was that...well, she treated it as if it didn’t matter. Which it does. It always does. It should anyway. Didn’t have the time to react, just so much in shock.” Xan smiled into his tea, sipping more of it.
“Is there anything I can do, Xander?” the Watcher asked quietly. There was a pause.
“Could you...movie night? I should probably sleep. I feel exhausted. But I don’t want...If I sleep now, I’ll have nightmares. I’ve got a few movies on my VM still I think, stuff even you haven’t seen. Something I’ll find comforting.” He flew into action-something, anything to do, a distraction. He needed a distraction at the moment.
He came back with that wrist-strap thing that Giles had seen briefly before the end of Halloween night. A little fiddling, and soon the device was projecting a very realistic screen on the opposite wall. Giles bit back questions-there would be time enough to badger him about the device-VM had he called it-later. They could talk a lot, but that wouldn’t distract him enough. Not the way he wanted. He’d give his warning talk about this sort of relationship later, right now he needed to be supportive, if he could figure out how.
Most of the names on the screen were unrecognizable. Eventually, Spike and Giles voted for what they wanted to watch. It was odd and slightly surprising that Xander found this series comforting.
So far, it seemed to involve a lot of time travel, virtual reality, alternate dimensions...Several people died, only to be completely normal the very next time, with no one seeming to remember or care about their deaths. And it seemed to be a group or organization trying to save the world, with a dash of thriller and superheroics to the mix. The accents were mostly English, but there were some references that they didn’t understand, and the precise accents were unrecognizable, even when two out of three of the room’s occupants were English.
At one point, Spike snorted. “Can’t understand a bloody line. ‘m completely lost, luv.” The librarian tensed, but it seemed Spike knew what he was doing better than Giles did.
Xander snorted sleepily. “Twenty-sixth century BBC Fifteen television. Trust me, it’ll make sense. Eventually.” He snuggled further into his...boyfriend? Or hadn’t they officially accepted that yet? Spike’s embrace.
Two more episodes, and it indeed explained everything. The two guests figured out the plot so far, and it was brilliant. But best of all, it didn’t go out and say everything, it just gave you the few hints that allowed you to figure out everything for yourself. Now they understood why Xander loved the show so much.
The man in question was snoring into Spike’s chest quietly. The fond smile the blond cast down at Xander gave Giles great hope. “Could you get a blanket?” Understanding, the Watcher got up and fetched one, which Will used to tuck in Xander gently. The episodes kept running, but no one was really paying attention to them anymore. At last all of them drifted off, Giles in the enormously comfortable chair, Spike after having spent a while staring at his boyfriend and petting the soft hair.
Buffy the Vampire Slayer/Torchwood crossover
Summary: Would you look at that, more stuff from 2012. This one is a follow-up to a Choose Your Own Adventure Halloween adventure I may or may not finish eventually where Xander ends up with Captain Xan in his head. I'm sorry about Spike's accent being written so thickly you could cut it with a knife. I'm trying to do better in my recent stuff. I don't actually know if I'm succeeding. Also there's a paragraph marked possibly up for cutting, only I never got around to any actual editing so you get to see that one too. It does have a bit of that Xander vs the Scoobies feel that is not my cup of tea, my spoonful of jam, etc, so I don't know how it ended up here. Episode tag to The Zeppo. Canon sex, only given that Xander's actually in a relationship at this point it's not consensual. (Jack might be up for threesomes and all sorts of poly, but I can't believe he'd not care about consent and not care about good communication. So that's reflected in Captain Xan.) So...this is the aftermath, so it's more hurt/comfort, but it definitely 100% calls for a Viewer Discretion Advised warning. Also Faith is Dame Not Appearing in This Fic, but given the episode and mention and...yeah, she gets tagged.
Word Count: 2633
Rating: Teen
Pairing: Spike/Xander
Warning: Offscreen noncon, the r- word related to noncon is actually used. Viewer Discretion Advised. Stay safe, my lovely readers!
The Zeppo
Giles awoke to insistent pounding on the door. He resolved to ignore it. That was, until it kept going for three minutes, paused, then continued.
He put on a robe and scrabbled for his glasses, at last finding them and perching them on his nose, rubbing at his eyes as he stumbled down the stairs.
He opened the door to see Spike and immediately grabbed a stake, handily by the door.
“No time for that, Watcher. I didn’t know anyone else to go to.”
The vampire was worried. Massively worried. And he wasn’t bothering to hide it either, which was a bit unsettling. Still, he was one of the enemy and all that.
“Spike, with very little respect, your problems are our triumphs,” he answered coldly.
A glint of anger entered the vampire’s eyes, but he didn’t try to attack. “Xander.”
Now Giles was angry, too. “What about him?” He was perfectly aware, for instance, of Xander’s continuing obsession with the blonde vampire. "If you have hurt him..."
Spike sneered. "Don't be daft. Wouldn’t ‘urt a ‘air on ‘is ‘ead, not unless ‘e asked for it.”
Something was very wrong.
The blond couldn’t sit still, kept fidgeting until finally he started pacing. “I come ‘ome and ‘e’s...there’s something wrong with ‘im. I came to you ‘cause out of all of the Slayer’s gang you’re the most likely to ‘elp. If you stake me, fine, I’ll dust gladly long as ‘e doesn’t end up slitting ‘is own throat.”
Giles laughed bitterly. “If this is a trap, you could have made it more convincing. As it is, it’s one of the worst stories I’ve ever heard.”
Fangs were bared at him. “Don’t you think I know ‘ow it sounds? ‘t’s true, though. And if ‘e ends up dying because you’re a sodding git ‘oo wouldn’t believe me, I will hunt you down and Slayer or no Slayer I’ll bleed you slow and painful.”
He sounded worried, and genuinely in pain. Still, letting Spike get the jump on him wasn’t part of his plans for the evening.
Giles snorted. “You’re trying to tell me that you’ve fallen into a...erm, relationship with Xander.”
Spike actually snarled. “‘m telling the truth, you stupid git. And I’m not sure what ‘appened, but like I said, I came ‘ome to our apartment-not the one ‘e’s got for appearances sake for you lot, the real one-and ‘e’s tryin’ to kill ‘imself.” Anger twisted the face. “’ve dealt with it before, with Dru. Days she wouldn’t eat, not even the most tasty ‘umans I could bring ‘er, and now and then she’d try to walk in the sun. But Xander...’e’s ‘uman. Normal. Suddenly ‘e’s not, suddenly ‘e’s tryin’ ta slit ‘is veins, and I don’t know ‘ow it ‘appened. Dru was tortured by Angelus. ‘m thinkin’ a spell or something. I just...I need ‘elp. Can’t do this on m’ own.”
Half of the words weren’t meant for Giles, just kept spilling out. The vampire was clearly upset. He probably wouldn’t have used the words barmy or anything otherwise. And if Giles wasn’t wrong, there was also anger at the fact that he’d been abandoned. “Out of everyone he knew, Xander would come to you for comfort.” He made it a question, a sarcastic one at that.
Spike snorted. “As if ‘e’d tell all of you? You didn’t notice anything wrong with ‘im before, you think you’d notice anything now? I’m the only one ‘oo knows, mate. ‘E didn’t want all of you ta know ‘is pain. Got enough to worry about yourselves, which is complete shite. If you’re at all ‘is friends an’ family, you got a right to worry, but ‘e doesn’t want to make it any worse. Not like you’d see anything any’ow. Did you realize ‘e’s been abused since ‘e was young? Nah, ‘cause you’re too busy with your own lives. ‘E’s been fired from the few jobs ‘e’s ‘ad for taking sick days just ‘cause ‘e was in too much pain to go in. Took me to convince ‘im ta get the apartment, one of which I’m payin’ for ‘cause ‘e wouldn’t ‘ave enough money otherwise. Get ‘im away from the sick drunk that decides to smack ‘im all over the place just ‘cause ‘e’s a lout that never wanted or deserved a son. Some of the days ‘e came in an’ was sore, wasn’t ‘cause of last week’s Big Bad that decided ‘e was a perfect Xander-sized punching bag. An’ it’s ‘cause ‘e’s so used to it ‘e doesn’t mind bein’ bait. Takin’ one for the team, well, least it isn’t senseless violence from the people ‘oo are supposed ta care about you.” The vampire pointed a shaky, angry finger at Giles. “No one should ‘urt ‘im, mate. And ‘e ‘ides it so well, but sometimes I can tell ‘e wishes someone would just notice. You’re supposed to be ‘is family, for the sake of all that is evil, why don’t you just know somethin’s wrong by lookin’ at ‘im?” Something in the tirade was very convincing. Maybe it was the absolute fury and possessiveness.
"If you're lying..." he began, running upstairs to change quickly and grab his keys.
"Yeah, yeah, I know, I'm dust. Now 'urry up already. Boy ta save," Spike yelled at him.
When they were in the car, Spike waited for a moment, then began talking again. "I know there was an almost-apocalypse again today. Sunny'ell's too famous for that, innit? But you lot didn't let 'im 'elp out. Told 'im to stay outta your 'air, tryin' ta keep 'im safe." The hands clenched, and he took a deep breath. "Fat lot o’ good that did. When I came 'ome today, 'e was cryin' an' 'ad a knife in 'is 'ands. Bit of blood already, but 'e was cryin' so 'ard 'e missed. Didn't smell like alcohol or drugs or anything. Something wrong with 'is scent, though. I..." He paused, putting his head in his hands. "Take a left 'ere. 'E was fightin' so much I...I knew 'e needed to take a nap. I drugged 'im. Might of done more ‘arm than good, but 'e wouldn't settle down. I 'ope it 'asn't worn off yet."
Giles didn't need special senses to smell the desperation in the vehicle. "'E was babbling about being contaminated. You wouldn't know, but 'e sometimes gets really down. Not sure what 'e did ta deal before I came along. Worries me though." In a flick, there was a lit cigarette in Spike's hand, and he took a deep drag, trying to calm down.
The car hadn't even stopped before Spike was flying out of it and up the steps into the building. He had a key to the apartment apparently, frantically shoving it in and turning it. "Come on, Xan, please don't be dead. Never forgive you."
Giles wasn't far behind, and caught up in time to see Xander, legs pulled to his chest, glance up from the wall opposite with a tear-streaked face. "Nah, not dead."
The vampire practically flew across the room to pull the boy into a comforting hug and Xander rested his head against the duster, crying harder again. Instantly, Giles believed the story completely. It took absolute trust for Xander to be in this position, and Spike wasn't ripping his head off for potentially ruining the precious duster.
A little while later, Xander was sat at what was apparently the dining room table-a bit small, but if it was only for the two of them it made sense. Giles was sitting across from him, looking worried.
Spike bustled in from the kitchen, steaming cups in his hands. "Tea," he announced, and Xander shot him a grateful smile. He took a sip and made an indecent noise.
"What's wrong, luv?" Spike asked, pulling a chair next to the child and covering one hand with his own. Xander turned his hand over to interlock their fingers, looking like the comfort he was deriving from their joined hands were the only things keeping him from absolute oblivion.
"I thought you could smell it," he answered after a little while, hesitant.
"Could smell something's wrong, yeah, but don't know what it is. You 'ave to tell me, sweet." Spike was treating him gently, like he was a statue of glass that could explode into a thousand shards if not handled properly. It was amazing to see. Giles hadn't known that it was possible for a vampire to be this compassionate, and shook himself before he started treating the entire problem as academic.
"I for one would very much like to know what's going on here."
Xander's smile was a little guilty. "That's...a story for later, G-man. Spike, please don't kill me." His voice trembled. It was a sort of joke, except no one was laughing. Despite his words, the Watcher got the feeling that he didn't believe the vampire would ever hurt him. "Faith..."
He didn't get any further. His throat choked up, and it was a miracle he wasn't sobbing. Spike's jaw clenched, but he was rubbing reassuring circles on Xander's back. "What about 'er, luv?"
They could barely make out the words. "I couldn't stop...she..."
Spike sniffed at the neck again, and then roared.
"Spike, move away from Xander," Giles stated quietly, now on his feet, stake in hand.
The blond vampire also stood, furious. "'m going to kill 'er!" He moved to go, but a weak, trembling hand caught his coat.
"If you go after her, she will kill you. I don't want you to die. Trust me, staying here, helping me...better than letting your hate rule you and get you killed." Xander sounded very small and very scared.
"But she..." Spike ran out of words. It was time for him to hunt, not stand about talking.
"What happened?" the Watcher asked with the same quiet, cold fury that should have anyone facing the Ripper trembling in their socks.
Spike answered, since Xander didn't seem to be able to. "She raped him."
By this point, Giles had come to a point of his life he’d never thought he’d reach-he was in complete agreement with a certain blond vampire. He was barely preventing himself from going out and attempting to strangle the other Slayer with his bare hands. Unfortunately, that’s all it would be-an attempt. With the Slayer strength of hers...
Spike probably would have rushed off already, despite the warning he’d gotten, if he hadn’t been needed to deal with a sobbing, barely in control Xander.
Eventually, Xander had quieted, even smiled at the two of them. “It could have been worse.”
“How?” Giles asked quietly, then felt something unpleasant die in his throat. “Not...your parents didn’t...”
A small smile. “Not really, no. Not here. I can remember...I can remember things that didn’t happen. Why I was so happy about being sold to an army which didn’t much care for me other than how good I was at killing. But I’m not him. It didn’t happen, not to me...” the voice broke again, and Spike inserted himself behind Xander, pulling him flush against the chest, maximizing comfort. “It’s okay, Will. It’s fine. It may take a bit, but I’m okay. I can remember worse, and...well, it would’ve probably been, if she was my first.”
Giles was about to speak. Then he thought about the question and realized the probable answer and shut up instead. He did not want to have anything other than a vague inkling that he would bury in his mind forever.
“The worst was that...well, she treated it as if it didn’t matter. Which it does. It always does. It should anyway. Didn’t have the time to react, just so much in shock.” Xan smiled into his tea, sipping more of it.
“Is there anything I can do, Xander?” the Watcher asked quietly. There was a pause.
“Could you...movie night? I should probably sleep. I feel exhausted. But I don’t want...If I sleep now, I’ll have nightmares. I’ve got a few movies on my VM still I think, stuff even you haven’t seen. Something I’ll find comforting.” He flew into action-something, anything to do, a distraction. He needed a distraction at the moment.
He came back with that wrist-strap thing that Giles had seen briefly before the end of Halloween night. A little fiddling, and soon the device was projecting a very realistic screen on the opposite wall. Giles bit back questions-there would be time enough to badger him about the device-VM had he called it-later. They could talk a lot, but that wouldn’t distract him enough. Not the way he wanted. He’d give his warning talk about this sort of relationship later, right now he needed to be supportive, if he could figure out how.
Most of the names on the screen were unrecognizable. Eventually, Spike and Giles voted for what they wanted to watch. It was odd and slightly surprising that Xander found this series comforting.
So far, it seemed to involve a lot of time travel, virtual reality, alternate dimensions...Several people died, only to be completely normal the very next time, with no one seeming to remember or care about their deaths. And it seemed to be a group or organization trying to save the world, with a dash of thriller and superheroics to the mix. The accents were mostly English, but there were some references that they didn’t understand, and the precise accents were unrecognizable, even when two out of three of the room’s occupants were English.
At one point, Spike snorted. “Can’t understand a bloody line. ‘m completely lost, luv.” The librarian tensed, but it seemed Spike knew what he was doing better than Giles did.
Xander snorted sleepily. “Twenty-sixth century BBC Fifteen television. Trust me, it’ll make sense. Eventually.” He snuggled further into his...boyfriend? Or hadn’t they officially accepted that yet? Spike’s embrace.
Two more episodes, and it indeed explained everything. The two guests figured out the plot so far, and it was brilliant. But best of all, it didn’t go out and say everything, it just gave you the few hints that allowed you to figure out everything for yourself. Now they understood why Xander loved the show so much.
The man in question was snoring into Spike’s chest quietly. The fond smile the blond cast down at Xander gave Giles great hope. “Could you get a blanket?” Understanding, the Watcher got up and fetched one, which Will used to tuck in Xander gently. The episodes kept running, but no one was really paying attention to them anymore. At last all of them drifted off, Giles in the enormously comfortable chair, Spike after having spent a while staring at his boyfriend and petting the soft hair.