A/N : This is the Fantasy fic idea that got the most votes in the poll at my site. I felt the urge to write it this weekend and figured I could handle this and 'Life's Full Of Surprises' at the same time, at least I hope I can. I'm posting this as R, though most of it will probably be PG-13 I think I might be pushing some boundaries later so the higher rating is for safety. This is a bit darker than I usually go with my fics and a different kind of style so I'd love to know what you guys think, all reviews very welcome and gratefully received! :-)
Title : Innocence
Author : Ultrawoman
Rating : PG-13/R
Pairing : will be Spike/Buffy, naturally
Summary : FantasyAU (all-human) She is not what she seems, but then neither is he. They're both falling in love with a lie. Will the truth tear them apart? [Just read chapter 1, you'll get a better idea of what this is about]
Disclaimer : All recognisable characters from BtVS and/or AtS belong to Joss Whedon and Mutant Enemy, not me.
Chapter 1
Alone. He was used to being alone, even when he was surrounded by people he felt as if he was the only one there. Life had been that way for a while now and he really didn't care if it didn't change. Too many times in the past he'd been double crossed, by friends, by women, even by his own family, he didn't need anyone but himself anymore.
Sometimes he wondered why he'd run, would it have been so bad to get caught? Could he be anymore alone than he already was? The thoughts crept round in his mind like shadows, only half there as the vodka in his glass made it's way into his mouth, the alcohol dulling his senses and brain functions slightly. He was used to the booze, it'd take him a long time to get happily drunk, and sometimes he cursed the fact that it worked that way.
"Hi" a voice cut through the murk in his mind and he turned his head slightly to look upon the owner of the voice, a girl. A quick glance was all she got from him before he looked away again, back at his glass, as he finished off his latest drink, "You want another drink?" the same voice, the same girl, spoke again, and he looked sideways at her. She was blonde, he noticed, dressed the same as most of the females that inhabited the club on a Saturday night, short skirt and low top, boots and a jacket. She was pleasant enough to look at and she was offering to buy him a drink. He accepted with a nod.
He watched as she smiled and called to the barman, ordered two vodkas as she hopped up onto the stool beside him, just as the drinks arrived on the bar in front of them.
"Cheers" he thanked her, picking up the glass as she did the same.
"You're welcome" she smiled as she picked up her own drink and watched him knock his back in one, she sipped at her own before placing the glass back on the surface of the bar.
"My name's Buffy, by the way" she told him, "Buffy Anderson" she smiled, holding out a hand to him.
The man just rolled his eyes, 'not another one' he sighed inwardly. He was used to girls buying him drinks, introducing themselves as Candy or Toni or some other such stereotypical blonde name. They liked the look of him, he understood that, in all honesty he liked the look of some of them, but it was all about the drinking, kissing, groping, maybe something more than that with some of them, but it wasn't real feelings or anything of importance. He just got sick of it, but this bint had bought him a drink and she hadn't tried to get her hands on his goods yet so she was more bearable than some he'd met.
"I'm Spike" he told her, taking her offered hand and shaking it slightly, before withdrawing it and almost visibly hiding back into his own little world. He was only a little surprised that she didn't ask why he had such a name, what his real name might be or his last name at least, but some didn't care, names were unimportant and he was pretty sure most of them lied about theirs.
"You come here often?" Buffy asked next and Spike couldn't help but laugh. He didn't mean to offend her or anything but it was the worst line in the history of forever, he was still sober enough to know that. He looked upon her with a questioning gaze and Buffy surprised herself by laughing too. She hadn't realised until she'd said it, just how lame it really sounded, "I'm sorry" she chuckled, "that was pathetic"
"Yeah" Spike agreed, "but a valid question when you think about it" he conceded, unsure why he was so fast to make her feel less embarrassed, the more he looked at her the more he realised she wasn't like the other girls that usually came onto him. She didn't really seem to know what she was doing, less confident and brassy, more shy and easily flustered.
"I come here most nights" Spike told her, "got nowhere else to be" he added, almost bitterly, not looking for her sympathy, just stating the facts.
"What about your wife or girlfriend?" she asked as casually as she could and Spike couldn't help but smile as he watched her shyly duck her head and hide her face behind her blonde locks, she quite clearly was not the kind of girl that usually went up to blokes in bars and tried to chat them up, but she was giving it her best shot he had to admit.
"You're not backwards in coming forwards, are you pet?" he smirked and noticed she went even more red that she had previously, "I don't have a woman" he told her, "not right now anyway, no-one special" the bitterness was back in his voice as he spoke, though he tried to swallow it, it never quite went away.
"Me either" Buffy sighed, "no-one special right now"
Well, that was a given, Spike thought to himself, she'd hardly be talking to him like this if she had some nice tall dark and handsome type to go home to.
"Look luv" he sighed, turning to face her properly for the first time all night, "let me save you some time and effort" he said, deciding she was just too innocent to play around with, "Trust me when I tell you, you don't want to get to know me, not physically, and definitely not emotionally" he warned her, as he got up from the stool he'd been on for the past two hours, he had booze at home, he didn't need to get slaughtered in public today.
"What makes you so sure I wouldn't want to know you?" she asked as he walked behind her and appeared to her other side as he headed for the exit, "You seem decent enough"
He smiled at her willingness to think well of him, despite being given no good reason to, there weren't enough people like her in the world. If he didn't know his own destructive self as well as he did, he might have stayed and got to know her better after all.
"You've got no idea what I'm capable of luv" he told her with a painful smile on his lips, "not sure I even know myself anymore" he admitted. He made to turn his back upon her again but she called out.
"Maybe I want to find out" she protested, "Maybe that's my aim tonight"
"Find another target luv" he implored her, turning one final time to look at her, "this ones far too full of past holes...see you around, pet" he added as he made for the door, wondering if he meant it, if he really would see her again. As much as he told her, and himself, to stay away he wondered if it would do any good. She was intriguing as well as intrigued it seemed, making Spike wonder if perhaps they might be of use to each other, despite their differences...his thoughts soon got darker as he remembered what became of the last girl he got close too, and he decided in that moment he wouldn't see Buffy again.
~ * ~ * ~ * ~
Not exactly your average day at the office, Buffy sighed as she stood outside the club, straightening her very-unlike-her clothes and running a hand through her blonde hair. This might not be her usual working surroundings but she did have a job to do and do it she would. She walked into the building with as much confidence as she could muster, she had to look the part, had to act it and feel it if she was ever going to convince him. Such a practised liar as he was supposed to be could surely spot one of his own kind far too easily, she had to be better than he was or face the consequences of getting caught.
The man she was looking for sat at one end of the bar, knocking back double vodkas as easy as the water they resembled, and she wondered at how it were possible, but it didn't matter.
He was, for the most part, exactly as she knew he would be. She'd seen pictures, both photographs and professional sketches. From the neck down he was black as the night itself, wearing a T-shirt, jeans, boots, and leather duster all in that colour. In contrast his skin was pale, and his white blonde hair gleamed like platinum. If he was anyone else...she thought silently to herself, but didn't allow herself to finish the sentence, not even in her head.
Steeling herself against all kinds of typical female reactions at the sight of such a man, Buffy pulled herself up to her full height and approached the bar. She waited a few feet away til she thought he'd finished his drink, then she made her move.
"Hi" she said as she moved to stand beside him "You want another drink?"
She waited as the man turned and looked at her, blue eyes wandering over her face and then down her body and back up again. What he thought of her mattered, and she realised, in spite of her own better judgement, it mattered not just for the plan but for her. She wanted him to want her anyway, though she wasn't sure she knew why.
She smiled as he nodded in response to her offer, stupidly ordered two vodkas, knowing damn well she couldn't drink too much of it without passing out and/or throwing up.
"Cheers" he said as he knocked his own drink back in one, she sipped at her own before putting it back down on the bar.
"You're welcome" she found herself saying, wondering why her voice came out so quiet, she hadn't intended for it too, she wasn't usually so timid, not even in the company of men she didn't know, and she knew him, despite the fact they'd never met before tonight.
"My name's Buffy, by the way" she told him, willing him to pay her more attention than he was at present "Buffy Anderson" the lie slipped off her tongue so easily she astonished herself, as she held out her hand for him to shake, for a moment completely unsure as to what his reaction might be, praying it was the one she needed.
"I'm Spike" he replied eventually, shaking the offered hand just briefly before retreating back into his own dark world, she could almost see him doing it.
"You come here often?" she tried to get his attention back on her but she realised she just used the most half-witted and cliched line imaginable to do it, she felt like kicking herself, but she didn't, just hated herself as she felt the colour rise in her cheeks under the intense blue gaze of Spike's eyes, "I'm sorry, that was pathetic" she mumbled, hoping she hadn't just blown the whole night.
"Yeah" Spike agreed with her "but a valid question when you think about it" he shrugged, hands fiddling with the now empty glass on the bar before him, as his mind seemed to weigh up the pros and cons of just one more drink, "I come here most nights" he admitted "got nowhere else to be" he told the bar more than her, she noticed, since he spent more time looking at the surface that his arms leant on than at her face.
"What about your wife or girlfriend?" she tried to sound casual as she asked but she wasn't really surprised when he seemed to be holding back a laugh. She thought the direct approach would be good but she realised she just sounded like a dork.
"You're not backwards in coming forwards, are you pet?" he smirked at her, before answering her question, "I don't have a woman, not right now anyway, no-one special" his voice faded out, the further through his sentence he got, and Buffy felt a little bad for him, despite knowing why he was so alone.
"Me either, no-one special right now" she was glad to not have to lie about that, but also a little sad that it was so true. She had no-one special, it gave her something in common with him and that almost scared her.
"Look, luv" she looked right at him as he began to speak again, "let me save you some time and effort" he said as he hopped off of his stool "Trust me when I tell you, you don't want to get to know me, not physically, and definitely not emotionally" he told her, as he moved to pass behind the back of her stool. He couldn't leave yet, she panicked a little, but hid it well.
"What makes you so sure I wouldn't want to know you?" she asked his back, making him stop but not turn just yet "You seem decent enough" she shrugged as he finally faced her.
"You've got no idea what I'm capable of, luv" he told her with a slight smile, she wondered why he'd smile about it, maybe he was proud "not sure I even know anymore" he added as he turned to leave yet again.
"Maybe I want to find out" Buffy found herself saying "Maybe that's my aim tonight" of course he had no idea just how true her words were now, but she thought she was pretty safe in saying them.
"Find another target, luv" he sighed, looking back one final time, just briefly, "this ones far too full of past holes...see you around, pet" he turned again to leave and she didn't stop him this time. Buffy couldn't help but think how tired he looked, so weary for one so young. Twenty five was no age at all, but Spike looked like he carried the weight of the world on his shoulders, a burden she needed to convince him to share with her.
As the guy she'd only just met finally strolled away, Buffy let out a breath she was only vaguely aware she'd been holding. Her hands shook slightly as she pulled out her cellphone and speed dialled the familiar number.
"Finn" said a voice on the other end of the line.
"It's me" Buffy replied in a whispered tone, "it's not going to be as easy as we thought" she told him, "but I can get him where we want him, just give me time" she said as she looked toward the door Spike had just disappeared through.
"Good job, Summers" came the reply in her ear, "I have every faith in you"
"Thankyou, sir" she nodded before hanging up and smiling to herself.
Let the games begin.
To Be Continued...