Her Saving Grace, Epilogue, Spike/Fred, R

[authoressnebula.livejournal.com]

Title: Her Saving Grace
Rating: R
Pairing: Spike/Fred, Buffy/Xander, mentions of previous Fred/Wesley
Spoilers: Angel S5
Chapter: Epilogue
Prompt: #61 - Arctophile for tamingthemuse
Warnings: Character death (not the permanent variety)
Summary: An accident one night changes Fred's entire world. Shunned by the people who should care the most, she turns to the one person who does care, and finds something beyond friendship.
Disclaimer: I own nothing. Seriously. Not even my mind these days.

Previous Parts Here

Word count: 1,000

It's...done. I really can't believe it, but it's done. Thank you to everyone who wrote in with feedback and thoughts and love. Thank you so so much.

Also, thank you so much to those who made artwork for my beautiful fic. I'm posting it all in this entry, because...yeah. It's too pretty to not post.


Pretty by mentalme85



Pretty by garnettrees





Pretty by spikeshunny

“Spike?”

“Yeah pet?”

“Where's the albums?”

“The what?”

“The albums Buffy told me about where you were singing karaoke?”

“The what?”

Fred giggled and sat down on the bed, waiting. She knew he'd be in the room in no less than thirty seconds, maybe as little as twenty. It depended on how real he thought those albums were.

That and the fact that he never left her alone for more than five minutes at a time, but that she expected and understood. She made sure he wasn't gone any longer, seeking him out if he was. It had been a week since the Black Thorn had fallen, but Fred didn't care. She wasn't letting Spike out of her sight, and he certainly wasn't letting her out of his. Even when she took a shower, he always seemed to forget something, and would come in to get it. Never mind that he could've gone in afterwards; she understood how he felt. She was actually grateful for his “Oops I forgot” moments.

Seventeen seconds, and Spike strode through the bedroom door. Huh. Maybe there really were albums stashed away somewhere. She'd have to call Buffy up and ask her. “Somethin' you want to tell me, luv?” he asked, amusement written all over his face.

“I don't know; the way you dashed in here, I'm thinking I should be asking you that question,” she said, grinning. “Do you really have photo albums in here somewhere?”

Spike gave her a look. “If I did, I wouldn't let you see them,” he said. “Not until you'd shown me one of yours.”

“Why? I asked first,” she said, crossing her arms and raising her eyebrow at him.

“Ladies first, of course,” he said, giving her a low bow. Fred decided to tell him exactly what she thought of that and dove forward, grabbing his shirt and pulling him towards her. They both landed on the bed, with Fred giggling all the way. “Minx,” Spike said, his voice muffled on account of his face being buried in the comforter.

“I had a good teacher,” she said, then laughed outright when he reached out and found her hip, pulling her in fast. When she looked next, his face was turned towards her, inches from hers, and his beautiful blue eyes were locked with her eyes.

Unlife didn't get any better than this.

In the week that had followed the downfall of the Black Thorn, things had been brought back to a peaceful state. Buffy and Xander had stayed only an additional two days, helping Angel and Wesley comb out the minions of the Black Thorn. It had really only taken one day to do, but Buffy and Xander had stayed one more day, just in case. Before they'd left, they'd given their numbers and told them Cleveland was open to them whenever they decided to visit.

Willow, however, had stayed. With no girlfriend waiting for her, she'd been more than willing to help Angel in the long run of sorting out the reaches of the Black Thorn. Personally, Fred thought that she could help Angel with a lot more than just the Black Thorn: ever since Cordelia had died, he'd seemed so lost, and with her memories back, Fred now knew why. Willow was just the right amount of perky and the perfect dosage of level-headedness that Angel so desperately needed.

Wesley was still trying to regroup from the memory regain as well, but as the days went on, things were a little more stable. Fred knew because she stayed in contact with him every day, if just even for five minutes. An e-mail one day, a phone call the next, a question about something random, a memory she'd remembered after so long she wanted to share with him...she knew that he was smiling through it all, and it set her mind at ease. Things were looking up everywhere, and maybe, just maybe, her friends weren't as far gone as she'd feared.

“You back with me?”

His soft voice pulled her from her thoughts. “I am now,” she said, gazing at the beautiful man before her. She didn't know how she'd gotten a man so caring and devoted and loving, but she had, and she wasn't letting him go. Not now, not ever.

“I've decided to become an arctophile,” she said, and she grinned at the surprised blink she'd been waiting for.

“Teddy bears? Really?” he said, causing her to blink in surprise. He was more of a bookish nut than he let on. One day, she was going to find out everything he knew. He smiled and said, “I think you can find something else to collect that's much nicer.”

“You know,” she said, pausing as she leaned in closer, her lips ghosting over his, “I think I can, too.” His lips reached across the millimeter or less of space between them, and her demon within made a sound of happiness. Fred couldn't have agreed more. His hand was still on her hip, slowly sliding around to her lower back, and his lips nipped at hers, gently sucking on her lower lip until she couldn't take it anymore and had to kiss him full on. He chuckled, the sound low and beautiful, and she couldn't stop the smile even though the action pulled her lips up and away from his.

His lips followed her anyways, then trailed up to her dimples. He'd always follow her; she definitely knew that now. And when he slid back to a more comfortable position on the bed, she didn't need nudging: she simply moved with him. They were as close to being one these days as anyone could get. That thought, added to their lazy afternoon kissing, made her day as close to perfect as she could get it.

And when he whispered, “I still need to take you dancing,” she replaced day with unlife, and smiled.

THE END

Pretty by kitty3101


~Nebula

Comments

[velvetwhip.livejournal.com]

What a splendid little ending! And the hints of Willow/Angel made me sigh happily. Thank you.


Gabrielle

[strickens-girl.livejournal.com]

I'm sad to see this end, but what a lovely ending to a great series.

*loves*

[jesterlady]

You always gotta pair everybody up, eh luv? Splendid job with the whole thing. I'm glad everybody's settled and nice little arctophile moment!

[umbralillium.livejournal.com]

I'm with strickens_girl: I'm sorry to see it go, but it was a lovely journey.

Are you proud of yourself now? You got me to read non-Spander BtVS/AtS fic and LOVE IT. *pouts prettily*

[ex-dark-ami.livejournal.com]

This was a wonderful fic, I've really enjoyed reading it. :D

[blue-icy-rose.livejournal.com]

I loved it. I just reread the entire thing in one go (with only a couple of breaks due to a certain four-legged somebody acting like a little brat in her terrible twos) and it was fantastic. It was so fun to go back and remember all these little details you'd thrown in and getting to read all the new chapters that I hadn't gotten a chance to read.

I think it's great that all this happened because of Illyria and the fact that Illyria would have ended up helping Angel's team. Morons, only ended up bringing about their end anyway. Which is satisfying because three of the original four Scoobies helped and no one died (er, permanently) in the long run. Except the bad guys. *nods*

And Buffy/Xander! Really, it is so hard to find good stories with them as a pairing so I was very happy with this one. ^_^ I had my suspicions when Buffy was telling Fred about her new guy but I figured you could never be too sure so I just sort of hoped and then Xander showed up and Buffy jumped on him and there were those exchanged smiles and yay! (Seriously, I made some sort of "Eee!" sound while reading because the dog, who was perfectly relaxed, looked up and stared at me for a few moments. LOL.)

The relationship between them all was great and I like how you didn't give them a friendship in the past that we didn't really see (like "Oh, right, yeah, Xander and Spike were total BFF. They just argued when we saw them.") but acknowledged the way things had been with Xander and Spike and how they weren't exactly friends but there was still some sort of connection and the fact that Buffy and Spike did start to develop a friendship. And all the complications for the AI team? Well, you certainly hit those as well.

Wesley! The revelation that the guy had talked to him that night and then Wesley blaming himself the whole time and the way everyone began to come around once they realized that Fred wasn't snacking and neither was Spike was all so good to read. (I swear at some points throughout this story, the TV would be playing ominous music thanks to whatever shows/movie was on and it always happened at these really tense points like when they were gearing up for the battle.)

I also like the way you developed Spike and Fred's relationship and how it built slowly and they didn't fall into bed together. Instead there was this intimacy that grew between them that wasn't completely sexual and didn't need to be because (as I believe you put it) it was more of a slow burning fire than fireworks. And the hints that Willow and Angel could become friends and, down the line, possibly more made me smile.

“Where's the albums?”

“The what?”

“The albums Buffy told me about where you were singing karaoke?”

“The what?”

The change in Fred wasn't huge but it was noticeable while at the same time being enjoyable so it wasn't like reading a whole different character. Instead you took aspects of Fred's character from the show and just expanded on them. A lot of time when a character gets vamped, the author just completely changes them so this was a great read. And I really enjoyed your theory on how vampires change (or don't change) after they're turned. This had some great moments, like the one from above, that showed Fred's playful side and brought some lovely moments of humor to the story.

So, to repeat myself, I loved it. Wonderful job, Nebula! ^_^

[blue-icy-rose.livejournal.com]

You know, I haven't read Buffy fic in forever but last night a friend was rewatching the series and asked for good Spuffy recs and after I'd bombarded her, I had the need to reread some old favorites and at work, I had this serious urge to start with this one instead of a Spuffy fic and I'm so happy I did. (Even if work does block the site where you have it all archived. Whatever, I was determined and it was on TTM. Ha! Take that, work!)

It's been a long time since I've read a good Buffy fic. This story, and you, make me remember why I love that fandom so much and it makes me miss writing in it. So thank you, sweetie, for reminding me why I loved this so much when poopyheads were making me forget. I think I needed a reminder and I can't think of anyone better to give me one. MWAH!