Familial Love

A/N: What bugs me in the comic issues is that they don't often explain how much time passes between stories & arcs. So I'm taking a guess that Season 10 #19 happens between 1-2 months after #10-12 when Buffy and Spike get back together. All reference details below are true happenings in the comics, except I stretched the truth with Hank Summers' new location. In the comic, he moved to 'Silicon Valley', quick research reveals the biggest location of Silicon Valley is San Jose.

I've been working on this since September's release. What was supposed to be a light-hearted comfort fic for Buffy post #19 turned into a small drama that hit me closer to home than I was expecting. So I put a little touch of experience in this one-shot than planned or expected.

Also, for a new ally of the Scoobies, I really like Homicide Detective Robert Dowling of the SFPD Supernatural Task Force since his appearance in Season 9 and into Season 10.

Oh, and there's some kissage and fondling, but I feel it's not strong enough to warrant a 'Sexual Situations' rating/warning.

Beta by EffulgentlyDani 10-10-2015 on "Elysian Fields" (a Spuffy fanfic site)

It had been a long two days working with the local San Fran police, but Spike was finally home. He was sitting in the passenger seat of Detective Dowling's tinted car, just outside the sidewalk entrance to the apartment, waiting for the last rays of the sun to fade away from the front door.

Robert Dowling has been Spike's friend for a little over a year, and his boss for the past three months. He had gotten the job as "Police Consultant" at first, a position that quickly turned into "Independent Investigator" for supernatural crimes of San Francisco once it was discovered that he had a lot more to offer. The hours worked for him, since they were primarily those when crime happened – which, frankly, was anytime and anywhere. This last case had had him away from home from the early hours before dawn yesterday, right up to the end of today.

Peering out from under the silly black hood that kept most of the sun's rays from scalding his pale skin, he squinted up beyond the second and third story windows to the lights shining out from the fourth-story apartment building.

Everyone seemed to be home.

"Well, it's been another fun assignment with you again." Dowling turned slightly in his seat with one arm resting on the steering wheel. There was a smirk on his face. "Why is it that every time I do a big case with you, something wants to attack us?"

Spike smirked in return as he rubbed the patched wound on his temple. "Pretty sure they were after me this time." He shook his head and sighed, considering the random demon attack he'd sustained while on the job. Dowling and his team could handle the supernatural, and with the benefit of his century-plus knowledge and training, they were getting even better in just a few months' time.

Dowling huffed a breath. "You handled the three beasts just fine on your own. Not sure what they were thinking."

"They were hellhounds from another dimension. I'm quite sure they were just weak pawns sent to test me."

"What makes you say that?"

"For one, you saw how they were almost completely on fire, tongues and ears and razor tail. Makes it a bit hard for me to go in all fisticuffs. And second, they were hellhounds, no smarter than a well-trained war-dog."

Dowling hummed in thought. A moment passed before he turned away from the vampire, facing forward again as he watched the sun sink just a bit lower in the sky. "I'll make note of that in the files. Until then, say hello to your friends for me." Before Spike could offer his thanks, the detective added, "Oh, and tell Buffy she's a lucky girl to have you at her back."

Spike gave him a wide grin with teeth. "That she is. Cheers, mate." He patted the brunette on the shoulder once before leaving the car. The sun was low enough that he didn't need his smock hood anymore. He tugged it off, even though he knew it left him with rumpled, blonde curls.

Using his key, he entered the steel gate front door and walked down the hall past the boarded up shop on the first floor. At the second floor landing, he nearly ran into Willow and Dawn hurrying around the corner.

Dawn's face lit up…well, like the dawn. "Oh, Spike, you're home!" She dove forward to hug him tightly around the waist.

Spike gave her a soft smile and a peck on the crown of her head. "Hullo, Nibblet."

He knew that, even if he hadn't ever hooked up with Buffy again, he'd have still have enjoyed both of the Summers' girls presence. Ever since the return of magic a year ago, before the Scoobies had ever decided to move in together, he'd made a habit of visiting often. He was even more thankful now, after they'd almost lost Dawn when the Seed of Magic had broken. Through a combination of Willow's remaining spellwork, the Scoobies' fight in the Deeper Well, Spike's insistence to not leave her side on her "deathbed," and a new donation of Buffy's blood, they'd kept the little Nibblet safe and enjoying life. She hadn't even paid the price with her memories. The only consequence of all of this was the reset of her emotions.

Dawn had told him about her memories before the Seed's destruction and renewal. That it was like watching a movie instead of being a part of it for the past twenty years. She remembered all of the details, told him how anything she felt then just felt disconnected now. And since then, she'd had to adjust to actually feeling emotion again, in all its crazy ranges.

Willow stepped up to give him a quick hug when Dawn let go, and she accompanied it with a classic, crooked Willow grin. "It's good you're home."

Spike found her remark odd, even knowing he'd been gone longer than usual for the job. "Oh? Why's that?"

At that, both girls' smiles fell. Dawn hugged herself and Willow placed a hand on the younger girl's shoulder.

Dawn looked up at him with a pained expression. "Shortly after you left yesterday morning, I got a call from Dad. He wanted to have lunch with me and Buffy today. So we went…" Dawn paused to take a deep breath, but it didn't look like she was about to cry. It looked like she was trying to contain anger. Her eyebrows were still scrunched when she continued. "He moved to San Jose with a new woman. His fiancée."

Spike raised his brows, but he didn't speak. She hadn't really reached the gut-punching news as far as he was concerned.

Dawn continued, her gaze a bit distant as she recalled the day's events. "He said that his new fiancée, Paige, has two young children herself. And that I was welcome to the wedding." Her pause was telling, and Spike drew his own conclusions before her next breath. "But Buffy wasn't, because they saw Buffy on TV as the 'Slayer Army General' when the supernatural world got broadcasted globally. They said that, since she has enemies and her life is constantly in danger, she would be a threat to his new family if she showed up."

She couldn't – didn't have to – continue, and Spike pulled her into a tight embrace as she took large breaths. She was in pain because Buffy was hurt, and from their own father no less. She seemed especially affected, and he knew it was because emotions were new to her again, and that it would take some level of distraction to get her to calm down.

"I'm sorry, Dawn." And he meant it. Both for her and for Buffy.

Dawn shook her head and stepped back. She ran her fingers through her long hair in an effort to calm herself. Her hands were shaking.

"Dawnie, we should go. It's getting late." Willow looked at Spike. "We're running to the corner store for some things. We'll be cooking dinner for everyone tonight."

Spike nodded and let them pass, but turned to call out as they reached the steps. "Hey. Where's Buffy?"

Willow turned to answer. "She went on the roof to talk to Giles."

Dawn's face lit up again. "Oh! Spike, you missed it! Willow cast a grow-up spell for Giles yesterday. He was his old self right up until an hour ago." Spike gave her a look of surprise and amusement. "He should be young again by now, but it was funny while it lasted."

"Well, sounds like a story over supper. You ladies go fetch what you need. I'll see about the Slayer." He nodded goodbye and left for the roof.

Just before he'd climbed the last steps to the rooftop exit, the door opened.

Spike paused on the center landing, letting out a wide grin at the sight of a young-again Giles wearing an adult-sized suit. The ex-watcher was holding up most of his trousers in an effort to avoid tripping, and Spike didn't have the heart to point out that he could just forgo them and let his dress shirt do all the work. It was simply too funny watching the pre-teen hobbling down the steps.

Ah, kids, he thought. No forethought. Amusement for all adults.

Giles paused halfway down to glare at Spike's smirking face.

Spike just couldn't let this one go. "Kids' clothes nowadays…" He chuckled. "And people rag on me about my fashion choices."

The door through which Giles had just walked clicked shut, its noise covering whatever muttered snark he tried to throw at Spike. Giles continued down the hallway, headed for his own apartment, presumably to change his suddenly-too-big clothes.

Spike's mirth faded as he reached for the doorknob. He knew Buffy would be in a mood, and he hoped his attempt to be there for her would be what she needed and wanted. The fact that they'd been together for a month didn't automatically mean everything he did was a sure win.

The first thing he saw was the dying colors of the day. The blazing reds were fading into rust, then into a dull green, leaving behind an ever-increasing pale purple that faded into pale blues. On the horizon opposite the fallen sun was the approaching velvet night.

All of that, he took in at an instant, then his eyes landed on a feminine silhouette shadowed against the paling orange over the Pacific Ocean and the twinkling cityscape below. The fifth-story vantage point gave a spectacular view of the woman standing at the stone railing, her eyes locked on the stars slowly emerging behind passing clouds.

He didn't feel the need to break the solemn atmosphere by speaking, but he didn't hide his footsteps either as he approached her from behind. There was no hesitation as he slipped both arms around her, clasping them over her arms crossed at the front. Gently, she leaned back into his embrace.

He touched his cheek softly against her ear and held still to share witness to the oncoming fullness of night. He felt her reach across to the lapels of his jacket, pulling them forward to cover her sides as far as the garment would allow. She shivered against the autumn chill and snuggled against him as much as she could under the leather covering.

The sounds of the city echoed from below, brushes of wind blowing trash and snaking between buildings, helping to muffle the cacophony. There was the Doppler effect of sirens and horns and racing engines. There was distant cries of voices yelling and screaming and laughing.

By the time all of it reached their secluded spot from above, it was too distant to be bothersome.

Buffy twitched her head towards his face without looking at him. "Spike?" Her voice had a softness to it he couldn't decipher. "What was your father like?"

Spike hummed for a moment, unsurprised since he knew what spurned the question. "I don't remember him too much, pet. He left for the war effort when I was a lad. What I do remember, he was…tall and thin."

Buffy huffed a gentle laugh. "Kinda like you, then."

"Well, yea. I was short at the time." Spike paused to think. "He and my mother got along well, I suppose. I remember he had a loud laugh." At that, Spike chuckled to himself. "I remember this one time, I had fallen into a deep mud puddle. Ruined a perfectly new set of togs. I walked home expecting a whipping, but when Da saw me, he just busted out laughing. He hurried me to change and told me he didn't like the cut and color much anyway. He told me mum that they got damaged in some freak accident."

By the end of the tale, Buffy had turned in his embrace to face him. He readjusted his lapels so the jacket fell around her shoulders, blocking them both from the cold wind.

Her face was an inch from his as she looked at him. "He sounds like he was a good father."

Spike leaned to touch their foreheads and looked into her eyes. "I'm sorry about yours. He doesn't understand the amazing woman you are."

Buffy's lips quivered and tears slipped out her eyes. "He was afraid of me." Her voice cracked on the words.

Before Spike could say anything, Buffy shook her head and continued. "He was a good dad when I was growing up. We were a simple, suburban family in a nice home. Things didn't get strained until that last year before we moved to Sunnydale. He always showed he cared for us, but behind closed doors, he'd grown apart from mom. He cheated, then they argued, then I had nightmares of vampires before I was called." She took a shaking deep breath and exhaled slowly. "I think the strain of his failing marriage and the onset of my crazy pre-Slayerness is what finally pushed him away."

Spike glared. "What he did to you girls is not your fault."

Buffy sniffed. "Part of me knows that. Then there's that small part that's never gone away, no matter how much logic I throw at it. That I was the final nail that drove him away and made him continue to avoid us."

She grew quiet as she buried her face to his chest and hugged him tighter. Anyone with lesser strength would have a broken rib from her forceful embrace, but Spike held her back just as fiercely. Buffy continued to shudder, and Spike began swaying side to side, rocking her gently.

Buffy finally calmed and looked up at him, her eyes bloodshot. He reached up to wipe at her teared cheeks. "He made it clear by his actions that he's only family by blood. You have your friends here, and like you said at the battle against Archaeus, they're your family."

Buffy gave him a soft smile. "You know, when I said that, I included you, too."

Spike's eyes burned as he watched her face. He brought a hand up to cradle the back of her head and leaned in to kiss her with gentle fervor. It was a searing kiss, the salt of her tears mixing with the menthol of the cigarette he'd smoked earlier. The kiss grew steadily in intensity as her hands traveled up to clutch his shirt in a flexing grip.

They broke off, she gasping air, Spike in a similar state. Riding the high, they both placed little kisses along cheeks and necks. The jacket wrapped around them both made it hard to pull back far enough for either to reach lower than the other's neckline.

Just as they broke from their pecking kisses, Dawn opened the roof door. "Buffy-Oh! Sorry, guys."

They turned to her, and Buffy responded, "It's okay, Dawn. What's up?"

Dawn took a step out, but backtracked when a cold gust hit her. "Brrr! I came up to tell you that dinner's ready."

Buffy nodded as Dawn departed. "Ready to head down?"

Spike eyed her. "Shouldn't that be my line?"

Buffy hmph'd as she released her embrace. "Was that an innuendo?"

Spikes brows shot up. "No. Not this time." He planted a lingering kiss on her forehead and stepped back, his jacket falling back in place.

Both shivered as the heat shared between their bodies released into the autumn air. She reached for his undershirt, grasped it tightly and tugged in the direction of the stairwell. She let go once he began to follow and went to clasp his chilled hand, swinging their joined fists between them.

Dinner with everyone in the girls' place was long and comforting. Spike spent a good portion of it regaling the events of his latest job and comparing notes about the attacks with Giles and Xander. Everyone else shared their opinion on Giles' grown-up day as Giles, for his part, just offered what he felt during the change.

After cleaning up, the group gathered in the living room to watch a movie. Dawn, Buffy, and Spike took the long couch with Buffy in the middle. Willow got the plush recliner, and Giles and Xander grabbed multiple pillows to lay on the rug in front. Dawn begged for Freaky Friday – the recent one with Lindsey Lohan – and while Giles and Xander protested, they lost the vote when Spike threw in with the girls.

Twenty minutes into the movie, they noticed Spike slumped over, his eyes closed, a fat pillow folded back under his arm to cradle his head. His leather jacket, removed at dinner, rested over the back of the couch, and Buffy took it and draped it over him. Careful not to jostle him, Buffy grabbed the couch blanket and wrapped herself and Dawn up in its soft warmth.

They enjoyed an entertaining hour and a half of body-swapping movie shenanigans, and when it ended, everyone got up to stretch and sidle off to their respective rooms for bed.

Everyone except for Buffy.

She resettled herself in the small gap in front of his sideways slouch, leaning over to caress his face. "Spike…"

"Mmm…" Spike murmured as he unconsciously settled himself more comfortably against the couch's cushions.

Buffy gently shook his shoulder, which, thankfully, was enough to stir him into semi-consciousness. "Hey, sleepyhead." She continued petting his rumpled hair. "Don't you want to move somewhere more comfortable?"

Spike, bleary-eyed, noticed they were alone. He reached around her waist and tugged her closer. Getting the hint, she picked up his legs, stretching them along the couch as she arranged herself into the remaining space against his body.

Once settled, they shared a kiss.

Spike looked at her thru half-lidded eyes. "Sorry I fell asleep."

Buffy shook her head. "You needed the rest. Besides, we couldn't draw pictures on your face if you were awake."

It was a delayed moment before he realized what she'd said, and he gave her squinted glare that was softened by a smirk. "Minx."

Her nose wrinkled as she stuck out her tongue. He swooped forward to catch it, both of them quietly chuckling as they shared a lighthearted kiss.

The hand he had draped over her waist moved under her shirt and expertly unclipped her bra. Buffy let out a gasp of pleasure at the unbinding. They returned to kissing as she hitched one leg between his and pressed down. Spike arched his hips up to apply more pressure, letting out a groan that might have been audible in the upstairs loft bedrooms.

Buffy softly shushed him, but she couldn't mask the elated feeling that stemmed from their fondling and ended up giggling again. Spike reached down with both hands and grasped her derrière with his own dark chuckle. Buffy inhaled a moan that turned into a feminine purr. She leaned in and nibbled his lips.

Their pecking kisses and touching becoming heavier with need. Spike's fingers slipped under the back of her jeans as hers shimmied his black shirt up across his abdomen.

"Jeez!"

Buffy and Spike startled apart as Dawn suddenly appeared, already halfway to the kitchen from the hallway leading to the bedrooms.

"Why am I always the one to walk in on you two?" She hadn't paused in her steps, and her voice carried out to them from within the narrow kitchen.

The moment sufficiently killed, Buffy slid sideways off Spike into her formerly empty spot, her head landing in the curve between his neck and collarbone. Spike flopped his own head back to the pillow with a sigh.

They could hear a cabinet opening and glasses clinking, the faucet running and then shutting off. A moment later, Dawn emerged and headed directly back up the spiral staircase to her room with a glass of water clutched in her hand. "Try to keep it down. I've got class in the morning."

There was silence in the living room, though it wasn't that uncomfortable.

Buffy's nose was idly tickling a spot on his neck as she breathed, and her fingers drew mindless swirls on the patch of his exposed stomach. Spike's fingers, in turn, were caressing her lower back. In the quiet, Buffy let out a soft huff of a laugh.

Spike turned his eyes to her with an eyebrow raised. "What's funny?"

Buffy set her head back on his shoulder to look at him, "Dawn. I was just thinking how, when she was just a few years younger, she would've had an entirely different reaction to catching us making out."

Spike just smirked. "Mm-hmm."

"Well, it was funny in my head." Spike opened his mouth, but Buffy reacted faster, bringing one finger to rest on his lips. "I could see a customary sarcastic remark coming from a mile away."

Spike's soft smile made his eyes crinkle at the corners. He brought the hand that was resting on her hip up to grasp hers on his lips. He kissed it once before grasping her palm in his, placing both on his chest. The look he gave her was steady as he said, "Not tonight, for I am seeing to my lady and her needs. Seems she's had a rough day." His tone was too serious to call out his double entendre.

Buffy melted a little on the inside, and she brought her forehead to rest against his on the pillow. The fact that he hadn't meant it as an innuendo didn't mean she couldn't follow it up with a serious one herself. "How about we just go to your room and relax. This couch isn't the best for two."

In response, Spike brought his lips to hers in a kiss so simple, but one that carried with it so much love and care.

"As you wish, Love."