Luck Be a Lady

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Happyverse Series: Part 14/15

AUTHOR: JodyorJen
EMAIL: jodyorjen@yahoo.com
RATING: NC-17
PAIRING: Buffy/Spike, Willow/Xander, Dawn/Other, Anya/Giles, Drusilla/Other
DISCLAIMER: All hail Joss Whedon, UPN, the WB, FOX , Mutant Enemy and 20th Century Fox Film Corporation. GO team!
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Part 14: Luck Be A Lady

Giles and Anya sat side by side in a fifties style diner. The small jukebox on the wall of their booth played "Can't Help Falling In Love" as they looked through a glossy brochure of wedding chapels. "How about that one?" he asked as he gestured to an ad. "The Little White Chapel?" He looked very handsome in a gray suit and a blue tie.

"I don't like the name," she said. "I want something about luck or money." She wore a white slip dress, and tall white heels. A small hat decorated with a tuft of white net adorned her head, and a corsage of blue carnations was on her wrist.

"Triple Seven Chapel?" he asked.

She smiled and kissed him. "Perfect." He caressed her cheek, and pulled her close for a deeper embrace.

"One cup of tea, one vanilla milkshake," said a bored voice. They broke apart as the waitress set down their drinks.

"So do you have everything that you wanted?" he asked her, as he unwrapped his teabag with a look of dismay.

"Well," she said with a smile. "I'm over a thousand years old, and you're considered old. What we have is new, and we have the new clothes. I have blue flowers, and you have a blue tie. We borrowed a pen from the clerk at the courthouse, and I have Tara's earrings on. " She sipped on her shakes. "Yes, we're now properly equipped for the ritual and years of wedded bliss." She looked down at Giles' murky cup of tea. "Hello, miss? Do you have any tea that isn't dirt in a teabag?" Giles laughed as he put his hand over her mouth.

Aurelius rested on the couch in his apartment with Dawn in his arms. "You need to get back to the people who love you," he said softly.

"But I just want to stay with you," she said.

He leaned forward and kissed her, a long, sweet gentle kiss. "One of the things that you have yet to learn, my beloved, is that you can't always get what you want."

"I'll always get what I want in the end," she said confidently. "I claimed you and that can never be undone. There is no way to turn back the clock and undo it."

"Perhaps not," he said thoughtfully, "But perhaps so." He pointed at her eyes with his fingertips. "Sleep." She shut her eyes and collapsed onto his shoulder.

Spike sat on the couch in the honeymoon suite and gnawed furiously on a Twizzler. Buffy sat down next to him and asked, "What is bothering you?"

"I'm trying to be very mature and adult about this, and see it from your point of view," Spike said, "but I don't understand why you invited Angel to the wedding."

She gave him a weird look and swallowed her juice. "Why would I want Angel here today?"

"But he is here, sweets. He came up to the room just a few minutes ago, with the prom queen in tow."

"He wouldn't just show up here uninvited, even if he found out about the wedding," said Buffy, puzzled. "We've learned it's best to stay out of each other's lives."

"Then why would he be here? And Cordelia with him?" asked Spike.

Buffy put down her glass. "Let's go find out."

Tara took Lorelei into her arms. The siren sobbed, overwhelmed with sorrow and guilt at her role in Drusilla's death. "It's all right," the witch crooned, "It's not your fault." Willow and Xander looked on, holding each other tightly.

Angel turned to Cordelia. "We're done here," he said briskly.

"What's the hurry, Mr. Sensitive?" she asked sarcastically.

Marcus Aurelius stood before a wall of scrolls in his library. "Find," he commanded, and a scroll flew into his hand. He stalked into a small round chamber and stood before a black marble table. The table was covered with a large black cauldron and an assortment of herbs; small dishes held more esoteric ingredients. His face was angry and set. "Prepare," he said tersely: the herbs tore themselves into small pieces, ground themselves into dust and flew into the cauldron. "Boil," he intoned, and the cauldron's surface roared with rolling water. He unfurled the scroll and read, "Goddess Fortuna, I invoke thee." A green mist filled the room. "Sweet Fortuna, on this day, may all that caused ill to the bride or groom be swept away, may all that has caused harm, be swept from the slate by the power of your charms. Let all who felt sorrow or carried doubt, have only peace and sweet memories inside and out." A thick green fog crept through the room and throughout the entire hotel, enveloping every man, woman and child into a deep slumber.

As she slept, the bites disappeared from Dawn's neck. Her hair grew back long and brown, and her pained expression grew content. The stud in her lobe fell out and the tissue healed seamlessly. Ink ran off her back and pooled onto the couch. Aurelius swept her into his arms, and carried her from the apartment.

Spike and Buffy slept together, identical expressions of peace on their faces.

Xander and Willow rested together, as Angel and Cordelia curled together in sleep. Lorelei slept with her head on Tara's chest as Drusilla lay in the witch's lap. The three girls slumbered peacefully.

Giles and Anya walked down the street. They wore identical bands of platinum on their ring fingers and exuded happiness.

"We're really married," she said. "Does that mean that I should call you Rupert?"

"Please don't," he replied.

"But if I'm Anya Giles, should I still call you Giles? Because that means that I'm calling you my name."

"If you start calling me Anya, then I see where we might have a bit of a problem," he said affectionately. "Otherwise, I don't think there's really an issue."

"Maybe I'll just call you honey," she suggested. "Or baby, or sweetheart." She looked at him.

"Or just Giles," he said.

They passed a small storefront that was crammed full of books. "We should look in here," she said. "You can find some of the most amazing stuff in these hole in the wall used bookstores."

"Or, more traditionally, we could head back to the hotel and consummate our love," he said, with a gentle lift of his eyebrows.

"Well, traditionally, we wouldn't have stayed up all night and all morning before our wedding making love," she said saucily, "so I say we can break with tradition and look for some inventory for the Magic Box."

He looked dubiously at the grimy shop. "Well, we could stock up on some light reading, but we won't find anything valuable there, " said Giles.

"Take a chance," Anya replied, with a smile. "Think outside the box."

He kissed her, smiling gently. "Yes, perhaps I should keep doing that. It seems to be working out rather well."

Aurelius carried Dawn down the corridor to her room. He passed sleeping people lying at random on the floor, and leaning against walls. He opened the door to her room and gently set her down on the bed. "I wish that you would remember me," he said with a sad smile, "as I will remember you. But you must do what needs to be done, and so must I." His eyes were grim as he placed a gentle kiss on her lips and left the room.

He made his way to the ballroom and surveyed the sleeping people before him. He carefully lifted Drusilla from the ground. "Return to your chambers," he said as he gestured at the other occupants of the ballroom. Each couple rose hand in hand, still in enchanted slumber. First Willow and Xander, then Angel and Cordelia, and finally Tara and Lorelei departed. He carried the vampiress from the room, her head lolling against his chest. She smiled in her sleep, and he looked down at her with a troubled expression.

Giles stood in a dark and musty corner, surrounded by tables piled high with books. "Anya," said Giles. She walked over to him and looked at the volumes he held. "This place is utter chaos, but I have found some true diamonds in the midst of the rubbish," he whispered. "This is a very rare copy of the Kilinis Codex, and this one is a copy of Frenelli on Magic."

She showed him the books she held behind her back. "I found the Palladian Rites and Corbel's Transdimensional Portals in the fantasy section." They exchanged smiles.

"This truly is the luckiest day of my life," he said happily.

"And we're going to make a whole lot of money, too," she said brightly.

As the shadows of night fell in the hallways of the hotel, men and women slept dreams of peace and tranquility. Many of them dreamed of money. Some of them dreamed of power. And most of them dreamed of love. They rose in their sleep, and returned to their rooms, to the arms of their lovers, or a soft bower for their dreams. They returned to the tables, where they waited to hit the jackpot. They returned to life. The casino blared to life with the exultant energy of the lucky ones, those who have hit the jackpot of a lifetime. Lovers moved together to make their dreams reality, and gamblers cashed out their chips, ready to spend their winnings.

Spike grabbed Buffy's shoulders as he moved slowly in and out of her. She moaned and bit his nipple. "Now?" he said breathily. "Now," she replied. She wrapped her legs tightly around his waist as they came together. They curled into each other and exchanged loving kisses and gentle touches.

Buffy rolled out of Spike's arms and looked at the clock. "The wedding is in an hour," she said softly.

"So we have a half hour more to cuddle here, then," he said with a delicate kiss on her lips.

She grabbed his face and kissed him deeply, and he growled at her. He rolled on top of her and bit her neck. "Oh Spike, oh God," she said loudly.

He ground his pelvis into hers. "You're insatiable," he said roughly.

She flipped him off her onto the floor and he looked up at her, stunned. "Bloody hell, sweetheart!" She jumped out of bed, her peignoir billowing all around her.

"The wedding is in an hour, and we don't have the license," she said, panicked.

Willow and Xander lay in their bed. "Wedding's in an hour," said Xander sleepily. Willow kissed his neck and rolled on top of him, and covered her mouth with hers. Her red hair mingled with his dark locks as she moved back and forth on him, making slow, sweet love.

"I want a little girl that has your hair," he said when he came up for air.

"Only if she had your eyes," she said breathlessly.

"But your eyes are so beautiful," he said, as he pressed a kiss into her shoulder.

"We'll have two then. One will have your eyes and one mine," she said.

Lorelei and Tara lay sleeping, their long golden tresses mixed together as they lay intertwined in the bed. Their limbs were wrapped around each other tightly, and it was hard to say where one began and the other ended.

Cordelia lifted her head from a strong, muscled chest and smiled. She stretched her arms and looked down from the conference table they were on. Papers were scattered all over the floor. She looked over at Angel's face and stilled. "Hello, my love," he said in a low sexy voice, as his eyes devoured her.

Dawn smiled at herself in the mirror as she wound hot curlers in her hair. She listened to the radio, and sang a song about a cool boy in a hot car, and wondered if there'd be any guys at the reception.

Giles and Anya walked into the lobby of the hotel, rolling a cart of books behind them. "Does something seem a bit odd to you?" asked Anya. They looked around at the shadows. "Wasn't it earlier?"

Giles looked down at his watch. "It says that it's six o'clock now." They looked at each other in horror.

"Oh sweet Lord," said Giles. "The wedding."

Aurelius sat in the back of a long black limousine. Drusilla sat on his lap and rested her head on his shoulder.

"Where do you want to go, my black pearl?" he asked her as she kissed his hand.

"I want to go to Paris," she said with a smile. "Do you remember Paris? We had such a lovely time there."

"I remember, poppet," he said. He turned and kissed her mouth, and she smiled up at him with wide, pleased eyes. "I want to remember how good it was, how high our passion burned," he said adamantly. "I need to forget everything else. Please help me forget," he said as he trailed his mouth down her neck.

The wedding chapel filled up with guests. The groom's side was filled to capacity. Beautiful vampire women were ogled by demons of every variety. On the other side, Hank Summers sat alone in the front pew. Beads of sweat collected on the back of his neck, as he forced himself not to turn around.

Spike and Buffy ran into the clerk's office. He was dressed in a pair of jeans and one of Buffy's t-shirts, a v-necked navy one that rode up shortly above his belly button. Buffy had thrown his duster over her nightgown, and wore plastic flip-flops on her feet. Buffy filled out the form while they stood on line, using Spike's back as a desk. They got up to the clerk and she read their application. "That will be fifty dollars cash, please," she said. "Is Sunnydale a really big town?" she asked.

Spike looked puzzled. "No, why do you ask?"

"You're the third couple I had in here today from there," she said with a smile.

"I wonder if it was anyone we know," said Buffy.

"Well, I can't remember the first couples names. She was really loud, very blonde. With a tall guy with an English accent." She paused. "The other couple just left. The bride was all in a hurry, said she had to get married before some other couple did. A cute little blonde she was, too. All decked out with a tiara, and everything. Real good looking guy with her." She drummed her pencil on the table. "What was that girl's name?" She snapped her fingers. "Melody, Symphony... Harmony!"

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JodyorJen - jodyorjen@yahoo.com