Same Time Tomorrow

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Summary: Prologue to Kimi's "Bachelor Party." In which Spike and Buffy go to the mall... to buy a shower gift.

AUTHOR: Kimi
EMAIL: kimi37212@yahoo.com
PREQUEL TO: Bachelor Party
RATING: G
PAIRING: Buffy/Spike
SPOILERS: Post 'Smashed' S6
DISCLAIMER. Well, you know. I'm not worthy, I'm not worthy. Joss is all. I own nothing except my nine year old car.
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"You know, Slayer, a little help would be welcome here."

Spike watched Buffy's head snap around and her eyes narrow. He hated it when she did that. But Spike was frustrated, exasperated and just about every other "ated" in the English language.

"I mean, this is not exactly Big Bad territory, right? You do get that? I'm in a Mall, for pity's sake."

"At the Mall." she corrected him. "And you wanted to come."

"No, I *asked* to come. Big difference. Figured you wouldn't want to be seen with me, feel all guilty about it, offer to do it for me. Everybody wins. Instead," he threw up his hands in frustration, "we're here together and my bleedin' reputation, not to mention yours, is in tatters."

Buffy just looked at him and folded her arms. Tapped her foot. Once. Waited for the rest.

"Good Lord, Buffy, you could 'a done this for me. I wouldn't 'a groused about it. No matter what you spent, I'd've covered it. Just. To. Be. Spared. This."

Spike was beginning to whine. Buffy hated it when he did that. Big Bad, huh? Right! She sighed disgustedly. "Can we not do this here?" Buffy said quietly.

"This is a bloody indignity!" Even whiney-er.

Buffy took a step forward and her eyes snapped. Spike recovered his cool. It was a good thing, because people passing by had begun to look back over their shoulders at the pair. Men! Dead or undead, they panicked at the prospect of shopping. And he was looking more undead than ever under the fluorescent lights of the Mall. She was lucky they weren't attracting more attention than they were.

"Look, Spike, Anya and Xander are getting married. You need to do something nice for them." Spike's mouth opened to speak. "Oh, yes, you do. You're always going on about how you all worked together so closely last summer while I was gone. Well, I want to do something nice for them. So we are. We are shopping."

"Buffy, Harris is a hands-on, get-it-done kind of guy -- and don’t you be tellin’ him I said it! Don't have a sodding clue what chambray shirt types like..."

"Oh, and you think there's a book on how to buy a wedding gift for an ex-vengeance demon? Get real. I need your help as much as you need mine."

"Which is why we're here together," Buffy continued in her rational tone, spelling it out clearly. "Xander human, me human -- or sort of, if your chip's any indication. Anya ex-demon, you functionally ex-demon. That is, sort of, again taking the chip into consideration."

"Oww." Spike grimaced at her summation of his state. "That hurt, Slayer. Couldn't you have just punched me in the nose?"

Buffy didn't acknowledge his pain. "If you and I can agree on something for them, then they're bound to both like it. If we can afford it, that is."

"Wait. I get the pick-it-out-together, get-a-smile thing. Except why you’re doin’ it with me, ‘stead of the Bit, I dunno.”

“Well, I’m kinda broke. Not quite, but...”

“Fine,” he smirked. Spike leaned closer, intently. "But if you're talkin' about one gift from the two of us, well... Harris'd be in the ground ten minutes after he saw the card. You're the one who doesn't want to go public. And I'd hate to get uninvited. Beer and snacks. Harris always has the good. No blood, but ..."

"Anya will deal, just for the gift! So Xander will keep quiet."

Spike considered that. And fingered the wad of bills he had in his pocket. "I know. We'll buy yours. And I'll nick mine."

Buffy groaned at his solution. "You cannot give stolen goods as a wedding gift. First, it's icky. Second, there's probably some marriage curse thingy that goes with stolen gifts. Especially in the Hellmouth." She was beginning to lose patience, but saw she was winning. Sort of.

"Really? You think? Curse?" Spike looked thoughtful. Nice thought, except he liked demon-girl.

"We’ll write your name in little, tiny, eensy letters. On the back."

“Or not. Don't need 'em to know I'm paying...”

“I wouldn’t feel right,” she said stubbornly.

“An attack of conscience? Honesty? Slayer, I’m touched.” Spike considered this compromise. Who read the card anyway? He had an epiphany. "Put Dawn's name on it and I'm in. Use big letters.”

The slayer grinned. “Gonna do that anyway.” Buffy tilted her head back, thinking. "It's not a perfect world, but it's a deal." said Buffy, a little relieved herself. "Perfect." Mission accomplished. Except ... she still had no idea what they were getting.

Spike sighed and looked at his feet. "Wish Joyce was here. She'd know what to do." He looked up and saw Buffy smiling, that sweet, soft smile that she never directed at him. He hadn't seen it in -- what? a year?

"She would, wouldn't she?" Buffy said wistfully. "Why, she was always bringing.... Oh!"

Spike frowned. Now what? Buffy looked at Spike, grinning. "I know. I know what to do. Well, sort of." She looked around wildly and started off toward the Mall exit. "But we're in the wrong place." Spike followed her to the exit, head down, leather duster flapping.

"Been sayin' that for two and a half hours, Slayer," he growled.

******

"Wow, Buff, Dawn..." Xander looked back at the card, absently turned it over in his hands. He squinted and gulped a little. "Uh, Spike." Buffy rolled her eyes in Spike's direction, brazening it out. The 'I don't know how that got there' look. The vampire looked away quickly.

"This is really something." Xander said, returning his attention to the sculpture in his hands. "The carving is so ... well, it's intricate, you know. Really...something. See, no wasted stuff. Just what is needed to convey the ...uh, what it is. What is it? I mean, I know it's a statue, but ..."

Anya squealed and grabbed the gift out of Xander's hands. Head down, she traced the carving with her fingers. When she looked up, she had tears in her eyes.

"It's a fertility goddess, Xander. Pre-Columbian? Couldn't be! That would be worth ... Tara! Look!" Anya headed over to Tara, goddess in hand.

Xander cleared his throat, looking at Spike. "You know, I've been starting to collect some old woodworking tools. After Buffy's house got trashed and I tried to put that table back together, I've been thinking about doing some furniture. Spike, if you're interested, I could show you..."

Anya rescued Spike with a shrill yell. "Xander! Put up a shelf! I want this over the bed! By tonight! You can talk to Spike later."

Xander got up and looked at Spike apologetically, "Maybe later." Spike breathed a sigh of relief, realized he was smiling. And so was Dawn. And... so was Buffy.

"Nice touch, Spike. Fertility goddess."

"And hand craftsmanship. Smart, Slayer."

Dawn looked at both of them. How much taller was she going to get, anyway?

"You both did great. Who woulda believed it?"

******

Much later, Spike stumbled just a bit as he came down the front steps from Anya and Xander's. The booze and snacks had been great, but he could tell he hadn't really eaten, and that was in the 'fridge at home.

He lit a cigarette and stood there a second, listening to the muffled sounds from inside. The carving had put quite a hole in his wad, but it hadn't seemed right to let Buffy help. He hadn't considered that money might be a problem with Joyce gone. No one had said anything to him about it. They were just lucky the new gallery owner remembered Joyce so fondly and opened up the place for them. And gave them such a great price. So he could look at the discount as Buffy's contribution, if he wanted to.

And the carving had been worth the price of admission. Nothing more fun than watching Anya bully Xander until the bloody thing was up on the new shelf. He'd downed more than one frozen concoction, jello shot and beer observing. He'd laughed out loud a couple of times, but no one had been paying attention. They were laughing too hard themselves. She'd probably be knocked up by morning. Now that ought to be a Hellmouth nightmare.

He took another drag and prepared to head back. What was he waiting for anyway?

In answer, the door swung open and the party was right there again. Dawn and Buffy skipped down the stairs, amid plenty of good nights and thank you for comings. It was a good thing the Slayer didn't drive. She was a little unsteady herself. Buffy stopped in front of Spike, put her hands on her hips and looked him over.

"You look pretty smug. Feeling pretty pleased with yourself, huh?"

Spike smirked.

"Well, you should. It was the perfect *shower* gift." Buffy nodded solemnly.

Spike dropped his cigarette, crushed it out and looked sideways at Buffy. Something wasn't right about ...

"C'mon, Dawn. Let's leave the Big Bad in peace."

Buffy looked back over her shoulder. "Now we start looking for a wedding gift. Same time tomorrow, right?"

Spike stared after her, panic rising, and groaned. Felt around in his pockets, touching the depleted roll of money as he grasped for a suicide weapon.

"Buffy, wait..." he yelled as he ran to catch up.

There was never a stake around when you needed one.

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Kimi - kimi37212@yahoo.com