![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
snoggedI'm tickled pink to bring you the latest installment. My muse and my scholar were able to compromise for once.
Title: Mission X (9/?)
Author: snogged
Disclaimer: Joss Whedon and Co. own the characters of Buffy the Vampire Slayer. I don’t.
Pairing: Willow/Riley
Word Count: 1612
Overall Rating/Warnings: FRT-13/PG-13 (will be FRAO/NC-17 in later chapters); language, angst, drama, violence, het sex, sexual innuendo.
Setting: AU! Season 6. Parts of this story come from the established canon plot lines and others are my own desire to twist things my way.
Summary: When Riley comes back to Sunnydale, he stays for a reason that’s not Buffy.
Beta: the amazing Gabrielle and the awesome![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
angelskuuipo.
Previous Chapters
Check out the gorgeous banners that Carla made for me below the cut. I suspect she's trying to tell me something...*g*
Willow didn’t need to feel Riley’s hand clenching into a fist beneath hers to know that every muscle, every tendon was corded tight with tension. He hadn’t said a word for five solid minutes since finishing that call with Sam, not that she could blame him for his silence. She would bet that “Quiet” would be her middle name, too, if she found out that a person she loved and cared for had been putting on an act the whole time.
In fact, it wouldn’t be wrong to call her Willow “Quiet” Rosenberg considering her inability to offer words of comfort at this present moment. For starters, she was feeling a little guilty about predicting this exact thing back when she first met Sam. She’d always had the feeling that spy life wasn’t supposed to include love and marriage. But telling him that sounded so cruel; she was desperate for another alternative. Problem was no amount of experience on the Hellmouth had ever taught her what to say in the event your friend was duped into a sham marriage. The only experience she had with faking anything was the time she’d faked being a vampire. Somehow, leather bustiers and cowardly screaming didn’t seem relevant here.
So, she decided to suggest the one thing that always helped her through tough times. “Would you like some tea?”
Riley’s lips parted and his eyes blinked a few times. The dramatization of him telling Willow about the assignment and the government’s fear of her magic had played out so well in his head for the last few minutes that it took him several seconds to realize that he hadn’t said a thing to her out loud. He swallowed and nodded. Tea first, talking later. “That…sounds good.”
Willow nodded, rose from the sofa, and let a small smile drift across her lips. It felt good to be helping, felt good to be there for him. After all, he was sort of like her boyfriend now with all the kissing they’d been doing and the way he’d been with her through the Tara situation. She still wanted Buffy and Dawn and Xander and Anya to know about it, but there was plenty of time for that.
Entering the kitchen, she made a beeline for the stove where the medium-sized, stainless steel teapot that Giles had given her for her 18th birthday sat. It had boiled plenty of water over the course of its lifetime and had seen many a teabag, with the favorite being honey chamomile.
Back in the living room, Riley leaned back against the cushions, letting them conform to his frame as he listened to the running water clang against the steel pot and the little humming noises Willow made as she prepared the comfort beverage. He couldn’t deny the immediate thought that those humming noises would sound lovely in other places as well, but he wasn’t the type of man to use sex to replace numbness. Willow deserved better than that. Willow deserved to come into an intimate partnership with him armed with everything she needed to know, armed with every secret he could share with her. She deserved the whole picture, not a jigsaw puzzle with half its pieces missing.
Riley exhaled sharply, suddenly feeling impatient to get Willow back in his visual proximity. He glanced at the digital readout of the VCR clock and strained to hear the sound of the kettle whistling. All he got was the sound of the front door creaking open and the smell of stale cigarettes assaulting his nostrils.
“Honey, ‘m home,” Spike said, clearing his throat as he stepped over the threshold.
The blond vampire’s cocky arrival was enough to make Riley’s blood do more boiling than the water had and he leapt to his feet. He could see zero reason why the demon would even need to be here at all since Buffy was working the night shift at the Doublemeat Palace, Dawn was with Janice, and the rest of the gang was shooting pool at the Bronze. “What the hell are you doing here, Spike?”
“Thought I’d get a spot of tea, soldier boy. Could smell it all the way down the street. And you know how we Brits are,” Spike smirked, hooking his fingers into his black jeans and lewdly thrusting his hips forward. “Gotta refresh ourselves after a rollicking old time kicking demon butt in the cemetery. Not that you’d be on for that now that you’re brooding and Slayer-less.”
“Last time I checked, Spike, Buffy wasn’t much for you either,” Riley spat, remembering the evening he’d caught his former lover humping his arch-rival into debauched oblivion. He also remembered that after that incident, any time he’d been around when Buffy had crossed paths with Spike, he hadn’t seen any interest in the vampire on her part.
Spike shrugged, leaning against the banister of the staircase. “Bet I can call to mind what she tastes like after a hot, sweaty round in the sack a lot faster than you can.”
Riley grimaced, resisting the urge to tackle Spike to the ground and sucker-punch him. Willow still hadn’t emerged to investigate the situation yet and there was no reason to alarm her. “What are you really doing here, Spike?” Riley asked, gritting his teeth. Not that he was going to believe any excuse Spike gave him anyways. That would go against everything he stood for.
“Like I said before, mate, couldn’t resist the temptation.” Spike suddenly paused, sniffing the air and getting a whiff of something earthy. “Also wanted to place a name to that pretty odor you’ve got wafting off your clothes. Something tells me it doesn’t belong to your wedded flame ‘cause it smells a lot more like a friendly neighborhood witch.”
“Willow is none of your concern,” Riley replied, her name tumbling from his lips without him meaning it to. Spike was the last person on his list that needed to know about their secret and yet, with one slip of the tongue, Spike had moved up to third place.
Spike arched an eyebrow and turned his head to peer into the other room where Willow was diligently tapping her fingers against the counter as if it would make the pot boil faster. “Well, I’ll be damned. Never thought you’d be one to trade in a heroine for a sidekick.”
“She’s not like that,” Riley said.
Spike scoffed, rolling his eyes. “I bet you have no clue what she’s really like ‘cause if you did, you’d know that she likes sticking her tongue down other women’s throats. She and Tara may be on the outs, but I’m sure the witches will be practicing their spells of sexual ecstasy in the foreseeable future.”
“Tara and Willow broke up,” Riley replied, forcefully. “And I also know Willow well enough to know that she hasn’t used magic in months.”
“We’ve all seen that, mate. She’s a bright, resourceful chit. Though I wouldn’t blame her for using it to make her water boil faster.”
“Well, she can’t,” Riley interjected, not thinking about the implications of what he was about to say next. “She’s not allowed to use magic. It’s against the rules.”
“I know why I shouldn’t use magic,” Willow said, holding two mugs of steaming tea in her hands. “But I didn’t realize there was a rulebook.”
Riley gulped, realizing that the whistle must have gone off sometime during the aggressive banter he’d had with Spike and realizing that Spike had probably known it was done all along and was just pressuring him to reveal enough so Willow could be around to hear it. “Willow, that’s not what I…”
“I thought you were okay with all my pieces,” Willow replied, summarizing the words of a promise he’d made her awhile ago. “Not that I was planning to backslide into the magic, but it was nice to think that I’d at least have you around to forgive a slip-up.”
Spike chuckled, clearly amused by his part in the ensuing drama. He didn’t say anything, however, in the interest of seeing how things escalated.
Riley shot him a death glare, but quickly turned his attention back to Willow. She looked so hurt and he hated seeing that. This was not the way he wanted her to find out about his mission, but telling her would be the only way out of this trap. “I would forgive you. I’m just not so sure that…”
“That what?” Willow said, anger blossoming behind her eyes. She couldn’t believe that he was really doing this to her, that he was doing this in front of Spike, and that all his promises were really just a way for him to control her behaviors. “That I needed you to hold my hand so I wouldn’t be tempted to eat the cookies on the dark side? I was getting along just fine before you came along.”
“I know that, Willow. I just…”
But his thought was interrupted by bright strobe flights flooding the windows, the roar of a helicopter piercing the silence of the street, and the precise beat of feet marching in unison towards the front door.
Spike reacted with vampiric speed, dashing up the stairs in the hopes of finding a window that would lead him to the shadows and the alleyways. Riley, on the other hand, waited with bated breath, uncertain of what was to come. All he could figure was that General Huth was playing some sort of major hand here.
As for Willow, the mugs of tea had vanished from her hands, emotion had overridden common sense, and her eyes were slowly turning a shade of smoky gray...
Chapter 10
Title: Mission X (9/?)
Author: snogged
Disclaimer: Joss Whedon and Co. own the characters of Buffy the Vampire Slayer. I don’t.
Pairing: Willow/Riley
Word Count: 1612
Overall Rating/Warnings: FRT-13/PG-13 (will be FRAO/NC-17 in later chapters); language, angst, drama, violence, het sex, sexual innuendo.
Setting: AU! Season 6. Parts of this story come from the established canon plot lines and others are my own desire to twist things my way.
Summary: When Riley comes back to Sunnydale, he stays for a reason that’s not Buffy.
Beta: the amazing Gabrielle and the awesome
angelskuuipo.Previous Chapters
Check out the gorgeous banners that Carla made for me below the cut. I suspect she's trying to tell me something...*g*
Willow didn’t need to feel Riley’s hand clenching into a fist beneath hers to know that every muscle, every tendon was corded tight with tension. He hadn’t said a word for five solid minutes since finishing that call with Sam, not that she could blame him for his silence. She would bet that “Quiet” would be her middle name, too, if she found out that a person she loved and cared for had been putting on an act the whole time.
In fact, it wouldn’t be wrong to call her Willow “Quiet” Rosenberg considering her inability to offer words of comfort at this present moment. For starters, she was feeling a little guilty about predicting this exact thing back when she first met Sam. She’d always had the feeling that spy life wasn’t supposed to include love and marriage. But telling him that sounded so cruel; she was desperate for another alternative. Problem was no amount of experience on the Hellmouth had ever taught her what to say in the event your friend was duped into a sham marriage. The only experience she had with faking anything was the time she’d faked being a vampire. Somehow, leather bustiers and cowardly screaming didn’t seem relevant here.
So, she decided to suggest the one thing that always helped her through tough times. “Would you like some tea?”
Riley’s lips parted and his eyes blinked a few times. The dramatization of him telling Willow about the assignment and the government’s fear of her magic had played out so well in his head for the last few minutes that it took him several seconds to realize that he hadn’t said a thing to her out loud. He swallowed and nodded. Tea first, talking later. “That…sounds good.”
Willow nodded, rose from the sofa, and let a small smile drift across her lips. It felt good to be helping, felt good to be there for him. After all, he was sort of like her boyfriend now with all the kissing they’d been doing and the way he’d been with her through the Tara situation. She still wanted Buffy and Dawn and Xander and Anya to know about it, but there was plenty of time for that.
Entering the kitchen, she made a beeline for the stove where the medium-sized, stainless steel teapot that Giles had given her for her 18th birthday sat. It had boiled plenty of water over the course of its lifetime and had seen many a teabag, with the favorite being honey chamomile.
Back in the living room, Riley leaned back against the cushions, letting them conform to his frame as he listened to the running water clang against the steel pot and the little humming noises Willow made as she prepared the comfort beverage. He couldn’t deny the immediate thought that those humming noises would sound lovely in other places as well, but he wasn’t the type of man to use sex to replace numbness. Willow deserved better than that. Willow deserved to come into an intimate partnership with him armed with everything she needed to know, armed with every secret he could share with her. She deserved the whole picture, not a jigsaw puzzle with half its pieces missing.
Riley exhaled sharply, suddenly feeling impatient to get Willow back in his visual proximity. He glanced at the digital readout of the VCR clock and strained to hear the sound of the kettle whistling. All he got was the sound of the front door creaking open and the smell of stale cigarettes assaulting his nostrils.
“Honey, ‘m home,” Spike said, clearing his throat as he stepped over the threshold.
The blond vampire’s cocky arrival was enough to make Riley’s blood do more boiling than the water had and he leapt to his feet. He could see zero reason why the demon would even need to be here at all since Buffy was working the night shift at the Doublemeat Palace, Dawn was with Janice, and the rest of the gang was shooting pool at the Bronze. “What the hell are you doing here, Spike?”
“Thought I’d get a spot of tea, soldier boy. Could smell it all the way down the street. And you know how we Brits are,” Spike smirked, hooking his fingers into his black jeans and lewdly thrusting his hips forward. “Gotta refresh ourselves after a rollicking old time kicking demon butt in the cemetery. Not that you’d be on for that now that you’re brooding and Slayer-less.”
“Last time I checked, Spike, Buffy wasn’t much for you either,” Riley spat, remembering the evening he’d caught his former lover humping his arch-rival into debauched oblivion. He also remembered that after that incident, any time he’d been around when Buffy had crossed paths with Spike, he hadn’t seen any interest in the vampire on her part.
Spike shrugged, leaning against the banister of the staircase. “Bet I can call to mind what she tastes like after a hot, sweaty round in the sack a lot faster than you can.”
Riley grimaced, resisting the urge to tackle Spike to the ground and sucker-punch him. Willow still hadn’t emerged to investigate the situation yet and there was no reason to alarm her. “What are you really doing here, Spike?” Riley asked, gritting his teeth. Not that he was going to believe any excuse Spike gave him anyways. That would go against everything he stood for.
“Like I said before, mate, couldn’t resist the temptation.” Spike suddenly paused, sniffing the air and getting a whiff of something earthy. “Also wanted to place a name to that pretty odor you’ve got wafting off your clothes. Something tells me it doesn’t belong to your wedded flame ‘cause it smells a lot more like a friendly neighborhood witch.”
“Willow is none of your concern,” Riley replied, her name tumbling from his lips without him meaning it to. Spike was the last person on his list that needed to know about their secret and yet, with one slip of the tongue, Spike had moved up to third place.
Spike arched an eyebrow and turned his head to peer into the other room where Willow was diligently tapping her fingers against the counter as if it would make the pot boil faster. “Well, I’ll be damned. Never thought you’d be one to trade in a heroine for a sidekick.”
“She’s not like that,” Riley said.
Spike scoffed, rolling his eyes. “I bet you have no clue what she’s really like ‘cause if you did, you’d know that she likes sticking her tongue down other women’s throats. She and Tara may be on the outs, but I’m sure the witches will be practicing their spells of sexual ecstasy in the foreseeable future.”
“Tara and Willow broke up,” Riley replied, forcefully. “And I also know Willow well enough to know that she hasn’t used magic in months.”
“We’ve all seen that, mate. She’s a bright, resourceful chit. Though I wouldn’t blame her for using it to make her water boil faster.”
“Well, she can’t,” Riley interjected, not thinking about the implications of what he was about to say next. “She’s not allowed to use magic. It’s against the rules.”
“I know why I shouldn’t use magic,” Willow said, holding two mugs of steaming tea in her hands. “But I didn’t realize there was a rulebook.”
Riley gulped, realizing that the whistle must have gone off sometime during the aggressive banter he’d had with Spike and realizing that Spike had probably known it was done all along and was just pressuring him to reveal enough so Willow could be around to hear it. “Willow, that’s not what I…”
“I thought you were okay with all my pieces,” Willow replied, summarizing the words of a promise he’d made her awhile ago. “Not that I was planning to backslide into the magic, but it was nice to think that I’d at least have you around to forgive a slip-up.”
Spike chuckled, clearly amused by his part in the ensuing drama. He didn’t say anything, however, in the interest of seeing how things escalated.
Riley shot him a death glare, but quickly turned his attention back to Willow. She looked so hurt and he hated seeing that. This was not the way he wanted her to find out about his mission, but telling her would be the only way out of this trap. “I would forgive you. I’m just not so sure that…”
“That what?” Willow said, anger blossoming behind her eyes. She couldn’t believe that he was really doing this to her, that he was doing this in front of Spike, and that all his promises were really just a way for him to control her behaviors. “That I needed you to hold my hand so I wouldn’t be tempted to eat the cookies on the dark side? I was getting along just fine before you came along.”
“I know that, Willow. I just…”
But his thought was interrupted by bright strobe flights flooding the windows, the roar of a helicopter piercing the silence of the street, and the precise beat of feet marching in unison towards the front door.
Spike reacted with vampiric speed, dashing up the stairs in the hopes of finding a window that would lead him to the shadows and the alleyways. Riley, on the other hand, waited with bated breath, uncertain of what was to come. All he could figure was that General Huth was playing some sort of major hand here.
As for Willow, the mugs of tea had vanished from her hands, emotion had overridden common sense, and her eyes were slowly turning a shade of smoky gray...
Chapter 10