(no subject)

[not_that_spike]

More than anything, he thinks it would be nice as hell to sleep in, wake up lazily with Beth in his arms, stay in bed all day. Those two and a half years they had... well, shit, he appreciated every damn day of it, but he appreciates them even more now. He's never felt particularly tied to any one place -- never felt anywhere call him going home, home, this is where you belong, Spike Spiegel -- but shit, the bar's the closest thing he's ever had to that.

But then he rethinks that whole more than anything bullshit. What he really wants, more than anything in the whole fucking universe, is to be with Beth.

He's got his wish, even if it's a little bit skewed, and he thinks of that old saying that goes be careful what you wish for, you might get it. This is one time he doesn't mind things going the way they have, even if it would be easier some other way: when he thinks about how long it's been since the way back to the bar got mowed down by an Israeli Merkava battle tank, he's nothing but grateful for being here no matter how difficult the circumstances might make it. He's not sure what he'd be doing now if he was stuck at the bar or the House and there was no sign of Beth or Junior or Hero.

So yeah, even though this is probably the least ideal situation he can practically imagine, he'll take it. He'll take it all the way, because he's with the woman he loves.

And the daughter he loves.

How 'bout that: he's... really not that type of guy. Funny how things can change.

When Ciba and Vlad and Natalya and Hero are all out of earshot and way the hell out of sight on a little hike to find fresh water, he reaches over and tucks Beth's hair back behind her ear. "It's just me, Slim. Your very own invisible bounty hunter."

In Beth's arms, Junior's eyes widen at the sound of his voice and she lets out a big laugh.

"Hope you don't mind me tagging along another few days. I've never been to New York." Even if she can't see it, he's smiling. Yeah, this trip has been tough as hell, but he hasn't lost his sense of humor. It might be his most precious commodity, right after the cloak and the guns and ammo and cigarettes. He lets the cloak fall back and runs a hand through his hair.

He'd do anything for his Beths.

Comments

[stbethadettes]

It's still kind of unnerving when he touches her or talks to her before he opens the cloak to show himself, but Beth smiles in spite of the momentary surprise.

Beth Junior, with a big open-mouthed baby grin on her face, stares at Spike when the cloak falls open and doesn't take her eyes off him. It's a good thing she's not old enough to talk because who knows what the hell she'd be saying about the amazing disappearing, reappearing bounty hunter... but as it is, Spike's giving her an effective ongoing game of peekaboo.

For just a second, Beth hides her smile against the top of Junior's head, pressing a kiss against her hair, and then quickly glances around for signs of the girls before leaning into Spike. "So once we get to New York you're going to ditch us and go see the sights?"

She knows better.

"Have you ever been to France?"

She doesn't know for certain, but she doesn't think so. He's never mentioned it.

[not_that_spike]

It's such a relief to be out from under that cloak: he has a love/hate relationship with the thing. He loves it because it lets him be here more or less safely, but he hates it because it's a barrier and it's hot and stuffy and thank fuck he's not real claustrophobic or he'd be having a hell of a time. But the minute she leans into him his arm's around her, his fingers tangling in her hair that's getting long again.

A few weeks back he ditched the suit jacket; it's stuffed into the bottom of his backpack along with the cigarettes he can't risk smoking and the ammo he thankfully hasn't needed... yet. The cloak's so warm that all he needs under it is his t-shirt and jeans, and that's okay. He still wears the holster for his Jericho -- makes it easier to have it handy -- but that's about all he needs even though he really wishes he'd brought more than 2 t-shirts with him. But hell, they're getting a good workout and he's getting really good at sneaking off to wash them.

He's getting a good workout too: they're always on the move. The only things he's longed for have been rest and food, but they're getting by okay. Beth and Junior are still the only ones who know he's here.

The first answer he gives her is a kiss, but if this thing's taught him anything, it's self-restraint so he pulls back, settling for tracing her lips with his fingertip. "France? No. Just New France."

The place with the unbelievable bed.

Yeah.

He had broken ribs there. Beth Junior was barely the size of a pea there. They got Elaine some Shikonberry scone mix there.

It feels like a whole other lifetime, and he really feels duty-bound to tell Beth this every damn chance he gets: every day a honeymoon is a little different when you're scrambling to survive, but it doesn't mean the words mean any less.

"Love the hell out of you, ma'am."

[stbethadettes]

With a babble that's nothing but gleeful, Junior bunches her hand in the collar of Beth's shirt, still watching Spike like a tiny plump-cheeked hawk.

"No kidding?" Her smile hints at indulgence, but the look in her eyes is all appreciation. "I love you, too."

It would seem the baby's pretty damn fond of him, too.

She doesn't think they've seen eye to eye on how tight-lipped she's stayed about him with the others, or at least with Hero. But he's not telling her what to do, and she's glad about that.

They're probably spending even more time together than ever before, even considering that they've been shacking up for years, and yet she misses him.

It's stupid, she knows, but they have to steal moments. He gets to see her all the time, and she gets to see him... sometimes. Things can be so unpredictable that they can't even always arrange to sneak around and get some time together.

And it must be a real pain in the ass to have to wear that cloak all the time.

He does it for her, but she wishes he didn't have to.

"How're you holding up?"

[not_that_spike]

"Good."

So what if the circumstances suck? He's not lying. He can't lie to Beth anyway. "I'm doing good. See?" He directs her hand to his midsection: he's all lean and wiry and muscle. If he knew for sure they had any time at all to themselves he'd invite her to explore his body a little differently, but they can't risk that. Hell, at this point Hero would be really pissed off to find out he's been here all along, he thinks, and how the fuck would they explain him to Ciba and Natalya? Beth's right, keeping him secret the way she has, even if he doesn't always like it.

He happens to think he'd be fine with this group if they all knew he was here, but it's okay. Whether or not that's true, it's Beth's call and he loves her and he'll do things her way because this is her world. And yeah, it's hot under the cloak and he's really, really hungry, and he'd love a smoke, but... he's still good. He's holding up because he can look into her eyes, even if she can't see him doing it.

"I tell you, ma'am: I've been in some strange situations before but nothing like this. Good thing I know how to be stealthy, like ninja." He laughs, reaching over to take little Beth into his arms for a few precious minutes. He misses things: he misses swinging her around and changing her diapers -- of all the fucking things to miss -- and giving her baths and damn, she's just starting to eat little bits of solid food and the expressions she makes with them are priceless, like she doesn't know what to do with the food, and he'd give almost anything to be able to coach her through it a little. But he can't.

At least she gets to know he's here. At least he's not missing it all. Lifting up the baby's shirt, he blows a loud kiss onto her stomach. It makes them both laugh.

(Click.)

He looks over at his Beth with soft mismatched brown eyes. "It's times like this, Slim. Moments just like this one that remind me no matter how hard it gets other times, this is where I'm supposed to be. Where I need to be, with you and Junior. I can't imagine being anywhere else."

He'd like to fall right into her arms. Take her to the stars with him.

Maybe they will again, some day.

[stbethadettes]

Watching them, she leans against a tree and shakes out her arms. Junior can get heavy when she's been holding her for a while.

After the shake of her arms, she folds them over her chest, letting her smile turn a little bit rueful. "I'm sorry."

She hates apologizing for something she's felt is for the best under the circumstances they've found themselves in, but... she is sorry.

"I'm sorry this is so hard."

And it's not all her fault, of course; she knows better than to think that way. But some of it is.

Moving closer, one of her arms curling around his waist and the opposite hand cupping around one of Junior's, she looks up at the sky and goes on before he can say anything in response. "It looks like rain."

[not_that_spike]

Before he can tell her things like don't be sorry, I wouldn't have it any other way or I'm not sorry, Slim or hey, it's not that hard, it's better than being apart she starts talking about the weather; he looks up at the sky.

It's pretty. The clouds are real, not manufactured, not directed by some climate control group and out of all the things on Earth, the simple fact that the weather's real still amazes him. It did when he stayed with Doohan back when he was seventeen, learning the ins and outs of the Swordfish, and it does now.

"Hey." Turning his head, he kisses the side of her face. "I like being in the rain with you."

Yeah, they've had a few moments together. He remembers that time outside by the lake when they couldn't get enough of each other, right there on the lawn like they were a pair of sex-starved teenagers who'd never gotten any their whole damn lives, and they ended up racing back to their room and...

Well. Maybe they can't do that now, but he'll take every moment in the rain he can get with Beth. Turning, with Junior safely wedged between them, he does something he's been wanting to do for a fuck of a long time: gives his woman one hell of a kiss.

And then another.

He's not one to argue about things being better in threes, and that's something Beth hasn't ever said she minds.

She sure doesn't seem to mind right now. Hell, she might be the only woman on the whole damn planet getting kissed by a guy right now. That makes him feel all kinds of smug, not to mention lucky as hell.

[stbethadettes]

Smiling again, she tilts her head, barely blinking when Junior makes a grab for some of her hair.

"You're still sweet."

She just wishes he always had a choice about whether or not he wanted to be in the rain with her. That he loves her isn't in doubt, and it hasn't been in a long time. If she did have any doubts when he came out there, they would've been put to rest time and time again.

You wouldn't do what he's doing for someone you don't love.

You wouldn't do what she's doing for someone you don't love.

"Just promise me one thing, Spike." She can almost still feel his mouth against hers, and a raindrop falls on her shoulder, leaving a small dark spot on the blue of her shirt. "Promise me you'll tell me when it's too much."

[not_that_spike]

He'd promise her the damn moon if he thought he could get it for her: he'll do anything in the whole universe for this woman, this baby. As long as Beth's around, nothing's going to be too much.

But he can make this promise, and he does. "I will. Promise." He has a pretty good track record with Beth and promises, when everything's kind of thrown into the mix and considered together. The promise he couldn't keep was not breaking his ribs again; it was pretty much out of his control. Lucky she didn't know him before when he was in bandages every five minutes.

Reaching forward, he rests his palm against her cheekbone. "Love you, Beth. If you ever get tired of hearing me say it, I... probably won't stop." She's so warm and so soft, and it's really nice to be out of that cloak for a while. And that's when he understands -- not for the first time, but with the most clarity so far -- exactly why it's dangerous for him here: he could be tempted so easily just to throw caution to the wind and put the damn cloak away. She knows him well enough to know he has a fuck of a hard time sitting still, but that's basically the position he's in out here.

And he's only been here about six weeks.

Shit.

He has a hell of a lot of newfound respect for Yorick Brown. It must really suck to be that guy.

"We have a little time, right?"

[stbethadettes]

She's glad when he promises, and what he says about probably not stopping the I love yous almost makes her laugh.

Every guy who's ever told her he loves her is dead. Spike can tell her that as much as he wants, even if it makes her give him indulgent smiles and think he's the biggest closet romantic she knows.

She won't mind.

"Yeah." Despite her answer, she glances around one more time. Junior's hand makes its way from Beth's hair to her face, tiny fingers spreading against her mouth, and she plants a big kiss on it. "We've got a little."

[not_that_spike]

"Good." A glance up at the rapidly darkening sky tells him exactly what he wants to know: it's about to rain and it's going to rain hard. He can smell it in the air, feel it in the wind; he hands Beth Junior back to Beth and lets the cloak and backpack fall to the ground.

His Nike-Mars t-shirt joins the pile; giving Beth one more kiss, this time to her forehead, he steps out from under their tree canopy and waits, face turned expectantly to the sky. There's a distant rumble of thunder and the sound of raindrops spattering maple leaves all around them. For a minute he's afraid it's going to be one of those rainstorms that just blows through too fast, but it isn't and he's glad: it's been way too long since he had the luxury of any kind of shower.

Damn: he could stand here in the water for days. Cupping raindrops in his hands, he splashes it over his face, his torso, taking full advantage of the situation. It wasn't so long ago he'd have definitely taken a different kind of advantage, but he knows how to adapt. He's an opportunist and never claimed to be anything else. Sweat and grime run off his body; his jeans are getting soaked but he doesn't care about that so much. If he knew that the other women would be gone longer he'd risk stripping out of those, too, but he can't be sure they have that much time.

Under cover of the trees, Beth and the baby look mostly dry.

He misses the simple luxuries of a bath and a shower and a fresh clean towel, but more than that, he really misses showering with them.

[stbethadettes]

Beth would be such a goddamn liar if she said the sight of Spike, half-dressed, with rain water streaming down him wasn't attractive as hell, but she and Junior watch him with fairly equal solemnity until a single bold raindrop cuts through the canopy of leaves they're standing under and spatters on the baby's face, near her nose.

Almost immediately Junior scrunches up her face, and when tears look imminent, Beth gently bounces her on her hip, making a low shushing noise.

"Hey, you're all right. See?" She carefully wipes the rain from Junior's face, puts a light kiss in its place, and moves to sit on a tree stump so she can open the diaper bag and rummage around in it for the Junior's little pink hat.

At least it keeps her from dumbly watching Spike as he washes off in the rain, and besides, if any of the girls are in earshot they're probably more likely to come back this way if they hear the baby crying, just to be sure everything's okay. The more time she can buy Spike out of the cloak, the better.

The hat proves to be a decent distraction, and once it's on, Junior reaches up with one hand as if to be sure it's not going anywhere, big blue eyes gazing at Beth.

Now she steals a glance at Spike. "Need something to dry off with?"

[not_that_spike]

"You packing towels in there, ma'am?" The sound of her voice is enough to bring him back to the present: no use longing for things he can't have. He's been there and done that and has no intention of having to live that way again. Water drips from his own personal forest of hair; he shakes it out like a misplaced shaggy dog before stealing over to the dry spot under the tree. For the moment, his t-shirt suffices as enough of a towel: they've traveled for weeks now both wet and dry, hot and cold, tired and awake, grumpy and complacent. He'll dry off eventually.

"Next time I'm going to tell Tom to loan me a cloak that has a whole damn hotel room inside. That's the way to travel." Laughing, he burrows into his pack for a dry shirt: it's his Venusian vanilla one, looking a little worse for the wear. Of course, it hasn't seen an iron in weeks and weeks but it's fine; it works. It covers him up just enough; for the moment he leaves it unbuttoned.

The fresh air, rife with ozone, feels good against his skin. When this is all over -- when they're back home together -- they can laugh over it. He's careful not to put that into words, though. When he and Beth first met, she'd close right up at the suggestion of anything happening in the future, so he learned not to talk about those things. Not to talk about hopes and desires and things that might happen. They're a hell of a pair: the blatant pessimist who always sees the glass half empty, and the damn opportunist who only sees that there's water.

When he's done pawing off his hair, he rolls up that used t-shirt and stuffs it in his pack. His hand meets a knife stuck safely in its hilt, and then a box of ammo, and another. If the others in this little party knew he was there, he could blaze a hell of a trail for them, being invisible and shit. Beth wouldn't stand for it and he knows it, but still.

Oh well.

Whatever happens happens. When he reaches over to caress Junior's little hand on the brim of her hat, he smiles softly. She's such a trooper. With a mom like Beth, she couldn't have turned out any differently. His eyes move from his daughter to the woman he loves; the breeze flutters against the open panels of his shirt.

"Think I ought to wear the tie?" If she says yes, she... might just have to help him with it.

That'd be a hell of a shame.

[stbethadettes]

Her eyes keep wanting to linger on his open shirtfront, but his question easily coaxes a smile onto her face.

"Yeah."

When she was pregnant -- and maybe it was mostly those nutty pregnant chick hormones, but she can't blame it all on them -- she kind of reveled in the near normalcy of curling up with Spike on a couch by the fire in the bar.

Even if rats served their drinks.

Once they moved into the House of Arch, she marveled at how easy she found it to get used to life there. It was almost too good to be true.

There's no point in hoping their rooms are still there for them when they get back, because who knows if they'll ever get back? Once upon a time, she'd have said some door along the way would have to lead back to the bar because Spike just doesn't belong here.

It hasn't happened so far.

Spike wearing the tie is... unimportant and unnecessary, but she'll take it. It'll make her feel good.

"You should."

[not_that_spike]

"Okay."

Out of all the requests she's ever made of him, this is perhaps the simplest and one of the purest on some... societally philosophical level he's not going to take the time to figure out right now. Reaching into the backpack again, he takes the tie out from where it's been folded away pretty much since that first day. This trip they're on doesn't exactly have a sign reading jacket and tie required or anything and it started to feel silly. But if Beth wants him to wear it, hell, that's easy. He hands it over to her, then looks down at his unbuttoned shirt.

If the circumstances were different, that'd be one hell of an invitation to play. He knows it and she knows it and shit yeah, he misses that. He misses having his arms around her. He misses the easy way they used to fall into seduction, like it was the most normal thing in the universe. He misses the slow stillness of her heartbeat on a lazy late morning in bed.

There will be other opportunities for that -- somewhere, sometime -- but not now. It doesn't take him long to have that shirt completely buttoned; he nods to Beth. "Ready."

Taking the baby into his arms, he scoots closer so Beth doesn't have to reach so far: it will be such a pleasure to have her dress him again. Being in hiding hasn't presented them with a hell of a lot of opportunities for moments like this. Junior looks up at him, smiles, and lets loose with a long stream of babbling. Nonsense, mostly, except for at the very end when she gives him an insistent dada!

Then she does it again. Good thing he's not the sentimental type or he'd have tears in his eyes.

"Yeah, that's right, aijou. And mama's right here."

He'll trade all the danger the universe can throw his way for moments just like this. When he looks over at Beth, he just can't stop grinning like a damn sucker.

[stbethadettes]

She's just taken the ends of his tie in her hands when Junior says what sounds a lot like dada, and that's...

Well, fucking amazing is what it is, and she pauses to look at the baby for a second.

But it's probably just a coincidence. Junior can babble with the best of them when she feels like it, and the only person who regularly referred to Spike specifically as daddy when talking to Junior is Hero. And to say Hero hasn't exactly had the chance to do that hell of a lot lately is an understatement.

She doesn't voice any of that to Spike, though. Not when he's got that pleased grin on his face. With a small smile of her own, she busies herself with the serious business of helping him with his tie, and once she's done, she gives it a satisfied pat and plants a kiss right on his lips.

"You're all set, bounty hunter."

[not_that_spike]

That's... kind of perfect. Well, it would be more perfect if she was taking the tie off, but all in good time. Some day.

He can wait.

"Thanks."

Settling in on the forest floor right next to her, he wraps an arm around her and tugs her toward his body. There's no law that says they can't cuddle, all three of them, while they have the chance. It's the next best thing to normal in this fucked-up world of hers. And this is really nice: at night he wishes he could hold her without having to hide under the cloak, but that's kind of a necessary sacrifice to have to make. He'd rather not find himself suddenly on the wrong end of that rifle Natalya totes with her everywhere.

He's acutely aware of every noise. The rain's largely stopped, leaving that crisp smell the air gets on this planet after a rainstorm. He never noticed that same thing on Mars in all the years he lived there, but he does here every single time. There are no sounds of approaching footsteps or women talking in that soft hush they get; he can't hear Vlad running around. It means they still have a few precious minutes to themselves; he rocks Beth and Junior in his arms so very slightly, and without any noise.

This has all been really difficult. It'll continue to be difficult; there's no simple way to suddenly make his presence known, get the whole story told. But as long as Beth knows where he is, it's okay. They have a little system evolving: he'll brush her hand, or give it a little squeeze when no one else is around, or lift up the back of that baby backpack when he's behind her so she knows he's still there. It's... survival at its strangest, if he stops to think about it: they've all taken on that lean, determined look Beth and Hero had the first time they came back to the bar.

But for now -- just for this moment -- they damn well ought to be allowed to relax. It won't last long; he'll have to disappear back under the cloak, but that's okay. This is good: he'll take it.

[stbethadettes]

Beth rests her chin on his shoulder, her fingers playing with his wet hair. Her eyes close after a minute or two, and she lets out a near silent sigh.

If they stay like this much longer, she could probably drift off to sleep right here and now. Even with the occasional babble from Junior to break the relative silence here under the trees now that the rain's mostly stopped.

Her fingertip traces his collarbone through the fabric of his shirt, and she makes her eyes open again.

Next time she gets a chance to take a real shower in a private and lockable bathroom, she's going to urge him to sneak in with her. That's all there is to it.

"On the bright side," she tells him as if they were already in the middle of a conversation, "you haven't gotten to see any amazons yet."

[not_that_spike]

That's actually something he's been wondering about: for all their talk of amazons, the only one he's seen is Hero and that doesn't count. She's ex-amazon, just like he's ex-syndicate: it doesn't count. "That's good. I'm not in a big hurry to be shot with an arrow." His voice is light, but the subject is serious: it's one of the things that's worried her ever since he's known her. Somewhere over the past two and a half years, he's pretty damn sure he promised her he wouldn't ever let any amazons get him.

He knows he promised to keep her and Junior safe from them. Funny how fate has a way of holding people to their promises. Leaning over, he kisses the top of her head. "You know I love you, Slim. Shit, I can't stop saying it and if it was up to me, I'd show you every chance we get. Makes it a little hard being in hiding, but I know how to do it. I just... I worry for you and for Junior. I didn't expect to be here this long, but I'm guessing you didn't either. I'm just glad I didn't lose you again."

Vicious didn't kill him; Mars didn't kill him; losing Julia didn't kill him; having to go back and relive things didn't kill him. The closest he got to giving up was when he got back to the bar and Beth wasn't there. If it had happened again, he's not so sure he would have been able to stand it.

"But... hey. Here we are. So what if we have to measure our time together in carefully guarded minutes instead of having the luxury of hours and days and years? There's only one thing I've wanted for the past two and a half years, and that's you. Just... don't go telling all your friends here your guy's a closet romantic. They'll take away my license to be cool for sure, but they'll also think you're crazy." A soft little laugh escapes his lips.

He's fucking crazy about her.

Junior lets out a contented yawn and grabs onto his tie. He wishes he didn't have to keep hiding: he can hardly see the point. But it's Beth's world, Beth's rules. That's all there is to it.

[stbethadettes]

That makes her mouth curve into another smile, but it doesn't stop her from saying what she was going to say.

"You don't need to worry about me or Junior. You're the walking target if something ever happens to that cloak. Vlad's a miniature target, too, if anyone's paying close enough attention."

She glances down at Junior, then meets Spike's eyes again, smiling wider. "Even if amazons are scarce these days, I don't really want to have share you anyway."

No doctors, no scientists, no lies upon lies to tell so people don't find out about the bar, especially now that she can't prove it exists.

She can lie just fine, but she'd rather keep the lies at a minimum. With that in mind, she also realizes she could tell Hero about Spike and then only be lying to Hero about what the letter Yorick sent her with said.

There's just been this one niggling thing at the back of her mind. Yorick said in the note that Hero might seem a little off but that he thought all she needed was a friend. They were kind of... thrust together by circumstances before she could really get to know Hero and she did make the decision to leave St. Bernadette's fully aware that Hero had been an amazon, but in the time they've spent together since then, she hasn't seen anything all that off about her.

Hero told her some of the things that she's done, and it was impossible to walk away from that conversation without thinking that Hero had been vulnerable and taken advantage of and basically brainwashed. But still, nothing until that one mutter directed to Victoria on the day they left the hot suite struck her as worrisome. And maybe that was nothing, too. Hell, she talked to Junior out loud all the time when she was alone in the church for that month away from the bar, and the unborn baby sure wasn't going to be holding a real conversation with her. There were times alone in the quiet of the church when she needed to say something aloud just to break the silence.

The real reason for concern is Spike, and there probably shouldn't be any. If Hero's wrestling with some buried issues left over from the time she spent as an amazon, she's hiding it pretty well. And she seems fine with Vlad.

She feels a little guilty doubting Hero the slightest bit, and really, she has tons of respect for her. As far as she's concerned, Hero's the closest friend she's had -- except for Spike -- in years, and she considers her to be in a class of her fucking own.

Eventually, when the opportune time presents itself, she'll have to tell Hero about Spike. Maybe they'll have a chance once they get to the New York harbor.

And if Hero's kind of upset with her for keeping a secret like this, she'll understand. But she won't feel bad about the decision she made to keep it to herself initially.

[not_that_spike]

Hell, if anyone's paying attention that close, he'll scoop up Vlad and keep him safe and Beth's got to know that. Hopefully he won't have to do it, but fuck if he's going to let that kid come to harm at all.

On the other hand, the fact that she doesn't want to share him fills him with this happy macho contentment, makes his arm tighten around her just that much more. He has about zero interest in being shared on most levels: if you look up one-woman man in the encyclopedia, his picture's probably next to the damn thing. Still, he appreciates the hell out of her.

"Shit. I wish we could relax here for hours. It's nice." Nice having her and Junior in his arms -- he never gets to hold the baby this much any more -- and nice being out of the cloak. It starts getting a little claustrophobic in there sometimes. More than a couple nights, he's dreamed he was back on that operating table in restraints while they took his eye; he attributes every single one of those dreams to being stuck under the cloak for so long.

But it's working.

But shit, shit, shit, he misses things like this. All he wants are his Beths.

And a smoke, but he doesn't want that enough to risk compromising their safety. When his own eyelids start to feel heavy, he resettles to sit up just a little bit straighter: he's not going back under that cloak until he has to. He wants every damn second of this private time with them.

[stbethadettes]

This has already been a little longer than they usually manage to get alone, and she's about to reluctantly say they should probably get ready for the girls showing up again when she hears the crack of wood -- maybe a small branch snapping in two -- not too far away.

It could just be an animal, but she automatically straightens and reaches for Junior, who holds out her own little arms and gets passed over easily enough.

If it was just an animal or something, she'd rather feel silly later than assume nobody was close and have Spike in plain sight for anybody to see.

Before he can gather the cloak around him, she leans in for a kiss that's far too quick.

"Love you."

It's just a whisper, and she gives him a crooked smile. Sometimes it feels kind of like a goodbye when he needs to put the cloak back on again, even though he's not really going anywhere.

She looks forward to regaining some of that sense of normalcy in their relationship, to say the least, but it's definitely not just for her own sake.

He made her a promise, and while he's already demonstrated a knack for keeping promises against the odds, this might just be the first she's asked him for and counts on him to keep.

[not_that_spike]

He loves her too, and as much as she knows it, he loves her even more than that. There's only been one other woman in his life -- his whole life -- he would've done anything like this for, and despite the fact that hiding like this really sucks, he'll do it.

He'll do it just to be with her. His hand is the last thing to disappear beneath the safety of the cloak; it rests against her cheekbone as long as he can before another snap of twig and the sound of hushed voices proves that Beth's instincts were absolutely right. They pushed time as long and as far as they could and hell, if that's what they get, he'll take it. If he's learned one thing the past few years, it's that time's more precious than almost anything and whatever he gets with her really ought to be cherished.

He does. It's what keeps him going, keeps him from thinking too far into the future to things like so if and when we find Hero's brother, what happens to me and Beth and Junior?

One thing at a time.