moragmacpherson (![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
moragmacpherson) wrote2008-03-28 06:04 am
moragmacpherson) wrote2008-03-28 06:04 am
Fic: Better With Two (6/??) (Buffy/DrWho)
Title: Better With Two (6/??)
Series: Tempus Frangit
Author:![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
moragmacpherson
Rating: PG-13
Timeline: True sequel to Another Side of the Sky. Takes place during AU Buffy season 8 "The Long Way Home," approximately two months post Another Side for the Doctor.
Disclaimer: I make no claim to any characters contained herein, who are actually owned by big corporations filled with highly paid attorneys who know that suing me would be idiotic based on the fact that all I own are student loans and they wouldn't even be able to recover costs.
Archive: Here, TtH. If you'd like it, let me know.
Betas: Depending on the chapter, some combination of Arkaeus, LiastraLee, MissJulie, and/orbooster17
Summary: Great muppety Odin, Buffy misses the Doctor. She decides the time has come to do something about it.
Chapter Six - Junkyard Dog
“Is this… it’s a toaster?”
“Hold on, let me see.” The Doctor popped his glasses on and leaned over. “Ah. Yes. General Electric 139T81. Great source for spare parts. Just don’t make ‘em like they used to.”
Willow rolled her eyes and shook her head. “I take it it’s not in here to burn bread?”
“No, no. Supplementing the tertiary vent coil, although, if you’re feeling a bit peckish, it can still perform.” He polished the chrome then returned to his evaluations.
“Brings a whole new meaning to ‘brave little toaster,’’ giggled Willow.
The Doctor smirked. “Don’t knock it, worked well enough for Homer Simpson’s time travels, it’s good enough for me.”
“Sorry, my worlds just… paradigm shift all of a sudden, give me a second. You watch the Simpsons?”
“Pass me that spanner and recall that I’ve spent sixty odd years with Buffy, approximately six months total of which were spent watching the Simpsons.” His hand appeared out of the TARDIS floor, and Willow handed him the tool.
“That’s right. Easy to forget.”
“Easy for you to say.”
Willow peeked under the rim of the console, examining the jury-rigged wiring. “Well, you, okay, you’re nine hundred whatever years, and you feel it. But Buffy’s just always felt like, y’know, Buffy. Eighty-six or sixteen, she’s still the same girl.”
“Refreshing that, isn’t it?”
“Yeah, except for right after she came back, and the last three weeks.”
The glasses came off and the Doctor’s head popped up. “Okay. What exactly are you getting at?”
“She feels old. Depressed. I’m worried about her. Aren’t you?” Willow slid down the console and sat cross-legged next to him.
“Well, a little, I suppose.” His head tilted left to right. “I’ve done what I can though. Two week vacation in Luss, dumped that worthless sack of waste in a lonely armpit of the universe, been at her beck and call the whole time.” Sighing he returned to his work. “I’m afraid this is just going to take some time.”
“What if we don’t have it?”
“Pressing concerns?” He shifted a bolt to fix the wire connection beneath it, grunting with the effort.
“Um, Twilight, Doctor? Any bells all ringy there?” Willow paused. “No, you’ve done that wrong.”
The Doctor tilted his head at her. “Have I then?”
“Yup. She just lost connection to the helmic regulator.”
“Oh bugger. One moment.” With a croak and a bang, the helmic regulator came back online. “She’s very upfront with you. Normally I’d be tumbling down the time vortex like a toy boat in the wake of a speed boat before she’d let me know about that sort of thing.” He pulled himself up and replaced the panel while she struggled for a response.
Willow shrugged. “She… likes me?”
The Doctor stopped. “No.”
Willow’s face dropped. “She doesn’t?”
“No, no no no no no… oh no.”
“What, Doctor?”
He turned towards the console with a look of anger and betrayal. “You can’t. She’s not a Time Lord, she’s not even from the right universe.”
Willow moved closer to him. “What are you talking about?”
It was like she wasn’t even there. “And it’s not like you can abandon me. What about all the good times? I haven’t got anyplace else. Bonding is supposed to be forever.” Willow couldn’t remember seeing the Doctor this agitated.
“Please Doctor, what are you going on about?”
“Well, I’ve got to come up with a plan now. You can’t do this yet. I need time. I need to think.” He pulled at his hair, then turned. “Willow, get out!”
“Tell me-“
“No, not right now, just get out, you’re making this, you’ve done this, I’ve got to-“ Fury and despair tore at his face. “No, no, just get out now.”
“Okay.” Willow’s nostrils flared. “I’ll go now, but you will tell me what’s going on, Time Lord.”
“Maybe.” He whispered as she left. This was not possible. This was not allowable. But the TARDIS had driven differently for him that last trip, had just wanted to come back here. He thought it had been because of the strange new time vortex, but that wasn’t it.
He swallowed. “You’re not mine anymore, are you?” He stroked the console. “We had a good run though.” The Doctor laughed, trying to push the tears back. “What am I supposed to do?”
~*~
Spike pulled Buffy’s arms behind her. “Sloppy, sloppy. Not at all like the Oldest Living Slayer.” Buffy leaned forward and then arched back, aiming for his cheek, not his nose.
“Ow.” But Spike didn’t let go and they were down on the ground. “Lovely warm blood in these veins. Best to keep it inside though, right pet?” Buffy managed to kick him off.
“Shut up Spike.” She grabbed a pair of swords off the wall and threw one at him, barely giving him enough time to withdraw it before she swept hers at him.
“You’re not fighting to survive right now. That’s what’s wrong.” They parried and thrusted until he had her back against the wall. “That’s why I’m winning.” He poked her wrist with the blunted sword tip and her blade fell out of her hand. Her fingers bent into claws, but he grabbed her wrists and held them down against her chest, pressing his body against her. Spike held his face close to her. “You’ve got your friends, your sister, your army, your alien lover. You’ve even got me.” He looked Buffy’s face over, seeing the tension and the lack of conviction behind her struggles. “So why is it you want to die again?”
Buffy gritted her teeth. “I don’t.”
“Your lips say no, your punches say yes.” Spike licked his lips. “Guess which part of you I believe, Slayer, luscious though those lips might be?” He kissed her forehead then released her to slump down the wall.
“I don’t need this Spike. I’m just tired.” He slid down next to her, pushing the sword aside.
“Coming up on your first century, aren’t you pet? It’s a good time to get all choked up and world weary. I spent a decade eating nihilist philosophers.” Buffy glared at him, but he slung one arm around her waist, and she laid her head on his shoulder. “It’s a tough age. Instead of killing off a literary movement, you could, I don’t know, talk to me instead.”
“Nothing to talk about,” she mumbled.
“You don’t talk to Giles. You barely talk to Xander or me. I haven’t seen you talk to Dawn. And your lover man spends all his time locked up in that box with Willow, and I’m not convinced that relationship is entirely healthy.”
As if on cue, a teary Willow arrived in the training room. “Buffy, Buffy?”
Buffy was on her feet. “What’s wrong Wills?”
“He got all angry, the Doctor, and he yelled and told me to get out of the TARDIS. He’s really upset, and I think he’s upset with me.”
“What do you mean, he told you to get out?” Buffy held her friend’s arms.
“He just started ranting about how he was being abandoned, he needed a plan, and then he was all, ‘Willow get out of here.’”
Spike sneered. “Who’s abandoning him? All you lot follow him around like puppies.”
Buffy looked Willow in the eye. “He hasn’t gone anywhere. I’ll go talk to him, I’ll get him to apologize to you. Sometimes he forgets, he treats people like-“
“Like you don’t matter. I’ll believe that.” Spike stood up. “Buffy, I think this has gone on long enough.”
“Like what’s gone on long enough?” Buffy’s eyes flashed her anger, but her voice was low.
“Hey, you two, it’s fine, he just lost his temper, I’ll live.” Willow couldn’t bring herself to get between the two of them.
“He just loses his temper all over the place, calls you lot all dumb apes anytime you ask a reasonable question, and she can’t seem to make him stop.” He jerked a thumb at Buffy. “Maybe it’s time someone told him what an incredible git he can be. And I am just that someone.” Spike grabbed his duster and strode out of the room.
Buffy went to stop him, but Willow held her back. “Willow, I’ve got to stop him.”
“Why Buffy? Maybe he’s right.” Willow looked down. “We’re all so in awe of the Doctor. You’re the worst of us, because you love him. Maybe we have to stop protecting him.”
Buffy’s whole body shook. “You’ve never been anything but nice to him. I just don’t get it, when he goes off like this. But sending Spike in? It just- they’ll try to tear each other apart, they’ve been itching for a fight since he got here.”
Willow sighed. “Better now than later.”
~*~
Spike stormed into the TARDIS, eyes full of fire, only to stop. The Doctor was sitting underneath the console, eyes closed, one hand clutching the underside of the controls.
Spike cleared his throat. “What the hell just went on?”
The Doctor opened his eyes in surprise. “I’ve lost her.”
“Lost who? Buffy’s all yours, mate, she’s made that abundantly clear. Whatever it is, no reason to take it out on Red, who’s in tears, by the way. I don’t take kindly to that, I’ll have you know.” Spike leaned on the rails.
“Willow.” The Doctor shook his head. “It’s impossible. It can’t happen. She can’t leave me like this.”
“Who, you daft idiot?”
“The TARDIS! The TARDIS wants to stay with Willow! She wants to, she wants me to go find another ship, and there just isn’t one! What the hell am I supposed to do, a Time Lord stranded in this insane magical dimension with no TARDIS and no way to travel, no where to run, my best friend gone.” The Doctor wailed. “How can you do this to me?”
Spike leaned back. “Well then.” He smiled. “Willow’s something else. First it was girls, now it’s space ships.”
The Doctor glared. “You’re not helping.”
“Well, I can offer sympathy at least. I’ve been there mate. Watch over your girl for years and years, fight by her side, then one day she up and decides that you’re not the man for her anymore, she’s met someone else. It’s not that she doesn’t love you anymore, she says, just that she’s met someone she can’t live without. What she doesn’t say is that means that she can live without you.” Spike pushed out a breath. “What can men like us say to that?” The Doctor nodded. “If you love it, set it free.”
The Doctor retreated back further. “It’s not that simple.”
“Oh, it is, Doc. The harder you try to hold, the harder she’s going to pull. Maybe you’d be better off paying attention to the-“ He stopped. “The female who wants to be with you. Who’s hurting, by the way, and you’ve been ignoring her.”
“I haven’t been ignoring Buffy. I’ve been giving her space.”
“Quit being so dense, Freckles. She’s in pain, and I can’t shock her out of it.”
“She’s having self-doubts.” The Doctor moved to stand. “Treating her like a piece of shattered crystal isn’t exactly going to rebuild her confidence. She just needs time, and I am busy.”
Spike guffawed. “Oh, yes, the mighty Doctor, much too busy to help his own lover. You weren’t there for her last time either. You didn’t see how close she came to-“
“To what,” interrupted the Doctor, standing over Spike. “To giving in to the demon? Or to getting raped by yours,” he hissed. “Exactly how thick do you think I am, hmm Spike? I may not have been here the last time, but you were, and you certainly didn’t do much to help her.” The Doctor turned away, going to lean back on the console.
Spike leaned back. “When did you hear that?”
“Dawn told me. Xander too. Buffy talked about it, didn’t mention the rape, but it wouldn’t have been hard to guess.”
Spike looked around. “Oh. You haven’t tried to kill me yet.”
“Buffy says you’ve changed. I trust her.”
“She wants a baby.”
The Doctor spun around. “What?”
“A baby. A brat. A milksucker. Yours.” Spike patted at his pockets, unable to look the Doctor in the eyes. “She wants a baby, she wants you. Q.E.D., she wants your baby.”
“What?!” The Doctor approached Spike slowly.
“Look who’s thick now? Want a smoke?” The Doctor plucked the cigarette out of Spike’s hand before he could light it, then raised his hands to his face, rubbing his jaw.
“She’s never said anything like that. Well, once, but that was fifty years ago.”
“I know. Guess you scared her off the topic pretty well.” Spike’s gaze followed the unlit cigarette in the Doctor’s flailing hands.
“She’s always been content, traveling, and there were always Martha’s kids, she never-“
“Birds are hardly ever content playing in the nests of others, if you know what I mean.” Spike snatched the cigarette back.
The Doctor’s head kept shaking. “No, no, this is all too much. I’m already at the end of my rope and you stick this on me. What the hell is this universe doing to me?”
Spike shrugged and lit his smoke. “Sorry mate. But maybe this is the TARDIS’ way of telling you it’s time to settle down, have a family, make someone else happy for once.” He exhaled. “God, I’ve gotten sappy in my old age.” He frowned. “What are you staring at?”
“No. No. Of course! She wouldn’t leave me alone, she’s got a plan, she’s just been holding back on me until I calmed down.” The Doctor was running around. “Willow! Of course, with Willow, we could do it, we could pull it off. Spike, you’re brilliant!”
“I am?”
The Doctor’s eyes kept racing from side to side. “I’ve been thinking like a human too long. No, not even like a human, like a junkyard dog, holding on to scraps. But I keep forgetting that most of you lot aren’t even human either. This ridiculous universe, with its bizarre rules and all its twists and turns. I keep saying impossible, but this universe, Buffy herself, you’re all signs that I need to quit saying impossible and just get down to work.”
“Are you going to tell me what the hell you’re going on about?” Spike stamped his foot.
“Oh, yeah, sure, as soon as I work it out. This is going to be the effort of a lifetime. Good thing Buffy’s got another one.” He laughed. “How do you feel about being the godfather? I’ll ask Xander if you don’t want to, but, well, maybe I should ask him?”
“Whoa, Doctor, slow down.”
“But Spike, we’ve got so much work to do.” The Doctor’s eyes were alight with joy. “Oh, wait, Buffy, I should ask her, go get her! And tell Willow I’m sorry, and I’m so happy, and I’m going to ask so much of her, but oh, the prize that will be waiting for her in the end.” He caressed the console again. “One last adventure, my love, one last quest before I give you away. What are you waiting for Spike. No, wait, I’ll get her myself.” The Doctor ran out of the TARDIS, Spike barely on his heels. They found Willow, Buffy and Xander together in the training room.
“Buffy! Willow! Oh, the news. But I’ve got to ask first, rude not to ask, that’s right.” The Doctor spun a reluctant Buffy in his arms. “I’m an idiot. A daft idiot, and I’m so, so sorry.”
“Yes, yes you have been. What’s going on?” Buffy frowned as the Doctor grabbed Willow.
“And you, brilliant, powerful, wonderful magic goddess Willow. You showed me it was possible, and then, you forced me into it. And you didn’t even know you were giving me a kick in the bum, but you did, and I needed it and I’m sorry I didn’t understand it sooner.” He smiled down on her. “Oh, you and she are going to be brilliant together. But first thing’s first.” He set the witch down.
“Can I just ask what’s going on?” asked Xander. “These two are all ticked off at you and now you’re here making a complete lack of sense.”
“Except for when he called himself an idiot,” added Buffy. But not even her chilly tone could melt the Doctor’s smile.
“I’m here to revive, to renew. I can’t make things the way they used to be, I can make them new and maybe even better. But I need you. Buffy, Willow, I need you both.” He held Buffy’s hand. “And I’m ready, and I’m sorry it took me so long to be ready, but I am now. And the TARDIS is acting like it’s been ready for decades.”
“Ready for what, Doctor?” asked Willow as he beamed at her.
“To rebuild the tapestry, the great architecture of the multiverse, to recollect the tattered strands of time vortexes and unite them the way they were when I was young, before I tore them apart in the Time War. To fix it. But I can’t do it alone. I’ll need TARDISes, lots of them. And TARDISes need captains.”
Buffy felt her heart hit her stomach. “TARDIS captains?”
“Yes! Like Willow, like a few other folk we’ve encountered in our journeys, brilliant, caring, wonderful people who’ll handle a TARDIS with all the gravity and responsibility it deserves.”
“So not like you then.” Buffy let herself smile.
“Oh, well, sure, but maybe like our child.” The Doctor smiled as the rest of the jaws in the room except for Spike’s dropped. “I’m tired of being the last Time Lord. I’m ready to be with you.”
Buffy’s eyelids fluttered. “I’m not going to faint. That would be a cliché.” She shuddered and pulled away from him. “I- I’ll think about it. I have to think.” With one last glance at the group she walked out.
The Doctor shook his head, then ran after her.
"Not exactly the reaction he was expecting, then," remarked Spike to no one in particular, while Xander and Willow could only stare at him. "I had nothing to do with it," he defended himself, half-heartedly.
Next
Series: Tempus Frangit
Author:
moragmacpherson Rating: PG-13
Timeline: True sequel to Another Side of the Sky. Takes place during AU Buffy season 8 "The Long Way Home," approximately two months post Another Side for the Doctor.
Disclaimer: I make no claim to any characters contained herein, who are actually owned by big corporations filled with highly paid attorneys who know that suing me would be idiotic based on the fact that all I own are student loans and they wouldn't even be able to recover costs.
Archive: Here, TtH. If you'd like it, let me know.
Betas: Depending on the chapter, some combination of Arkaeus, LiastraLee, MissJulie, and/or
booster17 Summary: Great muppety Odin, Buffy misses the Doctor. She decides the time has come to do something about it.
Chapter Six - Junkyard Dog
“Is this… it’s a toaster?”
“Hold on, let me see.” The Doctor popped his glasses on and leaned over. “Ah. Yes. General Electric 139T81. Great source for spare parts. Just don’t make ‘em like they used to.”
Willow rolled her eyes and shook her head. “I take it it’s not in here to burn bread?”
“No, no. Supplementing the tertiary vent coil, although, if you’re feeling a bit peckish, it can still perform.” He polished the chrome then returned to his evaluations.
“Brings a whole new meaning to ‘brave little toaster,’’ giggled Willow.
The Doctor smirked. “Don’t knock it, worked well enough for Homer Simpson’s time travels, it’s good enough for me.”
“Sorry, my worlds just… paradigm shift all of a sudden, give me a second. You watch the Simpsons?”
“Pass me that spanner and recall that I’ve spent sixty odd years with Buffy, approximately six months total of which were spent watching the Simpsons.” His hand appeared out of the TARDIS floor, and Willow handed him the tool.
“That’s right. Easy to forget.”
“Easy for you to say.”
Willow peeked under the rim of the console, examining the jury-rigged wiring. “Well, you, okay, you’re nine hundred whatever years, and you feel it. But Buffy’s just always felt like, y’know, Buffy. Eighty-six or sixteen, she’s still the same girl.”
“Refreshing that, isn’t it?”
“Yeah, except for right after she came back, and the last three weeks.”
The glasses came off and the Doctor’s head popped up. “Okay. What exactly are you getting at?”
“She feels old. Depressed. I’m worried about her. Aren’t you?” Willow slid down the console and sat cross-legged next to him.
“Well, a little, I suppose.” His head tilted left to right. “I’ve done what I can though. Two week vacation in Luss, dumped that worthless sack of waste in a lonely armpit of the universe, been at her beck and call the whole time.” Sighing he returned to his work. “I’m afraid this is just going to take some time.”
“What if we don’t have it?”
“Pressing concerns?” He shifted a bolt to fix the wire connection beneath it, grunting with the effort.
“Um, Twilight, Doctor? Any bells all ringy there?” Willow paused. “No, you’ve done that wrong.”
The Doctor tilted his head at her. “Have I then?”
“Yup. She just lost connection to the helmic regulator.”
“Oh bugger. One moment.” With a croak and a bang, the helmic regulator came back online. “She’s very upfront with you. Normally I’d be tumbling down the time vortex like a toy boat in the wake of a speed boat before she’d let me know about that sort of thing.” He pulled himself up and replaced the panel while she struggled for a response.
Willow shrugged. “She… likes me?”
The Doctor stopped. “No.”
Willow’s face dropped. “She doesn’t?”
“No, no no no no no… oh no.”
“What, Doctor?”
He turned towards the console with a look of anger and betrayal. “You can’t. She’s not a Time Lord, she’s not even from the right universe.”
Willow moved closer to him. “What are you talking about?”
It was like she wasn’t even there. “And it’s not like you can abandon me. What about all the good times? I haven’t got anyplace else. Bonding is supposed to be forever.” Willow couldn’t remember seeing the Doctor this agitated.
“Please Doctor, what are you going on about?”
“Well, I’ve got to come up with a plan now. You can’t do this yet. I need time. I need to think.” He pulled at his hair, then turned. “Willow, get out!”
“Tell me-“
“No, not right now, just get out, you’re making this, you’ve done this, I’ve got to-“ Fury and despair tore at his face. “No, no, just get out now.”
“Okay.” Willow’s nostrils flared. “I’ll go now, but you will tell me what’s going on, Time Lord.”
“Maybe.” He whispered as she left. This was not possible. This was not allowable. But the TARDIS had driven differently for him that last trip, had just wanted to come back here. He thought it had been because of the strange new time vortex, but that wasn’t it.
He swallowed. “You’re not mine anymore, are you?” He stroked the console. “We had a good run though.” The Doctor laughed, trying to push the tears back. “What am I supposed to do?”
~*~
Spike pulled Buffy’s arms behind her. “Sloppy, sloppy. Not at all like the Oldest Living Slayer.” Buffy leaned forward and then arched back, aiming for his cheek, not his nose.
“Ow.” But Spike didn’t let go and they were down on the ground. “Lovely warm blood in these veins. Best to keep it inside though, right pet?” Buffy managed to kick him off.
“Shut up Spike.” She grabbed a pair of swords off the wall and threw one at him, barely giving him enough time to withdraw it before she swept hers at him.
“You’re not fighting to survive right now. That’s what’s wrong.” They parried and thrusted until he had her back against the wall. “That’s why I’m winning.” He poked her wrist with the blunted sword tip and her blade fell out of her hand. Her fingers bent into claws, but he grabbed her wrists and held them down against her chest, pressing his body against her. Spike held his face close to her. “You’ve got your friends, your sister, your army, your alien lover. You’ve even got me.” He looked Buffy’s face over, seeing the tension and the lack of conviction behind her struggles. “So why is it you want to die again?”
Buffy gritted her teeth. “I don’t.”
“Your lips say no, your punches say yes.” Spike licked his lips. “Guess which part of you I believe, Slayer, luscious though those lips might be?” He kissed her forehead then released her to slump down the wall.
“I don’t need this Spike. I’m just tired.” He slid down next to her, pushing the sword aside.
“Coming up on your first century, aren’t you pet? It’s a good time to get all choked up and world weary. I spent a decade eating nihilist philosophers.” Buffy glared at him, but he slung one arm around her waist, and she laid her head on his shoulder. “It’s a tough age. Instead of killing off a literary movement, you could, I don’t know, talk to me instead.”
“Nothing to talk about,” she mumbled.
“You don’t talk to Giles. You barely talk to Xander or me. I haven’t seen you talk to Dawn. And your lover man spends all his time locked up in that box with Willow, and I’m not convinced that relationship is entirely healthy.”
As if on cue, a teary Willow arrived in the training room. “Buffy, Buffy?”
Buffy was on her feet. “What’s wrong Wills?”
“He got all angry, the Doctor, and he yelled and told me to get out of the TARDIS. He’s really upset, and I think he’s upset with me.”
“What do you mean, he told you to get out?” Buffy held her friend’s arms.
“He just started ranting about how he was being abandoned, he needed a plan, and then he was all, ‘Willow get out of here.’”
Spike sneered. “Who’s abandoning him? All you lot follow him around like puppies.”
Buffy looked Willow in the eye. “He hasn’t gone anywhere. I’ll go talk to him, I’ll get him to apologize to you. Sometimes he forgets, he treats people like-“
“Like you don’t matter. I’ll believe that.” Spike stood up. “Buffy, I think this has gone on long enough.”
“Like what’s gone on long enough?” Buffy’s eyes flashed her anger, but her voice was low.
“Hey, you two, it’s fine, he just lost his temper, I’ll live.” Willow couldn’t bring herself to get between the two of them.
“He just loses his temper all over the place, calls you lot all dumb apes anytime you ask a reasonable question, and she can’t seem to make him stop.” He jerked a thumb at Buffy. “Maybe it’s time someone told him what an incredible git he can be. And I am just that someone.” Spike grabbed his duster and strode out of the room.
Buffy went to stop him, but Willow held her back. “Willow, I’ve got to stop him.”
“Why Buffy? Maybe he’s right.” Willow looked down. “We’re all so in awe of the Doctor. You’re the worst of us, because you love him. Maybe we have to stop protecting him.”
Buffy’s whole body shook. “You’ve never been anything but nice to him. I just don’t get it, when he goes off like this. But sending Spike in? It just- they’ll try to tear each other apart, they’ve been itching for a fight since he got here.”
Willow sighed. “Better now than later.”
~*~
Spike stormed into the TARDIS, eyes full of fire, only to stop. The Doctor was sitting underneath the console, eyes closed, one hand clutching the underside of the controls.
Spike cleared his throat. “What the hell just went on?”
The Doctor opened his eyes in surprise. “I’ve lost her.”
“Lost who? Buffy’s all yours, mate, she’s made that abundantly clear. Whatever it is, no reason to take it out on Red, who’s in tears, by the way. I don’t take kindly to that, I’ll have you know.” Spike leaned on the rails.
“Willow.” The Doctor shook his head. “It’s impossible. It can’t happen. She can’t leave me like this.”
“Who, you daft idiot?”
“The TARDIS! The TARDIS wants to stay with Willow! She wants to, she wants me to go find another ship, and there just isn’t one! What the hell am I supposed to do, a Time Lord stranded in this insane magical dimension with no TARDIS and no way to travel, no where to run, my best friend gone.” The Doctor wailed. “How can you do this to me?”
Spike leaned back. “Well then.” He smiled. “Willow’s something else. First it was girls, now it’s space ships.”
The Doctor glared. “You’re not helping.”
“Well, I can offer sympathy at least. I’ve been there mate. Watch over your girl for years and years, fight by her side, then one day she up and decides that you’re not the man for her anymore, she’s met someone else. It’s not that she doesn’t love you anymore, she says, just that she’s met someone she can’t live without. What she doesn’t say is that means that she can live without you.” Spike pushed out a breath. “What can men like us say to that?” The Doctor nodded. “If you love it, set it free.”
The Doctor retreated back further. “It’s not that simple.”
“Oh, it is, Doc. The harder you try to hold, the harder she’s going to pull. Maybe you’d be better off paying attention to the-“ He stopped. “The female who wants to be with you. Who’s hurting, by the way, and you’ve been ignoring her.”
“I haven’t been ignoring Buffy. I’ve been giving her space.”
“Quit being so dense, Freckles. She’s in pain, and I can’t shock her out of it.”
“She’s having self-doubts.” The Doctor moved to stand. “Treating her like a piece of shattered crystal isn’t exactly going to rebuild her confidence. She just needs time, and I am busy.”
Spike guffawed. “Oh, yes, the mighty Doctor, much too busy to help his own lover. You weren’t there for her last time either. You didn’t see how close she came to-“
“To what,” interrupted the Doctor, standing over Spike. “To giving in to the demon? Or to getting raped by yours,” he hissed. “Exactly how thick do you think I am, hmm Spike? I may not have been here the last time, but you were, and you certainly didn’t do much to help her.” The Doctor turned away, going to lean back on the console.
Spike leaned back. “When did you hear that?”
“Dawn told me. Xander too. Buffy talked about it, didn’t mention the rape, but it wouldn’t have been hard to guess.”
Spike looked around. “Oh. You haven’t tried to kill me yet.”
“Buffy says you’ve changed. I trust her.”
“She wants a baby.”
The Doctor spun around. “What?”
“A baby. A brat. A milksucker. Yours.” Spike patted at his pockets, unable to look the Doctor in the eyes. “She wants a baby, she wants you. Q.E.D., she wants your baby.”
“What?!” The Doctor approached Spike slowly.
“Look who’s thick now? Want a smoke?” The Doctor plucked the cigarette out of Spike’s hand before he could light it, then raised his hands to his face, rubbing his jaw.
“She’s never said anything like that. Well, once, but that was fifty years ago.”
“I know. Guess you scared her off the topic pretty well.” Spike’s gaze followed the unlit cigarette in the Doctor’s flailing hands.
“She’s always been content, traveling, and there were always Martha’s kids, she never-“
“Birds are hardly ever content playing in the nests of others, if you know what I mean.” Spike snatched the cigarette back.
The Doctor’s head kept shaking. “No, no, this is all too much. I’m already at the end of my rope and you stick this on me. What the hell is this universe doing to me?”
Spike shrugged and lit his smoke. “Sorry mate. But maybe this is the TARDIS’ way of telling you it’s time to settle down, have a family, make someone else happy for once.” He exhaled. “God, I’ve gotten sappy in my old age.” He frowned. “What are you staring at?”
“No. No. Of course! She wouldn’t leave me alone, she’s got a plan, she’s just been holding back on me until I calmed down.” The Doctor was running around. “Willow! Of course, with Willow, we could do it, we could pull it off. Spike, you’re brilliant!”
“I am?”
The Doctor’s eyes kept racing from side to side. “I’ve been thinking like a human too long. No, not even like a human, like a junkyard dog, holding on to scraps. But I keep forgetting that most of you lot aren’t even human either. This ridiculous universe, with its bizarre rules and all its twists and turns. I keep saying impossible, but this universe, Buffy herself, you’re all signs that I need to quit saying impossible and just get down to work.”
“Are you going to tell me what the hell you’re going on about?” Spike stamped his foot.
“Oh, yeah, sure, as soon as I work it out. This is going to be the effort of a lifetime. Good thing Buffy’s got another one.” He laughed. “How do you feel about being the godfather? I’ll ask Xander if you don’t want to, but, well, maybe I should ask him?”
“Whoa, Doctor, slow down.”
“But Spike, we’ve got so much work to do.” The Doctor’s eyes were alight with joy. “Oh, wait, Buffy, I should ask her, go get her! And tell Willow I’m sorry, and I’m so happy, and I’m going to ask so much of her, but oh, the prize that will be waiting for her in the end.” He caressed the console again. “One last adventure, my love, one last quest before I give you away. What are you waiting for Spike. No, wait, I’ll get her myself.” The Doctor ran out of the TARDIS, Spike barely on his heels. They found Willow, Buffy and Xander together in the training room.
“Buffy! Willow! Oh, the news. But I’ve got to ask first, rude not to ask, that’s right.” The Doctor spun a reluctant Buffy in his arms. “I’m an idiot. A daft idiot, and I’m so, so sorry.”
“Yes, yes you have been. What’s going on?” Buffy frowned as the Doctor grabbed Willow.
“And you, brilliant, powerful, wonderful magic goddess Willow. You showed me it was possible, and then, you forced me into it. And you didn’t even know you were giving me a kick in the bum, but you did, and I needed it and I’m sorry I didn’t understand it sooner.” He smiled down on her. “Oh, you and she are going to be brilliant together. But first thing’s first.” He set the witch down.
“Can I just ask what’s going on?” asked Xander. “These two are all ticked off at you and now you’re here making a complete lack of sense.”
“Except for when he called himself an idiot,” added Buffy. But not even her chilly tone could melt the Doctor’s smile.
“I’m here to revive, to renew. I can’t make things the way they used to be, I can make them new and maybe even better. But I need you. Buffy, Willow, I need you both.” He held Buffy’s hand. “And I’m ready, and I’m sorry it took me so long to be ready, but I am now. And the TARDIS is acting like it’s been ready for decades.”
“Ready for what, Doctor?” asked Willow as he beamed at her.
“To rebuild the tapestry, the great architecture of the multiverse, to recollect the tattered strands of time vortexes and unite them the way they were when I was young, before I tore them apart in the Time War. To fix it. But I can’t do it alone. I’ll need TARDISes, lots of them. And TARDISes need captains.”
Buffy felt her heart hit her stomach. “TARDIS captains?”
“Yes! Like Willow, like a few other folk we’ve encountered in our journeys, brilliant, caring, wonderful people who’ll handle a TARDIS with all the gravity and responsibility it deserves.”
“So not like you then.” Buffy let herself smile.
“Oh, well, sure, but maybe like our child.” The Doctor smiled as the rest of the jaws in the room except for Spike’s dropped. “I’m tired of being the last Time Lord. I’m ready to be with you.”
Buffy’s eyelids fluttered. “I’m not going to faint. That would be a cliché.” She shuddered and pulled away from him. “I- I’ll think about it. I have to think.” With one last glance at the group she walked out.
The Doctor shook his head, then ran after her.
"Not exactly the reaction he was expecting, then," remarked Spike to no one in particular, while Xander and Willow could only stare at him. "I had nothing to do with it," he defended himself, half-heartedly.
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