Spred Fans

Far Too Long!

2019-02-23T16:41:58Z

It's been far too long since this community has been updated! I've been a little busy raising some kiddos and the next time I looked, seven years had gone by.

I know fanfic is sparse these days but have you seen anything you love lately?

I finally got with the times and am getting my fic moved over to Archive of Our Own - with significant edits because now I don't have to worry about certain scenes and language getting flagged.

The Ghost and Ms. Burkle is pretty much the same but Work in Progress is very different and I'm loving where it winds up.

https://archiveofourown.org/users/kats_meow/works

And if anyone has Spike/Fred fic requests, comment below and I'll see what I can do for you ;)

New Fic: The First Days of Spring - tornknees

2012-10-01T08:42:33Z

Here is a story written by tornknees

Title: The First Days of Spring
Rating: PG
Warnings: Curtain!fic, permanent injury, fluff
Summary: After Illyria and the Apocalypse, Spike seeks a well deserved retirement, and Fred doesn't complain.

Author's Note: Second installment of the Retirement 'Verse and follow up to Bad Day Again, though no real knowledge of either is required, just that it's a bloody fandom palooza. This is the place where all my favourite characters go to get their happily ever after, regardless of how many rules I have to bend to see it happen. In this installment there are mentions of Angel, Supernatural, True Blood, and Leverage. The opening/closing lines come from the song No One's Gunna Love You by Band of Horses--though I listened to The Funeral the entire time I wrote it.

(We were other places . . .)

New Fic: Bad Day Again - tornknees

2012-08-29T19:34:27Z

Long time no update. Here is a story written by tornknees

Title: Bad Day Again
Rating: PG
Pairing: Spike/Fred in a vague sort of way. Could be gen.

Summary: AU after Not Fade Away. Just because Fred is back doesn’t mean she’s okay, but Spike is there to see her through her bad days.

Author's Note: I haven’t written anything in . . . ages. I got listening to Fuel’s “Bad Day” about a week ago and the idea just stuck in my head. I also think the worst thing that Joss Whedon ever did was get rid of Fred. I’m a Spred shipper from way back, and while this isn’t my first fic of the two of them, apparently fanfiction.net deleted every story I ever posted, so, this is like my first fic. I just wanted to remind myself I actually was capable of writing things. Written in about two hours, and there was no beta except proofreading. I also really hope I posted this right.

(I'm sorry I had a bad day again)

Icons!

2011-06-18T17:29:30Z

Spred, Fred, Spike, Amy and James icons!

Teaser:

HERE @ effulgentcolors

spred @ 2011-03-16T01:58:00

2011-03-16T05:59:02Z

Just came across a new fic by powerofthebook called The In-Between.

Rating: light R, to be safe

http://powerofthebook.livejournal.com/93734.html?view=651046#t651046

spred @ 2010-04-19T02:51:00

2010-04-19T07:51:01Z

Mate
http://sockmonkeyhere.livejournal.com/46696.html

This is Ficlet #7, the conclusion of my Cycle Series. Sequel to Armistice Day. Spike/Fred; rated PG-13; set post-Not Fade Away.

spred @ 2010-04-11T13:12:00

2010-04-11T18:13:01Z

~Some Spredfic Recs~

These first three are a couple of years old; I only recently discovered them. A wee bit of warning about "The Mad Ones": it's got Spike behaving similarly to the way he did in the Destiny episode -- overcome with lust -- but thankfully in this Spred version, he's fond of the object of his lust and he treats her with more respect and affection than in the Sparmony version. (Also, in this version he remembers to unzip his pants.)

Bit of Bubbly by claudia6913
http://community.livejournal.com/fandeyth/26143.html
AtS alternate reality season 5
rated R
ficlet

untitled by lodessa
http://lodessa.livejournal.com/140215.html
AtS season 5
rated G
drabble

The Mad Ones by eyebrowofdoom
http://community.livejournal.com/remixredux08/50389.html
AtS season 5 alternate reality for “Destiny”
rated NC-17
ficlet

**************

This next one is brand-new, and includes a satirical wink at the over-the-top WTFness of BtVS comic book #34 ;D (the Flying Sexcapades issue.) It's also absolutely adorable: Spike and Fred share a joint and get a bit buzzy.

The Physics of Flying High by powerofthebook
http://powerofthebook.livejournal.com/82504.html
AtS season 5 (post-"Damage")
rated R
ficlet

This ficlet is only the second I've ever found in which Fred and Spike get high together. The first one was evenstar_estel's Dancing Around a Romance, written just before the beginning of AtS season 5. (Go to http://community.livejournal.com/spred/42759.html and scroll down to section II.) It's interesting that in both cases, written years apart and by two different authors, StonerSpred is depicted the same way: goofy and funny and sweet, and with a languid and believable erotic/romantic mutual attraction.

**************

The other new one is sistercuervo's multi-chapter fic Ashes and Sparks, a post-"Not Fade Away" story that is NOT based on the IDW comic books. This fic gives us Live Fred as well as Illyria! \o/

chapters 1-4:
http://www.livejournal.com/tools/memories.bml?user=sistercuervo&keyword=Ashes%20and%20Sparks&filter=all
chapter 5:
http://sistercuervo.livejournal.com/24730.html

spred @ 2010-03-13T21:26:00

2010-03-14T03:26:31Z

~Two Spred Recs~

(1) Here’s a lovely new ficlet by powerofthebook, in which Fred visits Spike in the hospital:

Blessing by powerofthebook
http://powerofthebook.livejournal.com/81337.html
AtS season 5 (post-"Damage")
rated PG
ficlet

(2) Also, evangelin1202 has created a boatload of Spred banners, icons, videos, and music fanmixes. She’s a very talented artist, and I know you’ll enjoy her work. A couple of the vids will require joining a site in order to view them, but membership is quick and easy – and quite worth it! Here’s a link to her Live Journal posts that contain her Spike/Fred material:

http://evangelin1202.livejournal.com/tag/fred/spike

Direct links to her videos:

To Find the Girl
http://bamvidvault.ning.com/video/to-find-the-girl

Love Saves a Champ
http://buffytube.ning.com/video/love-saves-a-champ

Why You Have to Ship Spike and Fred!
http://www.megaupload.com/?d=IFUANWOG

Done is Done
(mostly Spike/Dru, but some Spred bits toward the end)
http://buffytube.ning.com/video/done-is-done

spred @ 2010-03-08T02:45:00

2010-03-08T08:45:22Z

I've made blithery Spred meta of sorts on my LJ today...

here:
http://sockmonkeyhere.livejournal.com/44790.html

and here:
http://sockmonkeyhere.livejournal.com/44819.html

spred @ 2010-02-17T21:31:00

2010-02-18T03:31:18Z

evangelin1202 has put together a collection of really great icons -- including several Spike/Fred ones about midway down the page. Thank you, Evangelin! :D

http://evangelin1202.livejournal.com/39605.html

spred @ 2010-02-15T00:03:00

2010-02-15T06:03:55Z

Armistice Day
http://sockmonkeyhere.livejournal.com/44533.html

This is Ficlet #6 of my Cycle Series. Sequel to Making Medicine. Spike/Fred; rated PG-13; set post-Not Fade Away.

Fic: No Sticky End For Spike

2010-02-10T14:41:48Z

Title: No Sticky End For Spike
Fandom: Angel
Characters: Fred/Spike
Rating: G
Summary: “Focus, Spike!” she says. “I can’t help you if you don’t focus.”

(No Sticky End For Spike)

spred @ 2010-02-07T00:14:00

2010-02-07T06:15:01Z

Making Medicine
http://sockmonkeyhere.livejournal.com/44212.html

This is Ficlet #5 of my Cycle Series. Sequel to She's Come Undone. Spike/Fred; rated PG-13; set post-Not Fade Away.

spred @ 2009-12-06T18:18:00

2009-12-07T00:18:52Z

I come a'pimping. :) alison_swift, one of our new fellow Spred fans, has a Spike/Fred fic called "Fine Lines" nominated for Best Characterization and Best Unconventional Couple at the Sunnydale Memorial Fanfic Awards. It's a lovely ficlet and very deserving of an award -- Alison is a talented young writer -- so if you'd like to drop by there and vote, here's a link to the voting page:

http://sunnydawards.dragonydreams.com/vote.html

SUPPORT OUR PAIRING! REPRESENT! :D

spred @ 2009-11-16T21:35:00

2009-11-17T03:35:39Z

The Shades of Grey Awards has opened its public voting categories from now through Dec. 31, and there's Spred nominees in the categories of "Best Video" and "Best Header/Banner."

If you haven't already done so, trot on over and vote! :D

http://community.livejournal.com/sog_awards/3630.html

Spike/Fred Classic Fic #2 by Evenstar

2009-10-25T08:24:15Z

Here’s the other Spike/Fred fic that evenstar_estel has given me permission to repost. She wrote this one just before the start of AtS Season 5, if I remember correctly, beginning with the first part as a one-shot and then adding chapters as we, her happy readers, clamored for more! It’s an alternate reality Season 5, rated R.

Dancing Around a Romance: Spike and Fred
©2003 Evenstar
evenstar_estel@yahoo.ca

I

He's spinning her around so fast she's reminded of the Tilt-a-Whirl at the amusement park. She's holding on for dear life and he's laughing in her ear. His voice is like music, but it's not a symphony, it's rock n' roll. It feels great and it has her senses humming. After months of not being able to touch, he's squeezing her so tight all the air leaves her lungs. But she tries to breathe deep nonetheless. He gave off no scent when he was incorporeal, now she wants to memorize the man's mark and make it part of her every day.

The spinning stops and she's back on her own two feet, unsteady. When her eyes open he's grinning at her as proud and wide as the Cheshire cat, but then suddenly he's gone. He hasn't disappeared, he's just stalking over to his grandsire, arms spread wide. Angel's backing away a step at a time until he bumps into the desk and there's no escape. Spike's upon him and the others laugh.

"Stop struggling you insufferable git!" Spike chuckles, throwing his arms around Angel and shamelessly hugging him. The older vampire doesn't seem to understand the burst of affection directed at him, but Spike gives his gratitude nonetheless. Wes and Gunn offer their hands to be shaken, but Spike hugs them too. Lorne doesn't turn down his hug.

Suddenly he's back in front of her and she smiles dolefully at him, suddenly far more nervous that she's ever been around him. She looks down and she clasps her hands together to keep from fidgeting. His finger tips her chin up and she's bashful when he cocks his head just so.

"Thank you," he says. He takes her hand in his. "Ready to go, luv?"

"Go where?" Fred replies, genuinely confused.

"'member what I said? First thing we'd do once I was m'old self again? Tacos, pet, you said we'd eat a mountain of tacos."

"Oh. Oh! Well, um, sure then. I didn't think you meant it."

"You know me better than that, petal. I always keep my promise to a lady."

II

He watches her with the same fascination as a small animal observing something shiny in the sun. She's beautiful, kinetic, simply darling. But he knows she's tough as nails on the inside. He admires that in her, but still thinks she's a spaz. A sweet one, mind you. Particularly when she trips over her own feet and lands on the carpet, but she's still giggling like a jack in the box. Her skin is flushed and her eyes are a little bloodshot, but she's happy and that makes him happy. She looks up at him and sighs, then reaches her hand up to him, asking for what's between his lips.

Spike takes another toke on the roll and passes it to her. He holds the smoke in his lungs for longer that any human could, letting the full effects of the grass soothe itself into his cells. He smiles a wicked grin and lets the soft, heavy plumes exit his mouth in fat rings. He’s as satisfied as a cat drunk on heavy cream. He slinks deeper into the armchair in her office. Being a vampire, even with a soul, means he never has to tow the line.

"Fuck, pet, where'd you get this shit? It's bloody marvelous," Spike asks, hooking his thumb through a belt loop in his jeans, hand splayed seductively over his crotch. Fred watches his every move and feels herself swoon.

"From one of the lab guys. Knox. He does some genetic engineering with plants on the side," she replies, passing the joint back to Spike. "No one ever does this with me. Like they think I wouldn't. Fred's always got to be the perfect little lady. And so what if I like Lynard Skynard playing when I work!? Better than Barry Manilow any day of the week!"

"You're still a lady, petal."

"Thanks. You know what I want right now?"

"Tacos? Again? I think I'm full up, pet." She smacks his knees like a kitten batting a ball of yarn, then she snorts. It's cute on her.

"No, silly. I wanna kiss you!" He's a bit taken aback, but he's not really surprised. They've been volleying looks and innuendos for months. He was a ghost at the time, but they both know it wasn't always in jest. He tumbles on to the floor with her. He can't figure out where to put the joint and eventually just tosses it over his shoulder. He doesn't care that there might be dangerous chemicals around, or loose leaves of paper, because he hasn't kissed a girl in over one year and Fred tastes lovely and she's the first true friend he's ever had.

III

"There we go, all done," Fred said triumphantly, screwing the cap back on the bottle of black nail polish. Spike admired the work she'd done on his hands, then smiled at her.

"Ta, luv, looks smashing, haven't had 'em done in ages!" Spike said, blowing on the nails.

"We should do your roots, they're starting to show. Oh! And I was in the mall the other day, I had a big craving for one of those fruit smoothies at the Sugar Shack and yes of course I could've had one of the Wolfram and Hart flunkies to go, but I don't like people being all subservient and I like to watch the blenders and..."

"Point, darlin'?"

"Right...well there was this outfit in the Gap that I thought would look great on you."

"Don't go in for khakis, and I'm not a bloody dress-up doll!" There was just a tinge of annoyance in his voice, but to her it was as jarring as being on the airstrip when the planes were taking off.

"Sorry, sorry, of course silly me going off with crazy ideas. You didn't get to change your clothes the whole time you were a ghost, but I didn't stop to think that....that..." She was still rambling on and getting increasingly frazzled. After Pylea, it had taken her months to get herself under control, to gain confidence, but ever since Spike had come into her life, she felt vulnerable. She could almost never look him straight in the eyes. They were too blue, there was too much inside them for her to ever imagine being able to take it all in.

She's jolted out of her state by the fact that he's taken her hand in his and his lips are now pressed to her palm. Speaking against her hand, he soothes her.

"Sometimes I speak when I shouldn't, say things without thinking. Sometimes I'm a stupid, foolish man who doesn't always know what he wants."

"What do you want?"

"Smoothie sounds alright, doesn't it, pretty pet?"

"Okay. The pants were black, by the way. And the sweater was cornflower blue.....it reminded me of your eyes."

"That right? Hmm...a change might be nice."

IV

"Is your hair naturally curly?" Fred asks, reaching out and almost touching the unruly mop atop his head, but pulls her hand away at the last second. "Mine is. You should've seen it back in Texas, a big frizzy mess that looked like I'd been struck by lightening. Which isn't an impossibility where the farm is. One summer there was this wild storm and it got the beech outside my bedroom window. It came crashing right on through, almost skewered me alive, like those little cherry tomatoes you put on shiskabobs between the beef chunk and the peppers."

"Yes," Spike replies simply, taking her hand in his as they walk along the boardwalk. This is their first date.

"Yes what?"

"Yes, my hair's naturally curly." He looks up at the moon, inhales the sea salt air and sighs long. He casts a glance to her and sees the stars above reflected in her eyes. She's so easy to be near. Sure, she prattles on nonsensically. Constantly. She also never manages to eat a plate of nachos without dripping cheese on her blouse, nor does she have much in common with him at all. But when she hugs him, and she does often, he knows that she's doing it to make him feel better and not herself. He loves Buffy, he always will, but Fred's special. And effortless. And kind. And so very beautiful.

She shivers when a gust of wind crashes off the ocean and in seconds his duster is off and around her shoulders. In the almost thirty years he's had the coat only two others have had it wrapped around them, and he loved them both. She smiles in gratitude and leans in close. He puts his arm around her and pulls her right to him, pressing a quick kiss to her temple. He directs them down the pier and he notices with a smirk that they're the only ones around. He wants to kiss her again. A real kiss. Not the hungry, sloppy one they had on her office floor when they were high.

He wants so much for this to be real.

He's a vampire with a soul, she's a scientist.

It could work.

V

"Carry the quotient. Carry the quotient. Figure it by the prime. What's the prime? What's the prime?!?!!? Prime, prime...pi...pi...root of pi. What's the root of pi? 3.141 592 653 589 793 238 462 643 383 279 502 884 197 169 399 375 105 820 974 944 592 307 816 406 286 208 998 628 034 825 342 117 067 982 148 086 513 282 306 647 093 844 609 550 582 231 725 359 408 128 481 117 450 284 102 701 938 521 105 559 644 622 948 954 930 381 964 428 810 975 665 933 446 128 475 648 233 786 783 165 271 201 909....." Fred babbled nonsensically. She began to write out the root pi on the wall with a fat black Sharpie, her mouth about one hundred digits ahead of her hand. Her hair was wild, her clothes unkempt, and her eyes vibrated with manic intensity. When Wes put a hand on her shoulder to try and rouse her from her state she screamed and pushed him away, then went back to her work. When Gunn tried to get through to her she started to write on his clothing, all the while spouting out the endless stream of numbers.

In the opposite corner of her office, Spike crouched down low, his shirt torn off, his arms wrapped around his naked torso,; his head was bent down and he was rocking himself back and forth. Angel had come down to his level and was smoothing back the other vampire's tussled blond curls.

"William...are you in there?" Angel asked, his voice overwhelmed with concern.

"No need to shout! Can hear you just fine!! Just fine, just fine. William's just fine, such a nice pretty boy, nice white skin. Liked his poems did you? Not good enough to use words as whips. Only wrote about love...love...love...who loves William? You don't. Bastard. You only wanted a toy! Took me from mother, took me from peace...now just pain. Oh god what have I done? No forgiveness...no love. Love. No you don't, but thanks for saying it. It burns. Burn me up in hell. In hell...hell....hell........" He gave a pain filled cry and shrank away, crying.

"Oh Spike. I don't know what's happened, but I swear I'll fix this. You and Fred just need to hold out a little longer." Angel rose to his feet and faced his mercifully still sane friends. "Get to the books now, get the whole team on this, and find out if the building has a history of employees being possessed. Have Knox test for changes in electrical fields, see if it's scrambling their brain waves. I think they'll be okay here for now, but we'll need to make them comfortable if this keeps up to much longer. I promise, Spike, Fred, we'll get you back if it's the last thing we do."

The two actors waited until they were alone and then promptly burst into riotous laughter. Soon they were falling over themselves and to the floor, a tangle of chortling, hysterical bodies.
"Bloody hell, that was fun!" Spike exclaimed, wiping tears from his eyes.

"It's nice that we have things in common, don't you think?" she asked when she finally caught her breath.

"What? That we both have serious issues with our mental health?" Spike laughed, scooting over to her and resting his head on her stomach, looking adoringly over her and meeting her eyes with a wry smile.

"Well, yeah. I was insane, you were insane. We get each other, Spike."

"That we do, kitten." He reached out and stroked the back of her hand across the sharp jut of his cheekbone. Fred giggled and gave him a light smack.

"Hey now, none of that, pet."

"That was so mean! I can't believe you talked me into that."

"Oh pffft! Like you didn't love it, you little rebel you. I know what kind of girl you are."
"What kind is that?"

He moved up her body and looked down into her eyes.

"Mine."

VI

"Anyone ever tell you that you talk too much?" Spike asks before descending on her mouth again with his own and resuming their hot and heavy make out session in the back of Angel's Plymouth. Which the blond vampire had borrowed without permission. Despite how fiery and demanding his kisses are, his hands remain chastely about her face and shoulders. They've been together for two months and he's never taken more than kisses, never asked for more. Fred wants more.

She doesn't understand why when her hand begins to work at his belt buckle and he pulls back from her as if she's caught plague. "Please don't," he whispers. He gently puts distance between them and looks down at his knees.

"Did I do something wrong?" Fred's voice waivers a little and it breaks his heart. He doesn't think he can explain everything of the past two years, or the past century for that matter, in a few satisfactory sentences.

"No. Not you. You've never been anything but right."

"I don't get it then. I mean, we're something to each other, aren't we Spike? We've been friends for months...and this last little while's been so good. I thought you'd want us to go all the way."

He runs his hand over his face and back down again, rubbing his chin autonomically. "Not you, pet. S'me."

She reaches across the divide and pets the back of his head, her fingers twisting his curls around them. "I know I talk too much, I babble. Even when you're kissing me. But before you got your body back all we did was talk, I got to know all about you before I ever fell in....before we started this. Is there something you're afraid to tell me?"

"Fear...yeah, guess it is after all. Bloody hell...this is so strange."

"What's strange?"

"You. Caring about what's going on inside me."

"Why's that strange?"

"No one's ever cared is all. I don't know how...Fred. I don't know if I can tell you...fine, here it is. Winifred, I've never done this before."

"Done what? OH! Oh? But you and Buffy..."

"Didn't have m'soul then."

"And when you were human?"

"No one. Ever. Not even a kiss. Hell, not even a kind look!" She knows that Drusilla was the one that drained poor William dry, but Spike sometimes mocked Angel by calling him Sire. What did that really mean? She didn't know much about vampire families from auspicious clans like Aurelius, but suddenly her mind is filled with terrible images of what William's fledgling times must have been like.

Fred's not sure at all what to do, so she follows her heart.

"I love you, Spike."

His head snaps up and his eyes are wide. He looks terrified.

VII

"What the hell is wrong with you!?" Angel roared, storming into Spike's apartment and finding the other vampire sitting alone in the dark nursing a brandy.

"Thanks for knocking," Spike replied, but with little spite behind the words, he sounded lost and wounded.

"I asked you a question."

"Never should've given you that invite. What's wrong with me? Huh, it's a good thing we're immortal, 'cause I have a feelin' this might take a long bloody time to flesh out. Heh. Flesh out? Funny coming from a dead man. Or dead again rather...or still."

"Where is this self-pity coming from? Since when have you ever not reveled in being a vampire, even with your soul?"

"Since I realized the reason you left Buffy. I can't give Winifred what she deserves. It's not like with a Slayer, their lives are already...I can't do that to her."

"You've broken her heart, Spike, she's been crying for days."

Spike downed the rest of his drink in one gulp.

"I'm damaged, Angel. I'm not like you and the broody dark avenger costume. You don't know half of what's gone on."

"The tortures the First Evil put you through or do you mean with you and Buffy? She told me, most of it."

"Did she now? Tortures, yeah that sounds about right. We've talked you know? A few months ago when I took off for that week? She loves me, but she's not in love with me. There's a difference. I didn't realize before."

"Fred's in love with you."

"Yeah, well, more's the pity."

"You're a coward, Spike."

"Fuck you, Angelus." The older vampire crossed the divide and grabbed Spike's chin and forced him to meet his glare.

"What are you afraid of?!" Spike shoved Angel away. "Afraid that maybe for the first time in your whole miserable existence someone actually truly does love you? For you?" Spike couldn't answer, his jaw clenched tight and his cheeks sunk in.

"What do you care, all you ever did was bloody brutalize me from the moment Dru sunk her fangs in my neck. You lot never let me have anything, it wasn't until I took out that Chinese girl that I got you off my back!"

"I care about Fred. If you're not in love with her, then fine, tell her and let her move on. But if you are...even just a little bit, give yourselves a chance."

"What if I hurt her?"

Never in all the years that they'd known each other had Angel ever seen Spike so meek. Love was always his undoing. And often his greatest strength. He was just afraid that it would make him weak...if she ever left him, or hurt him like all the other had.

"It's a choice, not an inevitability."

Spike thought for a moment.

"Where is she?"

VIII

The water's so hot Fred's certain she's melting. As it is, her brow and upper lip are dewed with more sweat than steam. She lets out a sigh and closes her eyes. She tilts her head back into the little bath pillow that sits on the rim, cushioning her neck.

"Don't fall asleep," Spike says, shifting slightly and turning his face, resting his cheek on her left breast as he slips past his shoulders into the water. Her knees are bent and she cradles his body between her legs. The bath's big enough for his own to stretch out, one of the perks of her W&H provided penthouse. One of these days he's going to ask her to come live with him. His apartment is humble, but it's a home. He's scared for her when she's anywhere that has to do with the law firm.

His hand massages the back of her thigh, up and down and every now and again he leans in and kisses the soft warm pillow of her breast. The nipple is swollen and hot and he wants to suckle, but that's for later. Right now it's bath time and talking time. And time for them to relax and mend their bridges. Her fingers comb through his wet hair, while her other hand washes the ginger-scented bubbles over his smooth but hard-muscled chest.

"I won't," she finally replies. The leg he's not presently paying attention to moves, and her toes start doing things to a part of him he certainly doesn't expect her toes to be playing with. The superfluous bath ornament of a rubber ducky is suddenly displaced from its spot floating above the general region or Spike's abdomen. "Oopsie. My fault." She takes her toes away now that the proverbial damage is done. The ducky seems fascinated with the new buoy that's peaked out of the water, continuously bumping into it. Fred snatches the toy away and puts it up on the tiles.

"I think the duck likes me."

"Too bad, the duck can't have you." Her wraps her arms and legs around his body and squeezes him as tight as she can. "You're all mine, mine, mine." She nibbles on his ear.

"Fred, petal, have you ever given thought to the notion that vampires don't actually need to breathe?"

"I suppose so, it'll come in handy if there's ever a gas leak or if there's a terrible offshore earthquake and the city's flooded under the consequent giant tsunami."

Spike disentangles himself from her loving embrace and turns over, laying himself atop her, and displacing liters of water on to the floor. He gives her a saucy look and a little growl before sliding down her body. His head disappears under the water.

IX

He awakes screaming and Fred hesitates before pulling him back down to the pillows, but once he's in her arms and out of his nightmare he can try and gain some composure. He fails miserably. Tears drench the pillow and her neck and shoulder. He cleaves to her and sobs. After their bath they'd made love for the first time and it had been sensuous, languid and perfect. It was the single most perfect thing in all her life. At her peak, she had told him again that she loved him. He hadn't said it back, but instead held her closer and kissed her deep. When he stops crying he turns from her and she presses herself to his back, her arms holding him tight as she whispers in his ear that 'it's okay, I'm here'.

"Sorry," Spike mumbles, sniffing and angrily wiping the tears from his eyes.

"What did you dream about?" Fred asks, nuzzling her nose at the base of his neck and drinking in his scent.

"Nothing, never mind. Go back to sleep."

"You were talking in your sleep." She leaves it open for him to continue, but he doesn't, so she does. "You said what have I done? What does that mean?"

"I can't....can't talk about it. Can we just go back to sleep? Please?" He's surprised when suddenly she pulls away and even gets out of bed. He closes his eyes and lets the hurt set in. When she comes around to his side and insinuates herself down in front of him he's amazed, and grateful. Their noses are touching and so is the rest of their bodies, pressed together so firmly not a breath of air could slip between them.

"If you're not gonna talk to me, you're at least going to not talk to me while looking at me."

"Oh, love...I'm...I don't deserve you."

"Well that's just plain stupid, my mama would have a few things to say about how stupid men are when they say things like that."

"That so?"

"So. Come on, Spike, this is you and me. If anything, we can talk, it's all we did for so many months." He takes in a long, shaky breath, then wraps his arms around her.

"Remember what I told you about the night I decided to seek for my soul?"

"Did you dream about you and Buffy in the bathroom?"

"Not exactly. Was....was....god...."

"Was? Come on..."

"Your face...it was you.....I'm sorry, I'm so terribly sorry." He begins crying again.

"Baby, don't cry. I understand."

"How can you? How can you possibly? I'm a monster!"

"I understand that there's nothing in this whole wide world that'll ever make you hurt me. I understand that you're so scared of becoming that monster you used to be that it comes out in your dreams, but it's not really you."

"Isn't it? Fred, I loved Buffy with my entire being and I almost....I'll never understand how she saw her way to forgiving me."

"I can. You're one hell of a man, Spike and I love you."

X

When Fred arrives at Spike's place, before she's even crossed the threshold inside, he's scooped her up off the floor and begun kissing her, as well as insinuating his hand under her blouse and feeling her up. "You're in a good mood," she says, hugging him back.

"The best bloody mood of my resurrected unlife!" he exclaims. "I wanna meet your parents!" He tumbles back on to the couch and she lands astride him, hands on his chest.

"You want to what?" Already his hands are inching up under her very businesslike skirt. She thought he was going to go a little further, but he merely cups her bottom and looks up at her adoringly. "You can't meet my parents!"

"Why? Ashamed of me?"

"What? God, no, Spike!" She bends down and kisses the tip his nose. "I just don't want to put you through the hellish experience of being the boyfriend of the daughter of Roger and Trish Burkle."

"Roger and Trish? No wonder they named you Winifred."

"What's that supposed to mean? Jerk."

"But you love me anyways, don't you? You love me?" He looks so in need of hearing it tumble out of her lips again. She pulls him up and presses a long, hot kiss to the spot where his throat and chest meet and he groans appreciatively.

"I love you. My dad's going to ask you what your intentions are, and how you plan to support me...then when the whole vampire thing comes out..."

"I won't leave you. Not unless you send me away."

"Why would anyone ever want to send you away?"

"Well...."

"I'm not them. I want you with me forever and ever." He smiles at her with such wonderment that she feels a familiar tug on her heart strings. He's so childlike with his love, so awestruck when he's shown kindness....but she wishes he'd tell her that he loves her too.

XI

Spike likes to sleep in, Fred has learned. She glances over at the clock that sits on the mantle of the fireplace which faces the foot of the bed. It's 11:23 AM and Spike's dead...undead to the world. His arms are around her body and she couldn't move out of them if she tried. She's had to go to the bathroom for over an hour and is reaching that point where she'll have to wake him.

Squirming and twisting a little she finally tries to get away and in response he tosses a leg over both of hers. "Don't go," he mumbles. He takes in a deep breath and holds it. She smells heavenly in the morning. He never got to wake up with Buffy, except that first time and it's one of his many regrets. He likes to be cuddled after a shag. Sadly Buffy never gave him that either. Still, a good portion of his heart will always belong to his Slayer. Buffy and Fred are nothing alike, not in bed, and not in any other aspect. It's strange he finds, to have this young, frail human woman in his grasp. He's imbibed with all sorts of supernatural power, and she's a tough cookie, but she has trouble lifting full grocery bags onto the kitchen counter. He wants to protect her, shield her from every ill in the world, he wants her with him always. She whispers her plight to him and reluctantly he releases her.

When she comes back there's a distinct scent of mint on her from having brushed her teeth, and soap as she's washed her face. When she gets back under the covers, she expects to be drawn back into the circle of his loving embrace, but instead, he curls into her and hides his face at her breasts, nuzzling and kissing her skin.

"Want to say thank you," he whispers. Fred hugs him close, pulling the covers up over his shoulders.

"What for?"

"For being Fred."

XII

Everything's gone to hell in a hand basket. At least that's how Fred's described it. Spike merely grits out how bloody buggering bollocks the situation is. Wolfram and Hart was after all operating as an outfit for Hell itself. For a myriad of reasons, the core group had separated. Trust was an issue. Spike hasn't given up on Angel, nor the others. But he needs time to think. Time however was not afforded them when it became apparent that he was getting too close to the truth. Whatever it was. There was no time to pack anything, or grab anything as useful as money or a cell phone.

Spike and Fred got away in time. Just in time. Sunrise was coming and they had outrun their assailants, still they needed somewhere to hide for the day. What amounted to a shack was found on the beach just as Spike started to sizzle. It was close to a forest and far from civilization, an old fishing hut, not particularly clean, but it would have to do. Spike paces like a caged panther and Fred stays out of his way. She's scared and wants him to hold her, but he's angry and manic. Suddenly she lets out a scream and he's there a second later.

"What? What's wrong?!" he begs.

"Rat, a rat just...it's okay, at least they're small, not like these big scruffy things that lived in the caves in Pylea. They looked like miniature gorillas, but with rat tails. They liked to eat toes."

He looks her up and down, seeing her that she's only wearing a little sundress and sandals. He shrugs out of his duster and puts it on her; he's frowning. "You okay?"

"Are you okay?"

"That's not answering my....."

"Gaaaahhh!" Another rat has just run across her toes.

"This is bloody ridiculous. You'll have the plague by day's end!" He vamps out and the rodents scatter and leave the shack, sensing the presence of a dangerous predator.

"Well, there goes lunch." She smiles and tries to lighten the mood. Spike sits himself down cross-legged on a crate and pulls Fred into his lap. He makes her bring her feet up too, so nothing will nibble on them. In the cocoon of his black leather duster he cradles her close and brushes kisses over her face.

"Sorry 'bout all this."

"About what?" She lays her head on his shoulder and her palm on his chest.

"You're stuck for the day in a filthy shack that's crawling with vermin, we've got the minions of the Senior Partners hunting us, there's no food or bathroom for you, it's bloody uncomfortable..."

"I'm pretty comfy..."

"We don't know what's happened to the others, we don't know what’s going to happen to us."

"No we don't. At least not with what's going on now, but I know a few things."

"What's that, love?"

She kisses his cheek and whispers in his ear.

"That we'll figure this out, that we'll take good care of each other and that we...that I love you."

"Oh Winifred...I....." Before the words can leave his mouth the bare cover that was the shack is blown apart.

XIII

"Freddy, baby? Wake up, love, please. Sorry, for calling you Freddy just then, I know how much you hate it. Don't want another thick ear. You can box me about all you want if you'll just wake up. Please, love...please, love...I love..I love you. Hear that? Went and did it again, done and made myself into...no, it's not the same. It's not the same, love. Not the same at all. I'm in love with you, Winifred and I'm not ready for us to be over, we've barely gotten any time together at all. So, so you wake up now, okay? K'? Fred? Petal?"

Still nothing. He'd been holding her motionless body for hours now, crouched and cowering in what shade the trees and rocks along the cliffside afforded him. He had to move with the sun to keep from burning anymore than he already was. On the beach among the ruins lay the bodies of the assassins that had been sent after them. He hadn't voluntarily killed human beings for years...but now. He pushed those thoughts away and returned his attention to the only thing that mattered to him in the world. The girl he loved. The girl that was barely alive and still unconscious in his arms.

He felt himself fighting to stay awake. He hadn't slept in a couple of days; it was even longer since he'd had any blood. Yet he ignored those factors and the bleeding, blistering, blackened canvas of his skin. Most of his body was affected. His shirt had gone to cinders, but his jeans had faired well and so had his boots. Lucky for her, Fred had been wearing his coat, but that hadn't protected her from debris, or the rock her head had hit when they'd been bombed.
He thought he must look a dreadful fright, but he'd risk her rejection of his ugly burned faced if she just opened her eyes. He pulled them in between two large rocks; the shadows would last until the sun set and then he could carry her to a hospital.

"'Member when we took that ride on the motorcycle? You were small enough to sit in front of me. I knew it wasn't safe to drive with just one hand, but I had to have one arm around you...and it wasn't to keep you on the bike, wanted you close to me. Only ever wanted to be close...to someone....all my life just wanted....someone who was really mine." He stopped and angrily wiped away his tears. "I'm pretty bloody sure that was your cue, pet, come on then. What you waitin' for? Why aren't you waking up? Wake up! Fred, love, please...begging now...begging now..."

XIV

Spike stumbles as he walks, slow and tired, but he holds Fred close and tries to keep her stable. He's hoping he can find a clinic or hospital as he walks aimlessly back to civilization. He follows the road, which isn't necessarily the smartest thing to do, but he's not exactly relying on his brain just now. He's following his blood and it's blood that comes to the rescue. The car slows on the road and pulls over a ways ahead. Angel and Wes get out of the long black Plymouth, rushing to their aid. As soon as Wes takes Fred from his arms, Spike collapses and Angel's there to catch him.

"She's hurt...her head...hasn't opened her eyes all day..." Spike chokes out.

"We need to get them both to a hospital," Wes says, laying Fred in the back seat. "Angel, get him in, I'll drive." Spike was half unconscious himself.

"Hospital won't do him any good...he needs blood." Once the car is moving, Angel lets Spike go; the younger vampire slumps against the door, too tired to move, but then suddenly there is blood in his mouth and he drinks appreciatively. Angel feeds Spike from his wrist and the fresh, supernaturally charged blood of his grandsire begins to work its magic. Spike slips into unconsciousness.

When he wakes Spike finds himself lying on a bed in a cool, dimly lit room. There's a breeze from an open window and Angel and Wes are asleep slouched on the sofa.

"Why we in a motel? Where's Fred?" Spike asks. He sits up and sees his duster on the foot of the bed. He kicks Angel's shin and the vampire wakes, Wes too.

"She's right next to you," Angels answers. Spike rolls on to his side and she's lying there, sweet as ever, looking peaceful. "She's going to be fine."

"Then why isn't she awake?"

"Magics; the blast that hit you wasn't just explosives. I've removed the spells, she's just resting," Wes explains.

"Thank god...." Spike moves in closer and buries his face into her hair and the pillow, then he's kissing her face and drawing her out of her slumber. She opens her eyes and looks at him. He smiles and feels his tears of relief running down his cheeks, "Welcome back, love, I missed you." She stares at him; his face, arms and chest are badly burned, but his eyes are a glorious clear blue. She pulls back and he's confused.

"Who are you?" she asks.

XV

"Wh...what?" Spike stammers.

"Just kidding," Fred replies, them smiles at him.

"Oh you didn't just do that! You didn't bloody just do that!"

She giggles; tries to hold back her own tears of relief that they're together still. "You should've seen the look on your...oh my god, your face!" She bolts up from the bed and is suddenly in a panic, which intensifies when she sees the rest of him. "Ohmygod, ohmygod, Spike what did they do to you!?" He pulls her back down, but she avoids touching him for fear of angering the blights on his flesh.

"Love, I'm already healing, Angel's seen to it, please I want to hold you."

"But you're hurt."

"Hurts more to have you not in my arms, Fred, please." She doesn't quite comply, laying back down herself and opening her arms to him. He cuddles down against her and sinks into her as much as he can. Few times in life has someone held him in order to give him comfort. Angel and Wes suddenly felt as if they're intruding on a very soon to be intimate scene and excuse themselves, citing that perhaps it would be wise if they got their own room and promised they'd regroup the next evening when both vampires could go outside. Once they are alone, Spike lets out a shaky exhale and wraps himself around Fred. "You can't imagine how scared I was of losing you, darling. My sweet girl."

"Not going anywhere, not voluntarily. I'm contemplating something I developed about a year and a half ago, it's this conduit for massive transmogrification. I was gonna change the Wolfram & Hart building into a giant ice cream cone and watch it melt with all the bad guys inside. Or a big balloon and I can just pop it."

"Sweetheart, your cute little mouth is about to go babbling and careening off into the stratosphere again. I’d rather you use it to kiss me."

"Oh. Okay."

"C'mere then, lovely Winifred..." They've had too many soft kisses for this one to remain so, they devour each other, desperate to be made to feel that the other is truly there with them and never leaving. Their world is in chaos, but inside this one room there is only love.

XVI

"Sorry, got a bit carried away," Spike apologizes. "Not hurt?"

"Nope, I'm tougher than I look, but I don't think I'll be walking until tomorrow night. At least."

"I'll carry you then. Seriously, I'll curb those vampire impulses in the future."

"Oh don't you dare! Love the biting." Spike moves her hair back from her throat and sees the mark of his fangs there. When she offered her blood to him, just moments before their climax, he couldn't and didn't resist.

"Never bit a girl before..." She gives him a confused look. "I mean...one that was willing n' all. Thank you for trusting me." Fred laughs off his serious tone, smacking his bare and mercifully mostly healed chest. But Spike's eyes are burning with intensity and she draws back.

"Have I done something wrong? Are you angry? You look angry."

Spike rolls on to his side so they lay facing each other, head on the same pillow. He caresses her shoulder now and continues to stare into her eyes.

"M'not angry, love. I'm in awe."

"Awe? Of what?...of me?"

"Yes, of course of you. Perhaps you're too young to understand, to really know what loneliness is."

"I spent five years as a slave, I know loneliness is."

"Yes, pet, and I'm sorry that you had to go through that. I mean a different kind. When you're holding a person in your arms and they're not there with you. Drusilla, bless her, was never there with me, always off inside her own head. Then Buffy...I think...that first time and those final few nights she was with me...so I know a bit of what it's like. Buffy had love for me, I know it now, but she was never in love with me...not like you are. I'm lying in bed with a girl who loves me and she's here with me."

"I am. I do love you, Spike. You're a good person and...and well, you're just about the best thing since my mama's State Fair blue ribbon-winning lemon meringue pie."

"They have those in Texas? I haven't been since 1922."

"Pie?"

"State fairs."

"Why sure."

"We should go to Texas."

"We can get pie here, can't we?"

"Yes, but I can't really ask Roger Burkle for his daughter's hand in marriage if we're in California now can I?"

XVII

Fred is on one side of the office, Spike is on the other. Angel's standing between the two. They look more like prize fighters in their corners ready to plow into the other as opposed to the lovers they actually are. Neither will look at the other. Angel sighs and rolls his eyes.
"Look, you two," he begins. This showdown was shaping up to be more epic than the one last week with The Senior Partners of Wolfram and Hart. The good guys won.

"I'm not bloody playin' this game. How am I supposed to know what I've done wrong if she won't bloody tell me!" Spike roars. Angel turns to Fred.

"Fred..."

"If he thinks that was the proper way to go about things, then I don't know what to think. Do you, Angel?"

"What?"

"Think that was the proper way to go about things?"

"Go about what?"

"He knows."

"No I bloody well don't, that's problem here, innit?!?" Spike yells, kicking the wall.

"Spike..." Angel starts again.

"I've given her all I've got. I know it's not much, that I'm not a rich man, or even a very good man...but whatever I am, whatever I do...It's never good enough is it? Not for Dru, not for the Slayer...and..." His voice quiets and his temper leaves him; he's defeated. "Not for her." He looks away, clenching his jaw down to hold back the tears that threaten to come. Then there is a hand on his arm; it’s hers.

"I never said you weren't good enough," Fred whispers.

"But you don't want to go to Texas."

"It's not that....it's just..."

"Tell me, kitten."

"You said you wanted to ask my dad...something..."

"I do. I still do. Is that was this is? That I didn't give you the right kind of proposal? Didn't get down on one knee?"

"Proposal?" Angel questions. They ignore him, as per usual.

"No, it's just that...okay, I love you," says Fred.

"Yeah," Spike acknowledges.

"But you don't really love me."

"Come again? Who the bloody hell told you that? I'll rip a right royal strip off 'em!"

"You did."

"Did not!"

"Did. Or rather, you've never said..."

"Sure I did! All the time..." He stops, straightens up, thinks a moment, then his shoulders slump and his head sinks. "I'm a git."

"I've been saying that for a century," Angel states. They continue to ignore him. Spike turns to his lady love and pulls her into his arms, looking her in the eyes and giving her a wistful smile.

"I meant it everyday. I love you, Winifred," Spike confesses, then he kisses her....and continues to kiss her. Then gropes her some and backs her toward Angel's desk. The grandsire is unceremoniously pushed aside, Spike's arm blindly clearing everything off Angel's desk. She’s on her back and he’s on top of her, passion taking hold.

"Guys...um...my desk..." Angel says, pitifully.

XVIII

"He's a what?" Roger Burkle had gaped.

"He's a vampire, dad," Fred had replied, in a small voice that made Spike feel like taking her in his arms and telling her father to sod off. Victorian sensibilities in how to behave before your intended's parents, and the soul, had kept him in check. Outside, Trish was barbecuing steaks and had blanched when Spike said he wanted his extra rare. She was still talking to herself about going down to the woodshed to whittle some stakes yet at the same time lamenting that she'd put too much garlic in the Caesar salad dressing. Aunts June, Charlotte and Edna are sitting together, hip to hip to hip on the couch across from Spike, whose eyes are fixed unwavering on Fred. Cousins Billy, Dickey and Gunnar are busy dismantling the dining room set and making crosses. Grandma Burkle is sitting next to Spike on the loveseat and her hand is getting a little too friendly for his liking. He takes it in his and gently returns it to Grandma, crossing his legs.

"And I love him." Fred smiles at her vampire and he winks back.

"Now working for that Angel fellow's one thing..."

"Angel's Spike's grandsire. He's even got a soul."

"Johnny Ray Bronco was by yesterday, asking about you. Whole town knew you were coming." Roger casts a quick glance at a solemn-faced Spike, who is still fixated on Fred. "Johnny's just taken over the bike shop from Johnny Ray Senior."

"That's nice..."

"I told Johnny Ray he was welcomed to dinner."

"Dad..." Fred's trying her best to keep it together. Honestly, this was exactly what she was expecting, but she'd hoped she could have spared herself the embarrassment and Spike this uncomfortable situation. The vampire seems to be taking it in stride and Fred wishes Grandma hadn't been let out of her room.

"Johnny Ray's a nice boy."

"So is Spike."

"Or what about Darryl Goodwin? He's been accepted to MIT; a good education goes a long way."

"Spike has one, he went to Oxford."

"That so?"

Fred nods and steals a smile from Spike. His eyes haven't left her body since they've arrived at her parents’ house. She wants take his hand and run for the hills with him. She knows the demon inside him must be pitching a fit. He's on his best behavior and it means the world to her. She gives a subtle motion, releasing him from this torture. He rises and the family is on guard.

"Hate to interrupt, but before we get all Capulets and Montagues here, I'm going to go ask Mrs. Burkle if she'd like a hand with dinner," Spike says as he excuses himself. In seconds he's surrounded by the cousins, makeshift crosses held aloft and stakes brandished. "Oh, balls."

XIX

"I'm sorry," Fred whispers, tears stinging her eyes. Spike kisses them away, cupping her face in his hands and sighing against her face.

"Hush now, sweet pet," he cajoles. After one last kiss on her forehead he looks up to the sky and breathes in the crisp night air. After dinner, the disaster that it was, the lovers escaped and went into the night. They had walked for almost an hour before Spike stopped them in the middle of the field, all the wilds and beauties of the night surrounding them.

"I didn't think it would be that bad."

"I know, love, it's not a worry, I assure you."

"Gunnar tried to stick you when you reached for the salt."

"Thought I was going to do something fangy, stupid git. I'm lucky it was that kindling from the fire and not something else. Gunnar is gay, you know? Totally fancies me."

"Seriously? He was on the football team."

"Precisely." Fred giggles and the sound is music to his ears. His arms encircle her waist and he pulls her flush against him as he looks up at the sky. "Beautiful, isn't it?"

"I used to sneak out when I was a kid and stare at the stars. I never had anyone to looks at the stars with me before."

"Now you'll never be without." The symphony of crickets and howling coyotes create an atmosphere of both freedom and solitude. Alone with his girl, just how he likes it. Without preamble, they begin to sway as one with Spike humming an accompaniment of an old rock ballad from the ‘70s. Fred wraps her own arms around his waist and buries her face to his neck, pressing tiny kisses on his skin. "I love you."

"I love you."

"I know I haven't actually asked yet...but I'm going to, just so you know."

"Okay."

"Just okay?"

"A ring and some papers aren't important, Spike. This is."

"Means the world, Fred, to hear you say it." They dance for a little while longer, then part and Spike lays his duster down on the dewy grass. They cuddle up side by side and gaze up at the stars.

"One hundred years from now, the sky won't look any different."

"Didn't look any different one hundred years ago either."

"I'm not going to live to be a hundred." She takes his hand in hers and gives it a squeeze, reminding him that they're together now. "Promise me you'll remember me when you look at the stars."

"I promise."

THE END

Spike/Fred Classic Fic #1 by Evenstar

2009-10-25T06:32:51Z

evenstar_estel has generously given me permission to post two wonderful Spred fics here that she wrote several years ago. This first one is a one-shot, set post-“Damage” in AtS Season 5; it’s rated PG. Man, I wish it had been canon.

Healing Hands
©2003 Evenstar
evenstar_estel@yahoo.ca

Normally there would've been the comforting accompaniment of a heart monitor, rhythmically beeping away an assurance that there was still life inside the patient lying silent in their hospital bed. There is no such luxury for Fred because Spike doesn't have a heartbeat. It wasn't as if the surgery to reattach Spike's hands hadn't been a complete success. He was after all a vampire with super healing abilities and according to the Wolfram and Hart doctors, the bones had already knit completely back together. His wrists might be stiff for a few days, but the constant IV infusion of fresh human blood was seeing to his mending in addition the magics the Shamans had performed during the procedure. Still, the frightful, awful image of those hands not being there would haunt her the rest of her days. She can't shake the image of the stumps, the blood and then the hands in the EMT's cooler from her mind.

She swipes away the tear that has rolled over her cheek and looks up at Spike's face. If he'd only wake up, make light of the situation, or a snide comment about Angel's masculinity she'd be okay. Or preferably, Fred muses, he'd get that soft, sultry look in his eye whenever they flirted and then his voice would drop an octave and he'd say something that would make her tummy feel full of butterflies. Yes, that was preferable. That would be wonderful. Knox had come by earlier, just to check up on how she was holding up. She has put off work today, being as she has spent yesterday and the entire night at Spike's bedside. It was funny to her suddenly to realize that Knox was funny, sweet, affable and charming, but it doesn't matter because he isn't Spike.

Life really hasn't been the same since the blond vampire had come into it, and she doesn't want to be the way it was before. The recovery room is one exclusive to W&H, so it's as posh and comfortable as one could've wanted it. Perhaps it is a little too comfortable, because he isn't waking up. Everyone had come and gone, even Angel, who had asked for few minutes alone. Other than that, Fred hasn't left the vampire's side. She isn't quite ready to admit all the whys, but she cares about him more than anyone else in her sphere. And she wishes she could tell him.

He's very warm to the touch, with all the blood they've been pumping into him, but Fred still feels the need to put yet another blanket on him. She pulls it up over his heavily bandaged wrists, up his arms and then across his chest. Her hands hover there and of their own volition lay themselves on his hard pectorals. She's surprised, given how many old scars decorate his skin, that he's as soft as satin. Her hands glide up to his shoulders, then back down again, her palms brushing over the dark circles of his nipples, then back up again. His muscles aren't wiry or tense, but they are taut and strong. Her hands continue their ministrations, gently kneading and caressing his body from far his up his neck to halfway down his arms. She thinks about the time they've spent together talking in her lab, remembering all his coy expressions and naughty innuendos. She smiles and her fingers tickle the downy curls at the base of his neck. She knows she probably shouldn't be taking such liberties when he's unconscious, but she can't seem to stop. She never wants to stop touching him. Another one of her tears splashes on his skin and she quickly takes it away with the pad of her thumb. She bows her head, still massaging his shoulders and her hair falls forward, like a slow parade of wind whispering a lover's promise.

"Mmmm, that's nice, pet..." Spike mumbles, his eyes lazy, but opening slightly to reveal their beautiful blue.

"Oh!" she squeaks and quickly jumps back.

"Why'd.....stop?"

"I'm sorry!"

"Fred, love, come....come back...."

"I should get the doctor." He tries to sit up and can't quite do it, his lassitude due to the multiple doses of morphine he's been injected with. He goes to use his hands but before he can coordinate himself, Fred's back with him, her hands on his chest pushing him back into the mattress: "Don't....don't move your arms! Don't use your hands yet!!"

"Wha?...why?" She resumes her caressing and Spike groans just a little, enjoying their connection, relaxing again.

"You don't remember?"

"No...some.......the girl, she alright?"

"I don't know....they took her, Wolfram & Hart's security people...Spike, she...." Now that his eyes have gained focus he sees how red and tear-filled hers are.

"Sweetheart, you look like hell." Her heart leaps with the moniker he's just uttered, but there are more important matters at hand. Speaking of which...

"She cut off your hands!" He hadn't noticed the layers of bandages before this now, nor the uncomfortable swelling or the stitches prickling into his skin. For a moment he's in an hysterical panic, trying to pull his arms out from under the covers, making small animal like cries. Fred helps and pulls the blankets away. When he sees that his hands are still attached he chokes out a sob, his own tears coming freely.

"I...I.........oh god..."

"No, Spike, you're okay. We found you and got you here real quick and there was this Shaman who's done this kind of thing before with the mystical bindings and tissue healing and that's in addition to the regular surgery they did. In a couple of days you'll be as good as new." His fit passes quickly and he relaxes, feeling embarrassed for freaking out and crying like a little kid. He's reduced to sniffles and gasps, fragments of memory snapping into focus inside his mind. He inwardly thanks God she's here with him.

"Fred?"

"Yes?"

"Don't leave me."

"I haven't left your side."

"You haven't?" She shakes her head and takes a seat beside him on the bed, still massaging his upper body. "Keep touching me....I need...I haven't been touched in so long...."

"Harmony. Office?" She gives him a funny little quirk of a smile to scold him, but only a little. "I'm teasing. I know what you meant."

"How long have I been out?"

"Only a day. That vampire healing's sure coming in handy. The doctors said the bones are already back together like they should be and the tissues too. In a week it won't even seem like it happened."

"I don't remember, I was knocked out."

"Thank god for small graces then. Right?"

"Oh yes....yes. You really been here the whole time?"

"Someone had too."

"No they didn't. Not for me."

"Yes for you, you matter, Spike." He sighs, not quite comprehending, but grateful nonetheless.

"Thank you."

"My pleasure." She blushes and her hands tremble a little against his body, but she doesn't pull away.

"I haven't said it, been too much of bloody prat to the lot of you, especially the big bossy....especially to Angel, rather. Winifred?"

"Mmm hmm?" She leans into him a little bit more and her feminine scent soothes him.

"I don't deserve to have someone like you in my life."

"Well, tough, I'm in it."

"I know."

"You should get some rest."

"Will you stay?"

"I'll stay."

"You've got a heart bigger than all a’ Texas, love." Feeling bold, and maybe a little reckless, she stands and leans over him, then in a little closer. "Fred?" A second later they're kissing, using lips to express what they've been unable to say with words yet. Fred pulls away eventually, a little shocked at what she's done, but Spike doesn't seem to mind. He's smiling. She sits down beside him again and carefully, her touch as light as gossamer, takes one of his hands into her lap, gently stroking it, his fingers tense and untense like a pussyfooting kitten. "We're good friends, aren't we, pet?"

"The best."

"We'll do our best to make sure that doesn't change, fair enough?"

"Okay."

"But feel free to kiss me again. Anytime."

"Okay." He snuggles back down into the bed and closes his eyes.

"Sing us a lullaby...." He feels the giddiness surging through her instantaneously and he quickly corrects himself, "But not Dixie Chicks!!"

"You're no fun."

"Sure I am, but if I ever say there's a party in my stumps and everyone's invited please just bloody stake me!"

"Jeremiah was a bullfrog. Was a good friend of mine. I never understood a single word he said, but I helped him a-drink his wine. And he always had some mighty fine wine. Singin'... Joy to the world. All the boys and girls now, joy to the fishes in the deep blue sea. Joy to you and me...." Her voice waivers as she sings, but it's sweet and makes him feel safe.

"I didn't mean it before, when I said you looked like hell. You're glorious, a real vision of loveliness."

"If I were the king of the world.. Tell you what I'd do. I'd throw away the cars and the bars and the wars. And make sweet love to you. Sing it now..."

"Make sweet love to you...." The hand of his in her lap turns over and grasps hers; his strength has already returned. She keeps on singing until he's fast asleep again and she's there when next he wakes.

And every time after that.

THE END

spred @ 2009-10-18T21:50:00

2009-10-19T02:50:23Z

Mscotstar/DarlaProduction's Spred video "Fred & Spike ~ A Different Path" has a new URL:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8ZQWX38jjYI
UPDATE: Now YouTube's yanked that one down, too, but the video can still be seen on BuffyTube:
http://buffytube.ning.com/video/spike-and-fred-a-different

And there's another new vid up, this one with a Fred/Spike/Buffy triangle. It's an alternate reality AtS Season 5 called "A New Love" by MeTeytos88. It's Part 1; Part 2 hasn't been posted yet, so I don't know what pairing it'll end with. It's got some beautiful Spike/Fred scenes in it, though:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YnMW22WRecI

Thank God for www.keepvid.com! It's a free service that I use to make personal copies of all the Spred vids I find, before YouTube has a chance to yank them.

spred @ 2009-10-18T15:24:00

2009-10-18T20:24:31Z

*g* Here's a fun little Spred fic!

Shove With Your Hips by alison_swift
http://alison-swift.livejournal.com/126533.html
post-AtS season 5 (in which Fred has been resurrected)
rated PG-13
ficlet

spred @ 2009-09-19T16:01:00

2009-09-19T21:01:13Z

Chapter 6 of alison_swift's Spike/Fred fic Retrieval and Return is up, and the romance therein is sweet and haunting and funny and just freakin' adorable.
http://alison-swift.livejournal.com/124920.html

***********************************************

I'll use this entry to provide links to all the Retrieval and Return chapters as they're posted:

Chapters 7 & 8
http://alison-swift.livejournal.com/132262.html
Chapter 6
http://alison-swift.livejournal.com/124920.html
Chapter 5
http://alison-swift.livejournal.com/122425.html
Chapter 4
http://alison-swift.livejournal.com/119615.html
Chapter 3
http://alison-swift.livejournal.com/119067.html
Chapter 2
http://alison-swift.livejournal.com/119067.html
Chapter 1
http://alison-swift.livejournal.com/118650.html

Header (re-posted from Chapter 1):
Title: Retrieval and Return
Rating: Mostly PG-13, reaching up to R eventually.
Summary: While laying low from Wolfram and Hart, the gang stumbles upon a group of wannabe slayers, struggling to keep their tiny town from a nest of vampires. In return, the ragtag bunch might be able to help our heroes bring back a friend. On top of that, Wolfram and Hart isn't giving up so easily. Couple of snotty teenage OC's, who won't be hanging around for long.
Pairing: Fred/Spike, some Angel/Nina.
Disclaimer: I do not own Angel or any of the characters from the show. If I did, Fred would not be Illyria, and Spike would be cuddling her.

Paper Pusher by fenderlove

2009-09-19T05:43:19Z

fenderlove has begun writing a new Spredfic called Paper Pusher. It's post-Not Fade Away and post-After the Fall (the IDW comic books' version of AtS Season 6), and looks like it's going to be a terrific Fred resurrection story! :D

Chapter 1:
http://fenderlove.livejournal.com/235161.html

Chapter 2:
http://fenderlove.livejournal.com/236125.html

Fic Updates

2009-09-19T05:15:57Z

I've posted Part 15 of my Spike/Fred fic In Dreams:
http://sockmonkeyhere.livejournal.com/40270.html

and She's Come Undone, which is Story #4 of The Cycle Series, another Spred fic I penned recently:
http://sockmonkeyhere.livejournal.com/39431.html

Another Fic by Lilithbint

2009-09-11T03:23:30Z

Here's another ficlet by lilithbint, who so generously wrote it based on a request I gave her at nekid_spike; she's given permission for me to re-post it here. I love it to pieces and wish with all my heart that this had been canon.

The Lost by Lilithangel (aka lilithbint)
http://community.livejournal.com/nekid_spike/2789701.html
Characters: Spike, Fred, Dawn, Xander
Rating: PG
Setting: alternate reality BtVS Season 7 / AtS Season 4
Summary: Fred takes a call from Sunnydale and goes to find the recently ensouled Spike in the basement.

The Lost

She shouldn’t have come to Sunnydale on her own, she knew that. Angel wouldn’t be very happy with her, but Angel was missing and couldn’t help. Gunn was angry and didn’t care about Sunnydale, and Wesley wasn’t allowed to be a part of things yet. She should be back in L.A helping to find Angel and Cordelia but she felt so helpless and the girl on the phone had been insistent that Angel had to take care of this.

“Where’s Angel?” the girl demanded when Fred arrived at the school.

“He’s missing,” Fred replied, “don’t worry, I can help, really I can.”

“Just so long as you get rid of him,” the girl, Dawn, sniffed, “Buffy trusts him but I know he hurt her.”

“Buffy’s the slayer right?” Fred said, trying to make sense of what she knew. “Spike’s a vampire that she didn’t slay because he was helpless against humans.” She had learned that much from Wesley before things went bad; he really didn’t like talking about Sunnydale but had kept up with events as best he could. “And Spike’s related to Angel in some way which is why you think Angel should deal with him.”

“Pretty much,” Dawn said. “He looked after me when Buffy was gone but when she came back everything went wrong. It wasn’t supposed to go wrong, that’s not why we brought her back.”

“Angel said she was brought back from the dead,” Fred said, losing some of her nervousness in her interest, “that’s pretty dangerous magic.”

“That’s not what went wrong,” Dawn insisted, “we thought she was in a hell dimension, they had to do something. Spike shouldn’t have hurt her.”

“Why doesn’t somebody just kill him?” Fred asked curiously.

Dawn seemed to shrink into herself. “Buffy doesn’t want him dead, but I can’t let him hurt her again,” she repeated almost to herself.

“What did you want Angel to do,” Fred asked, “kill him?”

“Take him away,” Dawn said, “take him far away from Buffy.”

“He still can’t hurt humans though?” Fred said cautiously, she didn’t think she could take on a deranged vampire on her own.

Dawn shook her head. “I don’t think he’s been eating. Xander wouldn’t let me stay too long but he’s watching Spike.”

Dawn led Fred down to the basement and they clambered through to the abandoned lockers where Xander stood awkwardly watching a huddled figure.

“He hasn’t moved,” Xander said as they arrived and he sounded relieved, “just curled up there muttering to himself. Where’s Angel?”

“Angel couldn’t come,” Fred said absently, staring at the figure.

“You’re still going to get rid of him, right?” Xander asked.

Fred ignored him and moved closer to the figure kneeling down and reached out to touch his shoulder. Spike flinched at the touch and tried to scrabble into the wall. Scared blue eyes looked at her with confusion.

“You’re new,” Spike said, “you shouldn’t be here. Do you have a pass? You can’t be here without a pass.”

Fred couldn’t reconcile the broken figure in front of her with the stories she’d heard or with the hatred she could feel coming from Xander and the fear from Dawn.

“I don’t think you belong here,” she said to Spike. “Do you have a pass?” she took a risk in his madness.

“Belong in the dark,” Spike said, “with the other bad dead things.” His fingers fumbled in the pockets of his jeans but only came up with a button and a crushed daisy. “I had a pass,” he said and the sorrow in his eyes broke her heart. “Everything’s lost. They say I should stay here, it’s coming and I should stay.”

“I don’t think you should,” she said gently and touched his hand softly. He flinched as if he expected her to hurt him and she could only feel sorry for him, not fear.

“Dirty little boys should be punished,” he said solemnly, “hurt the girl. Tried to make it right but they show me I can’t. It can’t ever be right.”

“You should come with me,” she said firmly. “It doesn’t feel very nice down here.” She shivered because it really didn’t. Spike shook his head but didn’t resist when she stood up and pulled him to his feet.

“Don’t trust him,” Xander said from where he still stood, “he’s still an evil soulless thing.”

“Whatever he is, whatever he’s done,” Fred said coolly, “I think he’s paying for it now.” She looked at the scabbed-over scratches on his face and hands, and the thin, almost brittle bones in his wrists showing a hunger she was all too familiar with.

“He tried to hurt Buffy,” Xander said equally as coolly, “and he’s a monster who’s killed thousands of people without any guilt. Somehow I can’t bring myself to care.”

“Then what does that make you?” Fred asked.

Dawn’s expression was conflicted as Fred led Spike out of the basement and she turned away when Spike looked at her. Fred could feel Spike shrink further into himself but the expression on his face suggested he expected it and understood.

Fred was grateful that she’d hired a car rather than borrowed Gunn’s truck as she coaxed Spike into the backseat and covered him with a blanket. Xander watched, his face a mask of disdain, with Dawn hovering at his side.

“I was sent to a dimension where humans were nothing more than slaves by a man I trusted,” she said to him. “I was called a cow and hunted for sport but a vampire saved me. I wasn’t the reason he was there but he fought for me. Wesley told me that Spike had been helping here even when he didn’t have to. I always thought that the most important thing about being human is our capacity for kindness but I’m fast losing that belief.”

“Wait,” Dawn said suddenly. She ran back into the school leaving Fred and Xander to stare at each other in silence. Dawn returned and thrust a black leather jacket into Fred’s hands. “This is his,” she said, “He might want it again.”

“He took that from the body of the slayer he killed,” Xander said, “tell me again about kindness.”

“It doesn’t matter what others do,” Fred said as she climbed into the car, “we can only control what we ourselves do and you mister should seriously consider an attitude adjustment.” She drove away before he could reply.

Fred knew that Spike was a vampire on some sort of electronic leash and she had to admit the technology was a big part of why she’d come to Sunnydale, but once she’d seen Spike and seen how broken he was she just knew she had to do something. The expression in his eyes had been the same one she’d seen in Angel’s the few times he’d talked about his past; guilt and shame mixed with so much pain she just couldn’t understand how anyone could leave him like that.

Spike had started to shake when they drove away but when they left the outskirts of Sunnydale he became calmer. Since she couldn’t see him in the rear view mirror she had to risk the occasional glance behind her to see how he was faring. Fred knew what it was like to be broken and she wanted the chance to help. She suspected that Angel wouldn’t be very happy but maybe if Spike had been willing to help Buffy he might be willing to help them; god knows they needed the help, everything was going so terribly wrong. Fred had a feeling that just maybe Spike could make the difference.

END

She's Come Undone (A Spike/Fred Ficlet)

2009-09-09T06:09:49Z

I've posted Ficlet #4, She's Come Undone, in my Cycle Series. Sequel to A Time to Gather Stones Together. Spike/Fred; rated PG-13 for cussin'; set post-Not Fade Away.

http://sockmonkeyhere.livejournal.com/39431.html

link to all the stories in the series:
http://sockmonkeyhere.livejournal.com/19155.html

spred @ 2009-09-07T01:31:00

2009-09-07T06:35:35Z

Another new fic:

After Easter by brunettepet
http://brunettepet.livejournal.com/5464.html
alternate AtS Season 5
rated G
ficlet

An adorable, hilarious Spike/Fred friendship fic written for a nekid_spike challenge with the prompts “Fred, Ribbon, Cave,” in which the two pig out on Easter candy!