crack_van | Obstacles by shapinglight (R)

Fandom: Buffy the Vampire Slayer
Pairing: Buffy/Spike
Length: ~ 19 000 words
Author on LJ:

shapinglight
Author Website: Distorting Mirrors

Why this must be read:
Can you stay a slayer when you're not an adolescent anymore?
BtVS started as a tale about adolescence, but its content has never been adolescent; no wonder that many fanfics explore hardships of the passage to adulthood, often re-evaluating and adapting the metaphors from the show.
...When Buffy turns 25, her slayer power is gone. Suddenly she's an ordinary girl who can't fight, can't slay vampires. And, worst of all, Spike is so afraid to hurt her he can't bring himself to make love to her. Shapinglight ingeniously rewrites the premise of the episode "Helpless" adapting it to Scotland setting and older, wiser but still insecure Buffy. The plotting is smart and the voices are spot-on.

Giles took off his glasses and polished them on his sleeve. Buffy had lost count of how many times he'd done that so far during this conversation.

This very difficult conversation.

"I'm sorry," Giles said. "I truly am – but I think it's important we take this on board and move forward."

"Come again, Rupert. Not sure I follow you." Spike's voice sounded like it was coming through gritted teeth. "And less of that spin-doctor bollocks. Call a spade a bloody spade."

"Spin-doctor - what?" Giles looked outraged. "It's nothing of the sort, Spike. Don't exaggerate. I'm merely trying to imply that there are positive aspects to this situation, that's all."

"Oh yeah?" Spike raised an eyebrow. "Think you need to work on your implyin' skills, then, 'cos so far you're makin' a right pig's ear of it."

Buffy pressed her fingers to her forehead. She'd woken up with a headache and it seemed to be getting worse. "Spike – really, really not helping."

Spike looked contrite at once, while the corners of Giles's mouth twitched in a hint of a self-justified smile. His eyes were kindly when he looked at her, though.

"To be honest, Buffy, I think this could be a good thing. As one ages, one's reflexes slow and being a Slayer becomes a more and more dangerous occupation."

She scowled. "Giles, I'm only twenty-five."

It was Giles's turn to look contrite. He polished harder.

"Quite, quite. Dear lord, Buffy, I'm not saying you're old."

"Then what are you saying exactly?" She could feel her temper rising with every throb of her head.

Giles stopped polishing. With a sigh, he put his glasses back on and pushed them up his nose.

"It seems I'm expressing myself very poorly today. If that's so, I apologize, Buffy. I meant to insinuate that the loss of your Slayer powers could turn out to be a blessing in disguise. It could open new doors for you."

Buffy noted that he'd very pointedly turned his back on Spike, excluding him both from the apology and the conversation. From Spike's white, set face, he'd noted the same thing.

"Doors leading – where exactly?"

Giles blinked again. For a moment, he looked flummoxed.

"Well," he said, at last, "you could go back to college - complete your education –– train for a career that doesn't involve mayhem and death. Then there's always –" he swallowed, looking uncomfortable –"marriage – er, children – that sort of thing. Or -"

Spike was staring at her over Giles's shoulder. She could almost see him thinking how every one of these suggestions pushed them further apart.

"Or?" She prompted Giles, wanting this conversation over and done with. She had ruffled vampire feathers to smooth – if she could be bothered. Right now, Spike's woe-is-me attitude was bugging her big-time.

Giles sighed. "Or you could do what previous Slayers have done who've had the luck to live to as long as you have and become a Guardian – an upholder of the Slayer legacy."

She smiled feebly. "Does that mean I have to start dressing like a character from community theatre night at the Aryan Nations compound and living in a crypt?"

Obstacles