it's like a buddy movie (only without the buddy part)
Summary:
“I worked by your side all summer,” Spike reminds Xander during “Afterlife.”
Here’s how one adventure during the summer between the fifth and sixth
seasons might have gone.
Rating: PG
Category: Action/Adventure, Character Study, Drama, Humor
Characters: Spike, Xander
Pairing: None
Story Notes: Spoilers up through “The Gift” with minor hints toward
early season 6.
by Veggiebelle and SoulVamp
Chapter One: I Hate Wednesdays
Xander took another bite of his burger and chewed it. Slowly. Then he realized that his dinner was disappearing way too fast and slowed down the chewing action even more.
"Xander, you’re only delaying the inevitable." Anya sat across from him, her dinner long-since finished. "It’s not like you have much of a choice. Eventually, you are going to have to go out there."
"Yeah, I know." Xander stared at the almost-empty plate in front of him. There’s only so much stalling a guy could do. "I hate Wednesdays."
"You’ve been saying that every week all summer since Giles started the new system. Nobody cares. You agreed to this schedule just like everybody else did. Just go get it over with." Anya patted Xander’s shoulder. "Kill something. You’ll feel better."
Xander stuffed the last of the burger into his mouth and went to grab his bag. "Will you still be awake when I get back?"
"That’s funny, sweetie."
As Xander drove across town, he thought about his own little circle of hell that he was stuck in every single Wednesday night. It’s not that he minded the patrolling, or the late nights, or the even the random demon goo that he sometimes got covered in. But in this Buffy-less world – it still didn’t seem close to possible that she was really gone – somebody had to take care of the nightly evil parties here at the hellmouth. It wasn’t like they could get another Slayer into town - the only Slayer left was in jail, and he was just fine with leaving that psycho in there for, well, pretty much ever.
So Giles had come up with a plan. And it seemed like a really good plan: a rotating patrol schedule. No less than two people out there a night, and more of the gang pitching in when something badder than the usual bad was brewing. Made sense, was practical, and he was all for it.
But the problem was how the schedule turned out... And most of the weekly plan of attack was okay. But not Wednesdays. That turned out to be the day of the week that he was stuck wandering the street with Spike. Every Wednesday. For who knows how long.
Yeah, fine, Spike was the strongest guy (non-guy, dead guy, whatever) they had right now, and for some incredibly strange reason, he was still fighting the evil nasties that the town threw at them. Why he was still hanging around Sunnydale was a mystery to Xander. He could’ve taken off and gone just about anywhere to beat up on demons if he just wanted the violence. But the vampire didn’t seem to be in any rush to leave town. And he agreed to the patrol schedule just like everybody else. He didn’t even complain too much – for him, anyway – about it. And Xander didn’t really get why.
Okay, maybe he did get a lot of the why. Not that he ever would bring the subject up. Still... it was strange to have to team up with somebody who was not only evil, but way too proud of it. Hell, Spike was evil by definition – he was still a vampire, even with that handy chip stuck in his skull. But as long as he was still helping them with what they had to do, he’d deal. Mostly. But he didn’t have to like it.
By the time he’d parked his car near the graveyard, he’d resigned himself to getting through yet another night of "Fun with Patrolling with the Undead." Find bad guys, kill them (or let Spike do it, because hey, if he wants to do more of the work, he’s welcome to it), and ignore the running commentary.
He really hated Wednesdays.
Xander knocked on the crypt door. And waited. And knocked again. And waited some more. Maybe Spike had other plans. Would it be so bad if he tried solo patrol? Big chance of death, true, but...
Finally, Spike opened the door.
"Harris, what the hell do you wan-- oh. Wait a minute. Sod it, it’s Wednesday, innit?"
"Yeah."
Spike rolled his eyes. "Hold on, be out in a sec."
Xander leaned against the wall to wait. From somewhere inside the building, he could hear Spike grumbling, "I bloody hate Wednesdays."
"You and me both," Xander muttered.