Title:  Uncommon Distractions
Author:  Kay
Email:  kaygrr@hotmail.com
Feedback:  Please?  Because watching a grown girl cry is just pathetic.
Website:  ssfdu.tripod.com/kay/journal.htm (love for Sandy) Archive:  Just
let me know, eh? Fandom:  Buffy Pairing:  (Xander/Graham) + (Xander/Spike)
= Xander/Graham/Spike Rating:  PG-13 Disclaimer:  Mine?  What? *These*? 
No, they're Mutant Enemy's.  They just followed me home and wouldn't leave
until I played with them. Spoilers:  The last season of Buffy.  The
incident with Glory, and the ep "The Body".  (Look at me, trying to be
vague).  And that ugly rumor about Spike and a certain blond slayer? 
Never happened. Summery:  Graham and Riley are called back to Sunnydale
when the area destabilizes.  When they return, they discover there are new
factors in lives of the Scooby Gang, especially in Xander and Spike's.

Part 6/?

"You know, maybe we should look into getting you involved in an anger
management program."

Spike glared up at Xander.  "I can manage my anger just fine."  He focused
his attention back on the fledge lying helpless beneath him.  He slammed
its head down against the ground a few more times.

"We do have somewhere to be."  Xander leaned back against a tall headstone
with his arms crossed over his chest.

The reminder just made Spike growl and increase the force of his attack. 
When the fledge was unconscious and no longer begging for release, Spike
staked it and stood up, brushing ash off his duster.

"Feel better?"  Xander's manner was joking, but the concern in his eyes
was real.

Spike ignored the question.  "I thought you were in a hurry."

Xander shook his head and started walking.  "You don't sound like you feel
better.  Maybe you should try something else.  Maybe you could join an
encounter group or something so you can talk about your feelings with
someone."

Spike raised his hand in an obscene gesture behind Xander's back.  Talk
about his feelings?  The only person he needed to talk to about his
feelings was the person who was responsible for them.  The person who made
him feel so protective that he turned into a bodyguard, the person for
whom he wished he could bleed and hurt, the person who made him want to go
on existing even though he was neutered by the chip.

The person who was taunting him with bleeding 'anger management therapy'
and trying to distract him out of his bad mood.

He didn't know how it happened, but then, he didn't expect to.  It didn't
do any good to sit around and try to understand love, and he knew better
than to try to fight it:  all he knew to do was accept it and give in to
it and try to enjoy the ride as much as possible.  He knew that he found
Xander attractive:  with his dark eyes and mobile mouth and delicious
scent of fear and determination, he was hard to resist.  It was getting to
know Xander that had doomed him, though.  Before, he could sit back and
laugh at the other man's clumsiness in a fight or anxious nattering when
with his friends.  Now he'd seen Xander's stubborn refusal to ever give in
or give up, heard him laugh for true and not for show, watched him
half-kill himself to protect his friends and include Spike in that
category.  It hadn't taken long for Spike to realize that he was in
trouble, that lust had deepened and transformed into love while he wasn't
paying attention.  Now he no longer imagined just tumbling Xander down to
the ground and taking him; he wanted to make Xander laugh and gasp and beg
him for more, to hold him before and after and know that Xander was his.

Caught up in his thoughts, he was surprised by how quickly they reached
the crypt they were seeking.  He reached out and caught Xander's arm. 
"There are other ways we can do this."

Xander shook his head.  "No way is going to work better than this.  I have
to do this."

Spike released him reluctantly.  He hated this, but one of the things that
drew him most to Xander was the dark-eyed man's refusal to stop just
because something was difficult.  He knew that he couldn't stop Xander
from doing it, so he would do his best to not make it any harder than it
had to be.  "I'll be waiting, pet."

Xander smiled at him and touched his shoulder comfortingly.  "It won't
take long," he said reassuringly before entering the crypt.

Spike growled and kicked over a headstone.  Xander was trying to comfort
*him*.  Him, when Xander was the one the Cynon had fixated on.  Spike
hated Cynons on general principles and hated this one even more for
hurting Xander.  Unrelated to vampires, Cynons fed off the emotional
energy of their victims; the darker and more painful the emotion, the
better the damn things liked it.  He and Xander had encountered this one
when they had just started to patrol in Buffy's place.  Spike had wanted
to kill it for its interest in Xander, but before he could, it had offered
Xander a compromise:  if Xander would allow the Cynon to feed from him,
the Cynon would use its psychic abilities to keep him informed about
demonic activity on the Hellmouth.

Xander, being Xander, said yes.

Spike moved closer to the crypt so he could see through the door.  He
hated watching this but he didn't want to leave Xander alone with the
Cynon.  He compromised by watching from outside.  The minute the bastard
made one move to go beyond its bargain, Spike would take its head off.

The Cynon was circling Xander, skimming over the ground in that smooth
gait peculiar to its species.  In appearance, it was closer to human than
most demons, with skin of palest blue and small horns in a darker shade
ringing the top of its head.  Its over-large eyes were fixed on the
dark-haired man and its tongue skated over full lips.  "What shall we do
today?" it mused in a low voice.

"Something that won't take too much time?" Xander suggested.

Spike ground his fist into the stone of the crypt, focusing on the pain as
a way to stop himself from walking in there and dragging Xander out. 
Xander knew what was coming and dreaded it, but he still found the will to
mouth off a bit.  It made Spike proud as hell, and made watching that much
more difficult.

"I think...loneliness.  Yes.  I think that will do nicely for tonight." 
The Cynon reached out its hand so that it hovered bare inches away from
Xander's face.  "Loneliness."  It hummed quietly as it began to summon
forth that emotion from Xander.

Fine tremors ran through Xander's frame, growing stronger as each second
passed.  Face twisted in lines of pain, he stubbornly kept his eyes open,
refusing to look away from the demon.  As his shaking grew worse, tears
began to stream down his face and still his eyes remained open and his
gaze locked upon that of his tormentor.

Not even the pain was enough distraction for Spike now.  He stopped
grinding his fist bloody and watched helplessly.  Cynons worked by getting
inside the minds of their victims and summoning up emotions on which to
feed.  Right now, Xander was reliving every moment of loneliness he'd ever
experienced all at once, the pain of it magnified a thousendfold for the
demon's pleasure.  Spike knew loneliness, knew what a killing sensation it
was and he hated that Xander had to go through this.  He'd stand in for
Xander if he could, but the Cynon had no interest in him.  Only Xander.

A noise distracted him from the interior of the crypt and he turned
quickly, ready to take out his rage and frustration on whatever was
foolish enough to sneak up behind him.  He froze when he saw who it was: 
Riley and Graham.  "What the hell are you doing here?"

"I could ask you the same thing," Riley said.

"Where's Xander?" demanded Graham.

Spike fought to keep himself from slipping into gameface.  Did Graham
think Spike didn't know?  Did Graham think Spike couldn't smell the
attraction and interest on him whenever he looked at Xander?  Spike knew
what was going on: 
  Graham wanted *his* Xander.  "Xander's busy," he snarled.

Graham moved as though to look in the crypt and Spike instantly countered
him, blocking his view.  What was going on inside was none of their
business.  He knew that Xander didn't want people to be looking in on him
and watching him while he suffered.  Even more, he knew that Xander didn't
want the Initiative to find out about the Cynon.  Not only was he nervous
about what they could do to him, but he feared that they would take some
action against the demon and destroy his valuable source of information. 
Spike might not be able to take Xander's place before the Cynon, but he
could help make sure that nothing else happened to upset him.  The soldier
boys were staying outside the crypt.

And Graham especially was staying away from *his* Xander.

"He doesn't want your help in this," Spike said, standing firm.  "He
doesn't need it.  It's none of your business."

Graham shook his head.  "Whatever you're hiding, it ends now.  Move or be
moved.  I'm checking on Xander."

Spike stepped forward, getting into the soldier's face.  "No.  It's not
your concern."  When Graham moved to side step him, Spike grabbed his arm.
 He knew it was foolish, knew that he couldn't do anything to stop Graham,
not with the chip in his head.  He still had to try, had to protect Xander
in any way that he could.

Graham countered by grabbing Spike's arm and trying to throw him off. 
Spike refused to be moved.  Ignoring the first warning twinges from the
chip, he shoved Graham backwards.  He shook his head to clear it and set
himself stubbornly in front of the blue-eyed man.  "No."  He watched
Graham clench his jaw and prepared himself for a fight.  It was going to
hurt, but he was going to buy Xander as much time as possible.

"Spike?"

The shaky voice behind him drew his attention away from the confrontation.
 He turned and watched Xander exit the crypt, face pale and drawn in lines
of pain.

*****