A/N: Welcome to Honeysuckle! It's a series rewrite that follows Saff and the Scoobies through season 4 and hopefully all the way to season 7! Also, don't be fooled by the size of this chapter, the rest are all longer! Feedback is always welcome xoxo
The air was filled with a haze of smoke, the loud whir of the coffee machine behind the counter interrupted the rush of chatter from the busy tables surrounding her. She sat at a table in the corner, a cold cup of coffee in one hand and a neglected cigarette between her painted red finger nails. Her grey eyes flickering around the room, as different noises and movements caught her attention. Focus. Saffron blinked herself into focus as she dropped her cigarette butt into her sad-looking coffee cup and started to twist the silver ring on her index finger. A young woman shuffled awkwardly up to the table, her mousy bangs mostly covering her eyes and Saffron thought that she must get annoyed with it as she felt her own high ponytail which was often scraped out of her way.
"I heard you're the one I can t-talk to…"
"You have the cash?" The girl nodded, her bangs slipping further into her eyes as she sat down quickly taking the chair directly in front of Saffron, "We have to do this discreetly, you hear?" Saffron whispered, staring past the girl and towards the busy counter ensuring she hadn't been noticed. "I don't need a reputation and I've already been kicked out of the Starbucks down the street." The girl nodded and slid a $10 over the table. Saffron took out a pack of cards from under the table and started to shuffle them with an obvious ease.
"You need to split the pa- sorry what was your name?"
"Jen"
"Sweet, split the pack please Jen. Now, is there a particular question you need answering?" Saffron inquired while Jen split the pack in front of her. Saff chewed on the skin around her nails as she glanced around her, she had a feeling something was about to happen – and she wouldn't like it. Convincing herself she was being paranoid, she turned back to Jen and started to arrange the cards facing up on the table.
"Is there anything you can tell me about-"
"Saffron Victoria Page!" A pint-sized woman with her hands on her hips and interrupted Jen's question for the cards. Saff rolled her eyes, she had a feeling this would happen.
"Are we using full names today, Buffy Anne Summers?" she retorted, hoping Buffy would just walk away. No such luck.
"You said you'd stop doing this tart-y thing for money! You know how dangerous it is out here past sunset and I can't keep following you around while there's a whole campus to patrol!"
"Buff, it's Tarot. You know I can handle myself! We live on the same landing, we've lived in the same house for years, you don't need to treat me like I'm some kid!"
"You're my little cousin, Saff!" Buffy replied, not entirely sure that Saffron could in fact handle herself but she wouldn't dare tell her that.
"I'm a few months younger, Buff!"
"It isn't safe, you remember there's danger of the bump-y forehead variety" Buffy half-whispered.
"I think I'd better go…" Jen spoke up for the first time since Buffy burst into the coffeehouse, as she quickly made her way to the door, not looking behind her. Saffron rolled her eyes again as she moved to gather up the cards she had started to lay out, then smiled as she noticed something, "Well, at least she left the money behind" she commented with glee as she pocketed the crumpled $10.
"You already have a job and go to college, I don't understand why you insist on doing this"
"Hobby, I guess" Saff shrugged, slipping on her jacket as she followed Buffy out of the café, gripping her precious deck in her hands.
xoxoxo
"Shit, that's a lot of food, Buff" Saffron said as she stared around what used to be Giles' kitchen.
"What?" Buffy looked around confused, as if the vast amount of pots and pans with vegetables at varied degrees of cooked was the norm. "If you're not going to help, go and keep Xander company" she shooed Saff out of the way.
She sat across from Xander and Anya, the latter was watching Xander with concern, her brow furrowed as she applied the wet towel to his forehead. Xander gave her a weak smile as she thoughtfully twisted one of her silver rings round her finger. She was fond of them both and admired their love for each other, secretly hoping she would have something similar one day although she would never admit it to anyone.
"Saff?" Buffy interrupted her thoughts, "Are you okay with having the Thanksgiving dinner but without all the meat-style foods?"
Anything that will save you using any more of Giles' pans, and it's not as if I'm that big of a Thanksgiving fan; English remember? We don't really celebrate" Saffron replied, silently wishing she wasn't always the odd-one out. Wouldn't eat meat and didn't come from the same country as the majority of her family.
"What!? Did uncle Ted never make you thanksgiving dinner?"
"Dad didn't really mention it, only joined the tradition after they- after I started living with you and auntie Joyce, she always makes a big effort" Saffron instantly regretted her wording, realizing this was why Buffy was going to such lengths to make dinner 'perfect'. But Buffy didn't answer, she just went back to stirring the pie mixture.
Talk quickly turned to the Chumash tribe, which even more quickly turned into a heated debate about the ethics of both thanksgiving and what to do with the tribe. Saffron had sympathy for Will's argument but didn't have chance to speak up as a loud thud, followed by knocking on the door piqued her attention.
She looked around, everyone else was split into their own conversations and Buffy was frantically mixing her pie filling in the kitchen. Saffron went to open the door, although a weird feeling was telling her to be cautious, she swung it open to reveal a familiar bleach-blonde vampire covered in a ratty old blanket.
"Help me!" Spike said, Saff reacted quick and stamped on his foot with her combat boots before stumbling inside the doorway so he couldn't get to her, "Ow, what part of 'help me' do you not understand you bitch" Spike howled as he hopped outside the doorway.
"Oh, it's you. You can't blame me for that, Spike you're not exactly invited" Saff sighed as she itched at her neck subconsciously. Everyone else had noticed Spike was at the door now, and Buffy came rushing over with a stake.
After convincing Giles and Buffy to let him in, Spike sulked in the corner of the room tied with rope. He glared at the Scoobies who all were staring at him uneasily, except for Saff who decided to pretend he wasn't there at all.
"Alright, Honeysuckle?" Spike smirked as Saffron sighed but wouldn't look at him. "Don't be like that, love" he continued before Xander glared at him from his position on the couch.
"Leave her alone" Xander warned, "you've hurt her enough" Spike only laughed, smirking as he continued, "It was only a sample, she's sweet and sour like a honey-" he didn't manage to finish before Buffy punched him so hard he fell backwards in his chair.
"Don't you dare speak about her like that again, or you'll be dust before you finish your next sentence" Buffy warned. Spike didn't reply but nodded once to suggest he understood as Giles pulled his chair upright again. Saffron started to feel conscious of her movements, as if he was only watching her. Spike put her on edge and she definitely wasn't his biggest fan after what happened on parent-teacher evening a couple years ago, an event that often reappeared in her dreams since that night.
Saffron gingerly held a plastic cup full of the worst punch she'd ever tasted. She was new to American High schools and couldn't believe she would have to stay within these corridors for another two years when she'd already finished high school back home. "Parent-teacher night" she thought bitterly as she watched Willow wheel Auntie Joyce towards the computer rooms for the longest tour of Sunnydale High in history; no parent would be coming for her tonight. She was grateful for Joyce though, and her cousin. She watched Buffy telling the principle any excuse about her mother that she could think of, and Saff nodded along in the right places. Snyder muttered something about being able to tell they were related, both cut from the same delinquent cloth, as he stalked away with a plastered smile on his face for the parents.
Suddenly all hell broke loose, a group came crashing through the windows of the high school and creating chaos as those who were already outside rushed towards the exits. It was Spike. Saffron looked around realizing she was by herself, Buffy had disappeared along with Joyce who had reappeared from her tour just in time to see the group enter. Saffron knew instantly what had arrived in the halls of the school, Buff had revealed her identity soon after she had arrived in Sunnydale and Giles was giving her basic training in case she was left alone. Which she now was. That's when Spike grabbed her from behind and dragged her towards an abandoned classroom.
"And who have we got here?" He leaned in as he said each word.
"Saffron. And you're Spike"
"My reputation precedes me" he smirked.
"Don't flatter yourself, I saw you at the Bronze the other night. You told my cousin you were going to kill her" Saffron stated, sounding a lot braver than she felt.
"The slayer has a cousin? An English cousin?" Spike questioned in disbelief, before shrugging it off, "Interesting. This might be even more fun than I thought" He suddenly grabbed her by the hair and pulled her through the corridors as she struggled against him, while he shouted loudly to get Buffy to face him. He stopped abruptly and faced Saff. He grinned knowingly and held her by the waist, Saffron was frozen in place. Locked inside his eyes. He leaned in slowly towards her neck, she shuddered as he lingered there, to her surprise a soft kiss landed on her neck. She jolted in confusion, before all at once feeling a sharp pain shoot down her neck and through the rest of her body, she heard Buffy's voice faintly, then black…