Embers by coalitiongirl

Summary: Buffy is a waitress at a gay coffeehouse, and Spike is a dashing captain of a space ship... and it's not an alternate universe. It's a year after the events of Season Eight, and Buffy is still reeling. But while she and Spike try to sort out the hurt and confusion that Buffy's been dealing with all year, the aftershocks of her betrayal have brought a new enemy forth...one that might just be the one to break her completely.

Categories: Season 9 (Comic)
Characters: Angel, Buffy, Dawn, Faith Lehane, Illyria, Original Characters, Spike, Willow, Xander
Genres: Action/Adventure, Angst, Drama, Fighting, Romance
Warnings: Adult Language
Completed: Yes Chapters: 20
Word count: 64,269 Hit Count: 40,974 ePub Downloads: 393
Published: January 25, 2011 Updated: July 20, 2011

Print or Download Story:

View All Chapters

1. Prologue by coalitiongirl - Likes: 31 Comments: 25 Word Count: 2,063 Hit Count: 4,011
This fic is meant to take place during Season Nine (though it can probably be read with only rudimentary knowledge of the comics). It's currently outlined at around 22 chapters, and I'll try to have one out weekly. Please let me know what you think!

(bits of this summary stolen shamelessly from Moscow Watcher @ LJ's lovely rec and summary of this fic! Thank you for both!) :)

This lovely banner was made by Tumblr's nurfherder, who has also begun drawing Embers in comic form here. You can click to enlarge and bask in the magnificence! ;)

4. Chapter 4 by coalitiongirl - Likes: 14 Comments: 8 Word Count: 2,433 Hit Count: 1,962
I missed last week and this one's mostly filler, but I can promise you much new information and action (of several sorts) to come after this! Your reviews, as always, sustain me, and I thank you for each and every one. :)

8. Chapter 8 by coalitiongirl - Likes: 14 Comments: 8 Word Count: 3,058 Hit Count: 1,876
Thank you for all your wonderful reviews! I usually only respond to the ones here that require an answer, but don't think that I'm not getting them- they mean so much to me and constantly remind of the reason I keep writing. :)

April's going to be a bit busy for me, so I'm not sure how regular updates will be, but we should be back on schedule for May.

This wasn't an easy chapter to write, and I'd appreciate any feedback you can give me. :)

10. Chapter 10 by coalitiongirl - Likes: 13 Comments: 7 Word Count: 3,092 Hit Count: 1,791
Chapter 10! It's been almost a year since I've gotten this far into a fic, and I owe it to all your wonderful encouragement. As always, thank you! :)

11. Chapter 11 by coalitiongirl - Likes: 15 Comments: 10 Word Count: 2,557 Hit Count: 1,703

WHAT IS THIS IS THIS AN ACTUAL UPDATE.

Augh this is not easy to write ~~especially with evil Tumblr tempting me with pictures and Photoshop and how damn pretty Buffy and Spike are together~~. But I have a new chapter, at last, and even though I'll be completely offline for several days this week, I fully intend to have another one by the end of it anyway. (Key word being "intend," of course.) Thank you all for your feedback and support and just being wonderful in general!

12. Chapter 12 by coalitiongirl - Likes: 13 Comments: 8 Word Count: 3,233 Hit Count: 1,711
You are all beautifulwonderfullovely, and your reviews make the heartache that is writing this fic worth it! So much love for all of you. ♥

This chapter is unbeta-ed for now, so apologies for any errors I've missed. :/

13. Chapter 13 by coalitiongirl - Likes: 13 Comments: 9 Word Count: 3,485 Hit Count: 1,768
Please note: some brief discussion of consent issues and "glowy aphrodisiacs," if you catch my drift. Buffy’s views on the matter are Buffy’s views, not mine.

15. Chapter 15 by coalitiongirl - Likes: 12 Comments: 7 Word Count: 3,706 Hit Count: 2,216
You've all been wonderful, and I thank you for your feedback! Early update this week, and we'll see if I can get another one out before the end of the week, too. :)

This lovely banner was made by Tumblr's nurfherder, who has also begun drawing Embers in comic form here. You can click to enlarge and bask in the magnificence! ;)

16. Chapter 16 by coalitiongirl - Likes: 14 Comments: 9 Word Count: 4,429 Hit Count: 2,201
Thank you all again! I'm absolutely floored by the support and feedback that this fic has gotten thus far, and I'll keep trying to live up to your expectations. :) This chapter kind of got away from me, and though it's been beta-ed already, I'm not promising that I won't go back and make more edits on it. :/

This lovely banner was made by Tumblr's nurfherder, who has also begun drawing Embers in comic form here. There's another one up now, and it's absolute perfection! :)

17. Chapter 17 by coalitiongirl - Likes: 15 Comments: 10 Word Count: 3,707 Hit Count: 2,107
First of all, ALL THE AWARDS to Nurfherder, who is basically the reason why this chapter exists in its current form and not the disaster it was beforehand. Oh, and she's also the reason for the early update, because her Embers comics are doing things to my heart I can't explain and keeping me writing, as are all your wonderful reviews! Thank you! :)

18. Chapter 18 by coalitiongirl - Likes: 11 Comments: 5 Word Count: 3,252 Hit Count: 1,979
Well, it's about time for exposition, right? And while the comic writers like to add some space orgasms in between to spice it up, I think I'm going skip those and go with something a little less pornographic, sorry. =) We'll return to our regular programming next chapter. :)

In other news, I've managed to turn this chapter and the next two into only two chapters, so we're down to twenty chapters total. Won't be long now... Thank you for all your encouragement and support! Much love to y'all! :)

This lovely banner was made by Tumblr's nurfherder, who has also begun drawing Embers in comic form here. :)

19. Chapter 19 by coalitiongirl - Likes: 14 Comments: 8 Word Count: 2,971 Hit Count: 2,017

This lovely banner was made by Tumblr's nurfherder, who has also begun drawing Embers in comic form here. :)

20. Chapter 20 by coalitiongirl - Likes: 32 Comments: 22 Word Count: 3,774 Hit Count: 2,224
So when I started this, a low-rated, comics-dependent fic, I didn't expect much feedback...and I'm therefore completely stunned and heartened and just plain grateful for how much of such I've received, from people who've stuck with me throughout, from the Tumblr folks who've messaged me after each chapter or posted about it on their blogs (What? I run fyspuffy! I'm going to see all your tagged Spuffy posts! ;D), from some of my favorite writers in fandom. It's been incredible, and I can't thank you all enough for your responses.

Much thanks also goes to Tova for keeping my Buffy in check and mocking away the sappiness, and Liann for reminding me that it can't be too easy- and I've been operating on that advice since. And special thanks also to those of you who've left thoughtful feedback that has had me redefining everything I know about Spike and Buffy and Spuffy and the comics and revising my own perspective on what S9 needs to be. You've been amazing. :)

Next up: probably a rewrite of The Rose, at which point it may pop back up on all the sites it used to call home. And much, much anticipation for S9. =)

This lovely banner was made by Tumblr's nurfherder, who has also begun drawing Embers in comic form here. :)