Disclaimer: I don’t own the characters from Buffy or Angel. I wish I did, but I don’t!

Author's Note: This story takes place after the events in "Drawn to the Fire," my first Spuffy fic.

Let it Burn

Chapter 1

With a graceful leap, she was on the ground, running full force toward her prey. He was tall and well-muscled for a corpse—rather, walking corpse—and he showed no indication of letting some woman who was two feet taller and about 200 pounds lighter than him stop him from walking out of the cemetery and going out for a night of sampling a human smorgasbord. Well, he wasn’t exactly walking. He was running. Fast. And he was much more energetic than the usual midnight vamp of his stature.

“Bloody hell, he can move. Was I this fast?” Spike was panting as he fought to keep up next to the Slayer.

“Only when you wanted to be,” she murmured, focusing all of her attention on anticipating the attack and the kill. She bounded ahead by several paces, and Spike finally slowed, letting his human heart and lungs have a rest, while his wife finished the patrol with a bang. It was more like a shower of dust, but bang-filled nevertheless.

“Are you alright?” she asked as she re-approached him.

“Fine,” he muttered. “Just missing the luxury of not having to breathe, pet.”

“But isn’t it much better not having to take a blanket out with you when you’re in the mood for a mid-afternoon walk?”

“Mmm, I love that you know just what to say to an ex-vampire to make him feel better about the fact that he’s nothing more than human.”

“Hey, that’s not true. You have your vampy strength.”

“Remind me to send Red a thank you card for that, by the way.”

“It’s been five years. I think she gets your gratitude. And the flowers you send with her birthday card every year? I think she’s starting to get a little freaked out.”

“What? I’m being nice. It’s the human thing to do.” The two of them turned toward the gates of the cemetery, and within a few minutes, they were driving back toward their home. It still wasn’t quite up to par with the home Buffy had lived in in Sunnydale, nor the one they’d lived in during their brief stay in Hollows, but they’d moved there after the fiasco with Riley and the Initiative, and for the past five years, they had had no trouble from that side of the fence, though they had had their share of close calls with vampires and demons. Lucky for the Summers-Pratt family, vampires couldn’t enter without being invited, but demons were another matter all together.

“Five bucks says Dawnie’s asleep and Bex is up watching monster movies,” Buffy said, stifling a yawn, as she pulled the dark blue family car into the drive way. It was certainly not the kind of car a vampire, or ex-vampire would generally go for, but it got them from A to B and got the kids to school on time.

“Ten says it was Bella’s idea, and she’s making him watch with her,” Spike replied.

“You’re on,” Buffy laughed. “Our daughter might be a lot of things, but she’s no fraidy cat.”

“No, but I wouldn’t put it past her to spook our boy, either. She’s a lot like her mother, she is. Always pushing the boys around.”

“And that’s a bad trait because….?” Buffy teased. She turned off the engine and the lights, and they both shuffled out of the car, down the side walk, and in the front door. To both of their surprises, the only person awake was Dawn, and she was sitting on the couch reading a chapter in her text book for tomorrow’s big quiz.

“How was patrolling?” Dawn asked, a hint of jealousy in her voice. She’d have much rather been out helping slay vampires than studying Romanticism. College was a bummer. She hadn’t had to take a summer semester, but it was more inviting than sitting at home all day waiting for the phone to ring.

“Normal,” Buffy and Spike spoke in unison, hanging their coats in the closet.

“You know, you’re starting to finish each other’s sentences and say the exact same thing at the same time. I think you should seek help.”

“Dawnie, when you’ve been together for so long…”

“You finish each other’s sentences and do everything together, yadda yadda barf.” Dawn had been in a bitter mood ever since her first steady boyfriend, Kyle, whom she’d been seeing for a year, decided that he’d much rather go kayaking with his buddies over the summer than spend time with his girlfriend.

“No word from Kyle, huh?” Buffy asked, as Spike bolted for the kitchen partly to avoid this conversation, but mostly to see if there were any leftovers from dinner. Chili cheese fries from the food court at the mall, courtesy of Dawn Summers, junk food specialist extraordinaire.

“What do you think?” Dawn asked, bitterness dripping from her voice like venom from a viper’s fangs.

“Ouch, sore subject still?”

“It’s only been a month, Buffy. He hasn’t even called!”

“Well, you did let the air out of his tires. Can you really blame him?”

“I thought he’d think it was a romantic gesture. Who knew he’d think I was crazy and decide to avoid me?” She shrugged. “Whatever.”

“How are they?” Buffy nodded toward the stairs.

“Sleeping. Finally. Geez, Buffy, are you sure your kids aren’t part vampire? I mean, they never want to sleep at night, but falling asleep at the lunch table is perfectly normal?” Buffy smiled sheepishly at her sister. The reason the twins’ sleeping pattern was so off was mainly due to the fact that many nights of sleep had been disturbed by breaking glass or fights taking place in the back yard. They’d already replaced three patio doors that year alone. Being a Slayer was expensive and totally destructive to the interior and exterior of homes, she’d decided.

Explaining to the children that the broken glass wasn’t because of a fight by their mommy and daddy was also an interesting topic to broach. They were still young enough that talk of the spookies that could be hiding under their bed or in their closet was scary, so telling them that those spookies were actually real wasn’t exactly something the parents wanted to do just yet.

“Let them have their innocence just a while longer, luv,” Spike would say. “Growing up is enough of a monster movie as it is. Let them be.”

“I’m going to bed, Dawnie. Turn the lights out when you go up.”

“Night,” Dawn called. Buffy headed up the stairs, and Spike came into the living room munching on the stale fries. Dawn made a face.

“You’ve been human for how many years? You’d think you’d have at least packed on some pounds. I thought I was the only one who could eat like a pig and not gain weight.”

“Guess that’s another gift Red gave me, eh, Nibblet?” He headed up the stairs to join his wife, who was already laying face first on the bed. She wasn’t sleeping, but she felt too tired to even take off her shoes. Spike smiled, wiping his hands on the sides of his jeans and closing this door.

“If you want sex, you’re going to have to do it yourself. I’m too tired,” Buffy murmured. Spike raised an eyebrow, moving over to stand behind Buffy. He reached down, slipping off her boots.

“Well, that’s no fun, is it?”

“Unnhhhnnn,” she mumbled into the pillow. Spike grinned, sitting down on the side of the bet, bringing her feet into his lap, rubbing them mercilessly. Buffy relaxed against the bed, and before Spike knew it, she was turning over staring at him through drooping eyelids. “That’ll just make me fall asleep faster.”

“Thought you didn’t want…”

“Shut up,” she teased, reaching out for him. He crawled over her, kissing her softly, feeling her hands begin to explore beneath his shirt. After five years of marriage, Spike still knew how to push all the right buttons, and Buffy knew exactly what she had to do to get that little growl out of him.

She brought her hand around to caress his ass through his jeans, and he moaned, suckling her neck, and when that same hand moved down the back of his leg and then came around to cup the bulge in this jeans, that growl came out, and she smiled, reveling in the power she still held over him, though she tried her best not to get too cocky, because Spike still had some tricks up his sleeve that could make her melt like butter.

Clothes were quickly scattered to the floor, and Spike trailed his lips and tongue down her neck, briefly pausing at the hollow of her throat before moving lower to tease one nipple and then the other, causing Buffy to arch her back and moan, as her hands gripped his shoulders. He moved lower, kissing her stomach, and as she bent her knees, feet flat against the mattress, she closed her eyes shut desperately as he moved in to taste her.

His tongue spelled out delicious, dizzying circles, before he got the desired result. She bit her lip to keep from crying out, and he suckled on her clit for a moment, before moving back up, claiming her lips with his own, begging her to taste herself on his lips.

“Oh God,” he moaned, as her hand found his erection, pumping him slowly a few times before she joined them together. He sunk into her, and she buried her moans against his shoulder, kissing him there, gently nipping at his should blade with her teeth. His hand moved behind her knee, pulling her leg up to drape against his hip. This brought him further inside, and she could almost feel him against her cervix.

“Spike,” she groaned, closing her eyes tightly. He answered her with a trail of wet kisses from her neck to her collarbone, and he began to pump inside of her, as her walls both stretched and constricted with each thrust.

“Christ,” he hissed as she pulsed her walls just to drive him mad. She chuckled, as his hand moved torturously slowly down her side, tickling her while he picked up the pace as their hearts began to pound in sync.

In a matter of minutes, they both came, and collapsed together, spent and satisfied. Spike’s hand rested on her thigh, while she caressed his back, and they lay in silence for a long while.

“Much more fun that doing it alone, luv,” he finally muttered. She couldn’t help but laugh, and she turned to face him. He gathered her in his arms, pulling her close, kissing her. When he finally pulled back, her piercing green eyes mirrored the same affection his ocean blues did. He gently caressed her hair, pulling strands up to watch them glisten a reddish brown in the light. She’d gone back to her natural color, and while he missed the honey blonde, he thought the brown looked stunning with her eye color. “You’re beautiful.”

“You’re cheesy. Can’t you think of anything else to say?” she teased. He smiled that half-cocked smirk at her, and she leaned in to kiss him, lingering against his lips for a few moments. She pulled back and cocked her head at him. “We need to think about getting jobs.” Spike raised an eyebrow.

“Where the bloody hell did that come from?”

“Sorry,” she giggled, “I just think it would be good. What happens with the kids have career day? We go in and tell the kids we kill demons and get out money from the funds the slayer army’s raised?”

“Technically, not anymore, luv. Giles fixed up the Watcher’s Council, and we get paid from them.” Buffy eyed him. “Don’t feel guilty, luv. Being the Slayer’s a lot more demanding than any job at some office could be. Besides, I’ve got a job. My book.” Buffy rolled her eyes.

“Yeah, and you haven’t submitted it to any publishers.”

“It’s hard, you know. It’s true, luv. But it’ll read as fiction.”

“’The Life and Times of William the Bloody’ does read like a fantasy, doesn’t it?” Buffy laughed. “So, they’ll think he’s a character you created all by yourself. They don’t have to know it’s your autobiography.”

“I’ll know.”

“And I’ll know.”

“I’m having second thoughts, luv. What if Bex and Bella find out…”

“They’ll have to know someday, Spike. But all the bad just shows that you’re not like that anymore. What you did before you had a soul…before you had a chip, for that matter, it’s nothing. It’s not what counts.” She placed her hand against his chest, feeling his heartbeat. “You’re a good man and a good father.” She kissed him, a twinkle appearing in her eyes. “And a good husband.”

A scream from the next room had them both sitting up in bed. Spike started to get out of bed, but Buffy shook her head.

“My turn, remember?” She slipped into her white, silk bathrobe, tied it firmly around her and padded out the door and into the next room. Bella was sitting up in bed, sweat dripping from her as she turned on her pink bedside lamp. Her hair, despite her parents’ natural colors, was still as bright blonde as it had been the day she was born. Bex was the same way. Joyce and Hank had had blonde hair, but Buffy wasn’t sure about Spike’s family. Did century-old genes still last in the gene pool anyway?

“Mommy,” the little girl sniffled.

“Bell? What’s the matter?” She knelt down on the pink carpet beside the pink bed, to see her daughter shivering in her pink footy pajamas. She drew the little girl into her lap, and Bella began to cry against Buffy’s chest. “What is it, Bella? Was it a bad dream?”

“I feel different, Mommy.” Buffy furrowed her brows.

“Different how?”

“I don’t know,” she sobbed.

“Do you want to sleep on the couch?”

“No,” she sniffled.

“Do you want to sleep in Mommy and Daddy’s room?”

“No,” she said, crying harder. “I’m not scared, Mommy.” This was true. As Buffy had said to Spike earlier, Bella Elizabeth Pratt was not afraid of many things. She hardly ever got scared, but now, she was shaking all over. It certainly appeared that she was scared.

“What happened then?”

“You wouldn’t believe me, Mommy,” Bella cried, gripping her mother’s robe in her tiny hands.

“Well, we won’t know that until you tell me, will we?” Buffy asked, smoothing her little girl’s hair. Bella considered this and looked up at her mother with her sad, bright blue eyes. She crooked her finger, and Buffy leaned in.

“I lost my super powers.” Buffy was taken aback. She hadn’t said it as if this were a childhood game. She’d said it as if she had truly lost a part of herself.

“Wh…what?” Buffy stammered.

“See! You don’t believe me,” Bella cried, tearing herself away from Buffy and crawling under her covers. Buffy placed her hand on her little girl’s back.

“Bell,” she soothed, “you were dreaming.”

“No!”

“What do you mean, you lost our super powers?”

“I don’t know. I…it’s a feeling, Mommy.” The meaning behind these words were far beyond a five year old’s comprehension.

“Try to explain, Bell. I’m listening.” She stroked the little girl’s hair, and soon, she was calmer.

“Well,” Bella sniffled, turning to look at her mother. “I couldn’t fly or anything, Mommy. I just…I can run faster than the other kids, and I don’t get tired.” Buffy thought for a moment. This was true. Bella did tire, but not as easily as other little girls her age. “Bex too. And I always have this feeling. I don’t know what it is, Mommy, but I had it. But I don’t have it anymore. It’s gone.”

“What feeling, sweetheart?”

“Like…like I’m s’posed to do something.” Buffy closed her eyes. She and Spike had often talked about the possibility of their children being more than ordinary, but with that privilege comes great responsibility and great misery at times, and each time their children had shown a talent or skill that might have been exceptional for their age, they’d over look it, just saying they were a little ahead of the other children. But hearing these words from her daughter’s mouth told her two things. Her daughter might very well be a Slayer, and if this was true, something very odd was happening. “Do you believe me, Mommy?”

“I believe you, Bella,” Buffy said with a sad smile. “It’s alright. Go back to sleep, and we’ll talk about it in the morning, ok?”

“Ok, Mommy.” Bella closed her eyes, and Buffy stood slowly, knees weak, heart pounding. Her mouth was suddenly dry, and when she entered the hallway, Spike was standing there, face a little pale, a burdened look upon his face.

“You heard?”

“I heard,” he replied. “We’ll phone Red in the morning, and…” Before he finished his sentence, the phone rang, and Buffy glanced at her husband. Without even having to look at the caller ID, they knew who it was.

“Wil?” Buffy asked, picking up the receiver.

“Buffy.” The word was a bit strangled coming out of Willow’s mouth. It was as if she’d been crying.

“Wil? What happened?”

“They’re dead. They’re…it was a massacre,” she panted. “Kennedy was there too. She’s…they’re all dead.” Buffy had to grip the phone to keep from dropping it.

“Who did it?”

“I don’t…it was…I don’t know. There was nothing different about them. They were vampires. They…they died too. I mean, most of them did, until they got the upper hand.” Buffy’s heart began to pound harder, faster. “Kennedy just…she looked at me right before he got her. It was like she’d…she’d lost something. Like she lost her strength.” The phone then slipped from the Slayer’s hand, and Spike made a grab for it before it clattered to the floor.

“Willow?” He took the call into the other room, and Buffy slid down the wall, closing her eyes and trying to take it all in. There were three things she was now sure of. Her daughter was supposed to be a slayer, the Slayer army was now down at least two hundred in numbers, and she was going to have to contact Faith right away.

Spike came back out into the hall a few minutes later, and he knelt down next to Buffy.

“You alright?”

“She’s a Slayer. Bella.”

“Not anymore,” he whispered. “Red said she called Giles and Faith. The same thing’s happening in London. It’s a bloody massacre.” Buffy winced and closed her eyes. As she rubbed her temples, Bella came walking out of her room, looking at her parents with curiosity in her eyes.

“Mommy? Daddy? What’s a Slayer?”

Chapter 2

“It’s late,” Spike warned softly. “Go back to sleep, Bellabug.”

“But Daddy,” she pleaded.

“Sorry, luv, but it’s late.”

“Are there such things as vampires? I heard Aunt Dawnie talking to Uncle Andrew one time and she said something about a vampire slayer.” Bella asked, blinking up at her mother. Buffy looked at Spike, obviously torn about what to tell her five year old. Despite the fact that Bella didn’t scare easily, she wanted to protect her as best she could for as long as she could.

“That’s nothing for you to think about, Bella,” Buffy assured her daughter with a pat on the head. She took her hand. “Let’s get you back to bed.”

“Daddy? Will you read me a story?” Spike yawned and looked at the hall clock. It was going on two in the morning.

“A short one.”

“Okay,” Bella said quietly. Buffy let out a slow breath that she’d been holding, hoping her daughter had dropped the subject of vampires for now. She knew it wouldn’t be the last time she was asked, and while she didn’t want to lie to her child, ever, she wanted to come up with the best possible explanation.

While Spike took Bella back to bed, Buffy poked her head into Bex’s room. It was the complete opposite of Bella’s pink and girly room. The carpet was dark blue, and the walls were decorated with stencils and posters of his favorite cartoon characters. He wasn’t big into sports just yet, and his biggest hero in life was his daddy. Buffy walked across the room and knelt down beside the bed, gently caressing her son’s bright, blonde curls. He looked so much like his daddy, especially when he slept. She just couldn’t believe she was this gorgeous little creature’s mother. She’d never thought about having babies. There was a brief moment when she was with Angel, but she’d pushed the thought aside, knowing it could never be. Now, here she was, a mother and a wife, and the father of her children was a vampire at the time of their…conception.

Bex was very much like his father, and from time to time, he would slip into a mixed accent, getting English vowels in with his mother’s native Californian speech.

With a soft sigh, Buffy stood and left the little boy to the rest of his dreams. She leaned against the door for a moment before deciding to check on Spike and Bella. When she entered the room, silent as a mouse, she smiled and crossed her arms, leaning against the door frame, as she listened to Spike.

“Her name was Bella, and she was the fairest princess in the land. She looked just like her mum, and she had her attitude as well.” Bella giggled, and Buffy placed her hand over her mouth, smiling as she watched him tuck Bella in. “Bella’s mum was very special indeed. She had a special duty that she was born to do. Things got scary at times, but she always had her family to come home to.” Buffy’s smile turned a bit sad, because she knew that Spike was preparing their daughter for the harsh reality of what her mother’s life had been like and would be like until the day she died. “It just so happened that Bella had the same gift her mum had, and she was told that one day, she might have to take over for her mum. Bella was very scared at first, because she was going to have to be very responsible, but her mum and dad assured her that no matter what happened, she would always have a family to come home to.”

“I’m going to turn into Mommy?” Bella asked. Buffy crossed the room to stand next to Spike.

“No, Bellabug,” Spike said softly when he felt Buffy’s hand on his shoulder, “but you might have your mum’s same job some day.” Bella sighed.

“Mommy, are there really such things as vampires?”

“You don’t wanna hear about this right now, Bella,” Buffy whispered.

“Yes I do! I’m not scared!” Buffy closed her eyes, and she put her hand on her little girl’s cheek.

“You’re safe, Bella. You know that, don’t you?”

“I know,” Bella said with a yawn.

“That’s right,” Spike spoke up. “Me and your mum would do anything to keep you and Bex safe.”

“And,” Buffy added, “that means that there’ll never be any monsters under your bed or in your closet.”

“Promise?”

“Promise,” Buffy assured her. She bent down to kiss Bella’s forehead. “ Have you ever seen a true monster in your closet before?”

“Well,” Bella pondered. “No…I guess not.”

“That’s right. That’s because we keep the place nice and safe for you and your brother,” Spike said with a confident nod.

“So there’s monsters outside then?”

“For now,” Buffy said softly, “all you need to know is that there’s nothing to be afraid of. We’ll protect you.” She felt guilty lying to her daughter. They were in mortal danger whether they knew it or not each day. But it was better having a child feeling secure than hiding under her bed, wondering when the monsters were going to come for her.

“Okay, Mommy,” Bella said, satisfied for now.

“Good night, Bella,” Buffy whispered, kissing her daughter’s forehead again.

“Night, Mommy.”

“Night, Bellabug.” Spike turned off his daughter’s bedside lamp, and he and Buffy left her to sleep a peaceful rest of the night’s sleep.

***

Neither Buffy nor Spike had slept much at all, and at eight o’clock, they both came stumbling down the stairs and into the kitchen. Dawn was sitting at the counter eating a bowl of some kind of sugary cereal and watching cartoons. Buffy shook her head, smiling a little. Some things never changed. Thank God for that.

“Whoa, you two look like crap. Long night, huh?”

“Thanks,” Buffy muttered. “Just for that, you can walk to campus today.”

“Hey!” But her anger quickly faded when she saw Spike pick up the cordless phone and walk into the other room. “What was that all about?”

“I think he’s calling Giles.”

“Giles? Why would he be calling Giles?” Dawn studied her sister’s grim expression. “Buffy?”

“Willow called last night.”

“What…what did she want?”

“Something’s happened, Dawn,” Buffy said quietly. Dawn put her spoon down on the counter and leaned forward. “All of the potentials that were activated as Slayers…”

“Yeah?”

“They’re…not Slayers anymore.”

“What?!”

“Willow said there was a massacre. They came across a den of vamps, I guess, and they lost their powers in the midst of the fight. Kennedy…”

“What about Kennedy?”

“She’s dead.”

“No…”

“All of them are. I guess Wil told Spike she’s coming here as soon as possible. They’re all gone. And I guess it’s happening everywhere. The army’s going to be wiped out in days.”

“But…they have their trainging.”

“And they’ve come to rely on it,” Buffy replied. “When you lose your powers, Dawn, it’s like the wind’s been knocked out of you. You don’t know what to do. You get disoriented, shaky, just…not yourself for a minute.”

“What about Vi…and Rona? What about all of them?”

“I guess we’ll find out as soon as Spike gets off the phone.” Buffy went about trying to make something decent for breakfast, and when Spike returned, he placed the phone down on the counter.

“Slayers are all deactivated,” Spike said quietly. “Giles said a couple dozen of them went into battle this morning and were wiped out.” Buffy’s shoulders fell.

“What about Vi and Rona? What about the girls that we trained?”

“I don’t know, Nibblet,” Spike said quietly. “Faith and Giles are having everyone meet in London, and they’re going to a secure location.”

“Did they say where?”

“No. Don’t think he even knows yet.” Buffy eyed her husband and then turned back to the stove. He was surprised about how calm she was being. The Slayer army was being killed off and now had to go into hiding, and she was melting butter in a skillet to make scrambled eggs. But as he approached her, he could tell by the rigidity of her shoulders that she wasn’t brushing it off. She was thinking. No. More than that. She was planning.

“Buffy?” Dawn asked after a few silent minutes. Buffy turned from the stove.

“We have to go to London.”

“What?” Dawn asked, incredulous.

“We can’t just sit here. I’m the Slayer, I have to do something.”

“Faith’s there, luv. She can take care of things.”

“They need my help, Spike. I can’t just sit here and do nothing. We have to go!”

“Go where, Mommy?” asked a sleepy Bex, as he rubbed his eyes. His curly hair was a mess from sleep, and Bella stood next to him, looking surprisingly wide awake after the night she’d had.

“Who wants donuts for breakfast?” Dawn asked, hoping to change the subject.

“Me! Me!” the twins exclaimed.

“Why don’t you go brush your teeth, and Aunt Dawnie will run to the bakery and get your favorite donuts,” Buffy said with a nod toward Dawn, tossing her the keys. The twins turned and hightailed it back up the stairs so they could get their teeth brushed before Dawn returned.

“I know you want me out of the room for this conversation too. Just wanted to let you know I’m not as dumb as you think,” Dawn said with a roll of her eyes.

“I’ll make a note of that, thanks.” Buffy shooed her sister off and turned back toward Spike.

“You aren’t honestly thinking of packing up the kids and heading off to England, are you?”

“I don’t know what else to do, Spike. Faith is the only true Slayer over there right now. And the demons? They’re going to smell her. They’re going to smell the potentials too, because they’ve been out on the streets as fulltime slayers.”

“So we’ll be walking into a massacre then.”

“I can’t just sit here and do nothing.”

“No, but you can’t get yourself killed either. In case you forgot, Bex and Bella need their mother.” Buffy crossed her arms.

“How could you say that? Of course I know they need me. But I don’t want Giles and Faith to get hurt because I wasn’t there to help them.” Buffy turned to walk out of the kitchen, but Spike caught her hand. She turned to face him again.

“Say we do go. Say we go and try to help. What about Bex and Bella?”

“We’ll keep them safe. We’re their parents. It’s our job.”

“So we’re going to be keeping our eye on them while we’re trying to fight a war against the vampires who’ll figure out the slayers aren’t so powerful anymore, and while we’re also trying to figure out a way to restore their powers?”

“If you want to stay, you stay and protect them, but I have to…”

“We’re in this together, luv. If you go, I go. If you stay, I stay. There’s no in-between here, pet.” Buffy stared into his determined eyes, and finally, she looked down and nodded.

“I’m gonna call Wil and tell her to change her flight. We’re going to London.” Spike swallowed hard, giving Buffy’s hand a squeeze.

“London it is, then.”

***

“Who exactly’s gonna be running the place while you’re off in England?” Gunn asked, as Angel threw several books into a bag. Wesley came into the office with more.

“You are. You, Wesley, and Fred. And I’m trusting that you won’t run it into the ground,” Angel remarked.

“So you’re just going to leave…what about your appointments?”

“You can take care of those, right?”

“I guess, but…why now?”

“Because I might be able to help.”

“Oh, you mean, you might be able to help Buffy.” Angel snapped his gaze up to meet Gunn’s. “It’s been five years, man. If she hasn’t needed your help since…”

“That’s different. We haven’t had a crisis like this before either. Xander sounded worried when he called. He said they’re all going to London. Maybe she doesn’t need me, but I want to help anyway. It’s not just about her.” He tossed more books into the bag.

“How long will you be gone?”

“As long as it takes to reverse this.” Angel zipped up the bag and headed up to his apartment to finish packing.

Chapter 3

“We’re seriously going to London?!” Dawn asked as they sat at the breakfast table.

“We’re seriously going,” Buffy said with an absolute nod. Bella and Bex grinned widely at the idea of going somewhere they’d never been before. Their faces were covered in strawberry jelly from one of the filled donuts.

“You’ll have to bring your homework though, because I won’t let you get behind. Especially in a summer semester.”

“I think saving the world from impending doom is a little more important than homework, Buffy,” Dawn said with a roll of her eyes, crossing her arms.

“Ix-nay on the ad-bay fluence-inay,” Buffy said, looking toward the twins.

“I’m not a bad influence!” Dawn insisted, mouth full of a cinnamon tiger tail.

“I rest my case.”

“Daddy, can we go to the park?” Bella asked, looking over at him expectantly. Buffy let out a secret sigh of relief. It seemed as if her daughter had forgotten all about the early morning conversation. Hopefully, Buffy prayed, Bella wouldn’t bring up the subject again for a long while.

“Yeah! I wanna go on the monkey bars!” Bex said excitedly.

“No! No monkey bars,” Buffy insisted. “Last time you almost fell off. No more.”

“But Mommyyyyy,” he whined. “I wanna try again!” Buffy gave Spike a look as if to say ‘deal with your son,’ and he shrugged sheepishly at her.

“Why don’t you both go upstairs and pack your very favorite toys to take to London?”

“Can’t we take them all, Daddy?” Bella asked with those puppy dog eyes the twins knew could melt their father’s heart with a few batted eyelashes.

“You can each take three. The rest of your toys’ll be waiting for you when you get home.”

“Okay,” Bex said with a sight. The twins scurried off to their rooms to pack up their toys. Buffy, Spike, and Dawn sat quietly at the kitchen table. Buffy picked at her cuticles, avoiding talking about anything, but Spike was the first to speak.

“She hasn’t said anything to you has she?”

“No,” Buffy said gently.

“Me neither.”

“Said anything about what?” Dawn wondered, tossing her paper plate in the trash and wiping her sugary hands on the sides of her jeans. In some ways, she was still the kid sister that Buffy had fought with so many years ago.

Spike and Buffy shared a glance before Buffy looked at her sister.

“We think Bella might be…a Slayer.”

“No way!” Dawn exclaimed. “She’s only five, Buffy.”

“Early this morning, she said something was wrong. She said she lost her powers. She didn’t even know what she meant by that, but she said she’d always felt different, and then it was gone.” Buffy looked at Spike. “Right after that was when we got Willow’s call.” Dawn looked toward the stairs.

“What about Bex?”

“They’re both fast learners. They’re both fast, period,” Spike pointed out. “But they’re human. They have to be.”

“They are,” Buffy nodded. “I’m human. I just have a little extra…I don’t know.” She sighed, running her fingers through her hair. “I don’t want her to go through what I did. But I can’t stop it from happening either.”

“We’ll just have to be extra careful with her, luv. Keep her close.”

“Um, earth to Spike,” Dawn said, “you do realize that she’s going to be majorly pissed off when she’s a teenager and she can’t go out and do regular teenage things.”

“I didn’t do regular teenaged things,” Buffy remarked. Dawn rolled her eyes.

“Oh yeah? Then why were you at the Bronze every Thursday and Friday? Why did you have a date like…every other week?” Buffy frowned at her sister’s good memory.

“Yeah, well, that’s different. When I was a teenager…”

“That was like seven years ago!” Dawn laughed. “Things haven’t changed that much.” Buffy shook her head anyway.

“We’re going to need your help, Dawn. I know you have to study, and you’re going to, but you have to help us protect them.”

“I promise,” Dawn said rather sadly. “I’ll do better than…I’ll do better than before.”

“You know we don’t blame you for that, Nibblet,” Spike said softly. “You’re lucky the Initiative didn’t do worse to you. They could have taken you too, or they could have…”

“But they didn’t. And they won’t. Nobody will. Nobody’s getting hurt, alright?” Buffy asked, looking from her husband to her sister. Even Buffy knew her words weren’t a guarantee that everything would be coming up roses, but it was a nice thought anyway.

***

Faith cracked her knuckles and tried to relax, as she walked down the once familiar street. Despite having stayed in London, she’d managed to avoid Robin almost completely for the past year. The last four years had been a rollercoaster of nasty breakups and even nastier, hot make up sex. Faith wasn’t sure what had happened exactly, but one night, the make up sex never came, and when she walked out the door, she never looked back.

“Are you sure you’re alright?” Giles asked, as he walked beside the slayer. A small group of girls walked behind them. Two familiar faces were not there, however. Vi and Rona, had reportedly been lost in the battle, and the few girls that had made it out were all banged up and bruised, but they were alive. They could heal. They’d get stronger, and somehow, Willow’s spell would be re-instated, and they could be reactivated as slayers. That was the hope, anyway.

“I’m fine. Why wouldn’t I be?”

“You do seem a bit tense. You are the only active Slayer in London right now, so I do hope you’ll stay on top of things.”

“Never been better, G. Don’t worry,” Faith said with a shrug, as Giles cringed at her nickname for him.

“And about seeing Robin?”

“What about seeing him? We’re cool?”

“You’re certain? The two of you, to my knowledge, haven’t seen each other in…what’s it been? A year?”

“So? We’re both adults. This is something much bigger than sex, Giles.” Giles again cringed at Faith’s words.

“Yes, well…good.”

“I’m surprised though. I mean, he stopped helping out. He just disappeared. Why does he want to help all of the sudden?”

“He just said that his schedule’s free. With students going home and what not, he figured now was as good a time as any. That’s all he told me over the phone.” Robin had taken a job as the headmaster of a school in downtown London. According to rumor, he was a favorite amongst the female students. Faith had heard through the grapevine that Robin was dating a colleague, but she hadn’t let herself pay much attention to it. They were the past. There was no reason they couldn’t try to be friends was there?

But as they rounded the corner, Faith and Giles both slowed, and the girls behind them slowed too, but not for the same reason. They were simply following their leaders. But up ahead, Faith saw something she never expected she would see. Robin was holding a pink bundle in his arms, handing it over to a petite woman with almond skin and dark, curly hair. He was smiling. He was leaning in. He was kissing her. And he was waving goodbye. It was only when she’d put the pink bundle in a car seat and then pulled off and headed down the road that he had turned and noticed that his visitors had arrived. From the look on his face, it was obvious he was hoping to avoid this awkwardness all together.

But, he took a deep breath and despite the pained look in his eyes at seeing his ex, he walked over and smiled politely.

“It’s good to see you again.”

“Yeah,” Faith said a little flatly, trying to sound cool about the whole thing.

“Giles? How are you?” He winced. “Sorry, I guess that’s a dumb question.” Clearing his throat, he looked at the remaining girls. They were a sorry looking bunch, that was for sure. “This is the rest of them?”

“And the ones Andrew’s traveling with from Italy,” Faith broke in. “He said they’re pretty broken up too.”

“They’ll be safe here until Buffy gets here. Then we’ll move to a more secure location.”

“Where might that be, exactly?” Giles asked. Robin looked around and shook his head.

“Still working on that one,” he admitted.

“Ah,” Giles said with a weak smile. He moved out of the way, while Robin showed the young temporarily ex-slayers the way up to his loft apartment. It was sure to turn into the same scene as the Summers household had turned into years ago, before the First and his minions went tumbling down into Hell where they belonged.

Giles followed the girls into the building, leaving Faith to take up the rear. She shifted a little uncomfortably at being left alone with Robin, but she decided to remedy that. She headed into the building just as Robin turned to potentially strike up a conversation with her. But, he froze when he saw that she was already walking away.

Faith closed her eyes momentarily. She could feel his eyes on her, and she didn’t want to turn around and meet his gaze. Not now. Not yet. No, she thought, this isn’t going to be uncomfortable at all…

***

Toys had been tossed and stuffed into suit cases, clothes had been pulled off the hanger and stuffed as tightly as possible until the suitcases looked like they would bust at the seams.

Bex and Bella, despite their excitement about the trip, had fallen asleep still wearing their play clothes and their shoes. Buffy and Spike hadn’t had the heart to wake them up, because they knew that sleeping was a luxury that none of them might have here in a few days. They deserved to have all the rest they could get.

Buffy carried Bella into her room, while Spike carried Bex to this, and within a few minutes of carefully maneuvering feet out of shoes and slowly and carefully replacing play clothes with pajamas, they regrouped in the hallway, both exhausted but too anxious to go to sleep.

Buffy poked her head in Dawn’s room to find her highlighting something in a text book. Silently, she padded down the hall with Spike right behind her, and they headed downstairs to sit in the kitchen.

Buffy silently went to work at making them both something cool to drink. Despite the fact that the air conditioner was working, it was still muggy in the house.

She handed Spike a beer, and she sat down with a glass of lemonade. She took a sip, and she swore her teeth nearly fell out. It was sugary sweet. She thought back to who made this batch. Duh. Dawn.

She placed the glass aside, watching the beads roll down the side and make a wet ring on the table. Spike took a swig of his beer, watching her as she rhythmically clicked her nails on the table top.

“We could do a spell,” Buffy suggested. “Have Willow do a spell or something. We could send them somewhere…”

“To where? Your Dad’s place?” Spike asked. Buffy grimaced.

“I don’t even know where he is.” The truth was that she hadn’t heard from him since about a year after her mother’s death. She hadn’t been sure when he’d gone from a doting dad to a deadbeat, but it had happened at some point, and it was a shame, because when she was just a little girl, she’d had him wrapped around her little finger, much like Bella’s relationship with her own daddy. “I wish Mom was here. She’d know what to do. She always knew what to do. I wish I was like her, sometimes. She was…she was like Supermom.” Spike smiled at this fond memories of Joyce Summers.

“You’re a lot more like her than you give yourself credit for, pet.”

“Sometimes I still can’t believe all of this.”

“I know what you mean.” But he could see Buffy had jumped onto a train of thought. She slowly traced her finger around the patterns of the table cloth.

“When I first got to Sunnydale, I thought I’d put it all behind me. I thought, great, I dusted a few vampires, burned down my high school gymnasium in the process, and managed to disappoint my parents, which I never wanted to do. I thought that Sunnydale was going to be a fresh start for me.”

“Wasn’t it?”

“In some ways,” Buffy admitted. “But the first day…the first day, Spike, I knew I was never going to escape it. I tried. I fought Giles on it until I knew I had to do something or else the people I cared about were gonna get hurt.” Sighing, she took another sip of the ultra-sweet lemonade. “It was like I couldn’t catch a break. Even with Angel. I fell in love with him, and I just…went with it. And that came back to bite me…almost literally.” She shook her head, and she looked up to gauge Spike’s reaction to her talking about Angel. Despite the fact that they both felt secure in their relationship now, talking about past lovers was almost always subject to awkward squirms.

“Then you came along,” she laughed, “and that made things…well, pretty much a nightmare.”

“Sorry about that, pet.”

“Oh, don’t apologize. Sometimes…only sometimes, it was fun kicking your ass.” She grinned at her husband. “Come on. You have to admit, you thought you had me when I was under Ethan’s spell that Halloween. You should have seen the look on your face when the spell broke.”

“Yeah, well, you should have seen you in that dress. You have no idea how much I wanted you then. My instinct wasn’t exactly to kill you at that minute, pet. It was either kiss you or kill you, and…well…”

“You picked kill.”

“I wavered for a long while though,” he protested.

“Oh what, two seconds?”

“Hey, you can’t blame me, pet. I was evil.”

“Uh huh,” she said, rolling her eyes. “Maybe I’m just giving you too much of a break with this whole ‘the past is the past’ thing.” He knew she was teasing, and it made him happy to know that they could be that way with each other. They were a couple. Something he’d yearned for long before she did. She would never know just how precious it was to him that she had let him in.

Buffy looked up at the clock, noticing the time. “It’s getting late. We should probably go up and try to get some sleep.”

“Right,” Spike said with a nod, sucking down the last bit of his beer. Buffy took the bottle from him and tossed it in the garbage before emptying the remains of the ultra-sweet lemonade. It was so sweet she wondered if she would even be able to sleep until next Thursday.

When she turned at the sink, he was right beside her, smiling. She smiled back and leaned in to give him a soft kiss. When she sighed quietly against his lips, he pulled back and started toward the stairs. She was right behind him, curling her fingers around his belt loops as she followed him up the stairs.

Chapter 4

Neither Buffy nor Spike could sleep again that night. They lay in bed, both staring up at the ceiling, while Dawn slept down the hall and the kids slept silently in their rooms.

“We can’t forget to turn all the lights out when we leave,” Buffy said quietly, trying to avoid thinking or talking about her daughter’s potential slayer-ness.

“Don’t worry, pet. We’ll take care of everything in the morning.” Buffy rolled onto her side to face him. He did the same, only to face her. “You’re alright?”

“Yeah,” she said quietly. “I’m just wondering if this is the best idea.”

“I thought you wanted to go.”

“Want to go? No. Have to?” She closed her eyes for a moment. She felt Spike’s hand on her cheek, and her eyes slowly opened again. “It’s my job. I can’t leave them hanging like that, Spike.”

“I know, pet. Just because you’ve got a family doesn’t mean you can give up your duties.”

“It isn’t like that,” Buffy replied gently. “My family matters more to me than anything. But if I didn’t go and something happened to them, I couldn’t forgive myself.” She swallowed hard. “But at the same time, if I go, and Bex or Bella or…or you got hurt, I don’t know. I can’t win here, Spike.”

“I’ll be there by your side, helping every step of the way, Slayer. You can count on me. You should know that by now.”

“Maybe you shouldn’t,” she blurted out.

“What?”

“Maybe you shouldn’t go. Maybe you should stay here. Stay with them. Keep them safe.”

“You want me to stay here while you run off to London to help fight what’s turning into an ugly war?”

“Maybe it would be safe.”

“It’s never safe, Buffy. Wherever we go, there’s danger. You think that if you leave here, nobody’s going to come sniffing around the place? If Bella’s…if she’s a potential, then the minute you’re gone, they’re going to come in droves.” Buffy flinched at the thought.

“Yeah. You’re right.” God, she hated this. She hated that her children were in jeopardy, and there was no way she could guarantee their safety one hundred percent, but she was going to have to lie to them and tell them there was nothing to worry about, so she wouldn’t have two terrified little youngsters on her hands. “I’m glad you’re coming with me. I just wish it was an actual family vacation. Not a weapon-wielding one.” She couldn’t help but smile. “Maybe one day we’ll be able to go to the beach, and you can get a tan.”

“Without the fear of spontaneously combusting. I like that. But getting a day off might be a little difficult. Unless there are demons at the beach.”

“Well, that loan shark…shark that was after you. Maybe there’s more of his kind there.”

“Because it would be funny?” Spike asked.

“Well, it would be to me.” She smiled a little, and he pulled her in. She snuggled up against his chest. Sometimes she was taken aback by the fact that this was all real. A man that had once been her enemy was now the only person she could let herself be this close with. He was a damned good father. He was everything that she very easily could have not given him the chance to be. He’d exceeded every expectation, and all she could do was bask in the warm, gooey feelings of love that she would have once found lame or would have freaked her out. But it was comfortable. She didn’t mind being warm and gooey and lame with him.

After a long silence, Buffy frowned in the darkness of their room. He could practically hear the wheels turning in her head.

“What’s wrong?”

“How do you know something’s wrong?”

“Because I usually get some sort of a response when I’m doing this.” His hand was trailing suggestively up her thigh.

“Sorry,” she muttered sheepishly.

“Just say what’s on your mind, luv, so we can…get back to not sleeping.”

“You really don’t have to go, you know. If you don’t want to.” Spike let out a frustrated sigh, and he caressed her shoulder under the covers.

“We’ve been over this, pet. We’re staying together. I lost you too many times before. I’m not doing it again. I couldn’t take it.” Buffy nodded in understanding. Tears filled her eyes, and she was thankful he couldn’t see. The last thing she needed was for him to dry her tears right now. She was a slayer, for crying out loud. Of course, that didn’t mean she had to be brave all the time. “I’m gonna tell you something I told you a long time ago.” He sat up in the bed, and she sat up with him. Taking her hands in his, he whispered, “you’re the one, Buffy. You’re the Slayer. You’re my wife. You’re the one I can’t go a bloody day without thinking about. Wherever you go, I’m gonna be at your side.”

Without words, Buffy drew him into a hug, clutching at him, resting her head against his chest to hear the comforting patter of his heart. She’d come to rely on hearing that, these past few years. It was a constant each night, lulling her to sleep with the promise that she’d wake up to the same sound in the morning. Still, she was unsettled tonight. The fact that they were going into a potentially deadly situation with no idea of what was going on was scary, much like going into battle with the First. Thankfully, the First was still squished for the time being. But what was it that had interfered with the spell? Why had all the newly activated slayers been demoted back to potential status? Why was all of this happening?

Nope, not gonna think about that right now, she decided, as she felt Spike resume his movements against her thigh. Without warning him, she pressed her mouth to his, kissing him slowly at first, her lips lingering for moments on end, and as her heart began to pound and her head began to swim with doubts and worries about this trip, she gasped, pulling herself atop him, kissing him harder, trying not to think, trying not to do anything but love him.

His hands moved to rest on her hips as she straddled him. He was hard in moments, and because he preferred sleeping in the buff, it was only a second before Buffy felt the length of his erection against her thigh.

Her nipples hardened, and Spike helped Buffy off with her nightgown so he could take one between his teeth, putting the perfect amount of pressure there. She let out a little hiss, as he rolled her over on the bed, bringing her legs to wrap around him. She bit her lower lip, as his fingers found their way between her legs, feeling her already wet to the touch. He smiled the smile that always got her body going, but he could still see in her eyes that her mind was on things she didn’t want to think about right now.

So, he leaned in to kiss her, inserting two fingers inside of her, stroking her, eliciting a soft moan. Her hands moved up his back and into his hair, pulling his mouth harder against her own. Her lips parted, and he traced soft, teasing lines against her lower lip, until her tongue met his, and he moaned in return.

She craned her neck back, and he kissed the hollow of her throat, feeling her pulse against his lips, something that still tantalized him, made his mouth water. Her heart was pounding faster now, and he kissed the center of her chest, nipping at and tasting the soft flesh of the sides of her breasts. His tongue could work miracles, she was convinced.

His fingers continued to explore her, circling around her clit, making her throb harder, making her wetter for him.

“Come here,” she murmured breathlessly, and in a moment, his mouth was on hers again, and her hand was on his pulsating cock, and she was guiding him in. In a few moments, he filled her, and she needed a moment. She always needed a moment to adjust. She leaned her forehead against his shoulder before her head hit the mattress again, and he softly traced his thumb along her jaw line, and she took his hand in hers, kissing his palm.

He could barely see her eyes in the darkness of the room, but he could see now that all of her focus was on him, and he smiled down at her.

“I love you,” he whispered. She caressed his cheek, her fingers dancing across his lips. He suckled a fingertip for just a moment, before he moved down to taste her lips again. Then he began to rock against her, and she closed her eyes, letting the feeling of him inside of her overtake her.

It had always been this way. Only with him. He was the only one who could make her forget about everything for just a little while. Maybe not completely, maybe just pushed it far to the back of her mind. But he was the only one who’d ever managed to make her feel exactly what she needed to feel at the exact moment she needed it most.

A crescendo of muted cries of pleasure, soft gasps, and the rhythm of their bodies moving faster together ended with Buffy wrapped in her husband’s arms. The fog had lifted, and those thoughts had drifted back. Sleep wouldn’t come easy, if at all, but for those few minutes, she had been able to let go, to be free, and to not worry that the fate of the world might very well rest in her hands once again.

***

“Morning,” he said awkwardly, as he descended the stairs in nothing but his silk pajama bottoms. She looked up from the table, spoon full of some sort of chocolaty cereal, and she could feel her cheeks burning. Mentally telling herself to cool it, suck it up, think of something else, she just nodded.

“Morning,” she replied rather flatly. The only thing she could be grateful for at this moment was that there were a few ex-slayers sitting around, and having a private conversation would not be happening.

“Still eating healthy, I see,” he said sarcastically, hoping to lighten the tension. She shrugged.

“I know what I like,” she replied in a cool, flat tone, hoping to get the point across. “It’s hard to change old habits.”

“I realize that,” he replied, getting that she was referring to the fact that she would never be the settle-down type girl. “Did you sleep alright?”

“Fine,” she answered, going back to her cereal, averting her eyes to the comic section of the paper. When they had lived together, this had been a common ritual in the morning. She’d sit at the table, avoiding conversations that might get too touchy-feely, and he would gawk at her, wondering how he could have fallen in love with somebody who obviously didn’t want to be in love, but was too far under the spell to really break free. It was better that they were apart, but still, seeing her sitting there like he’d seen her do so many times before felt like a punch in the gut. A lot of things had gone wrong, but here she was. If it wasn’t for Willow’s spell not working anymore, she’d probably be in L.A. or some other place, far away from London.

Finally, the awkwardness was getting to be too much, so Faith got up, poured the now-brown milk out into the sink, put the bowl on the counter, but quickly turned back to it, remembering that he hated it when she didn’t put dishes in the skin, but then she turned away again, deciding that it wasn’t for her to make him happy anymore. So, she left it on the counter and headed out of the room, tossing a friendly but reserved smile his way. He couldn’t help but smirk at the obvious jab she’d just thrown his way, but he decided not to say anything, as the other girls apparently had no clue what had just silently transpired in the quiet little kitchen.

Chapter 5

Her feet slipped on the ice as she tried to cross the wide band of frozen water that stood between her and the sounds of battle. Gritting her teeth, she took hold of a low branch and held her balance. She could hear him behind her, encouraging her, promising her he was with her and always would be. She could hear ghastly screams, as the sound of battle grew louder, and finally, her feet were on solid ground. He was next to her, taking her hand.

“It’s alright, pet. We’re here for a reason.” She looked into his cool blue eyes, and she saw his determination.

“You’ll be careful?” she asked him.

“Always am, luv.” With that, his game face was on, and his fangs were bared. Her eyes widened, but she watched him run in ahead, and just as she was about to follow, she heard the cries of her children.

“Mommy! Mommy, help!” She turned to see her children stepping foot onto the ice, and it began to crack as their little feet slipped and slid. Eyes widening further, she rushed to help them, but she heard him call to her.

“Buffy!” She looked back toward the bushes, and the ice began to crunch louder. Bella screamed, and Buffy turned back to see Bex holding his sister’s hand as the cold water beneath the ice began to suck them in.

“No!” she screamed, rushing toward them, as Spike came running out of the bushes in full pursuit of another vampire.

“Come back here, you bloody son of a…” Before he could finish the sentence, and as Buffy, one hand plunged into the water hanging onto Bex’s as the other came to her mouth as she gasped, Spike tumbled over his victim, only to be beat to the kill. He looked at her, the moment the stake plunged through his heart, and in an instant, he was gone, and his killer was coming at her, teeth glistening with venom.

***

“No!” she cried, sitting up, reaching for the lamp switch, only to find that the room was already aglow. Spike was sitting up next to her, eyes as round as saucers.

“Buffy? Slayer?”

“Spike, it was so real,” she breathed, placing her hand to her chest, feeling her heart thudding there frantically. She looked up at him, making sure she knew she wasn’t dreaming. But by the pain she felt in her heart over what she’d just seen, she was sure that this was reality.

“What’d you see, pet?” he asked. Her hands sought his, and she gripped them strongly. He could feel the tremors that were shooting off throughout her body. “What’d you see? What is it? Tell me, Buffy!” He was getting scared now. He’d seen her like this very rarely, but when she was like this, he knew to pay damned good attention.

“I saw you die,” she breathed. “And Bex and Bella. They got pulled under, and you were…you were staked.”

“What?”

“You were a vampire,” she whispered even lower. “You were behind me, and then you were going in, and you were a vampire. I was going to follow you, but Bex and Bella…they were on the ice, and they fell through, and I couldn’t save them. I held them, but I couldn’t pull them out of the water, and then you came running out, and you were killed with your own stake. I don’t…”

“Shh,” Spike said quietly, smoothing back her hair. “It was just a dream.”

“Slayers don’t just have dreams, Spike. You know that.”

“Well, they got one thing wrong. I’m not a vampire, am I?”

“No, but, Spike…”

“Listen to me,” he whispered. “You’re nervous about the trip. You’re worried about what we’re gonna find. But I can blood well tell you that you won’t see me turning into the big bad again.” Buffy squeezed her eyes shut, trying to take away the image of Spike getting dusted, but the harder she tried, the more permanently it became ingrained in her mind.

“Spike…I…I think it’d be better if the kids didn’t go.”

“What?”

“My dream…I…I can’t take that chance. I can’t be the head of an army and be a mom at the same time. Somebody’s going to get hurt, and I’ll put my kids first, you know that. I can’t be a good leader if they’re there too.”

“We’ll find a way, luv.”

“I don’t know,” Buffy said, shaking her head. “I want them with me. I want to see them and know they’re safe, but I don’t want to risk them getting hurt while I’m there too. If I’m there and I still can’t save them…” Her eyes were glistening with tears. “I don’t know what to do.” Spike thought for a minute. He thought about how he was stronger now than he ever was, and how he would do everything it took to protect his own family. And he realized that he probably would’ve been picked off a few years ago if it hadn’t been for Red and her spells.

“I’ll tell you what, luv,” he started, wiping the tears from her cheeks with his thumbs. “We get to London…the lot of us, and we get Red to do a protection spell.”

“Willow,” Buffy said dumbly. “Why didn’t I think of that?”

“You’re a worried mum, and…”

“And I should be able to think of something so simple.” She shook her head. “God, what’s wrong with me?”

“You’re scared, pet. We all are.” He leaned in to kiss her forehead. “Come on. Let’s get some sleep. Nothing’s going to happen. We’ll see to it. Red’ll see to it. Nothing’s gonna hurt our family, Buffy. Nobody’s gonna hurt our kids. I’ll kill ‘em first.”

***

The plane had been off the ground for about a half hour, and the twins were already bouncing in their seats, excited about the trip. Buffy didn’t have the heart to tell them that while they were there, they probably wouldn’t even get to go outside. She made a mental note to plan a family trip that didn’t involve broken spells, vampires, and demons when and if they got out of there.

Dawn was stretched out in her seat, iPod plugged into both ears, eyes shut, mouth drawn in a thin line as she tapped her foot anxiously on the floor, worrying both about the flight and about if she was going to have any messages from Kyle when they landed.

Spike was holding a Barbie in one hand and a G.I. Joe in the other, trying to appease both of his children. He’d once asked Buffy if they could replace G.I. Joe with something else, considering the particular one that Bex had picked out looked an awful lot like Captain Cardboard. But, Bex was attached to it, so it would stay. For now.

“Daddy, give me Princess Daisy,” Bella laughed, as Spike made kissing noises and bumped the two dolls faces together. Bex groaned and made a face.

“Ew! He’s gonna get Barbie germs!” Bex exclaimed, reaching for his soldier doll. Spike grinned, handing the kids their respective toys. He turned to look at his wife, who was staring out the window, looking out over the land. They hadn’t yet crossed the line from land to sea, but he knew she was a little stressed about the idea of flying over billions of tons of water.

He reached over, taking her hand in his, giving it a little squeeze. His warm touch was just what she needed to bring a slight smile to her face.

“You alright, luv?”

“Just thinking.”

“Not about that dream, I hope.”

“I can’t help it,” she said quietly so the kids wouldn’t hear. “I just…I’ll feel better when we land and I can see what exactly’s happening.” Spike gave her a half smile.

“You and me both, luv.” He relaxed against his seat, all the while holding her hand, and after a little while, he noticed that she’d drifted off to sleep. He watched as the children nodded off too, before he dared to let himself get a wink of sleep.

***

Giles was working with the hopefully temporarily off-duty Slayers in the large living room of Robin’s London flat. Faith had trained early in the day, and she decided she’d rather not be social today. She felt better being alone. She’d grown accustomed to it, and even when she was happy not being alone, part of her ached for solitude.

Robin had gone out for groceries, and after a few minutes of debate, Faith decided to go lie down and take a nap. Maybe by the time she woke up, Buffy and the rest of the gang would have arrived. So, she headed down the hall, passing several rooms. She made a mental note to look for apartments this big when she got back in the states. Not that she’d really need that much space. When she reached her door, something shiny caught her eye. She looked over to see one of the doors at the end of the hall slightly ajar, and she noticed a pink, shimmery light twinkling at her.


Curiosity got the best of her, and when she moved to the door and opened it the rest of the way, she immediately wished that she hadn’t. When she turned the light on, she was surrounded by nothing but pink, fluffy baby things. A sweet little crib in the corner decked out in pink quilts and pillows and stuffed animals. A baby swing with pink and purple bunnies sat in the other corner. A changing table. Rocking chair. Family picture. Robin, that woman, the little pink bundle, unwrapped, eyes just as dark and shiny as her father’s. On the wall by the crib, the name Nikki was spelled in big, pink letters.

She immediately felt a wave of half nausea and half sadness wash over her, and she closed the door, leaning against her. Her memories flooded back to that night. To sitting on the floor of the bathroom, leaning against the bath tub, clutching her stomach as he, panicking and not knowing what to do, called for an ambulance. But it was all over before they got there. Blood staining the floor on the exact spot their baby had been born and died. A little girl, Robin had told her. But she couldn’t even look at the tiny, underdeveloped baby that she never would have wanted if it wasn’t for him.

Before she could stop them, Faith felt tears stinging her eyes, and she sucked in a sharp breath, willing them to go away. She rushed down the hall to the bathroom and turned on the light. The first thing she noticed was that the tile had been torn up, replaced with something else. Something brighter.

She splashed cold water on her face a few times, and she toweled herself off. She was shaking now, and as the memories continued to torment her, her stomach lurched, and she quickly found herself kneeling on the floor, throwing up into the toilet.

“Faith? Are you alright?” Sidney, a short, dark haired ex-Slayer asked as she stepped into the bathroom and stuck her bleeding hand under the faucet.

“I’m fine,” Faith shrugged, standing up and wiping her mouth. Obviously, she wasn’t fine. “What’d you do?”

“Um, accident in training. It’s hard not being able to control myself.”

“Yeah,” Faith said quietly. “You might need stitches.”

“Nah, it’s not too deep.”

“Alright,” Faith said faintly. “I’m gonna go get some shut eye. Somebody come get me when Buffy gets here, alright?”

“Sure,” Sidney said slowly. “Feel better.” Faith had already slammed the door to one of the empty bedrooms before she had the chance to hear her.

*****

Thanks for reading! Please let me know what you think! More up soon. :)

Chapter 6

The ride to Robin’s place was both quiet and tense. The kids were still pretty groggy, and it wasn’t long before Bella was sleeping against Spike’s shoulder, and Bex’s forehead was resting against the window of the cab.

Spike’s eyes focused on the firm line Buffy had drawn her lips into. He noticed that her eyes darted about the scene that sped by, as if she were anticipating an attack. He reached over, taking her hand in this, and she looked down, seeing the band of his wedding ring glistening against hers. She looked back up at him and gave him that brave smile that was a feeble attempt to reassure him that she was fine, but it was also the same look that told him she was really scared.

It wasn’t long before the cab was pulling up outside of the building, and Spike hoisted Bella into his arms, and Buffy picked up Bex. The tired parents carried their sleeping children up the stairs, while Dawn and the driver handled the baggage.

Once upstairs, Spike gave a slight tap at the door with his foot, and the door opened. They were greeted by the sight of a dozen or so beaten, haggard young women. Buffy raised an eye in surprise when she was certain she heard a slight gasp rise up from the group at the sight of one of two of the only remaining active slayers.

Buffy looked around, expecting to see Willow, but she figured Willow’s flight must have gotten delayed. Too bad she couldn’t just zip in using magic. But that kind of travel was draining, and considering Willow was going to be their most powerful asset in whatever was about to happen, they needed her in top form.

Faith was leaning against the wall, dark circles under her eyes. Buffy immediately moved toward her, and Faith raised an eyebrow.

“You make good looking kids, B,” Faith commented. Buffy could hear the strain in her voice but decided not to question it for now.

“Is there a place we can lay them down? It was a long flight.”

“Sure. Uh, my bed’s free. We can crack the door open in case they wake up and…”

“Faith, they’re five. If they wake up they’ll come out on their own.”

“Right,” Faith said slowly. “Just down the hall.” She led the way, and Buffy and Spike both lay out the little ones on the bed, covering each of them with a blanket. Spike immediately went out to help Dawn with the baggage.

“Where’s Robin?” Buffy questioned.

“Grocery run. He’ll probably be back soon, and then we can get to going to this new, secret place.”

“How are things here?”

“I don’t know,” Faith said quietly. “The girls are scared. They’re trying to train, but it’s pretty hard here. I thought about taking them to the park and training, but I’m sure we’d get some strange stares.”

“Right,” Buffy said with a nod. She looked around, not recognizing any of the faces.

“This is all that’s left, B,” Faith said quietly. “Except for the girls coming in with Andrew.”

“This isn’t good,” Buffy said quietly.

“Yeah, we’re pretty screwed.” A few heads popped up at Faith’s not so subtle comment, and then they sadly went back to their quiet conversations with one another.

“I don’t know what’s worse, B. Losing your power or being the only one with it.”

“Trust me, neither is the way of good.” Buffy shook off the thoughts. “So, any info on the new big bad.”

“Nothing. That’s the problem. It’s like it’s invisible. The vamps that killed the girls…they were your normal vamps. Most of them weren’t even of average vamp strength. But it was a massacre. “ Buffy thought for a minute.

“Maybe there isn’t a big bad.”

“What?”

“Maybe the spell just wore off. I mean, I don’t see that happening, but I guess it could. Or somebody did something. I’m not good with the technical stuff. Still, I think the biggest thing to worry about is that now all the vampires around are going to be zeroing in on us. They’ll find us. They’ll kill us.”

“Unless we can find a way to fix Willow’s spell.”

“Yeah,” Buffy said quietly. “I’m sure she’s looking into it right now.”

“Hope you’re right, B. If we don’t do something soon, you and me are gonna be all that’s left.” She looked around. “What happens if we die? Who’ll be called next?” Buffy felt a chill creep up her spine as she thought of Bella sleeping so soundly in the next room. She hated the thought of her daughter having to go through life as a Slayer, but what was worse was that she might end up being called much earlier than she ever should have to be.

Dawn and Spike came clunking into the place carrying the bags, and Buffy left Faith to help them. I wasn’t long before the new arrivals were settling in with the rest of the group to watch the news, which was currently reporting on the mass murders that had recently been occurring. Of course, the group had done its best to cover up as much of what had happened as possible, but with such a large wipeout, it was impossible to keep it all from getting out.

By the time Robin arrived back to the flat, it was growing dark, and there was no way in hell they were going to be moving to their new location at night, when all the vamps and demons were out and ready to kill. So, everyone laid low, snacking on chips and popcorn, despite the fact that Buffy offered to order something much less healthy but much more tasty. Still, the girls had been surviving on this diet for a few days now, and they were growing accustomed.

***

By the time Willow had arrived, most of the girls were sleeping. Bella and Bex were still completely wiped out and sleeping on Faith’s bed, while she chose to sleep with the other girls on the floor. There was empty sleeping space in the nursery, but she couldn’t bring herself to go in there. No way in Hell. She hadn’t even spoken to Robin that entire evening, and she decided it would be better if she stayed away from him. Talking to him and avoiding the elephant in the room was almost worse than actually talking about it.

So, she was sleeping on the floor, Willow was awake, looking over her books, and Dawn was helping her research. Buffy and Spike, however, had snuck into the room in the very back of the apartment. It was really a junk room, where Robin stored his high school football trophies and boxes from his short-lived term as principal at Sunnydale High.

“She put a protection spell over the building,” Buffy said with a yawn, as she leaned against the wall. “That should hold us until sunrise.”

“Yeah,” Spike nodded. He smirked a little.

“What?”

“Just wasn’t so long ago that you waited for sunrise to avoid me.”

“I didn’t avoid you. In fact, I happen to remember patrolling most nights in the cemetery where you happened to be living. I think I remember passing by your crypt at least once or twice each night.”

“Oh so you were stalking me, were you?”

“No more than you were stalking me,” Buffy admitted with a faint blush. “What? It was fun to catch you off guard, make you squirm. It was even more fun to see the look on your face when I just so happened to stop in.”

“Mmm,” Spike said with a curious nod, “but it was always much better when touching was involved.”

“Touching?” Buffy asked. “You mean like this?” She reached out coyly and grabbed his hand, flashing him a wild-eyed grin that got his heart thumping.

“Even that, yeah,” he admitted. He pulled her against him, his arms wrapping protectively around her waist, and he looked down at her, cocking his head to the side. “Or this.” He pushed his erection, straining against the fabric of his pants, into the apex between her legs. She moaned, slowly grinding against him. This was wrong, feeling this way in the middle of all of this confusion, but God, Spike certainly could ease away the tension for at least a little while, while building up some stronger, much more easily handled tension in the process.

A soft little moan escape her lips, and he pulled her closer, pressing his lips down against hers, softly at first, gently nipping her bottom lip before tracing the softest of lines along her lower lip. She opened up to him, her tongue seeking his, her hands moving up, fingers burying in his hair, tingling his scalp. In one swift motion, he picked her up, and her legs instinctively wrapped around his waist. He spotted an old desk by the wall, and he carried her over to it, setting her right on the edge. His fingers were already working at the button of her pants, while her hands fumbled with his belt. There was no time to take things slow. Not when at any minute, somebody could walk through that door, wondering if the sounds they heard were those of a predator who’d managed to penetrate the protective force field Willow had oh-so-wonderfully conjured up.

“Got to be quiet, luv,” he murmured as his lips left hers and sought out her neck. She closed her eyes, throwing her head back, as her hands finally rid him of the belt and went in to accomplish their mission.

With a little shifting, and with a lot of Spike’s help, Buffy wriggled out of her jeans, and Spike’s fingers clawed at her panties. He noticed they were lacy and black, and he let out a little growl of approval, as he crashed his lips into hers again. She gasped against his mouth as he plunged two fingers inside, feeling how wet and warm she already was.

“Now,” she whispered. “Please. Spike, please….” Her words were lost as she finally freed his cock from a prison of cotton and denim, and she scooted closer to the edge of the desk, feeling his tip at her opening. Spike put his hands on either side of her, leaning into her, leaning her back, and slipping inside her every inch of the way. She bit her lower lip to keep from moaning too loudly, and he realized she was about to break the silence, so he muffled the soft pants and groans with kisses, all the while fighting off the urge not to cry out her name. She pulsed her inner muscles around him, making his world dizzy and his cock harder. She found herself leaning against the wall, as Spike continued to pump inside of her. Her nails clawed at his back through his shirt, and she continued to bite down on her lip, until she tasted blood.

“Oh God, Buffy,” he murmured, as he felt his body starting to tremble. It wouldn’t be long now. He cursed himself for not being able to make it last longer for her, but sometimes, it was so overwhelming that he couldn’t hold on.

“It’s ok,” she whispered, feeling the tremors coursing through him and vibrating through to her fingertips. “It’s ok. I want you to…” He slipped a hand between them and began to rub her clit mercilessly. She arched her back, her hands now clenching the edge of the desk as he thrust into her with the same speed as he circled her clit.

She tightened around him again, trying to hold a moment longer, before she felt an orgasm take over, which in turn sparked Spike to finally let go, and as he came, she clenched around him again, taking in every bit of him. Moments later, he pulled back and slid out of her, and she ran her fingers through her hair, panting, trying to lower her heartbeat, but as he worked himself back into his pants and began to tighten his belt, his ice blue eyes glanced up into hers, and she felt herself tremble a little bit more. She gave him a secretive smile and slid off the desk, pulling her panties and jeans on.

“That was…” she murmured, unable to come up with a word good enough.

“Yeah,” he agreed, pulling her into his arms again. She moaned softly, as a hand trailed up her spine, fingers dancing along the most ticklish areas, but soothing them with soft, massaging circles.

“You should really think about becoming a massage therapist,” she said quietly, “you know, when we get home.”

“You want to talk about work now?” he chuckled, kissing her and pulling back to look into her eyes. She blushed.

“Sorry,” she said sheepishly. She linked her fingers through his belt loops, pulling him closer to her, feeling him stirring again. This couldn’t happen again tonight. They couldn’t risk getting caught, especially by Bex or Bella, who often woke in the middle of the night to use the bathroom or get a drink of water.

Still, it wouldn’t hurt to prolong the moment just a little further. She brought her hands to his face, tracing the rigid cheek bones, feeling the warmth of his skin as her touch seemed to make the blood rush there, as well as to other parts of his body. She smiled, as she felt him harden completely against her when she licked her lips and proceeded to kiss him, softly lapping once at his upper lip before he let her in and pulled her in closer.

“God I love you, pet,” he breathed, as she turned his head and began to suckle at his neck. She slowly backed him against the wall, her hands moving up under his shirt, feeling the sculpted muscles. She was certain he’d not changed a bit since becoming human, except for the fact that he no longer felt like cold marble. He was warm, but still, his skin stretched over his muscles deliciously, and her mouth watered at the thought of those muscles straining as he fought with himself to keep his composure. “Keep doing that, and we might end up breaking that bloody desk.” Buffy laughed against his chest, inhaling deeply to take in his scent. She closed her eyes, relishing the moment, continuing to trace her fingers along the muscles beneath his shirt.

“Maybe that’s not such a bad thing.” Neither of them were paying much attention to anything but each other, so they were both, despite Buffy’s Slayer senses, helplessly unaware of the footsteps in the hall or the fact that their door was slowly creaking open. “Amazing sex on an old oak desk? Definitely of the good. Especially when it’s…”

“Fast and dirty?”

“Mmm…I was gonna go with fast and mind blowing, but that works too.” She grinned as she stood on her tiptoes and scorched his lips with another hot kiss. The sound of a clear throat, however, they did hear, and both turned at the noise to see a familiar face in the door way.

“Uh, hi,” he said lowly. “I just got here, and one of the people I almost tripped over told me this room was empty.”

“Angel,” Buffy said quietly, as she and Spike slowly separated from each other’s grasp. Despite the fact that they were both fully clothed, it was obvious to Angel what had been going on. Her scent was in the air. And must to Angel’s chagrin, so was Spike’s.

“I’ll let you two talk,” Spike said quietly, starting to slip out of the room. It had been years since Buffy had seen Angel, so he figured she’d want this time to talk to him. But, he was surprised when she took his hand and followed him.

“I’m sure Angel had a long flight,” she said quietly, despite her knowledge that he didn’t sleep at night very often and probably slept very well on the plane. Turning back to Angel, she nodded.

“I’m…I’m glad you’re here to help. It’ll be good to have you fighting with us.” Angel didn’t say anything. “Good night.” She followed Spike out of the room and out to see if Willow had made any progress in her research.

Chapter 7

When Buffy woke in the morning, Spike was still sleeping soundly. She smiled a little, watching him sleep for a few minutes. His face was so innocent when he slept. If one didn’t know better, they wouldn’t know of what had happened in the ex-vampire’s past. But that was behind them now. She was glad to have things just the way they were. Spike was human. He was no longer burdened with the intense desire to feed and kill. Still, once in a while, he grew frustrated despite the fact that his strength was far superior to most human’s. His frustrations mainly stemmed from the fact that he was mortal, and he didn’t have the ability to heal quite as quickly as his wife. Still, in essence, he was practically a male Slayer. He could keep up with Buffy for quite some time in a fight, and some nights, while she was home with the kids, he’d go out and take care of his fair share of demons.

When she felt nature calling, she slowly slipped away, her bare feet padding against the floor as she made her way to the bathroom. After she’d finished, she looked at herself in the mirror. She was wearing a loose white shirt and black yoga pants. Her hair was messy, so she drew her brush through it and quickly brushed her teeth.

Finally, she made her way out of the bathroom and down the hall, being careful not to trip over sleeping bodies.

When she finally reached the kitchen, Bella and Bex were sitting at the counter eating cereal.

“Hey, what are you two doing up so early?”

“Couldn’t sleep no more, Mommy,” Bex said, taking in another heaping spoonful of Coco Puffs.

“Anymore,” Buffy corrected her son.

“Yeah,” Bella teased her brother. “It’s anymore.”

“Bella,” Buffy warned. Bella grinned.

“Sorry, Mommy.” Buffy decided to join her kids in having cereal this morning, because she didn’t want to rouse the rest of the house with the stench of burning bacon and eggs. She liked the quiet, so she wanted it to last as long as possible.

However, as she was sitting down with a bowl of her own, Angel came walking around the corner. He hadn’t slept. Buffy could tell. He had that same look to him that Spike often had after they’d been up all night. She looked at Bex and Bella and then at Angel. She realized that he’d tensed from the way his jaw was set.

“Hey,” she said slowly.

“Buffy,” Angel said with a slow nod. He moved toward the fridge to pull out a fresh bag of pig’s blood. Bella made a face, but Buffy shot her a warning glance, as Angel began to squeeze the contents into a mug.

“Bella, Bex, you remember me telling you about Angel, right?” Buffy asked.

“Why are you drinking that? It looks like…” Bex started. Buffy cleared her throat, and she took the kids’ empty bowls away.

“Why don’t you go see if you can wake up Daddy. Be quiet though. Don’t wake the others.”

“Okay, Mommy,” Bella said with a nod, taking the lead, as Bex scrambled after her. When the kids were gone, Buffy turned back to Angel, who was taking his mug out of the microwave.

“They don’t know about vampires?” Angel asked, sitting across from Buffy at the counter.

“Ah, we’re trying to keep them away from things like that, but they’re catching on. Actually…we’re pretty sure Bella’s supposed to be a slayer.” Angel didn’t seem surprised.

“She’s following in strong footsteps,” he said quietly.

“She’ll never get the chance if we don’t fix whatever’s happening.” She looked down. “Part of me hopes that we can’t fix it, because that’s no life for her, you know?”

“Yeah, but they’ll come after her anyway. They’ll be able to smell it in her blood. She’ll be in as much danger as she would be if she was a Slayer, but at least that way, she’d be able to defend herself.” Buffy nodded, knowing this was true.

“Yeah.” She took a cautious bite before looking at him again. “I’ll have to re-introduce them to you. They’re a little rambunctious in the morning. And the afternoon. Well, pretty much all the time.” Angel smiled at that.

“Yeah. They come by it honesty, at least.” With a mother like Buffy and a father like Spike, these kids weren’t destined to be quiet, reserved children at all. He cleared his throat. “I’ll try not to drink my morning blood in front of them.”

“Thanks for understanding,” Buffy said quietly. She turned back to start putting the cereal bowls in the sink. “I understand why you didn’t want to see them. I know you don’t approve of me and Spike.” Angel didn’t answer. “I can’t expect you to understand. I just…I had to go with my heart, and as cheesy as it sounds, Spike is my heart. And Bex and Bella. They’re my family.” She turned back to face him. “I’m just glad you came. Considering…”

“I’ll always be there to help you. You know that.” Buffy nodded, and the kitchen was silent for a few minutes. “I’m a grandpa.” Buffy turned around quickly.

“What?!” she asked incredulously, amused at the image of Angel with grandchildren. Of course, he’d never have grey hair or use a cane, but the image was still there, and she couldn’t help but grin.

“Connor…he’s married. He’s got two daughters. Kate and Sarah.”

“Oh,” Buffy said quietly. “So you…”

“No. He still doesn’t know who I am. I just keep up on things.” He cleared his throat, not really sure why he’d brought it up anyway. “They look like Darla. All blonde haired. They have eyes like mine though.”

“Oh,” Buffy replied quietly, really uncertain of what to say. “That must be hard for you. Having a family and not being able to…”

“It’s easier this way. It’s easier than having to explain to them someday why they’re little old ladies and I’m…still me.”

“Right. You…you could at least talk to Connor.”

“No. He can’t find out, Buffy. Having me as a father…it almost killed him. It almost made him want to die.” Buffy flinched. “I don’t want to risk that happening again.” At that moment, Spike came walking into the kitchen with Bex riding piggy back, as Bella pranced along behind him. He wasn’t exactly surprised to find his grandsire standing in the kitchen talking to Buffy, but he’d hoped he wouldn’t have to talk to him first thing in the morning.

“Daddy, this is Angel,” Bex said proudly at knowing the man’s name.

“Ah, yeah. I know who he is, son.”

“He drinks icky red stuff. Is he a…” she lowered her voice to a whisper, “vampire?” Angel glanced at Spike and then Buffy.

“Bella Pratt,” Buffy said quickly, “that’s not something you say about…”

“Well you never really told me, Mommy. Are vampires real or not?” Buffy sighed at her daughter’s question.

“Yeah! I wanna know!” Bex chimed in.

“Alright, you two,” Spike said cautiously, “let’s go get you dressed.”

“No! Tell us!” Bella and Bex piped up together. “Pleeeeease?”

“Listen to your father,” Buffy said, sounding an awful like Joyce, pre-split with Hank.

“Aw, man,” the kids whined, as Spike scooted them off. Once they were dressing, he returned to his wife and to Angel. Angel watched as Spike found something to eat in the fridge, and he felt a twinge of jealousy at seeing the vampire actually eating the food, seeming to enjoy it a great deal. That was something he missed terribly from the time he’d spent as a human, the time Buffy couldn’t remember. He missed the taste. Now, the taste was gone whenever he even attempted to eat food. There was no point. No need to feed an already dead body.

A few ex-slayers came slouching into the kitchen, looking much worse than yesterday. Spirits were low. Hope was fleeting. Their faces showed the severity of the situation. Giles came walking in with Robin and Willow.

“Alright, everyone,” he said, getting down to business. “Today’s the day we move to a more secure location.” He eyed Angel. “We’ll have somebody come for you after sunset.” Angel nodded, feeling pretty much worthless, but he knew he could do a lot of good at night. It was just going to take several hours for that point to come.

“So where’s this super secret place, anyway?”

***

“A high school?” Buffy asked, as the group, minus Angel, stood in front of an old, three-story high school. The foundation was sound, and the building was constructed of stone and brick, so it was pretty sound too. Still, a high school? “Please tell me there aren’t any hellmouths under it.”

“No. The nearest one is at least three thousand miles away,” Giles assured Buffy.

“Oh. Well, good.”

“So, we’re not trespassing or anything?” Dawn asked. They were on a side of London that was practically deserted, but that was a plus, considering that was much less blood for the vamps to come after, and that was also good, because training could take place out in the courtyard in the daytime, without suspicions rising.

“Mommy? Do we have to go to school?”

“It’s summer, so no. But Aunt Dawn does, because she’s missing school right now.” Dawn rolled her eyes.

“Yeah, thanks for rubbing it in,” she muttered.

“Come on. Let’s check out our new digs.” Movement from the front doors told them, however, that somebody was already checking it out. The front door swung open, and three young women came walking out. Behind them was a familiar face. Andrew. And behind him? Xander.

“Oh my God,” Buffy whispered hoarsely. Andrew looked defeated and tired, and the girls looked frightened. The other ex-slayers, recognizing their peers, went up to greet the other girls, while Andrew and Xander made their way down the concrete steps. Andrew immediately saw Spike and rushed over to hug him, much to Spike’s awkward discomfort. But, he gave the young man a heart squeeze anyway and a pat on the back, while Xander hugged first Buffy and then Willow.

“We got in early this morning. Robin told us to come here,” he pointed out.

“What about the other girls, Andrew? I thought you had more with you?”

“We did,” he said quietly. “They were picked off last night in a surprise attack.” Buffy shuddered.

“What’s he talking about, Mommy?” Bella asked, tugging on Buffy’s hand. Buffy’s heart jumped into her throat. Shit.

“N…nothing, Bella. Let’s go inside.”

“Mommy, I’m scared.” Buffy knelt down in front of her daughter, and she caressed her soft, blonde hair.

“What’d I tell you back home, Bell?” Bella thought for a minute.

“There’s nothing to be afraid of. You and Daddy are gonna protect me.”

“And we will. And we’ll protect Bex. That’s what families do, okay?”

“Ok, Mommy,” Bella said with a nod. Buffy stood, squeezing her daughter’s hand tightly. Spike wrapped his arm around his wife, and he took Bex’s hand in his free one. Everyone began to haul their belongings into the old school, which was, for the most part, overrun with dust and debris from chipping paint on the walls. But, it was obvious from the dust and dirt covering Andrew’s hands, and the cleared out space in the front lobby, that he’d already started cleaning.

“Everyone can spread out. There’s plenty of room, and the place is secure,” Andrew assured them. He flitted off, while the girls all found places to get comfortable. Because it was not just a high school, but a boarding house as well, there were plenty of beds in each room, and for the beds that had rusted down and were unusable, there were plenty of extras in the other rooms. Buffy and Spike found a room with enough room for them and for the kids, and they tossed their things inside.

Buffy spotted Willow and Xander and decided to go catch up, while Spike and Dawn went exploring with the kids.

“Hey Buff,” Xander said, as the Slayer caught up with them. “You seen Faith?”

“Yeah, why?”

“She’s looking all gloomy. I mean, not the regular gloomy that comes with Faith. But a new gloomy, you know?” Xander asked.

“Yeah,” she said quietly. “I think she’s just having a hard time dealing with seeing Robin since they split. I think she’ll be ok. She’s tough.” She looked at Willow. “Find out anything new since last night?”

“Just your regular protection spell, but it’s not strong, Buffy. It might get us through the night though. I can keep trying them, but those kinds of spells are really draining.”

“Well, do what you have to do, but don’t drain yourself. Take it easy, Wil. We need you.” Willow nodded.

“I’ve looked up virtually every big bad we’ve ever come across and those that we haven’t, and they’re all dead ends. Obviously, something happened for all of them to lose their powers at once, but since you and Faith didn’t lose your powers, I’m guessing it wasn’t some overarching spell. I think my spell just wore off. It wasn’t supposed to, but you know how the magicks can get. The more powerful, the more consequences.”

“So all we have to do is find a way to restore their powers…”

“And find a way to keep them that way. Sure, I could easily do the spell I did with the scythe thingy, but who’s to say this won’t happen again? They’ve been almost completely wiped out, Buffy. If we take another hit like that, you and Faith might be all that’s left.”

“And Bella.”

“What?”

“Bella…I think she’s a Slayer.”

“How can you tell?” Xander asked. “She’s all bite size and innocent.”

“The night the Slayers lost their powers…she was really upset. She said she felt like something was missing, but she didn’t know what. I think she’s supposed to take after me,” Buffy muttered, shivering. Willow and Xander cast side glances at each other.

“She’s safe here, Buffy. She’s got all of us to protect her.”

“Yeah,” Buffy said quietly, unconvinced. “I’m gonna go talk to Faith. See if she wants to take the first watch tonight.” Buffy headed off, hands shoved in the pockets of her coat, while Willow and Xander were left behind. Xander adjusted his eye patch and ran his fingers through his hair.

“She’s not thinking clearly, Wil. She’s got the usual worrying about her friends and about the other girls, but she’s also go the kids and Spike to think about. He might be strong, but he’s human.”

“Angel’s here. He’s a good one to have when you need him.”

“Yeah, but how long do you think it’ll be before Buffy’s decision-making suffers, because she can’t think about anything but keeping everyone safe?” Xander looked after Buffy, who didn’t seem to hear them as she turned a corner and disappeared from sight. “Her heart’s in the right place, but sometimes that’s what gets everybody…”

“Stop,” Willow said quickly. “It’s not gonna be like last night, Xander. We’re not losing anybody. The vampires are gonna come. They’re gonna try to kill us, because they know we’re vulnerable now. They’ve spent the last six years shaking in their demon boots, but now? Now they’re pissed off, and they’re ready to taste blood.”

“And that’s supposed to make me feel better how?”

“If they want blood…we’ll give them blood.” Without emotion, without expression, a knife appeared in her hand from out of nowhere, and she made a clean, shallow cut across the palm of her hand.

“Wil? What the hell are you doing?”

“Getting the party started a little early.” She found an old glass sitting on the windowsill, and she put it under the steady dripping of blood until she’d collected a good quarter of a cup. She wasn’t faltering or weak at all, as she made her way to the school doors and out onto the sidewalk in front of the old school. She threw the glass down, watching it shatter, as blood sprayed across the sidewalk. Xander watched in confusion and wonder as his friend turned around and walked back in. Her hair was still red, so that was a plus. No veiny, scary, black-haired Willow. But what the hell was she up to?

“You do realize that’s going to draw them here? Powerful human witch blood, and all that?” Willow rolled her eyes.

“That’s kinda the point. They’ll know I’m here. They’ll get here, and they’ll either try to fight, or they’ll get scared and run.”

“And with my track record with vampires, I’m guessing they’re gonna fight.”

“And they’ll lose,” Willow stated.

“How do you know?”

“Because we’re going to ambush them.” Xander spun around to see Giles standing there, leaning against the stair rail, arms crossed in front of him.

“We’re what?”

“Tonight, when they come, we’re going to ambush them. We’ll pick them off one by one every night if we have to.”

“But they’ll keep coming. They’ll turn more, and they’ll keep coming.”

“That’s why we need to work fast. We’re not here to fight a war, Xander. We’re here to fight battles, yes, but the most important goal is to find a way to restore Willow’s spell and insure that it will not be broken again.”

Chapter 8

A little before sunset, the car pulled up outside of the old high school, and out emerged a blanketed figure, followed by Robin Wood, who’d gone along to pick him up. Once inside the doors of the school, Angel tossed the blanket aside, and he looked around at the group of worried ex-slayers. Willow was seated off in the corner, a yellow glow emanating from the book she read.

“Were you followed?” Giles asked, as the heavy doors thudded closed. The locks clicked into place.

“No,” Robin said quickly, “but they’ll be here soon.” The blood had long since dried on the concrete, but with its potency, even Angel was having the urge to feed. Luckily, he’d brought along a thermos full of pigs blood, which he was now drinking hungrily. It was the next best thing to Slayer’s blood.

“Where’s Buffy?” Angel asked, looking around the group, spotting Spike, who had his arms folded across his chest.

“She’ll be down in a tick,” he pointed out. “She’s up with Dawn and Andrew. They’re securing the windows.” As if on cue, the clomping of two sets of feet came down the large staircase. Buffy eyed Angel for a moment before making her way over to Spike, as Andrew moved to his post by one of the front windows. Following suit, the ex-Slayers, armed with stakes, scythes and holy water, moved to their own posts.

“Bex and Bella are safe with Dawn on the third floor. Nobody’s coming in there. The windows are secure, but I left Dawn with plenty of protection, just in case.” Spike nodded, gently rubbing Buffy’s shoulder. Angel‘s gaze moved from their faces to Spike’s hand gingerly caressing the smooth shoulder of the Slayer. Buffy caressed her husband’s cheek, and he watched the flicker in her eyes as she did so. What was that flicker, anyway? It wasn’t something he’d ever seen in her. It was something very protective, very powerful, and very desire-filled. “Spike, I want you up on the second floor.”

“Excuse me?”

“I don’t want to risk you getting hurt,” she said flatly. “You’re going up there.”

“No bloody way,” he said with a shake of his head. “I’m staying here. I’ll be at your side.”

“Spike, don’t argue with me on this.”

“I’m not leaving you down here with a bunch of weak…”

“Faith will be here. Xander. Willow…”

“They don’t have the power to save you if…”

“Neither do you.” Her words stung him, but they were truthful. If anything happened to him, she wouldn’t have him anyway, and even with his strength, there was still the possibility of his getting hurt, or worse. Still, he wasn’t having her down here, fighting side by side with Peaches, while he slinked in the shadows upstairs to ward off any strays that might have gotten through the barrier. No way in Hell. He’d risk it.

“I’m staying.”

“What about Bex and Bella?”

“They need you just as much as they need me, so if I go, you go. If you stay, I stay. It’s as simple as that, Slayer.” Buffy gritted her teeth, and Angel finally stepped in.

“I’ll guard the stairs,” he offered. “I know Wood and Robin are up there, but it wouldn’t hurt to have somebody else. Somebody immortal.” Spike looked over his shoulder at his grandsire. Their gazes met, and he realized that Angel was giving them some room. He was actually trying to help them come to an understanding, and when Buffy finally gave in, Spike nodded toward Angel. Reluctantly, Angel retreated halfway up the stairs.

“Do me a favor,” Buffy warned her husband, looking into his eyes as she stroked his cheek again.

“What’s that, pet?”

“If anything starts shining or glowing, don’t put it around your neck.” Spike chuckled at that.

“I think I can manage.”

“And don’t forget that just because you’re strong…”

“I’m not a superhero,” he muttered.

“Right. And…”

“What, luv?”

“And don’t forget that when this is over, we’re so taking the longest vacation ever.” She stepped toward him, wrapping her arms around him and whispering in his ear, “and I hear that sex on the beach is even better than the drink.” A low growl of approval came out of Spike’s throat, and he pulled her in, crushing his lips against hers, as Angel winced from the stairs. He’d heard Buffy’s words as plain as day, and hearing her heart rate begin to accelerate because of Spike made him a bit sick to his stomach.

“Bloody hell, Slayer,” he murmured against her ear, as he curled her into his arms before holding her out to look at her; look into those glimmering green eyes. “Think we have time to…” His eyebrow twitched suggestively, and she shook her head.

“Put that tension into the fight, bad boy,” she grinned, standing on her tiptoes once more to kiss him.

“Love you, pet.”

“Love you too.”

“Uh, guys? We’ve got company.” Xander tightened his grip on a stake, and both Buffy and Spike made their way over to the windows. It was dark enough in the school that they could clearly see the group of vampires, perhaps an entire nest, coming toward them. There appeared to be twenty or so, and Buffy looked at Spike.

“Promise me you’ll stay back.”

“No promises, luv. I’m gonna do what I have to so we both get out of this.” That was as good as she was going to get out of him, she knew, so she nodded, and she gave a nod to those waiting at the windows.

“Ready?” They nodded, and all of them bent down, striking matches to light an arrow and quickly place it on the crossbow. Everyone took aim, feeling confident that even if they missed the heart, the fire would consume the undead within moments.

“Fire,” Buffy muttered, not wanting to eliminate the element of surprise. And in seconds, an airy whistle filled the air, as tiny yellow balls of fire surged through the dark night, some landing on the ground, some on trees, and some landing square in the chests of the front line of vampires. Some dusted immediately, some managed to pull out the potentially fatal weapon before the fire could burn too much of their skin.

***

“What’s going on down there?” Bella asked, desperately attempting to get to a window to see outside. Dawn, however, moved in front of the window and stood there, arms crossing sternly in front of her chest. Bella sighed dramatically. “I wanna see Mommy and Daddy.”

“Mommy and Daddy are busy right now.”

“Are they gonna get hurt?” Bex asked quietly from the cot in the corner. Dawn swallowed hard, hating lying to her niece and nephew. There was a high possibility that one or both of them would be hurt, but she couldn’t very well explain that to a couple of five-year-olds.

“No. They’ll be fine, alright?”

“Promise?”

“Come on. Get back in bed, Bell,” Dawn said with a motion of her hand. “I’ll tell you a bedtime story.” Bella reluctantly snuggled under the covers with her brother, and Dawn sat down on the edge of the bed, trying to ignore the sounds of fighting coming from two floors below. She looked over at the door, hoping the strong oak and steel would hold. If they got past Buffy, there was no telling what might happen.

“Tell us how Mommy and Daddy met,” Bella finally suggested.

“Oh, there’s a story for when you’re a lot older,” Dawn laughed. “How about I tell you about your first birthday party?”

“Okay,” Bella said, pleased with the thought.

“I flew in from Italy, and your mommy and daddy were getting the house ready for your party.” Dawn grinned at the memory of Spike and Buffy hanging up birthday banners, while a birthday cake baked in the oven. It had been such a normal activity, and when Dawn had walked in the house, it was strange to see the two of them doing something like this together. Even though they’d been married for quite some time, it was strange seeing a Slayer and an ex-vampire hanging decoration. “You were both sleeping, and I had presents for both of you. I put them over on the present pile, and Bex woke up. I told your mommy and daddy I’d go get you, and when I went in your room, your face lit up.” Bex grinned at that. “You held your arms out to me, and I picked you up, and then Bella woke up. So, I sat on the floor of your room and read to you both. And I guess we all fell asleep again, because the next thing I knew, I was waking up, and you were both sleeping in my lap, and your mommy and daddy were taking pictures.” The kids laughed.

“Mommy has those pictures in our album back home,” Bella grinned.

The sounds of battle downstairs were growing louder, and the children showed no signs of falling asleep.

“Want me to sing you a song?”

“Okay,” Bex said with a yawn, curling up on his side. Ah, success. Dawn smiled and settled in, leaning against the wall as she began a long string of nursery rhymes in a feeble attempt at trying to get the twins to sleep.

***

“Kiki’s down!” a young woman screamed as she sent an ax hurtling out the window and slicing across the neck of one very vicious vamp, who immediately turned to dust at the sudden decapitation. Buffy looked over to see a young woman on the floor, still, not breathing. Who the hell was Kiki anyway? She didn’t know a handful of the girl’s names, but in this moment, all of them were soldiers. They didn’t have names, and that was scary. It didn’t matter who they were. It mattered how they fought, and it mattered that they stayed alive long enough to win.

“How many more are out there?” Spike asked, handing Buffy an extra stake.

“Three more. One’s in the bushes. One’s around the side. The other one’s coming straight for us.”

“Right,” Spike said with a nod. He started for the door.

“What the hell are you doing?”

“I’ll be right back, luv.” If he was still a vampire, this would have been the moment his game face came on, but instead, Buffy detected a hint of fear in his eyes. Still, he walked out of the school, scythe in one hand, crossbow in another, and the vampire at the side immediately found a wooden arrow sticking through his undead heart, and he turned to ashes.

Spike heard rustling from the bushes, and he sent another arrow his way. It was then that a swirl of ashes rose up out of the bushes before being carried off in the wind. Finally, he tossed his crossbow back inside, braced himself, hands firmly squeezing the handle of the scythe, as the last vampire made his way up.

“There’s more on the way.”

“Think we don’t know that, mate?” The vampire kicked at him, but Spike blocked the blow with the body of the scythe.

“We just want the girls.”

“Kinda figured that.” He blocked another blow and struck the vampire in the gut with the end of the handle.

“He told us you’d all be stubborn and stupid, right up until the end.”

“Who might that be, mate?” Spike sent his open hand right into the face of the vampire, breaking his nose. The vampire stumbled backward, feeling the warm blood oozing out from his nose. He licked the red residue off of his hand and smiled.

“Who else would enjoy chaos so much?” Inside, Giles stood at the window, listening down to the conversation a floor below. He gritted his teeth.

“Who else?” he muttered. “Ethan.” Giles raised his voice. “Kill him, Spike! We’ve got our man!” And in an instant, the vampire’s head was lopped off, and before it hit the ground, he shattered into billions of grey ash particles. Buffy came rushing out onto the porch.

“Are you crazy?” she asked.

“Maybe a little,” he replied. “Vampires these days. They talk way too easily. Can’t be trusted, you know.” Buffy rolled her eyes, and she grabbed his hand, leading him back into the house.

“So now we know who caused all this mess. Ethan must have done something to upset the spell.”

The crowd regrouped downstairs, and Giles cleaned his glasses.

“Giles, I know you two used to be buddies, or whatever,” Xander stated, “but because of him, hundreds of girls are dead. Including one more tonight.”

“I realize this, Xander, thank you,” Giles said curtly. He placed his glasses back on and cleared his throat. “I’ll deal with Ethan.”

“Giles, you know what has to be done, don’t you?” Buffy asked.

“I’m quite aware,” he replied. “He’s endangered us before, but this is too much. I’m going to have to kill him.”

“You’re too late,” came a voice from outside. Everyone gathered at the windows to see a few more vampires outside, looking quite smug despite the fact that over a dozen of their buddies were no more than dirt on the ground. “Rayne’s dead. He broke the little witch’s spell, and that was all we needed from him. The slayers have wiped out more of our kind that we can count. It’s time we repaid the favor. You’ll be seeing us again soon.” And then they were gone, and Giles turned to Buffy, who didn’t look one little bit afraid.

“I guess they took care of our Ethan problem for us. Good news for us.” She turned to Willow. “Think you can get that spell going again?”

“Sure,” Willow said quietly, “but if Ethan could break it, who’s to say somebody else won’t?”

“If it’ll help us for the meantime,” Buffy said quietly, thinking about her daughter safe and sound upstairs, “it’ll have to do. You have what you need?”

“I…I…yeah,” Willow said quietly, wondering if she even had it in her right now to perform the spell.

“Get to it,” Buffy ordered. Willow nodded.

“Alright, but Buffy, if this does work, it might not be permanent. It wasn’t before.”

“It’s better than nothing. Come on, Wil…”

“I’m going. I need some help getting set up.”

“I’ll come with you,” Buffy assured her. “Everybody, try to get some rest. Faith?”

“I’ll take first watch,” Faith assured her. Buffy nodded, and she headed off with Willow, while Spike headed up to check on the kids and Dawn. On his way up, Angel caught his arm.

“What the hell was that?”

“Excuse me?”

“You ran out there! You could have been…”

“Killed? Didn’t think you cared so much, Peaches.”

“I don’t,” Angel muttered. “But Buffy does. Don’t be stupid, Spike. You’re not invincible. You never were. Not even when you were like me.” Spike shook his head.

“See, I think there’s a flaw in your logic. I was never like you. But thanks for the concern.” Spike headed off up the stairs, and Angel headed down to help Faith with the first watch. One thing about Spike, not even turning human could take away his thirst for a good fight.

Chapter 9

Spike, Xander, and Robin were out dealing with arranging plans for the Slayer that had been killed the night before. Out in the court yard, the rest of the girls were training with Giles and Faith. Buffy, however, had decided to stay inside and help Willow set up the rest of what she needed to perform the spell. Hopefully it would work and work permanently this time, but there was no indication that was going to happen. Still, with Ethan Rayne gone, there was one less person to worry about ruining everything.

Buffy had disappeared into the large kitchen, where Robin had stocked it with enough groceries to probably last a month. What she really needed was some aspirin, so she downed some and took a long gulp of water from the tap. Her head was pounding, and she wasn’t sure if it was from stress or from the noise. It seemed even louder than in Sunnydale, where there were even more girls in a smaller space. But the halls echoed, so any sound was magnified about ten times.

“You alright?” Buffy spun to see Angel standing in the doorway.

“Yeah,” she muttered, putting the glass down. “You missed out on this the last time. Lots of teenage girls running around, getting into everything.”

“They’re pretty weak right now.”

“Yeah. Well, hopefully by the end of the night, that’ll change.”

“Yeah,” Angel said with a nod. “Or they’ll die.”

“Or that. Hopefully we can avoid that. They’re just vampires. Pretty pissed off vampires, but still, they’re nothing I can’t handle. But there’s just…so many of them. Of course, it’s nothing compared to what we faced in the Hellmouth. And Spike went all bright and shiny and ended up killing off most of them. We don’t have that luxury this time around. Even if we did, I wouldn’t use it.” She studied Angel’s features for a moment, unable to read his emotions. She used to be able to figure him out quite easily. When she realized that wasn’t the case any longer, she started to walk away. “I should check and see if Willow’s ready.”

“Is there anything I can do?” Buffy thought for a moment and then a thought came to her. She knew it was cruel to ask of him, but he was her only option right now, considering Dawn was doing homework like she was supposed to.

“How do you feel about babysitting?”

“Babysitting?”

“Bella, especially. If…when Willow’s spell kicks in, I want somebody to be with her and let me know if anything happens.”

“Okay,” Angel said apprehensively. “Anything I should look out for?”

“If something changes, I think she’ll let you know. She’s a pretty in-tune kid. When the Slayers lost their power, she felt something right away.”

“Okay,” he said slowly. “I guess I can do that.”

“You don’t have to if you don’t want to.”

“No, it’s fine.”

“I understand if you don’t want to. I mean…given our past…I don’t expect you to just feel comfortable with…”

“I said I’d do it.”

“Yeah, but you’re all scowly. I know you don’t want to.”

“Buffy, I said I’d do it. I want to help, and if watching your kids is helping…”

“It is.”

“Then I’ll do it.”

“You’re sure?”

“When did you get so frustrating?”

“I’ve always been…hey!” She crossed her arms. “Sorry. When you’ve got hard-headed kids like mine, pointless arguments are an everyday thing.” She saw the twinge of jealousy in his eyes, and she frowned. “Sorry. I didn’t meant to…I mean…I know that with Connor…”

“It’s fine. I’ll be upstairs.” He stalked off, and she wasn’t certain if he was angry or annoyed or what. She couldn’t sense those things anymore. Not with him.

Shrugging it off, Buffy left the big kitchen and headed off to find Willow. It wasn’t long before she found her in an empty corridor, seated on the floor with books and candles surrounding her. Different colored sands and dirt were sprinkled out before her, and her eyes were closed. Her lips moved quickly in silent speech, and Buffy could do nothing but stand there, curious about the things her friend could do. She’d seen Willow work miracles, but she wondered what it was like to actually be the one working them.

Willow looked so intense, her brows wrinkled in concentration. But within moments, she sighed in frustration and opened her eyes.

“Wil?”

“I lost it,” she admitted. “I guess it takes the mouth of hell opening up and unleashing it’s billions of fanged friends to get the mojo working.” She sighed and stood up, wiping her hands on her jeans.

“You’ll get it, Wil. I know you will.”

“Thanks for the vote of confidence, Buff. I think I’m gonna take a little walk and clear my head.”

“Want me to come with?”

“No, that’s ok. I just need to think. Today’s not exactly the best day to be trying out spells and…”

“Why not?” Buffy asked. “What’s wrong with today?” Willow eyed her. Buffy thought about the day. It wasn’t the 7th of May, so it wasn’t the anniversary of Tara’s death, so what was it? As if reading her mind, Willow frowned and looked away.

“It’s the anniversary of the day I met Tara.”

“Oh,” Buffy said quietly. “Sorry.”

“No, it’s ok. That was a good thing. It’s better to remember the good things, right? Because the bad things…that leads to bad things. Like evil, veined-out Willow who’s not quite as lovable as much nicer, red-haired Willow.”

“I do like this Willow much better,” Buffy smiled. “If you need to talk…”

“I know. Thanks, Buffy. I’ll be alright.”

“’Kay.” Buffy watched her friend walk away, and she sighed, slumping down onto the floor and looking over at one of Willow’s books. Mildly curious, but mostly bored out of her skull, Buffy lifted the heavy book into her lap, and being cautious to mark the page Willow had had it turned to, she began to flip through the pages.

There were drawings of all sorts of demons, many of whom she’d come face to…really ugly face with. She flipped the book closed and studied the front. This was a book she hadn’t seen before. Must be one of Willow’s most recent finds.

Curiosity got the better of her, and she flipped toward the back of the book, looking up her most common enemy. Vampires. Of course, she knew everything there was to know about vampires, right? What with the bumpy faces and the pointy teeth, they were pretty vicious. But get a little holy water on them or drive a stake through their heart, and they were mush in a Slayer’s hands. Dust, rather. A little sunlight, a little spontaneous combustion, she’d seen it a thousand times.

“Vampires,” she muttered. “Blah, blah, blah, soulless, blah blah blah, unless…huh?” What was with the unless? She pulled the book closer to her face and began to read. “Re-siring. Huh…now that’s interesting.”

Buffy could hear the doors opening at the front of the building, so she knew the guys were back. Putting the book back down, she hurried to greet them and find out if they’d taken care of it all. By the looks on their faces, Kiki’s death was taken care of.

“How’d it go?” she still asked.

“Ruled as an animal attack. Most likely snake,” Xander said quietly, pulling his coat off. It was over, just like that. No justice for the poor girl. The vamp who had staked her was dead, and that was that. The last several hours had been a blur. Buffy was tired, hadn’t slept much. Everybody was concerned about what would happen at sun down tonight. It was going to turn into chaos pretty soon, she figured.

Xander and Robin headed to opposite ends of the building, leaving the Slayer alone with her husband.

“Where was Red going?” Spike asked his wife. Buffy shook her head.

“She’s clearing her head. She’s thinking too much, and she can’t grasp the spell.”

“What’s so difficult about it? From what I heard, she went all white witch with golden sparkles dancing about her. Thought it would be easy as pie, considering most of the stuff she was into turned her into the wicked witch of the…”

“It’s the anniversary of the day she and Tara met.”

“Oh,” Spike said, feeling like a git. “Right then.” He cleared his throat and looked around. “Where’re the kids?”

“Upstairs with Angel,” Buffy said slowly. Spike gave her a strange glance, and she sucked in a sharp breath.

“I told him to watch Bella and see if anything happened if the spell worked. I guess I can go tell him that he’s off duty now.”

“I’ll let him know, luv.” Buffy rolled her eyes.

“Please don’t tell me you’re going to start pulling jealous vampire crap. Okay, well, jealous ex-vampire crap…”

“Please? Me jealous of him? Peaches isn’t a threat, pet.”

“No, he’s not,” she insisted. “If you need reminding that I’m a one-man woman, I think these rings might prove it.” She placed her hand against them, their rings shining against each other. “And if you need more convincing…” She placed her hands on his chest, as his arms quickly slinked around her waist. She smiled, feeling his warm breath against her lips, and she leaded in, pressing her lips ever-so-gently against his. “Need more convincing?”

“Mmm…couldn’t hurt, luv.” Buffy grinned against his lips and gently backed him against the wall, her body pressing solidly against his, slowly grinding against him until she felt his cock straining against his jeans. He groaned from somewhere deep inside, and he moved his hands to her hips, roughly bringing her as close as he possibly could. He felt her shudder against him, and for a moment, her eyes closed, and a moan escaped. He cocked his head and gave her an accomplished grin. “What were we talking about, Slayer?”

“Suddenly, I can’t remember.”

“Whaddya say we let Captain Forehead babysit just a little longer, hmm?” he asked.

“Okay, dissing my exes? Not exactly a turn on. It just makes you look…”

“Jealousy isn’t turning you on?”

“Thought you weren’t jealous,” she said wickedly, her hand moving between them to press against the hardened bulge. She could have sworn she heard him whimper.

“Right,” he muttered. “Come on, Slayer. I think we can manage to find an empty room.” She laughed, as he roughly took her hand and whisked her off for a quick rendezvous in an empty classroom.

***

Faith lagged behind the group as they made their way back to the old school. She hadn’t gotten a call from Buffy about Willow’s spell, and none of the girls felt their Slayer senses tingling, so apparently, the afternoon was a bust.

She pulled out a wrinkled pack of cigarettes, fished one out, and lit the tip. She took a long drag and let the air out slowly. She got a few glances from bewildered Slayers, who wanted nothing more than to take care of their bodies. The way Faith looked at it was that she was probably going to die before she was a little old lady, so why not?

She could see the school building up ahead, and she wasn’t really thrilled about going back to the awkward tension that happened to settle around them like tear gas every time she and Robin were in the same room together. He hadn’t even attempted to talk to her about Nikki. It wasn’t like there was any explanation. So he had a kid. Good for him. It’s what he wanted, after all. It’s not like she would have made a good mother, anyway. She wasn’t cut out for it. It didn’t make the fact that she’d lost their baby any easier.

No, she told herself. She wasn’t going to think about it. She was going to push it behind her. That’s what she’d always done with the crap that seemed to fall down around her everywhere she went.

She closed her eyes for a minute, taking in another smoky puff of air. She wasn’t relaxing. Normally a good smoke would do just that. But now, the closer she got to the school, the tenser she became.

She tossed the butt down and put it out with her shoe. She jogged ahead toward Giles.

“I’m gonna hang back, go check out the area. See if there’s any signs of a nest nearby.”

“And if there is?”

“I got protection.” She raised an eyebrow, motioning toward the silver knife in her boot and the stake in her coat pocket.

“Surely you can’t take them on alone.”

“I can handle it, G. I know how to take care of myself in a fight.” Before Giles could protest, Faith was off to work out the frustration she couldn’t shake otherwise. Normally, sex would do the trick, but she was going to put everything into killing the baddies, so maybe she could get the hell out and away from him a little bit sooner.

Chapter 10

Buffy shimmied back into her jeans, while Spike finished doing up the buttons on his button down shirt. His hair, normally slicked back, was looking a bit messy, and Buffy couldn’t help but smile at him from a few feet away.

“What?” he asked, catching wise of her grin.

“Your hair.”

“What about it?”

“You have bed head.”

“No bed, luv.”

“Yeah, well, you totally reek of ‘I let Buffy do all the work while I just lay there on the floor.” Spike smirked at that.

“I seem to recall doing my fair share, pet.” Buffy grinned and sauntered over to him. She licked her hand and slid it down the back of his head, smoothing it out. “You just spit in my hair.”

“Oh, don’t get all clean-freak on my now, blood boy.”

“Not fair. You can’t use my past status as a vampire to get back at me anymore.”

“I can’t?” she mused, placing her hands on his toned chest, pressing him up against the wall. Her lower lip stuck out just a bit, and he couldn’t resist another smirk.

“Look at that lip,” he purred, leaning down to suck it between his own lips, torturing it slowly with his tongue. She moaned quietly against him, her hands slipping up underneath his shirt. Her touch was feather-light, and it made his muscles jump at the slight contact. “You’re playing with fire, luv.”

“Good thing we’re not flammable.” Their lips joined again for a brief but hot kiss. And she broke free for just a moment to utter, “or maybe we are.” He smiled, pulling her in for a deeper kiss. When Buffy finally broke free to straighten her hair in a dusty old mirror, Spike took the opportunity to walk up behind her, wrapping his arms around her waist. They both stared at the reflection of their bodies molded together so perfectly. His head was resting on her shoulder, and he started kissing her neck. “I’ll never get sick of this.”

“What’s that, pet?”

“Seeing us like this. Together. All…you know, reflective.”

“Ah,” he whispered, nibbling at her ear, sending a shiver down her spine, as one hand moved up her ribcage and brushed against the side of her breast. She closed her eyes, leaning back against him, feeling him harden against her backside. She turned in his arms, wrapping her arms around his neck, looking up into his eyes with an innocent little pout, as she seductively ground herself against him, making him flinch, holding back every urge inside of him that screamed for him to take her once more against that very wall.

“I guess I still don’t get why vampires aren’t reflective,” she said, dampening the mood. “I mean, dead people have reflections, right? So why not a vampire? I mean…it’s a walking corpse. Didn’t you ever think about that?” Spike cocked his eye at her.

“You really want to talk vampire biology, pet?”

“No,” she murmured. “Sorry, I guess something I read in one of Wil’s books got me thinking.” He smiled slyly.

“You think too much, Slayer.” He was obviously trying to recapture the mood, but he could tell she was already distracted, so he let her go so she could pace, while he slowly sat down on a nearby desk, willing his cock to stop straining against his jeans. Trying to focus his attention anywhere but on the need that was still apparent between his own legs, he cleared his throat.

“What…uh…what was it that you read, luv?” Buffy thought for a moment, trying to remember the exact words, but failed.

“Something about re-siring and retaining a soul.”

“Yeah?” he asked.

“Do you know anything about that?”

“I’ve heard talk, but never experienced it myself, obviously.”

“The book was newer, so maybe it was just written?”

“What else did it say?”

“Well, re-siring, I guess…I guess that would mean becoming a vampire again.”

“Sure,” Spike said slowly. “I heard rumors that it was possible, you know. If a vampire were saved from damnation once that if he was turned again, he’d be saved. He’d still have his soul.”

“But you’ve never seen it happen?”

“Well, pet, I’m the only ex-vampire I know, so…no. And I don’t plan on becoming one again, but it’d be nice to know that if it did, I wouldn’t, you know, want to rip your heart out.” He raised an eyebrow, and his thoughts went back into the gutter. “Especially when the casing is so beautiful.” Buffy seemed apprehensive. “What’s wrong?”

“I had a dream that you were a vampire, remember?” Spike sighed heavily. “Slayer dreams aren’t exactly something I can forget about, Spike.”

“Doesn’t mean a thing, luv. I don’t plan on getting sired again.”

“But if you do…”

“If I do…well, I guess if what Red’s book says is true, I won’t have to worry about you staking me.”

“Still,” Buffy said quietly, “if it’s being written about now, I think it’s important that we look into it. For future reference.”

“You worry too much, luv.”

“I know. But I’m worried about you, so cut me some slack.”

“Right,” Spike said casually. “Alright, let’s go see if we can borrow the witch’s book, then. We’ll see what other goodies might be in store, should I get…”

“Vampified?” Buffy asked.

“Yeah,” he said with a roll of his eyes. But, he decided to humor his wife anyway, because if anything, it might put her fears at ease.

***

“Fucking thing,” Faith muttered, kicking the water heater in the basement, as she tinkered with various valves and buttons that she wasn’t even sure actually belonged to the damn thing, trying to figure out exactly what went where and how she was supposed to fix it. After training, one of the Slayers had nearly had a meltdown after the hot water had run out completely. Now the water was staying cold, and after everything they’d been through, these girls at least deserved warm showers. Still, why’d they have to send the one person who knew jack about mechanics? What? She was a tough broad, sure, but that didn’t mean she spent her childhood looking over Daddy’s shoulder as he played Mr. Fix-It.

“Who’s down here?” Faith froze at the voice and turned to see Robin coming at her with a box. He stopped abruptly. “Oh, I didn’t know you were…”

“Yeah, they sent me to have a look. Why the hell didn’t they send a guy.”

“You think just because we’re guys, we know how to fix this stuff?” Robin asked with a raised eyebrow. “I thought you of all people would know how to take care of something like this. You don’t like to rely on anybody, after all.” Faith deflected that blow with a smirk.

“Yeah, well, I guess I missed the course on water heater repair when I enrolled at How to be a Tough Bitch University.” She started to go, but he caught her arm.

“I didn’t mean to…”

“It’s cool. No sweat.” She tried to wring herself out of his hold, but he held her there, his piercing eyes searching hers. She didn’t want to look at him, but she was a tough girl. She could withstand anything. She’d learned to hide pain, fear, and weakness a long time ago, and even though they’d been close once, she was certain she could hide most anything from even him if she had to.

“Faith.”

“What?”

“We have to talk about it.”

“What?”

“You know what.” Faith’s eyes dared him to say it.

“No, I don’t think we do,” she said, pulling her arm out of his hand. “There’s nothing to talk about, okay?” Robin sighed and let the box drop with a thud.

“Fine. You want to hide behind this persona, fine with me. But I’m sick of watching you try to dodge me every time I come into the room. It’s not supposed to be like this.”

“Then what’s it supposed to be like, Robin?” she asked. “Break ups are messy. They’re not supposed to be friendly and…”

“Maybe not where you come from,” Robin said quietly. “But we have a past, Faith. And a lot of it…maybe a lot of it was bad. Maybe downright painful. But there was a lot of good, wasn’t there?”

“Sure,” Faith said with a shrug, “but it doesn’t make up for what went wrong.”

“What went wrong? You walked out, Faith. You left and didn’t come back.” He eyed her, waiting for her reaction, but she only looked away. “I got used to your mood swings. I got used to sleeping alone, but when you never came back…what did you expect me to do, Faith?”

“I didn’t expect anything,” Faith pointed out. “I left and I didn’t come back.”

“So why are you acting like this? You’re acting like I did something to hurt you.” Faith felt her heart pounding. No. She wasn’t doing this.

“I should get back up. We’re training again in…”

“They can wait. Or they can go on without you. We’re talking about this. Right now, Faith.”

“What do you want me to say?” she demanded. “I got pregnant. I didn’t want a kid. You knew that. But somehow, you got me thinking I could do it. I could be happy. But I knew I couldn’t. And then the baby was gone. And I hated myself for it. I hated you for making me keep it…making me want it…making me…making me go through that.” She tried to calm herself. Her voice was steady, but her eyes showed a world of pain. Robin swallowed hard.

“I thought maybe you would settle down. I…I always wanted to be a father.”

“That’s where we went wrong. We wanted different things. We did…until I changed my mind. I let myself thing I could have something more. And guess what? I couldn’t. Now here you are…”

“I’m not gonna apologize for my daughter, Faith.”

“You don’t have to. You deserve to be a dad. You deserve all that stuff that comes with it.” She pointed to herself. “I don’t. I’m not supposed to have that, because I’m a Slayer, and you and me? We both know that having kids and being Chosen doesn’t mix. B’s fooling herself if she think she can keep playing house and keep everything from completely fucked.” She shook her head. “I lost her, Robin, because I’m not supposed to have her. She died, because…” She knew what she was going to say would hurt both him and her, but she had to. She had to in order to convince herself. “Better a bathroom floor than at the hands of a demon.” She turned and walked off, leaving Robin feeling even worse than before. He had thought that talking about it might give him some closure, but it had only opened new wounds. He knew she was lying. He knew she would rather have that baby right now than have lost it, but Faith was tough, and she’d learned to deal with things as they came, and she’d tried to do that this time by telling herself it was ok. It didn’t matter. But he knew Faith better than she thought. He knew she wasn’t over it. He knew she was barely coping at all.

***

“What do you think?” Buffy asked, as she and Spike stood before Giles and Willow. Giles removed his glasses, cleaned them, replaced them neatly on his head, and then he took the book in his hands.

“I know someone I can call,” he said slowly. “But is this really necessary? It has nothing to do with the battle we’re fighting now.”

“It has everything to do with it,” Buffy stated, arms crossed. “I’m not saying Spike’s going to get bitten…or be made to drink from said biter, but it’d be nice to know just in case.”

“I suppose I can check in on it,” Giles said, trying to appease the Slayer, despite the fact that he felt more time should be spent in helping Willow with this stronger spell. He looked at her for support.

“It’s alright. I think I’m about ready,” Willow said, nodding as she flipped through the pages one after the other. Giles sighed and nodded his head.

“I guess I’ll be on my way to make that call then.” He cleared his throat, and Buffy smiled.

“Thanks, Giles. You’re the best.” Looking at her smiling up at him took him back to the days when she was a somewhat nonchalant teenager who would rather go out to parties than spend a night in going over research materials and studying the best methods for slaying demons.

When Giles left, Buffy took Spike’s hand and looked at Willow.

“Need any help?”

“I think I’ve got it!” she said brightly.

“No kidding?” Spike asked.

“No kidding,” Willow nodded. “Maybe you can go watch Bella and see if anything happens.” Buffy’s eyes widened.

“Oh my God! Angel’s still up there.” Smooth, Buffy. Leave your ex with your twins all afternoon. That won’t make anything less tense. She pulled at Spike’s arm, brining him with her, as Willow settled down to attempt the spell once again.

***

Buffy and Spike arrived at their room to find the kids practically bouncing off the walls, while a haggard Angel sat on the bed, chin in his hand. He looked up at the sound of the door opening. He noticed the apprehensive, apologetic look on Buffy’s face and his tension slowly subsided.

“Um…I guess ‘how were they’ wouldn’t be the right question?”

“Mommy, Angel gave us piggy back rides.” Spike couldn’t help but smirk, fold his arms, and lean against the door frame. The picture of his grandsire galloping about with two tow-headed, blue-eyed kids on his back was enough to crack a smile.

“That’s nice, Bell,” Buffy said with a smile. “Tell Angel good night. It’s time for bed.”

“ Good night,” Bella and Bex said in unison. Bella hopped up on the bed when Angel stood, and she wrapped her little arms around his neck and gave him a kiss on the cheek.

“I like him, Mommy.” She put her hands around her mouth as if she were whispering something secret. “I think I love him.”

“Alright, young lady,” Spike said, trying his best not to laugh at Angel’s obvious discomfort. “By the time you’re old enough for a boyfriend, just think how old he’ll be.” He made a face, and Bella giggled. Buffy glanced at Angel. Truth was, he wouldn’t look any different than he did right now. Spike looked over at Buffy and at Angel and it suddenly struck him. He was going to get old and wrinkly, and Angel would still look like…well, Angel, whom Buffy had obviously found attractive at one point. Buffy caught Spike’s gaze, and she gave him a sideways smile, as if telling him they were going to have another chat. Bloody hell, how can she read me like that?

“Thanks for your help, Angel. Sorry it took so long.”

“It’s fine. I…uh…bye, kids.” He waved stiffly and headed down the hall. Bella giggled and jumped on the bed, which riled Bex up, and they both began jumping together. Buffy and Spike shared a tired smile before each taking a child into their arms.

“Settle down,” Buffy laughed. “Go changed into your pajamas. Bathroom’s down the hall.”

“I remember,” Bella said in one of those whiny Mo-o-o-o-m tones that was often reserved especially for teenagers. The kids headed off with their little packs, and Buffy turned to Spike, who was just starting to open his mouth.

“Before you say anything,” she said, pressing her fingers to his lips, “I refuse to acknowledge any questions about my feelings for Angel when you start to wear your age.” She smiled at him. “Your human age, I mean. Because, just remember, some day, I’ll catch up to you if my super-awesome Slayer powers don’t decrease sagging and wrinkles in places I’d rather not have it. So if I’m going to look old and wrinkly, so is the man I spend the rest of my life with.”

“Yeah, but you might feel different when I’m Polydenting my dentures and sporting a bad comb-over, and Captain Forehead’s flashing his pearly whites and clipping out ads of hair club for men to send in the mail…just to torture me.”

“Spike?”

“What?”

“Shut up.”

“Right,” he said, clearing his throat, as Buffy leaned in to kiss him. “What can I do to convince me that I’ll always want you, even if you’re old and wrinkly. How can I convince you that it’s not your amazingly chiseled abs or your…” She felt her mouth already watering. “That’s not what makes me want you, Spike.” She was staring at him now like he was a piece of meat, and damn it, he liked it.

“So what is, luv?” he asked, raising a suggestive eyebrow, as he felt her fingers toying with his belt loops. She smiled, knowing what he was expecting her to say in order to carry their conversation into bed, but she pressed her lips lightly to his.

“Your heart,” she said softly, and with a giggle, she rolled her eyes, “perv.”

“Oh, mature, Buffy. Real mature.”

“You love it.” She kissed him again. The fact that their twins were just down the hall was almost forgotten until a loud yelp from Bex was heard, followed by Bella’s immediate return to the room, eyes wide.

“I didn’t mean to, Mommy! I swear!” Buffy and Spike quickly followed their daughter to the bathroom where Bex was covering his bloody nose.

“She hit me!” he cried.

“I didn’t mean to!” she cried louder. “He took my doll, and I was trying to get it back. “I didn’t hit him very hard..”

“Did so!” Bex yelled.

“Did not!” she insisted, smacking her hand down on the sink, only to shift it slightly from the force. Everyone stopped.

“Whoa,” Spike said slowly. “Everybody…just…calm down.”

“Mommy, I broke the sink,” Bella said sheepishly.

“It’s…um, it’s ok, Bell. Let’s just…”

“She hit me!” Bex exclaimed, tears running down his face.

“Bella, what you did was wrong, do you understand me?”

“Yes, Mommy,” she said, hanging her head.

“I want you to apologize right now. Go on.” Bella slowly moved toward her brother, while Spike and Buffy exchanged knowing and worried glances behind their backs.

“Sorry, Bex. I didn’t mean to, honest.”

“Yeah right,” Bex said, rubbing his nose, which was starting to hurt less.

“Bex,” Spike said slowly. “She apologized.”

“Fine,” Bex grumbled. “I forgive you, Bella.”

“Now hug,” Buffy directed. They both sighed but hugged, and then they went about their way. Buffy turned to Spike, and he shook his head. “Well…”

“Well,” Spike agreed with a nod. “Looks like we’ve got a Slayer-in-training on our hands.” And more than that, it appeared that Willow’s spell had worked.

Chapter 11

“So does this mean we won?” Andrew asked slowly as the group convened in the main hall downstairs, save for Bex and Bella, who had finally been coaxed to sleep by their parents.

“The spell works, so I’d say yeah,” one of the Slayers said with a smile, as she attempted a round house kick on another Slayer, executed it perfectly, while the other Slayer blocked her kick perfectly.

“Hey, watch it!”

“I knew you’d get it. I was testing both of us.”

“Uh-huh,” came a skeptical murmur. Buffy looked around at the group. Aside from herself, Faith, and apparently Bella, there were seven girls left. Their numbers had dwindled, and out of the entire Slayer army, this was all that was left. There were more out there, surely, but the foundation of their organization had crumbled, and it would take years to rebuild, if it was even possible.

“I guess we have won. Won’t stop the vampires from trying tonight, though.”

“But they’ll get their asses kicked and ground into dust…literally, and they’ll know the Slayers are back,” Faith said with a nod toward the door.

“We’ll have to let one live,” Spike pointed out. “Have to let him go to let the others know what’s happened.”

“Wil, you did good,” Xander offered from his place in the crowd. Willow still looked uncertain.

“I don’t know. I just hope it holds. What if somebody else…”

“Ethan is dead,” Giles pointed out. “And as soon as this is over, I’ll be on my way to insure that something like this never happens again.” They all knew there were no guarantees, but Giles felt it was his duty, and they couldn’t stop him from his mission now that his mind was set.

“It’s almost dark,” Buffy said quietly. “They’ll be here soon. We’re ready?”

“There’s not many…”

“There weren’t many before, but now we’re a helluva lot more powerful,” Faith said with a raised eyebrow. Buffy looked at the group once more, realizing that her arms were crossed. God, it felt like she was talking to the Potentials right before the big battle, all over again. She loosened up and dropped her arms to her sides. “We should go get to our posts.” Everyone disbanded and headed for their spots. Buffy turned to her sister.

“I know. Go watch the kids. I got it.”

“Thanks, Dawnie.”

“No problem, but you know in a year or two I’m gonna make you teach me some sweet moves.” Buffy rolled her eyes.

“After you graduate, maybe. You know I haven’t forgotten about your first failed slaying.”

“Hey, but you said your first one went badly too. So I’m not forgetting that either, big sister.” She flashed her sister a teasing smile and headed up to check on the kids. Buffy felt a hand catch her shoulder as she turned, and she looked up into Spike’s big, blue eyes. Immediately, a worried frown appeared on her face.

“It was just a dream, luv,” he assured her. “I’m not getting bit. I’m not gonna be a vampire again. I’m gonna grow old, live my life, complain about every ache, every pain, every gray hair, and I’m gonna love every minute of it, because I get to spend those minutes with you.” He saw the tears well in her eyes.

“Yeah? You promise.”

“Promise, luv.”

“Good, because if you break that promise…you’re in big trouble.”

“I’ll keep that in mind, pet. Give me a kiss then, and off with you.” She could see concern in his eyes too, but she knew that sometimes, a dream was just a dream. Sometimes she worried too much. Sometimes…sometimes she needed to not expect the worst. So, she stood on her tiptoes, and she wrapped her arms around his neck, pressing her warm lips against his, lingering there until she felt his lips part, and she gave him a proper kiss, one that left them both a little flushed in the face.

Pulling back, she smiled and gently wiped a little drool from his lower lip and giggled. “I’ll see you when it’s over then, right?”

“Right, luv.”

“Good.” She kissed him again, and they sighed against each other, breathing each other in, neither one wanting to admit that despite their powerful little group, terrible things still could happen.

“Buff,” Xander called from his post. “We’ve got company.”

***

“You ok?” Buffy asked, eyeing Willow warily. Willow grimaced and gave a nod. During the fight, she’d gotten nicked with the point of a sword, leaving a nasty little gash on her arm. Willow muttered something, and there was a little poof, a spark, and the wound was healed. “Gotta love those self-healing spells?”

“Yeah, definitely,” Willow agreed as Buffy helped her up. She looked over at Spike, who was shaking out his leather coat. A rain of vamp dust showered down to the floor. Well, he was fine. No bite marks. No vamping out. Sometimes a dream really is just a dream.

“What now?” asked Libby, a rather ambitious Slayer, who had kept quiet these past few days out of sheer concentration on maintaining what strength she had to survive long enough to become a Slayer again.

“Now, we stay until sun up, and then we get the hell out,” Faith suggested.

“I like Faith’s plan,” Buffy nodded. “Let’s do that.”

“Yeah,” Libby said slowly, “but…what now? I mean, what the hell do we do?” Buffy looked around at the group. She looked at Andrew, who seemed to have taken an interest in the conversation.

“We’ll rebuild.” He was totally ripping off the bravado of any leader figure in any major disaster movie. Still, he was right. “We’ll rebuild, and we’ll be stronger. Right?” He looked at Xander and then at Spike. “Right?”

“Right,” Xander piped up. “Even though the army and most of the headquarters are destroyed, along with most of the money…”

“Not true,” Buffy said. “Money equals bank. Bank equals none of us being out on our butts. We still have the money.” She looked at Spike and shrugged. “But it wouldn’t hurt to start looking into some part time work when we get home.”

“Home,” Spike said with a nod.

“Let’s all try to get some sleep,” Giles said quietly, motioning toward the stairs. “I’ll stay up in case any of our friends decide to come back for a little visit.”

“You get some rest, Giles. Spike and I’ll stay up.”

“You’re sure?”

“Sure. You know how we get, Giles. A little fight and we’re wide awake. Go on. You need your energy for all that research you’re gonna be doing for us, anyway.”

“Yes, right,” Giles said, cleaning his glasses. “I’ll do my best.” He looked at Spike. “Do try to avoid being bitten.”

“Will do, Rupert.” The older man disappeared up the stairs, and Buffy swatted Spike’s arm. “What’d I do?”

“Don’t make fun of him. He’s trying to help.”

“Sorry, pet. He’s just wound up so tight. He needs a girl.”

“Well, I wouldn’t say that to his face.”

“’Course not.” He smiled, and a clearing throat sounded through the darkness. Angel stepped out of the shadows.

“I’m gonna take off.”

“Why?” Buffy asked, furrowing her brows. “It’s late, and…”

“Exactly. If I leave and sunrise, you’ll be sweeping me up in a dust pan.”

“Right,” Buffy said awkwardly. “That little thing.”

“Yeah, that little thing.” Spike realized that this was about to be a big goodbye moment, and it suddenly struck him that he wasn’t worried. Not one little bit. He gently rubbed his wife’s shoulder.

“I’m gonna check on the kids, pet.”

“Alright. I’ll be up in a minute.” Spike nodded and gave her shoulder a squeeze before heading up the stairs. Buffy turned back to Angel, eyes full of apprehension. “I don’t suppose we’ll be getting a Christmas card, huh?” Angel shifted uncomfortably.

“I think it’d be better if…if I didn’t…”

“I understand,” she said quickly so he wouldn’t have to finish the sentence.

“But if you ever need anything…you know you can ask.”

“Yeah,” Buffy said quietly. “I know. Thanks for coming, Angel.”

“I didn’t really do much. Just babysat.”

“Which meant a lot. Just because I’m with Spike doesn’t mean I automatically never want to see you again. You’re in my heart. You always will be.” She smiled. “As corny as it sounds, Spike and the kids…they’re my heart now, and that’s something…it’s something that I’ve never felt before.”

“I get that,” Angel said quietly.

“Angel?”

“Hmm?”

“You should be happy. I’m never gonna make you happy. Obviously…look at you now. You have one foot out the door.”

“Sorry. I just need to get back. I have a company and…everything.”

“Right,” Buffy said with a nod. “Promise me something, first.”

“What?”

“You’ll talk to Connor.”

“Buffy,” he started with an exasperated sigh.

“Don’t ‘Buffy’ me. Not gonna listen, Angel. He’s your son. Maybe he doesn’t know it. Maybe nobody else does either. And you do. You’re gonna be around for a long long time. And he’s not. But you won’t forget about him. At least make contact. Do something. You need closure.” Angel was silent for a moment.

“I’ll try. Not promising though.”

“Alright,” Buffy said with a shake of her head. “It really was good to see you again. I just hope it isn’t five years. But I understand if…”

“I can’t make you any promises there either, Buffy.”

“I’m not looking for any,” she admitted. He nodded, understanding, and then he was gone. Buffy watched him walk away for only a moment before she turned and headed upstairs to join her family before settling in for a long, watchful night.

***

“I’m sorry.”

“What?” Faith spun around as she dug around in the fridge for something to snack on. Normally, she had awesome, mind-blowing sex after a battle, but considering she had no potential bed buddies around here, she was settling for food. She hadn’t expected him to follow her into the kitchen, that was for sure.

“I’m sorry,” he repeated, stepping toward her. “I’m sorry you’re hurting, because I moved on.” He looked into her eyes, seeing her trying to hold up the invisible walls that protected her. “I haven’t moved on from losing our daughter, Faith, but I fell in love, and I’m happy. I can’t apologize for that, but I’m sorry it’s hurting you.”

“I’m fine. I told you that.”

“You tell yourself that, but I know you. You didn’t want me to get close enough to know you, but I did. I know enough about you to know when you’re hurt, and you are. I never meant to hurt you. I…I didn’t think I’d ever see you again, and I moved on.”

“Yeah, well, that’s good. It’s great. I’m not a relationship kind of girl.”

“You didn’t used to be. It scares you that you might be now.”

“Whoa, enough with the psycho-babble,” Faith said, holding up her hands. “I’m leaving tomorrow, Robin, and we don’t ever have to talk about it again.”

“Doesn’t mean we shouldn’t.”

“Yeah, well, you might be for all the touchy-feely crap, but that’s not my style.” She smiled a little. “It was fun…sometimes. But it’s over. We’ve all got issues. Some a little more than others. Right?”

“Yeah.”

“That’s that, then.”

“That’s that?”

“Yeah. I’m not one for big words. Big talks. Nah, that’s not me. What happened…well, it just happened. It’s over now. I’m dealing. It’s cool.” He knew that despite how casual she was, she was a wreck inside. Yeah, that’s what she was. Faith Lehane was a train wreck of badly mangled pieces. But she managed to make herself look like something completely different. She wasn’t going to change, and nobody could make her. She wasn’t cold. She was just broken. She was dealing. She just didn’t deal out loud. And he could never get used to that. Maybe what she was saying was true. That was that. It was done.

“It’s cool,” he said quietly, repeating her. She nodded, lingered for a minute, and then smiled, chuckling awkwardly.

“Better go make sure the Slayer squad hasn’t taken over my room. I know there’s about a hundred to choose from, but hey, what’s mine’s mine.”

“Yeah.”

“Night.”

“Good night, Faith.” She was already gone.

***

“Call me when you land, alright? As soon as we land, I’ll be checking my voice mail,” Buffy said sternly to Xander as he gave her a big hug. Most of the goodbyes had already been said. Giles and Faith had already gone with one of the other slayers to start working on their end of the army. Andrew was flying with Xander instead of going alone to Italy. Right now, it was best to keep the branches of the army at a minimum. Willow was heading back to the US with Spike, Buffy, Dawn, and the kids.

“I’ll call. I promise,” Xander assured his friend. “Have a safe flight. Don’t do anything I wouldn’t do. Oh…uh, don’t attempt joining the mile high club or anything. That’s not as easy as it looks.” Buffy made a face and laughed.

“How would you know?”

“Remember that weekend that Anya and I went to meet some of her old demon friends in Vegas? Yeah…Anya thought it would be a good idea.” Buffy laughed.

“Well, thanks for the advice.” She leaned in and whispered in his ear, “but I already know all about it myself.” It was Xander’s turn to make a face and he looked at Spike who just shrugged and cocked an eyebrow with a satisfied smirk spreading across his face.

“OK, now I’m leaving,” he said with mock disgust. Well, partly mock. He bent down and gave the twins a hug.

“Your Uncle Xander’s bringing you something really awesome next time I see you.”

“A puppy?” Bex asked.

“No puppies!” Buffy mouthed.

“We’ll see,” Xander said with a shrug. Bella squeezed Xander a little too hard, and he winced. Buffy noticed and pried her kids off of her poor friend.

“Come on. Uncle Xander has a long flight ahead of him.”

“Don’t forget Uncle Andrew,” Andrew said, holding his arms out to the kids, who quickly ran to him. Buffy smiled. As annoying as Andrew could be, he was great with kids. She made a mental note to add him to the growing list of possible babysitters.

Once everybody was done hugging and saying goodbye, various taxis showed up to carry people off in new directions. When the dust settled, Buffy and Spike stood outside their taxi, while Willow, Dawn, Bex, and Bella settled into the car behind.

“I didn’t even ask you how it felt to be home.”

“Home? What, London? Oh, it hasn’t been home for a long time.” He smiled. “My home’s wherever you are, pet. First Sunnydale, then Ohio…wherever you go, luv.” He realized how cheesy it sounded, but she didn’t seem to care. She pulled at his coat, bringing him closer. She stood on her tiptoes and kissed him. “Promise me something, pet.”

“Oh boy. More promises? What?”

“Stop worrying. We came out of this fine. Bella’s got a lot to learn, and she’s gonna learn it from you. So you have to stop worrying so you can train her to be a proper Slayer.”

“Yeah, like I’m so proper,” Buffy teased.

“Well, that’s a different question all together. One I wouldn’t mind answering as soon as we’re home. Maybe sooner. Thing it might be high time to renew our membership to that club on the plane. Whaddya say.”

“I say you’re gross,” she laughed. “And I love you.”

“I love you too, pet.” He pulled his arm around her. “Let’s go home.”

Epilogue

Willow sat with Bella and Bex out on the back porch. The kids were coloring, and Spike was tapping his fingers on the glass top of the table.

“What’s taking so long?” he wondered.

“I’m sure she’ll be down in a minute.”

“Yeah, but these things…”

“She just wants to be sure,” Willow said with a slow nod. “Hey Dawnie?” Dawn looked up from one of the patio chairs. For the past month, her ear had been virtually glued to her cell phone, since Kyle had grown a brain and decided to call his very pissed off girlfriend. Or ex-girlfriend. They hadn’t exactly decided anything yet.

“What?” she asked.

“Maybe you should go check on Buffy.” Willow nodded toward the house.

“Spike!” Buffy called from upstairs so loudly that she sounded as if she were just inside the kitchen. Spike’s eyes widened and he jumped up. Bex and Bella looked at their dad and then went back to coloring.

Spike took the stairs a bit eagerly, two at a time, and he nearly smacked right into his wife at the top of the stairs.

“Oh!” Buffy exclaimed, as Spike startled.

“Bloody hell, woman! Scared me half to…” She only smiled and nodded, cutting him off without words. “What…” She nodded again, a grin spreading across her face. “You mean…”

“I mean,” she said quickly, taking his hand in hers and pulling him toward the bathroom. There on the sink sat a little white stick, and when she pointed to it, Spike bent down, seeing the two pink lines. They were faint, but they were there.

“That means…”

“It means we’re having a baby!” Spike felt his heart leap in his chest, and he picked up his wife, clutching her to him. God, it felt wonderful this time around, knowing that he was going to be a dad, and knowing no prophecies would come attached. This child had been conceived by two humans. Well, two humans with not-so-human strength, but two humans none-the-less.

“You’re sure?”

“I’m sure,” she said with a nod. “This is happening.”

“How long…”

“I’m guessing a few weeks.”

“London?”

“Maybe. Or right after,” Buffy said with a nod. “It doesn’t matter.” She hugged her husband again, and he kissed her softly.

For a girl who never thought she’d live long enough to have children, it was an indescribable feeling now that baby #3 was on its way.

“I can’t believe it,” he whispered. He’d known about the first pregnancy only very shortly before the birth, so knowing that in about eight months, he was going to be a dad all over again was a very different feeling. “We’re gonna get you into a good doc, yeah? And we’ll set up the nursery. Might have to move your sis and Willow to the living room.”

“Spike,” Buffy laughed, “we have a lot of time to get ready. I don’t want to rush. I just want to enjoy.”

“You’re still going to Slay, aren’t you?”

“Spike, I patrolled when I was eight months pregnant with twins. I think I can handle it.”

“I’ll be there with you.”

“I figured you would be,” she replied with a smile.” She sighed and closed her eyes when he placed his hand on her stomach.

“Our baby’s in there, huh?”

“Yeah, that’s kinda how it works, babe,” she laughed. Babe. That wasn’t a word he heard her use often, but he loved it coming out of her mouth. He loved the way it slipped out without thought, and he loved the blush on her cheek right after she said it.

“Is that so, pet?”

“Mmmhmm,” she said with a nod.

“Think I might need a little refresher course.”

“Oh, I think you remember,” she teased, as his hands moved to her waist, pulling her closer.

“Mmm…maybe I wasn’t paying attention that day.”

“Oh, you were paying a lot of attention. I remember.”

“You sure about that? Pregnancy hormones. They can mess with the brain, can’t they? I read that somewhere…”

“Shut up, Spike,” she laughed, pulling him in again hungrily. When they parted, her green eyes twinkled. “This is scary. Scarier than vampires and demons. Having three kids? One of them a Slayer? I mean, that’s…that’s not puppies and kittens.”

“True, pet, but it’s a lot better. At least with this kind of scary, we know it won’t end in a mess or with a huge clean up.”

“Yeah…says you!” she laughed.

“What’s that supposed to mean?”

“Oh gee. Let me think.” She cleared her throat and in the best bad British accent she could muster, “Buffy? Pet? Bella’s smells funny. Oh, I forgot to pick up milk at the store. Be back in a tick!”

“That’s the worst impression I’ve ever heard, luv.”

“Yeah, well.”

“And I did my fair share of diaper changes.”

“Uh huh. But you were the best at getting out of them.” Spike hushed her with another kiss.

“I’ll be there. All the time. It’ll be different this time, though. Both of us working.” Both Buffy and Spike had picked up part time jobs, which was nice right now, because both Willow and Dawn were able to help out with babysitting, but it wouldn’t always be that easy, not when Kyle returned and kept Dawn away even longer than her schoolwork did. Not when Willow decided it was time to move on and help expand the Slayer army somewhere else.

“Yeah,” Buffy said with a nod. “We’ll figure it out. We’re good at that.”

“I suppose we should tell them.”

“Right,” Buffy nodded. “But be prepared for lots of arguing over whether it’s a boy or a girl. As if our kids’ fighting has any control over your Y chromosome.”

“Big talk?”

“What? I read ‘What to Expect’ when I was…expecting.”

“Sorry, luv. That one’s not in my library.”

“It is now.” She kissed him and squeezed his hand. As they headed down the stairs to break the news to their kids and to Willow and Dawn, Buffy leaned her head on his shoulder and sighed. “Read up, Daddy, ‘cause we’re about to do this all over again.”

FIN