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Author's Chapter Notes:
Thank you for reading this. I hope you all enjoy it. I am desperately trying to pick up the pace of this fiction.
ALL MANNER OF MONSTERS

Chapter 11: ‘Her Future’


Summary: Buffy plans a trip to Sunnydale. Spike remembers once upon a time in San Diego. Riley shoots off his big mouth and angers Spike.

Chapter 11:


“I thought we’d catch a flight, to Vegas,” Riley rambled on over their morning coffee together. “Get married in some obscure little chapel. What do you think Babe?” He raised his heavy, dark right eye brow at Buffy, who tried to avoid eye contact with him.

“Uhm,” she stammered nervously, “I don’t know. I thought maybe I should call mom and dad and invite them to some kind of real wedding, Riley.” Buffy’s suggestion ended up as a mere whisper, especially when she dared a glance at her soon to be husband.

Riley was giving Buffy the all over ‘suspicious’ look that he was so good at.

“I would think you’d rather skip the family pleasantries, Buff,” Riley snorted in response just before he gulped down the rest of his coffee. “It’s not as if you and your folks have been all that cozy in the last few years.”

‘Thanks to you,’ Buffy thought, resentfully. ‘You’re the fucking reason I’ve cut my family off, Finn.’ She did not vocalize her anger, but she did frown, frightfully at Riley.

“I do owe them something,” she merely mumbled as she tossed her breakfast napkin on the dining table and stood up. “First off though,” Buffy continued, rather boldly, for her, “I have to go and see Dawn today. She needs to know what’s going on and…”

“Why!?” Riley roared in disbelief. “You finally decided to marry me and the first thing you do is run off to Sunnydale to what? Consult a six-year-old child about it!” Riley seemed incredulous.

“She is my daughter, Riley!” Buffy countered haughtily. “Haven’t you even thought any of this out? My baby has some say in her own future you know!” She hated the fact that her voice sounded like a whiny little girls, but she couldn’t help it.

“Look,” Buffy sighed in obvious frustration, “Dawn is going to have to be let in on the truth, eventually. Especially since you plan to adopt her legally. Am I right? I mean about telling Dawn, carefully of course, that I am her mother, not her sister?”

‘You are so going to adopt her and accept her as yours, Riley Finn,’ Buffy warned her fiancé, silently. ‘You promised you…’

“Yes,” Riley muttered with a pout. “I guess you do need to go tell the little rug rat that her ‘big sis’ is finally going to marry the great Riley Finn.”

‘Oh brother! What an asshole!’ Buffy fought to not roll her green eyes in disgust at this egotistical, overbearing monster. ‘Better get over that,’ she chided herself, ‘you are marrying the moron, aren’t you?’

Oh, how she wished it was William that she was marrying. However, the fact was, Riley held all the cards here and Will was probably as big a monster as he was. The truth was, Buffy did not know William, or Spike as it were, at all.

Just the fact that Riley had called her Dawnie a ‘rug rat’ set ill with Buffy. Coming from anyone else? The term ‘rug rat’ might seem like an endearment, but from Riley? It felt like a hard slap in the face to her.

‘Oh Will,’ she thought sadly, ‘what would you do if you knew Dawn is really our daughter together?’

Now there was a big mystery, Buffy thought ruefully. If William, or Spike, or whatever his name truly was, knew that Dawn was his daughter with Buffy? He’d take names later, only after kicking some major ass. He'd most likely be starting with Buffy’s golden butt, first and foremost. At least, most probably she would be on the end of Spike’s first ass kicking.

Spike sat staring out at the horizon from his hotel’s balcony. He had been doing a lot of that lately, especially since coming to LA and finding Buffy again.

Xander’s sudden appearance was ‘felt’ by Spike immediately and the blond man steeled himself for another round of twenty questions. Spike’s partner, Xander, aka Alec, had seemed to be very curious for the last few days. Especially regarding Spike and Buffy’s past together.

“Hey,” Xander greeted Spike with more of a grunt then an actual ‘good morning.’

“Yeah,” Spike mumbled in reply. Unfortunately, he was suffering through the aftermath of another overindulgence of whiskey, from the night before. This was beginning to become a habit for Spike and he realized, of course, it would have to cease, and soon. It would have to be done, for the sake of the assignment, if for no other reason.

“Oh, you sound thrilled to be alive,” Xander snorted as he pulled up the chair next to Spike’s and sat down with a ‘thump.’

“Life’s a bloody picnic,” Spike muttered under his breath. “Of course I’m thrilled to be invited,” he finished with a note of sarcasm.

“You know,” Xander began evenly, “if you want Buffy Summers so damn much? Why don’t you just march over to Finn’s fine house and carry her out of there? Drag her out if you have to. Shit, I’d at least you’d be doing something somewhat tangible. It would beat the fuck out of watching you sitting around here, brooding and feeling sorry for yourself. It’d certainly be a relief to me because frankly? I’m bored as shit from watching you drinking yourself into a stupor every night.”

Spike glared at his so called friend, sourly. Not surprised in the least that Xander glared back at him in disgust.

“You don’t know shit about Buffy and me,” Spike growled at the dark haired man. “Don’t go there Harris. Just because you have the perfect relationship and…”

“Perfect relationship?” Xander snorted. “Right. Listen friend,” he continued in a patronizing tone. “My fiancé, Cordelia Chase, comes from money and society. Me? I’m the son of a philandering drunk and I’m talking about my own mother here. My dad was a ‘coked’ out wife and child beater who dropped dead of a major heart attack at the age of fifty. That was probably a good thing, since he fell just short of killing mommy dearest with his bare hands only a week before his old ticker went.”

“I chased the lovely Cordelia Chase for a year before I could get her to even go out for a cup of freakin’ coffee with me, okay?” Xander’s dark eyes were clouded with resentment and hurt.

Spike felt like shit for even starting all of this, but when he tried to open his mouth to apologize, Xander shut him down quickly.

“Cordy’s dad hates my guts, you know that,” Xander reminded Spike. “He thinks I’m shit that I come from shit and I’ll always be shit. It’s been an ongoing problem since day one, but Jesus, man. At least I fight for my girl and make sure she knows I’m there for her, no matter what.”

“I know,” Spike mumbled, ashamed of himself for bringing all of poor Xander’s insecurities to light. “It’s just I can’t seem to make any sense of this whole Buffy/Riley thing. Buffy told me herself that she detests Finn and that he has some hold over her, through that poor little sister of hers.”

Xander flinched, visibly, Spike noticed. There it was again, the blond wondered. Every time Dawn Summers was even mentioned in any way, Xander looked pale as a ghost.

“Spike,” Xander changed the subject quickly, “you talked to your dad last night. What did he say?”

‘Now why does Xander act that way when Buffy’s little sis is brought up?’ Spike asked himself in confusion.

“Just wanted to know how everything was going,” Spike stated with a shrug of his shoulders. “The old man wants to know if we’re any closer to getting positive proof that Finn had Meers murdered. Meers and a lot of other blokes offed for that matter,” he finished with a snarl.

‘How can Buffy live with a man like Riley Finn? She has to know what an evil monster he truly is. Then again, my Buffy probably thinks I’m a real evil piece of work too. We’ve done our undercover work well, Xander and me,’ Spike realized sadly.

“I always kind of wondered,” Xander began cautiously, “your dad. He knows about you and Buffy, from the past, right?”

Spike nodded his head slowly.

“How does he really feel? Your dad I mean, about you being on this assignment and how Buffy fits in? I know he wasn’t thrilled about you coming out here with me, but he never really fought it either?”

Exactly what the hell was Xander Harris up to, Spike wondered. This was the tenth time since Sunday that the man had brought up Rupert Giles’ feelings about Spike’s involvement on this case.

“Well, he wasn’t exactly dancin’ in the streets about me taking this case,” Spike offered. “He knows I still love Buffy and how much she figures in all this. On the other hand, he never really tried to dissuade me from taking the case or finding Buffy again.”

“Hmm,” Xander grunted.

The whole thing reminded Spike of a fucking episode of Dr. Phil and frankly, he was getting sick and tired of it. He glared at Xander, giving him the evil eye.

“Hmm! Now what the fuck does that meant, Harris?” Spike hissed in exasperation.

“Just, hmm,” Xander replied in his annoyingly vague way. Then he clammed up like a well…..clam.


‘Flashback; Spike’s POV’


William Giles watched, gleefully, as his girl, Buffy Winters chatted on the hotel room phone with her cousin Faith. Buffy was so animated and looked so happy that it caused a warm, almost fuzzy feeling in William’s heart.

Buffy was rambling on and on about the future and the plans that he and she had made. Her green eyes all aglow with excitement, Buffy grinned over at William even as she explained the whole idea to her cousin in LA.

‘She’s happy, my princess is,’ William thought proudly to himself. ‘I’ve helped her to be so and God knows she’s made me happier then anyone and or anything on this earth!’

“Yes, I’ll be moving to Berkeley, to be with William,” Buffy giggled into the phone’s receiver. “Oh, I don’t know and I certainly don’t care,” Will heard her voice fall two octaves when she said that.

‘Now what’s that about?’ He wondered silently. ‘Oh well,’ he shrugged it off quickly, ‘she’s probably talkin’ about her folks. They don’t seem real interested in her, sad to say.’

William’s own parents were very involved in his life. This did prove to be somewhat unfortunate at times. Or so William felt anyway.

As much as William loved his parents, he detested the idea of the position that his father, Rupert Giles, held with the FBI in Washington D.C. Rupert was a loving husband and father, but a harsh task master at times in the past. No wonder why William, the only Giles’ child, had opted for a career in journalism instead of following the old man’s footsteps in law enforcement.

“I gotta’ go, Faith,” Buffy announced suddenly as she cut the conversation off with her cousin.

Once she had hung up the phone, Buffy scurried back over to the bed where William lay, waiting for her. Actually, the couple had not left the bed for days, only to eat, bathe and catch a couple of movies together.

“Mmmm,” Buffy purred as she snuggled back down into William’s eager arms.

“Indeed,” Will replied in contentment. “I was thinking,” He continued, “housing is scarce in Berkeley, but I think we could manage a studio flat. We'll rent something close to campus to save on gas money and all.”

“I’ll find a job,” Buffy stated matter-of-factly. “I’m not good at much, but maybe at a coffee house or a boutique?” She gave him such a hopeful, loving look that it just tugged at his heart again.

“I want you to concentrate on your degree, baby,” he murmured tenderly. “My job at the Ecology News will more then help out with our expenses. There’s a part time stint at the book store, just waiting for me, if necessary. No worries, okay?”

He had noticed that Buffy flinched a bit when he mentioned ‘her degree’ but he passed it off as being nervousness on her part.

“Will,” Buffy whispered in a muffled voice, no doubt brought on by the fact that her face was still buried in his bare chest.

“Hmm, baby?” he asked gently stroking her golden hair.

“I…” she began in a little girl’s voice, but then hesitated.

“What is it, Princess?” William asked, suddenly concerned with her whole timid demeanor.

“I, I love you,” she whispered softly.

“I love you, so very much,” he replied tenderly as he pulled head up to kiss her soft mouth.


‘Present day’


Spike paced around the living room of Riley Finn’s mansion. Oh, God, how he hated this place and this man.

‘This man’ or Riley Finn as the case may be was rambling on about some business bullshit. Xander, or Alex which was his partner’s cover name, was pretending to listen, intently, to everything Finn had to spit out.

“I’m hoping that the boys back in New York are pleased with my work,” Finn was blathering on and on about Spike and Xander’s supposed employers.

Angel O’Connor, the FBI’s mole in Finn’s operation, must have done an excellent job of implementing Xander and Spike’s cover. Riley Finn seemed oblivious to the true identity of both of the FBI men, just as Buffy seemed to be.

‘I wish I could tell Buffy the truth,’ Spike thought sadly. ‘If I could tell her who I truly am. Make her see how I can help her and her little sister?’

Speak of the ‘devil’ in the blue dress, Buffy made an appearance at that exact moment. Spike noticed was pulling a little overnight case, on wheels, behind her. Buffy wore a simple, but deadly little powder blue sundress that showed off her long, fine legs.

“Riley,” Buffy interrupted the moron, Finn’s, self-indulgent tirade. “I’m ready for Andrew to drive me to Sunnydale now,” she finished in a meek voice.

Spike saw the way Buffy had looked at him when she entered the room. He couldn’t decide if that look of hers was based on hate, fear or revulsion. It shattered his heart to pieces in a matter of seconds.

“Okay, Babe,” Riley sighed, taking Buffy into his mammoth arms. Spike had to fight to keep from throwing up at the whole scene.

“Buffy is off to Sunnydale,” Riley mumbled lowly. “She’s going to ‘chat’ with her little sister. We’ve got some big news for little Dawn, eh Buff?” Riley glanced over at his girlfriend, warily, Spike noticed.

“Yeah, big news,” Buffy replied half-heartedly, trying hard not to look at William as she spoke.

“Big news?” Xander asked curiously.

“Buff’s decided to make an honest man out of me,” Riley joked. “We’re getting married, soon. She needs to go and talk to her little sister about it. You’ll be gone, what? Two, three days, Baby?”

Spike didn’t hear much of the rest of the conversation. He was too busy being livid and trying to control his rage at Riley’s announcement.

‘I’ll fucking murder the prick before he says the words I do,’ Spike roared inwardly.

After taking a few calming breaths and swallowing a number of times, Spike finally got up the nerve to actually look at Buffy. He glared at her, suddenly not caring who noticed his anger or jealousy.

Buffy, Spike noted, looked as shocked, disgusted and miserable as he must have at that very moment. All in all? This confused and puzzled Spike more then ever.


A/N: Okay, I really wanted to have Spike find out that Dawn was his daughter in this chapter. However…I just could not work it into the script. Instead, I decided to do another flashback and try to expose what went on seven years before. To reveal how both Buffy and Spike were totally committed to their relationship.

Also, I wanted to reveal a little more of what makes Xander tick. Andrew will play an important part in bringing our Spuffy couple back together in the next chapter. And, we’ll find out that Andrew and Warren were more then just friends. Which just might be what motivates our ‘go to guy Andrew’ to do what he does to help Spike win back Buffy.

What happened? I might work that, through flashbacks, into the next chapter. I ‘will’ definitely write the chapter in a way that reveals to Spike that Dawn is Buffy’s daughter…and his. Promise.

Anyway, thanks for reading and please review. Spufette!





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