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by the amazing edgehead


Author's Chapter Notes:
I know, I know I am a very bad author...but my muse has only just come bacl to play, please send her reviews and tell her its OK to be here.
hope you enjoy
Septamus Pratt enjoyed his time in the archives. He loved and understood his books and scrolls far better than he understood the people upstairs. Like most men in his family he was shy of strangers, and he could see that same trait in Spike. He picked up another tome from the pile that had arrived from Watcher’s central and put it up on the table. By the time he had finished his work that night, he hoped that all the books would be back on shelves where they belonged and the reference library would be up and running. Another leather bound book found it’s way into his hands…

‘The Lore of Vampyres and their Stewards,’ and he smiled. Buffy and William might enjoy laughing at that one later. He felt delight at the fact he had found something that might please The Slayer: she was scary, although she had never been rude to him. He continued sorting through all the books until Dawn shouted into the library that Dinner was ready.

Septamus picked up the stack of books he had thought might be of interest to the other members of their strange little group and headed up the winding stone stairway to the library proper, and out into the main hall. It amazed him that such a young lady as Dawn could make her voice travel so far.
He disliked raised voices normally but Dawn’s didn’t seem to grate, there was always that spark of light in it. He hurried along and opened the door to the small dining room they used when it was just family, the four of them sharing a quiet meal together. They would have had to live on takeout and TV dinners if it hadn’t been for the fact that William the Bloody could cook. Buffy was banned from the kitchen after the lettuce and the boiling water incident (who could ever know a young woman couldn’t even prepare a simple salad?) and Dawn’s efforts were…original…although the chocolate sauce on pizza hadn’t really worked.

The smell of a rich stew floated across to him as the dishes were put out. It made his stomach rumble and Spike turned and smiled at the old watcher.

‘Those girls got you working far too long in the cellar watcher, you forgot your lunch again.’

Septamus smiled and adjusted his glasses, he always felt a little nervous around the vampire. Nothing to do with him being undead, and everything to do with the confidence the man exuded from every pore.

‘I think you are quite correct William, but I found something that might be of interest to you and your good lady.’ Septamus pulled the book from the pile in his hand and held it up for his ancestor to see. Spike raised a sardonic eye brow at the title.

‘Their steward’s? Not sure I like that idea,’ he said. Septamus felt his face fall. He had tried to help.

‘S,OK watcher, the book is a lovely thought. Just don’t want to give the missus too many ideas.’ Spike smelled the disappointment from the man; he would have to be more careful in dealing with him, didn’t want to hurt the guy, had to remember that Septamus had been used to getting put down constantly by the old council.

‘Come on, let’s see if it has any ideas on how to keep your mate sweet and obedient!’

‘Who do you want obeying you?’ Buffy asked from the doorway.

‘Nothing love,’ Spike said quickly as he put down more hot dishes: new potatoes and baby peas to accompany the beef stew and dumplings. The smell was delicious: Buffy appreciated it all the more since the mating. It seemed she had picked up the odd vampiric trait: heightened senses of smell, night vision and super hearing just being some of them.

‘Watcher boy here found a book on Vampires he thought might interest us, I was just laughing over the name.’ He could feel through the claim that she didn’t quite believe him. Septamus held the book up for Buffy to see and she burst out laughing. ‘Their Stewards?? See, I told you I should be in charge!’

‘And I love it when you are.’ He curled his tongue up behind his teeth and grinned at her in that fashion that made her panties wet and her knees buckle. Spike grinned again when he smelt her arousal.

Dawn came bursting into the room like a hurricane. ‘Can we please hurry up? Martin and I are out tonight…’ She could still whine even with a rock the size of Mount Rushmore on her finger. Who would have believed that Doc Martin was rich in his own right?

‘We’ll eat quick, niblet…’

‘Spike, I’m too old for that,’ she complained, helping herself to a large part of the vegetables. Spike smiled, his girls could certainly pack it away. Good job he had money or they would eat him out of it in a matter of weeks.

‘You are and always will be my niblet, even when you’re old, grey, and a granny: either that or bite sized - and your young man went white when I called you that,’ he grinned.

Dinner was over quickly at Dawn’s insistence and Septamus made himself scarce after helping clear the table, leaving Buffy and Spike to settle by the fire to watch a DVD and look at the book they had been given. The laughter rose up from Buffy most of the night, whoever had written the book certainly didn’t know Vampires or slayers. It was a hoot, or at least the first part was. Buffy was about to put the volume down when Spike reached for it at the same time. Both their hands were touching it when the book seemed to glow with an inner light and they looked in astonishment as the words inside changed. Spike moved round to read over her shoulder:

‘…and there shall come a time when the slayer line will be renewed, and again on the face of the world shall walk many of that line. The One and True slayer shall find her heart’s desire and the warrior will walk by her side for ever.’

‘Buffy, I don’t think this book is a load of tosh pet: I think we’ve stumbled on some real information here.’ He took the book out of Buffy’s hand and she leant back and snuggled, books were not her thing.


‘What?’ she asked boredly. She started licking his ear and nibbling his neck. That was one sure way to get his attention.

‘Well look at this, there are chapters on mating claims, caring for hybrid children, powers that master slayers gain… little gold mine, this is.’ He tried to ignore the effects of his mate’s attentions.

‘Hybrid children?’ Buffy asked sitting up quickly, ‘they wrote a book on how to care for our baby?’ She was suddenly interested in the small book in Spike’s hand. ‘The council knew about vampire-slayer children?’

‘Don’t know about the wankers pet, but someone knew: this book has all about the claiming rites, the protection of the children from the sun when they are little, familial bonds, everything, and was written by someone who knew what they were talking about.’

‘It was written by a vampire with a soul,’ a voice came from behind the couple. Buffy sat up straight, reaching for the stake that was on the table. Spike had changed into his game face.

That voice… ‘Andrew??!!’ Buffy screeched.

‘Hi Buffy, like Gandalf, I reappear!’

‘You come to taunt us, you’re the First.’ Spike growled, sniffing the air for signs of dark magic.

‘No, you can touch: see?’ Andrew blubbered, holding out his hand for inspection. Buffy slapped it and Andrew started whining. ‘Not so hard slayer, that hurt!’

‘You’re dead.’ Buffy managed to say, looking at Andrew and wondering if the First had made a reappearance.

‘And round here that’s considered the end of matters? You of all people should know death isn’t exactly a permanent state of affairs. My funeral was nice and I got lonely for you all... So like Gandalf or Obi Wan I came back, and I am supposed to help you, but I’m not allowed to tell you how.
Hey, have you seen the seventh episode of Star Wars?’

‘Seventh?’ Spike asked.

‘Yeah, got an advanced copy: and Red Dwarf, Dr Who, Torchwood, just you wait ‘til series four and there is the most dreamy guy in Torchwood, he played a time cop called Captain John… I have a poster up of him and everything…’ The unfocused look on Andrew’s face was a familiar one to Buffy and Spike.

‘Andrew, are you there?’ Cordy’s voice cut across his stream of chatter and she sounded mad.

‘Oops: caught, got to go,’ he waved at them both and faded away before their eyes. Buffy and Spike looked at one another; for all the strange things that had happened in their lives that had to be one of the strangest. They turned back to the book and it had fallen open at what looked like a well thumbed page.

‘When a slayer and vampyre do become lovers, the slayers blood will enrichen in such a way as to satisfy his every need and requirement, preventing him from having to feed on any other.’

‘You’re just saying that as an excuse to get your fangs out,’ Buffy said with a laugh, hitting him with a pillow.

‘I’m not, honest,’ Spike showed her the book, trying to dodge the missile that kept landing on his head. ‘Look…’

Buffy took the book out of his hand, after throwing yet another cushion; she settled back to see. ‘Hey, you’ve got all the pillows!’

‘I wonder why,’ Spike said dryly, as he handed her a cushion. Buffy blew him a kiss and put the cushion behind her back: it seemed to be aching a lot these days.

‘If a slayer wished to control a group of vampyres for her own use she can easily feed up to four from her own blood. This would allow her a sire’s control over these soulless beings to use them as foot soldiers in their war to maintain balance…’

Buffy leant forward to put the book onto the coffee table. Then sat up straight and grabbed it back.

‘To maintain balance…not fight evil or beat up demons, maintain the balance. Spike,’ she said, ‘read this, it says maintain the balance here, and I am supposed to use vampires to help.’

Spike looked at Buffy closely, she was practically shaking with excitement.

‘What do you think, Spike?’

‘I think maybe we need to talk to Morgana or Cordy.’

‘You yelled for me, blondie?’ Cordelia appeared within a bright light, and walked down to the floor as though she was descending a set of stairs. She looked amazing, dress and shoes were couture.

Buffy smiled up at her. ‘We must be getting it right, your clothes are getting better!’ There was laughter in her voice. Cordy gave a little bow and sat herself down next to Buffy, shifting Spike off the seat completely.

‘You have questions?’ She asked.

‘A few,’ Buffy said, waving the book in the air. ‘This says about keeping the balance.’

‘Yes,’ said Cordy, looking bored.

‘Not fighting on the side of good?’

‘No,’

‘Cordy, you are not helping, one word answers are yucky, and dishelpful.’

‘Unhelpful pet, I think you want unhelpful.’ Spike said with a straight face. Buffy stuck out her tongue and pulled a face at her mate.

‘Go make coffee or something,’ she ordered, but over the link he could feel the love.

‘Cheerleader, you want anything?’ he asked as he headed for the door. His lady wanted some private time, he would give them a few minutes private chat.

‘I’ll have a soda please, full sugar, ‘cause the calories no longer matter!’
Spike lifted a hand in recognition and shut the door carefully behind him.

‘This is perhaps one of the most valuable books that has ever been written,’ Cordy started to explain. ‘It cannot be destroyed or misused, it is simply there, for reference for any that want to use it. It wasn’t written by good or evil, but by the Supreme Being, the one above all others.’

‘So this is, like, the reference book…’

‘Yep, it is and it’s yours; study it well.’

She vanished to Buffy’s yells of ‘I’ve got homework, I hate homework!’
But the slayer settled down with the book, to read.


Chapter End Notes:
yes I do mean the fourth series of Torchwood and episode 7 of star wars



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