In Waiting, Part Two
Pretty close to the middle of nowhere
The heat did it. Regardless of indirect sunlight, the inside of the Desoto was just plain hot.
Spike's eyes slowly opened, and he took in his surroundings. The smell of cigarettes and forgotten alcohol entered his nostrils, and he pushed himself up, knocking a few items off the seat and onto the floorboards.
His body ached, and his head still pounded, but the more he moved, the less pain he had.
He gripped the steering wheel to steady himself and peered out the windows through the dried polish. "Wha...?"
Outside was the side of the little store he'd stopped at on his way to the campsite. He clearly remembered leaving and parking at the deserted refuge. What he couldn't remember was anything else. He was once again in just enough shade to avoid the sun with some cover.
The Vampire reached behind his seat to get hold of the cooler and the life- sustaining blood inside. It took no time at all to catch the rancid smell of blood gone bad. He quickly covered the cooler and put it back in its place behind the passenger's seat. With a growl, he opened the door and pulled his duster up over his head.
Spike entered the shop much as he had before, receiving a few odd looks. He walked to the butcher's counter just as he had before.
"Back already?" The old man stopped his slicing and wiped his hand on a towel as he walked up to the counter.
"Looks that way, mate. You have any more blood left over? The stuff I got before all went too bad to, uh...use." Spike watched the man go to a sink and wash his hands.
"As a matter of fact, we always slaughter a few of our hogs each Thursday." The man walked in the back and brought out two pints of pig's blood. "You know, if you're going to keep it for a week, you really should freeze it.” He gathered the containers. “Otherwise, the smell, it's just awful." He handed three small packages of blood to Spike who had a face full of confusion.
"Did you just say a week?" Spike nearly dropped his dinner.
"Yeah, kid. Any more than one day and it'll start smelling... but I wouldn't even want to have to smell it after a week. You must not do this much." He motioned to blood.
"I haven't been here in a week?" He wasn't paying attention to 'Blood Care 101.' "A week?! Sure you don't mean a day?"
The man looked back at him with concern. "I'm sure, young man. You ok?"
Spike stepped away from the counter. "Not sure." He raised his hand gripping the meal he intended on devouring as soon as he entered his Desoto. "What do I owe ya?"
"Take it. Just remember to keep it frozen this time." The man smiled and returned to slicing meat, while Spike walked towards the door. He stopped short of passing the junk food aisle and began grabbing different items at random. Potato chips, chocolate bars...different types of cola, some beef jerky. When his arms were full, he dropped the items at the checkout, grabbed a bag of ice, and paid.
After emptying the water and the old blood into the dumpster his car was parked beside, he refilled the cooler with new ice, the remaining one of the two pints he'd acquired, and four cans of cola. He looked over at the bag of food on the passenger seat and tried to figure out why he'd gotten it.
The blonde reached into the bag to search for one of the chocolate bars; three different ones fell out and onto the car's floor.
Spike bent down and searched under the seat for one of the runaway bars. He felt paper and pulled an envelope from under the seat. It was a plain envelope, no name or address. Spike tore it open and scanned the anonymous letter.
"Vampire, the Powers watch over you. You have been judged and approved to continue down the path set before you. Accept those who travel with you on this path, and let the acceptance of love's truth become yours."
"Oh. Well, that clears it up nicely." Deja-vu hit him immediately. He looked over at the food again and ripped open the bag of BBQ chips. After two handfuls of greasy junk food goodness, he decided to try a chocolate bar.
"Not as good as Joyce's cocoa, but not bad." He swallowed the bite, and grabbed a Coke, a Pepsi, and an RC Cola out of the cooler. The taste testing went on for almost ten minutes before he remembered.
"A week." Spike thought about all that could have happened to his Slayer in one week.
Without a second thought, he started his car and sped off in the direction he had come from seven days ago as the midday sun began its long descent.
Sunnydale
Willow walked into the Magic Box, sure that Buffy was already waiting. Instead, she found Anya dusting the same area she had been when she'd left for class. Tara was seated at the research table with Dawn, who was trying to understand all she could about the
Pythagorean Theorem. Dawn looked up. "Hey, Willow. How was class?"
"Slow."
"You're telling me. The more I learn about geometry, the less I know." She slumped her shoulders and pointed out the latest educational torture the teacher had devised. "I mean, how much does one person need to know about triangles? Really?" Willow sat on the other side of Dawn, and tried to help Tara explain the importance of angles in life.
The group looked up as the bell over the door rang when Buffy entered. The Slayer quickly noted the small gathering for tonight had already begun. "Hi guys." She waved and walked over, then sat across from the group. "More geometry, huh, Dawn?"
"Ugh, too much." Her little sister stuck her tongue out at the book on the table and returned to the assignment.
Willow scanned Buffy and noticed that, not only had Buffy gone home and changed, but she smelled of pure vanilla. "Got all cleaned up for tonight?" Willow's tone was mischievous. It was obvious that Buffy wanted to look nice, but she'd apparently taken special care to rid herself of the stench that was Doublemeat.
The Slayer looked down at herself. She was dressed fairly normally she thought. She wore these black leather pants all the time. OK, two times, but the blouse, also black, was average. It was like any of the halters she'd wear. The fact that she bought it with her last few dollars of mad money on her way home from work not two hours ago was really of no consequence.
Really. Honest.
So what if she'd washed her hair three times, and used the new conditioner, and maybe half the bottle of vanilla body wash. All around, she felt very clean, and very fresh...and extremely anxious.
Dawn scanned her sister. "Is that a new shirt?"
Anya took that moment to stop dusting. She peered at Buffy. "Oh, I like that blouse. It's very reveling. I am sure he'll love it." Tara, Willow and Buffy glared at Anya.
"He?" Dawn dropped her pencil. "He who?!"
'Jeez, Buffy,' the teen thought, 'last night you're having dirty dreams about Spike, and tonight you're going on a date with someone else. Fickle much?'
Anya gripped the feather duster in both hands and threw out the first name that came to mind. "Richard." This time the whole table glared at her, but she went on. "Richard said he might come by sometime...tonight." She ended with a proud smile
Buffy figured it was better than nothing. "Yeah, Richard."
Dawn rolled her eyes and went back to her homework.
In LA, The Brothel
Angel entered the foyer of the large home to the most popular demon/human whorehouse in the state of California. No expense had been spared to furnish the large estate. The
Vampire received many odd looks as he sauntered easily through the halls of the mansion.
The demons, all female, were clad from head to toe in lace, leather, feathers, and silks.
Most eyed the Vampire with disdain, but more than a few considered breaking the demon world's universal rule against pairing with a Vampire.
He nodded politely to those who looked directly at him as he walked through the halls.
Soon, he came to the door that had been his goal and knocked.
"Enter," a light female voice sang from behind the door. He entered the room that acted as Anita's office. The demon woman looked him over. "Ahh, I remember you, Vampire. In search of more potions?"
Angel looked over the room, now missing a man chained to the wall. "As a matter of fact..."
Sunnydale
Dawn shut her textbook with great relief. She was finally done. "Hey, Buffy, can I go meet some friends at the coffee shop?"
Buffy, who'd been scanning one of Willow's drama texts, looked over to her sister. She had decided before to try to treat her sister more like the teen she was, not the Key she had been.
Sighing, big sister gave the teen permission. "But be sure you get back by 6:00... Scoobie meeting. Got it?"
Dawn looked over at the clock now reading 4:15. "Got it. You gonna tell us what all the Diary stuff was about, or where Spike has been all week?"
Anya stepped up to listen more closely and began repeating under her breath, "Please, please, please..."
Buffy looked over at her friend, then the two others sitting at the table with her. She turned back to her sister. "Yeah... 6:00, as long as Xander's here by then." Anya hopped as she turned and skipped away, her shoulders no longer slumped.
The bell rang again as Dawn walked out. Buffy let her head drop to the tabletop.
"Arrgghh. Xander better be here at Spike."
Willow looked over at her friend. "Huh?"
"I said, Xander better be here at six." She stood up and began pacing.
Anya, now behind the counter, watched the pacing blonde. "I'm sure he will be, Buffy. I asked him to. Xander rarely ignores a request from me. He is a very respectful fiancé."
She smiled at herself for being so lucky.
Buffy looked at Anya's peaceful, happy face. "I'm sure he will, too, Anya. I'm just... I wish I could figure out what tests Spike is getting. I mean... what if he does badly? I love him, but this is Spike were talking about."
Pure relief washed over Anya's face. "Thank God! I thought you were never going to ask, and let me tell you, this has been a very difficult week. I may have to take a vacation."
Anya came around the counter and stood at the head of the table where the other three women were seated. "I mean, it's bad enough not to tell Xander what's going on, but you," she pointed at Buffy, "you give us this whole deal about Spike, then tell us that all the stuff about Akoshta is supposed to be discovered. You can't just be told." Anya started to wave her arms at the ceiling. "Hello, 1000 year old ex- demon here. If demons are involved, don't you think I might have some idea what's going on?"
The three confused faces, staring at Anya as the words came flowing from her mouth, began to understand. Buffy slowly stood, pushing the chair away gently. "You mean, you know? You know what's going on?"
"Well, duh. Who told you about Akoshta in the first place?"
Buffy was wide-eyed and frozen in place, so Tara asked, "W-what is it, Anya? What do you know about the tests, and where are they? Angel and Spike?"
Anya settled into to the empty seat that she had been standing in front of. Buffy pulled her chair back up and sat with her back to the training room's entrance
Willow, Tara and Buffy looked intently to Anya and waited.
Making sure this time that she had the required attention, she began. "Akor and Roshta are twin sisters, demons. They were both mated five times, and both lost their men to death, all five times. The Powers recognized their pain and offered to make them the Keepers of the Gift."
"Akor and Rashta...that's why there's no direct translation. It's their names," Willow interjected.
"Yes." Anya nodded at Willow, who jotted the information down as the ex- demon continued. "The sisters, from time to time, help to test, or judge, the worthiness of the beings who are on their way to reaching the Gift. For those who have earned it, they make the Gift possible. Sometimes by changing the beings slightly, sometimes by granting a wish, if asked properly." She took a breath. "Their goal is to grant to the ones who have earned it, that which they never had."
"So how is Spike being tested?" Buffy asked.
Anya thought about that for a moment. "I really don't know. The last Vampire I heard of that went to them had already earned his gift. The only thing that was done for him was..."
"He was made human," Buffy finished almost to herself. She looked up at the ex-demon. "It was Ashton, wasn't it?"
A bit annoyed at yet another session of ‘Interrupting Anya‘, the shopkeeper shared what she knew. "I don't remember his name. I'm not even sure they told me, just that the Second was the Slayer. It would stand to reason it would be the one Sam married." Anya giggled. "The curious detail was the identity of the Connection. It was that Slayer's Watcher.
"Huh? How?" Buffy hadn't expected that.
Anya looked to Buffy. "Well, I do know the Vampire came to the twins much earlier, I think it was around the turn of a century...about 1720 I think. Apparently, he saved a small boy from a notorious group of humans, not at all normal for a Vampire. The Powers had the twins judge him, and direct him towards his new destiny. The human boy he saved grew older and had children, who in turn grew older and had children, etc...the Watcher was the last descendant of this line. The boy that the Vampire saved that day was the ancestor of that Slayer's Watcher."
Tara looked up. "Wow."
"I don't get it," Willow said. "You keep saying 'the Gift', like there is only one, but wouldn't people ask for different things?"
"People might ask for different things, but only people who are supposed to get 'the Gift' are called and shown what is in their future. The test is to determine if they can recognize their true wish."
"So, what is it?" Tara asked.
"What is what?" Anya looked over to the witch, then caught on. "Oh, 'the Gift.' Impossible love, or what seems like impossible love." She looked over at the Slayer. "Like you and a Vampire. I guess if Spike passes, the Powers have given him permission to love you. Found him deserving of a Slayer." She cocked her head to the side. "So I guess that means they give you permission, too."
Buffy, having already discovered that she loved Spike, was happy to have the Powers' blessing, but knew that even without it, her life was hers. She could be with whomever she
chose. She deserved at least that.
In LA
Angel pulled into his parking space for the Hyperion and walked towards the entrance. The small vial holding the potion acquired from Anita rested comfortably in the inside pocket of his leather jacket.
The sun was low enough for him to go through the front entrance. As he did, four heads popped up. The group was waiting in the lobby. Gunn was sitting on the couch next to Fred, who was holding Connor. Lorne sat across from them, and Wes was pacing behind them, reading a worn book.
"Angel!" Fred yelped. Connor didn't cry, instead he began a round of giggles.
"Hey, man!" Gunn stood and walked over to Angel, who had yet to descend the small steps down into the lobby. "Are we glad to see you!"
"I take it you did well?" Wes asked.
Angel pulled the envelope from his pants pocket and walked over to Wes. "According to this I did, but I don't remember anything. Just words, short phrases, and pictures... and I seem to hate Spike's duster." The group remained quiet. "Must be because he took it off a Slayer." Angel shed his own jacket and laid it carefully across the back of an empty chair.
"I did figure one thing out, though."
~~`~~
An hour passed as the group watched Angel and Wes write down what Angel remembered. The Vampire father cooed and played with his son as he related the exact spot he'd headed for, although he had no recollection of actually arriving. That he woke in his car in the spot he had been heading for and found the letter. He left out his trip to Anita's. They filed the letter and envelope into the Angelus/Angel file.
After awhile, Angel announced he was very tired and asked if Lorne would mind watching Connor for one more day while he caught up on some sleep. Lorne agreed and Angel disappeared up the stairs and into his room.
All eyes shifted in Wes's direction at once. "He doesn't know about Spike?" Gunn asked angrily.
"Which means he doesn't know about Buffy and Spike," Fred stated after her boyfriend.
Wes came over and sat with the group, Lorne now holding Connor. "It doesn't affect the life he is leading. Apparently whoever controls Akoshta can wipe unneeded memories of the experience from the mind of whoever is tested. The only other accounts I have of someone surviving the tests could also not remember their experiences. Just as Angel, they remember ideas, words, pictures, but not the experience. If I am correct, I believe that Angel's resolve for whatever he discovered will be tenfold."
The group all looked up towards Angel's room, and knew that no matter what, they would do what had to be done to protect their friend.
Wes got up, and took the book he had been reading previously into his office. Then he turned, looked over the group, and closed his office door.
"Here we go again," Gunn declared.
Fred went to her desk and began typing a short e-mail.
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Author's Chapter Notes:
I'm debating posting all 3 of the last chapters today. For now I'm going to go with the last 2 and see if I get any responses.
Chapter End Notes:
I'd like to take an extra moment to thank Pet, IT, Blackoberst, PhotographyNut , aa, cordykitten, Thundercat, fyreburned, and nyhala for leaving me reviews that supported me and sometimes gave me a giggle. I loved the insightful comments and questions. You guys are tops!!