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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.





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