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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. :)





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