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Author's Chapter Notes:
So it's been a very very long time since I updated this story. Over a year at last check. I'm very sorry it's been as long as it has and I have been unbelievably flattered by the response by many readers who took the time to write personal emails to me asking about the story. I've had a very tough year, a death in the family, a couple of terminal illnesses, and I've moved twice in the space of six months. The whole mess didn't leave a lot of time for writing unfortunately.

But now, hopefully, I'll be back writing more often and updating as soon as I get another chapter finished. I want to thank my lovely betas Mari and Lauriel who have both been incredibly supportive and given me that extra nudge to publish the chapter even though I'm a bundle of nerves over it. So without further ado, I hope you enjoy the first part of Chapter 13, the second will be up in a couple of days!
Chapter 13: Hush Re-written Part 1

“No, Xander! The man is supposed to carry the woman’s luggage! I read it in Cosmo,” Anya’s voice floated up the hallway causing Buffy to roll her eyes at her mother. “Besides, I like watching you do manual labor, it’s sexy and makes me picture you naked.”

“Anya, please,” Giles muttered entering the kitchen after the ex-demon. “The rest of us lack the desire to hear anything about your fantasies.”

“I second that,” Buffy remarked as she dried the last of the dishes watching her best friend and her Watcher struggle under the weight of Anya’s luggage. She knew she should offer to help, but part of her couldn’t resist letting the two men battle it out for a little while.

“Whatever,” Anya sighed as she sank onto one of the couches. “You’re just jealous you don’t have your very own sexy hunk to fornicate with.” She smiled cheerfully as if she had solved a particularly bothersome problem.

Buffy shook her head wearily before grabbing the bags Xander had deposited gracelessly on the floor and was currently panting over, exhausted. Hefting their weight easily, she ascended the stairs and dropped the bags off inside the nearest empty room.

Her peaceful life was quickly being stolen from her with the appearance of two more Scoobies at the mansion. Just thinking about the relentless whining and bickering the two newest occupants alone would bring made her silently wish that something would steal their voices away. She sighed as she heard Anya’s voice floating up towards her. It was going to be a long few weeks of strategizing.

~**~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

Buffy stretched as she yawned the following morning, pausing to rub the sleep out of her eyes. Collecting a change of clothes and her towel she trudged down the hall to the bathroom she shared with Spike on the ground floor.

The blonde wrinkled her nose when she discovered his wet towel in a heap in the corner.

‘Slob,’ she thought to herself as she stripped down and stepped under the hot spray of the shower.

Half an hour later Buffy entered the kitchen dressed to face another day of Xander and Anya’s bickering and nauseating make up sessions, Spike’s incessant humming - ‘What self-respecting vampire hums anyways?’ - and Giles’ subtle questions and mind probes. The petite slayer opened the fridge door to pour herself a tall glass of juicy goodness as her Watcher walked in, ruffling his hair and adjusting his glasses. Buffy was certain she would never get used to morning, bed-head Giles; it seemed so contradictory.

“Morning, Giles,” Buffy said but paused as no sound came out.

Giles cocked his head to the side, a gesture eerily familiar to that of a certain bleached pest. Buffy cleared her throat to try again with the exact same results. Her green eyes widened comically as Giles attempted to speak without so much as a muffled whisper escaping his lips. His blue eyes narrowed in concern before Xander came running down the stairs gesticulating widely and appeared to be complaining non-stop. His sudden appearance was in stark contrast to Anya who sauntered into the kitchen, fixed a glass of juice for herself and sat calmly on the sofa. When the ex-demon became aware of everyone’s shocked stares she simply shrugged her shoulders in an unimpressed fashion.

The shrill chiming of Buffy’s cell phone pierced the air and caused the Slayer to reach for it, reading Willow’s name on the caller ID.

“Hello,” she said silently before shaking her head at her own stupidity and hanging up. She stared morosely at the small phone and resisted the urge to send it on a collision course with the wall.

A small tone heralded the arrival of a text message.

~ It’s affecting you guys too? No one here at school can make a sound. Everyone’s panicking. I’m going to find Tara. W ~

Buffy held the phone up for Xander and Giles to read before replying. Xander started pacing while ranting silently. Buffy smirked as she figured at least one positive thing had come from this latest turn of events.

~ Same here. We’ll get busy trying to figure out what’s happening. Come by tonight if you can. Stay safe. B ~

She allowed Giles to approve the short missive before pushing the ‘Send’ button. A minute later the witch’s response came through.

~ We will. Keep us updated on anything you need. xo Willow ~

The Slayer sighed as she set the phone on the counter, looking up at Giles. He snapped his fingers and disappeared into the dining room that had been converted to research central over the last few days. A few minutes later, the Watcher emerged with a stack of notebooks and markers for each of the residents of the mansion. He scribbled furiously in his own before showing it to his charge.

‘Go check on your mother. I’ll try to rouse Spike. This cannot be good.’

Buffy nodded and proceeded upstairs, notebook and pen in hand to wake Joyce.

‘I make one teensy-weensy complaint and wish for a little more quiet,’ the blonde thought to herself. ‘I didn’t want complete silence…’

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~~*

The first day of silence passed in infuriating monotony. After rousing a nonplussed vampire from his beauty sleep, Giles had been the recipient of several near-heart attacks when the aforementioned creature of the night spent the remainder of the morning employing his silent stealth to jump out at him in retaliation. The pseudo stalking had only ended when Joyce had given the mischievous vampire her patented look of motherly disappointment before shoving the book Giles had insisted she read at the petulant pest, much to Buffy and Xander’s disappointment. It had been very entertaining to watch the vampire sneak up on the normally composed Watcher.

Willow had kept in contact frequently during the day, reporting via text message the state of the Sunnydale populace. Preachers silently ringing in the apocalypse and the liquor stores running dry.

Xander had deemed his own time best spent watching dull newscasters telling of the citywide laryngitis outbreak that seemed to have no discernable cause. At three in the afternoon the city was declared quarantined with no residents leaving or entering until the CDC had determined the cause for the sudden outbreak.

Buffy found herself frustrated and bored, idly picking at her long shirt sleeve, covering the long scar running down her forearm. She hoped her recently recovered Slayer-healing would work in her favor to heal the scar further before she was deemed ‘suicide-girl’ for the rest of her life.

Giles placed a warm hand on her shoulder before handing over his notebook, filled with his elegant handwriting.

Will you patrol tonight? After dark so you can take Spike with you. I imagine the demon population may take advantage of the mayhem. Stay on your guard, the Initiative will be out in full force as well, I suspect.

Buffy nodded with a wide smile. A good slay or ten would certainly improve her mood since she’d been on house arrest since the escape.

Giles reached for the notebook, writing another short missive.

I’m certain I don’t need to tell you to be extra vigilant tonight and to come back at the first sign of trouble.

Buffy shook her head no, tearing out a sheet from her own notebook after scribbling a quick “Patrol tonight?” and scrunched the paper into a ball, before aiming the paper missile at Spike’s head. She shocked the napping vampire awake with her well-aimed throw causing him to jump up and shift into a silently growling game face. He looked around confused before seeing Buffy laughing silently; he glared at her with yellow eyes and reached for the offending piece of paper.

The blonde motioned for him to open it while trying unsuccessfully to stifle her giggles when she was offered an irritated two-finger salute. Spike scanned the note and looked up at the Slayer, who was smiling widely at him. Though he’d never normally consent to patrolling with the Slayer of his kind, he was feeling just as antsy as she was and was itching for a good fight. This may be a good opportunity to test if he could still brawl with the best of them, even if he was restricted to demons. With a gleam of excitement in his amber gaze, which he attempted to hide by sprawling back down on the sofa, he nodded to the Slayer before sending Anya a toothy grin.

Anya watched the exchange with a smirk, nonplussed by the display of sharp fangs. Xander chose that moment to saunter back over to the group and took a couple of faltering steps backwards, tripping over his own feet in the process. He pointed at the reclining blond, eyes wide in panic causing the assembled people to erupt in silent laughter, Spike’s vampire features shifting back into his human visage. The mood in the old Crawford Street mansion was considerably lighter and no one complained as Giles indicated it was time to get back to the dusty old tomes in the adjacent room.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

Two hours later, and no closer to any answers, Buffy laid her head on the book she was reading and closed her eyes wearily. She felt overcome by the need to sleep, and figured a quick power-nap would make her patrol that much easier.

Buffy knew she was dreaming as she found herself in her old psychology classroom with Willow sitting beside her. Professor Walsh was lecturing away at the front of the assembled students.

“Communication,” she starts in a cold, clinical voice. “Talking about language, not the same thing. It’s about inspiration. Not the idea, but the moment before the idea when it’s total. When it blossoms in your mind and connects to everything. It’s about the thoughts and experiences that we don’t have a word for.”

She crosses the floor to stand in front of her desk.

“Well?” The professor sweeps her piercing gaze over her students. “How about a demonstration? Summers, Buffy,” she looks up from the roll call list. “Will you come down here, please?”

Buffy looks over to an equally perplexed Willow who shrugs her shoulders before mouthing ‘go’ silently. She walks down to the front of the classroom, shooting nervous glances up at the assembled students who are studying her intently.

“A typical college girl, one assumes,” Professor Walsh addresses the class before turning to face the small blonde once more. “Lie down on my desk.”

Buffy throws a confused glance at the object and looks back at her professor.

“Really, it’s alright, no one will hurt you,” Walsh says with a calculating look.

Reluctantly Buffy hops up on the desk and leans back on her elbows, following the older woman’s progress around to the blackboard. Walsh nods towards the TA standing in the corner and he moves toward the door. Opening it, he reveals Riley Finn leading Spike into the classroom. Buffy wrinkles her brow in confusion. It’s daytime and the vampire is moving freely through stray beams of sunlight, apparently unfazed by the usual deadly effects. He walks towards her slowly, a soft smile playing at the corner of his lips, his deep blue eyes filled with amusement.

“Now class, watch closely, see how these beings mimic human behavior. Attraction is communicated the same way across all species,” Professor Walsh’s voice seems to come from far away as Spike moves to stand over Buffy’s reclined form. He doesn’t say a word as he slips one hand behind her head and the other slides down her side to rest at her hip. Buffy parts her lips, running her tongue out to wet her lips as the vampire draws closer to her. She feels her heart start to race as Spike moves closer, inclining his head as if to kiss her. He stops a breath away from her lips and looks intently into her green eyes.

“This feels very strange,” she says, feeling nervous at his close proximity.

“Don’t worry, if I kiss you it will make the sun go down,” Spike’s voice rumbles over her, and he does not hesitate before brushing his lips softly against her own. The kiss starts slow and sweet, but as the world melts away around the Slayer and vampire it intensifies, drowning out the noise from the assembled students, leaving Buffy breathless as they pull apart.

“See?” Spike looks around, and the young blonde is startled to find that they are now alone in the classroom, and night has fallen around them.

“Fortune favors the brave,” Buffy said with a small smile at the vampire. Suddenly humming could be heard from the hallway, and the slayer shot Spike a worried look. “Do you hear that?”

She wandered out into the darkened hallway, drawn by the haunting chanted rhyme.

‘Can’t even shout, can’t even cry, the Gentlemen are coming by,’

Buffy paused as she saw a young girl standing at the end of the hallway, singing what sounded like a nursery rhyme she had heard when she was young, but the words were all wrong.

‘Lookin’ in windows, knockin’ on doors, they’re gonna need seven and they might take yours. Can’t call to Mom, can’t say a word, you’re gonna die screaming but you won’t be heard.’

Buffy was just studying the small wooden box the girl was holding when she felt a hand fall heavily on her shoulder. Expecting it to be Spike she looked back and was startled awake as she set eyes on the gruesomely grinning white face of a demon standing right behind her.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

Buffy woke with a start, bolting upright and knocking her watcher’s hand off her shoulder. She looked around herself dazed to see Xander eyeing her with concern, Anya with disinterest and Spike speculatively. The petite Slayer turned to Giles and mouthed clearly ‘Slayer Dream’ causing the older man’s eyebrows to furrow into deeper ridges.

Frantically she grabbed a notebook scribbling down as much information as she could remember.

“Can’t even shout
Can’t even cry”

The Gentlemen are coming

Song? Rhyme?
Night/eclipse

“They’re gonna take seven and they might take yours”

She thrust her short notes at her Watcher and looked up at him beseechingly. Giles quickly scanned the page looking down at his golden-haired charge and shrugged. He didn’t recognize the information but something seemed to be forming in the back of his mind. He knew that given a bit of time the idea would form completely but for now he would leave it alone.

Buffy looked up at him with a small, sad smile. In a rare show of fatherly affection, Giles ran a hand over her soft curls.

“I’ll look into it,” he mouthed and was rewarded with one of her brilliant smiles that had been so rare since her return. He reciprocated her smile with a grin of his own before looking over to the expectant group. He moved over to one of the dry erase boards and quickly made a note of Buffy’s premonition information in short form.

The Gentlemen?
Can’t shout/can’t cry
Need to have seven
7 what?

The two oldest honorary Scoobies frowned at the new information but neither seemed able to place it. Giles sighed as he sank back into his chair and reached for a new book. Things were going nowhere fast.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

Meanwhile at the Initiative…

After a terrifying elevator ride due to his own idiocy, Riley Finn found himself awaiting instruction from Professor Walsh along with the other team leaders. The techs at the base had managed to dig up some old dictation software allowing their leader to communicate and dispense orders to the small unit. He was seated at the table and after an hour of infuriating nonsense and town diagrams his patience was running thin. Walsh had finally told the leaders to assemble their squads and prepare to spend the evening in town. Riley was hard pressed not to roll his eyes when one of the leaders asked why.

“Because there will be chaos. Dress as civilians. A military presence will increase panic.” Came the halted, tinny instruction from the computer.

Riley was getting fed up at the lack of relevant information. He grabbed his note pad and scrawled ‘What is happening?’ raising it up for Maggie to see.

“We are looking into it. Go. Help maintain order. We will find an answer.” Professor Walsh trained a sharp look on the team leaders, before pausing significantly on Riley. He held her gaze stonily before gathering his writing implements and left to prepare his team for the long night ahead. He sincerely hoped he would not run into Buffy tonight and be forced to apprehend her. The soldier could only guess what would happen to her if she was brought back in to the Initiative when Professor Walsh’s team was as irritated and frightened as they currently were.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

The rest of the evening at the mansion passed uneventfully for the assembled Scoobies as they tried desperately to find answers from the ancient tomes available. After a frantic text message from Willow the much anticipated patrol was put on hold due to the presence of the commando boys all over town. A very disgruntled group made their way to bed that evening.


TBC...


Chapter End Notes:
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