Disclaimer: I do not own Buffy or any of its characters, unless Joss Whedon takes pity on my poor soul and gives them to me. Anyone who sues shall be paid in pocket lint and dirt.


Graveyard - Sunnydale

Willow cried out to the night sky “Osiris! Here lies the warrior of the people. Let her cross over”

Blood poured from the cuts on her arms.

Around her the sounds of the demon bikers cut through the night, the urn was smashed beneath a motorbike wheel.

As the Scoobies fled Willow realized that they had failed. Buffy wasn’t coming back!

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Graveyard – Sunnydale – The Coffin

An orange mist settled over the decaying form that had once held the soul of Buffy Summers. Slowly the body reformed and took its first breath with a gasp.

Buffy looked around her, she was in a small closed space, panic set in as she beat her hands against the wooden ceiling in a desperate bid to escape. “Coffin, I’m in a Coffin please no please no please please......” tears welled in her eyes as her thoughts raced and she began to tear at the coffin, dirt falling onto her face, into her eyes, her nose, her mouth, suffocating her.

Muffled thuds could be heard coming from the earth.

That is.......... if anyone had been there to hear it.

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Graveyard – Elsewhere – same time

The orange mist swept its way through the darkened Graveyard; it was an older graveyard, those who had come to mourn long since dead themselves, the mist seemed to be searching.

Finally it stopped, hovering near a broken and almost nearly unreadable headstone. It settled into the earth, after a few moments the sound of muffled thuds could be heard coming from the ancient grave.

That is.......... if anyone had been there to hear it.

*********************************************************************

Sunnydale Three Months Later

Buffy wandered through the cemetery twirling Mr. Pointy in her hand. It was slow tonight, she sighed she really needed something to kill, something, anything to take her mind off her break-up with Spike.

“No not break-up” she muttered, after all that would mean that there was something there to start with. And that would mean acknowledging the train wreck that her life had been for the last few months.

“Now let’s count off Buffy Summers spectacular life” she said to the night as she settled onto a headstone and stared at the stars. “Hmm let me see ......... well Dawns a klepto...........Willows a magic junkie...............I hardly see Tara since she and Willow split up.........Xander jilted Anya at the alter.....................and she’s missing.............hmmmm.............along with my watcher and sorta father figure. Well not missing just gone as far away as he could get.....................and I have been sleeping with my one time mortal enemy......stalker guy.’ Buffy gave a wry smile “well not so much with the sleeping but having mind numbing.......turning my legs to jelly................howling at the moon sex.”

She hopped off her perch and headed towards home “oh and don’t forget I have that nifty deep cellular suntan.”

“Stupid Buffy life can’t even get resurrected properly”.

*********************************************************************

Spike picked through the charred remains of his bedroom, trying to salvage anything from the mess. He picked up a tattered rag; he peered at it and surmised that it had once been his favorite red overshirt. “Bloody Bitch” he snarled as he tossed it onto the growing trash pile. His wardrobe now consisted literally of the clothes on his back. He cocked his head as he heard the door to his crypt open. “Hmm too quiet to be her, must be the niblet.” He headed back to the upper level “Dawn” he snarled “your bloody sister has done enough damage without you..............”

Tara stood just inside the crypt “Hi Spike” she said as she lifted her hand in a timid wave.

“Glinda? What you doing here luv?”

Spike sidled over to the sarcophagus and picked up his smokes. “Damn” he muttered as he crumpled the empty packet and tossed it to the ground.

“I ........ um.........heard about what happened” Tara absently waved her hand towards downstairs as she spoke. “I came to see if you needed anything”

Spike looked down as he felt moisture invade his eyes. He let himself feel a moment of self pity then straightened himself up and threw Tara a smirk. “Nah luv..........me telly and fridge are up here.............what else could an evil soulless thing like me need.” Well maybe more than a moment of self-pity.

Fuck he was turning into a poof.

Tara looked at him for a moment and gave him a small smile as she moved to put her hand on his arm. “What about your clothes and bed” she paused for a moment as she searched his eyes. “What about your box??”

During the months that Buffy had been gone Tara had often called in to check on him, worried that he would do something to himself in his grief. It was during one of these visits that she had found him sitting in the lower part of the crypt with a small metal box clasped in his hand. Spike had looked up at her when she had entered, the tears streaming down his face as he picked through the pieces held within. She had lowered herself to the ground beside him and laid her head on his shoulder and waited.

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Spike’s Crypt – Three Months earlier

“They were knocking down the old house in London” he said “The one I lived in before..........an they found this.” He took a deep breathe and calmed himself “A guy........well a demon that I knew nicked it and sent it to me. He thought I might want it.”

“What’s in it?”

“Just bits n pieces..........a few miniatures, letters, jewelry.”

“What’s a miniature” asked Tara as she took the small card shaped item Spike had offered her.

“Well back when............well when I was a hopeless git, they didn’t really have cameras. Not so much with the photography back then. Well you could have portraits painted or you could have miniatures done. They weren’t cheap either. That’s me mum by the way.”

Tara studied the small picture “I can see the resemblance..........what’s her name?”

“Anne” Spike gave a small chuckle “She had such high hopes for me. You know wife, family.........everything a proper Victorian gent should desire.”

“What else is in the box” Tara lent forward and plucked out a broach.

“That was me mum’s favorite piece, belonged to her mum, was meant to be given to my wife..........that and this.”

Spike held a simple gold band between his fingers lost in thought as he stared at it.

Tara peered closely at the ring. Not as plain as she thought. There was an intricate pattern etched into the surface.

Spike place it back into the box giving it a loving caress with his finger as he did so.

“There’s just a few more bits of jewelry, some more miniatures, letter from my Da, some of the gits poetry”.

“Who’s the git” Tara asked as Spike closed the lid and placed the box on the ground beside them.

“The git was William..................me..........before.......well you know .......Dru. Wrote the most god awful poetry. Always wanted what was above him.......well not much has changed heh still want what I can’t have.”

Spike stood and offered his hand to Tara and helped her up.

“Come on luv no use sitting here feeling sorry for the git..................suns gone down............lets go kill something.”

*********************************************************************

Spikes crypt – present

Tara slid her hand down his arm and tugged him towards the entrance to downstairs. “I’ll help you find it”

“Its ok luv...............not too pretty down there.”

Tara gave a soft laugh “Hey I used to have to clean up after my brother Donnie. I think I can handle anything”

Spike smirked at Tara as he tilted his head to regard her. “Your something special.........you know that don’t you Glinda?”

Tara demurely lowered her eyes as she blushed “Thank you Spike” she laughed then and fixed him with smiling eyes “But don’t think I’m going to do this all for you.......move buddy.” Tara emphasized her point by shoving him towards the ladder both of them laughing as Spike almost fell.

Tara’s laughter soon faded as she saw the destruction “Oh Spike” she whispered.

Spike drew himself up “Don’t fret luv...........m evil....remember.......anyways it was just stuff.” Spike looked around, Buffy and Captain Cardboard had managed to destroy everything.

The next few hours were spent sorting through the destruction, adding to the growing trash pile in the corner.

Tara looked at spike, dirt smeared across her face “Why Spike?”

“Why what luv?”

“Why did you have those eggs here?”

“Owed a demon a favor”

“What for?”

Spike looked down at her sadness filled his eyes dulling there normal sparkle.

“He needed somewhere to stash em’...........he’d nicked em from some human who had taken em’ from their mum. She was supposed to come get them an head back to her home. Apparently this human had nicked em’ for the government or somethin’, then double crossed em’. Musta thought he could get more for em’ on the black market.”

“But why did you owe him a favor Spike? It must have been for something pretty big”

“Yeah well..............he was the guy who got my box for me.” Spike shrugged as he turned back to his task.

Tara felt the tears welling as she concentrated on the task at hand. Then there it was Spike’s box “Spike! Spike I found it” she shouted excitedly.

Spike ran to her side and hurriedly took the box from her hands, it was twisted and warped from the heat but after a few moments he managed to get it open.

Spike surveyed the contents of the box, it was all ruined, the heat from the explosion had caused the ancient jewelry to melt and bleed together covering the bottom of the box in an unrecognizable mass.

Spike stared at it for a few more moments, he felt like his chest was being squeezed in a vice. All his memories, all that he had left of his past was gone, he slowly stood and walked towards the trash pile.

“Wait Spike.............no” Tara rushed after him “I...I think I can fix this.”

Spike quirked an eyebrow at her “An how can you do that luv.”

“M...Magic”

“Thought the use of unnecessary magic didn’t sit well with you Glinda” Spike stared at the box in his hands, hope welling inside him.

“I know......It doesn’t” Tara looked Spike directly in the eyes “But this is necessary.” Her hand squeezed his shoulder “The contents of this box..........they’re your link with your past...........they mean that William existed.........that he mattered to someone............that someone cared enough about him to keep his treasures.” Tara stopped for a moment and searched Spikes face.

“Yeah well William was a git” snarled Spike “Best that he be forgotten”

“No that’s not true.............he’s in here” Tara placed her hand over Spikes dead heart “He’s the part of you that makes this dead thing” she tapped his chest a few times “he makes this dead thing more alive and full of love than many of us whose hearts beat every day. He is important Spike.” Tara leaned in close and whispered “you are important Spike...........You matter...........more than you will ever know.”

Spike paused for a moment then handed the box to Tara “Thank you luv” he choked out the words then straightened up and gave her a gentle push towards the ladder. “Now get out of here, you’ve done enough for today, gonna be dark soon best be getting home before the nasties come out.

“Ok Ok I’m going” Tara laughed; she climbed the ladder out of the room then suddenly poked her head back through the opening. “Come by the Magic Box tomorrow evening and pick it up OK.”

“The Magic Box?” Spike asked “What the demon bird’s back is she?”

“Um no but she contacted me and asked me if I could open the Magic Box.”

“What she rang you did she”

“Well more like direct dialed” said Tara tapping the side of her head “Popped into my head during class, I’m sure my Professor thinks I’m nuts now, started talking to myself.” And with that she disappeared.

Spike chuckled to himself as he went back to work.

*********************************************************************

Next Day

Buffy lay in her bed listening to the sounds of life echoing through the house. Dawn was busy getting ready for school and Willow was humming to herself as she dressed after her shower.

She groaned and turned over; she hadn’t gotten much sleep last night. She had run into Spike on patrol last night he had come out of nowhere when she had been attacked by several Basilisk demons.

They had instantly fallen into step tag teaming the demons slaying them in a matter of minutes. She had almost thrown herself into his arms when they had finished, her entire body was thrumming with adrenalin and his nearness, she had wanted nothing more than to cover his beautiful face with kisses and beg him to take her back to his crypt. Then she remembered that she had destroyed a large portion of his crypt, she felt the guilt about her actions settle into the pit of her stomach.

So she had turned on him snapping “Spike I told you it is over, stop following me around.”

“Listen you bitch, I just helped save your ass............again.”

“I didn’t need your help Spike” she retorted “Now why were you following me.....I told...............”

Spike cut her off “I was on my way home you stupid bint. I do still live here you know.” He waved his hand in the direction of his crypt, then stalked over and lifted a bag up from behind a headstone.

“Oh” Buffy mumbled “I’m sorry I........” She started to apologies but Spike was gone. She shook herself then muttered “What am I doing.....you don’t need to apologize to evil soulless things...........they don’t have feelings.” And with that she walked off to finish patrol.

Buffy sighed and turned over taking her frustration out on her defenseless pillow “Damn” she swore as feathers went everywhere. Willow chose that moment to poke her head around the corner “Oops......think you slayed the evil pillow demon.” Buffy sat up and blew at a stray feather that had landed between her eyes.

“Coffee” asked a giggling Willow

“Most definitely” replied Buffy

Both girls stopped talking when they heard the doorbell, quickly followed by pounding footsteps.

Buffy opened her mouth to yell at Dawn for running in the house when she heard a shrill scream. “Dawn” she yelled as she leapt from the bed.

Willow and Buffy raced down the stairs stopping short as they took in the scene before them.

Giles stood in the doorway with a squealing Dawn hang from his neck; he gave the girls a tentative smile “Hello Buffy.........Willow”

Both girls stared at him stunned before launching themselves at Giles wrapping their own arms around him.

AN: Thanks for the reviews guys.

Chapter 2

Giles savored the moment as he wrapped himself in the affection of his surrogate children. Then breathing started to become a problem and he started to disentangle himself from them. “Girls, Girls please....I need to breathe”

“Oops sorry Giles” the girls giggled

“Perhaps we can go inside” Giles suggested

“Of course” Willow aid “Come in come in............why are you here?”

“It’s not another apocalypse is it” asked Dawn frowning as she hugged herself, suddenly not quite as excited.

“No not at all” assured Giles as he studied each of them, his eyes lingering on Buffy “But I do have something important to discuss with you all.”

“Scooby meeting” yelled Dawn “I’ll call Xander” she rushed towards the phone but stopped short in the hallway. “Um Giles....did you forget to tell us something” She turned to look at Giles raising an eyebrow.

“God she looks like Spike when she does that” he thought. He moved out into the hall and drew someone forward.

“Everyone I would like you to meet Rebecca.........the Vampire Slayer”

“Great Googly Moogly” everyone turned to stare at Xander who had been on his way to take Dawn to school and had just entered the hall as the last statement was made.

“What” he asked “I was watching evolution last night........It just popped out.”

“Vampire Slayer?” queried Willow

“What did she get activated when I .........well you know...........died again” mused Buffy

“Not exactly” Giles took of his glasses and began to clean them “perhaps we should all go into the living room so I can explain.”

Everyone made their way to their seats studying the girl while they waited for Giles to explain.

Buffy critically studied the new slayer; she looked to be about 18 or 19 ‘bit old to be activated’ thought Buffy before she continued her inspection. She was slightly taller than Buffy but not by much with long light brown hair that fell in soft curls to her waist, and clear blue eyes that peaked out from behind her long lush eyelashes. She wasn’t beautiful but there was something about her that was.

“So Giles what exactly did you mean when you said she wasn’t exactly activated when Buff died” asked Xander

Buffy snapped out of her contemplation of the new slayer and looked at Giles “Is Faith dead?”

“Not that I am aware of” Giles started to clean his glasses meticulously

“Then how......” began Willow confusion settling over the Scoobies.

Giles sighed before fixing his gaze upon Willow “She was ............ well.........it was more like .............. she was.” Giles tried to find the words to explain the current situation.

“I was reactivated” stated Rebecca, her voice holding a soft English accent.

All eyes turned to the new slayer “When you bought back Buffy you bought back me as well.” Rebecca turned to look at Buffy. “I was activated in 1871 at age 15, I died in 1875 a few months after I turned 19. I woke up about 4 months ago in a Coffin” she looked down at her hands then continued in a small voice “I had do dig myself out.”

Rebecca turned her eyes to Willow and fixed her with a hard stare “I was in heaven..............happy..............at peace..................my work was finished..............now I’m here...........care to explain why?”

“Oh my Goddess” gasped Willow covering her mouth “I....I....” the tears streamed down her face as she looked from Rebecca to Buffy “I’m so sorry...........so sorry”

“It’s ok Will” said Buffy she looked at Giles “How.......What..........Why?” she stopped frustrated, her mind racing.

“Yes well perhaps we should put the kettle on before we start with the rather long explanation.” suggested Giles.

“Yes of course......I’ll get right on that” said Willow as she dashed out of the room.

A short while latter everyone was settled into the chairs tea, or soda, in hand while they waited for the story to begin.

“Perhaps we should start with Rebecca’s story first and then I can fill you in on what we have discovered” suggested Giles

Rebecca took a deep breathe and began “My name is Rebecca Rachel Duncan I was born in 1857 to a wealthy family. My parents knew from an early age that I was a potential slayer so my whole life was centered on that. I was educated far beyond anything a girl would have received in my time. My watcher came to live with us when I was 5 his name was Rupert Hoston and he was like an Uncle to me. When I was 9 my parents were killed in a carriage accident so my watcher became my only family. I loved him very much” Rebecca paused for a moment as she looked around the room.

“When I was 15 I became the slayer, but I was terribly lonely by myself all the time, I befriended a neighbor’s son, he was my best friend and when I turned 18 he became my husband. The council would not have approved of my marriage but Uncle Rupert loved me and helped me keep it hidden from the council.......he also helped me keep my slayer activities hidden from my husband. I loved him and didn’t want to put him in danger.” Rebecca gave a soft smile as she remembered her lost husband.

“Why did your watcher allow you to marry” queried Dawn “I didn’t think slayers were supposed to have family and friends”

“Yes well remember that Uncle Rupert had helped to raise me, plus I had barely survived the Cruciamentum, I suppose he wanted me to have what little happiness I could.”

Rebecca took a deep breathe and continued “Everything seemed to be calm for a long time, just your usual vampires and demons then a few months before my 19th birthday something new arrived in London. A demoness that was trying to open a dimensional portal.”

Buffy gasped at this but didn’t interrupt.

“We battled for months; she was so strong that I thought that I would never beat her. I don’t think she knew exactly what she was doing because the portals would never stay open long enough for her to get through, although they did let through some very horrible demons.”

“The last time we battled the demoness had opened a portal and a large dragon type demon was attempting to come through, I rushed forward into battle and was pulled into the portal.”

Rebecca stood and began to pace around the living room “That was the last thing I remembered until I woke up in my coffin.”

Rebecca hugged herself as she went on “I remember clawing at the rotting wood above me, the earth falling in on me, the air was stale, suffocating” she shuddered as she remembered. “When.......when I made it out I was lost, confused, everything was dark and strange..........sounds were so loud. I wandered through the cemetery until I found an open crypt I went in and just huddled in a corner. I thought I was in hell.....I didn’t understand what was happening.

The tears were streaming down Rebecca’s face she glanced at Buffy who’s anguish seemed to mirror her own. “After a few days hunger drove me outside, I was searching for something to eat in an alley when a vampire came across me. We battled and I won. I didn’t know at the time but there was a watcher close by he had seen everything, he recognized me for a slayer.” Rebecca glanced towards Giles “He took me to his home and has been helping me try to piece together what happened.”

Rebecca seemed to deflate when she finished crumpling to the floor. Giles rushed forward “Willow..........tea” he snapped as he helped Rebecca onto the couch beside Buffy. He looked at Buffy “Better make that two” he stated as he gathered the distressed women into his arms.

Dawn stood from her place on the floor, when the tale had started she had scooted into a corner trying to be quiet so Buffy wouldn’t remember that she was supposed to be at school. She walked over to the group on the lounge and wrapped her own arms around them without saying a word.

In the kitchen Willow was making a fresh pot of tea, trying to function through the numbness that was filling her body. Xander sat staring at the counter “We did that to them. To her......to Buff.” He looked at Willow with beseeching eyes “How could we do that to them”

Willow broke down then sobbing her regrets into her friends shoulder.

*********************************************************************

After a time Willow and Xander returned with the tea setting it in front of the now calm group.

Willow opened her mouth to speak, to apologize once again for her arrogance when Buffy cut her off.

“Not now Will ok, we need to get this finished” Buffy offered her friend a conciliatory smile.

Giles took over the story from here “After Rebecca had told me her story I started to research. I surmised that the demoness that she had encountered was in fact Glory. It must have been sometime after her attempts to open the portals in 1875 that she discovered that she needed the key to keep them open.”

“So Rebecca was bought back because both she and Buffy died the same way” Dawn tentively questioned.

“In part” answered Giles “But there is more”

The Scoobies all sat looking at him expectantly

“After much searching I discovered that Rebecca’s watcher Rupert Hoston was a great great uncle of mine.”

“Wow G-man that’s weird, I take it that’s where the name came from” snickered Xander

“Yes well the origins of my name are not significant. What is significant is that I have spent the last few months tracing Rebecca’s line.”

“But she wouldn’t have a line would she? Her parents died and I assume she was an only child cause she said she was lonely.” Willow tried to make sense of all she was hearing.

“That is correct, however Rebecca did have an Aunt on her mother’s side, I followed that family line and found.............well frankly I’m quiet amazed at what I found.” Giles reached for his glasses once more.

“Giles if you clean those glasses one more time I will break them” ground out Buffy frustrated by the delay “what did you find out?”

“It seems Buffy .........that you are in fact related to Rebecca.........she is your ancestor.”

Buffy looked around her, she had heard the gasps from Willow and Dawn and a low whistle from Xander, but what was that strange ringing? The next moment everything went black as she fainted.

*********************************************************************

“Xander grab her” shouted Giles as Buffy started to fall.

They gathered her up and lay her on the couch.

“Maybe it was too much all at once” whispered Rebecca

Giles looked at her “It needs to be finished though”

“There’s more!” exclaimed Xander and Willow

Dawn rushed in with a glass of water for Buffy who by now was awake and struggling to sit up.

“I’m ok really. Lets finish this now” Buffy seemed to think for a moment then continued. “Does this have anything to do with why Spike can hit me now?”

“It may very well do. I believe that you were in some way a reincarnation of Rebecca......... that some part of her essence resided within you and that when Willow and the others.....ummm.....performed the resurrection spell that part of Rebecca returned to her.”

“So it’s not a deep cellular suntan” Buffy looked at Giles “I’m missing a piece of myself”

“Yes in essence that is it. There is more to it though.”

“I don’t know how much more I can take Giles” Buffy glanced at Rebecca who seemed to be taking it all in her stride.

Rebecca gave Buffy a wane smile “I’ve heard all of this before”

Xander step forward “So what you’re saying is that Buffy and Rebecca are .....what........cousins of some sort?” he looked at Giles who nodded. “And that when Buffy was born she was the reincarnation of Rebecca”

“Not exactly a reincarnation” Giles started to explain

“More like a part of her” Willow broke in “Maybe the slayer part of Rebecca was reincarnated in Buffy”

“Exactly” Giles stood and walked up to Willow “when you did the spell to bring Buffy back you somehow separated her essence back into the two parts and they returned to their original vessels. Buffy back into Buffy but the small part of her that came from Rebecca.......”

“Returned to Rebecca” finished Buffy.

“Basically that is correct” They all turned to look at Rebecca who had a confused look on her face.

“Who’s Spike?” she asked.

Chapter 3

The Magic Box


Tara sat on the floor in the training room Spikes box in front of her inside a circle of sand three candles were also inside the circle. Carefully she leant forward and lit the candles softly chanting as she did so. She reached into the small pouch on her lap and sprinkled some of the herbs inside onto the box.

“So mote it be” Tara finished and a brilliant light flared in front of her.

Tara blinked trying to bring back her focus so that she could see if the spell had worked. Finally when the blinding spots faded she saw the box sitting there newly restored. Now all she had to do was see if the contents were restored as well.

She reached out a tentative hand and almost let out a squeak when the door from the alley burst open and a smoking Spike rushed through. As Spike was stamping out his smouldering blanket Tara spoke up “Umm I’m pretty sure that the blazing sun means that it isn’t evening yet Spike”

Spike threw her a smirk “Brilliant observational skills there luv.” He moved across the training room to where she sat. “What you done it already. Did it work?”

“I was just about to check” Tara replied as she stood up moving towards the door to the shop. “Lets have a look and see shall we.”

She moved into the shop and placed the box on the research table.

Spike walked up beside her “You open it pet, your work after all”

Tara gave him a sly look “chicken” she exclaimed.

Spike gave a snort “not bloody likely” and reached forward to open the lid.

Tara smile silently to herself as she saw his hands tremble slightly.

Spike slowly raised the lid and steeled himself to look inside.

It was all there, perfect, as though nothing had ever happened.

“Glinda your incredible” Spike grabbed Tara up and twirled her round the Magic Box.

Tara laughed “Spike but me down” she squealed as he spun her even faster. “Enough, enough, please Spike”

Spike set her back down “Ok luv, I am yours for the day” he bowed with a flourish “Your wish is my command”

“Well” said Tara “I have to get the shop in order and I really could use some help bringing some of the heavy boxes up from the storeroom.”

“As you wish madam” Spike chuckled as he headed downstairs “Just tell me what you need”

Tara turned back to the research table to grab the box and move it next to the cash register before starting work.

*********************************************************

On the way to the Magic Box


Buffy, Giles, Willow and Xander were on their way to the Magic Box to research Rebecca and Dawn following behind.

Rebecca was quizzing Dawn about Spike.

“So who’s Spike” asked Rebecca “And why does it matter if he can hit Buffy?”

Dawn leant in “Well Spike is a Vampire” Rebecca gasped “But he’s good now” rushed on Dawn. “You see this government agency called the Initiative put this chip in his head which means that he can’t hurt humans. Ever since then he’s been helping us out.”

“But Buffy said that he can hit her doesn’t that mean he’s dangerous” Rebecca didn’t understand what a chip was but she didn’t want to ask and get overloaded with information she didn’t understand.

Dawn looked at Rebecca “Well that was the first I heard about him being able to hit Buffy” she shrugged as continued “But Spike would never hurt her. He’s totally in love with her.”

“Oh” Rebecca shrugged “And he doesn’t hurt the rest of you because he has a chip? Alright then .......... Spike is a good guy.”

Dawn stopped in her tracks and stared at Rebecca “Huh”

Rebecca turned to look at her “What? What’s wrong?”

Dawn looked confused “Where’s the...............he’s an evil soulless demon and he can’t love........................he can’t be trusted.................he will turn on you at any time..............the.....the...... he’s only using you to get to your sister?”

Rebecca smiled at her “Using you to get to your sister?” she arched an eyebrow “More to the story I think”

Dawn drew her over to a bench and sat down “Spike is my best friend. He always treated me like an equal not a little kid. When Buffy was ...” Dawn took a deep breath “When Buffy was dead” there she said it “he looked after me, he didn’t leave, he stayed and took care of me.”

Rebecca took Dawns hands “I am sure that he loves you Dawn.................and who told you that demons couldn’t love?”

“Wha?” Dawn gaped at Rebecca “Huh?”

“Who told you that demons can’t love? That is the silliest thing I’ve ever heard” Rebecca looked at Dawn.

“But.......But Giles....Buffy” Dawn couldn’t get the words out “Everyone!” she finally exclaimed “Everyone say’s that if a demon doesn’t have a soul they can’t love.”

“Well that is true to an extent. There are demons out there that are incapable of love; they exist on a base level. Survival of the species that kind of thing. Then there are demons that do have souls” Rebecca racked her brain trying to remember everything she had learned.

“Some demons have souls?” Dawn squeaked “Why haven’t I heard about this before, I wonder if Buffy knows, or Giles. We’ll have to research the species.” Dawn was getting excited at the thought of knowing something that the others did not. Then she looked at Rebecca watching her patiently with an amused look on her face “Oops sorry” Dawn quieted back down and waited for Rebecca to finish.

“Yes Dawn there are demons with souls, some look almost human and others not so much. When I was the slayer in London I often went to a small community near Oxford to train. Many of them used to work at the University and no one ever knew. Also there are other demons, like vampires, who retain their human personalities.” Rebecca looked at Dawn hoping that she understood what she was saying. “If a passionate, loving person was turned then they would be passionate and loving as a vampire.”

“But” Dawn began her brow furrowed

“That’s not true” came a cold voice from behind them.

They both turned to see Buffy standing behind them. “And I would appreciate you not filling my sister’s head with such nonsense”

“It’s not nonsense Buffy” Rebecca studied her carefully

“Look this is not the time or place for this” Buffy looked around her “We’ll finish this at the Magic Box” with that she turned and stalked off.

Rebecca glanced at Dawn “I don’t think she likes me”

“Nah” smirked Dawn “She’s just in denial about Spike”

With that she stood up grabbing Rebecca’s hand leading her towards the Magic Box.

*********************************************************************

Magic Box


Spike walked up from the storeroom a large box in his arms “Where do you want it luv?”

“Just put it on the table Spike” came a disembodied voice.

Spike look around not see Tara anywhere “Where you at Glinda?”

“Up here” Tara poked her head around a stack of books in the restricted section. “Everything is so dusty, Anya would hate to see the shop so neglected” Tara made her way downstairs to look in the box. “What’s in it?”

Spike started to pull an assortment of jars from the box turning each until he found a label “Let’s see shall we........Hmm.......Mandrake root..........newt eyes” Tara grabbed the jar from his hands

“Oh the good stuff” she said as she inspected the contents

Spike pulled a jar from the box. Its contents were small and purplish resembling the tip of a finger.

“What’s that” asked Tara. She took the bottle from Spike and started to open the lid.

“Umm luv.” Spike was looked as though he was about to burst out laughing. “Well they are”...........he chuckled.......”They would be Imp..........umm......Phalluses.”

Tara frowned “Imp Phal..........ohh............OHH!” she hastily went to set the jar back down spilling the contents across the table as she did. “Ewwwww” She jumped back “Th....That’s just wrong.”

By this time Spike was doubled over with laughter................until the smell hit that is. “Ugh they smell disgusting......hope they don’t smell like that all the time......no wonder they cut em off.”

Tara wrinkled her nose “I don’t think their meant to smell like that. I think they’ve gone off.” She ran over to get a bin as the fluid from the jar started to make it way to the edge of the table. “Quick Spike grab a rag!” She threw him an exasperated glare “Help me”

Spikes eyes darted around trying to find something when he spotted at blue flannel shirt draped over one of the chairs ‘must be the whelp’s’ he thought. Grinning evilly he grabbed the shirt and proceeded to use it to sop up the mess.

When the mess was cleared up Tara tossed the shirt into the bin with the rest of the mess, before removing the liner. She held the bag out towards Spike “Can you put this outside for me please.”

Spike shrunk away from the stinking mess, some of the fluid was starting to make its way out of a small hole in the bottom. “Can’t luv. You see there’s this bright shiny thing called the sun, tends to make us vampires dusty.”

Tara looked at him “The alley is in the shade this time of day. Please Spike.” She pouted and batted her lashes at him. “For me”

Spike sighed grabbing the bag “And they say I’m evil” he grumbled as he headed outside.

Spike tossed the bag into the bin; it broke open exposing some of the contents.

‘May as well have a smoke while I’m out here’ he thought searching for his ciggies. Spike bought one up to his mouth then flinched away as he smelt his hand. “That’s rank.” He sighed and tossed the smoke away. He really needed to get the smell of his hands; he turned to go back inside glancing into the bin as he did. Spike’s eyes fell upon the shirt now exposed by the broken bag. An evil smile crossed his face as he snatched up the shirt.

Back inside the Magic Box Spike very casually made his way to the research table and draped the shirt back over a chair.

Tara looked up from behind the counter “After you wash your hands Spike come here and I’ll but some lily oil on them. It’s really good for getting rid of most of the smell; I’ve already done the table.”

Spike sauntered over to the counter and held out his freshly scrubbed hands.

Tara started to rub the lily oil into his hands “I haven’t gotten the smell completely out so I’m going to open some windows and the door to let some air in. So keep an eye out for stray patches of sunlight. OK”

“No probs luv. I’ll stay downstairs for abit......make sure there’s no more nasties amongst the stock.” Spike headed back to the storeroom grinning to himself as he went.

“I wonder what he’s up to” mused Tara before she turned back to her work. She noticed Spike’s box still sitting on the counter so she grabbed it and locked it in the cupboard beneath the counter. “Better not leave this lying about.”

*********************************************************************

Xander, Giles and Willow neared the Magic Box. Willow and Giles were deep in discussion about what they would need to research.

“I think the first order of business is to research the spell that you used” Giles stated

Willow furrowed her brow “I think Tara might have it. I saw her with the book one day.”

“Oh well we best contact Tara then.” Giles looked at Willow “Will you be ok with that Willow?”

Willow beamed happily “Definitely. Tara and I.....well there’s been the having of coffee and talking.” Willow gestured wildly “I think we’re on the road to back togetherness, so a call is definitely of the ok.”

“I’m very please for you Willow” Giles started to search his pockets for his keys “Xander you don’t happen to have...........Oww.” Giles frowned at Xanders back having just walked into him.

“Why is the door to the Magic Box open?” Xander then broke into a run “An? Anya!”

Xander burst through the door looking around wildly “Anya you here”

Tara walked round from the corner “Sorry Xander it’s just me” she gave him a conciliatory smile.

“Oh” his shoulders slumped and he flopped into a chair. He looked up suddenly “Do you.....”

Tara cut him off “No Xander I don’t know where she is.” She looked towards the door as Willow came through closely followed by Giles. Tara gave a pleased smile when she saw Willow “Willow” she breathed. The Tara realised who was with Willow “Giles” she exclaimed happily rushing forward to hug him.

The group made their way further inside chatting happily. Willow filling Tara in on what was happening in a jumble of words.

“........and so we decided to come here and research the spell, and do you have the book, and Rebecca’s coping really well considering, Buffy’s still a bit freaked, and they should be here soon so....” Willow babbled

Tara smiled at her “Willow” she interjected “Breathe”

Willow’s mouth snapped shut as she gave Tara a sheepish grin

“Sorry, got carried away.”

Just then Buffy came stalking through the door closely followed by Dawn and Rebecca.

Giles motioned them over and began to make introductions.

“Hi” said Tara after all the introductions and explanations were finished. Her head was swimming and she really needed to get downstairs and warn Spike that Buffy and the Scoobies were here. She started to move towards the door “I just gotta go get.........ummm”

Xander stared glumly at the table. The longer Anya stayed away the harder it was going to be to get her to forgive him. His eyes wandered round the shop before finally falling upon the shirt lying haphazardly across a chair. “My shirt” he snatched it up and shrugged it on. “Been looking for this” he continued his casual inspection of the shop. Then he smelt it. ‘What is that’ he started looking around, sniffing carefully. He bent down sniffing under the table ‘smells like something died’

Giles looked up to see Xander on his hands and knees under the table. Was the boy sniffing?? “Xander what on earth are you doing?”

“I think a mouse or something must have died under here G man” Xander started to get back up “But I can’t find anything, it sure smells though. Phew!” Xander waved a hand under his nose to emphasise his point.

Willow moved forward intending to help him look. As she got near him she stopped abruptly “ohh ewwwww Xander I think its you.” She hurriedly stepped away from him.

Xander started to sniff himself lifting an arm and taking a deep whiff “Yuk....Yuk it is me!!” he hopped around trying to rid himself of the offending garment. As he was doing so a small purple object fell out of his pocket. After tossing the shirt away he picked up the object gingerly inspecting it “Umm anyone know what this?”

The group started to move forward until the smell hit, they all took a big step back.

Tara who had been on her way to warn Spike had stopped to laugh at Xanders antics. She moved forward, Spike temporarily forgotten, “Umm Xander that’s an umm......” she blushed red as she tried to make herself say the words “It’s an Imp’s umm.....” she lowered her hand and wiggled a finger “You know ....an Imp’s ummm... privates.”

Xander stared at her, then his face changed to a look of horror as he realised what Tara had just said “Ughhhh” he squealed tossing the object in the air. Straight towards the girls.

The girls screamed and squealed as the object came flying there direction. They suddenly heard a loud roar come from the storeroom. Spike came charging up in full game face ready to defend Tara from an attacker. He stopped short when he saw the gathered group; they were all there, including the watcher and some new bird.

He stood there still in game face when he saw the new girl start to turn to look at him.

Buffy began to move forward ready to berate Spike for being where he wasn’t wanted, when he did something completely unexpected.

He fainted

Straight into one of those stray patches of sunlight Tara had warned him about.

Chapter 4

Spike lay there in the sunlight, out cold and still in game face. Smoke was starting to rise from his exposed flesh.

“Spike” screamed Tara and Dawn rushing forward grabbing his legs and trying to drag him to safety. Dawn looked around wildly “Buffy! Help us.”

Buffy stood where she was a look of shock on her face. “What was going on? Was something wrong?” She felt a heavy anxious knot of dread settle in the pit of her stomach at that thought. Buffy started to move forward and was knocked out of the way by....Rebecca?

Rebecca reached Spike grabbing an arm and easily pulled him out of the sunlight. She stepped back as both the girls fell to their knees franticly inspecting the vampire for injuries. She took this time to inspect the man that Dawn said loved her like a sister and loved Buffy passionately. She frowned slightly, something about him was familiar. Dawn said he was old; perhaps she had fought him at one time.

Spike groaned as he started to come to “Ughh, my head” he looked into Dawn and Tara’s concerned eyes “What happened? I heard a scream and then...” Spike stopped as he tried to remember.

“You fainted Spike.” Tara smoothed his wrinkled brow.

The girls both grabbed and arm as he started to rise “Um Spike you still got your wrinklies on” said Dawn motioning to her own face.

“Oh, sorry.” He shook his face back into its human form. “Better luv?”

“Much” Dawn linked her arm through his and smiled up at him “Now that your all recovered there’s someone I want you to meet.” She started to turn him towards Rebecca when he was torn from her and spun round by a very pissed Buffy.

“What do you think you’re doing here Spike!” she shoved him towards the open storeroom door. “I thought I told you to stay away!” Buffy was so angry she was trembling. She was angry right? Then why did this feel more like jealousy and fear? She was about to give Spike a hard shove down the stairs when a hand spun her round.

“Buffy, stop” Rebecca looked at her trying to comprehend what the vampire could have possibly done to set her off. She glanced in Spike’s direction and froze. Rebecca stared at the image before gasping softly.

Spike tore his gaze from Buffy’s face to stare at the new girl, and froze.

Spike and Rebecca stood staring at each other then they both took a step forward never taking their eyes from the other.

The rest of the group moved closer trying to figure out what exactly was going on.

Spike lifted a hand and moved it towards Rebecca’s face.

Xander saw Spike move to touch Rebecca “Hey bleach boy don’t you tou......owww” he flinched when Willow hit him. “Shhh Xander I think she knows him” she moved forward to stand next to Tara, eager to see what would happen.

Spike’s hand was shaking as he gently caressed Rebecca’s cheek with the back of his finger “It’s you. Are you real?” he whispered

Rebecca closed her eyes leaning into the gentle caress a single tear ran down her face

Spike moved his hand to cup her face. Rebecca opened her eyes staring directly into Spike’s “Becca?” he whispered leaning in. Their foreheads touched as tears coursed down both their faces. Spike took a deep breath “You are real!” and with that he lowered his mouth to hers.

Buffy and the others stood and stared as Spike and Rebecca’s kiss deepened. Giles was cleaning his glasses muttering “Oh dear”. Willow, Tara and Dawn were smiling widely at the pair and both Xander and Buffy wore identical looks of shock.

After a time Rebecca gently pulled back, turning to the others her face alight with happiness her arms wrapped around Spike’s waist “It’s William!”

Giles stepped forward “Yes ....indeed...at one time Spike was known as William the Bloo...”

Rebecca cut him of “No. He’s William. William Duncan. My Husband” and with that she turned back to smile lovingly at Spike.

*********************************************************************


Silence filled the Magic Box.

Spike and Rebecca remained entwined whispering and touch each other gently. Suddenly Rebecca stood back a look of pain on her face “When?”

Spike had been waiting for this question. How would she react to him? Did she even know what a vampire was? Had the others told her that he was an evil soulless thing unworthy of her love? He waited for the hateful words and rejection. He waited for her to close her heart to him. “1880 luv” he stood tense waiting for Rebecca’s reaction.

Tears once again welled in Rebecca’s eyes “5 years after.” She moved forward again “I’m sorry”

“Sorry for what luv?” Spike tilted his head to look at her.

“I failed you. I wasn’t there to keep you safe.” Rebecca felt the sorrow well inside her. Her sweet husband had fallen prey to the very thing she had tried to protect him from.

“If I hadn’t been turned luv I wouldn’t be here now, would I?” Spike questioned.

“Tell me”

“Tell you what luv?”

“Everything” Rebecca brushed her hand across his scarred brow “I want to know everything that has happened.”

“Alright” Spike looked around him “Come on” he took Rebecca’s hand and pulled her towards the training room.

*********************************************************************


The others just stood and stared as the Spike and Rebecca left. None of them knew quite what to say. A first for Xander. They looked around at each other.

“I think perhaps we best start researching that spell” Giles strode towards the two witches “Tara I believe Willow said that you had it in your possession?”

“Yes. I have it I’ll just get it for you” Tara moved towards the counter trying to remember where she had placed the book.

Willow moved towards the restricted section “There’s some other books that I looked at while I was researching the resurrection spell. Maybe I should get them as well?” She looked enquiringly at Giles.

“Of course, anything that may have an impact on the spell will have to be researched. Perhaps you should also look for anything dealing with reincarnation as well” Giles glanced at Buffy. She had moved to sit at the table; she seemed to be deep in thought, a small frown marring her expression.

Buffy’s thoughts were racing ‘Spike and Rebecca! Spike and Rebecca! No hang on William and Rebecca. Spike, no William is Rebecca’s husband. William loves Rebecca. Rebecca is a part of me...no...a part of Rebecca was inside of me. But not any more. Oh God! What if Spike only loved me because he was drawn to the Rebecca part of me.’ Buffy’s thoughts continued to tumble over and over in her head.

Giles turned towards Xander, deciding to leave Buffy to process the day’s events. “Xander perhaps you and Dawn could go and get everyone something to eat. I have a feeling we’re going to be here for awhile.” He looked towards the training room door “A stop at the butcher’s would be in order as well.” He moved forward to hand Xander some cash when his foot kicked something soft on the ground, a foul odour wafted upwards. “And could you please dispose of THAT on your way” Giles pointed a finger at the offending object.

Xander grimaced as he picked up his discarded shirt with two fingers, holding it straight out in front of him he left the Magic Box. Dawn quickly followed, being careful to remain downwind of Xander.

Giles moved towards the back of the shop curious as to what was happening in the back room. He tried to unobtrusively eavesdrop, straining to hear even the smallest sound. He jumped when a hand touched his shoulder.

“I found the spell Giles” Tara smiled at him, knowing what he had been up to. “Anya had the room soundproofed. She said the noises were scaring the customers.”

“I wasn’t....I’m not.” Giles sighed “Lets just get on with it shall we” they moved to the table and started pouring through the gathered books.

*********************************************************************


Spike led Rebecca over to a pile of mats against one wall; he moved them around making a comfortable place for them to sit.

They sat facing each other for a few moments, silence filling the room. Spike was so nervous; if he had still been human his hands would have been sweating. “So luv.” That was all he managed to get out before nerves got the better of him, he looked down unsure how to go on. ‘God he felt like the git again’.

Rebecca placed her hand on his thigh “Start from when I died” she ran her hand down his cheek “Tell me. How did you find out?”

Spike took a deep breathe to steady himself and started to speak “It was the next morning. I woke up and you weren’t there. I got up and went downstairs looking for you. I walked into the parlour to see your uncle bending over you. He had laid you out on the chaise, he was crying. I remember rushing in, your uncle stopping me before I reached you. He was saying something about a carriage accident, that you were dead.”

Spike’s voice trembled slightly as he remembered “I couldn’t understand why you had been out. I reached your side, you looked so peaceful. There wasn’t a mark on you; I remember thinking that you should have had a bruise or a scratch, something. Your uncle was saying something about you going out to help.” Spike shook his head trying to remember “What was the chit’s name. The girl who helped the cook.”

“Alice, her name was Alice.” Rebecca took his hands in a firm grip

“Yeah Alice, he said that she had taken ill and you had gone out to tend to her.” He looked at Rebecca confusion in his eyes. “I kept thinking, why didn’t she wake me? I would have gone with her. Maybe I could have kept her safe. Your uncle said that he had gone with you ‘cause you were worried about my cough. Didn’t want me in the night air.”

Rebecca leant forward to kiss him gently “I’m so sorry, I’m sorry for causing you pain.”

“Not your fault luv.” Spike reassured her “About 3 months after we buried you Rupert left. He just closed up the house one day without a word, I’d moved back in with me mum. She was ailing and wanted the company.”

Rebecca thought for a moment “Did you? Was there someone? After, did you find someone else?”

Spike gave her a wry smile; he shifted round and settled against the wall closing his eyes. “I thought there was.” He opened his eyes and gave a low snort “Do you remember Cecily Adams? About 4 years after I lost you I started attending social gatherings again. Mum was getting frailer by the day and was eager for me to marry again. I guess she wanted me settled before she passed.” Spike frowned at that thought remembering exactly how his mother had died. He thought it best that he leave out that piece of information for now.

“I met Cecily at a party. I guess I was looking for the same qualities that I loved about you. Confidence, grace, honesty, compassion. I thought I saw them in her, didn’t realise that it was all an act. I started writing poetry, thinking she would see the feeling in them that you had. One night someone had snatched my latest poem from my hands and read it aloud. Everyone was laughing, I was their favourite joke, but Cecily found a quiet place. I thought because she wasn’t sharing in the joke with the others that she must feel something for me.” Spike so lost in his memories that he never felt Rebecca nestle into his side. “I worked up the courage to speak to her, so I went over. She ended up telling me that I was beneath her. I left the party.” He looked down at Rebecca surprised to see her snuggled up to him. “That was the night that I became what I am”.

“She was stupid foolish woman if she didn’t see your worth William.” Rebecca laid her head against his chest. “Tell me about your life after you became a vampire.”

Spike hesitated how could he tell her about his time with Dru, all the evil things that he had done.

“Please William”

“Ok luv, but it’s not pretty”

“I need to know William.” Rebecca wrapped her arm around his waist “I promise it’ll be ok”

Spike pulled her closer into his arms and settled down to tell his story. The only sound was the steady rhythm of his voice. At times during the tale Rebecca would bury her face into his chest silently sobbing, occasionally small gasps would escape from her, or silent tears would stream down her face. Some times she would hold onto him fiercely, others she would run her hands across his face and chest in gentle caresses. Not once did she pull away from him or look at him in disgust. Not when he told her about his life as part of the Scourge of Europe, not when he told her about his time with Drusilla, not even when he had told her about his time with Buffy.

When he had finished his story Rebecca pulled back to look at him “I’m sorry she can’t allow herself to love you.”

Spike looked at her shocked “How can you be ok with this. I just told you that I loved another woman, that I’m a vampire. I caused the death and destruction to countless people.”

“I was dead William. I am not so arrogant as to believe that you would never love again. As for the other, you are a vampire! That’s what you are supposed to do.” Rebecca shook him “I love you William. I understand you better than everyone else. I may not have been by your side for over a centaury but I know what type of man you are. You will do anything for those you love; you would give your very life for them.”

“But how? I may have told you what I have done, but you have no idea what a vampire is truly like” Spike still could not believe that she wasn’t rejecting him for being what he was.

“Of course I know what a vampire is truly like. I was the Slayer for 4 years!” Rebecca retorted.

“You were the what?” yelled Spike jumping up in surprise

“Oops” thought Rebecca.

Chapter 5

Spike stared at Rebecca stunned. His mind started to race over their life together and things started to click into place.

Rebecca step forward and placed an uncertain hand on his arm “William. I know I should have told you before....” Her voice faded away, she looked down, uncertain.

Spike slumped against a wall his voice shook as he spoke “How did you come back?” he had been so shocked when he had first seen his long dead wife the question had remained unspoken.

Rebecca looked up and shrugged “Willow’s spell.”

Spike’s shock turned to anger “Bloody Bint. Messing with things she doesn’t understand. Wait til I get my hands on her.” Spike stormed towards the door barely suppressing his rage at Willow’s meddling.

Rebecca rushed forward barring his way “William stop! It’s done, best we work our way forward now.”

Spike ran a hand through his hair “How?” he searched her eyes “Are there slayers rising from their graves all over the world now?” His thoughts turned momentarily to the two that had died by his hands.

“No, just me” Rebecca wrapped her arms around her body frightened of what his reaction would be to what she had yet to tell him.

Spike frowned “Why just you?”

Rebecca took a deep breathe “Because Buffy and I are related. We’re cousins of sorts. Mr Giles believes that a part of me was reincarnated into Buffy. That somehow during the resurrection spell we were separated again.”

Spike reeled backwards as though he had been struck.

*********************************************************************


Buffy stared at the door to the training room. Maybe if she stared hard enough she would be able to work out what was going on between Spike and Rebecca.

Giles and Willow were busy pouring through books beside her. Tara was moving round the Magic box getting it set up to reopen.

Dawn and Xander came through the door arms laden with food for all. They started to hand items out to the gathered Scoobies.

Xander tried to hand Buffy a sandwich but she didn’t seem to see him. He glanced at Giles who shook his head slightly. Xander dropped the sandwich onto the table and moved over to the counter to stare worriedly at Buffy.

Giles cleared his throat “Willow and I have found some information that we believe may be pertinent to the situation at hand” he removed his glasses rubbing his eyes wearily. “Perhaps someone could see if Rebecca and Spike are able to rejoin us.”

Buffy sprung up charging towards the door “I’ll do it.” She clasped the door handle almost breaking it in her haste. She rushed through the door almost barrelling into Rebecca; she stopped herself before she made contact.

Buffy looked between the two, she secretly felt glad to find the two of them seemingly at odds. “Giles needs to speak to you two.” Her eyes darted between the pair.

Rebecca turned to look at the woman that her husband had told her he loved. She felt fear clutch at her heart. What if William decided that he held no love for her anymore and wanted Buffy instead? In her heart and mind they had only been separated for a few months to him it had been over a century and he had moved on. She still loved him fiercely, even after she had heard all the stories of his past.

Spike took this time to study them both. His eyes fell upon Buffy and he felt his heart constrict. God he loved her! He then turned to look at Rebecca and he felt the same sensation. He still loved her as much as when he had been a timid young poet whose heart had burned for his love. What was he going to do?

Buffy saw the softening in Spike’s eyes when he looked at Rebecca and pushed her tender feelings back down out of her heart. “It’s getting late” she snapped and turned on her heel to stomp back out.

Spike went to follow her out when Rebecca stilled him with a gentle touch “It’s ok William” Spike arched an eyebrow in question “If you don’t love me anymore, if you want to be with Buffy I understand.” she felt the tears well in her eyes

Spike gently brushed a stray tear away “I do love Buffy Becca” he looked towards the doorway “But she doesn’t love me, she won’t let herself. I’m just a dirty little secret that she keeps hidden away from those she does love.” He looked down “I thought I could change that, but I know now that it’ll never happen. It’s over now and there’s no going back.”

Rebecca felt the pain well inside her “I understand” she didn’t really but she wanted William to be happy she started to walk away unhappily.

Spike sighed drawing her closer “The thing is luv. When I look at you I feel the same. I still love you Becca. Things are just.... complicated”

Rebecca looked up in hope a small smile on her face “Maybe we could take it slow, like when you were courting me.”

Spike chuckled “What I write you bloody awful poetry and you pretend to like it.”

“I loved your poetry William” she leaned in to give him a small kiss “It always made me feel special.”

Spike seemed to beam with pleasure at his words, then an evil glint appeared in his eyes “You know luv, courtin’s done a little differently these days” he ran his hand down her back to caress her backside.

Rebecca blushed and tried to bat his hand away “William!”

This only made Spike caress her more wantonly, grinning all the time

A matching grin spread across Rebecca’s face as she began to run her hands down Spikes chest and stomach and around to his backside giving it a firm squeeze. Spike moaned as she bought her mouth up and lightly ran her tongue across his lips “We can play later William.” With that she twisted from his embrace and ran towards the door.

Spike gave chase and they both tumbled through the door laughing. They stopped abruptly as they surveyed the scene before them.

The Scoobies were gathered around the research table. Dawn, Tara and Willow all smiled happily at them; however Xander, Giles and Buffy were staring at them in confusion, frustration and rage. Buffy stood with her arms crossed impatiently tapping her foot as she stared at the pair “If you’re quite ready”. She all but threw herself into an available chair.

Dawn rolled her eyes at her sister’s obvious tantrum and muttered “Gee jealous much.” Tara gave Dawn a matching grin and suppressed a small snicker at Buffy’s behaviour.

Willow looked at the pair in front of her ‘Wow’ she thought ‘Rebecca just glows when she’s with him’ She looked at Buffy who was still glaring at the couple. Willow noticed something in her eyes, it looked a little like pain ‘Maybe Buffy wasn’t as disgusted at Spike’s affection as she made out to be’ Willow remembered Tara alluding to that very fact a few times but she had been to caught up in her addiction to really care. Willow resolved to watch the situation more carefully.

Spike flopped into the last available chair pulling Rebecca onto his lap, she snuggled happily into his arms and a feeling of completeness settled over him. He had seen everyone’s reactions to their situation and had decided to only focus on those who were happy for them. He looked over to Giles “So watcher what’s the story”

*********************************************************************


Giles stood up and started to pace “Willow and I believe we know why Rebecca was resurrected along with Buffy” everyone looked at him expectantly “We believe that when the Urn of Osiris was broken that it effectively split Buffy’s essence, returning the broken essence to their original vessels.”

Rebecca spoke up “But we already knew that”

“Yes quiet right Rebecca, however we believed there was a fault within the spell itself” Giles cast an apologetic glance at Willow “Now we know that it is directly linked to the urn. What we do not know however is what that means with regards to Buffy and Rebecca.”

Xander looked up at Giles confusion still evident upon his face “Huh?”

Willow now stood beside Giles “What it means Xander is that we don’t know if it is permanent”

Tara gasped when she realised what it meant, she looked worriedly from Rebecca to Buffy.

“Again I say Huh?”

Willow began to explain when Tara softly spoke up “What it means Xander is we don’t know how long this is going to last. If it’s not permanent the spell could fail and Buffy and Rebecca could both die again.”

Dawn gave a soft gasp and moved closer to Buffy clutching her hand. Spike tightened his grip on Rebecca pulling her close. “Not going to happen.” He couldn’t bear it if he lost both of them again.

Giles looked at Spike surprised by his reaction. “Willow and I have found a spell that will effectively anchor the girls to this existence.”

“Well let’s get on with it then watcher, what do you need? Spike moved to get up when Giles interrupted him.

“Yes, well the thing with the spell is” he removed his glasses and began to clean them “if we do the spell on the girls and their essences were already anchored then it would kill them”

No one liked that idea so it was agreed that they would have the spell prepared and then just waited to see if it would be needed. Giles and Willow decided that they needed to research the Urn more to see if they could get answers that way.

Rebecca spoke up for the first time since re-entering the room “Why don’t you get a member of the Osisians to research it from their end.”

The gang looked at her in confusion “Who are the Osisians” asked Dawn.

“Osisians!” Rebecca looked about her “You know Osisian Demons. Descended from Osiris.” She studied the blank faces of the Scoobies “Ancient craftsman, look human, live for hundreds of years, makers of the Urns of Osiris? How can you not know about Osisians?” She looked at Willow “Where on earth did you get your urn from then?”

Willow looked at Rebecca trying to process what she had just heard “Umm e- bay!”

Rebecca turned to Spike “What’s e-bay?”

*********************************************************************


Spike began to explain the concept to Rebecca “Well luv it’s a bit like a market place, people buy and sell goods on the Internet”

Rebecca stared at him in confusion “What’s?”

Giles cut her off “Perhaps the explanation of today’s technology could wait until later. Have you actually met an Osisian Demon Rebecca?”

“Of course, a part of every slayers training is to be taken to the nearest peaceful demon community to learn about their history and culture.” Rebecca looked amazed that they were not aware of this.

Xander spoke up “But demons are evil, soulless monsters. Why would you go to train with them?”

Rebecca began to get agitated “Who has told you all this nonsense!” she jumped up and started to pace. “Dawn said the same thing, haven’t you read about this at all?”

Giles interjected “I have never read anything that indicated anything other Rebecca. What books are you speaking about?”

Rebecca paced in frustration “Watchers diaries, Slayer’s diaries, Council records.” She counted them off on her fingers.

Buffy broke in “The councils gonna read my diary!”

Giles gave her a ‘look’ and she closed her mouth and stayed quiet. She was so going to have to do some serious editing.

“Rebecca I have never read anything like what you are referring too. Even your watchers and your own diaries made no mention of friendly demon communities.” Giles patiently tried to make her understand.

“What!” Rebecca seemed to be startled by that revelation “Do you have them here by chance?”

“Yes of course I bought them with us. I thought they may come in useful” Giles searched through the stack of books on the table and bought out five clad in black leather and one in red. He handed them to Rebecca.

“What are these?” she asked

“They are your diaries” Giles felt as though he was talking to a child.

Rebecca turned them over in her hands “No there not!”

“What do you mean there not” he picked up one from the pile and opened the front cover “It’s says right here Diary of Rupert Hoston. Watcher to Rebecca 1862 – 1875.” He closed the book satisfied.

Rebecca looked at him “It may say that, but I am telling you these are not our diaries.” She turned one over to show its spine “Firstly they are missing their insignia.”

Giles sighed “None of the books have an insignia Rebecca.”

“They did in my time, all watchers diaries were black leather with a gold insignia.” Rebecca frowned slightly as she tried to remember “It was a book with a sword laid on top of it. The slayers diary was red leather with a golden stake clasped in a fist on the spine.” Rebecca picked up another book and handed it to Spike “Secondly that” she pointed a finger to one of the pages “is not my uncles hand writing.”

Spike flipped through the pages “She’s right Rupes I know old Hoston's writing and this is not it.” He tossed the book back onto the table.

Giles madly flipped through the book “But that’s not possible”

Rebecca looked through one of the books “Here, where it talks about my battle with a Pelora demon it makes no mention of the Grishak who help me defeat it.”

The gang looked at her stunned “So what your saying is that someone has removed all mention of peaceful demons in order to what?” Buffy couldn’t understand what she was hearing.

Willow did however “Well we have been led to believe that all demons are evil and should be destroyed. What better way is there to eradicate a species or race without resistance?”

Xander tried to wrap his head around what was being said “So your saying is that someone has removed all mention of good demons” he made quote marks in the air as he said this “So the slayer will just kill them all of eventually.”

“But that doesn’t make any sense” Dawn now joined the conversation “There are too many demons for the slayer to get rid of them all.”

Spike thought for a moment “It does if you just want to get rid of the peaceful ones so you can take over the world.” Everyone looked at him in confusion. He sighed in frustration “Work with me people. Big evil demons want to take over the world. What stands in their way? Who stops them?”

Xander shoot his hand in the air “I know! The Slayer!”

Spike snorted at Xanders juvenile display “Well yes, but the slayer isn’t the only one strong enough to fight demons.” He looked at the others expectantly.

Rebecca broke in frustrated that it was taking the others so long to figure it out “Other Demons.”

Tara joined in “So if you’re an evil demon you have two main enemies, the slayer and the good demons that help the slayer.”

Willow got excited “So the easiest way to get rid of one enemy is to get the other enemy to do it for you.”

Giles walked over to the counter and retrieved a glass and some scotch, poring himself a large helping.

Rebecca looked puzzled “But why have all the councils records been changed”

Giles took a large gulp, spluttering slightly as it burned its way down his throat “Well it’s obvious that someone or thing infiltrated the council at some time and tampered with its entire historical library.”

Willow gasped “But how the library must be huge.”

The gang put their heads together trying to figure out how such a task could be accomplished. Spike stood and walked over to Giles and took a large swig from the bottle receiving a stern glare from Giles as he did.

The best suggestion they could come up with was some sort of spell to remove the entries. “I don’t think that would be possible” Tara mused “the mystical energies needed would be enormous”

Giles glasses were now being polished to within an inch of their life “Quite right a spell of that magnitude would have been detected by the council’s protection wards.”

Buffy stood and began to pace again “So what your saying is that at sometime someone, somehow managed to replace all the council records, without anyone within the council knowing, so that they could use the slayer as their own personal killing machine?” she didn’t like this at all.

“I don’t see how they could succeed at that though, the Demon council’s empath’s would have sensed their intent.”

Buffy looked at Rebecca “What is the Demon Council?”

Rebecca looked at Buffy in surprise “The Watchers Councils demon representatives. Each demon community would have several representatives that worked within the council.”

“No such thing exists nowadays” Giles looked at Buffy “I know how much you dislike the man Buffy, but I think that we should contact....”

Buffy cut him off “Travers!”

“Travers?” questioned Rebecca

“Quentin Travers, he’s the current head of the Watcher’s Council” Giles answered the question.

“QUENTIN TRAVERS IS THE HEAD OF THE COUNCIL” shouted Rebecca, she turned to Spike wide eyed “But he’s a Dretgo demon!” She looked back at the others “And they ARE evil!”

“I KNEW IT” exclaimed Buffy.

Chapter 6

The Scoobies erupted at Rebecca’s revelation; everyone started firing questions at her at once. Rebecca rubbed her brow feeling the beginnings of a headache.

Spike moved forward “Everyone SHUT UP! She can’t understand you if you all talk at once.”

The gang abruptly closed their mouth’s then all started to speak again.

“Right” Spike grabbed Rebecca’s hand and pulled her towards the door

“Hey where do you think your going with her dead boy” protested Xander

Spike waved his hand in the general direction of the door “If you haven’t noticed whelp its dark out and I am taking MY wife away from this third degree. She has had enough for today.”

Buffy spoke up “And where are you going to take your wife. To your crypt to play in the dirt and dust? You don’t even have a bed for her to sleep on”

“And who’s fault is that slayer” Spike snarled back. Spike would never admit to it but Buffy did have a point. There was no way he could take Rebecca back to the mess that was his home. Maybe he could get a room somewhere.

Dawn ran forward to link her arm through Rebecca’s “They can stay with us for the night”

“I’m not having Spike in my home overnight” Buffy started

Dawn frowned at Buffy “Why not. He was there looking after me every night when you were dead”

“Dawnie that was different” Buffy’s mind raced as she tried to think of reasons to keep Spike and Rebecca apart for the night. She could barely stand the newly reunited couples cuddling she shuddered to think what else they might get up to if given the opportunity.

“I don’t care” stated Dawn firmly, she looked towards Giles and Willow for support “This situation needs to be researched more and I’m pretty sure that means a late night and an early start. So it makes sense for all the Scoobies to come back to our place and just sleep over.” Dawn walked back towards the others pulling Rebecca and Spike with her “Giles have you organised anywhere to stay or did you come straight to our place?”

“Well I thought it best to go to see Buffy directly” replied Giles weariness evident in his voice.

Dawn nodded “Ok then this is what’s going to happen. Giles you can have the sofa, Xander”.

Xander almost jumped to attention at the authority in Dawn’s voice. “You have some of those inflatable bed thingies don’t you?” Xander nodded “alright you go home and get those. How many do you have?”

Xander thought for a moment “I’ve got a double and a single, Anya made me buy them together because we got a ‘respectable discount which represented future savings’ if we did” he grew silent at the thought of his absent ex- fiancé.

Dawns manner softened slightly “she’ll be back soon I’m sure Xander” Dawn looked at the others “So Xander and I can sleep on the inflatable beds and Tara can have my room” Dawn’s forehead crinkled in concentration “No that still won’t work. Umm Xander can have the single and maybe Tara and I could share the double then Rebecca could have my bed” she looked at Spike “Cot in the basement?”

Spike nodded “Sounds like a plan nibblet” feeling a small amount of disappointment at the arrangement.

Rebecca felt her heart sink a little; she had been hoping to spend the night in Williams’s arms. They still had much to talk about.

Buffy noticed the look of disappointment that briefly crossed Rebecca’s face and felt a small moment of triumph.

Tara noticed as well and spoke up “We could do that Dawnie or...” she cast a glance at Willow “you could keep your bed and Willow and I could share the double.”

Willow beamed up at Tara “Really?”

Tara smiled coyly “Really.” She turned her attention back to Dawn “Then Rebecca and Spike could have Willow’s room”

Murmurs of disapproval began to emerge from Xander, Buffy and Giles

Spike cut them off quickly “Sounds like a plan to me luv.”

Giles quashed his reservations about the situation and spoke up “Very well the sleeping arrangements are settled. Xander we will meet you at Buffy’s after you collect the beds.” He looked at Buffy “A short patrol should suffice for tonight, perhaps you could take Rebecca or Spike with you?”

“I’ll go, Becca’s had a long day” he spoke softly to Rebecca “Won’t be long pet.” He pressed a soft kiss on her forehead.

Rebecca looked up at him with uncertain eyes “promise?”

Spike tenderly tucked a stray curl behind one ear “promise.” He strode off towards the training room. “Just get a few weapons and we can be on our way.” He turned to look at Buffy “Coming slayer?”

Buffy stomped after him grumbling all the way.

The others quickly closed up the Magic Box and were on their way.

*********************************************************************


Buffy and Spike remained silent during their patrol. Only speaking when they required the other’s assistance, which wasn’t very often.

Buffy was unsettled by Spike’s silence; usually she couldn’t shut him up. She wanted him to snipe at her and make snarky comments about her fighting technique or try to get her to go back to his crypt. She felt misery settle over her, she had called an end to their dysfunctional relationship, but she never thought he would actually leave her. She had always thought that she could start things off again with him at any time.

Her musings, no hang on, her sulking was interrupted when they came upon a group of six vamps. Spike was already battling a large vamp who reminded her a little of Riley. She was paying so much attention to Spike’s fight that she was surprised when she was tackled by another vamp. She quickly regained her feet and concentrated on her own fight.

Spike was enjoying himself immensely taking out all his pent up frustrations on the Captain Cardboard look alike. When his stake finally found its way home he felt an enormous amount of satisfaction. He let out a wicked laugh and rushed forward to attack the remaining vamps, dusting two in quick succession. He turned round to look for Buffy she had already dusted two and was struggling with the final vamp. He rushed forward as the vamp grabbed her violently.

Buffy drove her stake home just as Spike was reaching for the vamp. Spike’s momentum carried him forward as the vamp turned to dust, the stake heading towards his heart.

Buffy’s eyes widen in shock as she saw the stake heading towards Spike, she managed to move the stake slightly before it imbedded itself into his chest, missing his heart by a mere inch.

They tumbled to the ground Spike swearing as the stake jarred in its place. Buffy disentangled herself and moved to pull the stake out of his chest. She didn’t notice the tears that were streaming down her face. “I’m sorry, I’m sorry” she wept as she pulled the stake out, Spike yelling in pain.

“BLOODY, BUGGERING HELL SLAYER” he felt as though his chest was on fire.

“I’m sorry, I didn’t see” Buffy cried as she ran her hands over his torso checking for other injuries. She leant forward and began kissing him hard, stretching her body against his, her tongue seeking entry into his mouth.

Spike opened his mouth to allow Buffy entry, moaning as her hands moved lower, his hands began to run lightly over her body. He plunged his own tongue into her mouth, the sensations taking over.



Buffy tugged at the buttons on jeans popping them loose and sliding her hand inside. Her fingertips lightly brushed the tip of his shaft; she allowed her fingernail to graze across the tender slit making Spike groan into her mouth. Spike’s own hands began to make their way inside her pants searching for her soft curls.



Buffy began to slide her hand downwards when Spike suddenly stopped, pushing her off him “NO!”

Buffy sat up looking dazed and a little pissed “No?” she asked incredulously

Spike stood drawing in an un-needed breathe as he buttoned himself up “No.” he stated firmly “I love you Buffy, you know I do. But you only want me when it’s convenient for you.”

Buffy looked down ashamed at the truth in his words tears once again rolling down her face.

Spike wanted to go to her but he stood firm “I love you Buffy, but I also love Becca just as much.” He thought for a moment “Maybe, maybe even more and I won’t betray her.” A look of resolve passed over his face “You finished whatever it was that we had. It’s over and I’m not going back. I love my wife and I want us to be together again.” With that he turned and headed back to Revello drive.

Buffy sat in the middle of the cemetery crying, she had only just realised how much she actually did need him and she had lost him forever. She cried her misery out to the night sky before she calmed herself and followed him home.

*********************************************************************


Spike stood in the shadows in front of Buffy’s home watching the activity inside. He took a deep drag on his smoke allowing his own tears to roll down his face. It was finally over, Buffy had called things off but he had never really believed it. Now he had been the one to end it, for good, he felt the grief welling in his heart until he saw Rebecca move into view. She was chatting happily with Tara; they seemed to have become firm friends. As he watched the scene he felt his grief subside, it was replaced with joy and pride and love.

He wiped the evidence of his tears from his face and strode out of the dark and into the light of his new life.

Spike walked through the door to be met by the sound of laughter; he leant against the entrance to the living room and surveyed the scene before him.

Tara and Willow were taking turns using a small foot pump to blow up the double bed, which left the single one to Xander. He had started to blow up the bed taking deep breathes and blowing fiercely into the valve. The only problem was that Dawn would bounce onto the lower part of the bed sending the air back into Xanders mouth in a rush. Rebecca sat on the sofa laughing at their antics; even Giles seemed amused by the childish display.

“Always knew you were full of it Whelp” Spike chuckled

“Hey” protested Xander then left it at that.

Willow and Tara looked at him in surprise, Xander just grinned sheepishly back at them.

Rebecca jumped up happily moving to Spikes side “William! Your back!”

Spike gave her a gentle kiss “Told you I wouldn’t be long”

Rebecca looked towards the door “Where’s Buffy?”

“She’ll be back in a bit.” Spike lifted Rebecca up and carried her back into the room, depositing her onto Xanders half inflated bed.

Everyone laughed as the air once again burst into Xanders mouth causing him to cough and splutter in protest.

Buffy chose that moment to return home. She saw the laughter on everyone’s faces and felt even more miserable “I’m going to bed, I’m tired.” She made her way upstairs a fresh batch of tears filling her eyes.

Tara looked at the now subdued group “I think perhaps we should all get some sleep and start fresh in the morning.” She tossed the pump to Xander “I think you’ll have more luck with this.”

Xander caught the pump losing his balance as he did and tumbling backwards. The group began to laugh at his clumsiness the mood lightening once again.

“Come on bit, time for bed. Don’t forget to brush your teeth.” Spike ushered Dawn upstairs, before turning around to speak to Rebecca. “I don’t have to sleep up there with you if your not ready luv. Basement will be fine”

Rebecca took his hand and pulled him up the stairs “I want you with me William.”

Spike felt his heart swell even more ‘God he was turning into the Git again’. The thing is he didn’t really seem to care. “You go get ready luv, I’ll just have a shower.”

Rebecca sat perched on the end of the bed looking around the room and worrying her bottom lip. ‘It had been a long time since she had been with William what if she wasn’t enough any more? What if he compared her to Buffy and found her lacking? His actions were telling her that he wanted to be with her but what if he was just acting?’ Rebecca was so lost in her thoughts that she didn’t hear Spike enter the room.

“What’s wrong luv” Spike knelt before her a look of concern in his eyes.

Rebecca’s gave him a reassuring smile “Just lost in my thoughts is all” Her eyes travelled over his bare torso taking in his injury “William what happened?” she cried

“Just a little mishap, nothing to concern you. It’s already half healed, see!” he straightened slightly to give her a better look.

Rebecca’s fingers skirted around the injury she bent forward and place a kiss on it Spike moaned softly at the warm caress.

Rebecca was suddenly unsure again and she stood abruptly giving her back to Spike “unzip me?”

Spike stood and slowly drew the zipper down sliding the dress from her shoulders, letting it pool at her feet. He placed gentle kisses on her neck running his hands down her bare arms. Rebecca moved away from him and divested herself of the rest of her clothing before slipping into the bed.

Spike walked over to the window drawing the curtains shut, before removing his jeans and sliding in next to Rebecca, pulling her close. He whispered in his ear “We’ll take our time my love”

Rebecca turned in his arms “That’s the first time you’ve called me that.”

“Called you what?”

“Your love” Rebecca started to run her hands over his naked body, placing small kisses on his chest “I missed it”

Spike once again caught her mouth in a deep kiss his hands starting their own exploration.

Spike and Rebecca passed the next few hours with tender caresses, gentle kisses and whispered words.

As Spike finally gave way to sleep he realised that for the first time in 100 plus years he felt at peace.

Chapter 7
Buffy woke the next morning and headed for the shower. She felt awful her eyes were raw and swollen and she hadn’t gotten much sleep. She glared at the door to the bedroom that held Spike and Rebecca; she had spent most of the night straining to hear what was happening in the offending room. She hadn’t heard a sound and didn’t know whether to be pleased or worried about that.

She had just put her hand on the door knob when it swung open. Rebecca almost collided with her as she walked out clad in a towel. Rebecca smiled widely at her “Good morning Buffy.” Rebecca hummed to herself as she walked back into the bedroom. Buffy could hear Spike as he greeted her before the door once again closed.

Buffy glared at the closed door before she turned to enter the bathroom. She spotted Dawn leaning nonchalantly leaning against her own door. “Watcha doing?” she asked innocently.

“Umm just going to have a shower” Buffy started to move forward.

“So the love birds awake?” Dawn felt like she was going to burst if she didn’t find out what was going on soon.

“Looks that way” grumbled Buffy as she closed the bathroom door with a bang.

“Geez grumpy much.” Dawn all but bounced to the bedroom door knocking before poking her head round the door. Her eyes were squeezed shut just in case she saw something she really shouldn’t see at her age. Dawn had done that once when Buffy had been dead, the sight of a drunk and very naked Spike had embarrassed her for weeks. “Hey guys you decent”

She heard Spike give a low laugh “I don’t know about decent Bit but you can look” Dawn opened her eyes to see Spike and Rebecca already dressed.

“Everyone’s meeting downstairs” She smiled as Spike wrapped his arms around Rebecca “Come down when you’re ready. I’ll go warm you some blood.” Dawn thumped down the stairs to the kitchen pleased that it was now the weekend and she wouldn’t miss any of the juicy details.

Spike hugged Rebecca closer to him placing gentle kisses alone her neck. He sighed deeply “We could just lock the door and stay here all day” he wasn’t looking forward to spending another day surrounded by Scoobies.

Rebecca wriggled out of his grasp and pulled him towards the door “Somehow I think they would send up a search party.”

*********************************************************************

Tara looked up as Dawn came bounding through the door “Pancakes?”

“Yes please!” Dawn walked over to the fridge grabbing a blood bag from behind the four day old Chinese takeout. Weird how she was more grossed out by the funky looking leftovers than the blood. She filled Spikes mug, putting it into the microwave to warm.

Spike and Rebecca walked into the kitchen just as the microwave finished. Dawn plunked his mug onto the counter before grabbing a plate of pancakes and shovelling them into her mouth at an amazing speed.

Spike stared at her “That is disgusting Nibblet.”

Dawn shrugged

“Coming from someone how drinks blood, that’s saying something” Xander grimaced as he watched the teen continue to eat.

Giles moved to the dining table so he could drink his morning tea in relative peace. The table was already strewn with papers from this morning’s research.

“So what’s the what G-man” Xander pulled up a chair at the table.

Giles sighed and looked at his watch ‘Yes a full 30 seconds peace and quiet’ he turned to Xander “How many times must I ask you not to call me that Xander?”

Xander merely shrugged “Not sure G-man, tell you when we get there.”

Giles looked up as the others entered from the kitchen “Perhaps we could move to the living room while we wait for Buffy to join us.” He started to gather the papers from the table.

Xander and Dawn sprung up racing each other to get the best spot, Spike and Rebecca followed at a more leisurely pace. Willow moved to help Giles with the explosion of paperwork, while Tara returned to the kitchen to gather up a selection of healthy snacks. She had a feeling they were going to need them. It was going to be a long day.

Buffy came downstairs feeling better, she had had a long talk with herself in the shower and decided that the only reason she was so emotional yesterday was the shock of finding out who Rebecca was. It was most definitely NOT because she was jealous of her relationship with Spike.

Tara held a cup of coffee out as Buffy entered “Thought you might need this”

Buffy smiled her thanks and took a seat, purposely avoiding looking in Spikes direction “Ok so what’s the plan.”

Giles cleared his throat as he began “Those of us who were up early this morning formed a list of issues that need to be discussed” He looked at the papers in his hand “We decided that to avoid any confusion we would address each in turn until everyone is satisfied they have grasped the situation fully.”

“Sounds like a plan” Buffy looked towards Giles.

“Yes, well” Giles looked at Rebecca as he spoke “Willow would like to know more about the ‘essences’ of Rebecca and Buffy. Tara suggested that we explore the concept of the Demon communities” Dawn cleared her throat loudly “Dawn would also like Rebecca to explain more fully about the retained personalities that she mentioned yesterday.” Giles looked around at the gathered group “And then there is the matter of Quentin Travers and the alleged tampering with the council records.” He still had trouble believing that anything like that could be accomplished. “I think this should be left to the end as it will no doubt lead to other questions.”

Everyone nodded in agreement; Giles looked at Willow “Perhaps you’d like to start Willow?”

*********************************************************************

Willow turned to Rebecca “I’ve been researching resurrection and reincarnation spells and I’ve found that they sometimes refer to the persons ‘essence’ and other times their ‘souls’. The way they are written makes me think that they are referring to two different things. I’ve always assumed they were the same.”

Xander interjected “They are. Aren’t they?”

Rebecca looked at Willow then Xander “Well actually no their not. I studied a little about resurrection when I first met the Osisians.” She leant forward as she started to impart her limited knowledge. “From what I remember the Osisians believe that a being’s essence is made up of three parts; the mystical or spiritual, the emotional and the logical.”

Rebecca paused looking around at her now rapt audience “the mystical is what is commonly known as the soul, you could say it is the moral centre for that being. It helps them to distinguish right from wrong on a base level.” She thought for a moment “There’ more to it than just that but I can’t really remember it all.”

Willow nodded her head as she processed the information “So the emotional would be like….their heart?” she looked at Rebecca for confirmation.

“Yes that’s right; the emotional aspect is what motivates the being to act to fulfil a need. They feel hungry so they get food, their angry so they lash out in violence.”

Tara joined the conversation “So you’re saying that if a being only had the heart part of their essence they would not be able to temper their reactions. Everything would be extreme”

Rebecca nodded “And logic is the mind, the beings ability to use reason. It’s the part of the essence that can overcome the primal instincts of the heart.”

Silence filled the room as each of the Scoobies processed this new piece of information.

Rebecca continued “The Osisians also believe that these elements are also made up of three parts. Basically they are the past, present and future.”

Willow was madly scribbling notes she was beginning to understand what had happened during the spell “I think I’ve understand. The past would be those parts of a person’s…umm… beings essence that is passed down from their ancestors.”

Rebecca nodded “That’s correct. The present is part of the essence that wholly belongs to that being and the future is that part of the essence that is passed along to future generations.”

Tara bent her head close to Willows scanning her notes “So we can assume that when the spell went wrong the past part of Buffy returned to Rebecca resurrecting her as well.”

“That sounds like the most plausible reason” Giles had been making notes of his own. “Did the Osisians explain what they believed happened upon the person’s death?”

“I didn’t understand most of it but it’s more to do with birth then death.” Rebecca stood and began to pace trying to recall what she had learnt. “When a being is conceived they receive a part of each of their parents, which forms the past part of their essence. It’s like the seed that starts the growth of the beings own present essence. The two parts then merge and form the future part which is passed along to their children.”

Dawn looked at Buffy tearfully “The monks made me from Buffy, does that mean I’ve taken away part of her essence.”

“No Dawn. Please don’t think that. It’s more like a copy is taken of the beings essence and used to start the growth of the next.” Rebecca thought for a moment longer “The Osisians also believed that when a being died that a copy of their essence would sit in the spiritual ether until a compatible descendant was found, joining with their essence and making it stronger.”

“I know I know” Xander had finally heard something that he thought he understood “My Uncle Rory says that I’m just like my great great Uncle Bruce. Does that mean that I have his essence in me as well?”

“Yes that is most probably correct.”

Willow was almost bouncing with excitement as she wrote furiously on her notepad.

“Is that enough information for the moment Willow?” Giles was eager to move ahead.

“Yes this helps me big time.”

“Good Good. Perhaps we could take a short break and then Tara could go next”

Spike jumped up “Right time for a smoke” he strode out the back standing in a shaded spot while he lit up.

“You know those things will kill you.” Tara stood just outside the backdoor.

“Good thing I’m already dead then.”

Tara watched Spike for a few minutes, he looked different. A few days ago he had been depressed and dark; she had been worried that he would do something extreme. Now his whole body seemed to thrum with pent up energy she tilted her head to one side as she studied him ‘So this is what a happy Spike looks like’ she thought.

Spike cocked an eyebrow “Watcha lookin at Glinda”

“You” she walked over and laid her head on his shoulder wrapping her arms around his waist. “It’s good to see you happy” she placed a gentle kiss on his cheek before turning to go back inside “Told you that you mattered”

Spike smiled in response before flicking his cigarette into the yard and following her back inside.

*********************************************************************

Tara and Spike walked back into the living room chatting quietly, everyone else was already seated ready to begin again.

“Whenever your ready dead boy”

“Shouldn’t you be off buying doughnuts or something about now whelp?” Spike smirk as Xander glowered back at him.

Giles looked up from his notes “Doughnuts? Are there any jelly?” everyone snickered but quietened down when Giles gave them all a stern look.

“Tara would you like to go next”

Tara settled down onto the floor crossing her legs she looked up at Rebecca and Spike “I’d like to know more about how the demon communities worked.” She looked around at the others “I thought that if we knew what we were looking for we may be able to find out if there are any still in existence today. They could be helpful allies, especially if we have to go up against the council.”

“Why do we need help from demons?” Xander looked meaningfully at Spike

“Well duh Xander, ‘cause they’re like wicked strong” Dawn rolled her eyes at him. “Wouldn’t you rather have like an army for the next apocalypse, or would you rather let Buffy die AGAIN?”

“Dawnie” Buffy was shocked at Dawn’s attitude

“She has got a point Buffy” Giles thought for a moment “I’m sure that a peaceful demon community could be an invaluable source of information and …umm…manpower.”

Rebecca interrupted “That is a good idea; however we don’t even know if they still exist or if they’ve been hunted into extinction. There is a spell that I could do however, to call forward an emissary. I could try that?”

“Yes that is one idea; however I would like to know more before we continue”

“Of course” Rebecca settled back leaning against Spike’s chest “Most of the communities have some sort of masking spell placed around them. This is so any humans that enter the community won’t notice anything too out of the ordinary. Many of them also have a sanctuary spell in place to prevent demon violence.”

“I thought they were peaceful” blurted out Xander

Rebecca looked at him in frustration “They are! Other demons aren’t however.”

“Maybe we should look into getting one of those here” Buffy looked around her home noting all the items that had been replaced or repaired over the years.

“Usually there is a mix of demons and humans and they usually like to be near power centres.”

“Why power centres?” asked Dawn

“It used to be so that they could help the Slayer and the council keep them under control, have their own people on the inside so to speak.” Rebecca looked at Spike before continuing “That was why there was one close to Oxford. There’s a nexus in the basement of the University.”

“Really?” Spike looked surprised.

“Yes, most of the Professors and other staff of the university were either demons or in the employ of the council.” Rebecca hesitated before she continued “Do you remember David Stanton he was a vampire.”

Spike stared at he open mouthed “Stanton, as in Professor Stanton, taught philosophy.” he gave a small chuckle “knew I admired him for a reason.” He turned to look at Tara “Everyone thought he was a bit odd, used to hate the sun, would skirt round any stray sunbeams. His rooms were always dark as pitch. Just thought he was nuts, makes sense now though.” He sat back happily

“Good grief! A vampire at Oxford you say” they all looked at Giles and yes those glasses were off being cleaned furiously again “Well that’s just…I mean how….Oxford your say? Good grief”

“So if you failed your mid term you got what? Eaten?” Rebecca laughed at Dawn’s reaction.

“No Dawn they did not get eaten. Well …some of them might have.”

Dawn gasped “I’m joking Dawn, really.” Rebecca reassured her “David Stanton is one of those demons I told you about. Soulless but made a choice to be good.”

The gang waited for Rebecca to continue, Spike stretched his arms out along the back of the sofa, a satisfied smirk on his face ‘This was going to be interesting’

“David Stanton was employed by the council; he was married to a Tenlasia demon and they lived in the community near the university. He was attacked and turned one night on his way home. Rachel came to us distraught” she looked at the vacant expressions on the Scoobies “Rachel was his wife, anyway she had sent out a search party and they had found his body.”

“But how did they control his initial bloodlust” inquired Giles

“In cases like this the person would be magically restrained. The whole community would take turns watching over them. Each household would bring an animal to be offered for blood. When the victim awoke their family, friends and neighbours would all be there, feeding them and speaking to them about their lives. There was absolutely no violence. Often an Osisian would come and assist, they believed that without the violent influence a sire would have over a fledgling the logic part of the persons essence would learn to compensate for the loss of their soul.”

“It sounds like this would be a drawn out process” Giles theorised.

“It was” Rebecca nodded “It could take months before the fledgling would be permitted to move around unrestrained. But it was found that if they could work through the initial bloodlust and learn to control it, then their normal human personality would reassert itself.”

Dawn started to get excited “That’s what happened with Spike, the chip controlled his bloodlust long enough for him learn how to control it himself.” She jumped up flinging herself into Spike’s lap and wrapped her arms around his neck squeezing him happily “See I told you he had changed”

“Thanks Bit” grinned Spike pleased that he didn’t need to breathe.

“Yes well it seems that these peaceful demons could be of assistance to us” Giles once again looked at Rebecca “You said that you could try to contact them, perhaps we could do that now.”

“I can try” Rebecca stood speaking to Tara and Willow “there are a few things I need, could you help me.”

Tara and Willow got up and left with Rebecca. The others sat around thinking about what they had learnt.

The girls soon returned with a small glass bowl filled with water and placed it onto the floor. They placed a few other items around it; Willow nervously rubbed her hands on her jeans. “I’m not sure about this” she looked at Tara “I promised no more magic”

Tara stretched out a hand to reassure her “It’s ok sweetie, this isn’t magic for your own gain. It’ll be fine”

The three of them sat round the bowl and began the spell.

Tara lifted a small bottle of lavender oil letting three drops fall into the water.

*Ego Advoco Ad Quos Quisnam Absconditus*

Tara placed her left hand on the edge of the bowl the tips of her fingers just touching the water. Willow went next she opened a small pouch and sprinkled some sandalwood powder into the bowl.

*Monstrare Tui Verus Vultus Ad Quos Quisnam Capto*

Willow placed her hand onto the bowl like Tara had. Rebecca then lifted her hand above the bowl and took a small knife, cutting her palm; she let a few drops of blood fall onto the waters surface.

*Mittere Effero Emissarius Sic Licit Loquere*

Rebecca placed her hand on the bowl then the three of them spoke in unison.

*Invito Tu*

The water began to swirl in the bowl, turning a brilliant gold before once again turning crystal clear.

“You called” said a clipped voice.

The gang turned to look at the figure standing in the doorway.

“Anya” cried Xander as he recognised just who the emissary was.

Anya gave him a quelling look “I’m not talking to you Xander Harris” she turned away from him “OK people I don’t have all day, places to be, vengeance to wreak.” She moved towards Willow and Tara when she noticed the third girl “Rebecca? Aren’t you dead?”

Chapter 8



“Anyanka!” Rebecca jumped up and moved forward to embrace her “I’m so pleased that there’s someone else I know still around.” She linked her arm through Anya’s and started to pull her forward “How long have you been an emissary. Things must really have changed. How’s D’Hoffran?” Rebecca stopped in front of the sofa “Anya I’d like you to meet William.” Rebecca smiled broadly “My husband”



Spike grinned up from his seat wiggling his fingers at her “’ello luv.”



Anya looked back and forth between the pair her eyes round with amazement “Spike is William! As in your William?” Anya smiled at Rebecca “Let me see if I remember correctly…The most incredible, amazing, loving, sensitive man that every existed…he writes the most beautifully romantic poetry and has these amazing blue eyes you could just stare into forever…That William”



Rebecca blushed as Anya repeated the words she had used to describe William. “Yes Anyanka ...That William.”



Anya eyed Spike speculatively “I see you left a few important things out of your description.” She turned to Rebecca and added bluntly “Was he good in bed? You weren’t married the last time we spoke.”



Rebecca’s face flamed even redder however she leaned over to whisper in Anya’s ear “Incredible.”



Anya smiled widely “Have you had sexual intercourse since you’ve been back. He is a vampire now. They have the most incredible stamina you know and the whole not needing to breathe thing.” she gave Rebecca a wink “Definitely a plus.”



Spike stared up at her amazed; if he’d been human his face would have been the same colour as Rebecca’s



Giles cleared his throat behind them “Um perhaps we could attend to the matter at hand and you could leave the ...umm…catching up until a later time.”



“Giles!” Anya exclaimed happily and started to walk towards him. Then she spotted Xander staring at her in amazement “Oh you’re still here. Shouldn’t you have run away by now? You’re very good at that.” Anya glared at him in disgust.



Xander snapped out of the daze he had been in since he had first seen his ex-fiancé. He jumped up reaching out to pull on her arm “An, An, I’m so sorry please forgive me. I still love you.”



Anya wrenched her arm from her grasp “SORRY SORRY, you left ME at the alter Xander.” She moved away from him and stood directly in front of Giles, taking a moment to compose herself. “Giles you called me to help you, but I CANNOT work with that...that … MAN in the same room. Please get rid of him.”



Giles sighed “Xander could you please go …..” he thought for a moment. He had no idea what to do with Xander “be somewhere else.”



Dawn jumped up and grabbed his arm “Come on Xander lets go get some…..umm…doughnuts.” She tugged him towards the front door leaving the others to deal with Anya.



The door closed with a thud as the two went in search of sugary goodness.



Anya seemed to relax visibly as soon as Xander left the room; she turned to face the others “I see I have a lot of catching up to do. Tara, how are things going with the shop? Everything ready for reopening? ”



Tara nodded “All set for Monday morning.”



Anya gave a sharp nod “Good” she turned back to Giles “Shall we get on with it?” Anya moved forward pulling an ornate necklace from her pocket and placing it around her neck; she sat down, straight backed and regally surveyed those before her. “I am Anyanka chosen emissary of Midian. Who has called me forth?”



Rebecca moved picked up the bowl that was used for the spell, she kneeled before Anya holding the bowl out towards her “I have called you emissary.” Anya reached out to touch the bowl with both hands. “I am Rebecca the Vampire Slayer. I have need of your counsel.”



Anya looked at Rebecca for a moment before intoning softly “Cruentus antiquitas.”



The water once again began to swirl turning a deep rich red.



Spike leaned forward inhaling sharply. The scent of blood emanating from the bowl was almost overpowering. His demon was clamouring to come out.



Anya bought the bowl up to her lips drinking deeply before handing it back to Rebecca her lips now glowed red from the traces of blood left on them.



Rebecca also drank deeply from the bowl of coopery liquid before she rose and approached Giles. “You have to drink or you can’t take part in the meeting.” Giles looked ill as he took the bowl from her “You have to take a large mouthful and you can’t wipe of lick the blood from your lips until the meeting is over.”



Giles closed his eyes tightly as he drank hurriedly before handing the bowl back. Willow, Tara and Buffy each took their turn drinking from the bowl grimacing at the taste of blood in their mouths.



Rebecca moved to where Spike sat. “You can only take one mouthful William” she looked at him in concern “Can you do that?”



Spike shifted uncomfortably the sight of blood on the other’s lips mixed with the intoxicating scent of the blood had his demon was screaming for release. He concentrated on pushing his demon back down before nodding.



Rebecca handed the bowl to him whispering “Remember, you can’t remove it from your lips.”



Spike gulped down a large helping before roughly shoving the bowl away. He had never tasted anything like it before. The mixture was like concentrated slayer blood he could feel the magic and power coursing through it. The temptation to lick his lips was overwhelming; he clenched his fists tightly as he once again struggled with his demon.



Anya watched the others as they drank, pleased at how Spike kept control of his demon. Rebecca moved to sit in front of her once again nodding that they were ready to continue.



“Defendo nobis” The blood on their lips glowed brightly and a wave of magical energy raced through the room.



“What was that?” Willow panted her whole body shaking from the effects of the spell.



“That was a protection spell” Anya relished the feeling of the power flowing through her “Of sorts”



Rebecca once again moved to sit beside Spike on the sofa “The ritual protects the meeting. While the blood remains on our lips, the words we speak are protected. Only those who have participated in the ritual can hear what is being said.”



“We only have a short time so ask your questions” Anya hurried them along.



Giles spoke first “Well obviously since you’re here the peaceful communities still exist”



Anya nodded “Only Midian remains the others were wiped out during the last Great War.” Anya thought for a moment “That was around the early 1900’s. It moves around to avoid detection.”



“Great War, as in World War I?” questioned Tara



“No before that, it was a war between humans and demons.” Anya looked at Rebecca “Most of them didn’t see it coming, after all we had worked with the Watchers for centuries. They just walked in one day and started killing. Women, children, even the human mates of some of the demons.” Anya shuddered at the memory. “It was very organised; communities all over the world were exterminated at the same time.”



Rebecca stared at Anya “Why would they do that?”



Anya shrugged “No one knew. I heard later that a few months before there had been some sort of demon attack on the council. It was said that the demon representatives just walked in and started killing. It was never confirmed because all those accused were dead.”



“What about The Slayer what was her reaction to what was happening?” Rebecca was feeling sick at the thought of her many demon friends dying at the hands of those that were supposed to help protect them.



“After you died The Slayers never seemed to last more than a few years. Just before everything started to get really bad there were three or four all killed within a few months each other. Their deaths were quite brutal and always close to one of the communities.”



“Someone was trying to overthrow the council from the inside” they turned to look at Giles “It makes sense. If you want to take over the council and control The Slayer what better way.” Giles leaned forward his head in his hands.



Anya patted him on the back awkwardly “Yes many that are left in Midian believe that is so, but their numbers are too small to do anything about it.” She turned to look at Buffy “Especially if The Slayer doesn’t believe that it is possible for a demon to be good.”



Buffy had started to pace the room “So this is what has happened.” She began to check points off on her fingers “Someone, most likely from within the council, started what? Setting up Slayers so they got killed of quickly.”



“Why?” Willow questioned



“Well it sounds as though they were trying to make it look like the peaceful demons weren’t so peaceful after all. I mean you did say that the bodies were found near the communities.” Giles theorised.



“Oh Oh also maybe they were also trying to get a Slayer called that they could control” added Willow



Giles nodded in agreement.



Buffy started again “Ok so they had a Slayer that they could control, next would be to get rid of the demons within the council.”



“Not only demons luv.” Spike looked at Anya “I’d say that anyone they believed would be a problem was wiped out. Probably only left behind the ones still wet behind the ears. Easier to control that way.”



“Then they used that as an excuse to remove any resistance from the outside.” Buffy sat down suddenly very depressed “With all the obstacles out of the way they could do anything they liked.” She looked at Giles “Like changing records to show whatever they want.”



“It seems that way” Giles felt the need for a large glass of scotch. “And the most likely suspect is…”



“Quentin Travers” they all cried in unison.



“But that doesn’t make any sense” Buffy said “I know he’s like way old, but he’s not that old.”



“Yes it does seem quite an elaborate plan to set in motion just for someone else to reap the benefits.” Giles knew he was missing something but couldn’t quite put his finger on it.



Spike looked at them in disgust “Hello! Have we all forgotten that Quentin Travers is a DEMON?”



Spike and Rebecca stared at the others in disbelief. How could they forget that piece of information?



“Well that explains a lot” stated Anya, then she frowned “Why didn’t I sense it?”



“He’s a Dretgo” Rebecca said reassuringly.



“Well no wonder then”



The others still stared at them “Huh! Wha! Huh!” Buffy still had no idea what being a Dretgo meant.



Giles removed his glasses and began to clean them AGAIN “It would be most helpful if you could…Damn!” he looked down at his broken glasses in disgust before tossing them onto the coffee table. “Could you explain to us what a Dretgo demon is? Oh and Tara could you please go look in my bag for my spare set of glasses.”



Tara dashed out of the room wanting to get back before she missed anything.



“Dretgo’s are basically human, they look human, smell human” Rebecca slid a look at Spike “Taste human but they are most definitely NOT human.”



Tara came rushing back in and practically threw the glasses at Giles “Go on” she panted



“The main differences are...well… they’re evil. They also live for about 5000 years”



“So Travers was likely part of the council back in the 1800”s. Wouldn’t someone notice him not aging?” Willow thought out loud.



“Well actually no. Dretgo’s regenerate about every 50 years, they age normally until they are about 75 then they go through this metamorphoses and change back to look about 25.”



“Then what….pass themselves off as a relative?”



Rebecca and Anya looked at each other uncomfortably “Yes that is what they do; they usually pass themselves of as a son or daughter.”



“Wouldn’t someone notice if a child all of a sudden showed up out of nowhere?”



“Well it’s not exactly out of nowhere.” Rebecca didn’t want to have to explain this but it needed to be done. She grasped onto Spike for support. “When two Dretgo’s mate it’s for life, however they do take human mates as well. The human never knows that their husband or wife is a demon. The Dretgo always picks a fertile mate and breeds with them. They will breed until the correct gender is born; any half human children that are born and are not the correct sex or are born with a defect are killed within a few months.” Rebecca shifted in her seat “Once the ideal child has been born the Dretgo will then cosset that child and its human mate. Keeping them healthy and safe at all costs. They usually try and time it so that the child will be in its mid twenties by the time they need to metamorphose.”



Anya took up the story “When the Dretgo reaches its time to transform it will take its human family to a place of ritual where it will meet up with its demon mate. The family is restrained and during the ritual the child is consumed by the parent, enabling the parent to take on the child’s form. The human mate is then eaten alive by the Dretgo’s in celebration.”



The room was deathly silent as the Scoobies digested this information. Silent tears streamed down the girls faces and Giles was looking decidedly ill.



Buffy composed herself “We have to stop this. We have to wipe them from the face of the earth” her hands curled into fists at her side and she felt the overwhelming need to hit something. She unconsciously looked towards Spike at that thought before once again looking away in shame.



“Anya is it possible for us to enlist the aid of the residents of Midian?” Giles was already trying to form some kind of battle plan.



“I will speak to the elders when I return. Does anyone have any more questions?” Anya was tired and wanted to be able to relax. Her back was killing her from having to sit so straight.



“Um I just have one” Willow waved her hand to get everyone’s attention “You seem to be a vengeance demon again, and don’t kill me or anything, aren’t they evil? How can you be an emissary for a peaceful demon community?”



Rebecca answered for Anya “Vengeance demons aren’t evil, they’re neutral. It depends on the wish you make.”



“You wish it, I dish it” commented Anya “And they sent me because I know Buffy. Less likely to be slayed if you know the Slayer.”



Just then Xander and Dawn returned from their snack run. Xanders eye’s lit up when he saw Anya was still there. “Anya please just hear me out, let me explain.”



Anya jumped up and started to shout, unfortunately as the spell was still in effect so all Xander saw was Anya gesturing wildly and moving her mouth with no sound coming out.



Anya stamped her foot in frustration “You can all break the spell now, just wipe the blood from your lips.” She reached for a tissue when she noticed how Spike and Rebecca were removing theirs.



Spike’s lips were on fire the feel of the potent blood on them had been driving him crazy. He quickly darted his tongue out to lick his lips clean when he caught sight of Rebecca’s blood red lips. He gently caught her face and moved his mouth towards hers; he ran his tongue across her soft lips lapping at the blood like a kitten at milk. When her lips were free of all traces he covered her mouth with his letting his tongue search for any traces that may have been left. The couple groaned and deepened their kiss.



Anya looked at the others, Willow and Tara seemed to appreciate the method Spike was using to clean his wife. They gave each other a sensual smile before they followed the couples lead.



Giles was desperately trying to avoid looking at the couples while he searched for something to clean his own lips with. Anya stood there staring at his full lips, Xander completely forgotten. A speculative look filled her eyes and she moved forward to sit on his lap “Let me get that for you”. Anya let her tongue move softly across Giles’s lips until she felt his body relax then she pressed her lips against his seeking entrance into his mouth with her tongue.



Xander felt like his heart was breaking as he watched Anya kiss Giles; he whirled round and rushed out. Even the slam of the door didn’t register to the kissing couples.



Buffy clutched her knees close to her chest as she watched the three couples kissing. Her eyes kept moving back to Spike and Rebecca, she felt a knot form in her chest as tears started to fill her eyes. Suddenly she jumped up and rushed upstairs a sob bursting forth as she reached the bathroom and proceeded to scrub the blood from her lips.



Dawn just stood in the doorway staring at the couple trying to memorise just what it was they were doing to each other to elicit those tiny moany sounds. She really needed to write some of this stuff down so she and Janice could work out what to do if they ever got boyfriends

Chapter 9



Buffy stared at her reflection in the mirror. Her lips were swollen from rubbing the blood away. She clutched the side of basin as memories assailed her, memories of her lips being swollen from other activities ‘Rebecca’s lips now’ she felt pain cramp her insides at that thought.



Buffy leant back against the wall sliding down to the floor there was no more denying it. She was jealous. Rebecca had come back and Spike had run into her willing open arms and forgotten all about Buffy. ‘Well maybe not forgotten there was that kiss on patrol last night.’



But he had made a choice and it hadn’t been her ‘What did I expect anyway. Oh Buffy I love the way you beat on me and use me for sex, and treat me like shit. Please oh Please Buffy I don’t want to go back to my wife who loves me and treats me like a man. I want to stay with you hidden away to be used at your convenience.’ Buffy let the sarcastic little voice echo through her head. She closed her eyes and saw the image of Spike and Rebecca kissing, clearly in love and happy. ‘That could have been me, if I hadn’t been so scared. Now I can never get him back. I can never tell him how I really feel.’ Tears started to fall down her face once more “Oh God” she whispered to the room “What have I done” she drew her legs up hugging them to herself.



Downstairs Dawn coughed softly, then more loudly, then so loudly that she thought that they could hear her in Australia. The three couples continued to kiss, so Dawn did what any self respecting teenager would do, she went for the Oscar winning performance. Clutching at her throat Dawn started to make a choking noise stumbling forward she threw herself towards the couple on the couch, clawing at her throat eyes round with fright. She then stumbled backwards, fell to her knees gasping for breathe before gracefully collapsing into a heap on the floor.



The couples had broken apart during Dawn’s performance and were now crowded around her frantically searching for signs of injury. Giles was gently patting Dawns cheeks “Dawn, Dawn! Where’s Buffy? Someone get Buffy!” Willow dashed upstairs to find her.



Spike felt fear start to curl its way through him, until he sensed something else. He sat back and listened carefully. There. A strong steady heartbeat became clear through all the noise. There was something else, he moved closer listening intently. There it was again a soft low sound that sounded suspiciously like a...”She’s foxin” shouted Spike as he sprung forward to tickle Dawn mercilessly. Dawn squealed arms flailing as she twisted away from Spike’s evil hands. She jumped up dashing out of the room towards the kitchen Spike in hot pursuit.



Buffy lifted her head sharply when she heard a scream ‘Dawn’ she jumped up running down the stairs, colliding with Willow half way down.



Willow had stopped when she had heard the squeal from the living room; she turned in time to see a Dawn shaped blur dash past just before something hard hit her in the back and sent her tumbling down.



Spike reached the stairs as Buffy and Willow came to rest at the bottom, he tried to stop but his momentum carried him forward. The three of them ended up in a tangled mess on the floor.



Buffy moaned lightly as Spike landed on top of her, she rolled her hips slightly and felt him harden in response. Spike pulled back to stare into her eyes “Don’t”. Buffy saw it then, the desire for her that was still there. The only problem was that the pain was still there also.



Spike stood up, quickly moving away from her as Rebecca caught up to him.



“Are you ok?” Rebecca frantically ran her hands across his torso “How’s your shoulder? Did you reopen your wound?” The worry was evident in Rebecca’s voice.



“S’ok luv, nearly all healed.” Spike stilled her frantic hands as he reassured her.



That’s when Buffy saw it. Love. ‘So that’s what it looks like’ she thought. She had thought she’d seen it before with Willow and Tara but theirs had somehow been broken and had yet to be rebuilt fully. Xander and Anya had also come close but what she saw with Spike and Rebecca was different. Nothing could ever break the bond between them, not death or demons and most certainly not her. ‘That’s what he was looking for with me. What I denied him, what I denied myself.’



Buffy let herself feel one more moment of self pity before putting Willow’s resolve face firmly into place.



Did she love Spike? ‘Yes’



Had she done anything to make herself worthy of his love ‘No’



Did she want him to be happy ‘Yes, she did, and if being with Rebecca made him happy then she would just have to accept that.’



“Buffy.” Willow pushed on her friends shoulders “BUFFY! I can’t get up”



Buffy realised that she was still laying across her friends legs “Oops sorry Will.” They manage to untangle themselves and stand up brushing themselves off.



“What was all that about?” Buffy asked as she looked at Dawn.



Dawn tried her best to look innocent. “What?? I didn’t do anything.” She put her hand to her throat “Just had a little tickle”



“Nib” Spike said in a warning tone “You scared us half to death”



Dawn raised an eyebrow “Half?”



Spike smirked “Well some of us more to death”



Dawn widened her eyes and jutted her bottom lip out “Well it’s not my fault you were all…uhmm….otherwise occupied.” she lowered her head and peeked up through her lashes at him “What with the sticking of tongues down throats and the roaming hands. And just what was Giles doing to make Anya make those noises. I AM SO SCARRED FOR LIFE.”



“Speaking of Giles and Anya. Where are they?” Tara started to look around only now noticing the absent couple.





*****************************************************************************************





On the back porch Giles and Anya were once again engaged in some serious kissing. Giles gently broke from the kiss ‘Anya, we need to discuss this. I need to know”



Anya placed her finger against his lips silencing him. “Shhh...You want to know if I’m doing this to hurt Xander.” Giles nodded “Xander hurt me. I want to hurt him back.” Giles’s face fell when he heard this. Anya placed her hands on his face “But I would never use you to hurt him. I would never hurt you that way.” Anya sighed and pulled him to sit on the steps. “Do you remember when Willow did her forgetting spell?”



Giles nodded “When we thought we were engaged and we…we” he had thought of that kiss often.



“When we kissed.” Anya looked down uncharacteristically uncertain of herself. “I thought about it all the time. I loved Xander and would never have hurt him for anything, but sometimes I would wonder what it would have been like to be with you. For you to love me for real.” She looked up at him waiting.



Giles didn’t know what to do; he felt the same way, but what about his loyalty to Xander. Giles reached up to remove his glasses and began to slowly wipe them clean.



“Oh for goodness sake Rupert” Anya snatched the glasses from his hand and tossed them into the yard. “Do you feel the same way? Yes or No?”



“Yes”



Anya’s smile was almost blinding “I promise to give you many satisfying orgasms.” She started to pepper his face with kisses.



Willow stood at the back door and slowly backed away. She didn’t know how Xander was going to react but she was happy the Giles had finally found someone.



She walked into the living room “I think they’re going to be a little bit longer”



“What are they making with the smooches again?” Joked Dawn only to see the look on Willow’s face “Oh!”



“Tara and I might go see if we can find Xander. Make sure he’s Ok”



“Can I come too?” Dawn didn’t want to stay home if it meant that she had to watch Giles and Anya getting all with the hands again.



“Sure Dawnie we’ll even spring for a milkshake.” The two Wicca’s waved goodbye to the others promising to return that evening.



Buffy looked at the other two “So … um … Spike I suppose you’re going to be staying again tonight?”



Spike grasped Rebecca’s hand “If that’s ok with you pet.”



Buffy thought for a moment “That’s fine, although we’ll have to organise something more permanent for the sleeping arrangements. You might want to head to your crypt and get some of your things Spike.”



Spike stood and placed a tender kiss on Rebecca’s forehead “Might as well do it now. Won’t be long luv” he grabbed his blanket from near the door and made a dash for the entrance to the sewers.



**************************************************************************************





Rebecca gazed out the window until Spike disappeared from sight, breathing a sigh of relief when he made his destination safely. She turned around and pinned Buffy with an assessing gaze. “We need to talk.”



“If you have more to say about Travers maybe we should wait for the others.”



Rebecca shook her head “No this is about William.”



Buffy sat perching nervously on the edge of the sofa.



Rebecca’s gaze hardened as she assessed the woman who had treated her William so badly “I know what you did to him, how you used him.” Buffy gasped “He told me all about your relationship with him. Did you think he wouldn’t?”



Buffy looked down at her hands ashamed “I… wasn’t coping well being back. I needed to feel”



“So you used him and discarded him” Rebecca let the venom drip from her words. “You took the one person that loved you unconditionally and abused him. You beat him so badly you almost killed him”



Buffy felt the old excuses tumble from her mouth “But he’s not a person, he’s a demon, he doesn’t feel...”



“Bullshit!” Rebecca was furious “He is more of a person than you. That man has more love inside him than you could ever need. And you used that love to crush him”



Buffy sobbed “I’m sorry, I’m so sorry. I was so scared.”



Rebecca looked her up and down “Of what? Your friends? What other people would think? You’re a grown woman Buffy, that’s no excuse to abuse someone.”



Buffy cried harder “I know. I’m sorry. I realise that I was wrong.”



Rebecca sighed and let her attitude soften “He still loves you Buffy. He always will.”



Buffy looked at her stunned at Rebecca’s comments.



“That is how William loves. Once you have his love he will never withdraw it. That’s why I know he will not betray me with you. He loves me. He always has and he always will. I know that. I am not threatened by you. Just so you know.”



Rebecca stood and began to walk away before softly adding “When…If you get the chance to be with him again.” She turned to look at Buffy “Don’t reject him, take everything he has to give you and return it. You’ll be stronger for it.” Rebecca smiled softly and walked upstairs.

Chapter 10



Buffy stared at the spot Rebecca had stood ‘Did she just hear what she thought she heard. Was Rebecca telling her that she was going to get a second chance to be with Spike?’ Buffy felt hope fill her heart, something was happening. Rebecca knew something that she wasn’t telling the others. Her brow furrowed as she tried to puzzle out what was happening.



Giles and Anya took that moment to return. Both sporting wide smiles and clasping hands, they whispered to each other giggling softly.



Buffy smiled up at them “Oh my God. Giles did you just giggle?”



Giles blushed a deep red and started to stammer. Anya smiled up at him indulgently before turning back to Buffy “We want you to be the first to know. Rupert and I are together.” She leaned conspiratorially forward “As in orgasm friend together.” She turned back round and gave Giles a deep kiss before pulling back “I have to go report back. I will see you all at Restfield cemetery just after sunset.” She gave a small wave before teleporting out of the room.



Giles sat down beside Buffy nervously he had no idea how to explain this to her. He reached for his glasses and remembered that Anya had thrown them away. “Buffy, I know…” he turned to look at her.



Buffy smiled in amusement “Its ok Giles. I think the two of you would make a wonderful couple.” She patted him gently on the arm to reassure him “Xander will just have to deal.”



Giles stared at her “That’s very understanding of you Buffy. Are you sure your ok with this.”



Buffy nodded “The heart wants what the heart wants.” She took a deep breathe “In fact there’s something I need to tell you guys. How about we go look for the others so I can tell you all together.”



Giles was puzzled but followed anyway, he thought he might know what she was going to tell them and his heart ached for the pain that his daughter must be in.



As they reached the door Buffy turned to yell upstairs “We’re just going out for a bit Rebecca.” A disjointed ok floated downstairs to farewell them as they left.



*********************************************************************



Upstairs Rebecca lay on the bed she had shared with Spike last night; she turned slightly to inhale his scent. He still smelt of her beloved William but now there were other scents intermingled as well. She closed her eyes tightly as tears threatened to spill.



The room around her started to glow as two forms began to take shape and move towards the bed.



“Why do I have to do this?” Rebecca opened her eyes to stare at the ghostly forms “It hurts so much.”



As the ghosts reached her side they enveloped Rebecca “Shhh it has to be done this way.”



Rebecca closed her eyes once again as she felt the gentle caresses of her companions as they stroked her lovingly, all the while whispering words of reassurance and encouragement. She felt their love fill her completely as she drifted of to sleep.



The two stayed by her side until she was sleeping deeply. One moved forward to brush a ghostly kiss across her forehead. They moved away to stand at the end of the bed gazing upon her sleeping form. Slowly they began to fade and as the last glow began to wane the word “Soon” softly floated through the air.





*********************************************************************



Willow, Tara and Dawn stood outside The Magic Box, they had searched everywhere for Xander but couldn’t find him. They were getting discouraged when they saw Buffy and Giles down the street.



Dawn sprinted forward “Buffy! Wait up!”



Buffy and Giles turned towards them “Hey Dawnie. Did you find Xander?”



Willow and Tara joined them “We’ve looked everywhere. Buffy I’m really worried.” Concern filled Willow’s voice.



Giles averted his eyes feeling responsible for Xanders pain and the girls worry.



Tara fixed him with a steady gaze “This is not your fault Giles.”



The others looked at Tara, surprised by the authority in her voice. Tara just smiled and shrugged “Hey if I can deal with Spike’s insecurities I can deal with anyone’s.”



Dawn suddenly had a thought “His parents, has anyone checked his parent’s house?”



No one had thought of checking the Harris’s, they all knew that Xander hated being around his parent’s fighting.



“Let’s go check” Buffy wrapped her arm around Willow and the group headed off once again.



The group stood out the front of the house listening to the yells coming from inside. Willow hugged herself as she remembered the times Xander would find refuge at her house. “Come on we’ll go in the back way” The group quietly slipped round the back and let themselves into the basement.



Xander sat huddled on the old sofa listening to his parents arguing and feeling sorry for himself. He was so lost in his pity party that he didn’t hear the others coming down the stairs. He jumped in surprise when Willow touched his leg. “You ok Xan?”



“Will?” Xander looked at her in surprise then slowly looked at the others until his eyes landed on Giles “What’s he doing here?” he asked bitterly.



“Xander that’s enough!” Buffy moved to sit in front of him “I know things are...well...strange right now. But we don’t have time for this.” She looked around as the others found places to sit. “I know that you hurt. But Xander you were the one that chose to leave Anya.”



Xander started to protest but Buffy cut him off “You left Anya at the altar. You could have gone to her at any time and told her your doubts, but you didn’t. Anya has every right to be hurt and angry with you.” She reached forward for his hands offering him some small amount of comfort. “Do you love her Xander?” he mutely nodded “Do you want her to be happy?” Xander nodded again “Then let her be happy.”



Buffy glanced at Giles. “Both Anya and Giles deserve some happiness and if being together makes them happy then so be it.”



Buffy stood and began to pace nervously “I have something to tell you all and I would appreciate it if you let me get through it without interruption.” She sat down abruptly “I know what it feels like to watch the person you love be with someone else.” She heard a few gasps but no one spoke.



“I am in love with Spike.” Buffy glanced at Tara who was smiling her encouragement. “When I came back I was so lost. I couldn’t feel anything. I wanted to tell you guys about being in heaven but you were all so happy that I was back.” She gave them a soft sad smile “It felt like Spike was the only one that I could talk to. Before I died I was starting to see him…differently, more of a man than a monster. I trusted him and when I came back I found myself turning to him more. Do you remember that night when Sweet was here?” everyone nodded “That’s the first time I kissed him. When we touched I felt at peace. Whole again. I kept telling myself that it was wrong to feel these things for him. Then when I found out that he could hurt me I thought that I was right. That I had come back wrong.”



Tears began to run down her face “I was sleeping with him. Using him for sex, using him to feel. I kept telling myself that it didn’t matter what I did to him. He didn’t have a soul so he couldn’t feel.”



Dawn stood and silently wrapped her arms around her sister pulling her down to sit on the floor.



“One night I beat him so badly that he could barely move. We were in an alley near the police station, and I just left him there. To die.” Buffy looked down ashamed Tara and Willow had now joined her on the floor.



“Everything I said to him, everything I did to him was everything that I wanted to do to myself.” Buffy once again caught Xanders eyes “I let fear rule my actions and I ended up almost destroying the one person who loved me unconditionally. Even when I went to him after that he never turned from me. It was only after Riley came back and caught us together that I realized what I was doing.”



Giles awkwardly sat down behind her on the floor wanting to show his support. Buffy smiled her thanks to him “It was only when I saw him with Rebecca that I realized what I had been denying myself all this time.” She lay her head onto Giles’s shoulder “So I know what you feel Xander. I feel it every time I look at them together. But I decided that I want him to be happy and Rebecca makes him happy.” She closed her eyes and waited for the words of shock and condemnation.



None came.



Buffy wearily opened her eyes to look at Xander. He stared back at her his eyes full of pain, sorrow and understanding. Silently he moved to sit in front of the small group and wrapped his arms around Buffy “I’ll help you if you help me”



Buffy hugged him tight “deal” the rest of the girls moved to bring him into their embrace turning to pull Giles closer as well.



Dawn’s muffled voice made its way through the tangle of limbs “Umm guys I think we need to get up. I’m getting a cramp.”



They started to laugh as the untangled themselves and rose to their feet. Giles was complaining about his aching back as he slowly tried to unbend himself. A hand was thrust into his line of vision; Giles looked up to see Xander standing before him “Need a hand there G-Man?”



Giles felt relief wash through him as he took his hand. “Thank you”



Xander gave him a short nod before turning back to the others “So girls what’d I miss”



“Oh my God Xander! Travers is this icky demon that eats his own kids” Willow made a face as she imparted this piece of news.



“Always knew that man was evil” Buffy added “Oh and there is a demon community still in existence. It’s called Midian and Anya is going to take us there tonight.” Buffy studied Xander carefully “Are you going to be ok with that?”



Xander placed a hand over his heart “You have the Xan Mans promise to be on his best behavior.” A loud crash came from upstairs closely followed by the sound of his parent’s angry voices. “Come on guys lets get out of here.”



The group headed back towards Revello Drive “So where’s Rebecca and Captain Peroxide?”



“Rebecca’s at home and Spike went to get some things from his crypt.” Buffy gave a wry smile “I don’t think there’s much there though. Riley and I kinda blew it up.”



Tara gasped and stopped, the others turned to look at her inquiringly “I just remembered something that I have to get. I’ll meet you guys in a little while. Ok.”



“Do you want me to come with you” Willow asked



“No its ok. I won’t be long.” answered Tara before rushing off towards the Magic Box. When Tara reached her destination she quickly went to the counter to retrieve Spike’s box. She carefully lifted the lid to check that the contents were still intact before heading back to Buffy’s house.



*********************************************************************



Spike burst through the front door stamping out his blanket before throwing it onto the nearby coat rack. He stood in the hallway listening for any sound; he heard a faint heartbeat coming from upstairs. Smiling to himself he made his way up to the room he was sharing with Rebecca.



He quietly placed his small duffle bag on the floor before leaning back against the door to study his sleeping wife. Rebecca lay on her side facing the door one hand on the pillow near her face, the other resting lightly on her stomach. Spike inhaled deeply filling himself with her scent, she had always smelt like wildflowers to him and the scent bought back memories of their human life together.



Spike moved to sit on the edge of the bed; he brushed a stray curl from her face, allowing his finger to trace a gentle path across her face as he did. Rebecca stirred at his touch and blinked up at him. “Your back?”



“Can never stay away from you for long my luv” Spike kicked of his boots and stretched out beside her, mirroring her position. The couple lay there staring into each others eyes “I love you Becca.”



“I love you William” Rebecca moved forward and pressed her lips against his “I have something I need to tell you William.” Rebecca sat up pulling Spike up beside her.



“S’ok luv, you can tell me anything.” Spike sensed her nervousness.



Rebecca sighed and started to trace patterns on the back of his hand with her fingertips. “There’s something you didn’t know about when I died.”



Spike’s grip tightened as he waited for her to continue.



“When I died.” Rebecca turned away slightly to gather her self before turning back to him “When I died I was with child.”



Spike drew a sharp breathe before his hand flew to her stomach.



“I had only known for sure for a few days. I was so scared about telling you in case something happened to me or the baby. I had told Uncle Rupert that I wanted to start a family. That is why we were slowly introducing you to the people of Salus. The plan was for us to go there when we wanted a family. Things just happened more quickly than I thought.”



Spike gently rubbed her stomach “Its ok Becca. It’s not your fault.” His voice was thick with emotion.



“I did a spell when I came back, to check my aura. I thought maybe that because I was alive again that maybe the baby would be too.” Rebecca looked down as she gently caressed her stomach. “The baby is still there, it shows in my aura. But there is no life. Our baby is dead William.” Tears began to flow freely down her face once again.



“Shhh luv. S’not your fault.” Spike kissed the tears from her face; he gathered her close trying to soothe her. He heard a noise downstairs “The others are back luv, how about you hop in the shower and I’ll go see what’s happening.”



He gently guided Rebecca towards the shower before heading downstairs his heart heavy at the thought of his lost child.



*********************************************************************



The others entered the house busily making plans for sleeping arrangements.



“I want everyone here” Buffy was in full command mode “If we’re going to be going up against the council I want everyone in one place. We’ll have to speak to Rebecca about one of those no violence spells she was talking about.”



They looked up as Spike came down the stairs his eyes moist from tears.



Dawn moved forward in concern “Are you alright Spike.”



“Yeah bit. It’s just been a bit emotional. Feel like I’ve done nothing but cry for the last couple of days” Spike attempted to give her a cocky grin “Turning into a right poof.”



“I know how you feel” Buffy sympathized “Where’s Rebecca?”



“Just havin a shower, she’ll be down in a bit.”



Tara burst through the door at that moment her hands clutching Spike’s memory box close to her body.



“What’s that sweetie?” Willow reached for the box.



“It’s Spike’s” Tara handed him the box “I just remembered that we’d left it at the Magic Box.”



Spike’s eyes lit up as he opened the box and began to search through the contents. He found what he was searching for as Rebecca started to come downstairs. He turned to watch his wife as she walked down to him, the box in his hands slowly starting to slip from his grasp. Tara moved forward grabbing the box before it fell.



Rebecca reached the foot of the stairs “What’s wrong?”



“Just realized something’s missing.”



“What?” Rebecca was confused “What’s missing”



Spike slowly lifted his hand and let his fist uncurl to reveal a shiny gold object.



Rebecca gasped “My wedding ring”



Spike took the ring from his palm grabbing her hand as he did. His hands trembled as he slowly slid the ring into place. “There now everything’s perfect.” He lifted her hand to his mouth and placed a kiss on her wedding band.

Chapter 11

Rebecca held her hand out to admire her ring. “You kept it”

“Well not exactly luv” Spike admitted “I hid it away not long after you passed. Demon bloke I know came across it awhile back when the old house was being demolished.”

Rebecca didn’t seem to hear him as she inspected the ring more closely “It looks just the same, after all this time it’s still like new.”

Spike glanced at Buffy briefly “Yeah well it looked a lot worse a few weeks ago. Had a bit of an incident at the crypt.” He turned to acknowledge Tara “But Glinda here fixed it up good and proper.”

Rebecca smiled her thanks “That was so nice of you Tara.” She reached forward to give the Wicca a hug “I know what a good friend you’ve been to William. Thank you.”

Tara blushed “It was nothing really.” She realized that she once again held Spike’s box and handed it back to him.

Rebecca eyed the box curiously “So what else did you keep?” She reached forward and tried to pluck the box from his hands.

Spike twisted his body away from her laughing “Always were a nosy chit weren’t you.” He held the box high as Rebecca pressed against him reaching up on tip toes trying to snatch the treasure.

Spike placed a quick kiss on the end of her nose “Ask me nice and I might show you.”

Rebecca stood back slightly clasping her hands demurely in front of her and gave him a coy look “Please William may I look?” she began to run her hands lightly across his torso “I would be ever” she place a small kiss on his jaw “ever” she began to pepper kisses along his jaw until she reached his ear “so grateful” she finished by nipping lightly on his earlobe.

Spike moaned loudly and wrapped his free arm around Rebecca’s waist to pull her closer. Spike gazed into his wife’s eyes and was lowering his head to kiss her pouting lips when he was rudely interrupted.

“Spike!” Buffy shouted as she realized things were about to get very heated. Her hand was covering Dawn’s eye’s “Try to keep it PG 13 please.”

Dawn managed to squirm away from the offending hand “You never let me see the good stuff” she pouted.

Rebecca was blushing as she hid her face against her husband’s chest. She was not used to having others around to witness their displays of affection. Spike merely smirked as he pulled his wife towards the dining room. He sat down and placed the box on the table before turning back to eye the others. “Well c’mon your all going to try an sneak a look anyway.”

The other’s made there way over to the table curious to discover what William had considered to be treasures.

Tara sat away from the group slightly “Sit here baby.” Willow patted the chair beside her. Tara shook her head slightly “I’ve already seen it.”

Spike slowly opened the lid and pulled out some pieces of paper “This is a letter from my Da.” He turned to his wife “Remember our honeymoon.” He turned to the others “We had to come home early cause my Da had passed on.” Spike carefully unfolded the paper, running his fingers lightly over the flowing script. “When we got home this letter was waiting for me. He’d written it a few days before he’d passed, he was telling me how proud he was of me and what a wonderful choice of bride I’d made.”

Rebecca picked up the other piece of paper and unfolded it carefully “Oh William! It’s my poem.”

The other’s looked at her expectantly waiting to hear the story behind it.

“William wrote it for me shortly after we became engaged” she carefully refolded the paper and held it close to her heart. “He was away at Oxford at the time.” She smiled softly “I read it every night he was away; it made me feel closer to him.”

Spike reached back into the box and bought out the miniatures. He carefully spread them out on the table for the others to see “This is me mum Anne.” The group carefully passed the picture around. “An this is me Da Edward.” The group studied the pictures carefully searching for traces of Spike in their features.

Spike held on to the last one for a few moments before passing it across “You haven’t seen this one Glinda.” Tara moved forward curiously “It’s our wedding picture.”

The group were surprised when they looked at the small picture. Instead of the stiff Victorian pose that was common of the day, the couple were facing each other locked in an embrace and gazing lovingly into each others eyes.

Spike softly cleared his throat before he spoke again “My Da had always wanted to be an artist, but he was the eldest son so he had to follow his duty. He painted this from memory as his gift to us. It was with his letter when we came home.”

Spike looked into the box and pulled out the remaining treasures. His mother’s broach, a pair of small pearl earrings and a pendant.

Rebecca gasped in delight as she saw the jewelry.

Spike fingered the broach “This was me mum’s. Da gave it to her on their wedding day.”

Rebecca picked up the earrings “William gave these to me on my 16th birthday.” She clipped them into place on her ears before reaching forward to grab the pendant. “This was my mother’s”

Dawn peered at it closely “That looks like Anya’s pendant.”

“That’s because my mother had it made to duplicate Anyanka’s” Rebecca slipped the pendant around her neck

“Why would she do that?”

“Because Anyanka granted her wish”

“But Anya’s a vengeance demon.”

Rebecca placed the letters and pictures back in the box and closed the lid before she started to speak. “Do you remember when I said that vengeance demons are neutral?”

Nods came from everyone but Xander and Dawn who just stared at her in confusion.

“They are drawn to a person’s desire for vengeance. How the wish is granted depends of the wish maker’s intent.” Rebecca lifted her hand up to finger the pendant. “My mother had just been badly jilted by her betrothed, he had done it very publicly and she was hurt and angry.”

“So Anya showed up to get her to wish for vengeance.” Dawn cut in.

“That’s right. My mother was absolutely devastated and when it came time for her wish, do you know what she wished for.” Rebecca smiled as she remembered the story her mother had told her so many times. “She wished that she would find her soul mate. Actually what I think she said was she wished she could just fall into the lap of her one true love, and her horrible ex-fiancé would see how happy they were together and regret what he had done to her for the rest of his life. She also wished the same thing for her children.”

Dawn was captivated by the story “So what happened.”

Rebecca chuckled “About three months after the whole scandal my mother was riding in the park in London. Something startled her horse and it reared and threw her off.” Rebecca’s eyes were shining with the memory of her parent’s meeting. “My father was also riding in the park that day and saw what was happening. He had jumped from his own horse and was rushing to help my mother when she was thrown. My mother landed on him and they tumbled down a small slope.” Rebecca laughed softly “My mother ended up literally sitting in my father’s lap.”

“Wow” Dawn was almost bouncing in her seat “So what happened to the ex-fiancé?”

“Oh he married some girl who turned into a shrew. He ended up drinking and gambling his fortune away in his unhappiness. It was rumored that he blamed his wife for all his misfortune and would always say how he should have married my mother instead.”

Dawn was sporting a huge smile “Ha serves him right.” Her eyes widened as she remembered the last part of the wish. “So that means that Spike is your one true love. When did you two meet?”

The others had remained quiet throughout Rebecca’s story, all of them eager to learn more about what Spike had been like when he was alive.

“William and I met when I was nine and he was fourteen.” Rebecca snuggled into Spike’s side “It was just after my parent’s had been killed and my uncle had taken me to our country house. William’s parents owned the estate next door.”

“So you were neighbors, is that how you met?” Dawn rushed ahead trying to work out the story.

“Not exactly” Rebecca smiled at her interest “I had snuck out of the house, trying to avoid my lessons. I decided to go down to the small glade at the far end of the estate and climb trees.”

“She was a bit of a tomboy” Spike added

Rebecca punched his shoulder playfully “Anyway I was high up in the branches of this tree when I looked down and noticed this boy sitting below. He had brown curly hair and was wearing glasses and reading a book. I was leaning down as far as I could, so I could watch him when I slipped.”

Spike took over the story “I heard this terrible noise and got up to investigate when this flurry of blue skirts and brown hair came hurtling towards me from above.” Spike pulled his wife up onto his lap “She crashed into me and we tumbled down a small slope and she ended up…”

“Sitting in your lap” Dawn squealed loudly finishing the story “Oh my God just like your parent’s.”

Rebecca smiled and nodded

“That is so romantic” Dawn rushed around the table to embrace them “So what happened then?”

“Well I was sitting there with this little bundle on my lap, staring into the prettiest blue eyes I had ever seen and then do you know what the little chit did.” He looked up at Dawn “She kissed me on the cheek and told me she was going to marry me.”

Dawn gasped “So what did you do?”

Rebecca laughed “He blushed beet red. He took my chin in his hand, looked me straight in the eye and said ok.”

“Wow” sighed Dawn as she wandered dreamily back to her seat to sit down. “It’s just so romantic.”

The group sat round the table each caught up in their own thoughts after Rebecca’s tale.

*********************************************************************

Buffy was the first to break the silence “I’m sorry to break this up guys, but we need to get moving if we’re going to meet Anya at the cemetery in a few hours.”

Xander stood up and headed for the basement “Got a tape measure Buff and I’ll get started with those measurements.”

“In the third drawer in the kitchen Xan” Buffy yelled after him. She turned back to Spike and Rebecca. “We decided that if we’re going to face the council it’ll be safer if we’re all together.” Buffy stood and walked towards the kitchen “We thought that if we put up a partition in the basement and put a bed down there. You two could use it as your room. Is that ok?”

The couple nodded their assent before rising to follow her. The others all headed in different directions to prepare for the night.

“Tara has decided to move back in with Willow so they will have their own room. I’ll share with Dawnie and Giles can have my room. Xander can take the couch.” Buffy started to search the refrigerator for something edible before giving up in disgust. “It’ll be a squeeze but I’ll feel better if everyone’s safe.”

Buffy put the kettle on and started to pull out mugs “Hot chocolate?”

“Thanks pet. Got any of those little…” Spike gave Buffy a wide smile as she waved the packet of marshmallows.

“Rebecca I wanted to ask you about that protection spell you spoke about.” Buffy handed them each a mug.

“We can organize it tonight when we go to Midian.” Rebecca offered.

“I asked Willow and Tara to look prepare the binding spell in case we need it.” Buffy informed them “Just to be on the safe side.”

“What do you want us to do pet?”

Buffy started to shoo them away “Nothing, hopefully Xander will have the bed set up tonight as well as a temporary partition. I’ll get pizza later so we can eat before we go.” She ushered the couple towards the door. “Tara, Willow and Dawn have gone to get Tara’s things, Giles has headed to the Magic Box for research material and I’m going to give Xander a hand. You two go and make use of the peace and quiet upstairs while you can.”

Spike just stared at Buffy in amazement; she was actually encouraging him to spend more time with Rebecca. He smiled his thanks before leading his wife back upstairs.

*********************************************************************

Spike closed and locked the door behind them “So we’ve been sent to our room like a pair of naughty children” he waggled an eyebrow “Whatever will we do locked in this room all alone?”

Rebecca sat on the edge of the bed before slowly leaning back on her elbows. “I don’t know.” She stretched out fully across the bed “Any ideas?”

Spike growled before jumping up beside her, bouncing up and down like a child. Rebecca was laughing loudly as she was tossed about. Suddenly she sat up facing Spike and pulled him close. “Well that was fun, but I can think of a few other things we could do in this bed.” She slowly ran her hands down his body to cup his backside.

Spike mirrored her actions “Really! What did you have in mind?” He pulled her even closer so that their bodies pressed in all the right places.

“Well” Rebecca began as she slowly worked her hands under his shirt “We’re a little over dressed for what I was thinking of.”

“Oh are we?” Spike started unbuttoning her top “Better do something about that then.” He slid her top off and began kissing her shoulders.

Rebecca pushed him back “Not so fast mister.” She lay back down “Entertain me.”

Spike leaned over her “Bossy aren’t you?” he gave her a hard kiss before standing up. “So you want a show do you luv?”

“Most definitely”

Spike stood and studied his wife. They had played this game quite often during their marriage. It would have been considered the height of decadence to behave in such a manner in their time. But neither of them really cared for what was considered ‘proper’ when they were behind closed doors. Their passion for each other had eclipsed everything else. “So luv what do you want me to do first?”

“Take of your shirt” Rebecca’s voice was starting to thicken with passion “Slowly”

Spike grabbed the hem of his shirt and peeled it up his torso inch by inch before tossing it aside. He waited for his next instruction.

“Run your hands across your chest”

Spike began to move his hands sensually across his body, playing with his nipples so that they hardened under his touch.

“Now start to unbutton your pants.” Rebecca darted her tongue out to moisten her lips.

“That’s not how it works luv.”

Rebecca pouted before rising to stand in front of him just out of reach. She moved her hands to the clasp of her bra fumbling slightly before she removed it. She lightly ran her hands across her chest mimicking Spike’s movements.

“Buttons” she murmured

Spike slowly popped each button before nodding for his wife to do the same.

Rebecca undid her zipper and continued on to slide her pants down her legs so that she could step out of them.

Spike kicked his jeans to the side so that he now stood completely naked before her. Rebecca stood clad only in a pair of white cotton panties. They lifted their hands and began to move them across the others body, not touching the skin but passing close enough so that the other could feel the shift in the air as the hand continued on its path.

“Seems that I’m at a bit of a disadvantage” Spike indicated towards her panties before moving closer. Their bodies were almost touching, Spike slid his hands down her side so that they rested on her hips, palms beneath the cotton and thumbs hooked on the outside. Slowly he began to inch his hands downwards until he was kneeling in front of her. He looked up at her and smiled as she stepped out of her panties.

Rebecca cupped his chin in her hand and urged him to stand. The stood staring into the others eyes for a few minutes before Rebecca stepped forward pressing her body against his. Spike caught her mouth in a kiss before lifting her into his arms and laying her on the bed.

Spike took a moment to stare down at her “You sure about this?”

Rebecca merely nodded before pulling his mouth back down to hers. She moaned into his mouth as she felt his hand move downwards, Spike flicked her clit lightly before inserting two fingers inside her heat.

*********************************************************************

Buffy and Xander had just finished wrestling a mattress onto the bed they had set up in the basement when the three girls came down to join them.

“I was going to go clean my room but there are noises happening up there that I am just too young to know about.” Dawn thought that was an ideal excuse for the state of her room. Also the thought of Spike doing ‘that’ with someone was like seeing your brother naked. Something you try to block from your mind at all costs.

Xander commiserated with her “Yeah well be thankful you haven’t been here the whole time.”

“Poor Xander” Willow patted him on the head “You have been so brave.”

“So this is where everyone is hiding” Giles came down the stairs.

“Just trying to avoid the show” Xander pointed towards the ceiling.

“Wise choice” Giles cast a glance upwards “Do you think they’ll be much longer?”

Just then they heard a loud roar from Spike.

“Nope they’re finished now” Buffy commented absently

Xander gulped loudly “I so don’t want to know how you know that Buff.”

Buffy looked at him confused “But Xander I told you that Spike and I…”

Xander moved to sit on the steps with his fingers in his ears “La la la I can’t hear you” he repeated as he fixed Buffy with his ‘Please leave me in my land of denial’ look.

Chapter 12

The gang had finished getting the basement ready for Spike and Rebecca to move into and were now congregated in the living room waiting for the pizza to arrive.

No ‘noise’ had been heard from upstairs for some time and Buffy was debating on whether she should go and hurry the couple along.

The others were watching with amusement as Buffy stared at the ceiling, rose from her seat to walk to the stairs, stopped and muttered to herself, shaking her head as she would return to her seat to once again to stare at the ceiling.

She had done this five times so far and even Xander was softly chuckling at his friend’s antics. Buffy, of course, was completely oblivious to what she was doing.

Tara eventually took pity on her friend “I’ll just go get them shall I?”

Buffy looked at her startled “What?” she frowned back up at the ceiling “Maybe someone should go get those two?” Buffy gave the gang a confused look as they all started to laugh loudly.

Tara had almost reached the stairs when the doorbell rang “Pizza’s here guys” she laughed as she heard Dawn and Xander racing each other to get to the door first.

Tara reached the bedroom door and listened carefully. She could hear soft voices inside so she knocked once before opening the door and poking her head in.

Rebecca sat on the edge of the bed, eyes closed as Spike knelt behind her brushing her hair. Both looked freshly showered and Tara took a moment to watch Spike gently tend to his wife. “It’s nearly time to go. There’s pizza downstairs if you’re hungry.”

Rebecca’s stomach growled loudly “I’m starving.”

“ ‘m not” announced Spike as he pulled Rebecca’s hair back and leaned down to kiss a neat bite mark on her neck. He watched Tara’s reaction carefully.

Tara’s eyes flicked from the bite to Spike’s neck. He grinned and pulled the neck of his shirt away slightly to expose a matching human bite. Tara simply smiled before turning to leave “Oh and I think Xander reached the pizza first, so if you want to actually get any I’d hurry.”

Downstairs Dawn and Xander were in a competition to see who could stuff the most pizza into their mouth. Giles was beginning to turn green at the sight, especially as the pair were attempting to taunt each other in the process.

Xander began to choke as Dawn triumphantly stuffed another slice into her mouth “Imf wfin”.

Dawn began a little victory dance as she attempted to now chew and swallow the contents of her mouth. As she danced around the chair she noticed Rebecca’s look of horror as she spoke to Spike “That’s not how you’re supposed to eat that is it?”

Xander jumped up and pulled Rebecca forward to sit before the pizza. He then proceeded to instruct her on the intricacies of pizza consumption.

Rebecca eyed Xander warily as he rambled on about flipping, folding and other dubious concepts.

Buffy rolled her eyes and leant down to scoop up a slice “Here like this” she smiled at the Rebecca’s expression as she had her first taste.

Rebecca still looked uncertain “It’s different” she took another bite her face scrunched slightly as she contemplated the taste “it’s quite enjoyable though.”

***************************************************************************

The remains of the day darkened into evening as the group finished their meal. Dawn gathered up the remnants of their meal as the others armed themselves for their evening’s excursion.

They were soon on their way towards the cemetery, Buffy and Rebecca in the lead, Dawn, Willow, Tara and Xander following closely. Spike and Giles trailed some distance behind.

Giles cleared his throat a little before beginning to speak “I noticed the marks on Rebecca’s neck earlier”

“Yeah what of it”

“I assume that this means that you have renewed your bond with each other via a claiming.”

“You’d be assuming correctly then watcher” Spike straightened defensively waiting for words of condemnation to begin.

“I think that was a very wise decision”

Spike stared at him in amazement

“You should be able to sense any changes in Rebecca’s essence, an early warning system so to speak” Giles clasped Spike on the shoulder “It would be helpful if you could strengthen your bond as much as possible.”

Spike looked at Giles in shock “Watcher, did you just tell me to bite my wife more?”

Giles fiddled with his sleeve cuff ‘Damn he missed his glasses right now’ “Yes well, Rebecca will need to ...umm…reciprocate as well, to keep the claiming bond at its maximum effectiveness.” He began to tug at his cuffs earnestly “You will of course keep me apprised of any changes you detect in Rebecca’s essence.”

“No probs Rupes old man” Spike strode off to catch up with his wife, coming up behind her and lifting her from the ground and over his shoulder as she squealed at him to put her back down.

The trip to the appointed meeting place was uneventful, as it was still too early in the evening for much demon activity. The group stood and stared at the huge structure that stood before them.

“You’d have thought with all the years of patrolling I would have noticed this hulking big mausoleum before?” Buffy stood hands on hips as she surveyed it.

“That’s because it’s usually cloaked” Anya stepped out of the doorway. “If you’re all ready” she held the door open and ushered them through “right this way.”

They gathered in the center of the mausoleum and looked around. It was amazingly clean with no dust or cobwebs noticeable.

Anya shut the door firmly behind them, as she turned to face them the door faded away to be replaced by stone. “Please remember that this is a peaceful community. There will be no slaying, some of the inhabitants look more human and other's do not” she looked pointedly at Xander “You will treat them ALL with respect.”

Anya seemed to remember something then and she moved to a nearby sarcophagus and withdrew a brown cloak. She handed it to Spike “It will be daylight but this should protect you until we get indoors. It was specially made for use by vampires so it should provide you with better protection than a blanket.”

Spike nodded his thanks and donned the robe, drawing the hood low over his face.

Anya then moved to the back wall, as she extended her hand a door materialized. Anya swung it open “Welcome to Midian”.

***************************************************************************

The group stepped through the door to be met with brilliant sunlight and lush forest. A path wound its way from the steps of the mausoleum into the forest, the sound of running water met their ears and as they moved down the path a small stream came into view.

As they rounded a bend they saw the village, the houses seemed to sprout from the trees themselves. Dawn gasped “it looks like something from a fairytale.”

“In a way it is” Anya smiled as several small children ran past on their way for a swim. “The Midian forest is a place of magic. It expands and retracts to accommodate those who reside here” She moved to stand before one of the massive trunks. “Do you all want to stay together?”

The group nodded their assent.

“Alright you will all need to place your palms on the trunk for a moment.”

They moved to stand around the trunk, palms touching the rough bark. The surface seemed to pulse beneath their touch, almost like a heartbeat. Anya motioned for them to move away. They all watched in awe as the giant began to shift.

The trunk pulsed and shimmered, branches moved and began to entwine. Leaves as big as a person formed shaded verandahs as windows and doors began appearing; eventually a door began to form at the base.

Anya smiled at the expressions on their faces “Amazing isn’t it.” She moved to the door placing her hand upon the bark once more “Thank you my friend.” She turned back to the others “The tree changes its form to accommodate those who it will protect. The first time you enter you must thank the spirit of the tree.”

As each member moved forward and gave their thanks the tree seemed to pulse and glow once more. They moved into the heart of the tree and found themselves standing in the centre of a large bare room.

Anya proudly began to explain how the tree would adapt for them “The tree has taken an imprint of your essence, when you leave Midian the tree will revert to its original form. However, if you return it will sense you as soon as you step through the door and be ready by the time you reach the village. Each room is designed to adapt to your needs.” Anya moved to one side “For example if you want to sit” a large sofa began to rise from the floor, lush green leaves spring up as padding “A seat will appear.” She sank gracefully down onto the chair “All the rooms are the same.”

Dawn jumped onto the sofa beside Anya “Wow this is better then the one we have at home.” She bounced a few times to emphasis her point.

Anya stood “The elders will be ready for you in a few hours, so I suggest you have a look around before the meetings start.” She grabbed Giles’s hand and pulled him towards the stairs that spiraled around the inner trunk. “Let me show you to your room Rupie”

Xander watched the couple move up the stairs “I might go and have a look around outside, anyone want to come with?”

The others declined each wanting to explore their new lodgings more fully.

***************************************************************************

Xander stepped back outside squinting slightly at the bright sunlight. He surveyed the village before him; beside the fact that all the buildings were formed from trees it looked like an old English country village. People moved about tending to their daily business, there were some demons that he’d never seen before but all of them offered him a wave and a nod or a friendly hello as they passed.

Xander set of in the direction of the stream; he heard a large roar and turned to see a fierce looking demon bearing down on a small human looking child. The creature’s massive mouth was lined with razor sharp teeth which it was snapping hungrily at the little girl.

Xander ran forward trying to reach the girl before the monster. The creature had just swooped up the screaming child when Xander realize that the child was in fact giggling as the creature tickled her mercilessly. He pulled himself up self-consciously as he realized that the girl was in no danger.

The creature put the girl down and she was off running once again “Come catch me again Unca Drew” she ran past Xander squealing with laughter. The huge demon lumbered past giving Xander a wink as he once again chased his laughing niece.

Xander smiled to himself as he turned back towards the stream ‘Gotta remember. Demons good here. Demons good’ It was then that he saw her. She was leaning against a tree at the edge of the village watching him. She was wearing a white sundress that seemed to float around her. Her long black hair fell to her waist in thick curls and she looked up at him with the prettiest brown eyes he’d ever seen.
The girl smiled softly at him before moving forward “Hi, you must be one of the Slayers friends” she offered a hand “I’m Bo, short for Isabo.”

Xander stared at her his mind blank, Bo laughed and grabbed his hand “And your name is?”

“Harris” He shook his head slightly “Alexander Harris. Xander for short, although its not that much shorter” Xander knew he was babbling but couldn’t help himself.

Bo laughed again as she extricated her hand “Hello Xander, so my little niece gave you a bit of a fright?”

Xanders face started to color “Yeah um sorry about that, just used to, you know, demons being the bad guys.”

“That’s ok Xander” Bo turned to watch her niece once again “Sometimes I think Isabella can scream loud enough to wake the dead.” She smiled back up at him again. “So where were you headed?”

“I uhh thought I might go find the stream”

“Do you want some company” Bo looked up at him coyly

Xander felt heat suffuse his face again “Sure, if you want” they began to walk towards the stream. “So that guy back there?” he left the question hanging.

“Drew? He’s Issy’s dad’s brother.” Bo went on “Mathew, Issy’s dad, is a Shartala demon and her mum is human.”

“Oh ok” Xander couldn’t imagine any human wanting to be married to a demon like that.

“I remember when Katie first met Mathew” Bo smiled at her memories “We were all quite surprised when she bought him home. We all thought he was far too good for her.”

Bo bumped her shoulder against him and Xander realized that she knew what he was thinking. “Sorry it’s just, not used to it is all.”

“It’s alright Xander; Katie grew up here, so what someone looks like on the outside doesn’t even register.”

“What about you, did you grow up here?”

Bo shook her head “No I didn’t, but I’ve lived here most of my adult life.” She sat down beneath a tree on the edge of the stream, one of its large leaves moving to shade her.

Xander settled down beside her “So what, that’s been a few years then”

Bo settled back and smiled secretly “A few”

Xander watched in appreciation as Bo lifted the hem of her dress slightly and let the sun dance over her legs. “So what do people do here? Do you have jobs? Things like that.”

“Yes Xander. Midian is like any other village, we have shops and churches and schools. The people here are just a little different.”

“Do you work?” Xander watched as Bo stood and moved stand in the stream the sunlight dancing on the water around her.

“I’m a teacher actually”

“A teacher, wow” Xander sat forward and let his eyes run over her “I wish my teachers had looked like you.”

Bo laughed as she splashed him “Come in the waters great” with that she fell backwards under the water. Xanders breathe caught in his throat as Bo stood up her dress clinging to her in all the right places. “What’s the matter Xander” she gave him an evil smile “You afraid of a little water.”

Xander was not one to let a challenge pass so he sprung up and grabbed Bo by the shoulders as he pulled her back into the water with him

Chapter 13

Anya pulled Giles up to the upper level so that they stood on large platform looking out on Midian. “See over there” Anya pointed to the far side of town “that’s my home” She turned and wrapped her arms around his neck “Do you wanna go check it out?” she smiled up at him seductively.

“Do we have time?”

“There’s always time for orgasms” said Anya placing a soft kiss on his lips. She pulled him towards the edge of the platform.

“Anya dear, I can’t fly or teleport as the case may be” Giles peered over the side gauging how far it was to the ground.

Anya laughed before turning back towards the door that led inside “Willow! Tara!” she waited for the Wicca’s to emerge “You’re going to love this” Turning back to the edge Anya stood patiently, the others moved forward curiously. Then they saw it. The mammoth branches were shifting, their leaves forming a path that led towards Anya’s home. She stepped up onto the path and bounced lightly “See perfectly safe.”

Anya held her hand out to Giles as he stepped up beside her “it seems quite firm” he turned to look towards the end of the path “It doesn’t seem to reach far enough though.”

“By the time we reach the end of the path it will have extended” Anya laughed at the skeptical expression on his face, she reached up to softly caress the side of his face “Just keep telling yourself Rupie, Enchanted forest, lots of magic, anything is possible.”

Anya began to walk forward, when she stopped and turned back to walk to Tara and whisper in her ear. Tara smiled up at her before Anya grabbed Giles by the hand and pulled him along.

Anya moved faster and faster until they were almost running “Come on Rupert lets see if we can beat the tree’s to the end”

Giles was dubious at the thought of actually trying to reach the edge of the path before more was formed. Actually it was more the thought of being unable to stop at the edge and plummeting to the ground that disturbed him more. He reassured himself with what Anya had told him ‘Enchanted forest’ he put on a burst of speed to reach Anya’s side ‘lots of magic’ Giles reached out to clasp her hand ‘anything is possible’.

The couple flew across the path, towards the end the leaves were just moving into place as their feet touched down. The couple could see their destination and leapt the final distance, tumbling onto the platform in a tangle of limbs.

“I don’t believe I’ve done something like that since I was a child” Giles smiled at Anya as she trailed a finger across his face.

“You were a child?” Anya teased “I though watchers were born fully grown and dressed in tweed.”

“That wasn’t very nice” Giles complained as Anya twisted away from and moved inside.

“Well you better come inside and spank me then”

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

Tara and Willow watched as Giles had run after Anya like a teenager. Curiosity finally got the better of Willow “What did Anya say?”

Tara smiled “It’s a secret” she stepped up onto the path “let’s explore”.

Willow looked at her puzzled; Tara was giving her a secretive smile that suggested that she was going to find out what Anya had whispered soon enough.

Tara wrapped her arm around Willow’s waist and the couple began to stroll down the path. Willow noticed that it was now turning to lead them to a thickly wooded area; she also realized that they were moving higher into the canopy of the forest.

The pair gasped as they broke through the top of the canopy, all around them was a sea of green, the forest stretched out as far as the eye could see. A little way from them was one tree that reached higher than the others; a light glow seemed to emanate from it.

The girls moved towards the tree stopping at the entrance, Tara turned to face Willow “Anya said that this is the heart of the forest, the place where the Magic is at its purest.” She took a firm grip on Willow’s hand and they stepped inside together.

Willow felt as if the air had been knocked out of her, she could almost see the magic swirling around and through them. Then she noticed Tara “Sweetie” she moved forward reaching a hand out towards her “Your glowing”

Tara was bathed in a soft pink light, her whole being seemed to pulse with love and compassion. “This is a place of healing and renewal” She brushed a finger down Willow’s cheek. “What you did when you abused your magic, when you used it to change me to your liking” Tara pressed her hand to her chest “It broke something deep inside me.”

Willow felt a tear escape and run down her face.

“I know that you’ve been working to fix what has been broken, so have I” Tara graced Willow with another gentle smile “This place” she motioned around them “This place can heal us. Here we can wipe away past slight’s and sins”

Willow winced at that phrase and she opened her mouth to tell Tara that she was willing to do the hard work to get her back completely.

Tara stopped her protests with a kiss before she drew back again “I know that you’re willing to work on us. This isn’t a shortcut, this is something different. The power contained here can heal us through our love, and I do love you Willow, I never stopped.”

Tears were streaming down Willow’s face now, she felt a heat start to form inside her and she looked down in surprise noticing a pale purplish color beginning to surround her.

Tara toke a step towards Willow once again and lifted her hands palms facing towards her. Willow mirrored her actions and the girls watched in wonder as tiny tendrils of color reached out to each other, as their palms touched the colors surrounding them shot upwards, a dance of pink and purple. The colors twisted their way through each other before moving back down to encircle the two. During this time apologies were made, forgiveness given, neither girl uttered a sound; they merely lost themselves to each other. Magical gifts merged as their essences became one rebuilding and strengthening their love.

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

Spike was reclining on the sofa grumbling about the lack of telly when Rebecca came to stand in front of him.

“I’m going to show Dawn around.” She leant down to kiss him before pulling back slightly to look him in the eyes “Maybe you should go see what Buffy’s doing.” She gave him another quick kiss as Dawn entered “Come on Dawn there used to be a little shop that sold tiny figurines made out of spun honey, I want to see if it’s still here”

“Oh Candy!” Dawn exclaimed in delight as the two left.

Spike stared at the door for a few minutes before extending his senses to search out Buffy. He heard her faint heartbeat coming from one of the upper levels. Spike had learnt long ago; back when he was William in fact, that if his wife told him to do something there was always a reason behind it. Rebecca had an uncanny ability to read people and if she said that he needed to go see Buffy then he needed to go see Buffy. Spike sighed as he made his way to the upper levels to find her.

Spike stopped just outside the room Buffy had chosen and watched her for a few moments. She was stretched out on a small bed covered in what looked like flower petals, sunlight streamed through a small window bathing her in its warmth. Spike inhaled deeply as the scent of vanilla drifted up to meet him. Buffy turned slightly to look at him “Spike”

“Hello luv” he moved into the room slightly “Am I interrupting?”

“No I’m just enjoying the sunshine” Buffy started looking around for something to cover the window, then she noticed that leaves were shifting into place across the opening.

Spike chuckled at her look of surprise “They do that everywhere I go in this place.”

“Well that’s convenient”

“I’ll say, I don’t have to worry about walking into any stray sunbeams” Spike moved to sit on the edge of the bed when he suddenly yelped and sprang across the room “BLOODY HELL!”

Buffy was now in a fit of giggles as she watched Spike leap up as if he’d been bitten “The furniture changes to meet our needs, remember.”

Spike eyed the bed warily as he once again sat down, grimacing slightly as he felt it shit beneath him “It’s not natural” he complained.

Buffy burst into another fit of giggles “Not natural. Not natural” she was practically rolling on the bed in laughter “It’s a living tree and it’s not natural”

“Ok ok it’s not that funny slayer.”

Buffy finally controlled her laughter; she lay on her side and studied Spike for a moment before coming to a decision. Buffy sat up and faced him “I told the others”

“Told them what luv?”

“About us”

“What about us?” Spike began to carefully study the tip of his boot, unwilling to look at Buffy, afraid of what she was going to say.

“I told them that I had been using you for sex.” Buffy decided that a direct approach was the best approach. “I also made sure that they knew that it was me that taking advantage of you, not the other way around.”

“So there’ll be no stakes in the back then?” Spike tried to make light of the situation, unsure of where Buffy was headed with this conversation.

Buffy smiled wryly “No. No stakes. Told them it was all me” she looked down at her hands uncertain of how to continue. “There’s something I need to tell you”

Spike turned to look at her waiting for her to finish.

Buffy brought her hands up to cup his face “I love you Spike”

Spike took a sharp breathe and tried to pull away from her.

“No don’t go” Buffy gently pulled him back around to face her “I’m sorry that I didn’t tell you sooner. I’m sorry that it took seeing you with Rebecca to realize that I did.” Buffy placed her hands on top of Spike’s and took a deep breathe “I know that you love Rebecca and that you will be faithful to her. That’s not what this is about.”

Spike wrestled for control of his emotions, there was joy that Buffy had finally told him that she loved him, sadness that it had taken her so long. Part of him was angry that it had taken seeing him happy with someone else to get her to admit her feelings for him and there was also pain that they could not act on that love now.

Buffy watched the emotions wash across his face “I’m sorry that it has taken me so long to tell you.” She sighed with relief that Spike hadn’t walked out on her yet.

“There was always something different about you, right from the start.” Buffy smiled in memory “I always had the feeling that there was more to you. That I was supposed to look deeper. Maybe that was Rebecca trying to get me to notice you.”

Spike looked down at his hands “So you think that everything you felt was because of Rebecca?”

“No that’s not what I mean.” Buffy was starting to get frustrated “I’m trying to be honest with you, please just let me get this out.”

Spike nodded and waited for her to continue.

“Before I died things were starting to change, I think you felt that.” Buffy waited for him to look at her once again “When you told me that you loved me, you remember, with the chains.”

“Yeah sorry about that luv.”

“That’s in the past Spike, over and done. Do you remember that I told you that there was no chance?” Buffy started to fidget “well, the problem was, I wasn’t so sure about that. A big part of me wanted what you were offering me, but I let my fear and stupid ideals squash that down.”

Buffy stood and began to pace “I could see you changing and there was this part of me screaming out for you. The night that we fought Glory” Spike recoiled slightly at this reminder “I think if I hadn’t died that night things would have progressed differently. I think that we may have ended up in a lot healthier place.”

Buffy sat back down beside him leaning against Spikes side lightly ‘When I came back, it felt like there was a big part of me missing and as it turns out there was.” Buffy lay her head on his shoulder “the only time I felt whole was when I was with you, and it scared me. I kept fighting it thinking that there was something wrong with me because what I was feeling for you was so strong, it overshadowed anything that I’d ever felt before.” She waited for the significance of this to sink in. “Do you know what I thought when I found out that Rebecca was the missing part of me.”

Spike shook his head slowly.

“I thought that the only reason that you wanted to be with me in the first place was because of Rebecca.”

Spike was silent for a few minutes before he answered her “That’s not it pet. Maybe it’s what stopped me from killing you in the first place, but it’s not what made me love you.” He tenderly tucked a stray hair behind her ear. “It’s still inside me, the feelings I have for you. I don’t think they’ll ever go away and I don’t want them to.”

“But?”

“I love ‘Becca” Spike tried to find the words to explain “She holds a piece of me that can never be given to anyone else.”

“First love?” Buffy gave a fleeting thought to Angel.

“Yeah” Spike wrapped an arm around Buffy’s shoulder. “What I feel for the two of you, it’s almost like it’s the same thing. It’s hard to separate the two sometimes. But I made a decision and I think it’s the right one.”

Buffy pulled him into a hug “I know it’s the right one.”

Spike pulled back in surprise at her statement.

“I know you said that ex-lovers can never be friends, and you were right.” Buffy pulled him forward once again “But you are so much more than a friend and I want you to be happy. Rebecca does that you know.” Buffy reluctantly let him go “She makes you happy.”

“So where does that leave us pet?” Spike was amazed at everything that she had said to him.

“It leaves us with Buffy loves Spike and Spike loves Buffy.” Buffy gave him a loving kiss “And one day they might actually get a chance to be together again.”

“But?”

“But until then Spike loves Rebecca and Rebecca loves Spike and they are together now. So Buffy is pleased that the person she loves has someone that loves him the way he deserves.” Buffy flopped back on the bed “Ok I think I just broke my brain.”

Spike flopped back with her “I think I know what you mean pet.”

Chapter 14

Buffy and Spike heard a strange squelching sound coming from the steps and turned to stare at the open door in time to see Xander walking upstairs completely soaked.

Xander was a little surprised to see the them sprawled across Buffy’s bed “Buff, Deadboy” he casually greeted the two pretending that he wasn’t dripping all over the floor.

“Whelp” Spike smirked “Always knew you were all wet”

“Ha Ha very original” Xander wriggled his toes in his sodden shoes.

“What did you do Xan” curiosity was getting the better of Buffy.

“Umm went for a swim.” Xander offered with a shrug.

“You went for a swim with your shoes on?” Buffy pointed at his feet.

Xander looked down “Well yeah.” He turned to look towards the stairs as he heard someone approach.

Rebecca and Dawn came into view at the head of the stairs. Dawn smiled as she noticed Xanders new ‘drowned rat’ look “New fashion statement Xan?”

Xander decided to ignore that comment when his eyes lit on the bundle that Rebecca held.

“We bumped into Bo outside, she said you’d be needing these” Rebecca handed him the bundle of dry clothes.

Just then Dawn pulled a pair of shoes out from behind her back, swinging them in front of his face. When Xander tried to grab them from Dawn, she took off at a run with Xander in hot pursuit. A trail of puddles was all that was left behind.

Rebecca watched them leave before she turned to study Buffy and Spike. Both were still reclining on the bed side by side. Rebecca walked in and lay on Spike’s other side, half her body draped on his. She gave him a small kiss hello before laying her head on his chest and looking at Buffy. “So did you two have your talk?”

“Yes luv.”

Buffy merely nodded.

“Good, so everything is clear between you?” Rebecca snuggled closer to her husband. “So what was the outcome?”

Buffy tried to speak but no sound would come out.

“It went something like Buffy loves Spike, Spike loves Buffy, Rebecca loves Spike, Spike loves Rebecca” Both of them held their breath while they waited for Rebecca’s reaction.

Rebecca remained silent for a moment “Well I knew all that” she peered up at Spike before turning back to face Buffy again “I was just waiting for you two to catch on.”

“So you don’t mind that we have feelings for each other” Buffy was completely confused by Rebecca’s reaction.

“No I don’t mind” Rebecca frowned for a moment “But I thought I already told you that didn’t I?”

Before either of them could answer Dawn walked in “Oh Hugs” she squealed before throwing herself onto the bed, wriggling in between Buffy and Spike.

Spike reached an arm out to pull the two girls closer enjoying the feeling’s of love and affection they were sending him.

“Hey what’s with the smoochies!”

They looked toward the door to see Willow standing there, hands on hips. Tara came up behind her, whispering lightly in her ear. Both girls flung themselves at the bed with shouts of “Group Hug”.

Anya and Giles had followed the girl’s home and were now watching the fun. Anya looked up at Giles hopefully.

“Oh go on” Giles sighed as he watched Anya join the group on the bed.

The six girls squealed and giggled as the bed adjusted to fit all of them. Spike was enjoying being the centre of attention from this writhing mass of females until….”BALLS!” The girls all stopped eying him suspiciously. Spike tried to worm his way free “Jus’ watch where you’re putting those knees ladies.”

The girls stared at him aghast for a moment, until Rebecca piped up “William was always very ticklish.”

Spike looked at his wife in horror “That’s just evil”

The girls looked at each other before turning back to face Spike, the look of horror increasing as he watched them inch closer. He sprang forward as they chased him around the room; everywhere he turned there was a laughing female and her devil hands. Eventually he ended up on his back on the floor with the girls surrounding him. Spike was trying to contort his body away from their hands when he caught sight of Giles and Xander watching from the doorway. “Help me you gits!”

Both men shook their heads vehemently unwilling to risk becoming victims themselves. They took a large step back when the girls looked their way, an evil glint in their eyes. Giles and Xander looked at each other and back at Spike’s pleading face before shrugging and slamming the door shut.

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

Giles and Xander sat downstairs nervously watching the stairs, just in case the girls decided to turn their attention towards them. Everything had gone quiet a few minutes ago and the suspense was killing them.

Spike came stalking down the stairs and threw them a filthy look “I should bite you for leaving me up there.”

“Oh is the big bad vampire frightened of a few helpless girls” Xander said in mock sympathy.

“HELPLESS!” Spike shouted before lifting his shirt to display the myriad of scratches that now adorned his stomach and sides “You left me up there with TWO slayers, two witches, a vengeance demon AND a teenage girl.” Spike ran a hand through his hair trying to smooth it back into place “Your lucky there was no bloodshed” he sat down near Giles.

“So who was the scariest” Giles’s amusement was evident in his voice.

“Dawn!” Spike shaped his hand into a claw “I swear that girl has talons.”

“Oh don’t be such a big baby” Dawn pouted as she joined them.

Spike merely raised an eyebrow as he once again lifted his shirt.

Dawn paled slightly “Oops. Sorry.”

“What you sorry for Dawnie?” said Willow as she and the others finally came downstairs.

Dawn simply pointed at Spike’s stomach.

“Oww” agreed Willow

Spike sat there pouting and behaving like a two year old until Rebecca gave him a playful slap across the back of the head “Don’t be a baby”

Xander was thoroughly enjoying the show “Owww does wittle Spikey have a boo boo?” He managed to duck Spikes swinging hand before continuing “Does Spikey want a Band-Aid?”

“No whelp I don’t want a Band-Aid. Vampire healing remember?”

“So you don’t want us to kiss it better then?” Tara was smiling cheekily.

Spike smirked back at her, curling his tongue behind his teeth and waggling his eyebrows “Now I didn’t say that luv” he began to swagger towards her.

Anya walked past giving Spike a short slap on the back of the head as she did.

“HEY”

“We have a meeting to attend, if you had forgotten. There will be time for group fun after.” Anya purposely strode towards the door as she attempted to hurry everyone along.

Spike muttered to himself as he grabbed his robe so he could venture outside “Bloody bint”

Spike felt a slap across the back of his head again as Giles strode past “I heard that.”

Spike rubbed his head “Bugger” he pulled the hood of the robe low over his face before following the others.

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

Anya lead them into the a small building in the heart of the town, the group sat down looking around them curiously as they waited for the elders to join them.

The walls were adorned with an array of deadly looking weapons, each seemingly embedded in the wall. Buffy moved to stand in front of them and tried to pull a small dagger from its resting place.

“The spirit will only release a weapon if you are in mortal danger” Buffy turned to see a small white haired man. “Those particular weapons haven’t been used in over 2000 years.”

Anya moved forward to great the man “Dante!”

Dante greeted Anya warmly before taking his place at the head of the table “The others will be in directly, if you’d like to take a seat Miss Summers.”

Buffy sat at the opposite end of the table, to her right sat Spike, Rebecca, Giles and Anya, the others sat to her left.

Dante studied each of them in turn “I would like to welcome all of you to Midian. It has been a long time since we had a visit from a Slayer.” He turned his attention to Rebecca “I believe that you visited Salus near Oxford often in the past.”

Rebecca nodded

“I’m very sorry dear but only a handful of residents managed to survive.” Dante sighed deeply “It was one of the first communities to be attacked; when the sanctuary spells were shattered we were unable to restore them.”

“You’re spells were shattered you say.” Giles looked worriedly around him. “Does that mean that Midian is susceptible to attack?”

Dante shook his head “No Midian has always been protected by the forest, we were the only ones not affected when the barriers went down. We tried to bring as many survivors here as possible.”

Rebecca stared numbly at the table, somewhere inside she had known that her friends were probably dead, but to have it confirmed was still painful.

Spike could feel his wife’s pain and bent over to nuzzle her neck while he whispered words of solace.

Buffy watched Spike comfort his wife for a few minutes before turning her attention back to Dante. “I don’t mean to be rude or anything, but what are you? I mean are you human or……..”

Dante gave a chuckle “That’s quite alright Miss Summers. I am a Tenlasia demon dear. I believe Rebecca knew my sister?”

“Rachel? Did she …..” Rebecca couldn’t finish that sentence.

Dante shook his head sadly “No both she and David were killed during the attacks, they were defending the village so that others could bring the children here.” Dante passed a hand across his eyes wearily. “One couple managed to bring about seven children here safely. The others were lost.”

Before Rebecca could ask who it was that had survived, others began join them in the room. An extremely tall woman with light purplish skin seemed to glide across the room to sit beside Dante; she turned violet eyes toward the group smiling warmly “I am Jayala! Welcome.”

A demon similar to the one Xander had seen earlier sat on Dante’s other side. He smiled widely exposing his vicious teeth to the group before thrusting a clawed hand in Xanders direction. “Hi I’m Mathew; I believe you met my sister-in-law earlier.”

The others were amazed when Xander grasped the offered hand without hesitation “Hey, pleased to meet you.” His eyes lit up when he saw Isabo enter the room “Bo!”

She settled herself between Mathew and Xander before waving hello to Rebecca and Dawn. Bo turned and gave Xander a seductive smile while she ran her hands across his shoulders “I see the clothes I sent fit you…very well. So are you going to introduce me to your friends?”

Xander started to blush and looked sheepishly towards the others “Umm guys this is Bo, we meet earlier today.”

Anya watched the pair closely before snuggling up to Giles and sending Xander a knowing smile “I wonder if he knows?” Anya’s smile broadened when she thought of the look on Xanders face when he found out exactly ‘what’ Bo was.

Buffy was amused by the interaction between Xander and Anya when she heard a small cry. Buffy turned to see Rebecca staring at the couple who had just entered, tears streaming down her face. Buffy was surprised to see a similar look of shock on Spike’s face; she turned to study the newcomers. Something about the man seemed vaguely familiar, almost as if she had met him before. Buffy startled when Rebecca flew across the room to wrap her arms around the man, sobbing uncontrollably into his shirt.

Spike stood and followed his wife, as he neared the man he stopped and hesitantly nodded “Hoston”

“William” the man nodded back before turning his attention to the weeping slayer in his arms. “Shhh Shhh Rebecca, it’s ok dear, everything’s going to be alright.” He gently stroked her hair as she calmed and looked up at him questioningly “I’ll explain everything, I promise.”

Chapter 15

The Scoobies blankly stared at the crying slayer as the man called Hoston lead her over to sit at the table.

Dante cleared his throat “Perhaps I should introduce our newcomers.” He waited for the group to turn their attention to him. “This is Rupert Hoston and his wife Sarah.”

Tara gasped “As in Rebecca’s watcher?”

Hoston nodded “Yes I was Rebecca’s watcher until she died”

Rebecca’s sobs had subsided; she searched his face “How?”

“Are you a demon?” questioned Willow

“No I am very human” Hoston looked towards Spike for confirmation.

“Smells human” Spike confirmed “Plus he does have a heartbeat.”

Rebecca searched Hoston’s face “You’ve been here all this time?”

Hoston nodded as the others waited for an explanation.

Dante spoke up “Midian’s timeline works differently to most other dimensions. For every full day that passes here only one hour passes in your timeline.”

Buffy remembered when she had sent Angel to hell “I’ve heard of that before.” She frowned slightly “But why isn’t he long dead? It’s been over a hundred years since he was last seen so if he’s still human he should be dust.”

“Yes well in most cases you would be correct, however in Midian the aging process in humans is the reverse to the passage of time. For a resident to look as though they have aged one full year approximately 24 of your years and 570 Midian years would have to pass.”

“Well that would suck” exclaimed Dawn

The others looked at her puzzled

“Well you would stay a baby for what? Hundreds of years.”

Buffy’s face took on a look of horror “Oh my God you would be a teenager for ever.”

Dante laughed “Luckily for some reason the change in the aging process doesn’t start until adulthood. Up until then our children age normally depending on their place of birth. If they are born in Midian they age in our years, if they are born in the human world they age as a normal human baby, unless they reside in Midian for more then 6 months. They seem to adapt to our timeline around then.”

“Oh” Buffy didn’t quite understand but it would explain why Rebecca’s watcher and Giles’s relative? Uncle? Looked to be about the same age as Giles.

Hoston looked at the others gathered around the table “I moved to Salus shortly after Rebecca’s death. I just couldn’t stay after….” He looked away uncomfortably “Sarah and I stayed there until the attacks when we were able to bring a few of the children here.”

Rebecca merely nodded as she tried to digest this latest information.

Giles cleared his throat and spoke up “I think perhaps we should get back to why we are all here?” he eyed Hoston curiously “Perhaps we could meet later to…catch up?”

The others nodded in agreement as they all settled back into place so that the meeting could begin.

Dante began again “Anya has informed us that you wish to form an alliance.” Buffy and Giles nodded slowly “You must understand that the existence of Midian has been kept secret from most of the outside dimensions. Although it would be impossible for the council to actually enter our realm to commit violence they can attack any who leave here as well as destroy the doorways like the one you entered through today.”

Buffy looked towards Anya “Why didn’t you tell us about this place before?”

Anya looked uncomfortable “It was not allowed” she looked towards Dante as if seeking permission “For over a century the Slayer has been an enemy, not an ally. If I were to have exposed Midian, at the very least I would not have been permitted to return.”

Hoston took over the conversation “Before the attacks the Slayer would visit the community nearest her to train.” He removed his small wire frame glasses and began to clean them “With the difference in the timelines it was an ideal situation. The Slayer could train for days without leaving the human world unprotected for more than a few hours.”

The Scoobies stared at Hoston in fascination as he studiously continued to clean his glasses. Giles shifted uncomfortable as they turned to look at him, wide grins on all their faces. “I can see how that would be an efficient way to train.” He felt his own hands inching towards his face before he remembered that he was currently sans spectacles. He looked towards Dante and the others “If we are to go up against the council it would be highly beneficial for us to resume the alliance.”

The tall woman called Jayala spoke for the first time “How can we be sure that you mean us no harm?” her voice had a soft lyrical quality to it “There are many demon families here that would become vulnerable should our presence be revealed.”

Rebecca took this opportunity to speak “I do not believe that Buffy and her friends would do anything that could bring harm to Midian and its people.” She glanced at Spike “They have formed alliances with demons before and from what I’ve been told, they have stood by them.”

Dante stood and motioned for the others from Midian to join him “If you’ll excuse us for a moment” they quickly moved out of the room.

The Scoobies looked to Anya who merely smiled “It’s going very well.”

Xander looked confused “But we haven’t really talked about anything?”

Anya merely smiled “Mathew is a Shartala, they are empathic demons. He has spent the entire time reading your intentions. If he believes that none of you are a threat then it is highly likely that a mutually beneficial alliance will be formed.”

A small gnome like creature entered and offered them refreshments while they were waiting. Each of them took a tankard sniffing the contents lightly before drinking.

*********************************************************************

The others soon returned to their places at the table. Dante waited for everyone to settle before he spoke “Midian welcomes you.” He inclined his head slightly to each of the Scoobies in turn “We believe that we can assist you in your quest Miss Summers.”

Buffy and Giles both expelled a low breathe, the tension easing from their bodies.

“So how is this going to work, do we need to sign something or...” Buffy let the sentence hang, hoping that they wouldn’t have to sign in blood.

“Your word is sufficient Miss Summers.”

“So how is this going to work” Tara spoke up for the first time.

Dante thought for a moment “I think that I will assign an elder to assist each of you for the next few days.” He turned to Bo “Isabo could you assist Miss Summers, Rebecca and…do you prefer William or Spike?”

Spike shifted uncomfortably “Doesn’t matter.”

“William then! Could you train them in some of the older weapons that they may not be familiar with. Especially the ones that would be most useful against Dretgo’s.”

Bo was nodding her acceptance when Willow broke in “Isn’t that a bit dangerous, I mean Buff and Rebecca are both slayers and Spikes….”

“Annoying” muttered Xander as he picked up his drink.

Willow glared at him while Spike merely smirked “Spike’s a vampire, won’t she get hurt?”

Anya sat back arms crossed a huge smile on her face, Xander fixed firmly in her sights ‘This is going to be good’.

Sarah leant across the table to pat Willow’s hand “Of course not dear, after all Isabo is a vampire as well.”

Xander spit his drink out across the table as he began to choke, he turned incredulous eyes towards Bo “What…how…huh” finally his mind seemed to grasp onto something “SUN!” he yelled almost jumping from his seat “Sun…with the sunshine and…and…SUN!”

Bo gentle tucked her hair behind one ear and showed him the small green gem that sat on her lobe. “Amaran gems.”

Spike’s full attention was now fixed on the tiny earrings “But I thought that the Gem of Amara was destroyed.”

“Oh that” Bo looked a bit disgusted “Let’s just say that that particular gem belonged to a blabbermouth.”

Spike could feel hope rising up within him “So there’s more of those pretty baubles then luv?”

Bo smiled “The gem isn’t the source of power itself, merely the receptacle.” She motioned towards Jayala “Any gem can become Amaran if it is blessed by an Amaran priestess.”

Jayala smiled “I would be more than happy to provide you with a blessing William.” She looked to Tara and Willow as she stood “Would you ladies like to watch?” Both girls nodded vigorously and moved to join her. “William?”

Spike rose, a huge smile plastered across his face as he followed the others out of the room.

*********************************************************************

Anya watched as Xander continue to stare at Bo, occasionally his mouth would open as if to speak, but then it would snap back shut. Anya could almost see his mind slowly ticking over as he tried to process that fact that his new crush was the very thing he professed to hate so much.

Bo simply stared back at him innocently; Mathew had warned her that Xander may not take the news ‘well’. She gave Anya a conspiratorial smile; the two had spoken often after D’Hoffran had sent Anya to them to heal. Bo had been curious about the man that had hurt Anya so badly, she also knew however that Anya had finally admitted that they were never meant to be together and that both of them would have been miserable.

Bo gave Xander another broad smile and a wink before turning her attention back to the others.

Dante looked towards Giles “Rupert and Sarah will accompany Mr. Giles and Mr. Harris to our archives and provide them with any information that they may need with regards to the Dretgo’s and their allies.” Dante paused momentarily “I suggest you listen carefully to what Sarah tells you Mr. Giles.”

Giles looked towards Sarah curiously.

Sarah graced him with a motherly smile “I am a Dretgan demon Mr. Giles; we are an evolved form of the Dretgo.” She heard the gasps of the others left at the table “We do not feed upon our mates or children. The Dretgo’s actually consider us to be the lower being.”

There was silence from the remaining Scoobies, that is until Xanders head hit the table with a resounding thud as he began to mutter softly. Dawn and Buffy craned forward trying to hear what he was saying. Dawn snickered as she made out the words she moved to whisper in Buffy’s ear “Good Demons.”

Giles moved around the table and tried to gently pull Xander up so that they could get to work. Xander lifted his head and looked at him blankly “My head hurts”.

“Well don’t bash it against a lump of wood.”

Xander looked back down at the table as if deep in thought “Ok”

Giles sighed and pinched the bridge of his nose with his thumb and forefinger “Now that we’ve established that fact can we please get to work?”

“Ok” Xander stood up still looking dazed and walked up to Sarah; he gave her an odd look “Good demon?”

Sarah smoothed his hair “Yes dear I’m a good demon”

“Ok”

Sarah linked her arm through Xanders and gently led him out.

“I think you broke him” Dawn smirked at Bo.

Anya snorted “He’ll just have to get over it.”

Dawn looked around the now depleted group “So do I get a job” she asked hopefully.

“You are the key” Mathew spoke for the first time since the meeting began.

“Yes, but since Glory’s dead I don’t think I do anything anymore.”

Mathew pressed a large clawed hand against Dawn’s forehead “The power still courses through you.” He gave her a steady look “I can teach you to harness that power.”

Buffy leapt from her seat and tried to pull Dawn away “No. There will be no harnessing of anything. I will not let you hurt Dawn.”

“Why would I hurt her?”

“Because…Because it involves cutting and blood. And it’s not of the good. No cutting Dawn” Buffy hovered over Dawn protectively.

Mathew looked horrified “Why would I cut her. I was going to teach her how to harness her energy through meditation and training.”

Buffy felt her fear deflate as she looked down at Dawn’s pleading eyes “Please Buffy”

“There’s not cutting?” Buffy was still unsure

“No cutting or harming of any kind” Mathew reassured her “Anya will be helping me. “Her knowledge of teleportation and dimensions will be useful in helping Dawn focus her abilities accurately.”

“What are my abilities?” Dawn was curious now; she stood up preparing to leave with Anya and Mathew.

“One of them is the ability to create dimensional doorways like the one you used to get here” Mathew chatted amiably to Dawn as the left the room.

Dante waited for the others to leave “We have sent clothing for you and your companions to your abode Miss Summers. I hope you don’t mind but I assumed that you would remain here for a few days before returning home.” He slowly stood “William should return shortly so that you can begin your training.” Dante moved forward to take Buffy’s hands briefly staring intently into her eyes before turning and leaving the room.

Buffy turned to face Bo “So vamp huh?”

Bo nodded “Yep, I was turned in 1901”

“So you’re like way old then”

Bo laughed “Not as old as Anya”

Buffy joined her “I keep telling Xander that he’s a demon magnet.”

Rebecca laughed at that comment.

“What’s so funny pet?”

The girls turned to look at Spike as he sauntered into the room flashing them a wide grin. He just couldn’t contain his excitement at now possessing another Amaran gem; he was practically bouncing as he walked.

“I was just saying that Xanders a demon magnet” Buffy caught a flash of green on Spikes finger ‘So he went for a ring again.’

Spike merely smirked before throwing his arm across Rebecca’s shoulder; he reached over to drag Buffy to him and threw his other arm around her as well. “C’mon let’s go play in the sun.” The three of them walked outside into the sunlight. Spike paused for a moment letting the warmth rush over him; his skin tingled at the feel. Suddenly he released the girls and ran forward arms stretched wide spinning around like a small child.

Bo stood between the girls as they laughed at his antics “Come on lets put all that energy to work”.

The small group walked towards the outskirts of the village Spike talked and bounced the whole way. For once in his unlife everything was perfect.

Chapter 16

The Scoobies spent the next four Midian days training.

Willow and Tara had been working with Jayala learning different protection spells, they were now confident that they could place one around Buffy’s home without imploding the house.

Willow and Tara had been surprised to learn that Amaran’s were in fact not a race of demons but a religious order made up of demons and humans. Jayala had invited both girls to become her apprentices and both were seriously considering the offer.

Dawn had spent most of her time meditating with Mathew and Anya. Anya had explained the basics of dimensional teleportation and Mathew had shown her that by concentrating on the power that flowed within, she could pull it forward and direct it without the need for bloodletting.

Late on the fourth day and after many hours of meditation Dawn had made her first attempt at utilizing her powers. Anya had moved to another room and Dawn had managed to open a small window to her about the size of a saucer. Although nothing had been able to pass through the window they had managed to wave a quick hello to each other before Dawn’s excitement had caused it to snap shut.

Dawn had promised to meditate daily and practice often as Mathew assured her that the more she did; the easier it would become for her to call on her power.

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

Spike sat on a large rock watching Buffy, Rebecca and Bo as they cycled through a series of exercises involving the use of a large axe like weapon. They had learnt that to destroy a Dretgo completely you had to either behead it or do irreparable damage to its brain.

The weapons they were training with had been specially designed for this purpose. Bo had called them Redwulfs; they looked like a combination of a Celtic Halberd and a medieval mace. The four foot long staff had a spear with a double bladed axe head at its base on one end and a large spiked mace head on the other. A thick metallic band circled the centre of the staff, Spike had grinned with delight when Bo had depressed a small trigger at the base of the band causing a wooden stake to extend from the mace head. The trio had then been amazed as she deftly twisted the weapon into two pieces with a simple wrist movement.

Spike watched Buffy and Rebecca closely as their muscles flexed with each controlled move. He had been amazed to discover that they were in perfect sync with each other, almost to the point of being a mirror image. He groaned as he stood to join them once again.

On their first day of training Spike had insisted that they not just concentrate on learning the new techniques. Still bursting with excitement over his regained invincibility he had suggested that instead of pulling their punches when training with the stake component of the weapon; that the girls follow through. After all it couldn’t kill him.

He had forgotten just how much a stake to the heart actually hurt. Earlier in the day he had suggested that he and Bo attack the two slayers, after about half an hour of fighting Bo had been successfully staked by Rebecca and the two slayers then double teamed him. He had felt like he was flying, the three of them dancing in perfect synchronization.

The problem with the perfect dance was that it had to come to an end, and did so when both slayers plunged their Redwulfs home at the same time. Buffy’s found its way into his chest, while Rebecca’s had pierced his back. Spike’s eyes had widened at the feeling, he was certain that the tips had met in the middle. The wounds had healed instantly; however, the sensation was disconcerting.

Spike braced himself as he once again lifted his Redwulf and took his place beside the other three. They cycled through the moves one more time before finishing and heading home.

*********************************************************************

Xander was trudging towards home when he saw Bo and the others heading in from the training field, he quickly ducked out of sight as he watched Bo leave the others at their door.

He had been carefully avoiding her over the past few days; Xander sighed and rested his head against the tree beside him. He had found the last few days exhausting, his head hurt and his heart hurt. Not only was he overloaded with research, definitely not his strong point, but he’d had to contend with Anya popping in and getting all snuggly with Giles. He supposed he should be thankful that they spent every night at Anya’s place so he didn’t have to hear them as well.

Xander had also noticed Rebecca’s watcher and his wife casting Giles furtive glances, obviously wanting to speak to him in private. That’s why he had taken a chance to escape for a few minutes.

“Penny for them”

Xander jumped and turned around to face Bo, she held her hand towards him palm up, a penny lying in the center of her hand. He glanced back towards where he had last seen her.

“Vamp remember, we tend to move pretty fast.”

“Yeah”

Bo lifted her hand higher, offering him the penny once more. Xander picked it up with uncertain fingers turning it over before closing his hand around it.

Bo started to walk towards the stream “So are you coming?”

He unfurled his hand and stared at the penny once more, before clenching his fist back around it. “Yeah I’m coming.”

They reached the spot where they had sat that first day. Xander fiddled with the penny in his hand not quite sure what he was doing. “I feel old.” He sighed and leant back against the tree.

“I am old” Bo turned to face him legs crossed “Tell me.”

Suddenly Xander felt anger rise inside him “WHY DO YOU CARE?” he shouted.

Bo merely stared back at him silently.

“I mean, you’re a demon” Xander jumped up and began to pace “Demons are supposed to be the bad guy’s. There’s supposed to be a line, you’re supposed to be able to tell.”

Xander clenched his fists as the anger came spewing forward “It was easy at first, humans good, demons bad. Then came Angel and it was all…he has a soul…so we trust him. Then what happens? Bang oops souls gone so now he’s the bad guy. And then it’s… ohh souls back…he’s a good guy again.”

“And don’t even get me started on Spike…he’s bad…then he’s helping, but he’s still bad. He leaves then comes back, then leaves, then comes back. He gets a chip so we can’t stake him ‘because he’s helpless, but he’s still the bad guy. Then he’s the good guy…why…’cause he’s banging Buffy? All the Summers women love him you know! Joyce, Dawn, Buffy.”

“Then there’s Anya.” The anger seemed to leave him in a rush when he came to Anya. Xander flopped to the ground his voice thickening with emotion “It’s only been a couple of months, how can she just forget about me like that?”

Bo waited for him to finish his rant “Xander, how long was Anya gone for?”

Xander rubbed his eyes tiredly “A few months.”

“You know that she was here for some of that time, don’t you?”

He nodded silently.
“Anya was her for about six of your weeks.” Bo watched him quietly as she waited for Xander to realize what she was saying. “So…”

Xander suddenly understood “So…time works differently here.”

“Anya was here for about 2 ½ Midian years.” Bo gently rubbed his shoulders “It took her a long time to get over you Xander.”

For some reason that seemed to make Xander feel a little better. He gave Bo a wry smile “So you…”

“Me.”

“A vamp hey?” Xander seemed uncertain “So have you…you know…umm”

“Eaten anybody!” Bo decided to be honest “Yes Xander I have killed, not for over a hundred human years. But yes I’ve killed.”

“Oh”
Bo continued “It was during the war, I was taking Rupert and Sarah’s baby son to a safe place. I was on my way back when I was attacked by a gang of human men.” Bo turned her face to the night sky. “There was eight of them, they raped me and left me in an alley. A vamp must have seen what happened and decided to turn me after they left. When I rose he had them all locked in an old barn ready for me.” Bo shuddered “I tore them apart and I mean tore apart. Limb from limb. I think I even scared my sire because he abandoned me after that. Some part of me knew that I to find my way to Midian; they took me in and helped me overcome my bloodlust.”

The two sat as in silence as the sun slowly faded.

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

Giles sat at the table, books strewn in front of him, a hand rubbing wearily across his eyes. In his other hand he now held a small pair of wire frame glasses he had borrowed from Hoston. Luckily they had similar prescriptions, Giles idly thought about where Hoston got his glasses.

He glanced up startled when a hand place a glass in front of him, the contents looking suspiciously like scotch. Giles lifted the glass and sniffed ‘smells like scotch’, he tilted the glass, letting the warm fluid slide down his throat, sighing as he felt his body begin to relax.

The past few days working with Xander had been, uncomfortable, to say the least. Most of the time they had been able to work together with the ease that comes from years of routine, however whenever Anya had visited the atmosphere would become strained.

Giles was aware of the furtive glances Xander would cast his way whenever Anya would settle on his lap and begin catching them up on Dawn’s progress. Xanders eyes were filled with longing, pain and sorrow with a healthy dose of bitterness thrown in. Giles had tried to broach the subject several times; however Xander would brush of his attempts and change the subject.

Giles turned his gaze to Hoston who had silently taken a seat across from him. “I believe that we are related.” Giles took another taste of his drink “Katherine was my great grandmother, your sister I believe?”

Giles waited for the other man to nod in confirmation. “Yes Katherine was my younger sister.”

“Did she know about this community?” Giles was curious as to whether his grandmother had kept secrets from him.

Hoston studied him carefully before continuing “Yes she knew.”

Giles felt disappoint course through him, he had always thought that his grandmother had shared everything with him.

“She also knew that after the attacks anyone with alliances to Midian and its outlying communities was in danger.” Hoston gazed at Giles steadily “Some time before the attacks we had staged a falling out and she distanced herself from me.”

Hoston reached over to refill Giles’s glass and then his own “I never saw my sister again. When did she…” he left the question hang.

“She died in her bed surrounded by family.” Giles reassured him “She was 96, she had a long life. Even had her own potential slayer for a time.”

Hoston smiled his thanks “The last time I saw her she was newly married.”

Giles chuckled “She started having babies straight away, there was the twins first, both boys, then a little girl.”

Hoston’s eyes teared at the thought of his baby sister grown with a family of her own. He wished he could have seen her. “What did she name the children?”

“The little girl was called Annabelle and the boys were Richard and Samuel.”

Hoston gasped “The boys. Were they identical twins?”

Giles shook his head “Different as day and night. One was even bigger. Why?”

Hoston jumped up excitedly “SARAH! SARAH!”

Sarah rushed to her husband’s side “What is it? What’s wrong?”

Hoston grasped onto his wife “Katherine had twin boys Richard and SAMUEL.”

Sarah’s eyes widened as her hand flew to her mouth, they both turned anxious eyes to Giles “When were the twins born?”

Giles thought for a moment “Mid 1901 I think.”

Sarah cried out at this and sank into a chair weeping she looked up at Giles “Samuel…do you know if he had a birthmark?”

Giles frowned “Yes I believe he did; a small crescent on his hip.”

Hoston wrapped his arms fiercely around his wife as he muttered “He made it. He made it” he turned to look at Giles once more “When Salus was attacked we were separated from our baby son. Thankfully Isabo managed to get him to a safe house in the human community, but we never knew what happened to him after that.” Hoston drew in a deep breathe, expelling it slowly “His name was Samuel, he was two months old. He had a small crescent birthmark on his hip.”

“Bloody hell” Giles took a large gulp of his drink.

Chapter 17

The Scoobies were gathered at the mausoleum entrance ready to return to Sunnydale. They had decided to do a mini patrol on their way back to Revello drive. Anya was accompanying them in case they needed to contact Midian urgently, otherwise they would return the following evening and spend a few Midian days training as they had just done.

Buffy kept casting Giles worried glances; he had been acting strangely all afternoon. As they stepped through the door into the mausoleum Buffy could feel the drop in temperature immediately, although she had known that time was working differently while they were in Midian she had still been unprepared for the reality of it.

They stepped out into the Sunnydale night and headed for Revello Drive, Buffy hung back from the group drawing Giles back with her “Is everything ok? You seem kinda…off.”

Giles seemed deep in thought “Just family concerns.”

“Family concerns? Ok what does that mean?” Buffy gripped his arm “Giles tell me what’s wrong” she implored.

Giles pulled his borrowed glasses from his face and stared at them for a moment “You know that I come from a long line of watchers?”

Buffy nodded

“Well my great grandmother Katherine had three children that all became watchers” Giles waited a moment before continuing “We were always told that Samuel and Richard were twins.”

Buffy waited patiently for him to continue wondering where the conversation was headed.

Giles sighed and rested against a headstone “It seems that Samuel was in fact Rupert and Sarah Hoston’s son. Katherine took him in when the war began and told everyone that he was Richard’s twin brother.”

“So what does that mean Giles?”

“Buffy Samuel is…” Giles was cut short when they heard a scream in the distance.

Buffy began to run in the direction of the noise, as did Spike and Rebecca, as the trio rounded a corner they came across a dozen vampires trying to break into a car parked on the side of the road, a man lay nearby. The vamps were so intent on gaining entry to the car that they didn’t notice the trio approaching.

“You know you really shouldn’t play with your food” quipped Buffy pulling out the stake she always seemed to have tucked away someplace. She slid a glance across at Spike and Rebecca and noted that they both were now wielding stakes as well.

“Slayer” hissed one of the vamps as he stepped forward “prepare to die”

Buffy rolled her eyes “How original.”

Rebecca gave a small laugh “Are they still using that line?”

The vamp growled in annoyance before leaping forward to attack, Buffy casually stepped to one side staking him in the back as he flew past.

She watched the dust fall to the ground “Wow that was easy” she turned back to the others “So who’s next?” she motioned towards Spike and Rebecca “You can even take your pick of opponent.”

The vamps stood still watching the trio carefully, none of them moving to attack or flee.

Spike began to fidget as he waited for the fight to begin, eventually frustration got the better of him “Oh come on!” He flew forward into the middle of the vamps and began to throw punches. He quickly staked two more vamps before they realized that they were supposed to fight back.

“Hey no fair” Buffy pouted as she and Rebecca joined the fray.

“Wha?”

Buffy flung Spike a grin “No starting without us.”

The Scoobies stood back watching as the three warriors gradually moved the fight away from the road and back into the cemetery. Willow and Tara rushed forwards to tend to the man.

“He’s still alive” Willow grabbed a piece of the man’s torn shirt and pressed it against his neck as Tara began to chant a healing spell.

Dawn rushed towards the car and saw two terrified children huddled in the back “It’s ok now, helps coming” she turned back in time to see Xander finishing a call to 911. “Not long now, everything is going to be ok.”

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

Spike had just dusted his third vamp when he felt it; a small tug in the pit of his stomach and a tingling sensation where Rebecca’s claim mark was. It wasn’t the first time he had felt a sensation like this, it happened whenever Buffy and Rebecca were close to each other. This time, however the feeling was much more intense, he took a moment to check on the girls before heading off to find Giles.

Giles started in surprise when Spike charged out of the darkness “Oi watcher, there’s something wrong.”

Giles didn’t question, merely started after Spike who was once again sprinting back to the two slayers. He stopped by Spike’s side drawing in ragged breathes as they watched the girls fight the remaining two vamps. “What’s wrong Spike?”

“I don’t know!” Spike began to pace “I just know something’s happening.” Spike’s agitation seemed to increase with every passing moment. He started back towards the slayers, his eyes frantically switching from one to the other.

Buffy sent her vamp reeling with a well placed kick to his chest at the exact same time as Rebecca neatly flipped the second vamp over her shoulder. The girls passed a few inches from each other flashing each other a smile as they did, neither noticed Spike drop to his knees clutching his stomach.

The adrenaline was pumping hard as Buffy plunged her stake down through the vamp’s chest; she glanced up and saw Rebecca’s vamp turn to dust as well. “Damn we’re good”

Rebecca walked towards her twirling her stake in her fingers “I must say that was quite invigorating.” As she reached Buffy’s side they both noticed that Spike was being helped to his feet by Giles. “William!”

“Spike!” Buffy grabbed for Rebecca’s hand as they both started to rush forward; she fell to her knees as what felt like a bolt of electricity shot through her body. Buffy heard someone start to scream and looked around for the source ‘Oh it’s me.’ She turned her head to see Rebecca writhing in agony on the ground.

Buffy felt like her arm was burning so she looked down to her hand that was still clutching Rebecca’s tightly. Tendrils of orange light were twisting around their hands and coursing up her arm, Buffy abruptly dropped Rebecca’s hand falling back to lay on the ground beside her.

Spike felt like his whole body was on fire, the claim mark on his neck was now red raw and blood was slowly starting to bead on its surface. Ignoring the pain he stumbled forward towards the women on the ground, the glowing orange light still arcing between the two. He fell to his knees as he reached them “NO!” his own screams began to merge with Buffy and Rebecca’s. The orange light seemed to reach out for him encompassing him in its path; Spike’s eyes began to glow as the light filled him.

Giles was watching the scene in shocked silence, he jerked back in surprise when someone grabbed his arm.

“Giles what’s wrong?” Dawn looked up him tearfully.

“I don’t know”



Blood was now pouring freely from the mark on Spike’s neck; a stream of red light started pulsing from his chest and mingling with the orange.

“Are their essences becoming unstable Giles?” Willow was clutching for Tara anxiously “Do we need to do the anchoring spell?”

“That’s it, that’s what’s wrong.” Dawn grabbed the Wiccan’s hands and began to drag them forward “You need to fix it. Please” In her haste Dawn stumbled and fell, pulling Willow and Tara down with her, the girls tumbled along the ground stopping near Spike and the two Slayers.

Suddenly the now orange and red light shot forward hitting each of the girls in the chest, it seemed to be drawing different colored light from each of them. Pink from Tara, indigo from Willow and green from Dawn, a mass of light began to form above the six on the ground pulsing with the colors that it had drawn from each of them.

“It’s drawing on all their essences” Giles realized in horror.

“What do we do” Xander stared at his friends feeling helpless “We have to do something!”

“Let me think for a minute will you.” Giles tried to rack his brain to find a solution.

Anya patted him lightly on the back “its ok Rupert, we’ll think of something.”

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

The three remaining Scoobies were so intent on trying to help their friends, and Spike, that they didn’t notice two ghostly figures hovering slightly behind them.

“It isn’t enough” one of them whispered “We need all of them.”

The other nodded in agreement “Let’s give them a helping hand”

The two forms seemed to solidify slightly before they rushed forward, slamming through the three and propelling them into the midst of the group on the ground. They then rushed upwards and hovered high above them.

As soon as Giles, Anya and Xander had been inexplicably shoved into the middle of the group, light began to pour out of them. Grey, amber and blue began to join the other colors, pulsing and swirling above and around them. With the addition of the extra three essences the drain on the others seemed to dissipate, the intense burning sensation they felt was now only a slight warmth.

With the pain now receding the others were able to take in their surroundings, Spike was the first to notice the figures hovering high above. “And just what do you think a couple of ghosties have to do with all this?”



The others looked up and tried to make out the figures high above.

“You think this is their doing?” Dawn squinted through the growing cloud of light “Why?”

“Because they like to meddle” they all turned to stare at Rebecca as she whispered this statement.

“Do you know what is happening?” Giles questioned

Rebecca shook her head slightly “No, but I do know them.” She gasped as a wave of heat passed through her body and then radiated out towards the others. “Guardians, they’re supposed to be guardians.”

“Ok so if they’re good guys” Xander interrupted “Why are our essences still pouring out of us?”

They all looked down and realized that color was still poring forth from them; Spike waved his hand through his “Huh doesn’t hurt anymore.”

“Your bleedings slowed as well” Tara pointed out.

High above them the two ghostly figures watched anxiously.

“Is it enough yet?”

“Almost, are you ready for the next part?”

“Yes. Do you think she will forgive us for meddling?”

“She’ll forgive us…eventually. They all will”

The figures began to float down towards the group in preparation for the next step in their plan.

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

“Umm guys something’s happening” Dawn pointed to the ghostly figures above.

The group watched as the figures moved closer and closer, before seemingly transforming into a bright white mist. The mist floated down and surrounded the light, as soon as it did the flow of color abruptly stopped.

“Ok, that felt weird” Xander rubbed his chest lightly

“Does anyone else feel hung-over?” asked Willow

“I think perhaps we should be more interested in what those ghosts want with our essences” interjected Anya

They looked back up and noticed that the mist now held the swirling mass of color within itself. The mist slowly began to contract forming into a ball shape as it did, eventually stopping when it was about the size of a tennis ball.

Slowly the ball of light began to move to hover above Rebecca; Spike moved forward protectively trying to gather Rebecca out of its reach. The ball followed his every move; a small wisp of the mist moved forward and touched his face. Spike immediately relaxed as he felt that it meant no harm.

Suddenly the mass propelled itself downwards and into Rebecca’s stomach, both Spike and Rebecca gasped as it struck, no one noticed that Buffy had gasped at the sensation as well. As soon as the mist had touched Rebecca’s skin it had spread out to surround her as the ball of essences burrowed inside of her.

Spike leant forward as he heard softly whispered words emanating from the mist. There was a familiarity about them that he couldn’t quite put his finger on, he didn’t have time to think about it though, because the mist suddenly shot back upwards, disappearing into the night sky.

The Scoobies sat in silence as they pondered what they had just witnessed. “I think we better head back” Giles got to his feet shakily “We’re vulnerable sitting out here in this state.”

The others nodded mutely and began to stand, Spike helped Rebecca then Buffy to their feet. “You ok?” he asked each in turn, before pulling each of them to his side and heading towards Revello Drive.

Ten minutes later the group stumbled through the door and made their way into the living room. Spike moved over to Tara and whispered to her quietly “Glinda, I know you’re knackered...but something’s changed…could you maybe…in a bit…could you…?”

“Check her aura?”

Spike nodded silently

“I wanted to check everyone anyway.”

Spike smiled his thanks before returning to sit between Rebecca and Buffy on the sofa.

About half an hour passed before Tara felt ready “I’m going to do a spell so that we can all see each other’s auras. We need to look for miss patches or places in the aura that are either a different color or duller. Things like that.”

She settled down in the middle of the room, legs crossed and took a bracing breathe.

*Aperio penitus lumen*

The room began to glow with the colors emanating from each of them “Oh pretty” gasped Dawn.

Each of them began to scan the other searching for signs of changes. Buffy was fussing over Dawn, laughing as she looked in her ears “Nope all clear in here” she leant forward and swept up Dawns hair “all clear back there as well.” She pulled back when she heard Dawn gasp “what’s wrong?”

“Your neck” Dawn reached up to touch Buffy’s neck tentatively.

Buffy frowned as she tried to look at her neck “What about it?”

Dawn swept her fingers lightly over Buffy’s skin “Your scars are gone.”

You’re looking on the wrong side Dawnie” Xander moved over and began to inspect Buffy’s neck “Hang on…Huh”

“Your scars are gone Buffy.” Dawn gave her a wide smile

“O…k… but other then that?” Buffy didn’t know what to make of her disappearing scars.

“Other then that you’re good Buff” reassured Xander.

“How’s Rebecca?” Tara moved forward “Spike?” she gasped as she reached his side.

“Glinda what is that?” Spike was pointing to the swirling mass of color that was held within Rebecca’s stomach.

The others crowded around and stared at Rebecca in amazement.

“So that’s what the ghosts were up to” Tara placed an arm across his shoulder “Spike, I think your going to be a daddy.”

“What?” Spike looked into the tearful face of his wife before gathering to him “They resurrected our baby.”

“And it seems that they used all of our essences to do it” Giles added.

Chapter 18

The Scoobies continued to stare at Rebecca in stunned silence.

Buffy realized what Spike had said “What do you mean they resurrected your baby?”

Spike gently stroked Rebecca’s stomach his eye’s never leaving her face. “When Rebecca died she was pregnant.”

Buffy moved to sit beside Rebecca hesitantly reaching out a hand to touch her. The Scoobies all let out a sigh of relief when nothing happened.

Buffy turned to Willow “We need to know what is happening? Can you...?”

Willow nodded slowly “Research.” She sighed and wearily rubbed her eyes.

Buffy could sense that Rebecca was tiring ‘Why do I know what Rebecca is feeling?’ She looked at Spike who was watching Rebecca carefully, Buffy then looked at the others. The entire Scooby gang were staring at Rebecca. Buffy could almost hear what each was thinking. Spike wanted to take Rebecca somewhere quiet so they could talk, Willow and Tara were both rolling theories around in their heads, Giles was thinking about someone called Samuel…and maybe he could help. ‘Hang on…huh?’ Dawn was excited about the baby and a bit…jealous maybe, Anya seemed to be fixated on Spike’s ‘Neck?’ And Xander was in a state of shock.

“Um guys I know this is going to sound weird...but can any of you…do you know”

“What the others are thinking” Dawn finished her sentence for her.

Buffy nodded her head slowly.

“Oh good lord! What next” Giles slumped down into one of the chairs.

“SPIKE!” Anya suddenly yelled.

Everyone jumped and turned to look at her. Anya was starting to get excited her hand patting the side of her neck in small rapid movements.

“When…whatever it was” she motioned towards Rebecca’s stomach “was happening your neck was bleeding.”

Spike’s hand moved towards the tender mark on his neck and nodded slowly “And…?”

“How did it feel?” Anya was now starting to pace as her mind grasped onto something from her past.

Spike frowned for a moment “Like I was being bitten over and over.”

Anya was nodding furiously “How does it feel now?”

Everyone turned their attention back towards Spike; he could feel the curiosity rolling of them in waves. “It kinda tingles. Like a fresh claim bite would, but it’s stronger. More powerful.”

Anya’s face lit up with excitement and she began to pat at her neck again “I know what this is! My neck tingles too and I bet so does everyone else’s.”

Gile’s looked at each of the Scoobies as each of them nodded that they too felt the tingling. “Anya dear perhaps you should explain what this is.” Gile’s waved his hand in the general direction of the gang.

“It’s a familial claim” Anya proudly announced.

“Huh? A what?” Willow stared at Anya in confusion

Anya moved to perch on the arm of Giles chair “A familial claim is where a vampire extends their claim to the genetic members of its mate. It removes any previous dormant claims or markings, so that would explain Buffy’s neck.” Anya motioned towards Buffy.

“Like a fresh start sort of thing” queried Dawn

Anya nodded “I think what happens is that the mated pair bring all the family members they wish the claim to extend to together and then there’s some sort of spell or magic I guess and the claim extends to the others”

“Why would a vampire do that?” Xander was rubbing his neck and staring at Spike

“I assume it would be a safety issue” Giles theorized

Anya nodded furiously “The claim allows each of us to connect with the others in the family; we’ll know when someone is in danger.” She frowned slightly “There’s more to it than that but I can’t remember”

“But if it’s a familial claim why do we all feel it?” Willow questioned. “I mean I can understand Buffy and Dawn, but the rest of us don’t have a genetic link to them.”

“Yes we do” Tara knelt in front of Rebecca and gently rubbed her stomach

“Ok! NO! Stop” Xander was backing away from the rest of the group “this is…it’s just. NO!” with that he turned and ran out the door.

The others just stood and stared as Xander fled, they could all feel his confusion and pain. There was something else as well, an unsettling feeling that almost left a strange bitterness in their mouths.

“Do you think someone should go after him?” Willow’s eyes were still fixed on the open door and the darkness that lay beyond.

“I think it’s best if we just leave him be for now. The claim will let us know if he needs us.” Giles reassured her.

Willow nodded uncertainly; worry marring her brow.

“Come on baby let’s go to bed” Tara gently drew her towards the stairs.

“I think that is a wise decision for all of us” Giles consulted his watch “We have a few hours left before dawn; I suggest we get as much rest as we can.”

Buffy smiled slightly as she watched Giles nervously fidget as he cast surreptitious glances towards Anya. “You two are taking my room remember.”

Giles stood “Yes well goodnight then” he lightly clasp Anya’s hand as they headed upstairs.

Buffy waited until the couple were almost to the top “And keep the noise down will you.” She giggled as Gile’s blushed a deep red. Anya merely laughed and promised to try.

Buffy turned laughing eyes back to the other’s that remained “Bedtime for you too Dawn.” Buffy grabbed her sisters arm and began to pull her up before turning back to Spike and Rebecca “See you two in the morning.”

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

Buffy lay in bed letting the quiet of the early morning settle around her. Anya had said that they were all linked now, like a true family. ‘Think I like that idea’.

She turned to look at Dawn who was snuggled deeply into the covers. A wave of tenderness washed over her as she watched her sister sleep small moans escaping from her throat every now and then.

Buffy frowned as Dawn moaned more loudly and began to writhe slightly ‘Great I get to share a bed with the teenage hormone bomb’. Buffy’s frown deepened as she felt a tingling sensation begin between her legs, her breathing started to quicken ‘Ok what’s going on?’

Buffy took a deep breathe and tried to concentrate, allowing herself to focus on where the feelings were coming from. Suddenly her eyes grew wide “Oh gross” she flew out of bed and into the hall looking around wildly, Tara and Willow emerged from their room both looking flushed and breathless. As the feelings began to intensify Buffy could hear footsteps on the stairs ‘Ok not them, so that only leaves ………’ “ewwwwww” she flung herself towards the door to her room banging loudly. “Ok you two break it up in there!”

Buffy could hear low voiced inside the room before the door was opened by a displeased looking Anya “What’s the problem Buffy; you’re interrupting my orgasm time?”

Buffy glanced over her shoulder to see Giles hurriedly pulling on a shirt “Yes well the thing is….ummmm” Buffy blushed deeply and looked towards the others for support.

Tara and Willow had finally worked out what had happened and were trying to avoid looking directly at any of the others while Spike was leaning against the wall a slight smirk on his face.

“Buffy is anything wrong?” Giles slid his borrowed glasses on as he came to stand behind Anya.

“Well you see it’s…..ummm……the thing is.” Buffy could feel her face flaming even brighter as she struggled to find the right words “The claim…..and I know that you didn’t mean…..but……with the thing and you…..”

“Just spit it out will you Slayer!” Spike was inspecting his nails with an air of boredom about him. “What the Slayer is trying so eloquently say is that with the claim being so new and all, they haven’t learnt how to block it yet.” He fixed Giles with a pointed glare while he waited for the penny to drop.

Both Anya and Giles frowned as they tried to work out what Spike was saying. Anya’s face suddenly brightened as she exclaimed happily “Oh they are getting orgasmie type feelings from us”

Giles look aghast as he took in this information “Oh dear lord!”

“Don’t worry Rupes, couple of days and you’ll learn how to control the link” Spike thrust his hands into the pockets of his jeans as he rocked slightly onto his heals, he gave them all a wide smile running his tongue lightly across his teeth “Til then you might wanna try not touching Anya in her special places, that way we might all get some sleep” with that Spike sauntered back downstairs.

Anya pouted as she looked up at Giles "What does he mean no touching, that's not fair why should we go without orgasms?" Giles moved to close the door as she continued "I mean they get to feel all the yummy feelings that you give to me, I know that I would appreciate their orgasmie type feelings."

Buffy stared at the closed door for a few moments before heading back to bed.

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

Dawn woke up the next morning feeling quite sated ‘Wow that was the best night’s sleep I’ve had in ages’ she stretched slightly and turned to look at Buffy who was frowning slightly in her sleep.

“Hey sleepy head wake up”

Buffy grunted softly before burrowing further under the covers.

“Come on Buffy get up I’m starving” Dawn’s stomach rumbled loudly as if in emphasis.

Buffy cracked one eyelid to stare at her sister blearily “You go get started I’ll be down in a minute”

“Yeah right” Dawn muttered as her sister began to snore softly “Ohh pancakes” Dawn jumped out of bed and made her way downstairs to the kitchen. As she puttered around getting her breakfast Dawn could hear the sound of movement coming from upstairs. “We’ll at least someone else is up, bet it’s not Buffy though.” She began to noisily search the cupboards for the syrup “Here syrup” she whistled softly “where are you? Come out come out wherever you are.” Dawn abandoned her search for a moment as she turned to check on her pancakes and let out a piercing scream.

The rest of the household sprang into action at the sound of Dawn’s scream. Buffy was the first to reach the kitchen and promptly ended up sitting on her backside in the middle of a puddle of something very sticky. “DAWN!” Buffy lifted her tacky hand to her nose and sniffed “You screamed blue murder because the syrup was what?......possessed!”

Dawn stared at her sister, eyes wide with fear “YES”.

Buffy stared down at her sticky hands and began to backpedal away from the mess, clambering to her feet and frantically trying to scrub the offending substance from her skin.

“How do you know it’s possessed Dawnie?” enquired Tara softly. “I can’t sense anything” she turned to Willow “Can you sweetie?”

Willow shock her head silently “Maybe you should start from the beginning Dawn, and tell us what happened.”

Dawn took a large breath and began to speak “I was making pancakes and looking for the syrup and I turned around and there it was.” She noticed the other’s puzzled looks “It appeared out of nowhere” Dawn was beginning to get frustrated that the others weren’t getting it “It was FLOATING people. IN MID AIR”

“That sounds more like magic then actual possession” Tara and Willow were all business now trying to feel any residual magic.

“Why would anybody use magic to make syrup appear?” Buffy was gingerly pulling her sticky PJ bottoms away from her skin “What did they have something against my Hello Kitty Pajamas?”

Tara studied Dawn carefully seemingly weighing her words before she spoke “What EXACTLY were you doing just before the syrup appeared?”

Dawn frowned “I told you, I was looking for the syrup.”

“But did you SAY anything while you were looking for it”

“I was just talking to myself…..sort of calling the syrup like it was a puppy”

“Dawnie you did magic” Willow exclaimed “Why didn’t you tell us you could do magic”

“Huh! What?” Dawn seemed confused “But nothing like this has ever happened before” she turned frightened eyes towards Buffy “Honest Buffy I would have told you.”

“OH” Anya moved towards Dawn, gingerly sidestepping the sticky mess on the floor “I think Dawns claim has settled in” She lifted Dawns hair to one side and inspected her neck, before moving to check both Spike and Rebecca’s necks. “Yep it’s definitely set.”

“Anya dear, could you please explain a little more.” Giles moved forward to inspect Dawns neck, a faint pale mark was clearly visible. It seemed to be a mix of a human and vampire bite and perfectly matched the marks sported by both Spike and Rebecca.

“Well seeing as we were rudely interrupted during our orgasm time last night” Anya huffed in frustration “I couldn’t get to sleep and I remembered more about familial claims.” Anya began to move around the kitchen making herself breakfast.

“Well!” Buffy asked in frustration “What did you remember?”

“Ok remember how I said that it allows the members to connect with each other?” The others all nodded “Well I remembered that the connection also means that we can draw on each others strengths.”

“So what you’re saying is that Dawn drew on Willow and Tara’s magic”

“Cool!” everyone turned to stare at Dawn “well it is cool I can like magic up my homework.”

Buffy shook a finger in Dawns direction “No cheating and I don’t know if I like the idea of you doing magic. Especially as you have absolutely no idea what you’re doing.”

“I think we better all start learning a few of the magical rules” suggested Tara “Just to be on the safe side.”

“I think that’s a good idea” agreed Giles. He turned to frown at Dawn who was staring intently into the glass of the microwave craning her neck. “Dawn what on earth are you doing?”

“Trying to see what my bite mark looks like” suddenly Dawn grabbed Buffy shoving her hair back “Nope nothing yet” she moved on to the others “No, No, No, Tara you’ve got faint marks coming up” She tugged on Tara’s hand “Come on lets go have a look in the mirror in the bathroom.” She squealed in excitement as she raced upstairs “This is so cool, I can’t wait to tell Janice.”

Buffy smiled wryly as she watched Dawn drag Tara from the room “I might go have a shower and get myself unsticky.”

“And I’ll get with the cleaning of the evil syrup from the floor” offered Willow, she started pulling cleaning liquid out of the cupboards when the back door was suddenly flung open.

Xander charged through the door intent on finding Dawn, he had been sitting in his old room in his parents basement thinking ‘Sulking’ when he had this overwhelming feeling that Dawn was in danger. He had run all the way to Buffy’s house and had gone straight to the back door, charging through at full speed. He didn’t see the mess on the floor until it was too late, the next thing he knew he was on his back, his head hitting the floor sharply as he fell.

Spike skirted around the sunlight as he moved to stare down at the now unconscious Xander “Think it’s safe to say that the claim is working well on the whelp.” Spike hoisted him up and sat him against the counter gently patting his cheeks “Come on dough boy, wakey wakey”

Chapter 19

Xander opened his eyes and looked directly into Spike’s grinning face “Ughhh” he pushed Spike backwards straight into the sunlit doorway.

Spike began to move towards the safety of the shadows when a flash on his finger caught his attention. He grinned widely as he settled himself against the doorjamb and began discretely maneuvering the ring on his finger so that it sent small bursts of light directly into Xander’s eyes “Well good morning to you too whelp”.

Xander snorted in disgust as he realized that Spike was wearing his ring; then he remembered why he was here “What did you do to her Deadboy?”

“What did I do to who?” Spike said as he scanned Xander for signs of the claim and smirked as he took note of the distinct bite marks on his neck.

“DAWN you bleached wonder” Xander stormed towards him “I know you did something to her. She was scared.” Xander sneered as he continued “I felt it.”

“Felt what Xander?” Dawn asked as she came bouncing back into the kitchen.

“Dawn your ok!” Xander blinked in surprise as he tried to process the fact that Dawn now stood in front of him seemingly unharmed. “But I felt it. You were frightened.”

“Oh that” Dawn waved a dismissive hand in Xanders direction “It was nothing really, I just used the claim to draw on Willow and Tara’s magic without realizing it.”

Xander whirled back towards Spike an ugly look marring his face “I knew it was your fault.”

“Oi” Spike began to protest.

“Xander” Willow moved forward to place a reassuring hand on his arm “Spike didn’t do this, you know that.”

Xander looked around the kitchen at everyone assembled, the others had returned to the kitchen when they had heard the commotion. His eyes finally returned to Spike and he could feel the frustration and anger welling up inside him again.

The others gasped as they felt the waves of hostility that were emanating from Xander.

“I don’t like this” complained Xander

“I know” soothed Willow gently “But with a little practice we’ll all be able to learn how to block out the others until we need them.”

An awkward silence fell over the group for a few moments before Buffy took charge of the situation “Ok here’s the plan we will all head back to Midian tonight so we can train and get some help getting the claim under control.” She spun round “Dawn you have school today so get a move on, Willow and Tara can you two work on that no violence spell that you learnt.” Buffy turned her attention to Giles and Anya “Giles can you find anything researchie that you might find useful back in Midian, Anya can help you when she’s not busy with the store.”

Buffy softened her voice slightly “Xander can you have a look at doing something more permanent with Spike and Rebecca’s room in the basement.” She smiled reassuringly “We managed to get something temporary done but I don’t think our girly construction skills will stand the test of time.”

“An what about us luv?” Spike enquired softly.

Buffy thought for a moment “Meet at the Magic Box for training I guess, see if we can use the claim to our advantage during a fight.” She turned to look the others before striding out of the room “Well what are you all waiting for? Get moving”.

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

Three Weeks Later

Buffy sat on the soft grass watching Spike and Rebecca training with the Redwulf’s, Bo barked orders occasionally as the pair swung the deadly weapons with surprising grace. So much had happened in the last few weeks that she had felt overwhelmed at times.

All of the familial claims were now in full effect, thankfully it had not taken them long to learn how to control the flow of emotions from one to the other. Xander had been the most eager to learn and had therefore been the first to control the claim. It had been somewhat of a relief when the feelings of anger and resentment and ceased to bombard them. Buffy was worried though as he was unwilling to learn how to draw from the other’s strengths. He also seemed to be distancing himself from the other Scoobies, all except Dawn and surprisingly Rebecca.

Willow and Tara had decided to become apprentices to Jayala so that they might one day become Amaran priestesses. They had successfully placed a sanctuary spell around the Summers home, even managing to extend it to the property boundary ensuring that the inhabitants would be safe from harm in their own yard as well as the house.

Dawn, with Anya and Mathews help, was now able to open portals as large as a doorway that could sustain themselves for a short amount of time. The only problem was that Dawn needed to be able to visualize a person or place for her to be able to create the portal. The three were currently working on a way for Dawn to establish a permanent doorway to Midian that could be accessed from the Summers home without drawing too much energy from Dawn.

The most surprising revelation had happened not long after they had returned to Midian, Giles had gathered them all together along with the elders of Midian.

…………………………

Giles had cleared his throat nervously as he paced around the room, the others watched and waited for him to begin.

“The reason I have called you all here is that I have some information about Samuel.”

Sarah had gasped softly at this but did not interrupt.

“I’ve been trying to discuss this with Buffy but we always seem to get sidetracked, so I decided to just tell all of you together.”

Giles sat opposite Hoston and Sarah clasping his hands together as he found the words to continue. “Samuel is still alive and well.”

Sarah let out a cry and she grasped her husbands hand, tears welling in her eyes.

“He is currently 101 years old and has worked in the council library for most of his adult life.” Giles smiled reassuringly “He’s quite spry for his age and refuses to leave his books. The council has been trying to retire him for the past 30 years to no avail”

“Why is that?” asked Willow curiously

“The catacombs?” questioned Hoston

Willow looked at Giles curiously

“The Council’s library is quite extensive” Giles explained “So much so that much of it is housed in catacombs beneath the building. It’s like a labyrinth down there and the tunnels stretch for miles.” He chuckled softly “I remember getting lost down there when I was just a new watcher. I’d been wandering around for hours when all of a sudden Samuel popped up out of nowhere and led me out. No one else can ever seem to navigate them, hence the council’s inability to retire him. If they lost Samuel it would take years to locate a single book down there.”

A thoughtful looked crossed over Hoston’s face “Back in my day there was talk about there being secret passages that led to every part of the council.”

Giles was nodding furiously “Yes I was searching for them when I became lost. I had also heard that there was an escape passage hidden away in the catacombs somewhere. If Samuel were to be approached this could provide us with…”

“A way in.” Interjected Rebecca

This had immediately caught everyone’s attention

“If one of us could access the catacombs with Samuels help then Dawn would be able to open a portal to allow the rest of us in without the council ever being aware that we have left Sunnydale.” Giles continued.

………………………………..

Buffy was pulled from her thoughts by a shout; Spike was laying flat on his back, Rebecca standing over him the stake of the Redwulf pointed at his heart. The sound of the couple’s laughter filtered across the field to where she sat. She watched as Spike rose to his knees and pressed his face against Rebecca’s swollen stomach.

That had been another area of concern for the small family; Rebecca’s pregnancy had progressed at an alarming rate. Her stomach was now full and rounded, after much research it had been theorized that the pregnancy had accelerated to match what should have been its natural state. They had calculated that Rebecca had been about 8 weeks pregnant when she died; she had been ‘back’ for almost 5 months when the incident in the cemetery had resurrected the baby. Giles and Hoston had therefore concluded that the babies natural gestation would be around 7 to 8 months and the pregnancy would continue at a normal rate once this mark had been reached. Tara had been studying Rebecca’s aura on a daily basis and they had all been relieved when this seemed to be the case.

Buffy smiled as Spike flopped down beside her, laying his head on her lap as he watched his wife sparring with Bo.

Spike watched in amazement as Rebecca spun gracefully and took out Bo’s legs in one swift movement “How does she do that?”

“I have no idea” Buffy answered “No-one should have that much energy” she ran her fingers through his hair as Spike closed his eyes and enjoyed the sensations Buffy was creating.

That was another thing that had changed in the past few weeks. Rebecca had encouraged Buffy to spend time with the two of them as much as possible. Some days Buffy would spend time alone with Rebecca, the two having formed a close friendship. Buffy would playfully rub Rebecca’s stomach and whisper to the baby within. Rebecca would tell the baby to listen to what mummy Buffy was saying because it was very important. The first time she had said that Buffy had looked up at her startled; Rebecca had merely smiled and shrugged.

Rebecca’s one concession to her pregnancy was her afternoon nap, most days Buffy would curl up on the bed beside her, one hand resting protectively on Rebecca’s stomach.

Spike had walked in on them one afternoon and had merely placed a kiss on each of their foreheads before settling himself beside them and placing his hand over Buffy’s. After this the relationship between Buffy and Spike changed, he would now her offer Buffy gentle hugs and soft kisses whenever they were alone or with Rebecca. The three had formed a loving family unit which extended to the others around them as well. The other girls accepted the new family dynamic without question, Giles was slightly bemused by it all and Xander seemed to hover between open hostility and acceptance.

Spike in the mean time was basking the glow of being the alpha male and head of the family.

“We have to go back tonight” Spike pulled himself up to sit beside Buffy

“Do we have to?” Buffy complained “It’s so peaceful here, can’t we just stay and forget about the real world”

“Sorry luv duty calls” Spike wrapped his arms around her “Soon it’ll be all over and you can spend as much time here as we like.”

“Bliss” Buffy sighed

“What’s bliss?” asked Rebecca as she came to stand in front of the pair.

“This place” Buffy spread her arms wide “I can’t wait until we can enjoy it without having to worry about Travers.”

Rebecca merely laughed “Come on it’s time we headed back to get the others.”

Chapter 20

The Scoobies arrived back at Revello and each headed off to organize their coming day in Sunnydale. Spike, Buffy and Giles headed towards the living room deep in discussion about how to approach Samuel for his assistance.

Rebecca watched the trio disappear through the door before heading downstairs to her newly finished bedroom. Xander had erected two partitions in the basement effectively forming an enclosed room. A sliding door was placed facing the stairs so that the couple had direct access upstairs. Rebecca perched wearily on the edge of the bed and waited. Closing her eyes for a moment, she smiled to herself when she heard the first sound of feet pounding down on the stairs.

“Hello Xander.” she opened her eyes to see the startled look on his face. “Did you want something? Come in and we’ll have a chat.” She patted the bed beside her, the only other seating at present being a small uncomfortable looking stool.

Xander ignored Rebecca’s invitation, hovering near the door to the room “I don’t like what’s happening with Buffy. This thing," he spat the word out, “that’s going on with the three of you. It’s not right. It shouldn’t be happening.” Xander moved further into the small room “I know it’s hard for you. I know that everything must be really strange. But this weird relationship thing you and Spike seem to have with Buffy, it’s wrong.” Xander ran a hand through his hair bunching it in his fist in frustration. He desperately tried to find the words to explain his feelings without distressing the very pregnant woman before him.

Rebecca studied him for a few moments, her eyes flashed briefly as she came to a decision. “Do you know why I came here Xander?” The whispered words seemed to float into the room, Xander stilled as he searched Rebecca’s face for an answer.

“You came with Giles to find out what happened to you, why you were back.” Xander waited for her agreement. Rebecca sighed and closed her eyes. She seemed to be gathering herself, calming her mind and drawing on a hidden strength. Xander was struck by how much this action reminded him of Spike.

Rebecca reached out pulling Xander to sit beside her; she didn’t look at him but kept her eyes trained on the floor. “That’s not why I came.” She turned to look at him, holding his eyes in her steady gaze “That’s what Giles thought too, I didn’t tell him the real reason.” She rubbed her hands across the bed covers nervously; although she never broke eye contact with him “I came here to die, Xander.”

The words were said calmly, emotionlessly; without fear, anger, sadness. Nothing. Just a few simple sounds that could change the world around him. Xander wondered at the detachment in her voice. “Why?” It was all he could think to say.

Rebecca smiled showing the barest hint of sadness “I’m not meant to be here and while I am, Buffy will never be whole; she’ll forever be missing a part of her essence.” She took another bracing breath before continuing “I arrived here fully expecting to perform a ritual which would send my essence back to ether so that the missing piece could be returned to Buffy. Then I found William again and I found that I couldn’t….” Rebecca broke off; her eyes beseeching him for understanding “I wanted what was taken from me; I wanted a chance to have the life I lost.” She absently rubbed her swollen stomach her face taking on a distant look “I’m being selfish, I suppose and Buffy is suffering for it.”

Xander couldn’t fathom what he was hearing; his mind raced and whirled at her words. He could feel the regret surging inside of him for the suffering he and the others had caused with their resurrection spell. “I’m sorry” It was all he could think to say “We didn’t know, I mean how could we?”

Rebecca sighed “I was so angry with you all. I was brought back to a world I didn’t know just so I could sacrifice myself for it again.” She turned to face him. “You can never comprehend what you did to me, what you did to Buffy." Tears started to slide down Rebecca’s face.

Xander could feel the moisture welling in his own eyes.

“When I arrived here and found William, I knew that I couldn’t do that again.” She seemed to be pleading for understanding “I couldn’t give up everything again, I couldn’t make that sacrifice. Because of that, Buffy will forever remain incomplete; she will always be searching for that missing piece. Being close to us, to me, it helps her.” Rebecca searched his face waiting for that look of comprehension. “When Buffy is with William and I, what do you feel?”

Xander closed his eyes and tried to ignore the truth that was pushing itself out of the dark little corner his soul “I feel her peace, like she’s resting. I don’t know how else to explain it.”

“I think Buffy is able to draw what she needs through the familial claim; physical closeness also seems to strengthen it.” Rebecca tried for her most reassuring smile “I was going to speak to Tara and Willow about it, I think, given enough time that Buffy will be able to heal completely.”

Xander latched onto that thought “So this is temporary.” He seemed pleased with this thought “So in a few weeks Buffy will be back to her old ‘I hate Spike’ self and all will be right in the world again.”

“Xander I don’t think ….” Suddenly Rebecca was pulled into a crushing hug before being abruptly released.

Xander was practically bouncing with delight as he made his way back upstairs.

Rebecca sighed as she lay back on the bed to rest. ‘There was just no getting through to that man’.

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

The next week passed much as before with two exceptions. Dawn’s powers had increased so much that she had managed to create a permanent, stable portal to Midian inside the summer’s home. Situated at the end of the upstairs hall, members of the group could now come and go as they pleased.

The other was Xander's behavior; he now shadowed Buffy constantly watching her. It was as if he was waiting for the moment when she realized that she no longer cared about Spike in any way shape or form and kicked his ass. His current position was perched on the back porch watching Rebecca naming the different plants in the yard while Buffy nodded and muttered “Flower pretty”. Willow and Tara lazed on a couple of sun lounges nestled under a shady tree as they watched the two Slayers joke around in the sun.

Giles and Anya were inside preparing for a trip to England. It had been decided that the pair would contact Samuel under the guise of introducing Anya to the family. If they decided that Samuel would be amenable to aiding them, they would approach him for assistance. Dawn and Spike were with them, going over last minute details; Dawn had discovered that she merely needed to be able picture a person and she was able to open a portal close to them. If Giles and Anya were able to enter the Council undetected Anya would teleport back and inform them so Dawn could then create a backdoor into building.

Xander watched as Buffy and Rebecca joked around in the yard, he could hear the faint murmurs of those inside, but his focus was solely on Buffy. He had watched her carefully over the week and was sure he could see signs of her recovery. A small voice in his head kept repeating ‘soon soon’ and he was eager to see the first signs of her detachment from Spike. He jolted suddenly as a scream pierced the air and Rebecca fell to the ground.

Buffy had turned away from Rebecca laughing when she had felt a trembling of fear flit across her heart, she spun back around to face her just in time to hear her agonized scream and see her fall to the ground clutching her chest. Rebecca stared up at her with wide fearful eyes, reaching her hand upwards Buffy could see that it was covered in blood; she could also see three jagged slashes running diagonally from her left shoulder to her waist.

Buffy immediately took on a defensive stance as she spun around looking for the source of the attack. “Willow! Tara! Can you see it?” She turned sharply again ‘Where is it, where is it?’ Buffy was barely aware of the others emerging from inside each taking a defensive position around the fallen slayer.

“Willow has the barrier fallen?” Giles searched the yard for danger.

Willow and Tara had been chanting softly ever since Rebecca had fallen, Tara turned tear filled eyes towards him. “No the barrier is still up. There’s nothing here Giles, there’s no reason…..” she broke off as she caught site of Spike kneeling beside his wife.

Spike looked down at Rebecca, the world around him fading into muted sounds and colors; his only focus was his beloved. He gently brushed the hair from her face, a small streak of red left a trail where his fingers had caressed her. Numbly he stared at his hands and saw that they were covered in a sticky red substance ‘Blood’ his mind told him, although he couldn’t fully comprehend how it had gotten there. He saw them then, the three large gashes that were allowing his wife’s life blood to escape and fall to the ground, soaking it, soaking him. Desperately he pressed his hands against the wounds trying to stem the flow ‘Keep it in, gotta keep it in, gotta stop….it’s all about the blood, blood is life.’

“William” the soft voice pulled at him “hold me?”

With exaggerated care, he gently pulled Rebecca into his arms, cradling her tenderly pressing his lips to hers in a soft kiss. “Its ok luv, we’ll fix you up in no time.”

A lone tear coursed its way down her cheek. “I love you William” she sighed softly before closing her eyes.

“I love you Rebecca” Spike let his lips caress each of her closed lids in turn “Sleep now love, gather your strength.”

He started slightly as a small warm hand touched his back “Spike” he turned to look into Tara’s tearstained face.

“She’s sleeping” he told her woodenly.

“Oh Spike” Tara let the tears fall unchecked “no she’s not.”

With those few softly spoken words, the world came crashing back in on him with alarming speed. He looked at each of the Scoobies in turn and each wore an identical mask of grief, slowly understanding began to emerge all the while he struggled to push it back down. ‘If he didn’t acknowledge it then it wasn’t real, his Rebecca was merely sleeping, she was hurt yes, but she only needed to rest, she would wake up soon and she would show them all that she wasn’t…’

‘DEAD’ the word screamed in is brain, rumbled through his body, filled every pore with its truth ‘DEAD’ he could feel it’s truth rising up to choke him, sticking in his throat until it finally broke free, clawing and tearing its way out. He could hear an unearthly howling filling the air, it hurt his ears to hear it and it hurt his throat to make it but he couldn’t stop. He turned his face to the sky and felt the sun caressing his face with its warmth, ‘Wrong, why was the sky light, why was there warmth when his love was cold and shrouded in the darkness of death. That’s where he should be in the dark, the cold. How could he, a monster, be allowed to feel the warmth of the day when his Rebecca was alone in the dark?’ His hand began to claw at the ring that adorned his finger, the one thing that was keeping him from joining his wife.

Buffy watched as Spike wept over Rebecca’s body, pain wracking his every movement. She winced as his howls rent the air and she panicked when she saw him wrench the ring from his finger. Launching herself toward him she tore him from Rebecca and propelled him towards the shade of the porch. Smoke was starting to waft up from his exposed flesh and the smell of burning flesh began to fill the air. Spike struggled to return to Rebecca’s side howling his fury at this intrusion. “Help me!” Willow Tara and Dawn rushed forward to help Buffy wrestle the desperate vampire inside and out of the deadly suns reach.

“Xander!” Giles approached the young man who was standing motionless in his shock “Could you help me with…..” he gestured towards Rebecca “We need to take her inside to Spike” Xander looked on in confusion as Giles moved to gather Rebecca in his arms “Please Xander”

‘Rebecca was dead. Dead huh. She said there was a spell didn’t she? So we can make Buffy whole again. She won’t need Spike anymore.’ Xander suddenly grinned everything was going to be fine now, as it should be. Happily he stepped forward “Let me get the door for you G-man”

Giles stared at him dumfounded before making his way inside with the young slayer’s body. Xander's attitude settling heavily in the pit of his stomach ‘He would have to watch him; there was something seriously wrong with that boy.’

Giles stood just inside the doorway and cleared his throat “Spike….William perhaps you would like to take Rebecca downstairs where she’ll be more” he winced as he spoke the next word “comfortable.”

Spike immediately stopped his struggles and moved forward to take his wife. Nodding his thanks, he headed downstairs and lovingly laid Rebecca on their bed before stretching out beside her and pulling her close. Shortly afterwards Buffy entered the room silently moving to lay beside him softly whispering words or comfort as she tried to ease his pain.

Giles looked around for Anya feeling the need to have her close; he spotted her still outside looking down at the spot where Rebecca’s blood marked the ground. He watched as she bent to pick something up from the mess and made her way inside.

Anya opened her hand to show Giles the bloodstained ring that she now possessed, moving to the sink she turned on the tap and watched as the water washed the stains away. She felt Rupert move behind her and wrap his arms around her waist “He’ll need this later” she informed him abruptly before pulling away to place it on top of the refrigerator. Hugging herself lightly she turned to voice the thought that had been foremost in her mind since Rebecca had died “Rupert what about the baby?”

“Oh dear lord, I’d completely forgotten, how could I…” Giles glanced at the door to the basement ‘how on earth would Spike react when he realized that he lost his child as well.’

Buffy had lain beside Spike quietly trying to soothe him for about a half hour when a movement by the door caught her eye.

Tara stood nervously in the doorway holding a bowl and some towels “I I thought perhaps…..Spike might want to…” she stopped and took a moment to gather herself “I thought that you might like to clean Rebecca up.”

Buffy felt tears burn her eyes again as she nodded her thanks, “Tara”

“Come in Glinda”

Buffy started slightly as Spike rolled onto his back, she quickly scooted off the side of the bed. She could see the redness that surrounded his eyes, the dull pain that they reflected and supposed that they all showed the same sorrow.

Spike eased himself of the bed and moved to take the bowl from Tara. “Thank you.” He dropped a kiss on her forehead and moved to set the bowl down beside the bed.

“Spike,” Buffy moved up behind him “Why don’t you go get cleaned up too, Tara and I will start here. I’ll bring you some fresh clothes.”

“I don’t want to leave her alone,” Spike whispered.

“We’ll be here,” Buffy reassured him “She won’t be alone, if you want just go to the laundry basin and wash up, that way you won’t be far.

Spike nodded his assent as Tara handed him a towel and some soap. “I won’t be long”

Tara and Buffy moved to the bed. “We need to get this dress off her”

Tara began to undo the buttons as Buffy searched for something suitable amongst Rebecca’s clothes. She finally selected a soft blue maternity dress that buttoned down the front, moving back to the bed she watched as Tara finished removing Rebecca’s bloody and torn dress.

“Where are the others?” Buffy asked absently

“Xander went to get everyone something to eat” Tara didn’t want to mention his unusually happy mood to Buffy at the moment “And the others are in the dining room. I think” Tara gasped as her hand brushed across Rebecca’s swollen stomach “Oh goddess the baby”

A low whimper of pain sounded from the doorway and they both turned to see Spike staring at Rebecca, a fresh wave of anguishing marring his face.

Tara couldn’t bear to see his pain any longer and rushed upstairs in search of Willow’s comforting arms.

Buffy could only stand and watch as Spike rushed towards the bed and pressed his face against Rebecca’s stomach “How could I forget. How?” he pleaded with her “It’s my fault they're gone, I don’t deserve them. I...” he broke off suddenly.

“Spike, it’s not your fault. Please believe that”

“Shut up” he snapped. Buffy stared at him in shock, then confusion as he pressed his ear flat against Rebecca’s stomach once again. “I can hear it.”

“Hear what”

“A heartbeat, weak, slow but it's still there” Spike held his hand up to silence Buffy as she went to speak “I’m not imagining it Buffy, I can hear the baby's heartbeat”

Buffy’s hand covered her mouth as she tried to contain her shock.

“GILES!” She suddenly screamed “Giles will know what to do” she frantically raced upstairs in search of help.

As she tore into the dining room Buffy pulled up short, the others were in the process of standing; obviously they were coming to see what she screamed about. That was not what had stopped Buffy though, behind them two ghostly shapes were taking form and solidifying. “Mommy” Buffy gasped as the face of one of the figures became visible.

“Hello sweetheart” Joyce said “This is Anne” she motioned to the figure beside her “We believe we have a baby to deliver.”

Thank you to Oracleholly for the beta'ing!!

Chapter 21

Buffy stared at the ghostly form of her mother before nodding and turning on her heel. “Do you need anything?”

“No darling we have everything in hand." Joyce smiled widely at the others as she and her companion wafted past them on their way to the basement. The stunned Scoobies simply followed quietly, each wondering what the ghostly figures could do.

Buffy stopped in the doorway as she watched Spike. He was lying awkwardly on the bed with his eyes pressed shut, his ear pressed against Rebecca’s rounded stomach.

“Spike,” she whispered softly.

He gave no indication of having heard her. “Spike...” Buffy moved closer to his side, her hand gently touching his shoulder.

Spike started slightly before he turned his face to look at her. Buffy could see the pain that clouded them; the same pain that she knew was mirrored in her own. “Spike, I’ve brought help. ” She motioned towards the entrance of the room where the two ghostly figures stood.

Spike stared at the figures in the door in confusion. “Joyce?” he questioned before he finally noticed the second figure, “Mum?”

“Hello William dear.” Anne moved into the room and stood before the bed.

“How...?” Spike stood up, bringing a hand forward to caress the face from his past. A quizzical look flashed across his features as his hand passed through his beloved mother's face, having met little resistance as if being dragged through water.

Anne simply smiled. “There is much to explain and very little time.” She turned towards Joyce, “Lets see about delivering this baby.”

Buffy gently drew Spike back as Joyce and Anne moved to either side of the bed, arms outstretched, palms facing downwards. A soft light began to pulse and envelope the pair and the motionless figure on the bed.

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

Xander wandered in the door of the Summers' house happily munching on a bag of Cheetos. He had been trying to decide what everyone would like to eat, when he realized that he was probably going to miss the moment that Buffy was restored as well as the grand tossing out of Spike, so he had hurriedly grabbed a few snack foods and rushed back. After all, there was nothing better the munchies and a show.

His jubilant mood had increased with every step towards Revello Drive, so by the time he arrived he was practically bouncing. Guessing that the spell was most likely being performed in the basement he practically ran downstairs, eager to have a front row seat.

As he made his way through the doorway to Spike and Rebecca’s room, he jostled his way through the others and stood surveying the scene.

Two white figures stood over the bed where Rebecca lay - a light enveloping them. Reaching into his bag of Cheetos once more he noisily stuffed his mouth full before speaking, “So are they doing the spell to make Buffy better now?”

Scowling he noticed that Buffy was standing beside Spike, well actually more like molded to his side. “Hey Deadboy! Don’t get too used to that.” Xander began to move forward to pull Buffy away from the bleached vampire’s side. He didn’t want her to be too grossed out when the spell was completed and she was back to her old self, after all HE remembered what it was like after Willow’s will be done spell.

Tara had been frowning ever since Xander had arrived, an air or ‘wrongness’ seemed to cling to him, and she could almost taste it clogging her throat. She had gasped when she had heard his comments, and her eyes had flown to the blond couple, who had thankfully remained oblivious to all but the each other and the figures at the bedside. When Xander had started to move forward she reacted without thinking, her hand flying up to grab him by the ear.

Tara watched as Xander’s expression changed to one of surprise and then anger. Realizing that he would most likely ignore her non-too subtle warning, she pressed the tip of her fingernail into the tender flesh of his earlobe. She tried to suppress the small smile that twitched at her lips as his face registered that fact that being pulled by the ear in this manner was in fact quiet painful. ‘No wonder Spike likes his violence. It can feel very… satisfying.’ Giving another sharp tug, she pulled Xander out of the room and over to the laundry area, ignoring his protests as they went. Roughly she shoved him against the dryer, crossing her arms as she waited for him to explain himself.

“Geez Tara what is wrong with you?” Xander whined like a petulant child. “All I wanted to do was help Buffy.”

“Help her?” Tara was incredulous. “How? By being rude and obnoxious?”

Xander huffed looking at Tara as if she’d grown another head, “When they finish the spell to make Buffy herself again, she’ll realize that it’s Bleach Boy that she’s been hanging onto, and it’ll gross her out, just like after Willow’s spell.”

Tara concentrated on Xander trying to find the source of the ‘wrongness’ that was emanating from him. “Xander is that what you think is going on right now?” Tara’s eyes widened slightly as she managed to glimpse a dark shadow surrounding him before it faded once again. “That’s not what’s happening.”

Confusion settled itself upon Xander. “Huh? Why not? What are they doing then?”

Tara placed a settling hand on his arm, “Spike discovered that the baby was still alive. The spell is to deliver the baby.”

A dark anger rose up to cloud Xander's face, “Why would we want that?”

Tara tightened her grip slightly before answering. “Because we can’t just let an innocent baby die Xander. Plus if the baby dies, we lose our familial claim.”

“And that would be bad because...?” Xander's whole body went rigid. “If we stop this freak show then everything will go back to normal.” He made to rush back in the room when he felt Tara’s hand gripping his arm tightly. “Let me go!” Xander ground out turning deadly eyes on the gentle Wicca.

Tara gasped lightly as the dark shadow seemed to envelope Xander once again. “I can’t let you do that.” Tightening her grip on him even more she forced herself to meet his eyes without flinching away “Quiesco.” As the command was whispered out, Tara moved forward to awkwardly maneuver him to the ground as a spell induced sleep hit him.

Stepping back Tara watched him for a moment before she was satisfied that Xander would remain under the effects of her spell until she chose to awaken him. Smoothing her clothing lightly she moved back towards the room where the others watched and waited.

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

Tara entered the room in time to witness as the light emanating from the two ghostly women seem to get brighter until it suddenly flared brilliantly.

As the group’s eyes began to adjust, they could just make out a figure floating in the air between the two specters, a small baby shaped figure.

Spike stared in awe the wriggling child seemingly suspended in midair; Anne appeared to gather the child in her arms as she moved towards him, “William would you like to meet your daughter?”

Spike gently ran a finger down the baby’s downy cheek, awed at the fragile creature before him. He could feel his heart constrict in his chest as his eyes flicked from one person to the next. This wasn’t right, he was an evil creature, and this beautiful innocent little child couldn’t possibly be his. “She’s so little.”

“She’s also very weak William; she’ll need her daddy to look after her.” Anne watched the awe spread across her beloved child’s face as he gentle lifted the precious bundle into his arms.

Buffy moved forward to study the baby, “She looks like her mother.” Turning back she watched as Willow and Tara moved forward to draw the sheets across Rebecca’s prone form, she felt grief and joy warring inside her as she once again turned her attention back to Spike. “Why don’t we take her upstairs where there’s more room?”

Spike nodded as the others began to make their way upstairs. Moving forward he stood over the bed that held his first love, the mother of his child, his beloved wife. Bending he placed his tiny daughter on Rebecca’s chest, leaving one hand on the babies baby’s back he used the other to smooth Rebecca’s hair before placing a soft kiss on her cold lips, “Thank you my love.” Gathering the baby into his arms once more he moved towards the door where Buffy waited for him.

Buffy waited until Spike reached her side before wrapping an arm around his waist offering her silent support before they moved back upstairs.

As they entered into the kitchen Spike stepped into the sunlight pouring through the still open door, starting as his exposed flesh began to smoke. Hurriedly Buffy pushed him backwards as the others rushed to sun proof the room. “Where’s your ring?”

“Oh its here!” Anya plucked the ring from the top of the refrigerator and moved over to the pair. “It was lying outside on the grass, so I bought brought it in and cleaned it for you.” She handed the ring to Spike a pleased _expression lighting her face. “You can use it to play fatherly games in the sun with your daughter when she becomes less small and is able to move without assistance.”

Spike watched absently as Buffy took the ring from him and slid it back on his finger. “Thank you Anya.” Buffy felt a rush of gratitude for the ex-demons practicality.

Dawn took this opportunity to speak up, “What happens now? I mean with…?” she waved her hand in the direction of the basement door unable to complete the sentence.

“Midian,” Spike whispered hoarsely, “Magic can’t touch her there can it?” He directed his question towards the two Wiccas.

“No.” Willow shook her head, “Midian is shielded from dark magic.” She moved to Spike’s side and absently cooed at the baby. “No one will be able to bring her back. I promise!”

Spike nodded his understanding. “Can we go now?”

Giles spoke up, his eyes misting as he took in the defeated grief stricken posture the vampire exuded. He had only seen Spike like this once before, when Buffy had died.
Giles knew then, deep down inside his very soul he knew. Spike had truly loved Buffy; he had never truly believed it before. Now, it was a simple truth revealed by the death of another woman that Spike had loved just as deeply.

At that moment Giles truly accepted that Spike was more then just William the Bloody, Slayer of Slayers, leashed vampire, soulless killer, sometimes ally. He was William Duncan, beloved son, devoted husband, new father, loyal friend and the man who would stand unfaltering beside his slayer until the end.

“Spike. Perhaps you and Buffy should take the baby through to Midian. I’m sure Hoston and Sarah would love to meet her.” Giles saw Spikes eyes dart towards the basement “We’ll bring her along shortly.” he clasped Spikes shoulder in an attempt to convey his sympathy, “She’ll be well cared for.”

Buffy felt a tear escape and coarse down her face as she watched the last barrier between the two men fall, “Thank you Giles.” Reaching up she kissed his cheek lightly before once again wrapping an arm around Spikes waist and leading him upstairs towards the entrance to Midian.

Giles waited until the blonde pair had left before taking charge of the arrangements. “Does anyone know if Xander has returned yet? We could perhaps make a stretcher of some description, but I’ll need his assistance to carry Rebecca.”

“Ummm Giles,” Tara took this opportunity to speak up, “Xander arrived during the spell to deliver the baby.” She inhaled deeply, bracing herself before continuing. “I had to place him under a sleep spell, there’s something very wrong with him.”

The others waited for her to continue. “He started to interfere with the ceremony, so I removed him from the room.”

Giles frowned, “I vaguely recall something.”

“He started saying something about a spell to make Buffy whole again, and getting rid of Spike and the baby.” Tara shivered lightly as she rubbed absently at her arms “I could sense something wrong about him Giles, and just for a moment I saw….” Willow wrapped her arms around Tara’s shoulders, offering comfort. “I saw a darkness surrounding him Giles.”

“Oh dear,”

“I think something is affecting him…a spell maybe,” Tara caught Willow’s eyes, “Whatever it was, it was dark, old.”

“Perhaps.” the group startled as Anne spoke, having forgotten about the specters in their midst. “Joyce and I are Rebecca’s guardian spirits, perhaps we can tend to her while you tend to Xander.”

Joyce smiled at Giles’s confused expression. “We’re supernatural beings Rupert, we can deal with this task easily.”

Giles sighed suddenly feeling weary, “Very well. If you two ladies could that, we will deal with getting Xander to Midian and into care until we can discern the source of this…wrongness.”

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

Spike stood staring at the ring that flashed as the last rays of the sun dance on its surface. He moved his hand slightly from side to side watching the patterns flaring within the gems surface; he looked to where the light reflected onto the nearby trees. Anything to stop himself from looking down, to where she lay, once again covered in dirt, resting.

They had all stood here a few hours ago, speaking words he didn’t quite hear and offering comfort he couldn’t feel. He remembered clutching the tiny form of his newborn daughter to his chest until gentle hands had lifted her from his arms and voices had murmured about feeding and bathing.

He remembered standing at a grave much like this before, the first time the soft hands and concerned voices of his mother and Hoston had drawn him from his beloved’s side. An echo sounded in his mind, a masculine voice, ‘your mother needs you;’ he had gone on then devoting himself to her care until she urged him to move on.

There had been no graveside for him to stand at when his mother had died, when he had killed her in his misguided attempt to save her. She had disappeared into ashes by his own hands, but she was here now, a guardian for the powers, not damned to hell as he had long feared.

He had stood beside another grave though, and grieved for the woman he loved. That time it had been Tara’s gentle hands that had drawn him from her side, and it had been Dawn’s tearful words that had kept him going. ‘I need you Spike.’

He started slightly as a gentle hand touched his arms; he turned to look into Buffy’s sorrow filled eyes. No trite words of sympathy fell from her lips, no words of need, just a soft sad smile before she rested her head against her shoulder.

Spike stood for a few minutes before closing his eyes and inhaling deeply; he caught the scents of those who had paid their respects to Rebecca. He could smell the soft innocent scent of his daughter and the intermingling of vanilla and wildflowers and freshly turned earth. He heard a small gasp escape from Buffy, and he opened his eyes once more and followed startled gaze. Spike watched in amazement as wildflowers sprang from the newly covered grave, blanketing it in a riot of color.

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

The Scoobies sat around the large table where they had meet the elders months ago. They had dealt with Rebecca’s burial and then seen to Xander’s ‘condition’. Jayala had suggested that Xander remain in Midian under constant supervision until the source of the malevolent presence could be determined.

After they had managed to settle Xander in a secure room, Tara had brought him out of his spell-induced sleep. They had all been shocked by Xander’s violent reaction to being contained. Thankfully Jayala had placed a cloaking spell around his room, which prevented him from hurting himself as well as muting the sounds of his rage.

Now that they had nothing more to busy themselves with, the events of the day settled heavily upon them. The only source of relief was the baby who held all the females present enthralled.

Buffy and Spike entered the room quietly, taking a moment to watch the scene before them before making their presence known. Buffy looked up at Spike, “You need to give her a name; we can’t keep calling her bubby or little one.”

Spike gave her a half smile as he made his way over to the women and gathered up his daughter, “Stacy, her name’s Stacy Rebecca Anne.”

“Ohhh pretty.” Dawn cooed as she once again started to play with the baby, “Hello Stacy, I’m your Aunty Dawn.”

Anya moved forward to stare at the baby for a moment. “It’s a very appropriate name;” she patted Spike awkwardly on the shoulder “It holds the correct amount of family names to satisfy traditional hereditary requirements as well as a unique contemporary name relevant to her birth.”

“Thank you Anya,”

“Huh?” Dawn stared at Anya in confusion, “What did that just mean?”

Anya sighed, ‘really sometimes these humans were just clueless,’ she sat down beside Dawn. “Well the names, Rebecca and Anne, belong to Stacy’s mother and grandmother, so therefore they are hereditary names. The name Stacy isn’t a family name; however it is relevant because of its meaning.”

“What does it mean?”

Spike cleared his throat to get their attention, “Resurrection, Stacy means resurrection. Becca thought it was appropriate.”

“It’s a lovely name William,” Anne drifted towards them, “And I’m sorry, but our time here is short, and we have much to tell you.” She turned to address the others, “Joyce and I have had a message from the powers.”

Waiting until the others were seated Joyce joined Anne at the head of the table. “The powers have managed to trace the source of the spell surrounding Xander.”

Spike frowned as he realized for the first time that Xander was missing.

“The spell not only allowed the powers to trace it back to its source, but also enabled them to track other spells from the same source over thousands of years.” Anne and Joyce moved closer to Spike and Buffy. “They lead back to Quentin Travers.”

Giles gave a deep sigh, “I had suspected that.”

“Unfortunately there’s more, the powers believe that he is responsible for Glory. They have managed to track a spell to a dimension that we believe once held her prisoner as well as ones leading from that dimension to ours both in 1875 and 2001.” Joyce paused for a moment giving the others time to process this information.

“So you’re saying…….” Willow couldn’t finish the reality of it too much.

“Travers had Rebecca and Buffy murdered.” Steel crept into Spike’s voice as he contemplated the ways he would make Travers pay for hurting the women he loved.

“We have also found several more which directly affect all of you.” Anne continued, “You know about Xander. There was another which we believe occurred at the precise time Willow was doing her resurrection spell.”

Joyce moved to comfort the now guilt-ridden Willow as tears began to well in her eyes, “It wasn’t your fault; Travers deliberately interfered in the spell.”

“We believe it was a deliberate attempt on their lives again.”

“But how?” Dawn turned fearful eyes towards her sister, the thought of losing her again clutching at her throat, “How could bringing two slayers back instead of one hurt them?”

“Travers knew that without the final part of her essence, Buffy would eventually weaken and be easily killed. I don’t think he had figured on Giles finding Rebecca and bringing her to Sunnydale. We were able to contact Rebecca before then, and she had been willing to sacrifice herself so that Buffy could become complete once again.” A look of pain crossed Spike’s face. “That was before she knew about you Spike.” Joyce reassured him. “That was one of the reasons it was decided to bring your child back, it allowed for the familial claim which in turn was helping to restore Buffy without harming Rebecca.”

Anne caressed Spike’s cheek, “There was one last spell that the powers were able to trace. It led from several months after Rebecca’s first death in 1875 to today.”

Murmurs sprung up from around the room.

“We believe that Travers managed to harness the Rebecca’s predestined death and bring it forward in time to kill her now.”

Giles leant forward his eagerness to learn more coming to the fore temporarily, “Her predestined death?”

“If Travers had not interfered Rebecca would have been killed by a Lathros Demon when she was eight months pregnant.” Anne explained, “It’s possible he had hoped that Stacy would perish as well, therefore severing the claim and leaving Buffy vulnerable once more.”

A low growl sounded from deep within Spike, “So you’re saying that Travers is going to come after Stacy.” His grip tightened on his daughter to which she gave a soft mewl of protest.

Buffy managed to extricate Stacy from Spike’s arms and attempted to soothe her back to sleep. “Ok guys, I’m sick of planning we are going to start our offensive now.” She propped Stacy against one shoulder as she stood and began to pace, patting the baby absently as she did.

“Giles, you and Anya go to England as planned, but I want you to take Dawn with you. Pretend you’re taking her on a holiday or something, that way you can show her around and pretend to do touristy things while you’re scoping things out, you shouldn’t raise too much suspicion that way.”

She paused watching Spike for a moment before continuing, “Spike and I are going to stay here with Stacy for a few weeks, and before you ask it will be Sunnydale weeks. That way Spike will have 4 or 5 months to grieve for Rebecca and devote to Stacy without her being put in danger. I’ll go back and forth to cover patrol and keep in touch, but I’m only going to do short patrols every couple of days.”

“Willow and Tara, can you return to Sunnydale? I know Anya will need someone to watch the shop, and it will give you the opportunity to research the spell that’s affecting Xander.” Buffy thought for a moment, “Don’t trust anything that comes from the Council.”

“What about Xander?” questioned Willow unsure if she wanted him to return with them.

“I think Xander should stay here. He’s protected from harm in the room Jayala has provided for him, and it will also give her time to try and remove the spell from this end.”

The others agreed with Buffy’s plan, moving to say their goodbyes to the two ghostly females before leaving to prepare for the weeks ahead.

Spike walked across to stand before Joyce and Anne, “Thank you for saving her.”

Both women smiled; each gracing him with a soft kiss before Joyce moved away leaving Spike alone with his mother. “You have a beautiful family William,” Anne nodded across to where Buffy stood cradling Stacy, while Dawn stood beside them fussing over the sleeping child. “Don’t grieve long my darling, they need you with them.”

Joyce stood before her daughters silently taking note of the small changes in each of them. “Will we see you again mommy?” Dawn questioned quietly.

“Of course pumpkin belly, when the time is right I will see you both again.” Joyce gave each of them a ghostly hug before moving back to Anne.

The small family watched as the two women began to fade, until all that remained were two small balls of light that darted upwards and out of sight.

Chapter 22

Dawn leaned across against the windowsill absently watching the people scurry about in the streets below. They had arrived in England about four days ago, and Giles had taken them straight their hotel near the Council’s headquarters. Well not exactly near to the Council but close enough. Giles had informed her, that The Sofitel had originally been home to some bank built in 1923. ‘Ughh why do I remember that!’ Dawn knew that they were supposed to be doing ‘touristy’ type stuff as their cover, but Giles seemed to be taking the educational side of it much too seriously.

However, he had managed to convince Travers to allow Dawn to accompany him to the Council headquarters at St. James Square to meet Samuel. Anya’s demon status meant that she was excluded from today’s excursion, ‘lucky thing,’ and had decided to spend the day shopping for items to stock the Magic Box.

“Dawn do hurry up, or we’ll be late.” Giles poked his head around the door nerves causing him to be a little curter then usual.

Dawn gave him a half-hearted smile. “Ok I’ll be there in a minute,” she turned her eyes back to the street once more, wondering briefly how the others were fairing.

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

Willow stood at the door to Xander’s room, listening to the muted sounds of his rage beating against the barrier that held him contained.

She started slightly as Tara wrapped an arm around her waist. “I’m sorry sweetie. I wish it was better news.”

Willow gave her a wan smile before turning her tear-filled eyes back towards the doorway. “I just can’t believe it’s the same Xander, who used to do the Snoopy Dance round my room every Christmas. I can’t believe THAT is inside him!”

Since Giles and the others had departed for England, Willow and Tara had been frequently traveling between Sunnydale and Midian. It had only been during this latest trip that Jayala had managed to discover the spell’s intent. Xander was under a revealing spell that took all his hidden feelings and brought them to the surface unfettered.

Willow shuddered. Every evil, foul thing Xander said was what he truly felt; she felt her heart break at the ugliness that lived inside her best friend.

Bracing herself, Willow lifted the veil that prevented her from seeing and hearing him. “Hi Xan, just wanted to let you know that Tara and I are going back to Sunnydale in a few hours. Do you need anything?”

Xander laughed as he sauntered up to the doorway. “Well, well if it isn’t my old friend Willow.” He slapped his hands violently against the invisible barrier, “Come to make sad little puppy dog eyes, because Xander the sap has run away.”

“Really Xander, is that the best you can come up with?” Tara stepped in front of Willow.

“Ohh, isn’t that cute the sh…sh…shy little witch has grown a back bone.” Xander lifted his arm to lounge against the door. “Tell me Tara, all that time our little Buffy was getting all maggoty in the ground, and you were giving poor old Spike a shoulder to cry on,” he leaned closer, “was that all you were giving him?”

“Xander!” Willow gasped in shock; the realization that he truly felt that way cut her deeper then any of the words that he had spoken. “Don’t speak about Tara like that!”

“Come on Will, you can’t tell me you didn’t think it.” Xander began to move around the room. “If I were you, I’d give her a little slap. Put her in her place.” He lifted his hand to inspect his nails, “It always worked with Anya.”

“You hit Anya?” Willow felt sick at the thought.

“Well not physically,” he gave a small chuckle, “But a few well placed words here and there served to knock her down a peg or two just as well.”

“And just where is her place?” Tara stood facing Xander with her hands on her hips refusing to back down. Over the summer Spike had taught her ways to boost her confidence in standing up to others. Those lessons were helping her now.

“In the dirt, under my feet, where she can be ground down.” he smirked at Tara.

Suddenly realizing who he reminded her of Willow laughed, “Gee Xander you sure your not channeling your inner Angelus?”

“I am NOTHING like that filthy ANIMAL!” Xander’s face grew red as he spat out the words.

“Are you sure about that?” With a flick of her wrist, she pulled the veil back across the barrier. Turning away she began to shake, “Why didn’t I see what was inside him before? Maybe I could have helped him.”

Tara gathered her into her arms. “Remember sweetie, the spell is magnifying everything.”

“I know, and I think that’s what scares me most. All these years he’s been kind of lying to us.” Willow cast one last sad glance towards the room where Xander was imprisoned.

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

Buffy wearily walked through the front door to Revello drive. She had returned to Sunnydale to do a quick patrol and was now looking forward to returning home. Home…it was strange how quickly Midian had become just that. It had been seven days since Rebecca had died and Stacy was born, four days since Dawn had left with Giles and Anya, and two days since they had discovered the blackness which had lain dormant within Xander’s soul.

Willow was deeply shocked by their discovery. Buffy too had been that way at first, but staying in Midian, she had allowed her more time to deal. For her and Spike, it had been almost three and a half months since Rebecca’s death, two months since Dawn and the others had left, and a month since they had discovered the truth about Xander.

Making her way upstairs, she bumped into Willow and Tara as they exited the portal to Midian. “How are things back there?”

“He’s still the same.” Tara answered quietly.

“And Spike?” Buffy asked even though she already knew what their answer would be. Spike had not yet properly grieved for Rebecca, instead channeling all his emotions into the desire for vengeance against Travers. He also did not cope well with her absences. Even though Buffy was only in Sunnydale for about three hours, she would lose almost two days in Midian.

“He’s training.”

Buffy nodded. Whenever she went to patrol in Sunnydale, Spike would settle Stacy for the night, leaving her in the care of Hoston and Sarah, and then he would spend the remainder of the night in the field training with his Redwulf.

Buffy gave each of the girls a hug in turn. “I’ll see you in a couple of days.” Turning she stepped into the portal. Dawn had linked the portal, so that it opened into their home in Midian. Tiptoeing down the hall of their Midian home, Buffy peaked into the room she shared with Spike and Stacy. That was another aftereffect of Rebecca’s death; Spike didn’t like being separated from either of them for very long.

Most nights he would wrap his body around hers and lie perfectly still listening to their heartbeats. Often she would awaken in the morning to find Stacy carefully tucked into the bed with them, and although she wished for more, Buffy was content to wait until Spike was ready.

Not bothering to change Buffy left in search of Spike, her feet taking her to the training field where she knew Spike would be.

As she moved closer to the field Buffy could hear the soft clang of the Redwulf connecting with something hard, most likely one of the large stones that dotted the field. Sitting down quietly she watched Spike as he wielded the deadly weapon. He had removed his shirt at some time, and Buffy watched as his muscles flexed, rippling with every movement.

She had sat like this often over the past months, sometimes during the day Stacy in her arms, other times on nights like this. Tonight was different though. Even though Spike seemed to put more force behind each movement, he didn’t seem to move with his usual natural grace. Fear rushed through her as she heard an anguished howl erupt from him as he flung his weapon at the nearest stone, embedding it deeply into its hard surface. Buffy sprung to her feet as she saw him fall to his knees beating at the large rock with his hands.

Buffy was sobbing as she reached his side, falling to the ground beside him, “Spike what’s wrong?” She captured his raw and bloody hands, desperate to still their punishing movements.

Spike whirled around to face her in full game face, his amber eyes flashing as he backhanded her away.

“Spike?” his name left her lips; the barest hint of a whisper, but it was enough to still his menacing advance.

Comprehension filled his eyes as his vampiric face melted away. He looked at the blood streaked across Buffy’s face and then down at his own bloody hands. “Oh god, what did I do?” He stumbled backwards away from her.

Buffy rushed forward to reassure him, “It’s ok. It’s not mine; you didn’t hurt me.” She touched his face lightly, her eyes tearing as she felt him flinch away from her.

“I hurt you, I hurt you!” he broke down, ripping at the earth as he finally let go of his grief and rage.

Buffy lifted his face so that he met her eyes, “You always hurt the ones you love.”

At that, Spike seemed to crumple in on himself, “The ones I love die.” He held his hands up once more, seemingly captivated by the blood that still covered them. Frantically he scrubbed them against his chest, trying to wipe away the offending stain. “My love marks them, I’m a bad man.”

Buffy edged closer tenderly cupping his cheek in her hand, “You’re a good man Spike…William. This isn’t because of you.” Buffy slowly pulled him to his feet drawing him away from the field towards a small grove of trees nearby. “Let me help you.”

Pulling Spike further into the trees, Buffy made her way to a small clearing. The area was quiet, bathed in soft moonlight. A small stream of water fell down through the canopy, giant leaves channeling it one to the other as it gently cascaded into a small pool below. The pool was surrounded with moss-covered rocks; the grass beneath their feet cushioned their steps.

Buffy led Spike towards the waterfall, motioning for him to sit on a large smooth rock beside the pool. She knelt before him unlacing his boots and pulling them from his feet. Holding one bare foot over the pool Buffy cupped her hand, scooping up some of the cool, clear water and pouring it over his foot.

For what seemed an age Buffy silently tended to Spikes feet, bathing and massaging them with her firm but tender touch. Casting her eyes towards his face Buffy saw that Spike had finally relaxed, his eyes closed a look of bliss softening his face. Keeping her eyes fixed on the sight before her, Buffy leaned forward covering one of his big toes with her mouth, sucking lightly.

Spikes eyes shot open in surprise. “Buffy!” he murmured stunned at her actions.

Unfazed Buffy swirled her tongue lightly across the pad of his toe, before she let it fall from her mouth, “Shhhhhh.”

She stood up offering her hand to him and pulling him towards the small waterfall. Pushing him to stand underneath it, she turned her attention to his jeans popping each button in slowly. Buffy watched in fascination, as his soft curls appeared; sighing she let her finger dance across the opening of his fly, brushing the curls as she did. With excruciating care, Buffy began to slide the now sodden jeans down his powerful legs. Motioning him to step out of them, Buffy grabbed the jeans and tossed them to the side. Buffy ran her hands lightly over his firm legs as she stood and moved behind him.

Reaching to one side Buffy grabbed what looked like empty seed pods. Holding them under the water for a moment, she gently rubbed her hands together to create a soapy lather. Dropping the pods back onto a leaf Buffy began to rub her hands across Spikes back. Circling his waist, she moved her hands to his chest, washing away the outer signs of his torment.

Although her clothes were soaked through, she didn’t notice as she pressed herself flush against his back. Slowly she began to move her hands downwards, her touch cleansing not only the outer shell of her man but healing the raw and open wound that was his heart.

Spike shuddered at Buffy’s touch; he felt as though she were touching his very core. In a daze, he registered the sensations around him. The cool clammy feeling of Buffy’s wet shirt clinging to his back was tempered by the hard pebbles that pushed through the top to nestle against his skin. The play of the water as it struck his shoulders before randomly sliding down his skin like icy tendrils, until they hit the warmth of Buffy’s hands. He felt as though he were freezing to death and burning up at the same time.

A low groan erupted from deep within him as Buffy’s small hands circled his cock, massaging it gently until he began to harden despite the ice water that flowed across it. He startled slightly as Buffy moved one hand to run across his buttocks before moving it down between his legs to cup his balls from behind. Spike let his head drop back as Buffy gently stroked his cock, occasionally flicking the tip with her nail, while her other hand kneaded his tight sack.

Slowly Buffy moved around Spikes body, kneeling down in front of him and taking him in her mouth, sliding her teeth lightly down the length of his shaft. Sucking lightly, she pulled back until just the tip remained in her mouth. She slid her tongue down the slit, pressing it down firmly before sliding her mouth back down towards the base.

Spike felt his knees begin to buckle when Buffy had caressed him with her tongue; a droplet of ice-cold water had splashed onto his exposed cock, causing sensation to flare to every nerve ending. “Buffy luv, I can’t….” he groaned once more as her warm mouth encased him once more.

Buffy gave his cock one last firm suck before licking and nipping her way back to the tip. Standing she pressed her mouth softly against his, letting him taste the droplets of precum that moistened her lips.

Spike shied backwards slightly, his eyes locking with hers for a moment questioning.

Buffy smiled as she ghosted her fingers down his cheek, stepping back she began to strip, slowly tossing her clothes next to Spike’s. “I love you Spike.” She moved to a patch of soft grass gently tugging him down to the ground. “I love you,” she pressed a kiss to his forehead before pushing him to lie down. “I love you.” Buffy peppered kisses across his face and his neck nipping lightly at his throat.

Spike reached for her shoulders, “Pet let me….”

Buffy shook her head, “No Spike, tonight is just for you.” She grew serious, “Before, when we were together,” she took a deep breath, “I used you.” She cut of his protest. “I took everything from you and gave nothing of myself back.” Suddenly unsure Buffy closed her eyes before whispering, “I want to give you what you deserved all along. If...if you still want it...me.”

Spike pulled her towards him, “Always want you Buffy.”

Buffy felt relief was across her body. Reaching to one side she plucked a blood red iris from the ground near the pool. Rolling onto her side, she used the petals of the velvety flower to trace a path across his chest. She watched his nipples pucker under the petals touch; leaning forward she sucked one into her mouth, teasing it with her tongue.

Casting Spike a wicked grin, Buffy continued to move the flower downwards. Her eyes followed the path it made until she stayed her hand, the petals hovering just above his hard cock. Buffy watched in fascination as she drew it softly across the tip, causing his member to twitch. Slowly she traced a path down the length of his shaft, watching as it grew even harder.

“Buffy, please!” Spike begged. She had bought him to the edge of release several times then stopped; he didn’t think he could handle much more.

Buffy let the petals dance across his balls before pulling it away and straddling his thighs. Bending low Buffy glided up his body, letting his cock lightly caress her skin as she moved. She pressed an urgent kiss to his mouth, as she took him in her hand and guided him towards her slick opening. Buffy then began to sit up slowly forcing his cock deeper as she went. Pausing only for a moment she allowed herself to enjoy the feeling of his thickness stretching and filling her. As she began to rock gently, Buffy gasped as Spike pressed his fingers against he clit, flicking it lightly. Buffy increased her movements as she felt the heat beginning to build in the pit of her stomach. Suddenly Spike surged upwards pulling her flush against his body as his cock plunged upwards.

Their movements became frantic. Hands roamed, mouths found each other, tongues battled, and teeth nipped at tender skin. So engrossed in the pleasure they gave each other, neither of them noticed as a multitude of petals began to drift down from above, blanketing the ground around them, settling on their damp skin and filling the air with their heavenly scent.

Chapter 23

Ok it was official, she was bored, who would have thought it, but it was true Dawn Summers was in Europe, and she was bored as hell. Stifling a yawn she shuffled uncomfortably on the hard wooden chair in which she was currently sitting. Oh the morning had started out ok, until Giles had told her it was time to leave for the council headquarters. They had left the hotel and walked up Regent Street, before turning into Charles Street and heading into St. James Square, Dawn memorizing the streets as they went so she could tell Buffy all about it when she got home.

They had come to an older style building; Giles had muttered something about it being the new buildings even though they had been around before Spike was born. The inside was surprisingly modern, even if the furniture was antique and uncomfortable. Squirming she was relieved when Giles came to stand before her. “Mr. Travers has kindly allowed me to show you the archives. It seems that Uncle Samuel can’t be located at this time, and he though perhaps we would have better luck.”

Dawn sprang up. “Ok which way,” she rubbed absently at her numb backside.

Giles guided her to a discreetly hidden elevator, ushering her inside he pressed the ground button.

“Umm Giles, we’re already on the ground floor.”

Giles smiled, his face lightening from the dour expression that had settled across it when they had entered the building. Dawn watched in amazement as Giles continued to punch buttons in a seemingly random pattern, until finally a small panel slid open revealing another plain gold button. Giles sighed in relief as he pressed the final button and their descent began.

Dawn stared at the smooth metal of the elevator doors, as they seemed to travel downwards forever. Finally the motion of elevator stopped with a small jerk; she felt her stomach settle into place seconds later. Dawn grimaced at the sensation. She never did like traveling in the ‘small metal boxes of doom’ as she called them; something about the idea of her insides being not quite where they should be gave her the wiggins.

Dawn gasped as the metal doors slid open to reveal a massive room. Books lined every wall from floor to ceiling, large wooden ladders reaching up into the stacks. Enormous mahogany tables were dotted around the room; watchers huddled around them with large leather bound tomes open as they silently made notes.

Dawn noticed an older man pushing a small trolley of books around stopping occasionally as he carefully slid one into its home; she tugged on Giles’s sleeve and motioned in the man’s direction.

Giles shook his head, and led Dawn through the room towards a door at the far end.

Dawn idly looked around as they entered a long sloping hallway, portraits adorning the walls.

“Past watchers,” Giles informed her as they wended their way slowly downward.

“Where are the slayer’s portraits?" Dawn asked puzzled after they passed picture after picture of dour tweed-clad watchers, “And where’s yours?”

Giles cleared his throat in embarrassment, “Umm well mine would be here.” He absently waved his hand towards a darkened corner near the door at the end of the hall.

Dawn leaned forward, carefully studying the pictures before her; a small frown marred her brow as she finally found it hidden low on the wall slightly obscured by the open door. She cocked an eyebrow at Giles in silent question.

Giles shuddered at her resemblance to Spike as a small smirk crossed Dawn’s face.

“Not too popular I take it?”

“Yes well…” Giles pinched the bridge of his nose. “These things are unimportant in the grand scheme of things,” he began to mutter quietly.

Dawn hooked her arm through his, “It’s ok Giles, WE think you’re important.”

“Thank you Dawn.” Giles patted her hand lightly before moving them forward through the open door, “And this is the secondary library.”

Dawn’s eyes widened as she realized that the room was identical to the first, even down to the elder man replacing books.

Giles noticed Dawns puzzled look. “Twins,” he supplied before pulling her further into the room, “Our journey isn’t finished yet I’m afraid.”

“There are more books?” Dawn squeaked

Giles chuckled at her shocked expression, “This IS the Council Dawn. We have an extensive collection gathered for centuries from all around this dimension and a few others I dare say….”

“Ok, Ok, I get it, lots of musty old books collected by men in Tweed for hundreds of years.” Dawn cringed at the thought of the history lesson she was sure she’d just avoided.

Giles led her through the room, this time leading her towards an unobtrusive alcove where a plain wooden door sat hidden in the shadows. Opening it Giles grabbed a flickering torch from the wall. “There’s no electricity from here on I’m afraid.”

Carefully edging forward he lit two lamps just inside the doorway to reveal wide stone steps leading down into the darkness. As they moved on Giles would light the lamps that were dotted regularly along the walls.

About half way down Dawn realized that the texture of the walls seemed to change; it seemed to be made up of raised wooden squares about the size of an envelope. Peering closer she gasped when she realized that each held a picture of a girl.

“The Slayers.” Giles offered by way of explanation.

Dawn felt anger welling inside of her. “I see, the watchers get lovely big portraits in a well lit hallway, and the ones who actually save the world, who go out and fight for their lives every night, get a tiny little afterthought of a picture hidden away in the dark.” She began searching the small frames, “Where’s Buffy, I’m not leaving it here.”

Giles shuffled his feet slightly before answering quietly, “There isn’t one Dawn. The Slayers picture only gets hung after she is no longer . . .ummm active.”

Dawn stared at him in horror. “Don’t you mean dead Giles?” Dawn moved back to where the surface of the wall had began to change moving her torch from one wall then across to the other until she found what she was looking for. There nestled at the end of the right hand wall was a small picture, a small silver plaque was fixed to the lower part of the frame, its engraving was simple but to the point: ‘Kendra 1997 – 1998.” Beside it sat a photograph of a redheaded girl, “Samantha 1996”. Dawn stared intently at the picture through the gloom this was the girl who had died so that Buffy would become The Slayer.

Moving slowly down the staircase Dawn felt the tears well in her eyes as she read name after name and date after date, sometimes there would be a small cluster of pictures all bearing the same year. Those girls had survived mere months or maybe even days after being Chosen. Stopping short Dawn realized that she was standing in front of pictures dated in the 1800’s. She began her search again until she located the small frame she was searching for. Reaching up Dawn gently lifted it from its place on the wall, wiping her hand across its dusty surface, “Rebecca 1872 – 1876.” Gently she slipped into her purse.

“We’re almost there Dawn, keep up I don’t want you to fall.” Giles waited impatiently for her at the base of the stairs.

Dawn hurriedly made her way to his side. They made their way to the small door that was now visible through the gloom. Giles swung the door open stepping through and blocking Dawn’s view momentarily. When he stepped aside Dawn squinted at the sudden brightness. “I thought you said there was no electricity down here,” she waited for her eyes to adjust to the light.

“There isn’t.” Giles motioned around the room, “We are in the catacombs now; the walls are encrusted with some form of illuminating crystals.” He watched Dawn as she stepped further into the cavern before them, eyes wide as she looked about. “The council never has been able to figure out exactly what they are, but they serve a purpose.”

Dawn began to take note of her surroundings. They were standing in a huge cavern, tunnels seemed to twist off into the light from every wall, and there was even a large hole in the floor. Creeping closer she noticed that it contained more stone steps, she cast Giles a weary look, “Let me guess, we’re not there yet.”

Giles laughed, “No we’re here; now all we have to do is find Uncle Samuel.”

Dawn sighed in relief and moved to sit in an oversize, although extremely dusty chair that sat to one side. Coughing lightly at the small cloud of dust that circled her as she sat Dawn took time to really study what was about her, concentrating on memorizing a clear picture so that she could open a doorway to the room if they needed to.

Glancing at the wall behind her Dawn realized that instead of the large wooden bookcases that she had seen previously, the cases were in fact carved into the stone. Books lined the walls in surprisingly neat rows reaching up almost to the roof.

Giles moved slowly round the cavern softly whistling until he stopped in front of a small tunnel and listened intently. An answering whistle came drifting down the passage, slowly getting louder, until a figure emerged to stand before Giles.

The man stood shoulder to shoulder with Giles, his body thin and wiry, reminding Dawn a little of Spike. Dawn studied the two men intently; she could see the resemblance between them, same nose, same eyes, and even similar glasses perched on their noses. She felt she was looking at an older, grayer version of Giles, and then she remembered that Houston also looked a lot like Giles. ‘Gotta love those Giles family genes’.

“Uncle,” Giles moved forward to give the man a warm hug.

“Rupert my boy, how have you been?” The older man’s voice was strong and clear, no hint of the fact that he was over 100 years old. Turning his attention to Dawn Samuel moved forward, “And who is this beautiful young woman?”

Suddenly remembering his manners Giles hurried forward to introduce the pair, “Uncle Samuel I would like you to meet Dawn Summers; Dawn this is my Uncle Samuel who I spoke about.”

“Summers?” Samuel fixed Giles with an assessing look, “Any relation to that young Slayer of yours?”

“Buffy’s my sister,” Dawn offered helpfully.

“Ahhh I see, well it’s a pleasure to meet you Miss Summers,” Samuel extended his hand to Dawns shaking it lightly before bending to place a soft kiss on her check “So you’re the key?” he whispered before pulling back and giving her a wink.

Dawn gasped, glancing worriedly at Giles.

Giles was completely oblivious to what was happening; he was busy trying to figure out how to explain their situation to his Uncle and elicit his help. “Uncle Samuel there is a matter of some importance that I must discuss with you.”

Samuel dismissed him with a small wave of his hand, “I think its tea time,” turning to face Dawn he drew her up from her chair. Linking his arm through Dawn’s, he began moving towards one of the tunnels. “Have you had a proper English tea yet young lady?” He turned them to the left then right as they walked slowly along, “Come on young Rupert don’t dawdle, can’t have you getting lost again now can we?”

Samuel winked at a bemused Dawn before continuing, “After all you can’t tell me that Quentin Travers is an evil demon who is using the council and The Slayers to further his own evil plans, and that I am in fact also a demon closely related to, but not the same as Mr. Travers, and that you have finally realized this and would like my assistance in stopping him and therefore save the world, without a proper cup of tea now can you?”

“How…what…huh?” Giles channeled Buffy momentarily, stunned that his Uncle had summed it all up in one, if not long winded sentence.

“Oh really Rupert, did you think I could get to be this old with out working out a few things?” Samuel stopped them before a blank wall, devoid of any books.

Dawn looked around in confusion, “Where are we?” She hadn’t even noticed the change in scenery; looking back she tried to find the entrance to the cavern, after all they had only been walking for a few minutes.

“Oh we are somewhere under Holburn, quite close to the Tottenham Court Road tube actually.” He chuckled at the confusion marring his companion’s faces. “The catacombs are full of small portals, much like what you can create young lady.” Samuel pointed at Dawn. “I use them to get around the place quickly; otherwise you could be wandering around down here for hours.”

Dawn giggled at the expression on Giles’s face when he realized that he had, in fact, been lost down here on several occasions.

Samuel stepped forward and gently stroked one of the illuminating crystals on the wall in front of them. “It’s ok they’re friends.” The wall began to shimmer, as the crystals seemed to vibrate rapidly, causing the stone to part in front of them allowing entrance to the room that now stood open before them.

Samuel urged them to sit down on the comfortable and surprisingly clean chairs that sat around a small table. He crossed to a small bench and began to prepare the tea, pushing the plug of the small electric kettle into one of the crystals on the wall.

Giles stared in shock as the kettle began to make a soft rumbling noise, indicating that the water was beginning to heat. “Uncle what are those crystals?” He moved forward eyes transfixed, as the crystal seemed to pulse lightly.

“The crystals are in fact a sentient race called Solartians. They can generate heat and light and manipulate the environment around them. They have lived in these catacombs since the beginning of time and only reveal their true nature to those deemed worthy.” Samuel placed a small plate of biscuits before them. “They will aid you in your fight if you so wish it, after all if you are deemed worthy enough to protect The Key then you must be worthy of their trust.”

Giles stared at his Uncle, his shock evident as he tried to form words. He had come here thinking that he would have to broach the subject lightly, convince his Uncle that what he said was the truth and hopefully gain his assistance. Instead his Uncle seemed to be waiting for him to arrive and knew most of what he had to say already. Everything but one small fact, “Uncle Samuel your offer of aid in our time of need is greatly appreciated, but there is something else I must discuss with you. It’s a family matter in fact.”

Samuel regarded him for a moment, “I know that my mother, Katherine, was not my natural mother. Although I feel certain that she was family, that you are all my family.”

Giles felt his regard for Samuel grow. All these years he had known that he didn’t quite fit, that he wasn’t really who or what he had been raised to believe. All that time when he could have rebelled, striven to find the truth and inadvertently exposed innocents to the evil of Quentin Travers, he had instead kept silent and waited patiently for the time to act. “Uncle you are correct, grandmother was not your natural mother; she was in fact your aunt.”

Samuel startled slightly a small tear gathering in the corner of his eye, “So I was right, you are all my family.”

Giles nodded, resting his hand on the older mans shoulder, “Your parents were Rupert and Sarah Hoston, and there is something I must tell you about them.” Giles tried to gather his thoughts, “Have you ever heard of a place called Midian?”

Samuel nodded, his eyes drifting to the rear of the room.

“Your parents fled to Midian for protection, Uncle Samuel, they’re still alive.” Giles waited for Samuel’s reaction, somewhat fearful that his revelation would be too much for the older man.

Instead Samuel rose and moved through the room, “I have something to show you.” Once again the Solartians began to shimmer and vibrate, parting another entrance through the rear wall to reveal another huge cavern filled to the brim with books.

“Over the years I have carefully removed anything from the main libraries and archives that may lead to Travers discovering and destroying the secrets they hold.” He picked up a small leather bound diary, “Including many of the old Watcher and Slayer diaries that he tried to have destroyed. He didn’t realize that those held in the main libraries were in fact copies, and the originals were stored down here. I saved as many as I could, as well as books from the demon councils and anything that mentioned Midian and other safe havens.”

Giles stared at the wealth of knowledge before him. “Uncle this is just….” He began to reverently pick up book after book, running his hands lightly across their covers. “The knowledge that we could gain from these….” He reached for a large leather bound tome opening it and scanning its pages, “Look here Dawn.” He thrust the book under her nose pointing to a page written in some strange language, “This is written in ancient Slic’ta’nere a language so old that it was thought lost.”

Dawn peered down frowning, “So if it’s lost, how do you know what it is? And how come you can read it?”

“Well I can’t, but I’ve seen snippets of it on parchments under glass in the main library. To translate this would be a life’s work…an academic achievement of the highest….” Giles trailed off as he was distracted by another book.

Dawn turned to stare at Samuel a finger pointing at him accusingly, “You did this, now he’s going to want to catalogue, and research and translate, and … and…who do you think he’s going to force to help him?” She jabbed her finger into her chest, “ME that’s who.”

Samuel smiled, he liked this young girl; she had spunk. If all The Slayers family and friends were like young Dawn then he was confident that they would defeat Travers. He placed a calming hand on her arm, “I’ve already catalogued and translated a large portion of them, if that’s any help.”

Dawn huffed, crossing her arms over her chest and displaying her best pout, “It’s something I suppose.” She then blushed brightly as her stomach rumbled loudly, “Oops.”

“Rupert I think perhaps you best take young Miss Dawn out for something more filling then a few cream biscuits.” Samuel tried to draw his attention away from the books before him.

“What?” Giles looked up startled his glasses slightly askew, Dawns stomach protested loudly once again. “Oh yes lunch,” he glanced at his watch, “Oh my is that the time?” Looking about him Giles tried to gain his bearings and find the exit, striding forward he began to move back towards the small outer room when Samuel stopped him.

“Don’t go that way, there’s a much quicker exit from here.” Samuel led them to another wall and waited for the Solartians to open them a passage. As they stepped through Dawn realized that they were in a small wooden room, an arched doorway before them. “This is that secret passage you were always looking for, if you want to reach me from now on just come here and put your hand here” Samuel pointed out the small crystal that was hidden amongst a vivid painting of a saint that covered the wall they had just passed through “The Solartians will recognize you and open the passage.”

“Cool,” Dawn liked the idea of secret passages and clandestine meetings; it made her feel all special-agenty. She was the first to open the door before them, stepping out she realized they now stood inside a church, glancing around she noticed some people who she assumed must be tourists, milling around and taking photos. One looked surprisingly familiar, “Anya?”

The young woman turned around, giving a small squeal of delight when she realized who had called her. “Rupie!” Anya wrapped herself around him, before pressing a passionate kiss to his mouth. “How did you know where I was? How did you get here? You’ll never guess what this place is called.” Before either of them could answer Anya stepped back, throwing her arms wide as she announced brightly, “St Giles in The Field, when I heard the name I just couldn’t resist.”

“Wow Giles you have a church named after you,” Dawn gave him a teasing smile.

“Yes, well I’m sure that’s not truly the case.” Giles began to get flustered

Anya interrupted, “But how did you get here?” Giles began to explain about his uncle, who had quietly slipped away, and the catacombs and secret passage. “Won’t the council realize that you didn’t leave the way you came in though?” Anya interrupted.

“Oh Bugger,” Giles sighed as he realized Anya was correct, “We’ll have to go back. Dawn do you think that you could open a doorway up in the cavern so that we don’t get lost in the catacombs?”

Dawn nodded, moving with Giles back into the small room at the rear of the church, Giles telling Anya that they would meet her back at the hotel shortly. Dawn was just about to step back through the temporary doorway she had created when she realized that they would emerge at the bottom of the long staircase, “Oh Damn.”

Chapter 24

Buffy lay on her bed in Midian, enjoying the feel of the warm sun that filtered through the window and danced across her skin. Giles had contacted her with the information that his Uncle was firmly on their side, and the wealth of information that he was going to provide them.

She could hear Stacy’s soft gurgles through the window and got up to watch as Spike played with his daughter. It was at these times that Buffy could fully see the man that William had been, and the man that was slowly emerging from Spike.

Spike glanced up noticing her watching him and threw her a saucy smile, curling his tongue against his teeth as his eyes sparkled. Buffy felt a shiver run down her back at the promise they seemed to hold within their depths.

She jumped slightly as she someone came to stand beside her, brushing their shoulder against hers lightly.

“Aww, that’s so cute,” Willow cooed as she watched the pair before her.

“Will!” Buffy gave her friend a quick hug. “What are doing here? I thought you weren’t coming back for a few more days?” She looked back into the room. “Where’s Tara?”

“Tara’s with Jayela,” Willow offered before a seriousness settled over her features, “and we’re back early because we think we’ve found a way to... I don’t know… fix Xander or maybe weaken the spell.”

“And what would that be, luv?” Spike stood at the window, Stacy held securely in his arms.

“Tara and I found this spell, it’s kind of like a ‘what if’ or maybe an ‘if only’ spell.” Willow thrust her arms out for a chance to nurse the baby as she continued her explanation. “It’s kinda based a little in psychology; it gives the person the ability to see the results to all those questions that they have.”

Willow moved to sit on the bed as the window before her expanded into a door to allow Spike entry to the room. “So if a person were to look at a situation in the past and say ‘what if this had happened’ or ‘if only I had done this’, they are able to see what the end result of the change would have been.”

“And that’s supposed to do what?” Buffy frowned as she tried to list all the things Xander could possibly want to change from his past.

“Well, it’s supposed to allow the person to work through the situation and have the ability to move on from it.”

“Sounds like it could have the opposite effect as well, Red.” Spike offered, knowing that the women before him didn’t want to hear about the possibility that the spell could make things worse.

“I know, Spike.” Willow sighed. “That’s why Tara and I decided to discuss it with Jayela and you guys first.” A stray tear made its way down her cheek. “It’s just…I have to try to get my friend back.”

“It’s ok Will; I want the old Xander back too.” Buffy tried to reassure her friend.

Spike was silent for a moment, before reaching down to scoop up his daughter. “Well I say the whelp’s already lost to you the way he is, so you may as well try. Let’s drop the littlest bit off with Sarah, and we’ll go see about getting your mate back.”

Willow gave a small sniffle, “Ok, I’ll go get the others.” She rushed out the door, eager to begin now that she knew that both Buffy and Spike supported her.

Buffy offered Spike a blinding smile. “You’re a good man, do you know that?”

“Yeah well, don’t go spreading it about.”

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

Xander threw himself onto the small bed in his cell, offering his back to the only exit it provided. A few moments earlier the barrier had cleared a little, giving him a somewhat hazy view of the activity occurring just outside. He watched dispassionately as the group began placing candles and what looked like colored sand in intricate patterns on the round.

Frustration welled up inside him, they were going to do a spell on him; he just knew it. Xander gave a snort, just another reason to distrust those who called themselves friends. Even the peroxided pest was out there, pretending to help; Xander briefly wondered just what they were going to do to him.

Stiffening slightly he prepared himself to repel whatever was to come. He was unprepared, however, for the sudden rushing in his ears and the wave of dizziness that overwhelmed him. He seemed to roll bonelessly onto his back, his eyes wide and unseeing as he fell into his own mind.

----

Xander looked around him in confusion ‘where was he?’ He watched as a laughing couple strolled out of the door of a large expensive looking house, a small brown haired boy tucked securely between them.

“Come on Xander, up you go.” The man lifted the boy carefully into the backseat of the car, fastening his safety restraint carefully about him.

Xander felt a rush or recognition wash over him. ‘Mum? Dad?’ Deep inside he knew that the people before him were his parents and that the small boy was himself. But his parents had never been this happy and carefree; even when he was a small child their faces had been ravaged by years of alcohol and bitterness.

He turned to stare at the large house and expensive car; they’d never had any money to speak of either.

Xander watched as the car began to reverse down the drive and onto the street. Suddenly another car came hurtling round a corner, plowing into the happy family and ramming their vehicle into a nearby tree.

Xander ran to the accident. Glancing inside he saw his father frantically trying to stem the blood that was flowing from a gash on his mother’s neck, all the time calmly whispering words of reassurance to his crying son.

The driver of the other car stumbled towards them, the smell of alcohol thickening the air about him. His eyes widened when he noticed the injured woman, then turned towards the darkening sky. Without a word he ran back to his car and sped off down the road.

Xander watched in disbelief as the man left. His expression soon turned to horror, however, when he noticed three figures approaching the car. He rushed forwards, almost shouting with frustration as his hands passed uselessly through the door. “Dad, dad you have to get out of here, it’s not safe.” He moved to the other side of the car. “You need to get into the house now.”

Frantically he ran up to the approaching vampires, hoping desperately that he could somehow keep them away from his perfect family.

“No,” he screamed as the vamps approached the vehicle, sweetly offering their assistance to the trapped family. Xander turned his back in horror as the sounds of pain and terror ripped through the night air, until nothing remained but silence.

Turning around he made his way to the eerily quiet car, numbness stealing through him as he took in the ripped and torn throats of its occupants. He fell to his knees weeping. The image of a small brown haired boy staring blankly into the night filled his mind. His ravaged body still buckled firmly into his seat.

*~*~*~*

“What’s he seeing?” Willow whispered, as she watched the silent tears stream down her oldest friend’s face.

Jayela smiled sadly, “The first of his unanswered questions. What would have happened if he’d had the perfect family?”

Buffy settled herself back into Spikes waiting arms, “Do you know…?”

Jayela nodded, offering a soft smile. “Yes, I can tap into his mind to check on his progress.”

“Are we allowed to know what happened?” Willow moved closer to the barrier as she watched Xander intently.

Jayela watched Willow silently before speaking. “They were killed by vampires when he was five.”

“What’s he seeing now?” Buffy asked, curious as to what else Xander felt needed to be changed in his life.

“He’s seeing what would have happened if his friend had not been killed soon after you arrived in Sunnydale.”

“Jesse?” Willow questioned. “Sometimes I wonder what would have….” She cast her eyes back to Xander.

“We all wonder sometimes sweetie.” Tara moved behind Willow, resting her arms lightly around her waist in silent comfort. “The difference is Xander has let the questions eat away at him.”

*~*~*~*~

Xander watched as the four figures wandered slowly down the street. He had soon realized that he could not effect what was happening around him; all he could do was watch each scene play out in front of him.

At first, he had been happy that Jesse and Willow had been successfully rescued from the Vampires that night. His feelings had soon slipped into resentment, however, when it became obvious that Buffy only had eyes for Jesse.

So here he stood, on a cold night in the middle of a cemetery as Buffy ‘patrolled.’ Most of the time she was wrapped around Jesse, the pair giggling and kissing as they walked. This reality’s Xander and Willow trailed behind as they watched the couple’s sickening display.

He watched dispassionately as a large vampire moved up stealthily behind them, snatching Willow up and breaking her neck in one fluid movement before moving forward to sink his fangs into his double’s neck.

He watched as Buffy ran forward, only to turn from him at Jesse’s startled yell, another vampire having grabbed him from the shadows. “Jesse!” Buffy threw herself at her boyfriend’s attacker, dusting the vampire in seconds and then frantically checking Jesse for injuries.

Whirling back towards the first vampire she quickly dusted him as well; Xander however lay cold on the ground by this time.

“You let me die?” Xander watched as Jesse and Buffy checked on their now dead friends.

“Come on honey, we’ll go report to Mr. Giles, and he can call someone to come get them.” Jesse pulled his girlfriend out of the cemetery, neither looking back to their fallen friends.

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

“Luv.” Spike drew Buffy’s attention away from the room before her, “’s not doing your mate any good, standing here watchin.’ Let’s go get you something to eat.” He glanced towards Tara.

“Sweetie, I think Spike’s right, we’ll come back and check on him later.” Tara urged Willow to follow Spike and Buffy away from the room.

“Can we go find somewhere quiet?” Willow asked forlornly snuggling into her lovers’ side as they wandered out into the Midian daylight.

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

“It wasn’t fair, every time, EVERY TIME!” Xander railed against the unfairness of his life as he watched himself die over and over again. After the graveyard fiasco, he had watched as Jesse had walked away from Buffy, blaming her for his friend’s death. Buffy had gone out on patrol that night and not returned. Then he had watched as she succumbed to the Master. He had often wondered what would have happened if she had never met Angel, now, he knew.

Spike’s non-arrival in Sunnydale had ended in blood and death for the Scoobies, at the hands of The Annointed One’s disciples. Strangely, Buffy not sleeping with Angel did not prevent the emergence of Angelus. Weird that it was Cordelia who had fucked out his soul.

Xander shifted slightly and watched the scene before him. He had always thought that Angel coming back from hell was a bad thing. Now he wasn’t so sure; Drusilla had still left Spike, Spike had still come back and kidnapped Xander and Willow, locking them away at the abandoned factory.

He moved about the Magic Box, idly inspecting the shelves as Buffy and Spike fought with each other as well as the vampires that were attacking them.

The pair each held a makeshift stake as they waited for the vampires to finally break their way through to them.

Spike was grinning madly, “This should be a kick.”

Buffy threw him a disgusted look. “I violently dislike you.”

The door behind them flew open suddenly as a vampire rushed in towards them. Buffy whirled around embedding her stake into his chest before rushing to the door and slamming it shut.

Xander moved over to the front window. “There going to get in Buff.” He stepped back as the bookcase the blonde pair had placed in front of it began to give.

“We need to get out of here.” Buffy scanned the store looking for a way out. “Maybe the roof?” She spun around as the door flew open and more vampires rushed into the room. Buffy rushed towards one, kicking him in the face, as another rushed towards Spike.

Spike jerked slightly as the vampire punched him in the face.

Xander frowned. ‘What had Spike called him earlier? Kenny, Benny…no, Lenny, that was it.’

Lenny faced Spike. “Yeah. I heard you’d gone soft. Sad to see it man.”

“Soft?” Spike stared at the vampire incredulously.

“Yeah, like baby food.” Sneered Lenny.

“Oops, shouldn’t have said that.” Xander wandered behind the vampire. “Now You’ll just piss him off.”

Spike smiled at his former minion maliciously, “Well, then, let’s give baby a taste.” Spike kicked backwards, hitting a vampire who was sneaking up on him in the groin, before ducking under Lenny’s punch and landing his own solidly on the vampire.

Ducking another punch, Spike grabbed onto Lenny’s jacket, pulling him around roughly and smashing his face into the table.

“Baby like his supper? Baby like his supper?” Spike continued to slam Lenny’s head into the table with relish before flipping him over onto the table on his back. “Why doesn’t baby have a nap?” Spike raised his makeshift stake high into the air before plunging it into Lenny’s chest.

“Spike! Get down!”

Spike whirled round to see Buffy standing near a shelf that held vials of Holy Water. Spinning back around he dropped to the floor as he saw the bookcase in front of the front window begin to crash.

Spike pulled his duster over his head as a few stray droplets of water hit his face. Xander moved to stand near the crouching vampire, as they both admired the way Buffy’s tight little exercise top pulled taut across her chest with each throw.

When the last of the vampires retreated into the night screaming, Spike leapt up. “Now, that was fun.” He turned to eye Buffy before leaping across the room and shoving her roughly against the shelf, heedless of the few remaining vials of water falling to the ground around him.

Buffy pushed on his shoulders. “Ughh Spike, you are sick.”

“Now Slayer, don’t tell me a spot of violence doesn’t get you hot.” He leaned in close, licking her ear lightly before whispering, “’Cause I can smell different.”

“Ewww!” Buffy pushed past him and began to move towards the broken door.

Spike growled before leaping at her again. “You owe me Slayer.” He flipped her over onto the floor, settling his own body on top of hers.

Buffy began to struggle. “I owe you nothing Spike!” she spat at him.

“Now, now, Slayer, don’t be like that.” Spike snaked a hand across her stomach and under her top to cup one breast. “Way I see it, me helping you get rid of Angelus cost me my Ripe Wicked Plum. So, one of three things is going to happen.”

Spike smiled slyly as the scent of Buffy’s arousal grew stronger. “I can go back and get the witch to finish the spell for me.” He moved his hand back down to play with the waistband of her exercise pants. “I can go find Drusilla, chain her up, ‘an torture her til she loves me again, or…” he pulled on her pants roughly, tearing the away from her body as he plunged his fingers inside her, “I can move on.”

Xander watched dispassionately as Spike vamped out, plunging his fangs deep into Buffy’s neck, as he roughly worked his fingers inside her.

Spike pulled back momentarily, gazing down at the weakened Slayer, as he seemed to come to a decision. He pulled his fingers out of her and made quick work of his fly, shoving his jeans down and positioning his cock at her entrance. “I think I’ll go with moving on.” He told Buffy as he surged inside her before lowering his mouth to her neck once more.

Finally, Spike pulled away, listening intently as Buffy’s heartbeat began to fade. Biting his wrist, he pressed the flowing wound to her mouth. “Come now luv, drink up.” He smiled as she began to swallow greedily. “You and I are going to make Sunnyhell bleed.”

Xander felt a wave of dizziness wash over him, a sign that this little scenario would soon end. He had no doubt that by its finish, he would be dead; after all, that’s the way it always seemed to end.

He began to wander about the shop again. ‘You’d think they would have at least made it so I could sit on something’ All the while Spike whispered to Buffy all the nasty little things they would do when she woke up.

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