By Heather Martin

*You can lie to others. You can lie to yourself. But you can’t lie to your dreams .*

Spoilers- Grave

Disclaimer- Joss owns all the characters from Buffy TVS. The soul mate principle idea was taken from L.J. Smith’s book series called Night World.

Distribution- Sure, just ask

Summary- Anyone know what dissociative fugue amnesia is? Well, Spike develops such a case after his sudden shiny soul, along with the unexpected return of humanity. He just can’t cope, so he pretends to be somebody he‘s not. As for Buffy, she lies to herself that Spike’s absence hasn’t effected her. But at night, she cannot keep him out of her dreams. What will happen to these two lost souls? Will they ever find their way? And will it be together?

This occurs after Grave. The time between episodes are unclear. Pretend that everything after ‘As You Were ‘only spanned a couple weeks. If you think about it, that makes sense. Seeing Red, Villians, 2 to Go, and Grave all happened in a couple days.

This is going to take a turn. I’ve decided to go a different route than I originally set out to take. Hope you like it.

Note- Conner off Angel is still a baby. I think I’m going to say that this takes place after Birthday (Don’t you just love Conner as a baby? Too bad he didn’t stay that way *sigh* Don’t get me started on that)

Chapter 22

Spike picked himself up from the linoleum. He glared at his grandsire with malice. “What are you doing here?” he demanded.

Angel had his game face on, his golden eyes almost matching that of Angelus. “I could ask you the same thing, ‘Spike’.”

“Now, see here, I live here. I have every right to . . .”

The elder of the two males wrapped his hand around Spike’s throat in a strangling manner. He rammed the blonde into the kitchen counter.

“What game are you playing here, Spike!?”

With fury, Buffy took hold of Angel and flung him off Spike. The vampire staggered backwards, almost losing balance.

Buffy eyed Spike worriedly. “Are you all right?”

Spike rubbed his neck. He cast Angel a threatening look. Then he turned back to Buffy. “Fine, pet.”

The slayer shifted toward her ex. She put her hands on her hips.

“What is up with you rushing in and attacking my boyfriends?” she asked, not in the least bit happy.

“What!?” Angel roared.

Just then someone else rushed into the kitchen. Spike eyed her, vaguely recognizing her as the cheerleader Buffy used to hang around with during high school. What was her name? Cor. . . Cordelia!

Cordelia Chase’s eyes widened when she noticed Spike. She reached into the pocket of her jeans, revealing a wooden cross. She held it in front of herself.

“Back evil vampire!” she shrieked.

“Oh, balls,” Spike muttered.

Spike reached out and grabbed the cross. He took it and dropped it to the floor without any sizzling at all.

Cordy pointed at him, dumbfounded. Beside her, Angel sniffed the air. He concentrated hard.

“You aren’t a vampire,” Angel stated.

“That’s right, Einstein,” Spike replied.

“What are you?”

“He’s human,” Buffy announced.

“He can’t be.”

“He’s human enough.”

Something suddenly occurred to Angel. He spun toward Cordelia.

“Where’s Conner?”

“Relax,” Cordy told him. “I left him in the car with Wes.”

“Why are you here anyway? I told you to wait there too.”

“I wanted to know what was up. You rushed in here like a maniac.”

A frown marred Buffy’s face. “Excuse me?”

Both Cordy and Angel focused back on Buffy.

“I want to know why you are here. And I want to know ‘now’. You can’t just barge into a person’s home. Even if you know the person. It’s against the law, you know.”

“I thought you were in danger. You weren’t answering your door. It was unlocked . . .” Angel sighed. “Sorry, I was wrong.”

“Damn right you were!” Buffy shouted.

A smirk formed on Spike’s lips. Just to piss of Angel further, he put his arm around the mother of his child. Spike glanced down at Buffy, noting the baggy sweatshirt she wore. So Angel hadn’t noticed her ‘condition’ yet. Hmmm. . .

“So, why the hell are you here?”

Angel opened his mouth to speak, but was cut off by a baby’s cry.

“Angel!” another voice called from the living room.

“Wesley, is that you!?” Angel shouted back.

“Yes. I uh . . . Conner needs to be changed,” the ex-watcher informed.

“The diapers are in the zipper part of the bag.”

“I know.” There was a pause. “But he is your son.”

Buffy raised an eyebrow at that. “Son?”

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

The five of them, along with a newborn, gathered in the living room. Buffy and Spike settled on the couch, while Cordy relaxed in the recliner. Wesley and Angel stood. Conner was in a car seat, situated by his father’s side.

Buffy’s mind was boggled. Angel had a son? Angel was a father? The notion was so strange. And yet, why should it be so astonishing? She glanced over at the black-clad male next to her. Spike had been a vampire when he gave her a little parting gift.

“So, Darla’s the mum?” Spike said. “That explains why the kid isn’t totally deformed.”

Angel fought losing control. “I understand that we don’t get along, Spike. But insulting my son is over the line. ‘Don’t do it again’.”

Spike became serious. He understood that that was a subject he could never tease his grandsire about and get away with it un-bruised.

“Let’s get down to business, shall we?” the slayer declared.

She wanted to stop thinking about Angel with another woman. She may love Spike, but she would never stop having feelings for her first boyfriend. She also wanted to get this visit over with. The sooner the LA gang left, the better. Angel and her together equaled badness. Angel and Spike together equaled badness. It was total badness all around.

“What do we have to fight?”

Wesley opened an archaic book he had brought. It had a mark, indicating a certain passage. He took a finger and skimmed to the part that was relevant.

“We did not come across a specific mention of an adversary, but it does mention ‘obstacles’,” Wesley informed.

“Uh huh. Obstacles for what? What exactly are you reading?”

“Oh, sorry,” Wesley apologized. He realized his mistake. He had been going on, before even explaining their find.

“This book contains a prophecy about ‘the children given to life by vampires’. I have concluded that Angel’s son is one of these children.”

“And what does are these children supposed to do?” Buffy asked.

“Bring light or darkness, blah blah blah,” Cordy said.

Wes gave her a dirty look.

“What? I basically said what that book does, although I didn’t use as many words.”

“The children: one boy and one girl, possess the power to transform the world. Together they will bring darkness upon the land or bathe it with white light,” Wesley said.

“Like I said.”

“This still doesn’t explain why you guys are here,” Buffy remarked.

“Yes it does, luv,” Spike stated.

She looked over curiously. “Huh?”

“Children. As in plural. The other kid is here in Sunnydale.” The bleached blonde turned toward Wes. “Am I right?”

Wesley nodded. “We tracked it down to this very town.”

“Yeah,” Cordelia said. “And we were figuring that you might be able to help us locate the other baby so we can protect it.”

Buffy took a deep breath. She lay a hand on her middle. “Uh, guys, I don’t think you’ll have to look very far.”

_______________________________________________________

I kept my promise. : ) It was delivered like I said it would be.