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IN THE INTERREGNUM

"Spike, give him a chance," Buffy cajoled, "He could surprise you. Maybe he's changed."

Spike was incredulous, "Changed? Love, he hasn't changed his hairstyle in a hundred years! What makes you think things will go differently this time?"

"As I recall, he used to say the same things about you. I can still hear him now, 'Spike will never change. He only thinks about himself. He's not as special as I am.'"

"The ponce said that? To you?"

She nodded, "He did," she kissed away the grimace that was starting to form on his face, "But that's not important now. The point is, you proved him wrong. You nursed Joni through skinned knees, bumped elbows and broken hearts. Not to mention the illness and death of a parent. It was very important that she learn that she can move through the hurt, and still be herself. That's something you taught Joni, and her Mommy, very well. I'm very proud of you. And, so is Joni."

"Love, I had hoped to find the answer in time," he cast his eyes downward, "to save you. Maybe then, Joni would have known I loved her," he sighed, "Buffy, how can you say I taught her anything? I was shut down for an entire year. She needed her Daddy and I wasn't there. I didn't teach her anything."

"Hey," she tilted her head so that she could see his eyes, " She grew up, didn't she? She was the best Slayer, even better than me. I'd say you taught her enough," she smiled at him, tilting his eyes up to her, "And, don't be so gloomy faced. Not here. I had a good life. Joni's was just starting. And maybe now, we won't have to go through that."

"Yeah. Somehow I doubt it. I don't like the idea of Peaches having that much power. It tends to corrupt. And, he's very suggestible. The first time around we had seven years together, fighting your average everyday vampires and demons, before 'Lace' came along, and my whole world imploded. Now, Angelus has his finger on the button, and he doesn't even know it. And me?" Spike shook his head, "Love, he's still reeling. He's not near ready enough."

"Well," Buffy said, "it looks like he's going to have to get ready."
*********************

Holding her hand as they walked along the beach, Spike watched the way the moonlight reflected off the water and set her aglow in silver. The light from the stars bounced in her hair, setting it on fire and giving her face an appearance he dimly remembered. He saw her face like this once that he could recall, and that was when he'd had the gem and ambushed her in the quadrangle. He'd toyed with her and delayed what he thought would be his gratification, because he had needed those precious few seconds to memorize how she had looked with the sun radiating out of her skin and hair. He needed to freeze those few moments and file them away so that, when his own world got too lonely and cold, he would have her image to keep him company.

That was just one of the things he never told her about.

And now here she was. But this was not a memory, at least not yet. This was real. And she looked so much softer than he remembered. She seemed lighter somehow. She was more full of life now than she seemed then, and he couldn't believe it was all due to him. He knew he didn't have that kind of power. No, this was all her.

"Hey, you're a million miles away, mister. You'll start to give a girl a complex," she squeezed his hand, bringing him back to the present, "What were you thinking about?"

He laced his fingers through her hair and watched as the moonlight danced between his fingers as he slowly let the strands fall. As they moved through her hair, his fingers seemed to ignite fragrances he'd never known before. She was new to him, just waiting to be discovered. She was amazing.

He was so dazzled by her that he was nearly mute, "You. Do you know how amazing you are?"

As Buffy looked at him, he seemed to transform right before her very eyes. In an instant he went from a man to a vulnerable and awe struck boy. A boy she wanted to protect, with all her heart. "You're pretty amazing yourself," she said as she kissed him.
*************************

The coroner's report took a week to compile, mostly due to the fact that Lorraine Angelus's hematology was anomalous. The blood seemed to contain antibodies that had never been seen before.

The usual protocol in matters like this would be to call in the proper authorities. With the atmosphere so twitchy about anything unexplained these days, notifying the local hazardous materials squad as well as the Center for Disease Control in Atlanta had become almost second nature.

So, imagine Doctor Samuel Hill's surprise when word came down from his superiors telling him that there would be no need to notify those agencies of his findings. Any statement of his findings, as well as the body the statements referred to, was to be released to her father immediately for cremation.

As he prepared the medical waste for proper disposal, he grumbled a little, "Just when did this new policy go into effect, anyway? I don't remember seeing a memo about it. But then again, they don't tell me everything," he put his head down, trying to dot every " I" and cross every "T", in triplicate. It had to be perfect, or he would be sure to hear about it, "This just creates more work for me. I hate paperwork."
**********************************************

IN THE INTERREGNUM

"You sure you want to do this, Dove? I don't want to make you do something you don't want to. You won't be able to protect yourself. And if he finds you first," his grip tightened on her arms, "I swear, I'll make him pay. If he thinks he's cursed now... He may just have to redefine the word."

"Daddy, you wouldn't be here now if it wasn't for me. You deserve everything Daddy. I can't let him have it when it doesn't belong to him. If coming on stage a little early means that I can have both you and Mom," she nodded, " then I'm doing it!"

"But Dove, he killed your parents and he nearly killed you! A little baby! He found out what you could do, and all his morality flew out the window while he was throwing the baby out with the bathwater. I don't trust him. Not one wit."

"Well Daddy," Jonina leaned up on her toes to kiss him, "You'll just have to stop him."
**************************************

"Oi, sleepyhead, wake up."

Spike tried to ignore it maybe it would go away.

"Ignoring me is not going to make me go away. You know Peaches tried that. It only made me more annoying. And you know how annoying I can be when I put my mind to it."

"I'm on my honeymoon," he told the darkness, because he refused to open his eyes and acknowledge the presence in his head. And that's exactly where it was, and where it was going to stay, "Go away!"

"You're right, I am in your head. But I'm other places too. I know where you are because I've been there too. Believe me, I don't want you to miss this, not for the world. It'll be all you have, later," the voice that sounded like him, the one Spike had started referring to as, "Jiminy," sounded almost nostalgic, "I don't want to ruin this for you."

"Then don't!" Spike hissed.

"I don't want to. But this is so important that I'm about to do something I already hate myself for. Hang on. I'd say take a deep breath but, right now, you don't need it. This is going to hurt."

Spike's brain was flooded with pictures he didn't want. But he couldn't stop them:

Buffy's death from a lingering illness he's powerless to stop. Seeing the little girl that haunted him crying her little heart out. Angelus, killing a mother while she held her infant close to her and snapping the father's neck when he tried to protect the infant that was falling from her mother's grasp. And that dove. The child. Oh, God!

He woke up, screaming and shaken, "Buffy, we have to go back," he gasped.





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