They were caught.
Unable to tear their gazes away from the living picture of themselves snuggled together on the small cot, they stood and stared. They continued to stare, until the step that Buffy was standing on let out a creak which echoed throughout the dim basement. The other Spike’s eyes snapped open and sought them out. Buffy watched as his grip on the other Buffy tightened, and then her eyes flew open as well.
No one moved.
The uncomfortable silence stretched for what seemed like hours. Then Buffy shifted, and the stair creaked again breaking the moment. The pair on the cot jumped to their feet to stare at each other. Something was spoken neither Buffy nor Spike could make it out, and the other Spike’s laugh filled the room. Buffy’s mouth dropped open as her counterpart launched herself into her Spike’s arms. Buffy blushed and turned her head away as they kissed, and she felt Spike’s hand on her arm as he grinned down at her.
“Come on luv,” he whispered and they made their way down the stairs. Buffy and Spike faced their replicas and a group examination began.
The appearance of her other disturbed her; she was thin, much thinner than herself. Dark shadows graced her pale skin; obviously things were tough in this time, and Buffy wasn’t sure she wanted to know what. There was a gleam in the other Buffy’s eyes that gave her hope. Despite the obvious stress that consumer her, the green eyes shown with happiness.
She let her eyes wander over to the other Spike. He looked good, very content and almost…peaceful. There was something…she couldn’t quite place what is was, that was different about him. It was evident not only in his eyes but in his stance.
“I…” Buffy started.
“Spike—“
“I’ll go wake Rupert.”
The other Buffy smiled comfortingly at the pair as the other Spike bounded up the stairs. “Where are you from?” she asked gently, but Buffy’s curiosity was piqued by the amusement in her double’s eyes.
Buffy explained quickly their ordeal, and the other Buffy was still smiling when she finished.
“Where are we?” Spike asked.
The other smiled. “It’s probably better if you don’t know; God knows we don’t want to mess anything up. Giles is going to have a fit as it is.” The Buffy’s grinned unexpectedly at each other in a knowing way.
Buffy felt Spike’s fingers slide through hers, and he squeezed her hand. She squeezed back, and the other Buffy’s smile grew.
“Let’s go upstairs.”
***
There was only a small group of them gathered around the kitchen table; Giles, Willow, the other Buffy and Spike, and them. A few small candles were lit, but for the most part everything was shrouded in darkness.
Buffy almost giggled, as Giles cleaned his glasses. Obviously something things never changed.
“I honestly am at a loss for words; I thought we had put this time travel mess behind us.” He sighed.
“I don’t want to state the obvious, but I’m guessing we’re in the future. Which is probably why we don’t remember any of this? So, we have to make it back to our time right? Because otherwise we wouldn’t exist in this time, we’d still be floating around in the past?” Buffy made her statement a question and glanced around for someone to answer.
“Better be the last bloody time Rupert,” Spike mumbled.
The other Buffy and Spike burst out laughing, and everyone stared at them curiously.
“Nothing, inside joke,” she mumbled, but their eyes met again and they both smiled.
“So you can send us back right? You kept the spell from the last time right?” Buffy was anxious. Being in this time made her nervous; there was something not right with the whole situation. The air was heavy with tension despite the light mood of the couple in front of her. Something big was about to happen, even if she was from the past she could feel it.
“Willow?” the other Buffy’s eyes prodded the witch gently, and Willow nodded in response. “We’ve got everything here.”
“Right then, and how is this going to be different from the last two sodding times?”
“I think that we made an error assuming the spell could be done from anywhere.” Willow paused at the confused expressions. “I mean, we did it, and we weren’t with you. I did the spell the first two times, and you two were somewhere else…right?” She looked at Giles for conformation.
He nodded. “I think perhaps the closer proximity you are to the origin of the spell, the better chance you will return to your own time.”
“Right then, lets go this show on the road ducks,” Spike directed his comment to Willow.
Giles and Willow left the room, but paused in the hallway.
“They need to forget Willow.”
Her eyes widened. “Wait, forget everything? But Giles…”
“They can’t know the future Willow.” He voice was solid and tough.
“But who knows what they went through in the past? I don’t think its fair…”
“We don’t have another option Willow; we need to set this straight once and for all.”
Willow’s eyes gleamed as Giles walked away.
*Oh, but maybe there is another way*
Behind the edge of the doorframe Buffy frowned.
***
They were back in the basement. Spike and Buffy stood side by side in the middle of a chalk drawn circle on the floor. Spike raised an eyebrow at Willow.
She caught his look. “It’s just for protection, wasn’t part of the original spell.”
Buffy hadn’t let go of Spike’s had, and was squeezing it painfully hard now.
“Ease up Slayer, M’ not going anywhere.” He grinned down at her.
“Spike, just in case…”
He silenced her with a kiss, and broke away from her when someone coughed. “We’ll be alright luv, we’ll be back together and everything will be alright.”
She leaned close and whispered hurriedly in his ear as Willow began to chant. “No matter what they do, I won’t forget Spike, I promise, I won’t forget that I love you.”
His eyes widened in understanding, and he dragged her body to his.
“Qui futurus in a regnum incompertus sibimet,
Tribuo lemma pacis of mens quod permissum lemma reverto,
Unus somes , unus mens una vices
Permissum monumentum exsisto tamen somnium
dea tribuo lemma templum.”
Willow’s eyes went dark and the ground began to shake. Buffy closed her eyes and pressed her head into Spike’s chest. “I love you, I love you, I love you…” she whispered over and over again.
She had heard Giles and Willow talking about making them forget, and she couldn’t believe they would do that. She was terrified she’d go back to being in denial, and treating Spike like garbage. She had learned so much about herself during the time spent in the past, and the possibility of not remembering the moments they had shared, it scared her.
She continued to repeat words in hopes she would still be repeating them in her own time.
“I love you-“ she exhaled and the bright light consumed them both, and then she saw only darkness. Her last conscious action was to flinch as the loud “BANG” echoed through her mind.
A/N: A whole bag of PB cups, I know you want them :D
[Reviews - 478]
-
Table of Contents [Report This]
Chapter or Story |
Chapter or Story | 
Chapter or Story
Has been viewed 4051 times
- Text Size +
-
Table of Contents [Report This]
Chapter or Story |
Chapter or Story | Chapter or Story - Text Size +
Author's Chapter Notes:
Sorry the delay in the chapter, ended up writing half of Brat's new story last night and therefore didn't have the creative juices to write this chappy before I went to bed. She took the best of me *sigh* :D (You know I love you)
I'm going on vacation tommorrow, and I hope to have at least 2 more chappies posted before I leave. I don't know for sure if I will have the resources to update while I'm gone, but I'll try my best. If not, look for a new update on Saturday!
I'm going on vacation tommorrow, and I hope to have at least 2 more chappies posted before I leave. I don't know for sure if I will have the resources to update while I'm gone, but I'll try my best. If not, look for a new update on Saturday!