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many thaks to those kind enough to review. please keep it up, they make my day
It was the last words that struck the chord. Here was a man willing to give anything so that his daughter could be free. They could all appreciate that sentiment.

Buffy looked at her friends. They all were thinking hard, you could see it in their eyes.

‘Is there any time limit on our answer?’ asked Giles.

‘Unfortunately for us, no; if you said yes now or in 30 years, it would be the same. We just don’t want Travers to get any stronger and with all the new slayers around he can tap into their powers, corrupting them to himself. He will grow in power. You already have a minion of his in your new council, and more will come.’

‘We have a mole already?’ Giles was angry. He had tried so hard to be fair to the slayers and he was not having Travers influence this new council in any way.

‘You do, but we won’t tell you who; a simple uncloaking spell will show them up and I’m sure you would prefer to do that yourself.’

Giles nodded. He would have appreciated the help but could understand Charles letting him find out for himself.


The dinner party broke up soon afterwards, and everyone went to their beds with a lot to think about.

Next morning at breakfast, Buffy looked around the table. The people sitting round it were her family, blood or not. They fought, they argued, but in the end they would kill or die for one another. No-one was more important.

‘Time to count the votes. Everything we have been told by The Covenant has proven to be true. I’m in for helping them; joining them, I’m not so sure yet, but whether we do or not, I want to get rid of Travers. Spike what about you?’

‘Well luv, I must say the thought of walking in sunlight appeals, over 100 years in the darkness, and I’d love a bigger family if you’re willing, not something I ever thought I’d be blessed with; but whatever we decide, we help them take Travers out. I’m in.’

‘So am I,’ answered Giles. ‘He has destroyed everything the council was meant to be. He has abused the position of trust that was given him, and cruelly stripped young girls of their future. What ever else is decided, I’m in.’

Willow and Rachael looked at one another, then reached over to Xander.

‘Buffy was meant to be loved. Although Rachael wasn’t an original Scoobie, she is now, and we have already decided we’re in. All the way. If you want to take them up on any other offer, we’ll help in any way we can.’

‘I owe you, Buffster, you and dead boy junior had enough of my anger, now feel the love of the Xanman.’

‘I’m not feeling you, how ever much you ask, whelp.’

Xander tried to sulk but couldn’t keep a straight face. ‘Oh go on, dead boy, just a little feel?’

Giles started to clean his glasses but everyone else burst into laughter. Old taunts becoming jokes just made it the more wonderful. Buffy looked around and felt so much love, tears came to her eyes. Spike reached for her hand and lifted it to his lips, planting a kiss on her knuckles; then they all looked at Dawn, she hadn’t spoken yet.

‘The key is what I am, not who I am, but this is a family fight, and Travers hurt my Mom and Dad, he tried to keep them apart. He gets all my hate; of course I’m in.’

‘Then we contact Charles and Marcus and organise the first stage. I’ll go over there this evening,’ Spike said.

‘No need,’ Dawn got out her mobile phone and scrolled down the address book.

‘There you go Dad, I asked for the number when we were over there.’ Spike was still grinning at being called dad; he hadn’t heard the rest, despite vampiric hearing. ‘Earth to Spike,’ Buffy waved a hand in front of his eyes. ‘Earth to Spike, phone…’

‘What? Oh yeah, right; thanks, Niblet.’

‘This is great,’ Dawn said with a huge smile on her face, ‘If I want him to space out I just call him Dad and he’s mush.’

‘I am not, I’m the big bad. And and; and; and everything,’ Spike said with a growl, which just started the laughter off again.

‘Good job we love you,’ Buffy said with a goofy smile that lit up her eyes. Spike could drown in those green pools, and was, until Dawn hit him with the phone again.

‘Got to go, Carlos is picking me up in a hour.’

‘Make sure you’re back early, daughter, or I WILL eat the boyfriend!’ Spike called out as Dawn left the room.

‘Aahh Dad,’


It was arranged. They would all meet at the Villa Rosa on the Saturday night and start tracking down Travers. Willow had searched through the books and maps they had been given and reckoned a locating spell would follow Travers wherever he went. All she needed was something of his to act as the beacon. Giles knew just the thing. He went to one of the boxes of papers he’d sent out of Sunnydale before the collapse and found the letter firing him from the council. On the back was a sketch that Spike had done of Joyce and Buffy laughing in the kitchen of Revello drive. The reason he’d kept it in the first place. Spike often pilfered waste paper to doodle on, but unlike most peoples, his doodles were delightful.

‘Will this do?’ he asked.

Willow looked at the signature. Travers was so elated at being able to fire Giles that he had signed the letter himself. The only time in memory he had left any trace of himself anywhere.

‘There was a time when it wouldn’t have been enough but now, no problem. He even handled the paper, so I have DNA as well,’ The witch answered. ‘The spell’s all set but if we do it Friday, I can add a portal spell in with Dawn’s help, well blood actually, and send the snatch team into wherever Travers is at that moment. We can grab him and bring him straight back to the mansion. Who goes in?’

‘Spike of course, Giles, me and Rachael, we’ll need two slayers. If he’s in daylight then Xander goes in instead of Spike, with Spike taking Xander’s place with Charles and Marcus, holding the portal open and acting as protection for those left behind.’ It was the slayer who spoke, the woman who had defeated the master and the mayor, the one who had averted apocalypse after apocalypse and by whom even the first was defeated. And she was taking charge again. That extra gear Faith talked about was kicking in. Spike sat back and folded his arms behind his head. He loved it when Buffy went all slayer, nothing could beat the sight of her taking command.

Giles looked at Buffy. ‘I can’t go through the portal, humans don’t do so well without a lot of power being added, and to get back you’ll need to speak Sumerian and be able to cast a spell, you’ll also need Dawn’s blood.’

Buffy thought about it for a moment. Her slaying brain taking over.

‘The enjoining spell, we were told we would need it, you can add those powers in.’

‘And the blood?’

‘Spike can have a quick snack before we leave, he can have Dawn’s blood in him, we go through and I do the spell, using Spike as the key.’

‘No way, I am not snacking on Niblet, think of something else, fast.’

‘Dawn won’t mind, and it’s not as if you haven’t bitten her before, you put the familial claim on her to protect her, and its only a sip.’ Buffy couldn’t understand why Spike was so upset, she was totally confused as he stormed out of the room.

Buffy followed. ‘Come on love, tell me what’s really wrong?’

‘If I can be used like that, means you needn’t have died; the tower, Glory, all I had to do was drink from you and I could have taken the dive and lived, broken yes, but not dust…everything else would have mended, you didn’t have to die.’ Spike was nearly in tears. Buffy pulled the blond head onto her chest.

‘Shuush, its alright, what’s done is done, and I’m here and so is Dawn, we’re safe, you kept her safe all that summer, and I love you; now no more, you’ll take a quick drink then we can keep Dawn pissed off but safe here, while we collect the prisoner.’ She added with a smile, ‘you know she’s going to be really mad she can’t come too.’

‘God I’m a right bloody ponce.’

‘No you’re not, you’re a wonderful man who has just realised he could have done something to stop me getting hurt.’

‘You wouldn’t have had to die, to be pulled out of heaven, the first wouldn’t have made an appearance, nothing, Sunnyhell would still be there.’

‘See, its not all bad,’ Buffy said with a smile.

Spike smiled back, how he loved Buffy, she was his world. ‘She hung his moon’, as Niblet put it.

‘I’m alright now pet, I’ll come and listen to the rest of the plan without snivelling on you.’

Giles was waiting quietly in the sitting room; he pretended not to notice the red around the Vampire’s eyes but looked at Buffy.

‘I’ll explain later,’ she mouthed.

Giles just nodded and carried on.

‘We have to have a circle ready to control Travers, then one of us must kill him. The only way to do that is beheading. Then burning all the remains, in two separate bonfires. Then the ashes scattered far and wide. He’s a powerful warlock and it’s the only way we can be sure he’s gone.’

There was a knock at the door and Rachael poked her head round the corner. ‘Can I come in?’

‘Of course, sweetie, it’s not a secret meeting or anything.’

Rachael made her way into the room. She seemed a little shy about speaking out, not her normal self at all.

‘What is it lover?’ asked Xander.

‘I don’t want you to get mad with me, but we, the other slayers, were talking and we all know that this is going to be one hell of a fight and we want to help.’

‘We’d love to have volunteers as back up, maybe at Villa Rosa, protecting the others there.’

‘Yes, that would be great, but we also thought, what with Spike and the other vampires fighting on our side, we’d donate the food for the next week until the big fight, have all the good vampires hyped up on slayer blood.’

Xander fell off his chair but jumped up pretending he’d meant it all the time. ‘He’s not snacking on your neck!’

‘We thought we’d donate it like a blood donation, then bagged, you’d have it to take with you, and before any of you ask, quite a few of us thought of this at the same time, we don’t want Spike hurt and if he’s that powerful, maybe he’ll make sure you all come back,’ Rachael stammered out.

‘Really kind of you, pet, thank the girls for me. We’ll give it some serious thought; that much slayer blood in the system would really make a difference on my strength and speed.’

‘Never thought you getting Slayer blood would be a good idea, but I wish we’d thought about it before the battle with the first, you on Super leaded would have really helped,’ said Xander with a smile. ‘It’s a real good idea, Rach.’

‘Back to the matters at hand,’ Giles started. ‘Whether or not we permanently join with The Covenant, we need to get organised. Buffy and Spike will be heading over to Villa Rosa tonight…’ He was interrupted by the sound of visitors.
Buffy looked up, slayer sense tingling, and Spike sniffed the air. ‘Vampire, Peaches and dog girl.’





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