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Chapter 18 Rules Have Changed

Wave goodbye to what you were
The rules have changed, the lines begin to blur
She makes you hard, it comes on strong
You finally find the place you belong.
-Nine Inch Nails
-With Teeth


“Extraordinary.” Giles stared at the sign before him proclaiming that they had reached the city limits of Sunset, Nevada. He couldn’t believe what he was seeing. He reached out and touched the wooden sign. It was real. Staring into the valley below, he realized that the town must be real, too.

Willow and Tara walked up and stood next to him on the road. They weren’t sure they could believe their eyes either. Below them lay what appeared to be a bustling western town, circa mid to late 1800’s.

“Giles, how could this be? We went through the portal. We’re not in Nevada; we’re not even in the United States. Jiminy, we’re not even in our own dimension.”

“It l-l-looks like something from one of those old w-w-western movies my dad and brother always watch.”

Giles murmured almost to himself. “The last rider was banished here in 1870. When the crystal was stolen and transported here, it must have changed this reality to match the one in which it was activated. The Council never really understood how it worked and it was obviously more powerful than they knew. Perhaps something went wrong.”

He rubbed his eyes and stared down into the valley again. Briskly, he turned back to the witches. “We’ve got a serious problem. We’ll never fit in down there looking as we do.”

Willow shaded her eyes and looked up at him. “Well, Tara and I could do a glamour spell; it’ll work temporarily, anyway. At least our clothes and outer appearance will match everyone else and it’s a fairly simple spell.”

“That’s a good idea Willow.” Giles backed away from the crest of the hill. “We need to find some place less conspicuous.”

An hour later no one would have recognized the distinguished western gentleman and his two young companions as anything other than citizens from the surrounding area.

“Good job, girls, I think we can feel comfortable walking into town now. I believe our first order of business should be to rent rooms in the local hotel, then we can decide how best to continue our search for Buffy and Spike.”

“I c-c--could feel them during the last locater spell. T-t-they aren’t too far now, w-within a couple miles of town.”

Willow nodded in agreement. “Yeah, I think we’ll be able to find them pretty quickly. I just hope they’re okay.”

*****

Buffy woke to find Spike’s arm slung over her stomach, effectively pinning her to the bed. She reached over and poked him with her finger. “Spike, wake up.”

The vampire groaned and didn’t move but a sleep roughened voice whispered. “Need just a bit more, pet, I’m still knackered.”

She smiled at the cuteness of Spike, lying there with his tousled curls, but she still wanted to get up. Buffy poked him again. “You can sleep some more, just move your arm. I’m getting up to find some breakfast.”

They hadn’t eaten anything after returning early that morning for fear of waking the entire household. Spike had still been groggy and Buffy exhausted, so they had just lain across the quilt and fallen asleep. Now, several hours later, she was famished.

Spike didn’t respond again, just slid his arm away and rolled over.

Buffy got up, threw on the hated brown dress and went into the kitchen, where she discovered a note on the counter. Evidently she and Spike were alone in the house. Defoe was working in the far pasture and Kale and Celeste had ridden into town for supplies.

Grabbing a couple pieces of fruit from a clay bowl on the counter, she munched on apples while she walked to the spring house. Once there, she searched until she found Spike’s hidden cache of pig’s blood. Buffy knew that with everything the vampire had been through last night, he would need food. She shook the cold spring water from the jar, tucked it carefully under her arm and followed the narrow dirt path back to the ranch house.

Digging around in the kitchen, she found a small pan and heated the pig’s blood on the wood stove, along with several buckets of water. Buffy wanted another hot bath. Setting the last metal bucket on the stove, she vowed to never complain again about cleaning up the bathroom at home.

She managed to make the first trip back to the bedroom balancing two pails of hot water and a mug of blood without spilling anything. Buffy pushed the bedroom door open with her foot and carefully set the tall mug of blood on the bedside table. After she poured the two buckets of hot water into their bathtub, she walked over to the still slumbering vampire. She reached over, smoothed Spike’s hair back from his forehead and kissed him. “Wake up sleepyhead, I brought you breakfast.”

Spike opened one eye experimentally. His head had stopped pounding. He stretched and sniffed the air. Was that warm blood he smelled? He opened both eyes, sat up against the headboard and flashed a delighted smile. “Thank you, luv that was very thoughtful.”

Buffy smiled in return. “Drink up. After last night, you really need this.”

Spike took a long swallow of the warm pig’s blood and watched as Buffy made a few more trips back and forth with buckets of hot water. While he finished his breakfast, she filled the large tub nearly full with hot water.

During one of her trips a bold idea struck. Spike had declared that the next move was hers, so why shouldn’t she move this relationship forward? Wet Spike in the bath yesterday? That was an image she was still carrying around in her head. Oh yeah.

Dumping the last two buckets, she turned around to Spike. “Would you like to share the bath? The tub’s big enough.”

Spike was momentarily speechless. Had Buffy just asked him to join her? His mind filled with the vision of a naked Buffy in the tub. He raised an eyebrow.

She started to walk toward him. “No sense toting in more hot water when we could share.”

Spike moved from the bed over to her almost before she could complete the sentence. Gathering her into his arms, he gently stroked her hair and murmured. “If we get in that tub together, we won’t be going anywhere for quite awhile and I thought you wanted to go into town.”

He kissed her on the forehead and then leaned his head against hers while he anxiously awaited her response. Spike couldn’t believe he had hesitated, but he had to make absolutely sure Buffy wouldn’t regret her spontaneous offer later.

She spoke softly. “Town will still be there later this afternoon.” She ran her hand across his face.

Spike captured her hand and lightly kissed the palm. Buffy shivered from the sensation. He stepped back and started slowly unbuttoning the little pearl buttons on the front of her dress. His eyes, dark with want, stared into hers. “Then we’d better hurry, we wouldn’t want to have to heat more water.”

Buffy, her own voice husky with desire, replied, “That would be a real waste of our time.”

*****

The Sheriff had walked completely around the mine, but hadn’t found evidence of any disturbance except for the broken padlock. McGee would ride out later today, ostensibly to look over the mining operation but Grip knew that was only a ruse, he would really check on the other riders imprisoned within the mine.

The rider hated that the others were locked away, but had no control over it. When he’d been forced through the portal, the others were already imprisoned and he could do nothing for them. For many years he had been too weak from exposure to the crystal to do anything but hide and try to regain power.

He had been trapped in this dimension for over one hundred years, a mere instant to anyone with his long lifespan and his fellow riders had been trapped here even longer.

The ex-Watcher would have died long ago, his mortal lifespan complete, had not the rider used the power he still could control to push back death. Soon now the ex-Watcher would complete his portion of their agreement and they would all leave through the portal. At that point, the riders would fulfill the other portion of their bargain and destroy McGee’s enemies.

When the alignment allowed them to regain their powers, they would kill the ex-Watcher and take control of the crystal. The riders would have the ability to move from their own dimension to any of their choosing and they could continue their destiny of destruction forever.

He sent his mind out to the other riders trapped within their prison. They could each send thoughts to another, although Grip had made certain McGee was unaware of this ability.

His fellow rider, although still imprisoned within the tunnel, sent visions of the two visitors from the previous night. The first was of the Slayer and the second vision sent to him was of a half breed, a vampire.

The Slayer had prevented the vampire from opening the cage but it was of no importance, he planned to summon the woman tonight. He would have killed the Slayer the previous night, but he had had to kill Teague and he was too weak within this dimension to kill more than once in a night and still pull the victim’s power for his own. But with the Slayer’s power added to his, he would become much stronger.

His fellow rider sent additional thoughts concerning some type of mechanical restraint within the vampire and Grip could feel the vampire’s demon demanding its release. He could also sense power and strength within the half breed. It could make a strong ally, someone to help control the ex-Watcher until the alignment. He would consider removing the restraint.

****

Willow dumped the backpack on the floor and crossed the room. Groaning, she fell across the bed. “God, it feels so good to be out of the sun.”

Tara sat her backpack next to Willow’s. She dropped into the corner chair and kicked off her shoes. Reaching down, she massaged her aching feet. “D-Do you think Mr. Giles will let us rest some before we start searching for Buffy?”

Willow felt as if she were almost too tired to answer. “I told him that we needed a break. He suggested going down to the saloon and eating a late lunch, but I told him we were just too tired. He’s going to get something for us and bring it back here, so we at least have until he shows up.” She groaned again. “I think I’m actually too tired to take my shoes off.”

When the door of the hotel closed behind him, Giles had felt a frisson of excitement. He couldn’t wait to begin his explorations of the small downtown. He knew he’d never get another chance to observe a portion of living history like this again.

The academic within him gleefully rubbed his hands together and tried to mentally record everything around him. It was all so intriguing he just couldn’t help it and perhaps he’d find out some important information. One never knew where important details might be uncovered. Giles stepped briskly into the throng along the main street.





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