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Author's Chapter Notes:
I kinda like this chapter because I wrote it during a rather embarassing James Bond binge.
Pivotal

Rashta took a needed breath. "He will be alive."

Buffy stopped walking, turned and stared blankly at the demon. A moment passed and The Slayer shook her head in a short, quick motion. "Run that by me again?"

Rashta turned so that she was looking directly into The Slayers eyes. "He will be alive."

Buffy couldn't believe the words. She didn't know why, but she hadn't expected this. Changes, sure. But this wasn't just some change. This was... alive. She looked around the cavern, not sure why. Her mind was racing to quickly for her to keep up.

"Living... how?"

The demon nodded. She hadn't expected The Slayer to accept her words this quickly. An explanation was needed and deserved. "Living. He will be alive. As you are." She stepped up to the young woman keeping her eyes on Buffy's. "He will breath. His heart will beat.

He will grow old. He will live."

The blonde heard the words, and tried to imagine Spike with a beating heart. Growing old.

Breathing was easier to deal with, he did that anyway, although she never knew why.

Buffy contemplated her lover's new life. The corners of her mouth began to turn up. New possibilities she‘d been afraid to really dwell on suddenly seemed alright to think about.

“Alive?" She whispered to herself. She blinked quickly looking away from the demon, them back up to her. "Alive?" She asked seriously.

The demon nodded. "Very much so." She saw The Slayer's mouth begin to smile, and her face soften. The demon reached into the young woman's mind.

The Slayer felt very much un-slay-ie. At that moment she found herself thinking thought that up until now, had never crossed her mind. Not without reality seeping into them and destroying her fantasy.

She saw herself walking hand in hand with Spike through a field of wildflowers. Smiling and laughing in the sun's rays. She saw herself at her wedding with Spike standing at the alter waiting for her to reach him. She saw them walking along the beach, splashing in the surf with her friends. She saw a small girls with dark blonde hair running up to them, then hug them both. It was all hokey, Buffy knew that but still…

Then she remembered. Sam and Ashton never had any children. Sorrow filled Buffy.
"Do not worry." Rashta said softly. "I see many possibilities in your future.

Buffy looked up at the woman. "How did you know...you can read minds?" The demon nodded. "Then you know what else I'm wondering."

"What of the demon inside him?" Buffy nodded. Rashta once again stood closely to Buffy, trying to decide what to tell her, how much she should know. "In the final stage, he will be gifted."

Buffy cocked her head. "What's the final stage?"

"That I can not reveal." She watched Buffy's face twist with worry. "The final stage is a choice. One that must be made without previous knowledge. It must be done in earnest, not because of directions given."

"More secrets?" She asked the cavern, and Rashta nodded to answer. "Fine. Then when are all my little changes going to be done?"

"All, but the final stage, are complete."

The blonde looked at her with confusion. "But I only hear better. Nothing else is different."

"Untrue. You have yet to discover them, but they are there." Rashta bent down to look into Buffy's hazel eyes. "Try to remember a great anger you had. As a Vampire uses his demon, it is the same for your newly acquired senses." She straightened up and brought her hand up. Soon the cavern was filled with darkness. "Now, try to feel your anger, and focus on your sight."

Buffy looked around in the thick darkness. 'Ok. Angry. Something that made me angry.'

She smiled. Quinton came to her mind quickly. She remembered the cameras, the Vampires after her in London, Randall and his damn evaluations.

As the memories came to her, she looked deeper into the blackness surrounding her. There was no change. "This isn't working."

"You must focus, in time it will come naturally, but for now, focus."

Buffy tried again. Dawn stealing, Spike smoking in the kitchen, the bill for the plumbing, Xander's singing demon. Nothing.

"This just isn't working. Turn on the lights would ya'?" Buffy asked into the darkness. But no answer came. "Rashta? I said turn on the lights." There was still no answer.

Buffy started walking through the darkness. She tried fitfully to see something. At some point even her regular eyes would begin to adjust.

"Comon'" She chastised her vision. "Comon'!" Suddenly she was able to see. There standing in front of her was Rashta. "Took you long enough to flip the switch." Buffy sighed. "Look, I know you say that they're supposed to work, but I can't seem to get them to." Buffy pointed at her eyes.

The demon smiled at her. "They are working quite well."

Buffy looked at her blankly. "You mean, now?" The demon nodded. "Buffy looked around the cavern easily. She could see everything. "Cool." As she said the word, her tongue touched her sharp incisors. Slowly she turned her head back to the demon as a shaking hand raised to feel the ridges on her forehead.

She began to breath to quickly, and hyperventilate. "What... what did you... do?" A single tear trailed down her demon face.

~~`~~

The steady rhythm was there under his hand. "What..." He turned behind him and looked at the demon menacingly. "What the bloody hell did you do to me?"

He snarled, and the demon's visage came forth. He felt the shifting of his bone and skin.

At first, he looked up trying to see his own brow, then he ran his tongue over his teeth.

His hands both came to his forehead for further verification. Confusion filled him. He turned back to the demon, this time too lost to be angry. "What the hell is going on?"

Akor took tentative steps to the man. "You are alive, but the demon in you has not been released."

Spike pushed his demon back with practiced ease. "Well, make up your mind. Either I'm a demon, or I'm 'uman. Not playing both sides 'ere."

The demon looked at the man, now standing in front of her. "There is a final step to be taken. In that, you will become as your Slayer."

He raised a scared eyebrow. "And the demon?"

She eyed him, noting his stance. He was relaxed, simply listening. "Your demon will be gifted. Spike, your demon is who you are. He is who I am speaking to. Just as the demon in Your Slayer has been slowly brought forth after eons of waiting, yours has always been there, waiting."

Spike tried to understand her. The demon would be gifted. He was the demon inside of him. Then it wasn't a matter of the demon it was- "William. This body's soul?"

"The soul will be released. He has served his purpose in this, and will be granted what he has been waiting for as well."

"So it's a big happy all around, is it?"

The demon sighed at herself. He was difficult, and impatient. "The last step will be a difficult one. Only after it has been completed will these things happen."

"So it's another test?" Spike reached into his duster and pulled out his cigarettes and lighter again. He quickly lit one and took a drag. No time passed between the inhaling of smoke, and the violent coughing that erupted from him.

He bent over and choked out the burning haze of tobacco. It took a few minutes, but he was finally able to catch his breath. He looked at the burning thin cylinder, and back at the demon. "Let me guess. These are now bad for me."

The demon had kept her laughter in check up until his ridiculous question. At that moment, she could hold it no longer, and a cackling of unknown comparison erupted from her mouth.

Spike gave her a mock smile. "Oh yea. Very bloody funny. Let's have a laugh while Spike chokes to death." He smiled at his own words. "And now it's literal." He shook his head at the entire unbelievable situation. "Next, you'll tell me Buffy's got fangs."

Akor's laughs stopped abruptly.

Spike's eyebrow went up. "You do realize you‘ve got a Slayer who really does not like being messed about with. Especially by demons, dontcha?”"

~~`~~

Anya sat waiting on the couch of Giles apartment. They were waiting to start, but still needed a few things. Her husband was in charge of getting the items.

It had only taken the morning to get everything set up. Once Willow showed the young teen hacker how to control the feed of the cameras they needed to use for cover for this afternoons little scam.

Then both the Scoobies, and the Jr. Scoobies made sure that everyone knew their part.

They had 4 days to make sure The Council was ready for Buffy and Spike, as well as The Council's new future. This part of the plan would be pivotal.

If this went well, they just had to wait for the night of the movie. The day The Slayer and The Vampire should come back.

The ex-demon was pulled away from her thought's as her husband bound through the door.

"Ok, got em'" He set down 3 earpieces with small microphones, and two radios of different size. "We can pick up the guards frequencies on this one." He began setting the smaller of the black boxes. "And we can talk to each other with this one." He said handing the smaller one to Willow, who was seated at her usual spot at the table with her lap top.

"Thanks Xander." She typed on her key board, and pulled up what blueprints she could find on The Council's Headquarters. "If I can get this to work, we should be able to tell where he is, and locate most of the guards."

"Don't thank me. Joel had these and about 50 other toys for his training." The brunette sat next to his wife on the couch.

Tara came in the door with her satchel. "Almost ready?"

"Ah. Tara, yes. "Giles stood up and handed the blonde one of the earpieces and microphone. "The young man has the microphone, so you'll need to listen carefully for his signal. Willow has one here to let you know when to get in place as well."

Tara nodded. "Ok. I'll be in the den waiting." She smiled at Willow before leaving the apartment.

Giles turned to Xander. "You'll need to get to the junction near the sparring room quickly."

"No problem." He pressed the earpiece in his ear. "Just make sure you tell me when he's comin' my way."

Willow looked up at her friend and smiled. "You got it, Night Hawk."

Xander smiled back his the redhead, then kissed Anya quickly on her forehead before going out the door.

Willow typed in a few more things before Dawn came through the door. "Hey guys. We ready?"

"Almost." Giles said eyeing the girl. "Is Joel ready?"

Dawn laughed a little. "Oh yea. He looked all Spike-like." She saw the earpiece on the table. "Is that for Haden?"

"Oh, yes." Giles picked up the small black earpiece, with the microphone.

The teen smiled when she took it. "I feel like I'm in Mission Imposable." She said giggling as she headed out the door.

Giles took off his glasses and began to clean them. "That's not too far from the truth." He said to the room, now containing Anya, Willow and himself.

~~`~~

Joel walked through the halls unnoticed. His Jacket and pants easily hid the clothing on underneath. He made his way to the sparring room. "Base. I'm 1 minute from contact one."

~~`~~

Inside, Xander threw a few punches at the bag hanging from the ceiling of the sparring room. A crackle came from his ear. "Xander. He's on his way to you now."

"Got it." Xander ran to the door and opened it just enough to see the hall. Joel turned the corner and headed in his direction.

The blonde slipped in the door, and shut it swiftly. He looked at the brunette. "This idea of your wife's better work."

"Your tellin' me?"

Joel slipped the oversized pants off, along with the Jacket. Xander quickly put them in his bag cleverly disguised as a workout bag like anyone would take to the gym.

A moment later, the blonde stood for inspection. "Well?"

Xander looked him over. Blond hair, black cloths and Anya was right, he did look a little like Spike. "Just don't let anyone get a clear look of your face, and I think you'll be fine." Xander walked to the door, and peeked out. The corridor was clear, so he stepped out. He walked to the T of the hall, and looked around both corners, giving Joel the all clear.

"Base. The bat is on the loose." The black clad blonde said into his wrist and ran out the door and past Xander.

Xander walked down the hall towards the den slowly.

~~`~~

Dawn walked to the group of teens waiting for her. She sat next to the two brothers that
made up the rest of the special ops. trainees. The twins had curly red hair. Hardly the type you'd think would be undercover, but then again, that was the point.

"Here Haden. "She handed over the small device to the boy next to her. "They're almost ready."

"OK." He pressed the earpiece into his ear and slipped the mic under his cuff. The two boys stood up and headed out of the commons.

"That mean us too." Richard said to Christian.

The blonde lead the younger boy out into the building. Michelle watched her friends walk out. "I really hope no one gets caught."

"Me too." Dawn agreed.

~~`~~

Willow sat with her lap top in front of her and the small bleeps that read as the source of radio signals. The diagram of The Council's floor plan lit with small indicators to the signal's location. There had to be separate windows for each section of the building, but it would work.

"Ok, Xander. Head to the den, but take it slow. He should be awhile." Willow sat back after conveying the update.

The three watched the large black box waiting for a voice to come from it.

A crackle came. "I'm heading towards The Watcher's section."

Willow flipped through the windows she had open until she came to The Watcher's main offices section. His signal came in clearly a moment later. He was on the outskirts of the large area. Several twisting hallways connected to each other. Willow also spotted 5 different radio signals that matched those the guards used. "Five hawks. Two at 12:00, one at 9:00, and two coming at you from 3:00."

She smiled at Giles. "Military talk is fun."

Anya looked at her. "My Xander could be in danger, and your worried about codenames, and o'clocks?"

Willow frowned, and turned back to her pc. "I like codenames." she said to herself pouting.

~~`~~

Haden walked with Anthony through the halls. As with other children of The Council, they were nodded at when recognized, but other wise ignored.

Once the children reached adolescence, it was no more unusual to see them in the building than at the off grounds pool.

The two walked in silence around the corners as they drew closer to Mr. Travers office.

Before the final turn, they slipped through an unlocked door. The dark room would serve them as cover until they knew the room was clear. Now it was just time to wait.

~~`~~

Joel stopped before crossing the junction. The guard was just around the corner according to the redhead. He took one final breath before leaping across the hall and sprinting down the hall.

~~`~~

Willow watched the dot cross the junction, and move quickly down the hall. Another light moved to the junction and stopped.

"Team 5. Vampire sighting in Watchers offices. Grid 3-H."

"This is Richton. "What direction is he heading?"

"East, Sir."

A few moment of silence passed.

"Team 2, sweep grid 2-I. team 3 sweep grid 4-G, team 5 you have 3-H. Over."

"Team 2 confirmed." "Team 3 confirmed." "Team 5 confirmed."

Anya stood up and walked behind Willow. She stood and watched the dots on the girls screen move around quickly. "Where is Joel?"

Willow pointed to a dot moving away from the group and out of The Watcher's offices.

~~`~~

Randall ran down the halls and past the waiting twins hiding place. The young Watcher nearly tripped when he stopped to knock on Quinton's door. The secretary made no move to stop him as he barged in.

"Mr. Travers." He said as he bound into the room. "He's been sighted."

Quinton stood up quickly, and began buttoning his jacket. "Where?"

"Here, Sir. In the Watcher's offices." He shuffled his feet nervously. Fear was written all over his pale face.

"Calm yourself, son. He can't do any harm to you or I." Quinton walked slowly around his desk.

Randall looked dumbfounded. "But, sir. He could be on a rampage. He's an animal, and he may blame you for her death."

"What reason could he possibly have to blame me? He has no idea of any of my plans." Quinton calmly leaned on the edge of his desk.

"Sir. I mean no disrespect, but he may believe he could have saved her...if you had not revoked his privileges. He seemed to act as though he was responsible for her well being when it came to their patrols." Randall looked around the office. I think you should come with me to another office sir, or perhaps the living quarters."

The older man tilted his head and looked up at his ceiling. Then to the young man before him. "You may be right." He looked over his shoulder to the wall, and sighed. He closed the book on his desk and scooped it up. "I suppose I should go until he is secured, just in case he has knowledge of my offices location."

The two men walked out of the door. Randall saw the young woman behind her desk. "You may want to come with us Miss. We suspect the Vampire may be headed this way."

"Oh dear." The woman said as she pulled her purse onto her shoulder, then walked away with the gentlemen.

~~`~~

Anthony pressed his ear to the door. He was soon smiling as he heard Mr. Travers's voice.

"He's leaving." He whispered to his brother.

Haden nodded and the boys slowly peered out the door. The halls were empty.

In minutes, they had the door to Quentin’s office opened, and were opening the false wall.

Haden looked at all the screens. "That's... what did Dawn call it? Wiggy?"

Anthony looked along the edges of the wall for the panel that hid the wires connecting and controlling the monitors and camera.

Haden pulled out a small silver rectangular box and some short wires from hidden pockets under his jacket.

Finally Anthony found the panel, and pulled it open. The mangled wires inside were a rainbow of colors. "You have it?"

"Right here." Haden handed the metallic box to his brother.

While Anthony held it in place, Haden connected the appropriate wires, and clipped it so it would not move. "Done." The young man lifted his wrist to his mouth. "Base. Screen Test."

"Coming right up." The voice called from Haden's ear. All of the screens suddenly flipped on, all showing the redhead at her computer the ex-demon stood behind her. Mr. Giles was sitting beside her, his back to the camera.

Willow looked up at them and waved. "Check Base. Screen Test affirmative."

"Ending Screen Test." The voice said. All of the screens went blank.

The two young men pressed the small button under the chair, and left the office, sure to lock it after they left.

~~`~~

Richard and Christian stood quietly in the classes section. They had seen Joel run past earlier, but so far no guards had come.

They looked down the hallways waiting.

Suddenly without warning a guard came sprinting up the hall towards them.

"Sir!" Christian began waving franticly. "I think I saw the Vampire. He ran right past us."

"You did?" The guard asked looking around. Which way did he go."

Christian pointed behind him.

The guard lifted his walkie talkie. "We have a second sighting. Classes section. Grid M-4."

The guard walked away as he received more orders. Christian and Richard made their way back to the commons.

~~`~~

Willow took a deep breath, and flipped through the windows again. Joel was now running through the classes area of the building. "Base to bat. Time to land."

"Rodger." Joel's said as he made his way to the den. Xander and he should run in to each other any minute.

Xander kept his eyes pealed for the boy as he walked down the halls. He heard a thumping coming towards him and turned to see Joel running full speed up to him.

"Xander. Thank God."

He was quickly pulled into another room. "Hurry, they're right behind me. Quickly Xander took the pants and jacket along with the dress shirt out of the bag he‘d been carrying.

Joel tore off the black costume and quickly donned the tweed.

The young pale blonde went out first, leaving Xander holding the pile of black clothing.

"The bat is free. "Xander rolled the clothing into a ball he could hide in his bag but easy take out.

"Time for laundry." He said to himself before slipping out.

~~`~~

Tara was seated on one of the lounging chairs in the large den. She was reading Emily Dickenson when her signal was given. She stood casually and walked to the entrance holding her satchel open as though she was looking fore something.

She caught movement from her left and continued looking down. Xander drew out the wadded clothing from his workout bag. A black blur was deposited into her satchel, and the form walked away. She closed her bag, and began to make her way back to the commons to wait for Joel.





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