The consecration, and the Poet's dream;
William Wordsworth
Spike’s demon roared in triumph and he was barely able to repress the fervent need to shift faces. But he had to be sure. Grappling with his control, he pushed himself up enough to look into her eyes.
“Do you know what your asking Buffy? Are you really sure?” Spike could hear the hope and desire in his voice clearly, embarrassed that the request made him sound like a callow youth.
Buffy smiled up at him, her radiance lighting up the room, as she reached up to cup his cheek.
“Of course I do Spike. I love you and trust you with my life, all of you. I want us to feel as close to one another as we possibly can. I’m not asking for a mating bond … for now. But this we can do tonight, and I think we should. I’ve already promised you my hand in marriage and this is just another type of betrothal. So, what’s the matter Big Bad? I mean, look at my poor neck? All bare and tender and exposed, all that blood just … pumping away.” Buffy giggled playfully as she turned her head, running her finger up and down her throat.
“Yeah, yeah very funny. At least you don’t have me chained up in your bathtub. But this is different anyway pet, this isn’t about feeding, it’s about connecting. I just want to be sure. Are you ready to really let me inside baby?”
Buffy’s unmistakable look of love was answer enough. With that Spike set his hips once more in motion, heightening their physical pleasure and emotional euphoria as he increased the speed and intensity of their coupling. He could feel that familiar tingling begin in his testes, but it seemed more deeply set this time, radiating from the very depths of his pelvis. He could hear Buffy’s respiration and heart rate rocket as the muscles of her quim began to tremble and clutch at him. The time was right and he leaned in, pausing to kiss her passionately before bringing his demon forward.
The light of adoration and acceptance continued to shine in her eyes, undimmed by Spike’s shift, the blaze of lust unquenched. He nuzzled his face into her throat, whispering ardent words of love and promise. Tenderly, he licked and suckled the skin stretched tautly over the thrumming pulse in her neck.
Spike’s fangs slid gently, reverently, into the soft flesh of Buffy’s neck and suddenly the rich ambrosia of Slayer blood flooded his mouth and his senses, two, three delicious mouthfuls seasoned with love and belonging. As he swallowed he felt her internal muscles squeeze him in long throbbing pulses, triggering his own release. Dazzling light and white-hot heat exploded within him, as pleasure arced from both ends of his body, fangs and cock, and a current of bliss surged through every nerve. A blaze of warmth radiated from his chest, reminiscent of the amulet’s activation.
Beneath him, Buffy was experiencing her own little electrical heatwave, as a flash fire of ecstasy raced along her neural pathways. Spike’s tongue lapped the last drops of blood from his mark on her neck and once again flames leapt between them, this time figurative but no less intense than the inferno that had enveloped them down in the cavern. Buffy could feel the flames licking along her moist skin, caressing her body, surging through her bloodstream, and she felt bright, blazing, eternal. The inferno consumed and cocooned her in its warmth.
The heat of their joining continued to flare brightly for what could have been seconds or might have been eons, enveloping them both in its rapturous embrace. They were held in breathless, endless rhapsody, until slowly, gently, the flames abated, and the intense pleasure of their union died down to a soothing smoulder.
Shuddering, Spike collapsed on Buffy and limply rolled over, bringing her with him so her head nestled on his chest, and her loose-limbed body lay half sprawled across his. She lifted her chin and gazed into his beautiful eyes, sharing a look of wonder and deep, abiding adoration.
“Wow,” the Slayer said, further thought or speech beyond the reach of her deep fried brain cells.
“Yeah,” the dazed vamp concurred.
“Is it always like that, with the big, flaming, orgasmic awesomeness?” Buffy asked.
“Never! Leastways not in my experience, nor in any tales I’ve ever heard told. Something special that I reckon. Extraordinary, divine, almost… sacred,” he paused, before adding quietly, uncertainly, “Well it was for me anyway.”
“For me too, sweetheart. It wasn’t just incredible on both the physical and emotional levels, there was definitely something almost religious about that. But then you know, look at us, we’re all mystically pregnant and spiritually reunited, and now engaged and blood linked. I think our souls or your Fire Gods or maybe the Powers or whatever approve of our union. So we got the upgrade package, with complimentary ‘Oh My God’ freebies.”
Spike chuckled as he reached down to snag the covers lying crumpled at the base of the bed, drawing them over their rapidly cooling bodies. He wrapped himself around Buffy again, wanting to feel the touch of her silky skin against his, and enjoy the gentle rhythm of her heartbeat as it echoed through his body. They lay there, arms and legs entwined. Spike could hear Buffy’s slow, regular breathing, a signal that she was almost asleep. But her comments had made him a little introspective, and he wanted to share his thoughts with her before she drifted off.
“I don’t know if I like the idea that we are nothing but puppets in the hands of the puppet masters.” Spike’s deep voice, a more cultured version that seemed to fit his contemplative mood, rumbled through his chest, the vibrations resonating through Buffy. “I’d like to believe that we are all the agents of our own free will. After all, ‘It is not in the stars to hold our destiny but in ourselves.’ But whatever brought us to this moment pet, the two of us here together, loving and bound to one another, whatever brought us this child that we share, whether by our own actions wholly or through some outside intervention, I cannot be anything other than utterly grateful.”
Buffy pressed a soft, sleepy kiss to Spike’s chest, and he had just reached over and flicked off the light switch when a soft, glowing light and a curious humming sound came from the lounge and a sudden gust of air gently blew the bedroom door shut. The disturbance was followed by a few seconds silence, before a muffled voice rang out, “Oops!”
Buffy and Spike looked at one another then leapt out of bed, Buffy pulling on the robe she’d left lying on the floor that afternoon, and Spike dragging on his jeans. They turned the light back on and tumbled through the door into the lounge, looking disheveled and shagged out, but just below the surface they were both on full patrol alert.
Buffy’s eyes flicked around the room. There were a bunch of papers lying scattered on the floor and … a pair of jean clad legs draped over the back of the couch? She stalked around to the front of the couch, Spike at her side, where she encountered an upturned…
“Dawn? What? How? Where?”
“Oh hi guys. Oh my God, oh my God, oh my God. Its true, its true, you’re really back,” upside down Dawn squealed, at a pitch more suited to dogs than humans… or hearing enhanced vampires. Awkwardly, she tumbled down off the couch before clambering to her feet and launching herself at Spike, a sight to behold as the gangly teenager was now almost as tall as the vampire.
“Welcome back Big Bad.”
Spike hugged her briefly, bewildered as to whether he should be feeling chuffed or annoyed at Dawn’s unheralded and inexplicable appearance. He decided to go with chuffed; there’d be time enough for recriminations later if it came to that. Having made his mind up, he embraced her warmly before gently settling her back on her own two feet.
“’S good to see you too Bit,” he said gruffly.
Buffy on the other hand had no such dilemma, and she started letting Dawn know all about it before her feet even hit the ground.
“What the hell do you mean by turning up like this? How did you get here? Did you fly out on your own? You shouldn’t be flitting around the world by yourself. My God, anything could have happened. And who picked you up from the airport? I hope you didn’t catch a taxi by yourself. And while we’re at it, how the hell did you end up upside down on the couch?”
All the way through Buffy’s rant, Dawn had just stood there, arms folded, eyebrows raised, calmly listening to the fuming Slayer. Spike stood beside her, an amused glint in his eye, but otherwise wearing nothing less than a very impressive poker face.
Finally, big sister wound down, planting her hands firmly on her hips as she waited for some answers.
Dawn turned to Spike, seeking out his support with her puppy dog expression.
“No way Niblet, you’re not dragging me into this one, you’re on your own. Anyway, I’m kinda wonderin’ ‘bout the answers to some of those questions myself.”
But rather than acting remorseful, Dawn beamed in delight.
“Well the why’s easy, to see you, you big doofus, of course. Which reminds me by the way, I’ve got a bone to pick with both of you.” Dawn’s whole demeanour changed as she moved to the side so she was facing the two of them.
Startled, they shifted so they stood shoulder to shoulder before Dawn set off on her own tirade.
“Could you not drag yourselves away from one another for long enough to pick a phone up and ring me? Oh no! Two minutes is all it would have taken, but could you spare me even that much time out of your busy shagging schedule to let me know that the man I’ve always considered my cool big brother is back from the great beyond. No you couldn’t! Unbelievable! I had to find out from Willow.”
Buffy elbowed Spike, glaring at him as she whined. “See, I told you we should have rung. I knew she’d be pissed. But you just had to distract me didn’t you.”
“Hold on a minute little Miss No Willpower. You were the one that attacked me and you were the one that blew off the phone call. I don’t think I should be taking the blame.” Spike paused as something occurred to him. “But hold on a minute, something’s not right here. If Willow rang you, that couldn’a been more ‘an two hours ago! So how the hell did you get here?”
“Oh, yeah, that. It’s a cool, cool, cool, cool story. Its just so…” Dawn took a breath as she noted Buffy and Spike’s body language “cool. And I didn’t come on my own. Althanea came with, but I left her next door and just popped over here on my own, which was super cool except for the whole… upside down… thing…”
Dawn decided to quit while she was ahead. Or at least not too far behind. Buffy and Spike just stood there, arms folded, eyebrows raised.
“Anyway, I think Althanea might be able to explain things a little better, so maybe we should just pop, I mean walk, next door to Giles’ and they can just um, explain things.”
“I don’t know what the hell you’ve been up to Dawn. And its 11 o’clock at night and I’m only wearing my robe. And I wanna be snuggled up in bed with my man – I mean, our first night back together! Damn it Dawn! And I’m tired and I’m pregnant and I’m hormonal and I really, really would have liked the world to have left me alone for just one night. Too much to ask obviously! So I guess we’d better this sorted out now. Go next door and tell Giles we’ll be over in a few minutes.”
Buffy stormed through to the bedroom leaving Dawn and Spike standing there. Within seconds they heard the shower turn on and then the bathroom door slam shut.
Spike turned to gather a slightly shell shocked Dawn into his arms.
“It really is wonderful to see you Bit, but do you have to get yourself in such pickles? You’ve really set big sis off this time. Never mind, lets get this sorted. Buffy will settle down once she knows what’s going on with you, and I’ve got her into bed for a good night’s sleep. Do you want something to eat? Don’t know if Buffy’s got anything in here or not.”
“Not unless you’ve got pancakes or waffles hidden away somewhere. I’m starving and its breakfast I’m wanting, after all it’s only seven in the morning back in England. Actually Giles was getting something together for us so I’ll just pop back next door and wait for you there.”
Mention of British Standard Time had really confused Spike, but he let her go and went through to throw on a shirt and boots just as Buffy came in from the bathroom. She made short work of dressing and they headed off next door, both impatient to uncover Dawn’s mystery.
As they opened the Watcher’s door, unlocked to facilitate their expected entry, they heard Giles’ exasperated tones.
“Well, that’s the best I can do I’m afraid Dawn. They don’t serve breakfast at 11.00 at night and you’re lucky to get any room service at all at this hour.” His tone softened and he asked, “Another cup of tea Althanea?”
The couple’s entry interrupted the Wiccan’s response, but in a short time, everyone was seated and replete, ready for the big share. Xander, Rowan and Willow were present, but due to the late hour and the long tiring day, but Faith and Kennedy were absent. ‘Probably asleep,’ Buffy thought enviously.
Dawn began her story slowly, with frequent helpful interjections from Willow and Althanea. Spike was totally in the dark, but Dawn’s explanations reminded Buffy that Althanea had been helping her harness her Key energy to identify and locate other newly activated Slayers.
“Its so cool Spike. Althanea’s worked with the Council in the past and she knows how to identify the slayer signature. To people like Althanea, it’s kinda like a radio signal and she can tune into the energy frequency that Slayers give off. Just before the team took off last week, we spent some timing just holding Sagaria. If we’d had her back in England we could have used her like a radio transmitter, just send out the signal, then identify where the signals bounce back from – those would be the Slayers. But we didn’t so Althanea had to like, borrow some of her essence to make do. Then I’m kinda like an amplifier, boosting the signal with my Key energy, so we can pinpoint the slayers’ whereabouts. We’ve found like 75 already. So you guys have to go round them up when we get home.”
“You know Bit, that’s fascinating really, and kinda disturbing to the vamp in me, but what’s that got to do with your little surprise visit,” Spike growled impatiently.
“Okay, okay so that’s the other side of what we’ve been doing. We’ve been working on finding out what else I can do – you know, see if I have any super powers, cos Althanea thought that the Energy inside me just needed to be harnessed, and we needed to work out what I could do with it and how to do it safely.
And I have got powers and actually, there’s nothing to it. I just have to think about where I want to go, leak a little blood and hey presto, I’ve got my own little personal portal!”
“What,” Buffy leapt up and dashed over to Dawn. “You’re opening up portals now. Do you know how dangerous that is?”
“Actually Buffy,” Althanea interjected, “there’s very little danger in it, provided Dawn knows exactly where she’s going, and that she controls the blood flow so that the portal size is contained. We started with very small distances, just one side of a room to the other, then one room to the next. And we only used the portals as windows to start with, until I could be sure that her control was sufficient to ensure consistent stability and durability of the pathway. She’s a fast learner, but I made her practice for a whole day before I let her step through one.”
“But, I don’t understand, how come you can bleed and open up portals and not tear down whole dimensional walls and end the world? Wasn’t that what we’re supposed to stop Dawn from doing?”
Buffy had directed this last question at a very uncomfortable looking Giles, who, after some hesitation, pushed his glasses up his brow and turned to her.
“Yes well, but that would only occur at a certain junctions in time, and only with a specific ritual. So undoubtedly safe, although knowing the child’s clumsiness, one has to wonder. I have long pondered Dawn’s possible abilities since Glory’s defeat, but I’ve had neither the time nor the opportunity to examine them. However, I think you’ll find that Willow and Althanea are both rather more knowledgeable in regards to Dawn’s status than I.”
“So now you can what Dawn? Teleport from room to room? I suppose that’s okay as long as you don’t land in the wrong place, like with your foot in the toilet. How funny would that be? Oh my God, is that how you got into our room, how you ended up arse over head on our couch? Oh Dawn, too funny, thank God you’re not up to longer trips yet, you’d probably end up stuck on a desert island or stranded in the Himalayas or floating around in the sea.”
Buffy was very amused by her little scenarios and was chuckling to herself for a while before she became aware of the awkward silence in the room. But that, and the lack of eye contact finally convinced her that she’d missed something. Dawn’s tense expression confirmed it.
“Dawn Summers, how did you get here?” she asked in a very quiet, controlled voice.
“Um well, Althanea and Willow and Giles checked all the calculations and once you’ve got the exact co-ordinates or the signature of the person you want to contact, it literally takes only like 30 seconds to make the portal, check you’re in the right place, step through and close the door. Easy, really, a no-brainer. Safer than air travel.”
Buffy frowned and shook her head resignedly before heading back to sit down next to Spike. “I guess if this is an ability we can utilize for good, and we can ensure Dawn’s safety and the safety of other’s traveling with her, well then okay, you’ve got my reluctant blessing.”
Everyone let out a sigh of relief at the peaceful resolution.
“And anyway,” Buffy muttered, “I guess sending you to your room is pretty much beside the point now.”