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Chapter 7

"That the guy?" Spike asked, looking directly at the new face in the room. When she nodded, Spike sprang forward, his body a blur of movement. He pinned Asher against the wall, hand clasped around the future Watcher's neck. And then, just as quickly, the vampire was doubled over in pain, clutching at his head and cursing.

"Spike, buddy!" Asher said, clearly pleased to see the vampire, even as he rubbed at his neck. "Don't be a wanker, man." He leaned down and patted Spike's arm. "Forgot about that soddin' chip thing you've got going on now. You okay?"

"Who invited Captain Peroxide?" Xander asked. Buffy ignored him, rolling her eyes at Spike but picking up right where he'd left off, slamming Asher back into the wall. Unbidden, her eyes started to tear up.

"Why didn't you tell us?" she asked, blinking back the wetness crowding her eyes and blurring her vision. "What is she? Were we lab rats? Is the Council behind it all? Or was it a spell? Did he-" she pointed to Spike "—just want to humiliate me? What kind of trick is this? What the hell is going on?" In her frustration, she did the only thing she could think of—resort to violence. Her arm flew out, fist poised to connect with his jaw.

Asher blocked her punch easily.

Her jaw dropped in surprise. No one blocked her, at least, not like that, like he'd been expecting it. She let her left arm sail toward his face.

He blocked her again.

And again.

The room was silent, everyone, including Spike, watching Asher in shock.

"How do you do that?" Buffy asked, surprise at his impressive defensive skills temporarily overwhelming her other confused emotions.

He shrugged. "I um…I know how you fight." When she kept looking at him expectantly, he continued. "It's the same way I fight. Because you trained me."

Willow looked uncomfortable. "Okay, could someone clue the rest of us in as to what is going on now?"

"You saw her, didn't you?" Asher asked. Buffy nodded. "You shouldn't have done that. You weren't supposed to see her." He looked at Spike, still kneeling on the floor, and back to Buffy. "Are you going to help him?"

She rolled her eyes again, but held out a hand to Spike. He reluctantly took it and stood. He began to pace around the room, clenching and unclenching his fists. "It's a bloody cruel trick, isn't it? Why do a thing like that to a bloke? It's not even possible!" The expression on his face was frightening, but he refrained from trying to hit the future Watcher again. For now, anyway.

"I think you two might want to sit," Asher said, warily.

"Don't tell me what to do," Spike snarled. Buffy just stared at Asher, waiting impatiently for answers.

"It was a spell," Asher said, finally.

"I knew it!" Buffy shouted at Spike. "You jerk! You tricked me!"

"Oi! I did not!"

"He didn't. It was a spell. That is to say, she couldn't have been conceived without it. But the spell was a gift, a surprise anniversary gift, from a very talented witch." He looked pointedly at Willow, who felt herself blushing. "It was something you both wanted. Very, very much. You just never thought you'd have it."

Spike and Buffy looked at each other, both wide-eyed and horrified.

"Anniversary gift?" Buffy sputtered. "We…we…we're married?"

"We are not!" Spike growled. "I don't know who you are, but you're…you're…absolutely off your fuckin' rocker!"

Xander stood up. "Wait a minute. Wait a minute. You're not telling us that Spike is the souled vampire, are you? No way. No way on earth. No way."

Asher nodded.

"I do not have a soul!" Spike shouted, grabbing a crystal ball from its place on a nearby shelf and hurling it across the room. It felt good, made him want to throw other things, to fight his way through this confusion. "You are a lying, barmy, no-good wanker, is what you are! Don't know what I'm doing here, listening to this soddin' nonsense." He made for the door and his hand was wrapped around the knob when he heard her voice, so quiet, but still so loud in the suddenly silent space.

"Spike, please," Buffy said. "Please don't leave." She didn't know why she said it, why she wanted him there with her, except that he had seen the child, their child, and he was the only other person besides Asher who had lain eyes on her, who knew it was true.

He spun around, coat billowing with the force of the about-face, and looked the Watcher in the eye. "You'd better start making some sense real soon, mate. Or I'll be willin' to risk the headache." He sat down on the step with a huff.

Giles removed his glasses, rubbed at the lenses furiously, and then cleared his throat. "Asher, do you mean that you expect us to believe that Buffy and Spike are…are…" he paused, unable to say the word.

"Married?" Willow squeaked.

Asher nodded.

"That…that…" Giles began to sputter. "That's simply preposterous!"

The future Watcher's mouth curved into a small smile. "You said you'd say that."

"We know each other as well, then, in your time?"

Asher sighed. "Christ, I'm going to be in so much trouble. You are going to absolutely murder me when I get back, that is, assuming my being here doesn't turn the future all wonky and put me back in a future that doesn't…er…match anymore." He looked helplessly at Giles. "You didn't tell me you'd be so…obstinate, though I guess I should have expected as much." He sighed again, resigned, and muttered, "You're my boss. You are the head of the Watchers' Council."

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

"Okay, okay," Buffy said, now pacing across the room herself. "Let's start at the beginning. Spike and I are a…" she swallowed. "A couple?"

"Buffy, please listen to me. It is quite imperative that if we want the world to remain as it is in my time, and I can assure you that we do, then I simply cannot divulge too much information about what is to come. Too much information could muck it all up and quite literally prevent her from ever existing."

"Spike and I are a couple," she repeated, unable to hide the look of utter revulsion on her face.

"Yes."

"And I'm head of the Watchers' Council," Giles mused, completely lost in his own fantasies. "Who'd have ever imagined?"

"This guy is a fraud!" Xander said, practically leaping from the table. Anya reached up and pulled him back down. "There is no way they're together. There's no way they have a kid."

"You didn't see her," Buffy said, revulsion suddenly gone, replaced with a look of absolute wonder. "She's amazing. She looks just like us. I could feel that she was ours."

Spike nodded.

"But Buffy, why? He's a monster."

"Sitting right here, mate," Spike said, but his voice had lost its hard edge and he just sounded tired and frustrated.

"I don't know why, Xander," she replied, a newfound edge in her voice. She looked at Asher. "Why?"

He coughed. "In my time, Spike is a champion. He has a soul. He's saved you, and the world, more times than I can count. He fights alongside you. The two of you train new Slayers. You do amazing things together."

"So I'm not dead, then?" she asked.

"No, of course not."

"You're lyin'," Spike said slowly, dangerously. "About it all. You're right," he nodded to Xander. "Wanker's a fraud."

Asher looked at Spike indignantly. "You're the one who is acting like a wanker, mate. Should have known—you did tell me you'd be the hardest to convince."

"Oh yeah? Why's that?"

The future Watcher looked around the room, thumb rubbing his silver pocket watch. He hesitated to say the words his friend Spike had told him.

"Well, go on then," Spike prodded.

"You told me that there is no way you'd have ever believed you'd get so damned lucky."

Buffy looked at Spike in surprise. "Pfft," he said, hanging his head. If a vampire could blush, he would have been all pink and rosy-cheeked. He growled at himself.

Asher cleared his throat. "Where did you find her? I assume you were unable to get her back?"

"Obviously. It was underground, at the old Christmas tree lot. The locator spell worked. And now we know why."

"Okay," he said. "We need a plan. There isn't much time left to find her. When will the current Council be back here?"

"Morning," Giles replied, distracted. Head of the Watchers' Council.

"Okay. We need to have her by morning, then. I don't think we want to find out what our friend Mr. Travers would do with a vampire-human hybrid."

"He won't find her," Buffy and Spike said in unison. All eyes in the room, except Asher's, went wide with shock and horror.

"They do that a lot," he said.

Giles spoke up, finally rejoining the conversation. "Asher…what were you telling me earlier, about the prophecy?"

"Oh, yes. Well, as I'm sure you now realize, the prophecy is about Buffy and Spike. The original Slayer is mystically imbued with the essence of the demon." Buffy's cheeks flamed red. "The result of their union, their firstborn, is the warrior of the people. The greatest warrior the world has ever known. That's her," Asher said to Buffy and Spike.

"But she's just a little girl…" Buffy whispered.

"And why would Buffy be referred to as the original Slayer?" Giles asked.

"Because that's what we call her. Now." He shifted uncomfortably. "Let's just say that a lot of things change between your now and, uh…my now, and being a Slayer isn't as rare as it used to be."

"Huh?" Buffy asked.

"That's…one of the things I probably shouldn't share, Buffy. Please understand."

"So there are lots of Slayers, I'm married to a vampire, and we've got a hybrid warrior child. Glad to know my life finally takes that turn for the normal."

"Well, it is quite normal, actually, considering," Asher said.

"We're wasting time," Giles said. "Asher's right—we need a plan."

Buffy took a deep breath and tried to delegate. "Willow and Tara—we need another locator spell. Find her as quickly as possible. We've got to get her away from the First and to safety before Travers can get his hands on…on…my child." Her voice cracked. "I'm sorry…I think I maybe just need a minute here. I'm gonna…I'm gonna…" She disappeared into the training room, closing the door behind her.

Spike watched her go, the tear tracks on his pale face unnoticed by anyone except Tara, who watched him compassionately.

"Spike," Xander said. "I don't care what this guy says. You don't seriously believe Buff would ever love you, do you? You might have confused her enough to knock her up, make this vampire-baby-thing, but she would never love a thing like you. You aren't part of this group. I think it's time for you to go. Don't let the door hit you on the way out."

Anya slugged him in the arm. "Xander!"

Asher surprised Xander by taking a threatening step toward him. "None of that," he said, using every inch of his tall, muscular frame to intimidate Xander. For the first time, the future Watcher looked truly frightening.

"You're friends with him!" Xander said, suddenly. "If you're friends with Bleach Boy over there, you really can't be trusted, truth spell or not."

"Eat your words, Xander Harris," Asher said, through gritted teeth, and Xander actually cowered. "In my time, you're friends with him too."

The expression on Spike's face was dangerous as well. "If any of you lot think I'm going anywhere until we have a plan to get the girl, you're barmier than I thought. There's not a soddin' thing you can do to make me leave here 'til I'm good and ready. That's my sprog, too."

"I, um," Giles cleared his throat. "Much as it pains me to say it, Spike's right. He has as much of a…uh…vested interest in this matter as Buffy does."

The tension in the room seemed to settle as Spike let his head fall between his hands, the fight suddenly leaving him. He felt drained, confused. Asher turned away from Xander, and Xander's surprised eyes darted to Spike 's slumped form, and then away.

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