Chapter Twenty-Six- The Sun

Spike’s eyes shot open. He abruptly bolted upright, sucking in air. Buffy, who had her head lying on his chest, also jerked upright. The man looked around, taking in the closed blinds in a panic. Then his gaze met hers.

His blue eyes were filled with fright. He shivered.

The slayer wrapped her arms around him, holding him to her. “Spike,” she whispered. “I thought you might never wake up.”

“It’s so cold,” he said, shakily. “So cold.”

Buffy smoothed down his hair. She shushed him.

He violently shook his head. He pushed her away with unnatural force. It took her by surprise. She fell off the bed, but got to her feet without landing on the floor.

“Stay away!” Spike hissed. “You shouldn’t have to touch me.”

“Spike, what is wrong with you?”

The lost look in his eyes had been replaced by wildness.

“I’m a monster.”

Buffy blinked. “I don’t understand.”

“I’m a vampire again,” he told her. “They made me a vampire again.”

Neither of them moved for what seemed like an eternity. Buffy stared at him hard. Finally she moved, going over to the window. She took the blind rod and let in streaming light from outside. She turned back to him, seeing that he had turned his head away.

“What is this?” she demanded. “You aren’t a vampire, Spike. I can sense vampires and you certainly aren‘t one.”

He wouldn’t look at her. She sighed. She went to sit back down beside him. She took his hand and brought it to his chest.

“Your heart is beating.”

Manic laughter spilled out of him.

“Stop it!” She wanted to slap him, but restrained herself.

His laughter quickly turned to tears. He crushed her to him.

“I thought. . .”

“But why?” she questioned.

“I’m so cold,” he said.

She touched his forehead. A small smile played at her lips. “You have a fever. Probably the aftereffects of the power drain. You feel cold, but you are really burning up.” She began to get up. “I’m going to bring you some medicine.”

Spike grabbed her wrist. “Wait!”

Buffy stopped.

“Things are different. Why are they different? If I’m not a . . .”

She frowned. “What is different?”

“I can hear, Buffy. I can hear your heart. I can also hear Alexis’s heart. It’s thumping so fast. Babies do that right?”

She nodded. “Yeah. Babies do that.”

“When I pushed you off the bed . . .” He swallowed. “I’m strong, luv. Didn’t you feel it?”

“I felt it.”

***********************

Buffy ran downstairs to get the Ibuprofen. She was met by a myriad of questions by the group.

“He’s awake,” she announced.

Dawn pointed to the bottle of medicine her sister held. “Is that for him?”

“Yeah. He’s got a slight temperature.”

“But he’s okay?”

Nodding, the slayer said, “Yeah. He’ll be fine.”

She couldn’t explain why he had super hearing or strength, but he seemed all right.

Alexis got up from her seat. “Can I see him?”

Buffy opened the bottle of Ibuprofen. She tipped it so that two tablets spilled out. She dropped them into Alexis’s palm.

“Get some water and take it up to him.”

Alexis eagerly complied. She got a glass down and filled it with tap water. Then she hurried up to the second floor.

*************************

Alexis briefly paused before entering the room. It was illuminated by brilliant light that streamed in from outside. She couldn’t quite recall a day as bright as this one.

Her father sat propped up by a pillow, his gaze intently focused on the window. She hesitated, unsure of herself.

“Sp-Spike, Buffy asked me to give you these,” she stammered.

He slowly turned his head. He took in the offered medication and water. He seemed to ponder a moment before accepting them.

“How are you feeling?”

Shrugging, Spike replied, “Not sure. Don’t know if what’s happened to me is a good thing, or bad thing.”

She answered quickly without thinking. “It’s good.”

He cocked his head to the side, an eyebrow raised. “That so? Do tell.”

“Well, uh . . . I know what they did to you. Mom and Dad told me about it.”

“Enlighten me then, pet, cuz I’m kinda fuzzy here.”

“You were unbalanced. Celeste shattered your essence, but even before that you were unstable. The powers, or whoever, made it so that your demon and human self have equal dominion. So now you are kinda like a slayer. Ya know, extra strength and healing. Pretty cool, huh?” Her voice didn’t sound like it was pretty cool.

“It isn’t like bein a slayer at all,” he said. “I can feel it in me. The demon.” He scrunched up his face in confusion. “But it isn’t like before. It isn’t screaming inside me to let it out. It isn’t begging for a good kill.”

Alexis forced a smile. “That is because you are balanced. Hello, have you been listening?”

Spike couldn’t help but crack a smile. He let out a laugh. This caused Alexis’s smile to turn into a genuine one.

“I guess it is a good thing,” the ex-vamp remarked.

“Duh.”

“I’m just not used to this oneness is all. My body is at peace, but my mind still needs some work.”

There was a span of silence. Alexis was the one to break it.

“I’m glad you’re okay. Do you need anything else? Food? Hot chocolate? I think we have some little marshmallows.”

“That’d be splendid.”

She nodded. “Be right back, Spike.”

She was about to leave, but he halted her with a shout.

“Wait!”

Alexis spun back around. “Huh? What?”

“Come here,” he ordered.

The girl felt like she was eight again and was being scolded. She stepped over to the side of the bed.

“Don’t call me that,” he told her.

She blinked, perplexed. What had she called him? Oh.

Alexis fell into his arms.

At first she had to force herself to call her parents by their first names. She was proud of herself for not slipping up. She had been doing it for so long now that it seemed natural. Reverting back to their rightful titles was difficult.

“I won’t again, Dad.” she promised.

He pulled back to look at her. The light swam around her and he was overwhelmed by her beauty. Her mother and her were as radiant as the sun itself.

“I know, Sunshine.”

“Sunshine?” Her eyes widened in shock.

“Yeah. You and your mum are my rays of sunshine.”

Alexis stood up.

“What is it?” Spike questioned, slightly worried.

“Nothing. I just figured something out.”

***************************

Giles was overwhelmed the second he walked in the door. He was surrounded by young people, all concerned for his welfare. Then he had to be filled in on Spike’s condition. After that was somewhat straightened out, Alexis came storming in. She grabbed his good arm and pulled him aside.

“Grandpa Giles, I figured something out,” the teen announced.

“Grandpa . . .? Dear lord,” he muttered.

Giles wished he could clean his glasses, but it was much too difficult of feat with one hand.

Alexis rambled on. “Spike and Buffy were supposed to find out about me. You, in the future, knew this because you remember it happening. But you also remember me telling you to keep it a secret at first. So, in order to keep the timeline the same you told me to not tell anyone about the future. It’s like a big circle. A future event causes a past event.” She contemplated this. “Or a past event causes a future event. Anyway. . . Am I making any sense?”

“Strangely, yes. Buffy and Spike weren’t supposed to find out until it was time. I told you to keep things secret because that is what would keep the discovery from happening sooner; which might have caused a shift in history. Remarkable. How did you find this out?”

“Dad calls me Sunshine in the future. He never told me how or when he came up with the name. I just found out.”

“Are you saying that Spike called you Sunshine today?” Giles asked.

“Yep. Upstairs. He thought up the name back here in 2001.”

“This is quite fascinating.”

“Yes, and quite confusing.”

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I hope that made sense. *bites lip* At least a little.