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Chapter 30 – Child of Destiny


Unable to sleep, Buffy wandered around the hallways of the hotel. Even dressed in jeans and a sweater, the drafty hallways still had a chill creeping up her spine. Rubbing her hands over her arms, she slowly descended the stairs, looking at the lobby that was illuminated only by a soft moonlight around the edges as it crept through the doorways. Her vision automatically adjusted as her natural abilities took over.

‘The perks of having two vampires for parents,’ she thought with a slight smile.

Wandering into one of the offices, Buffy let her weight fall into the supple leather chair, idly swiveling in a circle. Seeing the picture of Fred and Wesley smiling in a silver frame, she smiled.

‘At least some people are happy,’ she thought, leaning her elbows against the flat surface of the cluttered desk. ‘Maybe I should just patrol. It might help me sleep later…then again, if I run into Dad while he’s out there, that could lead to all kinds of badness…oh well,’ she thought with a shrug, spinning around in the chair as she prepared to leave.

Groaning when her arm accidentally knocked over a stack of papers, Buffy knelt down to attempt to restack them with some semblance of order.

Daughter of Prophecy

The words seemed to jump out at her as she dropped the papers on the desk. Frowning while she picked up the simple piece of notebook paper, Buffy found herself falling back in the chair as she began reading.

Feeling the tears burning her eyes, she swallowed hard, trying to dislodge the lump in her throat.

“…the child of destiny…forever,” she whispered, reading the last line on the page before dropping it onto the desk.

Numbly standing up, Buffy walked through the office, quietly shutting the door behind her and leaning against it.

‘This can’t be happening,’ she thought in shock, sliding down to the floor and letting her head fall into her hands.

She wasn’t sure how much time had passed. The tears had managed to stay controlled, but just barely. Hearing a noise, Buffy slowly looked up, noticing the sky was lightening with the first rays of dawn.

Seeing Angel and Spike walking through, each looking a little winded after combing the streets all night, she didn’t bother to stand up, letting her head fall back into the palms of her hands, hoping that they wouldn’t notice her until she had a chance to sort out her thoughts. She should have known better.

“Buffy?”

“Luv?”

Looking up when she heard her father’s voice, closely followed by Spike’s, she slowly narrowed her eyes on Angel as she stood up on shaky legs.

Spike looked at her, worried about her ashen face and frail figure as she pushed herself to her feet, gripping the doorframe next to her, for balance. Everything in him demanded that he go check on her and make sure she was okay, but something in her eyes told him to stay back.

“Were you ever going to tell me?” she asked softly, causing Spike’s brows to knit together as he looked at her in confusion.

Unable to figure out if she was talking to him, he watched her clench her jaw, directing her gaze at Angel who was staying quiet. Looking over at his grandsire, he narrowed his eyes when Buffy continued.

“Was it just going to be this big secret for me to find out on my own? I guess so…since I did.”

“What are you talking about, pet?” Spike asked quietly, looking between father and daughter.

“You want to tell him or should I?” Buffy asked, crossing her arms over her chest as she looked at Angel with a challenging expression.

“You know.”

“Damn right- I know. You didn’t exactly try and keep it a huge secret, since it was lying out on Wesley’s desk. So, yeah…I know.”

“Know what?” Spike asked, getting sick of the runaround these two were having.

“It would seem that Wesley has discovered a nice little prophecy about me,” she said to Spike, clenching her jaw and never taking her eyes off Angel.

Glancing over at his grandsire, Spike raised an eyebrow, seeing the sheepish expression on his face.

“Would it be faster for me to read the bloody prophecy or does someone want to fill me in on the specifics?”

“I’ll tell you,” Buffy said in a chipper tone that even made Angel cringe with the insincerity that laced through her voice. “The daughter of prophecy, known as many things, by the way- the child of destiny, descendant of fate…you get the idea. Anyway,” she continued in the same upbeat tone. “It looks like what my dear old Dad didn’t want me to discover is that the daughter of two vampires will go on to live forever.”

Silence seemed to smother all of them as they stared at each other.

“It’s not that big of a deal, Buffy,” Angel began, trying to make a weak argument.

“No?” she asked, tilting her head to study him. “I get to go on with this hellish existence until the end of the world, and you don’t think that it’s a big deal?”

“You’re being a little dramatic,” he said, crossing his arms over his chest and looking at her.

“How the hell would you know?” she asked, narrowing her eyes on her father. “You have no idea what I’ve been through.”

“It’s not like you live the life of a Slayer, Buffy,” Angel started to say. “It could be worse.”

“Yeah? And you know why it is worse? Because the Slayer does die. She gets a reprieve from this world after fighting the good fight and paying her dues. But me?” she continued, gesturing to herself. “I don’t have that luxury. According to your little unearthed prophecy, I get to live forever…fighting the fight that needs fighting. Being a born warrior, because hey,” she said in a bright voice, spreading her arms out to her sides. “Who cares if she has a normal life? Who cares if we strip everything away from her until she’s left with absolutely nothing! Who cares if no one gives a shit about me!”

“Buffy-”

“No!” she screamed at Angel. “You listen to me. You expect me to trust you when you can’t even be honest with me? You were never there for me. I’m tired of being the daughter of prophecy or the child of destiny or whatever the hell you want to call me this week! I’m not some damn statistic for a book…I’m me. I’m just me,” she trailed off in a whisper before rolling her eyes to fight back the tears as she looked at the ceiling, not wanting to see the expressions on either of their faces. “You know…when I want to be special, when I want to stand out and be noticed,” she said, shooting a pointed look at Spike. “I’m a nobody. But when I actually want to have a try at a normal life, I find out something like this and…God,” she said in exasperation, trying to keep her tears in check before looking at her father. “Were you ever gonna tell me?”

“When the time was right,” Angel murmured.

“And when would that be?” Buffy replied angrily, clenching her hands into fists. “Whenever you felt like it? Or whenever it was actually good for me to know? You think you’re the all-powerful Alpha male, but you’re not!”

“Watch your mouth,” Angel growled. “You may think you’ve grown up, but you’re still my daughter, Elizabeth.”

“Don’t call me that,” she said in a menacing whisper, practically running from the lobby, wanting to get as far away from him as possible. “That’s not my name!”

“It’s always been your name,” he yelled after her, causing her to stop halfway up the stairs. “‘Buffy’ is just a costume. Just a disguise to hide who you really are.”

“Yeah,” she muttered, turning around to face him with tears glittering in her eyes. “Because that’s what my whole life has always been. Just a mirage.”







Thanks so much to: stace, Ariel Dawn, Franchesca, Cordykitten, spuffette, Tasha, Melissa, Lily Constancy, Caitie, Amanda, willowmouse, baby spikes, Reciprocity, Brunettepet, Sevvy_O, Kimber, shelly, Jessica, pj, melissa g, Shannon, BuffyRat, daisy, BuffyandSpikeForever, gypsy_jin, vamptasticA, Crystal Pegasus, & Panta_Rei for reviewing!





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