AN: I know it’s been
awhile since I updated, I seem to be on a roll know so hopefully the next
chapter won’t take as long. This chapter
skip jumps around a bit but I wanted to move the story along.
Chapter 19
Xander
opened his eyes and looked directly into Spike’s grinning face “Ughhh” he
pushed Spike backwards straight into the sunlit doorway.
Spike began to
move towards the safety of the shadows when a flash on his finger caught his
attention. He grinned widely as he settled himself against the doorjamb and
began discretely manoeuvring the ring on his finger so that it sent small
bursts of light directly into Xander’s eyes “Well good morning to you too
whelp”.
Xander
snorted in disgust as he realised that Spike was wearing his ring; then he
remembered why he was here “What did you do to her Deadboy?”
“What did I
do to who?” Spike said as he scanned Xander for signs of the claim and smirked
as he took note of the distinct bite marks on his neck.
“DAWN you
bleached wonder” Xander stormed towards him “I know you did something to
her. She was scared.” Xander sneered as
he continued “I felt it.”
“Felt what Xander?”
Dawn asked as she came bouncing back into the kitchen.
“Dawn your
ok!” Xander blinked in surprise as he tried to process the fact that Dawn now
stood in front of him seemingly unharmed.
“But I felt it. You were
frightened.”
“Oh that”
Dawn waved a dismissive hand in Xander's direction “It was nothing really, I
just used the claim to draw on
Xander
whirled back towards Spike an ugly look marring his face “I knew it was your
fault.”
“Oi” Spike
began to protest.
“Xander”
Xander
looked around the kitchen at everyone assembled, the others had returned to the
kitchen when they had heard the commotion.
His eyes finally returned to Spike and he could feel the frustration and
anger welling up inside him again.
The others
gasped as they felt the waves of hostility that were emanating from Xander.
“I don’t
like this” complained Xander
“I know”
soothed
An awkward
silence fell over the group for a few moments before Buffy took charge of the
situation “Ok here’s the plan we will all head back to Midian tonight so we can
train and get some help getting the claim under control.” She spun round “Dawn you have school today so
get a move on,
Buffy
softened her voice slightly “Xander can you have a look at doing something more
permanent with Spike and Rebecca’s room in the basement.” She smiled reassuringly “We managed to get
something temporary done but I don’t think our girly construction skills will
stand the test of time.”
“An what
about us luv?” Spike enquired softly.
Buffy
thought for a moment “Meet at the Magic Box for training I guess, see if we can
use the claim to our advantage during a fight.” She turned to look the others
before striding out of the room “Well what are you all waiting for? Get moving”.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
Three Weeks
Later
Buffy sat on
the soft grass watching Spike and Rebecca training with the Redwulf’s, Bo
barked orders occasionally as the pair swung the deadly weapons with surprising
grace. So much had happened in the last
few weeks that she had felt overwhelmed at times.
All of the
familial claims were now in full effect, thankfully it had not taken them long
to learn how to control the flow of emotions from one to the other. Xander had been the most eager to learn and
had therefore been the first to control the claim. It had been somewhat of a relief when the
feelings of anger and resentment and ceased to bombard them. Buffy was worried though as he was unwilling
to learn how to draw from the other’s strengths. He also seemed to be distancing himself from
the other Scoobies, all except Dawn and surprisingly Rebecca.
Dawn, with
Anya and Mathews help, was now able to open portals as large as a doorway that
could sustain themselves for a short amount of time. The only problem was that Dawn needed to be
able to visualize a person or place for her to be able to create the portal. The three were currently working on a way for
Dawn to establish a permanent doorway to Midian that could be accessed from the
Summers home without drawing too much energy from Dawn.
The most
surprising revelation had happened not long after they had returned to Midian, Giles
had gathered them all together along with the elders of Midian.
…………………………
Giles had cleared his throat nervously as he
paced around the room, the others watched and waited for him to begin.
“The reason I have called you all here is
that I have some information about Samuel.”
Sarah had gasped softly at this but did not
interrupt.
“I’ve been trying to discuss this with Buffy
but we always seem to get sidetracked, so I decided to just tell all of you
together.”
Giles sat opposite Hoston and Sarah clasping
his hands together as he found the words to continue. “Samuel is still alive and well.”
Sarah let out a cry and she grasped her
husbands hand, tears welling in her eyes.
“He is currently 101 years old and has
worked in the council library for most of his adult life.” Giles smiled
reassuringly “He’s quite spry for his age and refuses to leave his books. The council has been trying to retire him for
the past 30 years to no avail”
“Why is that?” asked
“The catacombs?” questioned Hoston
“The Council’s library is quite extensive”
Giles explained “So much so that much of it is housed in catacombs beneath the
building. It’s like a labyrinth down
there and the tunnels stretch for miles.”
He chuckled softly “I remember getting lost down there when I was just a
new watcher. I’d been wandering around
for hours when all of a sudden Samuel popped up out of nowhere and led me
out. No one else can ever seem to
navigate them, hence the council’s inability to retire him. If they lost Samuel it would take years to
locate a single book down there.”
A thoughtful looked crossed over Hoston’s
face “Back in my day there was talk about there being secret passages that led
to every part of the council.”
Giles was nodding furiously “Yes I was
searching for them when I became lost. I
had also heard that there was an escape passage hidden away in the catacombs
somewhere. If Samuel were to be
approached this could provide us with…”
“A way in.” Interjected Rebecca
This had immediately caught everyone’s
attention
“If one of us could access the catacombs
with Samuels help then Dawn would be able to open a portal to allow the rest of
us in without the council ever being aware that we have left Sunnydale.” Giles
continued.
………………………………..
Buffy was
pulled from her thoughts by a shout; Spike was laying flat on his back, Rebecca
standing over him the stake of the Redwulf pointed at his heart. The sound of the couple’s laughter filtered
across the field to where she sat. She
watched as Spike rose to his knees and pressed his face against Rebecca’s
swollen stomach.
That had
been another area of concern for the small family; Rebecca’s pregnancy had
progressed at an alarming rate. Her
stomach was now full and rounded, after much research it had been theorized
that the pregnancy had accelerated to match what should have been its natural
state. They had calculated that Rebecca
had been about 8 weeks pregnant when she died; she had been ‘back’ for almost 5
months when the incident in the cemetery had resurrected the baby. Giles and Hoston had therefore concluded that
the babies natural gestation would be around 7 to 8 months and the pregnancy
would continue at a normal rate once this mark had been reached.
Buffy smiled
as Spike flopped down beside her, laying his head on her lap as he watched his
wife sparring with Bo.
Spike
watched in amazement as Rebecca spun gracefully and took out Bo’s legs in one
swift movement “How does she do that?”
“I have no
idea” Buffy answered “No-one should have that much energy” she ran her fingers
through his hair as Spike closed his eyes and enjoyed the sensations Buffy was
creating.
That was another thing that had changed in
the past few weeks. Rebecca had
encouraged Buffy to spend time with the two of them as much as possible. Some days Buffy would spend time alone with
Rebecca, the two having formed a close friendship. Buffy would playfully rub Rebecca’s stomach
and whisper to the baby within. Rebecca
would tell the baby to listen to what mummy Buffy was saying because it was
very important. The first time she had
said that Buffy had looked up at her startled; Rebecca had merely smiled and
shrugged.
Rebecca’s one concession to her pregnancy
was her afternoon nap, most days Buffy would curl up on the bed beside her, one
hand resting protectively on Rebecca’s stomach.
Spike had walked in on them one afternoon
and had merely placed a kiss on each of their foreheads before settling himself
beside them and placing his hand over Buffy’s.
After this the relationship between Buffy and Spike changed, he would
now her offer Buffy gentle hugs and soft kisses whenever they were alone or
with Rebecca. The three had formed a
loving family unit which extended to the others around them as well. The other girls accepted the new family
dynamic without question, Giles was slightly bemused by it all and Xander
seemed to hover between open hostility and acceptance.
Spike in the mean time was basking the glow
of being the alpha male and head of the family.
“We have to
go back tonight” Spike pulled himself up to sit beside Buffy
“Do we have to?”
Buffy complained “It’s so peaceful here, can’t we just stay and forget about
the real world”
“Sorry luv
duty calls” Spike wrapped his arms around her “Soon it’ll be all over and you
can spend as much time here as we like.”
“Bliss”
Buffy sighed
“What’s
bliss?” asked Rebecca as she came to stand in front of the pair.
“This place”
Buffy spread her arms wide “I can’t wait until we can enjoy it without having
to worry about Travers.”
Rebecca merely laughed “Come on it’s time we headed back to get the others.”