Destiny

By PSUBrat

In the Shadows

The deep purple sky was streaked with hues of yellow and red as the last traces of daylight disappeared rapidly behind the trees in the forest. The Master paced back and forth deep within the cave, waiting for the sun to completely diminish. He could feel the Last Judgment coming ever closer. Two of his best minions sat quietly on the dirt floor, awaiting his bidding. Tonight he would have them seek out those who had imprisoned him. Tonight they would pay for their betrayal. He had plans; plans that would set into motion the Drawing of the Twelve. He sensed that half of them had already arrived in Sunnydale but one had left, disappeared from his inner line of sight. Despite knowing that one had gone, he still had confidence that she would return to her place of destiny soon enough.

He sat down on the makeshift throne that his minions had built for him and closed his eyes. He imagined what the world would be like when the Last Judgment arrived…the darkness, the chaos, the burning and the pain. Yes, the pain, especially the pain. In his mind's eye he saw himself defeating all twelve of them, one by one, savoring every moment of their pain and their loss, absorbing their powers. The Slayer would be last, of that he was certain. His thoughts of destruction were interrupted by a voice in the shadows, a voice that was at once melodious and grating.

"Master," the voice said sadly, "I'm quite certain that it's Spike that you seek. He's been a bad, bad boy."

"I am certain you are correct my dear. But do not worry. He will be back in the Order very soon, he and Angelus both. Then we'll be a family again."

"That would be lovely. But we won't really be a family you know, not without grandmum."

"That's true, my dear, but we will avenge her death and all will be well with the world."

"I'm hungry," the voice said as it changed to a whine. "May I go out and play?"

"Not yet. Soon. Very soon." He sat back in his chair and let an evil grin spread across his face.

***

It was getting late at night while Willow and Tara waited for their cab to arrive to take them to London. They had received an urgent call from Giles while he was in flight to England. He sounded somewhat panicked, which was worrying; Giles never panicked. The two had grabbed overnight bags and packed as lightly as they could, a sense of urgency surrounding them. Tara had been the first to sense something powerful on the horizon earlier that afternoon, after she and Willow had shared a few hours of lovemaking. Tara had gone immediately to the head of the Coven to discuss her fears. While she was gone, Willow's senses began to hum, whatever was rising was dark and powerful…and frightening. By the time Tara had returned, Willow was beside herself with worry.

"Tara I'm scared," Willow said with fear in her eyes. "Something awful is coming. I can feel it."

"I can feel it too. Maybe Giles will have some insight to it. Did you say anything to him about…this?" 'This' was the only word she could use to describe the creeping feeling of darkness that was starting to take over in her.

"No. He didn't give me the chance. He was all like 'get to my flat as quickly as possible!' Not even a 'please' or 'it's important' and that's not like him at all. He's usually so…"

"British?"

"Yeah."

"Did he give you any reasons at all for the call?"

Willow shook her head. "He was kinda in a rush. Oh! I did catch something about a prophecy though and the Council. Think they might be connected?"

"I don't know. I guess we're not going to find out until we see him." Tara was concerned. Why would Giles call them for help and from mid-flight no less? She supposed they would get their answers soon enough. Or maybe they would just get more questions.

"Here's our cab," Willow yelled. She took one last look around the room to make sure they had everything before she grabbed their bags and headed out the door. She had a feeling that this was just the beginning of a very long night.

***

William was the first to stand. He helped Buffy to her feet and then put his arm around her protectively. They both looked at the accusing, brown eyes in front of them. What had started out as one of the best days of his life was quickly becoming one of the worst as well. It was one thing to have to break the heart of someone he held dear, but it was quite another thing to have to face the whelp and his hurtful stares and tones, especially since they were directed at the woman he loved more than life itself.

"Now see here Harris…" William started but was cut off.

"No! I think I've already seen enough!"

Buffy's eyes narrowed. "Xander let me explain…"

"You can't possibly explain what I just saw here."

"Yes I can. Xander, listen to me. I love Spike…"

"Okay, so not going to listen to this."

"You are going to listen to this," Buffy demanded of her friend. "I love Spike…"

"Are you insane?" Xander asked incredulously. "He tried to rape you Buffy, or have you forgotten that because he's human now?"

If looks could kill, Buffy would have struck Xander dead right there on the spot. "Don't even give me that attitude! You of all people should understand how I feel…"

Xander shook his head wildly. "You're wrong. Anya and I are different…"

"No, no you're not. You're in love with an ex-vengeance demon. I'm in love with an ex-vampire. The difference between you and me though…I loved the monster as much as I love the man."

"What's going on? Why is everyone yelling?" Anya asked as she joined the heated discussion.

"I just caught vamp boy swapping spit with Buffy," Xander growled.

"What? Are you sure? Surely there must be some kind of mistake. William is dating Cecily…"

"There's no mistake Anya," William said softly.

Anya stared confusedly at William and then at Buffy.

"I love Buffy. We're together…"

"There's no way you two are together. No way!" Xander screamed.

Buffy took a step towards Xander. "First of all, you have no right to say that. I can be with whomever I want to be with. It's none of your business."

"No Buffy, it is my business," he stated coolly taking a step towards her as well. "It's also my business to kill the son of a bitch for what he did to you last spring."

"You will not lay one finger on him. I've already forgiven him for what happened and he's forgiven me too."

Xander seethed. He kept clenching his fists, just hoping that Spike would make a move, just one. "Forgiven you? For what? For letting him live?"

"Xander you don't know what you're talking about," Buffy replied in a hard tone. "Now, you don't have to like him or accept him but you do have to accept the fact that I love him and we're together."

"What about Cecily?" Anya asked quietly.

"I broke it off," William answered. "It wasn't fair to her."

"You're right," Anya said glaring. "It wasn't fair to her. You should have never agreed to be with her if you knew you loved Buffy."

"Anya, I didn't hurt her on purpose. I had myself convinced that Buffy would never return my love, that things with her were dead. I didn't know that Buffy loved me…"

Anya looked from William to Buffy and then down to the floor. This was a very difficult situation for her. Both Cecily and Buffy were her friends and she wanted nothing but happiness for them. She looked back up at Buffy. "Are you happy?"

"What?" Buffy asked frowning.

"Are you happy? It's a simple question actually."

"Y-Yes…" Buffy stuttered.

"Then I'm happy for you," Anya said throwing her arms around Buffy and embracing her tightly.

"An, what are you doing?" Xander roared.

"I'm happy for my friends," Anya replied.

"But…"

"Xander shut up," Anya snapped at her lover as she pulled back from the embrace. "Buffy is a grown woman and whether you like it or not, she and William are in love. They don't need your permission to be together."

Xander's mouth snapped shut and he glared. "Fine. I don't like any of this at all," he declared as he threw his hands up in the air in defeat.

Buffy walked over to her friend and put her arm around him. "You don't have to like it. Just be happy for me, that's all I ask."

Xander sighed and looked down into his friend's green eyes. He saw a spark there that he hadn't seen in years. How could he deny her happiness? Finally, he reached out and hugged her. "I'm sorry Buffy. I do want you to be happy. Can't you just find happiness with someone other than dead boy?"

Buffy laughed softly. "He's not dead now, ya know." She walked over to William and smiled brightly at him. Nope, no doubt about it, she loved this man.

William held out his hand to Xander. "For the lady's sake can we just call a truce?"

Xander looked at the hand and then at Buffy. Unwillingly, he took the hand and shook it. "I don't like this but for Buffy's sake I'll accept it…with conditions. If you so much as hurt her again I will kill you, human or not."

"Fair enough," William nodded. He kissed the top of Buffy's head and gave her a squeeze.

"Now that this is all out in the open, I'm gonna go do a quick patrol and then head home. Angel should be dropping Dawn off in a few hours." She gave William a look that asked if he was coming with her.

"I've got some things I want to do here first luv and then I'll meet you there."

Buffy smiled and brushed her lips over his in a quick kiss. After grabbing a couple of stakes she left and went out into the early evening.

***

Angel watched the three girls from the top of the stairs. Dawn, Fred and Cordelia were sitting on the couches talking about only God knew what. He noticed how happy Dawn seemed at the moment. He was about to take that happiness away. He had to. Taking an unneeded deep breath, he started down the stairs.

"Hey girls. What's up?"

"Hi Angel," Fred said with a smile. "Dawn was just telling us about the time you took her to the park and rode the merry-go-round."

Dawn giggled at the look on Angel's face.

"You swore you'd never tell anyone about that," Angel scowled playfully.

Cordelia rolled her eyes at him.

"Hey, could you two give me and Dawn some time?" He asked his friends.

"Sure Angel," Fred replied knowingly. She grabbed Cordelia's arm and the two girls went into one of the back rooms.

"I guess it's time for that talk, huh?" Angel remarked as he sat down across from Dawn.

"That would be of the good," Dawn nodded.

"Right. I guess I just don't know where to start…"

"Why don't you start with telling me who Connor is?"

"I guess I should do that." He smiled slightly and began to tell Dawn the story behind Connor, starting with his decent into darkness the previous year.

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