New BeginningsBy PSUBrat
Changes
Buffy looked around the Magic Box. Things were quiet. It was late afternoon and she was waiting for Giles to arrive. He had called her yesterday to let her know that he and her new watcher had arrived safely. Giles told her that if she needed him for any reason that she could contact him at the hotel and leave a message. She thought that Giles sounded nervous and was still acting kind of weird, even for Giles. She supposed that he was just concerned about abandoning her to someone else or maybe it had something to do with Dawn's new portal power thing. Buffy was kinda concerned about being handed over to someone from the Council. She asked Giles when she would be meeting the new guy but he had been vague, dancing around the subject as he always did. She could sense that things were about to change and maybe not for the better.
Her thoughts turned to her dream. She was pretty sure that it had been a slayer-type dream. But Spike had been in the dream and he was nowhere to be found at the moment. What did that mean? And she remembered that he looked different. It had been his hair. It wasn't platinum blonde but kinda brownish and curly. Why had he been in her dream? Spike was the least of her concerns, however. The second being from her dream was more important. She closed her eyes and recalled the image of his face. The thought of the Master returning sent chills up and down her spine. There had to be some kind of mistake. The monster was dead. She had made sure of that when she had taken the sledge hammer to his bones. So maybe that meant…No. She refused to even think that Spike could be dead too. Damn these dreams.
She got up from the table and wandered around the shop aimlessly. Waiting. Giles should be here by now. What was keeping him?
"Buffy," Dawn asked from behind the counter, "are you okay?"
Buffy looked over at her sister, "Huh? Yeah. I'm good. Just waiting for Giles." She was surprised that her sister had even noticed. Little Miss In Love had been on cloud nine ever since the other night. All that Buffy had been able to get out of her was that Steven had finally kissed her. But there was something else, something that Dawn wasn't telling her. Buffy could sense it every time that Dawn quickly averted her eyes when Buffy would look at her. Something was definitely up and it better not have to do with sex otherwise she was gonna pack up her sister and send her to some convent or something.
Just then the bell on the door chimed and Giles entered. "I'm terribly sorry that I'm a bit late," he said hesitantly trying not to seem too harried. Buffy stood in front of him with her arms folded across her chest. She raised her eyebrows at him and looked at the clock and then back at him. This wasn't exactly starting out the way he planned.
***
Gavin looked around his new office as he sat down in his chair. The room was spacious and lavishly decorated. The senior partners had spared no expense when it came to opening the new branch of Wolfram and Hart. They had renovated a vacant building in downtown Sunnydale in record time, making sure that everything was in place for when Gavin arrived. He walked over to the window and leaned against the wall. He had a perfect view of the Magic Box. This would work out splendidly for him. Now, all he had to do was to get Heinrich settled in and taken care of before the night of the ceremony.
He sauntered over to his desk and pushed the intercom button on his phone. "Ms. Blackwell would you kindly get Ms. Morgan from the Los Angeles office on the phone please."
"Certainly Mr. Park," the female voice responded.
The intercom buzzer sounded, "Mr. Park, Ms. Morgan is on line one."
"Thank you Ms. Blackwell." He pushed the button for line one and spoke in a smug tone, "Lilah, how are you?"
"I'm Fine Gavin. Is there something you wanted because frankly I really don't have the time to play right now," her voice betrayed her irritation at being summoned by his secretary.
"Now, now Lilah," he cooed softly to her. "I was just calling to extend you an invitation to Heinrich's ceremony. Linwood will be driving down tomorrow. I'm sure you could catch a ride with him." He could tell by her silence that he was getting to her. He loved playing this game with her, it was so amusing.
"I'll see what I can do," she said tersely. "I'm working on other things at the moment that are extremely important."
"Suit yourself," he said grinning, "I'll save a place for you at the graveside."
Back in Los Angeles Lilah punched the speaker button to end the conversation. She looked at the man across from her and said, "Everything is set up for the ceremony. Are you sure you want to do this?"
The dark haired man with glasses glared at her. "Do I have a choice?" He asked harshly.
Lilah smiled at him as she crossed her legs and sat back in her chair.
***
"Buffy," Giles said soothingly as he put his arm around her shoulders to guide her into the training room, "I'm dreadfully sorry that I was late. Things are a bit hectic at the moment. I've been trying to get William settled in and…"
"William huh?" Buffy asked as she stopped at the door to the back room. Her eyes were searching his for some sort of verification, "are you trying to tell me that your nephew is going to be my new watcher?"
Damn. After all this time without mentioning a name, he finally slipped. Well, best she knew now than before he arrived. Giles continued walking towards the back room. Eventually she fell into step with him. He wanted to prep her as best he could for the meeting. "Buffy, please sit down. We have much to discuss."
"Why am I getting this really bad vibe from you Giles?"
He laughed nervously and tried to make light of the situation. "I have no idea what you mean Buffy."
"Then tell me about this William cause I didn't know you had any family members to begin with let alone ones that wanted to become watchers."
"Fair enough. First, you have to understand why I've chosen him. I didn't do this to hurt you. You do understand that, don't you?"
"Uh. Sure. I understand you've got a life elsewhere. So spill."
"Right. I wanted to move back home and I couldn't do that…couldn't leave you without a watcher. I know I made a mistake when I left you before but I felt that you were in capable hands. Well, maybe not completely but you had Spike. And I knew that he would watch out for you."
At the mention of Spike's name, Buffy's whole demeanor changed. "Yeah. He's really been watching me a lot lately, hasn't he?"
He could feel the bitterness come off of her in waves. "Buffy I'm sorry he tried to hurt you. I'm not condoning what he did. But you have to remember…"
She glared at him. "What do you mean?" She demanded. "Who told you what happened?"
Before he could answer her, the bell to the shop rang.
***
William had agreed to meet Rupert at the Magic Box about half an hour after his planned arrival. By that point they had figured Rupert would have had enough time to talk to Buffy and to prepare her for William's appearance. And what an entrance that would be William thought. He wasn't sure how Buffy was going to react to his presence. He knew her track record with Wesley and Quentin and how she would be more than willing to quit the Council if she felt threatened in any way by them. He would have to tread carefully.
Knowing that he needed to make the right impression, he had chosen a gray, pinstriped, double-breasted suit. It was very flattering on him and helped bring out the color of his eyes. He didn't know why he was making such a fuss over what clothing he chose. Either way the girl was not going to be happy having him there. Taking one last look in the mirror to smooth out his unruly curls, he left his apartment. He decided to walk to the Magic Box instead of getting a cab. He would make arrangements to pick up his car later but for now he wanted to enjoy the warm afternoon sun.
As he approached the shop, he stopped as the feeling of being watched washed over him. Slowly he turned around to survey the area. His eyes scanned the street and the surrounding buildings. He didn't see anything but couldn't shake the sensation. He took a deep breath, "Right then. Time to face the music." He paused as he put his hand on the knob. With a sigh he turned the knob and swung the door open slowly. He jumped as the bell on the door rang above his head announcing his arrival.
***
Dawn sat at the counter trying to read through the watcher's guide. Next to her was an open dictionary. The guide contained a lot of big words that she didn't understand and when she came across a particularly difficult one, she looked it up. Understandably, her mind started to drift to thoughts of Steven. She smiled as she remembered the kiss. Then she remembered the confrontation with the vampire and a look of puzzlement crossed her face. His lightening quick speed and his uncanny sense of hearing had terrified her. Her first thought had been that he was a vampire himself since only vampires and slayers could move that fast. That's when he told her that he wasn't like the other guys his age.
She had laughed at him and said that all guys their age said that. But his tone had become serious as well as his face. He then hesitantly explained that he and his father had been trapped in a hell dimension for several years, since he had been a baby. They had only recently returned. Not too long after their return a vampire had killed his father. She remembered being stunned at how casually he had told her the story and then how the hatred in his voice had built up as he talked about the death of his father. She had sympathized with his loss, knowing what it was like to lose a parent.
She had questioned him about how he knew about her sister. He explained that after he had avenged his father's death, he wandered about Los Angeles aimlessly. It was there that he had learned that a vampire slayer lived in Sunnydale. Immediately he left the city and headed here to see if he could offer his assistance in the fight against evil. After their talk, they had walked back to her place in silence. When they got there he had given her a second kiss and brushed a loose strand of hair away from her face.
"Please," he had asked her, "please don't tell anyone about me. I don't want people to know I'm…different."
"Don't worry," she had said reassuringly, "I won't tell anyone and besides, you're not the only one who's different." She had kissed him again and then gone into the house, leaving him behind to contemplate that thought.
Her mind snapped back to the present when she heard the bell over the door ring.
***
Dawn looked up from her seat at the counter when she heard the bell. At first glance she thought that a customer had arrived. "Sorry sir," she sighed as she looked back down at the book she was reading, "but we're closed. We just didn't turn the sign over yet."
"I'm not here to buy anything," the man said hesitantly.
Dawn's head shot up. She knew that voice. Cautiously she put the book down and looked over at the man standing on the top step. Confusion clouded her face. It sounded like him, but it didn't look like him. She stood up and made her way over to the man. "Can I help you?" She asked questioningly stopping just short of the stairs.
"Uhm. Yes, I believe you can. I'm looking for Rupert Giles. I'm William. The new watcher."
Dawn continued to stare at him. It was obviously making him uncomfortable since he was tugging on the collar of his shirt. She glanced out the window to make sure that it was daylight. Yep. It was. So it couldn't be him. The voice sounded familiar but the accent wasn't the same. It was more refined.
"Is there a problem?" William asked trying to put the girl at ease. "Is my hair out of sorts again?" He reached up and ran his fingers through his hair, trying to make sure that it wasn't sticking out every which way. "Hasn't Rupert arrived yet?"
She nodded to him but continued to stare.
Absently, William pushed up his wire-rimmed glasses. It was as much out of habit as it was out of nervousness. He looked away from Dawn when he heard voices approaching the room. He saw Rupert come out of the back room with Buffy in tow. The older watcher made quick strides to reach him and pulled him off to the side at the top of the stairs so that William's back was to the girls.
"I told you half an hour," Giles whispered to him.
"It's been forty-five minutes Rupert. I gave you an extra fifteen," William shot back defensively.
As Buffy watched the two men, Dawn walked over to her sister. "Buffy, wait until you see what William looks like."
Buffy frowned at her sister's words. "What are you talking about Dawn?"
"You'll see. It's spooky."
Finally Buffy had had enough of the clandestine talk. She put her hands on her hips and cleared her throat. Both men whipped around to look at her. At the sight of William her jaw dropped open. She closed her eyes and then opened them again hoping that it had just been her imagination. It wasn't. "Spike?"