Buffy and Spike’s B-I-G Adventure


A Christmas Car Trouble Special

By the Kings of Mercia – NC17

Pairing B&S



Chapter 1


The loud incessant ringing wasn’t going to quit any time soon, so Buffy slipped an arm out of bed and groped for the phone receiver

“Hello, were not available – in fact we don’t live here anymore, you’ve got the wrong num-“

“Buffy, I, that is WE need your help” Angel said

From under the covers, Spike’s muffled voice said,

“Tell him to sod off”

“Spike says to sod off – I concur!”

“Buffy – sacred duty and all that?”

“Hello – why do you think I’m being so anti-slay mode, hmm? – We’ve had enough demon activity around here this week to last us both an entire existence, and-“

“What about Faith, I thought that she patrolled Sunnydale now”

“She’s been injured – that’s why Spike and I have stepped in…we got rid of 9 new nests last night………half of them seemed to be Chinese, from the take-away’s around here – and of course, they ALL just had to be kung-fu experts…Ow, my leg hurts…and my back…”

“Well, how would you like a simple easy job” Angel asked

“There’s a catch baby…put the phone down” Spike encouraged

“No, NO BUFFY DON’T DO THAT, PLEASE!” Angel begged, his voice getting higher and more shrill with each word………

“You talk to him baby, I need to………” Buffy handed the phone to her half-asleep husband, while she slipped out to the bathroom.

“This better be fuckin’ good, you wanker…we’ve had about 10 hours sleep this week, that’s all!”

“Sorry to trouble you, but one of our…how shall I put it, our less salubrious clients has stolen a very important book – The Ars Daemonicus, the book of demons – and has travelled through time with it”

“And? – Geez…well I suggest you go after him then!” Spike suggested helpfully.

“We have, well Wes and Gunn have…Cordelia’s gone back with them this time, but he keeps on giving them the slip – there needs to be more people. He’s a warlock, of the Grand Order type...in fact he’s the grandest of the grand, Hieronymous Racnunculus…AKA Rack, and he’s stolen the Ars Daemonicus – the book that contains all the information on every demon known, how to summon, how to vanquish – and if we don’t get it back, then-”

“Yeah, yeah, yeah, we know, all hell will be let loose on earth, blahdy-blah, been there got the tee shirt……………So how about YOU getting up off your fat lardy arse and getting your hands dirty for a change, why phone us?”

“I CAN’T DO IT!”


Buffy slipped back into bed and snuggled up to her hubby. Spike gently kissed her forehead and nestled the phone between them so they could both hear………

“Don’t want to more like, rather sit there, behind your poncey desk, in your poncey office, making poncey decisions!” Buffy had her eyes closed, but she was smiling when Spike said this.

“Spike! That has nothing to do with it!! Angel insisted, his patience wearing thin.

“What then – what’s the problem, you frightened that there isn’t anybody to run Evil Inc while you’re away? Put air-head in charge- I’m sure Harmony couldn’t make a bigger cock-up of things – any more than YOU have anyway!”

“Spike! Now just you listen here! I CAN’T go, because the time line he’s gone back to, the thing is, well if *I* encountered him………see, whatever his dastardly plot is, well, I’d probably be more than inclined to HELP him, not retrieve it…I’d be Angelus”

Buffy’s eyes opened and Spike looked at her

“Go on”

“Look, it’s complicated………Giles’ is coming over from England, he’ll be here this afternoon, Faith should be recovered enough to start patrolling again, Giles said he’d phone Kennedy in Cleveland send a couple of girls over to help her if need be, but we need you and Spike on this, ASAP”

The couple heaved a sigh, Angel continued,

“I’ll email you all the details, you can print them off and read them on the way here”

“Can we get some shut-eye now?” Spike asked

“So you’ll come then?”

“Doesn’t look like we have much bleedin’ option, does it – we need sleep. See you later – unfortunately” Spike passed Buffy the receiver, and she put it down.

“No rest for the wicked”

“Didn’t think that even I’d been THAT wicked…come on, snuggle down”

Just drifting off, the phone rang again, and Buffy answered it, going through the alphabet swearing.

“Buffy! Oh, hey I say! I hear that Oil of Evening Primrose is the stuff…”

“WHAT – Oil of…what for?”

“P-primrose oil – f-for um, PMS?” Giles stuttered

“I haven’t GOT PMS…I’ve got morons that keep phoning me while we’re TRYING to sleep!”

“Sorry…I take it that Angel has phoned you”

“Yes”

“And told you”

“Yes”

“About the Ars Daemonicus”

“Yes”

“How it was stolen”

“Yes”

“And how Wes and Gunn aren’t enough”

“Yes”

“And about how we’ve got to go back to 19th century London to help them”

“Ye – NO – he didn’t mention that bit………tell me more!” Buffy sat up in bed, and Spike groaned.

“Isn’t he going to fax you the details?”

“Well he said something about emailing them so I can print them off and read them on the way to Angel’s place…”

“Ah, good – well I must go, they’ve just called my flight, I’ll see you tonight, make sure you read the notes”

Buffy put the phone down and threw back the covers

“Where are you going now?” Spike asked, just raising his head

“To see if the email has come through yet…19th century London – back to your old haunts and stomping grounds!”

“Oooooh terrific!” Spike groaned again, putting the pillow over his head.

Five minutes later, Buffy bounced back into bed, holding several sheets of paper

“Pet…you know how you get sometimes when you haven’t had enough sleep” Spike asked

“Hmm”

“You know, I mean, your head doesn’t actually turn 360 °, and you don’t spew green bile, but…how you can be akin to the Exorcist girl………”

“What?”

“All I’m saying is, any bad moodiness mode Buffy, please direct at either Angel or Giles, not at me, coz *I* was the one who wanted you to sleep, okay?”

“Point taken – so tell me – 19th century London, what’s it like?”

“Sleep, babe”

“But I’m quite excited now!”

Spike opened his eyes and Buffy blinked, grinned and apologised.

“Okay, I know, sleep, but I doubt if I’ll sleep much, I’m too excited!”

Two minutes later, she was snoring her little head off………
 

Chapter 2


It was Spike who couldn’t sleep now. A million thoughts ran through his head, he couldn’t pin-point one to worry about most…

You see, for a kick-off, once they’d gone back to 19th century England, he realised that he’d be no use to her strength wise – not being a vampire meant back to being just plain old William………

And plain old William meant a weak, bumbling mother’s boy, who never really accomplished anything in life – admittedly it had been a short life, cut down in is prime of 28 years…huh, ‘prime’ was hardly the word Spike would use to describe his alter-ego.

He stayed in at home to keep his beloved mother company, and mooned over girls he hadn’t a HOPE of even talking to let alone meet, and the one girl who DID deign to talk to him, Cecily Adams, well she spoke to him like he was something nasty on her shoe, treated him with total derision, scorned and ridiculed him at every conceivable moment – so the very LAST thing he wanted to do was be reminded of that and turned into that bloody milk-sop again, that pathetic creature who wrote the most awful doggerel………

Buffy turned over, groped her hand to cuddle up to her hubby – but there was no Spike in bed next to her.

She raised her head and looked at the clock and frowned, she’d only been asleep for an hour and a half, and Spike MUST have been as tired as she was………

She found him in the kitchen, staring off into space, a cup of cold tea in front of him.

“Spike?”

“Hmm – oh hey…what are you doing up pet – go back to bed, it’s early yet!”

“I might ask you the same question………I thought you were shattered, like me”

“Oh I, well I am tired but – this thing, this London job…Buffy – I’m going to be no use to you”

Buffy frowned

“What makes you say that?”

“Well for starters, I won’t be a vampire, I’ll be…I’ll be who I was………I’ll be William”

“I know, and I can’t wait!” Buffy said with a grin, but her face fell when she saw Spike looking far less than happy about it.

“He…gods, where do I start here – he was a mother’s boy, a milk-sop, an idiot, a wimp, no use to man nor beast…and…”

Buffy frowned and took Spike’s sad face in her hands

“And what?”

“And I’m scared that, well you’ll see me for I really was, totally useless”

“Don’t be so silly! William had fire in his blood, a passion for poetry and the classics, he gave you your love of books and music, your sense of commitment, your capacity to love – he’s half of you, and a half I want to get to know better”

She looked deep into his eyes, which were in turmoil; she could see stormy blue mixed with angry black, passionate grey mixed with calm cerulean…

“Buffy I – “

“Shush my love…even if you’re only there for me to come back to every night, that will be enough, just to know you’re there, by my side, that will be enough for me – and besides which, you’ll be able to put me right on how to act”

Spike kissed her like the world was ending, he held her so tight, needing to know the words she’d just spoken were true.

“Bed, come on, and no more silly talk, I want you with me, full stop”

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



When they got to Wolfram and Hart, they were quickly ushered up to Angel’s office.

Both Buffy and Spike were surprised to see Willow and Xander already there.

Willow pre-empt’ their question by saying,

“Giles phoned us and told us what was happening, we said we’d help”

Angel came over and stood in front of them

“Did you download the notes I gave you?”

“Of course, and yes I’ve read them – so just how did Rack get to steal this book in the first place?”

“Harmony thought he was a big client of ours, she put him in the VIP suite, and he somehow managed to get into the safe and boom – he was gone – with the book”

“Boom, as in he blew the safe?”

“No boom as in figuratively speaking, he just opened the safe like he knew the combination – we just found the door open and the book gone”

“And nothing else was taken?” Spike asked

“Nope, there were very important documents and papers in there, cash and a couple of rare artefacts and relics – all remained untouched – all he wanted, was the book”

“So what was so special about that version of the book, hmm? – I mean I know Giles has a copy, so does Wes”

“Think of it like this, the versions that Giles and Wes have, they’re like having a ‘pocket version’, where as the volume stolen is like having the complete whole 52 volumes of the Oxford English Dictionary, it’s got EVERYTHING ever known about demons – how to summon them, vanquish them-“ Angel explained

“Yeah okay, we get the picture, so any idea what laddo wants it for – besides the obvious to cause mayhem that is, have you narrowed it down?”

“We haven’t been able to, no” Angel said

Spike rolled his eyes. Buffy spoke up

“This…this time portal thing…what’s it like, a time machine?”

“No, well not really, it’s, well - we call it the Blue Room – it’s always been here…it can be set to a date in time, we’d been working with a client in the mid and late Victorian times, so that’s how we know what time-line Rack’s gone back to, it’s January 1886”

“1886? – Two years before I was turned…” Spike mused quietly, then he asked

“And this Blue Room portal…is it safe? – I mean is there a guarantee that we’ll be able to come back safely?”

“That’s why I’m here – I’ll get you back, even if the room goes kerbluey” Willow said with a smile

“Good…so where will be staying?” Buffy asked

“There’s a hotel called the Savoy, have you heard of it? Well, it’s obviously not the modern one it is today, but-“

“Don’t worry about that…I have an idea”

“Oh?”

“In August, 1885, I went to America for 6 months…I came back, empty handed…this time when I return home, I can show my mother I’ve come home with a bride”

Both Angel and Buffy said together,

“YOUR MOTHER?!!!

And then Buffy smiled and said,

“Well I think it’s a fantastic idea!”

“Well I don’t! You need to concentrate on the matter in hand, that is-“

“We know, to get this bloody book back, and we will, but we shall be staying in Richmond Square that’s all”

Angel opened his mouth to say something, but then closed it again

“Angel…about Spike…there won’t be a chance he could encounter the other William there, is there?”

“No, don’t worry, he’ll be there as William, but retaining all of Spike’s knowledge”

“Great, so when do we go?”

“In a couple of hours – Giles will be going with you”

“I’ve just thought, what will I do for clothes – money?”

“It’s all taken care of, don’t worry – you might as rest and have something to eat” Angel said, dialling out for take-away.


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


“Spike, I need to talk to you” Giles said

“Fire away Rupes”

“I know it’s going to be very tempting, but you MUST NOT do ANYTHING to alter the course of history while you’re there, do you understand?”

Spike looked at Giles and said,

“Such as?”

Giles couldn’t think of anything specific, so he said,

“Just be careful”

“I will…you do know I’m going to be no use brute-strength wise, don’t you?”

“Hmm…I hadn’t thought about that – but still you should be useful as regards certain places in London”

“Well, you’ll still have to take a street finder map – I DID lead a very sheltered upbringing, I never really strayed much from the bank, my club and home in Richmond Square”

Giles brows rose up

“Richmond Square eh? – Very nice!”

“I’m taking Buffy home to meet my mother, I was in America for 6 months in 1885 until early 1886, mother can think that I came back with a bride”

Giles took off his glasses, cleaned them and put them back on

“I see…well just remember-“

“I know, we’ve to keep our minds on the job in hand, we will”

“Right”

“Spike, Giles, we’re ready to go in ten” Buffy called

They both nodded

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


Angel opened the door to the Blue room. In the centre was a circle of swirling blue; it sparkled and danced looked like a mass of pure energy

“So what do we do?” Buffy asked

“You just walk into it, one at a time” Angel said

“That’s it? But what about our clothes and that?”

“Don’t worry, Wesley said he popped up the other side in the right clothes for the day, but there’s a caseful each for you to carry, and Spike, Giles, Xander, you should have one hundred pounds each, that should keep you going for a while” Angel assured him

“Shall I go first?” Giles walked towards the heaving mass of blue light, stepped into it and disappeared.

“Me next, then you Spike” Buffy said, and only with a slight hesitation, she too stepped into the light and disappeared.

Spike followed, then Willow and Xander.

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

After the briefest sensation of falling, Buffy felt her feet on solid ground. She felt slightly disorientated, surrounded by a great roaring noise, and smoke and steam.

“What the – oh!”

When it cleared, she saw Giles, then Spike, and her two friends all in proper clothes of the day; they were standing on a railway platform.

The huge monster that had been belching smoke and steam slowly chugged out of the station, and a porter came up to them, doffed his cap and said to Giles,

“Porter sir, need a hand with your luggage?”

“Or er, um, yes, yes - please, and um er a-“ Giles was still slightly taken aback that it had all happened so quickly!

“Summon two carriages please, one for the Savoy Hotel, one for Richmond Square, my good man – come along let’s get on!” Spike picked up two cases and strode out of the station entrance

Buffy and Willow grinned at each other.

“I DO like your hat – that green does suit you!” Buffy said

“Isn’t Spike amazing – it’s like coming home for him!”

“I LOVE his hair – all tousled curls – I can’t wait to get my hands in it!”

“Ladies, don’t let me have to remind you that – “ Giles looked at them over his spectacles

“We know! Are here to do a serious job!”

“Right, come along Xander” The men trotted on ahead carrying the rest of the luggage

“I’m glad the men are being gentlemen and carrying the cases, coz I don’t know what I’m wearing…but I’ll never complain about wearing a thong again, that’s for sure…ow!” Buffy wriggled, grimaced and tried to ease the pressure on her ribcage. Willow and Xander got into the first carriage, followed by Giles

“………And we’ll see you after dinner, come to the hotel” Giles said from the first carriage window.

“We will” Spike helped Buffy into the second carriage

“The Laurels, Richmond Square” Spike said to the driver, who gently flapped the reins and steered the horse into a semicircle to go the direction they wanted

“Spike, do you feel different?” Buffy asked, grinning

“I do indeed, and I think my love, that you will have to start calling me William”

“William, yes I must – oh god, I’ve got butterflies in my stomach, and what ever it is this torture thingie I’m wearing, well I can’t wait to get out of it!”

All the time William gazed at her

“What, what is it? Have I a smut on my nose or something?” Buffy asked wondering what her husband was looking at

William smiled and shook his head and said,

“I’m so lucky”

“Lucky – why?”

“To have met somebody so beautiful as you”

Buffy felt her cheeks redden and she leant forward and gave him a soft kiss

“You are a silly, but you’re MY silly!” William thought he’d burst with pride – he had all of Spike’s knowledge, knew of what he was to become – but he knew it was all worth it, because he had this woman at his side.

They felt the carriage slow and the driver rapped on the carriage side and said,

“Richmond Square, sir”

William got out, helped Buffy out and the driver helped him with the two suitcases

“How much?”

“One and nine pence, sir”

William gave the man half a crown and told him to keep the change

“Much obliged, sir!” the driver touched his hat with his riding crop, climbed back into his seat and set off back towards Kings Cross.

William looked at the house and smiled

“Spike, I mean William…”

“Buffy?”

“Do you, well, do you think your mother will like me?”

William smiled

“She’ll love you – come on!” he picked up the suitcases and walked up the driveway………
 

Chapter 3


“This is nice!” Willow said, looking around her room

“Yes well, I’ll leave you to unpack, I’m expecting Wesley to – (KNOCK, KNOCK) oh, that could be him now………Wesley, my dear chap, how are you?”

“Hello Giles! Don’t ask, shattered would be the word, haven’t had a decent night’s sleep in ages!”

“Never mind – we reinforcements are here!”

“Yes, Willow, it’s very good to see you, VERY good! – Are Spike and Buffy here too? – What room number are they in?”

“They um, they’re here…but Spike, or rather William, as we must now call him has taken it upon himself to er, how shall I put it…”

“He’s gone to take Buffy to meet his mother!” Willow said with a grin

Wesley’s brows rose and he blinked

“His-oh god! I forgot he would have been around here then! – I mean now, I mean I know he’s here now, I meant now in the sense of him being here in the past – and I think I’ll shut up now…”

Willow grinned at him and Wesley’s cheeks tinged red.

“There you are! Hi Giles, Xander…Willow. Where’s Buffy and Spike?” Gunn asked.

Willow took out the most gorgeous of Victorian lace nightdresses out of her case and held it up and said,

“This is beautiful! - By the way, where is Cordelia?”

“Ah, now we’ve been very clever – she’s got a job in a milliner’s shop in Sloane Street- she has a clear view right up to the cemetery, she can see anybody coming and going than looks more than normal” She nodded, then added

“You know, I don’t really think that a good and chaste woman of my character would have so many men in her room – especially when she’s unpacking intimate apparel, so, if you don’t mind!”

Giles, Wesley, and Gunn apologised and went to the door to go talk in Giles’ room

Willow looked at Xander, giving him her ‘Well?’ look

“That includes you too!”

“But Will, I’ve seen you in less at the Bronze, and it’s not like we haven’t even been in the same bed together before, and why is Wesley looking at you the way he’s looking at you?” This last sentence made Willow look up

“What? Xander, the last time we shared a bed we were wearing baby-grow’s, and I don’t know what you mean about Wesley”

“I’m going to keep my eye on him – don’t want him thinking he can just be all ‘hello and I’m so glad to see you’ eyes and what’s with this cravat thing – can I take it off now?”

“No, now will you just go – and don’t you DARE say anything to Wesley”

Xander stood in the doorway

“GO!”

“I won’t say anything, but I’m going to be watching him!”

Xander closed the door before the pillow could hit him.


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

“Ready Kitten?” William pulled the metal handle and heard the bell jangle in the hallway

After about thirty seconds, the door opened

“Yes – oh, OH! MASTER WILLIAM!”

“Tilly! Is my mother home?”

“Oh master William – yes she’s home, the mistress is entertaining the Harcourt’s to bridge – they always play bridge on Wednesday afternoons”

“Of course – be a good girl and run along, don’t say anything to her, I want to surprise her!”

“Oh master William!”

“Shush…run along now – get some tea made!”

“Tilly….Tilly, who is calling at this time of oh, OH WILL – WILLIAM, is it…it’s really you – you should have written!” Buffy saw a teary-eyed lady, whom once would have been strikingly beautiful, take in her son.

“Mother!” Buffy watched the touching scene as William’s mother hugged him

“Mother – I have excellent news…I have a surprise for you – I didn’t come back from America empty handed…ma-ma – meet Buffy – my bride isn’t she beautiful!”

William’s mother held her lace handkerchief to her eyes, and caught happy tears

“Your BRIDE? – Oh William! She’s, I mean, forgive me my dear you are very beautiful!”

“What is it, what’s going on – what’s all this commotion, are we playing this rubber or – good lord, William my boy!”

William looked up and saw his late father’s best friend, Colonel Charles Harcourt coming down the hallway towards him

“Hello, I’m Buffy” Buffy stood there, holding William’s mother’s hand.

“Buffy…William should have written to tell me such joyous news – I’m very pleased to meet you my dear, you may call me ma-ma…my you are a pretty one” Buffy smiled and looked own, feeling slightly embarrassed at all the compliments, she could see William’s blue eyes and soft lips were from his mother

“I um, I think he did write – you didn’t get the letter?”

“No…but never mind, you are here and now I’ve met you…let me look at you” she studied Buffy with her soft blue eyes and smiled

“My son has an eye for a pretty one – come and sit I’ll order tea!”

“It’s okay ma, I’ve done it!”

“It’s what William?”

“Sorry, I’ve already ordered tea”

She nodded and gently took Buffy by the arm and sat her down on a sofa next to her

“So, how long have you been married my dear?”

Buffy wasn’t sure what to say so she called William over

“William…it’s three months since we’ve been married now, isn’t it!”

“Three blissful months ma-ma – what can I tell you, I’m the happiest man on earth!”

Anne stroked a tray curl from Buffy’s face and she smiled

“You look very young, how old are you my dear?”

“I’m 23”

“You must have met very quickly, you say you’ve already been married for 3 months?”

“Yes! We actually met the day William arrived in America, didn’t we?”

William came towards them and reached for Buffy’s hand

“We did! Indeed ma-ma, I’d made friends with her uncle during my passage to America, and he very kindly put me up, and set me straight on one or two things – and now I have more good news – I am to leave my job with Mr Twelvetrees, and I am joining the National and Provincial Bank in Park Lane, where Buffy’s uncle Giles is the manager”

“My goodness William – but what of Mr Twelvetrees, what will you tell him?”

“He’s due to retire this year anyway ma-ma, and my new salary will be treble what I earned there!”

The door to the salon opened and Tilly wheeled in a trolley

“You may pour, Tilly” The maid dropped a little curtsey and poured tea

“Begging your pardon sir, madam, but cook wants to know if you’ll be partaking of dinner here tonight”

“You can tell cook no thankyou Tilly, not tonight, we don’t want to ruin cooks’ plans besides, we have a rendezvous with Giles at the Savoy, don’t we darling”

“Yes!”

“Going out? – But you’ve only just got home!”

“I have papers to sign, uncle says the sooner I get them signed, the easier it will be to get my funds from America transferred to here in England, isn’t that so William”

William smiled and nodded

Buffy then said how she loved the delicate bone china cups. They were painted with pink tea-roses, and the hand-painted gold line along the rim of the cups and saucers.

“They were a wedding present, from my own dear ma-ma when I married William’s dear, late father” Anne explained

“Ma-ma, I’m sorry to be a kill-joy, but we’ve been travelling and are a tad jaded, we need a rest before tonight”

“Well, not knowing when you were coming home, and not hearing anything in the post, it’s lucky for you that I make the maid turn down the bed every morning to air it – there’s a fire lit in your room too – to keep out the damp, that north facing wall always was damp”

“Come along then my darling, let’s leave ma-ma to her bridge, else Colonel Harcourt will have my guts for garters!”

Buffy smiled and left the room with he husband.

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

Willow tucked the nightdress away under the covers of the bed, when there was a knock at her room door. She went to the door and opened it, expecting it to be Xander with some lame excuse or other – ‘what’s this for?’ – or ‘how do I do/use this?’ but to her surprise, it was Wesley

“Oh! Um, er hi, come in?” Willow stood back and opened the door wider, but Wesley refused

“N-no, I um, I won’t…it’s just, well I erm…” the way he pushed his glasses up his nose made Willow immediately think of Giles.

“Tea – yes tea, afternoon tea! They um, they’re serving afternoon tea downstairs in the salon, and I wondered if, well I don’t know if you even drink tea, but-“

“I’d love to – some I mean, I’d love some tea, thanks for telling me!” Wesley went to turn away and said in a rush,

“You um, you could allow me to escort you downstairs we could order together”

“Oh, um yes, great!” she stepped out of the room and they trotted down stairs together.

Xander came out of his room and knocked on Willow’s door

“Willow…Will…Willow are you in there?” he turned his head and listened, in case she was in the bath, but he couldn’t hear anything.

Giles’ door opened and Xander jumped away from Willow’s door guiltily.

“Wesley’s taken her down for afternoon tea,” Giles said, locking his door

“What?!” Xander said rather sharply, then measured his tone and gave Giles’ a little wan smile

“He just beat me to it”

“Well I suggest a light tea now, and a good rest, we’ll be up all night tonight”

“Good job there was no jet-lag with the ‘Blue Room express!” Xander quipped, annoyed that Wesley had got to Willow first, and Giles said

“Yes, very droll”

Once downstairs, they made their way to the tearooms…………………15 minutes later, Xander had picked up, and was closely examining one of three items on his tea-plate.

“So this is a scone is it…it’s what we call a biscuit…so what do I put on it?” Xander asked, cutting over Willow and Wesley’s conversation.

Wesley was trying to explain the energisation of reanimated matter through the time/space continuum to Willow, and having heard the last three words, Xander quipped

“Sounds JUST like Star Trek, doesn’t it!” Several conversations in the salon stopped, and all heads turned to look at Xander………

“Xander will you be quiet!” Giles took off his glasses and nervously began to clean them

“Sorry! But it DID! – Time/space continuum, where Jordy La Forge explains to Ensign thingie that – what?”

“Will you just pipe down and drink your tea!” Giles hissed

“I was only saying-“

“Xander! You’re drawing attention to us, we don’t know who we’re dealing with yet, could be ANYBODY – we need to blend in with everybody else, to remain as inconspicuous as possible!”

“Wasn’t ME talking about (he dropped his voice) time/space continuums!”

Moodily Xander sipped his tea, and Willow flashed him a cursory glance.

“Look, people…” Giles said about quickly eating their tea and going for a rest for they were in for a busy night, Wesley nodded and five minutes later, they all went upstairs again to rest.
 

Chapter 4


When William entered his bedroom, the maid was just laying out Buffy’s nightdress on top of the counterpane on the bed.

“Thankyou Tilly, we shall see to the rest of the unpacking, see we are not disturbed for at least three hours, will you?”

“Sir” She nodded and left

When the door had shut, Buffy looked around the room, taking in the dark, masculine heavy wooden furniture, and the absolutely huge bed!

“Why such a big bed? – Not that I’m complaining!” Buffy said grinning, sitting on it and bobbing up and down

“It was my grandmothers………aaaaaaaaahhhhhhhhhhhhhh – and soft as I remember it!” William lay down

Buffy slipped off her shoes and she too lay down.

“Your mother seems to like me!”

“Of course she does! What’s not to like?!”

“We should rest, we’ve got a busy night. Is there a back entrance into the house?”

“There’s the tradesman’s entrance, why?”

“Because it wouldn’t look good for us to be spotted coming home at all hours – we’re very respectable people, don’t forget!”

“Actually…the window there looks over the flat roof of the morning room………you climb well, don’t you, and I used to do it as a boy!”

Buffy gave him an impish grin and said,

“That will do great!” She leaned over and gave him a soft lingering kiss, which, as soon as she broke, she looked into William’s eyes. She knew he’d be nervous – she’d be deflowering a respectable Victorian gentleman when all was said and done…

“Buffy – I –“

“Shush baby………everything will be fine”

William liked the kisses – correction, he loved the kisses, and the kisses were doing to him what they did to Spike, aroused his passion for her…

“You’ll have to help me with this baby…I can’t…ph gods that feels so much better!”

William helped undo her dress, he even turned his back while she undressed, which Buffy found so sweet, that she giggled.

“Baby…why are you turned away?”

“Hmm? – Well, I um…it’s the gentlemanly thing to do!”

“Honey…you’ve seen me naked hundreds – thousands of times before!”

She could see the top of his ears going red as the blood rushed to his face and leaving the only thing she had left on, a thin cotton chemise, she knelt on the bed and ran her hands over his shoulders, she could feel him shaking.

“What are you worried about baby, hmm?”

William looked at his feet, clasping his hands, not really knowing what to say

“I…I’m worried that I won’t…you know – meet with your expectations…I don’t want to disappoint you”

Buffy half smiled half frowned and shifted closer to him, and whispered

“Do you love me?”

“Of course I do! More than anything in the world!”

“There you go then, show me, we take things slowly, and there’s no rush…” She slipped her hands around his body and undid his waistcoat, then she began on his shirt buttons, taking both items off him she threw them onto the bedside chair.

She lightly ran her hands over his warm body, dropping little kisses on his neck, whispering encouragements to him, reassuring him.

When he was naked, she encouraged him to turn and face her, she slipped off the chemise and reached for him, gently pulling him down beside her

“Buffy………”

There was much heavy breathing, panting and gasping, as she caressed, kissed and nuzzled him. He was shaking like a leaf. Buffy soothed and caressed him, calming and reassuring him, until he too got bolder, with touches and kisses, and Buffy encouraged him with little mewls and breathy ‘oh yes’s’ that left him in no doubt that what he was doing was right.

“Th-this is um…right? Is it g-g-good for y-you?” He asked nervously.

“Oh William – oh god yes, won-wonderful!” Buffy gasped

William kissed her lips, her neck, he tentatively fondled her breasts, marvelling at their peachy softness…nuzzling…God, she felt so good…smelled so good! Buffy writhed and moaned.

She managed to steer his mouth to her breast, and he suckled on her nipple, making her moan and gasp, arching so sensuously up to him, William wanted nothing more than to make her make that noise again.

“Buffy…oh…G-Gods…are um, are you sh-sh-sh-sure about this?”

“Please William! Never been so sure about anything…” suddenly, it all seemed so natural to him, he knew this was what they both wanted.

Buffy remembered what Spike had told her, that he’d need lots of re-assurance, caresses and encouraging words. By now he was so hard it almost hurt,

Buffy gently put his hand on her sex. William stroked, felt how wet she was, and was surprised when Buffy bucked her hips up and two of his fingers began to slide inside her. He was amazed, and shaking, watching her facial expressions for any signs that he was hurting her. Panting, Buffy then got him to pull them out, and stroke her clit.

“There…gently rub…Oh gods yes…that’s s-s-s-so good…so wonderful…William!”

She came with a muffled cry. She reached for him he was shaking still, although less so now, she caressed his back, whispered words of love. She let her hand slip down his body, and then gently she closed her fingers around his massive erection.

William almost yelped, he gasped and groaned erotically, he’d never felt anything like it before. Gently pumping him, she circled her thumb over the leaking slit.

Buffy felt close to the edge again herself, and thought that she’d better move things on a little…she put him at her entrance, and let him slide inside her.

William cried out, so did Buffy, the feeling, the sensation of being inside her was totally indescribable, he was floating and drowning, flying and sinking, every bi-polar sensation as he sank inside her tight heated depths, experiencing sensations he didn’t know possible.

Buffy pressed her bottom into the mattress, then up to him a few times, and he soon caught the rhythm, and after a few thrusts, they were both panting, Buffy squeezed her inner muscles around him, and William gasped, he reared over her, pushing in so deep, making Buffy cry out in ecstasy,

“Oh gods William, again…yes…oh gods, yes, I love…you… ooohh – loveyoussomuch ooooohhhhh!” She felt like warm wet velvet, she felt so snug and glorious, a feeling that just kept on getting better………wrapping her legs and arms around him and holding him close, she thrust her hips up towards his, all the time whispering how much she loved him.

“Buffy!” he opened his eyes, to look at this incredible woman. She loved the wonderment, the incredulity and ecstasy on his face.

“Oh, dear, sweet, William, yes, yes, oh yes…oh gods…so good…my William!” she arched up towards him, sending him so deep inside her.

“Just don’t stop what…oh gods, oh yes, oh yes…OH YES! YES! YES!” Buffy could hold back no longer, and kissed him, and then she cried out as she climaxed. Her tight velvet sheath milking him, the sweet tight clenching had him mindless with pleasure………

William’s own orgasm followed swiftly, and Buffy made it the best she could for him, bucking up and crying out how much she loved him, wanted and needed him for all eternity, all the time rocking her hips firmly, and squeezing and milking him of every last drop of precious fluid…he collapsed on top of her for a few seconds, reeling and gasping, before coming to his senses. William propped his head on his arm. He’d never had such a wonderful sensations in his whole life before…Buffy kissed him and whispered

“William…I love you SO much”

William hugged her he was overjoyed, totally blissed out! They lay there a while, cuddled up, enjoying the warmth and intimacy together…and fell asleep – Buffy woke to the grandfather clock in the hallway chiming 6 o’clock, William was already awake

“We better be making a move”

“Must we?” William asked smiling

Buffy grinned and stroked his face

“There’s nothing in the world I’d love more than to stay here snuggled up with you – but needs must – lets hope we can get this job done quickly, then we may get a few days here, who knows?

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

They alighted from the carriage and entered the Savoy, where they told the Maitre D’ that they were meeting friends for dinner

Summoning one of the waiters, William and Buffy were taken to the lounge where Giles and co were. This time, Cordelia was there too

“Ah good, Buffy, Spi-er, sorry, I mean William…glad you’re here – we have a lead – well we think we do, Cordelia was just about to tell us” Giles said, passing Buffy a menu.

Buffy perused the menu, and didn’t like the look of any of it…it all sounded either too stodgy, or too weird…

“Lettuce soup? Grilled kidneys, ew, I don’t THINK so! Duck terrine oh god look, it says, ‘may contain lead shot………rack of lamb with – I’ll pass – I KNEW I should have bought a suitcase full of Twinkies and Oreo cookies – I’m going to starve!”

Chapter 5


“That’s it, you saw the same carriage going to the cemetery, but never saw it return – what’s so suspicious about that?” Gunn asked Cordelia

“But loads of times, at least six or seven times - because each time it stopped, only one person got out, always at the top of the hill, and they all walked off in the same direction. It could be something and nothing, I don’t know, it just struck me as odd”

“Well we’ll get it checked out, thankyou Cordelia, now Gunn, what do you have for us?”

“Evil looking guy, massive, got a cut-throat scar across his neck, and one going right down his forehead to his chin, it took his eye, must have as the flesh is all puckered where the eye should be”

Buffy Willow and Cordelia pulled an ‘ew’ face.

“What about him?”

“He was in the pub, the Sailor’s Arms down by the docks - only letting a selected few into a back room, one of which I KNOW to be a vampire I saw him feed the other night”

“And you let him live?” Buffy asked

“Buffy, slaying vampires isn’t the issue here, besides which, we can’t do anything to alter the course of history” Giles reminded her

“That sounds interesting – okay here’s what we do, Buffy you’re going to dress as a boy, you’ll be able to move around quickly and without much hassle, I’ll come with you, and Wesley and Gunn, you take the cemetery, see if there’s any untoward activity there”

“What can we do?” Willow asked, indicating towards William and Xander.

“You can see if there are any ‘significant’ dates are due – big evil-fests, demon days, what have you – might give us a lead on who might be interested in the book.

Right, I think that’s it? – Okay, then I suggest Willow, Xander and William get to the books, Buffy, you can change in my room, I’ll wait down here with Wesley and Gunn until your ready – so everybody know what they’re supposed to be doing?
Everybody nodded and stood, Buffy taking the key off Giles to his room.

“Everything is laid out on the bed for you, make sure your hair is securely tied up under the cap, okay?”

Buffy nodded and went upstairs, William followed her.

“I know what you’re capable of – but DO be careful, won’t you my love?”

Buffy smiled and gave William a light kiss and said,

“Of course – don’t worry, I’ll be fine!”

William looked beyond her shoulder to some books on the floor

“Are those the books we have to study?”

Buffy nodded as she slipped into the narrow-legged breeches of a young man.

“Yes – you got to do the boring stuff!”

“I don’t mind, it’ll help me keep my mind off you – if that’s possible”

Buffy smiled and thought it sweet how he was worried

When she was dressed, expertly, she twirled her hair up into a tight chignon and secured it with a few Kirby-grips.

She went over to William and gave his a soft, sensual kiss

“When I get back, you can take me home and I’ll show you just how much I love you”

William pulled her close, kissing her with passion – he wasn’t so different from Spike in some ways………

Pulling the cap down low over her eyes she buttoned up the waistcoat to flatten her chest and pulled on the jacket.

“There, how do I look”

“Alarmingly like a boy!” Buffy grinned, and they heard voices outside the room. There was a soft knock at the door,

“Are you ready Buffy?”

She opened the door and Willow and Xander came in.

“See you later” Buffy left and trotted downstairs

Giles and Wesley waited in the foyer and when Buffy came downstairs the doorman’s eyebrow rose up at the sight of a street urchin

“If anything is missin’ outta any of the rooms, I’ll have yer hide, boy!”

Giles looked at the doorman with distain and said with as much disgust as he could muster,

“The boy is with us!”

“Oh right sir, sorry sir, thought the boy was up to no good sir!”

They walked out into the night, Wesley and Gunn taking a carriage to Sloane Street, Giles and Buffy going the opposite way towards the docks.

Giles stood on the corner, while Buffy crossed to the pub, the Sailor’s Arms.

She went to go in, but found her way barred by a whiskery old man

“Not have the likes of yon I ‘ere to pick pockets – show us yer money first”

Without saying a word, Buffy produced a three-penny bit out of her pocket

“What do yer want…gin – porter?”

“Gin”

The old man eyed her and let her pass. Buffy quickly put the money back in her pocket.

She noticed the place was full of drunken sailors and prostitutes, it was a real ‘bawdy house’ somebody playing an out of tune piano, girls being grabbed by drunks and pulled onto laps, shrieks and squeals of laughter abound.

Buffy looked around but didn’t see the cutthroat that Gunn had mentioned. She noticed the door and looking around to see if anybody was looking, she opened it and went inside

There was a dying fire in the grate, just giving out enough light for Buffy to make out the shape of a table and a chair. She looked around, saw nothing of any significance and was just about to leave when a big hand clapped her on the shoulder.

“What do you want, yer thievin’ little-“

“The um, the WC – I want the lav!” Buffy squealed trying her best to sound like a young boy.

“The – ha-ha! Little Lord Fauntleroy indeed! And what sort of la-di-dah place do ya think this is, huh? We go out back, down a big ‘ole…now get, before I throw yer down it!” Buffy pulled her cap down and scooted out of the room, but not before she heard,

“Who is it, Bull?”

“Nobody, Mr Trick…just some little toff wanting the lav –“ Buffy left the pub swiftly and looked around for Giles, he stepped out of a doorway and called her softly.

“I think tomorrow, I’m going to have to roughen myself up and go in with you – did you manage to see anything?”

“Well I went through the door – and that man Gunn was on about, the cutthroat, he caught me – but somebody called him, and I swear I heard him say the name ‘Mr Trick’”

“Trick…where have I heard-“

“Mayor Wilkins – when the school went up – Snyder was principal, Trick wa a vampire working for him”

“Sounds like were onto something…I wonder how Wesley and Gunn got on?”

“Giles, look”

“What, where?”

“Coming out of the pub…it’s him, it is! It’s Trick…”

“And he’s summoned a carriage, let’s do the same”

Giles waved his arm, and the next carriage came round to stop in front of them

“Follow that carriage in front please driver, but do so at a suitable distance – if they don’t realise we’re following them, I’ll double the fare cost to you”

The driver smiled and nodded, Buffy and Giles got in

When the carriage turned into Sloane Street, and the carriage containing Trick turned to go up the path to the cemetery, Giles pulled down the window and said

“Thankyou driver…we will alight here”

The driver stopped and Giles asked how much the fare should have been

“One and sixpence, by right sir”

“There you go then, my good man, a half crown and a sixpence, three shillings as promised”

“Thankyou sir, goodnight then sir” The driver beamed and headed off back the way he’d just come.

“Looks like Cordelia could be right too, trouble is, it’s a bit open up there, although it’s getting foggy, we could easily be seen”

“It’s like one of those old Hammer Horror films!” Buffy said as they made their way through the graveyard carefully

They got to the brow of the hill, and could see nothing and nobody, the mist swirled around them and Giles said,

“Come on”

They made their way through the higgledy-piggledy arrangement of tumbled-down headstones. Towards the middle of the yard, there were the bigger statues, carved angels, small steeples and crypts.

“There – did you see…hold on, DOWN!” Giles and Buffy ducked down behind some headstones

Giles craned his neck and peered into the foggy night, then he cupped his hands and made the sound of an owl.

This started Buffy giggling, until Giles glared at her from under his top-hat.

Suitably chastened they listened with straining ears, then they heard an owl hoot back.

Giles turned and beamed at Buffy

“It’s Wes!”

“Unless there’s an owl around here who thinks he’s just struck lucky!” Buffy quipped

Giles gave her another look and Buffy rolled her eyes

He made the noise again, and then pointed and Buffy saw Wesley and Giles running towards them

Waving towards a crypt, Giles and Buffy went there and waited for the other two to catch up.

They were panting, their hot breath appearing in thin white wisps in the cold misty night air

“How did you know to come here?” Wesley asked smiling

“We followed somebody in a carriage”

“WHAT?!”

“Don’t worry, we got out by the hat shop and walked up, they didn’t know they were being followed”

“Oh good, anyway – there’s this crypt – it’s been used as a meeting place, there is an air-vent and we can hear, we’ve also managed to plant a microphone - anyway, seems we are in luck, they’re waiting for some tricks, apparently, and they should be here tonight!”

“No, not SOME tricks…Trick – he’s a vampire,”

“A vampire? – You know him?”

Buffy nodded

“Yup, he worked for the mayor of Sunnydale once” Buffy said

“You’re kidding!”

“I’m not, am I –“

“Shush everybody, get down!”

As one, the four flattened themselves to the ground

Then they all turned their heads to the source of the noise, and they heard talking,

“I promise you Mr Rack, Bull took care of all the time-wasters yesterday, all the demons who are interested in purchasing the book will be here on Friday”

“Good…only I must have had at least half a dozen through here today, offering insults rather than decent amounts of money! Oh, and it’s just Rack by the way, no Mr”

“Right, and I’m Trick”

“Right then Trick, I think we’ve – hold on………can you smell that?”

Giles made a motion for them all to move back and they all crawled around the other side of the crypt wall

“What, smell what?”

“I thought I could smell…humans”

Trick turned game-face, sniffed, and looked around. But luckily for the gang, the mist swirled and the wind changed direction. He morphed back into his human guise and said,

“I smell nothing – it might be off me, my cloak – I came in a carriage, and I had just eaten in the pub…might have a drop of blood on me somewhere”

Satisfied, he and Rack walked on

“So, how’s the crypt suiting you?”

“It’s NOT…but with a little (Rack wiggled his fingers) I make the best of it…it’s only until I can off-load this book and then I’m out of here”

“So why didn’t you stay in a hotel – you have no problems with daylight”

“Too vulnerable in a hotel, besides, they’re not going to stand the type of beings that want to check out the goods before they buy, coming and going and I’m not traipsing across London with such a valuable commodity”

Trick nodded his head and concurred that Rack was being sensible

“So…going to tell me how you came about it?”

“The book? – Oh, you’d never believe it if I told you”

Wesley had been relaying to the others what was being said. He then pulled the earpiece from his ear and said,

“They must have gone out of range now – but we’ve heard enough – lets go back to the others and tell them what we know, then we can make plans” and the others agreed.
 

Chapter 6

When Giles opened the door to his room, he smiled. William was fast asleep, lying with his head on his arm, an open book in front of him, and Xander lying on the floor, he too was fast asleep.

Willow was the only one awake, but she too was flagging – yawning and blinking.

“Hello – working on your own now I see!”

“They did well…so any luck?”

“Lots!”

“Shh, keep your voices down, remember Cordelia’s in the next room and she’s got to get up for work”

“Right, sorry, we forgot!”

“Giles, mind if Will and I scoot – we’ll come back this afternoon”

“You carry on – you can tell him everything that’s happened”

Buffy went over to William – she’d taken her hair down, but was still dressed like a boy.

“Baby…wakey-wakey” Buffy said softly and she kissed his cheek

William woke, fumbled for his specs and blinked, then he beamed at his wife and hugged her to him

“You’re back!”

“Yes my love, and we can go home now, soon as I put my dress back on”

Buffy went into the bathroom to do just that, while William said

“Sorry for falling asleep on you like that, it’s all the Latin, it always did that to me!”

“Never mind – we had a couple of ‘lucky strikes’ tonight – and it’s my fault, I SHOULD have pointed out to you that there is an English translation the second half of the book you were reading”

“Oh, I know, I was just keeping my hand in with the old language, you know!”

Giles smiled and Buffy came out of the bathroom

“See you later then Giles – oh yes, and expect an invitation to tea from mother – she wants to meet my new boss!”



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


“Put your foot there…that’s it, now………no don’t, I’ll pull you up………there! – Now careful………I’ve just got to undo the latch on the window here…there – oh no, hold on………there, okay, got it!”

Buffy opened the window and climbed through it, turning to haul William up off the flat roof, but he climbed in with effortless ease too, grinning, he closed it and dropped the latch properly.

“I haven’t done that in…15 years!”

“God, just LOOK at the colour of our hands!”

“Oh mercy me…um – oh lord I’m going to dirty everything I touch – I pity the poor maid in the morning!”

“Wait, here use this handkerchief to open the door, we’ll creep down to the kitchen and get some water”

After washing their hands at the kitchen pump, Buffy couldn’t help noticing a huge cake that had been left out, and her mouth watered

“William…look – cake!”

“Are you hungry little one – I bet you are”

“Starving – good job I didn’t slay anything!”

“Well we can’t have you hungry my pet, sit down” Spike lit the gas mantle, and filled the kettle he put it on the wood burning stove and cut two huge wedges of cake. He then made tea and they both sat there eating

“What sort of cake is this?”

“Not sure…probably Madeira cake, bit like a sponge but heavier – do you like it?

“It’s better than lettuce soup, grilled kidneys and duck still with the shot still in it!”

“Poor baby…missing pizza?”

“Don’t! Anyway, want to hear more about to night?” Buffy asked, cutting herself another slice

“Want some butter on it?” William asked

“Butter?”

“It can be a bit dry”

“Okay, just a little though”

“So go on, about tonight”

“Oh well, were did I get to?”

“You saw Trick leave the Sailor’s Arms, and get a cab”

“Right, thankyou, so – oh that is nice with butter on! Um, so Giles hails us a carriage too, and……………………


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



“Ah, I‘m glad we turned the covers back, the bed’s nice and warm!”

“What’s the time?”

William looked at his fob watch

“Nearly 4am!”

“Are you tired – what time will we be expected to get up?”

“Oh, by nine I should expect, why?” William asked

“Because…I was thinking of having my wicked way with you, that’s why!” Buffy slid her hand down from his chest to over his stomach down………

She giggled when she realised that he was obviously interested!

“See…I’m not the only one who wants to play!”

William could feel himself colour up, but in the firelight Buffy couldn’t see this and she quickly threw back the bedclothes and straddled his slim thighs. This surprised William, who’d only every really heard about face-to-face missionary position, and when she reached for him and sank down on him, William felt all his muscles tighten and he arched his back, the sensations exquisite and he gasped. Buffy too had her mouth slightly open and her eyes closed in rapture she rolled her hips, rising and falling. William slid his hands up her soft-skinned thighs and then on up to her breasts, he cupped their sway and circled her nipples with his thumbs making Buffy gasp and move more frantically on him

Sitting up the best he could, he gently pulled Buffy towards him, kissing her. This changed the angle of him inside her and Buffy with some swift agility bought her legs up and snaked them around his waist, without loosing a stroke, this meant a deeper penetration for both of them and William knew he wouldn’t last

“Babe, Buffy, my darling, I can’t…”

Without a word, she guided his hand to where they were joined, and encouraged him to rub her clit, which he did so, Buffy bobbed faster and she felt his shaft swell and her orgasm was upon her in a blinding flash, gripping him, milking him William’s own climax hit at the same time, deep, long, hard and oh so very good………

Buffy kissed her husband and whispered,

“I love you William”

“My Buffy, I love you”

They slept wrapped in each other’s arms until the maid knocking the door woke them at 8.45am.


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


Buffy entered the morning room stifling a yawn, William trailed behind her, he couldn’t stifle his yawn and his mother looked on faintly amused

“Tired, William?”

“Jet-lag!” Buffy said, and then realised what she’d said and quickly tried to cover

“What I mean is, travel-tiredness, it catches up with you – where I come from it’s still, let me see – it’s 1.10am I’d be fast asleep!”

“Well you two can rest later, help yourself to breakfast my dear”

Buffy went to the sideboard and lifted the first silver domed lid – bacon! She took a plate and put on two rashers, next came sausages, then some eggs, there were mushrooms, kidney’s and some kippers too, but she ignored the last two items and took a freshly baked roll and went and sat down, where William bought his own piled plate over and poured them both tea.

“Ah, William, a little trifling matter, but it has put cook in a flux, did you by any chance cut a cake in the kitchen last night?”

“Oh, um, y-yes, sorry ma-ma – we were both hungry – got the midnight munchies, so to speak!” Anne smiled, amused

“I see – the cook had all sorts of fanciful ideas…one of them being that mice could cut cake!”

“I’m sorry ma-ma, I’ll go to the kitchens and apologise!”

The maid came in with some toasted muffins and Buffy, still hungry took two

“Tilly, would you convey my deepest apologises to Mrs Hodges for me, for it is we, that is *I* am the culprit for cutting the delicious cake last night…and um, give her this for me, will you?”

William put a sixpence in Tilly’s hand

“Yes sir, right away sir!”

“Good, you may go”

The maid dropped a curtsey and left

Anne stood and said

“I have to go to see a friend this morning William, but we will take luncheon together, yes?”

“Why yes ma-ma, but we too have an engagement this afternoon at two thirty”

“Very well, I’ll tell cook luncheon for 12.30, yes?”

“Yes, ma-ma”

“I bid you both good morning”

Anne left the room and Buffy said,

“Any more bacon and sausages? – In case I don’t like lunch”

After another two rashers and two sausages, and another cup of tea, they went back up to bed.

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


When Buffy came down stairs, there was a distinct smell of fish in the air, and Buffy was pleased that she’d eaten extra at breakfast.

But then when she entered the dining room she was pleasantly surprised to see a whole, poached salmon, it had been skinned and it’s scales reproduced in very thin slices of cucumber, a tureen full of cooked potatoes and another full of green garden peas.

She helped herself to a little of everything and sat down

“And how are you enjoying your stay my dear?”

“Oh very much, thankyou ma-ma…everything is so – well it’s just how I imagined, William told me so much about you” Buffy looked up to see a family portrait above the fireplace, standing pride of place at the back of his family stood a strikingly good looking man, tall, slim with the same high cheekbones as William – what she was surprised to see was two little girls in the picture too, one had blonde hair, one had dark, as well as a tousled haired William.

Buffy looked questioningly at William and he whispered that he’d tell her later.

“So William, when am I going to meet Robert is it?”

“Rupert, ma-ma, Rupert Giles – um, he IS a very busy man, but he might make luncheon tomorrow”

“Good, it’s a shame it isn’t later on in the year, we could have had luncheon on the terrace outside…still, never mind, another time maybe” Buffy felt almost sad that it would never happen, all being well they could all be back in the 21st century by Saturday morning………


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

“Ah, you’re here, good!” Politeness stopped Giles from saying ‘at last’; they were only a little late, it being ten to three.

“We couldn’t get a carriage, we had to practically walk here!” William said

“Yes Giles, and that’s FOUR miles, in these shoes and this corset so don’t say anything more okay!” Buffy grouched and plonked herself down.

“Er, Quite! Giles looked slightly bemused and cleaned his spectacles.

“This is the plan, Friday evening we all go to the cemetery dressed in dark clothing, and keep watch. Willow has spells to help us in case of difficulties, but we still must take care.

“What about Rack, he isn’t the Grand Wazoo –super warlock for nothing is he – what I’m saying is, HE’LL have spells too, possibly stronger ones?” Xander asked. Willow had her deer-caught-in-the-headlights look, and everybody looked at Giles.

“Ah, we thought of that, but he’s strength isn’t what it is, it’s not up to any where near 21st century strength” Wesley said

“No – how can you be sure?” Cordelia asked

“Two reasons, the first because of something he said the other night to Trick in the graveyard, and the other thing well, according to the Watcher’s diaries, in 1950 he had a great battle with a magical demon warlord and he stole his mojo – that’s what made him super-powered”

“What did he say to Trick the other night then?”

“Oh, that he wasn’t going to traipse across town carrying such a valuable commodity as the book – if Rack was up to full 21st century strength, he could carry the thing out in front of him in a hand-cart and repel all takers at 50 paces if he wanted to” Everybody nodded meaning they understood.

“So what do we do if we see the book, grab it?”

“If there’s no danger, then yes – if there IS danger, then Willow will have spells, like I say”

“As a back-up plan, we can always see who buys it and get them after” Wesley said

“Does this mean I don’t have to go back to the shop now?” Cordelia asked

“That’s right Cordy, you’ve done your bit”

“That’s good – I’m sick of women wanting dead pigeons on their heads!”

“What?” Buffy asked, wrinkling her nose

“Not literally, just SO many feathers!”

“Oh. Oh by the way Giles, lunch tomorrow – sorry, luncheon with ma-ma, she wants to meet you!” Buffy said with a grin.

Giles got slightly nervous and ‘fumbley’ with his specs.

“Well, er, y-yes! It is to be expected – a manager meeting his young charge’s parents – mother, I mean”

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


“Ma-ma, this is Rupert Giles, Mr Giles, this is my mother Anne Carling-Blackmore”

Giles took Anne’s hand gently and they made their acquaintances.

“Come through to the salon, we’ll have a dry sherry before luncheon”

Anne looked stunning; she was wearing a dress of cornflower blue stripe that really bought out the colour of her eyes. Giles could see for himself what a beautiful woman she would have been in her younger days.

After a light lunch of lamb cutlets and a vanilla blancmange to follow, they spoke briefly about business and Anne spoke of her ambitions for her son, especially now as he was married………
 

Chapter 7

Later on that evening, after Anne had retired to bed, William and Buffy sat by the fireside. William had a cognac warming in his hand.

“William, I meant to ask, in that family portrait in the salon, who are the two girls?”

William took a sip of the fine brandy and said simply,

“My two sisters, Emily was the blonde one, and the older of the two girls, and the dark haired one, was Lucy”

Buffy shifted to look at her husband.

“Sisters – I didn’t know you had – so where are they, could I meet them?”

William turned a sad pair of eyes to his wife and gave a rueful smile

“Sadly, no. They’re both dead”

Buffy frowned and put her hand on his chest

“Oh William, I’m so sorry – what happened?”

“About five months after father had that painting commissioned…we were walking from church, as a family and a carriage went by, and something – to this day I’ll never know what…something spooked the horse, and it reared up, mounted the pavement and trampled poor Lucy. I remember father falling to his knees to pick her up, she looked like she was sleeping, there wasn’t a mark on her face, just a little mud on her Sunday best coat. She was nearly 8 – such a pretty little thing she was, and clever too – she was so good at her lessons.” He sipped more brandy and continued

“Emily died in childbirth at 19. She married a captain in the army – Captain Charles Wentworth-Smythe, very brave man – he was beside himself with grief when Emmy died, he tried to take care of the baby, but it died a few days after. He couldn’t cope with living in their house after that, too many memories – Mother told him, there would always be a home for him here – he smiled and nodded, I knew he’d never take us up on the offer – he just threw himself into the Army life – took on a suicide mission…won himself the Victoria Cross…It was awarded posthumously, it’s in the drawer over there somewhere. Such a waste of a good man”

Buffy had tears in her eyes

“I’m sorry” She laid her head on his chest and they sat quietly for a while, William running his fingers through her hair.

Buffy had never thought about Spike having a family – to be truthful, she’d never really got past the nasty bitey side of him for years…

“Shall we go on up to bed my love, we have a big day tomorrow, and I want you to have a clear head”


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


The following afternoon, after lunch, Buffy and William entered the Savoy Hotel, and met the rest of the group for tea.


“Gunn and I went out to the graveyard again last night to see if we could get any more information” Wesley said

“And?”

“And we learnt that those with enough money are to be allowed into an auction, the book is going to go to the highest bidder tonight after midnight”

Giles carried on the conversation

“Each one of you will be given a task, we know that the cutthroat, Bull I believe his name is, is going to be his strong arm security, and with a little care, I believe that you William and you Xander can take care of him”

“What – Giles, are you insane – that guy must weigh well over three hundred pounds, he could pick William and Xander up in each hand!” Buffy said totally alarmed

“Don’t worry! We will lure him out of the crypt, throw a combat net over him and knock him out with chloroform – he’ll be out for the count, but unharmed”

“I’ll give it a go, what say you Will?”

William shrugged and said he’d be willing to help his good lady wife.

“Giles, I’m not happy with this” Buffy’s face showed her misgivings

“Don’t forget me – I’m here ready with the spells!”

“Yes Willow, but all the same – this isn’t Spike were talking about, this is William, besides if Rack starts with the magic, then you’ll be side-tracked!”

“Okay then, I suggest we lure him out before we go in, that way we can all jump on this ‘Bull’ guy if necessary,” Gunn said

“But then we must do it as quietly as possible, we mustn’t draw any undue attention to ourselves – I want us to look as inconspicuous as possible” Giles reasoned

“I’ve been thinking…why does it have to be a demon that buys the book, why can’t it be a human? Human’s do unscrupulous things –all the time!” Cordelia piped up

“Cordy does have a point Giles” Gunn said

“You could put black rings around your eyes, hold your cape up over your arm and across your mouth to hide your face, wear a false moustache and-“

“XANDER PLEASE! – Now you’re being ridiculous!” Giles said irritably

“Okay, okay, just…so what will you two be doing?”

“I’m going to have some small horns stuck on my forehead, and some false teeth, to look like demon – and I shall wave around wads of cash” Gunn said

“Me too – I have some false hairy hands with claws, and one or two things that can be stuck on facially…” Wesley said

“I’m going in carrying a shiny orb, that crackles and flashes – they’ll think I’m a witch,” Cordelia said

“Buffy, you just be ready to seize the moment – you see a chance to grab the book, do so and run!”

“Run, okay, but run where?”

“Straight to me – I can put a protection spell around you both, so nobody can touch you or the book, until I break the spell, or it wears off – but that wouldn’t be for a couple of hours” Willow added

“Well just be ready with the spell then, but what if you’re busy ‘helping’ somebody else?”

“Don’t worry, the spells are all in my witch bottles, all I have to do is grab the bottle and throw it down to break it – the spell is cast”

“Right, do we all know what we are doing?” Everybody nodded.

“Well I suggest we all go and get some rest, we need to be bright-eyed and bushy-tailed for later”


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


“But my love…where are we going?” William was being led upstairs by the hand by his ladylove.

“Where do you think!” Buffy said with a grin

“But…it’s the middle of the day!”

“Don’t be so…so VICTORIAN!”

“But my love, I AM Vic-oh –OH! Hmmmmmmmm”

Buffy closed their room door, pinning William to it by kissing him passionately. She could fell his arousal against her thigh, and smiling she ground herself against it, earning yet another groan from him

*THIS’LL Blow his mind!* Buffy thought, sinking to her knees and quickly unbuttoning his high-waisted trousers.

“Buffy, what, I mean oh – I say, what are you…oh god…Buffy, BUFFY- OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!”

William snatched his spec off his face and began to shake, he tried to get some purchase with his fingers against the door, but all he did was scratch it, the sensations she was giving him unlike any he’d felt before


“Oh, oh, oh g-g-god B-Buffy!”

“Shush my love, relax, enjoy!”

She wetly licked at the weeping tip of his huge hard-on, before once again sucking the whole head of him into her warm wet willing mouth, William’s knees nearly gave-way, and he was shaking so much.

Releasing him with a wet suck, Buffy helped him step out of his trousers and over to the bed, where she began to slide her hand up and down his manhood, leaving him breathless and moaning

Lowering her head again she took as much of him into her mouth as she could, sucking lustily, her cheeks hollowing, her hand sliding in motion to her sucking. With her other hand she cupped his balls, massaging them softly, circling them with her thumb, tugging them gently

William babbled incoherently, his hips thrusting up of their own volition toward her wonderful mouth, his fingers digging into the soft mattress, grabbing handfuls of bedding, his head whipped from side to side, his rolling eyes closed, and when Buffy felt his shaft swell even more, she knew he couldn’t last any longer, and she made her hand and mouth movements a little firmer and a little faster making William cry out the most exquisite of orgasms…Buffy greedily swallowed him down until he was well spent.

Suppressing a giggle but not the grin, Buffy mischievously eyed her husband and said,

“I take it you have no more objections!”

It was all William could do to try and speak coherently………

“Oh god Buffy, I love you!”

“And I love you too, now come on, rest”

She loved every second of deflowering William, revelled and delighted in giving him the first time sensations of pure unadulterated pleasure.

Lying by his side, she covered them over and they fell asleep.

Chapter 8

When they woke, Buffy’s thoughts immediately turned to Anne – ma-ma as she had been instructed to call her.

“Ill be sorry to go in a way – I mean, not that I’m not a fan of 21st century plumbing and electricity and all that it brings but…your mom is so sweet, I’ll miss her”

William was looking sombre too.

“I know – and I know deep in my heart of hearts what I am to become, and what I am going to do over the century, and it…” William forced his knuckles to his mouth and slightly turned away from her.

Buffy felt her eyes flood with tears, she held William tight

“I know baby, I know…but think of it like this, we CAN’T change history, it’s all really gone and past, done and done with - and we wouldn’t be together in our own time now, if things hadn’t happened the way they did…” She felt William nod and he sniffed deeply.

“Giles has given me something to put in the water so that your mother and the staff will forget all about me, all about us being here and us two being married, so when you do come back from America empty handed, she won’t be any the wiser”

William nodded – at least he’d made his mother happy once, even if he wasn’t quite able to manage it in ‘real life time’ for him.

Holding her tight, William had his head in her soft fragrant neck

“Thankyou”

Buffy turned her head, softly kissed his cheek and whispered,

“What for?”

“For helping me make my mother happy and proud of me, at least once, even if it WAS all a big façade”

Buffy bought her hand up to William’s other cheek. She had to swallow the lump in her throat and she whispered

“William, your mother loved you and was SO proud of you anyway, I didn’t –“

“No, don’t…let’s not say anymore huh? – Time to go, get things done”

“Are you going to say goodbye to your mother?” Buffy asked

William shook his head no and replied,

“I come home from America in 6 days time, well I did, and as she’s not going to remember this, I’d rather remember her the way I did, when I left for America all those years ago”

Buffy nodded and was careful to do a ‘sweep’ of the room to make sure she left nothing behind. Quietly slipping down the back stairs that lead directly to the servant’s quarters, Buffy slipped the powders Giles had given her into Anne’s carafe of drinking water, and into the servant’s teapot.

She headed back upstairs and between them they made the bed careful to leave it turned down just the way the maid would have left it.

“Right, ready?” William asked, and Buffy nodded.

Opening the window onto the flat roof of the morning room, William and Buffy carefully climbed out, bringing their luggage with them.

Dropping down onto the pavement they quickly walked away towards town. They were lucky to find a coachman who had fallen asleep, and was willing to take them into town, as he had to go that way.

Arriving at the hotel, Buffy and William put their cases with the others.

“Right, everybody know what they’re supposed to be doing?” Giles asked

Buffy looked around. With a few ‘Hallowe’en’ supplies from the 21st century, plastic fangs, rubber hands with claws, some stick-on horns and face paint, and for Cordelia some Lurex fabric to make her a cape, a ‘touch globe’ that flashed like lightening with the warmth of a hand and some glitter gel on her face and hair, it had transformed them into convincing monsters and a witch. Buffy dressed as a boy again, it would be easier for her to move and fight if necessary.

They made their way to the cemetery as stealthily as possible. Two carriages passed them on the way there, and each wondered whom they contained…

By the crypt that they had gathered by last time, Giles gathered everybody close.

“Now remember, if you see the book, and have a chance to get it without causing immediate danger to either yourself or anyone of us, then take it and take off, the portal to the 21st century is where we came in, at the railway station. If the worst comes to the worst, we can always follow who buys the book if we have no other chance okay – and our watchword here is CAREFUL – and try not to make eye contact with each other while we are in there – we are all supposed to be independent buyers for the book, now you go first Gunn, then you Wesley, then you Cordelia, I’ll follow you in with Buffy, William and Xander you bring up the rear, try and keep out of sight as much as possible – and try to avoid getting hurt at all costs!”

Moving closer to the crypt that was the venue, Cordelia said she would be the first to go in…

She knocked on the door and ‘Bull’ opened it

“What do you want?”

“I am here to seek the Ars Daemonicus”

“Yeah, well show us yer money!”

Cordelia flashed a wad of notes at the huge lug, and was allowed in.

Gunn went next, scratched the door with his false hands. Bull opened it and Gunn waved a wad of paper notes stating he was there for the auction and was also allowed in

“Right when these strangers have gone in, you William, Xander, you two be ready to do your stuff, have you the chloroform ready William?”

“Yes!”

“Good, have you the netting to throw over him Xander?”

“Uh huh”

Buffy kissed her husband and wished him good luck.

The strangers were let into the venue and William went to the door before it could close.

“You, come here, look at this” William said to Bull

“Look at wha – I don’ wanna look at naffink”

“Oh but you must, all this money, just lying here, must belong to someb-“

At the word ‘money’, the big lug came ambling out and Xander threw the net over him, where he began to struggle like a wild thing, Bull roared and William jumped on his back, and managed to slip his hand containing the thick pad with the chloroform on it over his mouth, soon William felt the great lug’s muscles relax and he sank to the floor in an undignified heap. Careful to keep the pad over his mouth, William taped it into position while Xander tied him up. The rest of the gang, including Buffy went inside and closed the door after them.


Everybody looked around, Buffy counted two vampires, a styk demon, and in the corner, trying to keep out of everyone’s way, was a Chaos demon, with drippy horns.

“Can you see him?” Buffy hissed behind Giles

“No, not – ah!”

With a bright flash, Rack appeared at the back of the crypt, holding the book. It was obviously heavy and he wasn’t sorry to lay it down on top of the sarcophagus.

“Are there any more to come Bull? – Bull – where are you…Bull!”

“He’s outside, seeing off some grave robbers” Giles said helpfully

Rack nodded and said

“Well, we all know what we’re here for, so somebody start the bidding”

A vampire up the front said

“Ten shillings!”

Rack frowned

“If you’ve come here just to insult me and waste my time, then I’ll have Bull-“

“Er ten pounds!” Wesley said, and Rack looked up

“That’s better, but still nowhere near enough”

“Fifteen” Cordelia said

“Twenty”

“Lets not waste time, fifty!” Gunn said making Rack smile

“Sixty!”

“Now we’re getting somewhere!” Rack rubbed his hands together

Buffy began to edge around the room towards the sarcophagus where the book was

“Seventy five!”

The Chaos demon held up some money and said something nobody could understand, except Rack, who looked at the demon and then said in the same language,

“Don’t be a fool – fifty six, he’s already bid seventy five!” the demon looked at the money in his hand and seemed confused

“One hundred pounds!” Wesley said grandly

Rack came forward towards Wesley

“You better not be messin’ me around – show me the colour of your money…anyway what sort of demon are you…never come across one like you before”

Wesley counted out £100 while Rack practically salivered up at the wads of crisp notes this strange demon was holding.

“All of yous without at least a hundred pounds – get out, now…” the two vampires left, annoyed and game faced

The Chaos demon stuck his arm out holding the money in his fist and said something like

“Muck-lalla – muck-lalla!”

Rack rolled his eyes and sauntered over to him, trying to mind the pools on mucous on the floor

“Told you – ew that’s disgusting…fifty-six pounds isn’t enough, no go…GO ON, GO!” Rack pushed the money towards the demon and pointed to the door.

Defeated, the Chaos demon left, taking his dripping horns with him

The only ‘people’ left in the room besides the gang, were a couple of troll-like demons, who up until yet hadn’t spoken.

Giles looked at Willow and made a circular motion with his finger.

Willow understood and subtly pointed towards the book, which slowly began to rise in the air behind Rack

The two troll demons suddenly became animated, and started making un-human noises, and suddenly they both grew in stature and were about eight feet tall, and about five feet wide each, this growing caused Gunn and Wesley to stumble and be pushed out of the way, and caught Rack by surprise – he didn’t know what to do, and wasn’t expecting what had happened with the trolls.

Willow swung her finger back and forth and the book backed up in the air and came swooping down, catching Rack on the back of the head, knocking him forward into the two now massive demons

Cordelia ran to the crypt door and opened it, and Willow, guiding the book with her finger sent the book outside.

Xander and William saw it and took their chance, William made a leap in the air, caught it and he and Xander took off with it, Willow behind them.

Meanwhile, the others thought that it was probably prudent to stay put, they couldn’t incur Rack’s wrath if they disassociated themselves with what had just happened

The occurrence happening in mere seconds, Rack stood up and looked suspiciously at who was left

“Where’s my book – YOU – where’s MY BOOK! BULL – BULL COME IN HERE!”

Gunn gave a ‘roar’ and threw Rack’s hands off his neck.

“How DARE you insult me like that – do you think any one of us would still be here if we had your precious book?”

In a mysterious voice, Giles pretended to be ‘mystic’, cracked open a coloured smoke-bomb from a joke shop for effect and pointed to the two trolls, who had begun to shrink back to normal size, grunting and shuffling.

“It is them…when they grew………the book disappeared”

Cordelia turned and went to the door

“Where are you going?” Rack asked her sharply

“The book is gone – great magicks have been used by these demons, my time here is done”

Gunn strode out muttering about his time been wasted, and Wesley left too with a flourish.

“Give me my book back – I’ll turn you into stink beetles – where is it, what have you done with it – tell me – TELL ME!” Rack getting angrier by the second banged his fists against one of the trolls chests, and again the troll began to grow, Rack began to scream

“BULL…BULL WHERE – AHHHRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRGGGGGGGGGGGGGG!”

Not appreciating being pummelled, the trolls began laying into Rack with their claws, roaring guttural sounds. Rack fearing for his very existence tried casting spells, but his magic was practically useless, he didn’t have anywhere near the power he was used to – nothing crackled at his fingertips, nothing burned through his veins – he was useless………

Giles flung his cloak around his shoulders, and held his hand out to Buffy, who went to him like a child would, and they left too, very swiftly indeed!

Chapter 9


“I hope the other’s got away okay!” Buffy said as they trotted along

“I don’t visualise any problems – lucky for us those troll things were there!”

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

“Will, Will…I n-need a breather!” Xander was exhausted carrying the extremely heavy book

“What’s wrong?” Willow asked when she caught up with the two

“Heavy – my arms are coming off, this thing weighs a ton!” Xander pointed to the book

“I’m nearly magicked out, I need to be careful in case magic is needed at the portal - hold on………”

Running towards them were Wesley and Gunn

“Everything okay?”

“Fine – just knackered, it’s so heavy!”

“Here, Wes and I will have a turn………god it IS heavy – ready Wes – lift”

Xander and Will swung and rubbed their arms to get some tension out of their tired muscles.

“We-should-have-got-a-carriage!” Wesley panted breathlessly

Gunn just grimaced and nodded as they stumbled along best they could.

Hearing running footsteps, Buffy called out

“Wait for us!”

Everybody stopped, and Gunn and Wes weren’t sorry to put the book down

“We should have got a carriage!” Giles said, panting slightly

“Yeah…I just said that!” Wesley said, bent over trying to get his breath.

“Come here…we haven’t far to go now, I’ll carry it!” Buffy picked the book up effortlessly, and strode on ahead, making all the males feel a little less than adequate!

“Locked – I can’t be bothered to climb over!”…Buffy quickly broke the chain holding the gates of the railway station shut, and everybody went through.

“Right, Wes, Gunn go get the cases where we stashed them. Willow do you have the scan thing?” Giles asked

“Yes, here it is”

“What scan thing?” William asked

“It shows the portal up as a glimmering light – there, by those bushes, see?”

Giles passed William the scan, and he saw the bush as sparkling and dancing green lights through the scanner.

“Right, Gunn, you go first, then Wes, then Xander and Cordelia - Buffy, you with the book, then William, I go next and Willow will bring up the rear, in case any magicks have to be done – ready – each grab your suitcase – go Gunn”

Gunn stepped towards the bush, and disappeared, Wesley followed, and then the rest in the sequence Giles had told them

As soon as the falling sensation ended, Gunn opened his eyes to find himself thankfully, back in the ‘Blue Room’ at Wolfram and Hart – he located the door and waited for the others, each one walking out of the column of blue light. When everybody had assembled. They walked down the corridor, to be met by a beaming Angel

“Did you get – oh thank the GODS!” Gratefully Angel took the book off Buffy and passed it straight to head of security

“How did you know we were coming?”

“Security warned me of a power-surge – so how did it go, any problems?”

“Pizza – I’m not doing or saying ANYTHING until I’ve had pizza, a diet Coke and chocolate ice-cream – but I want a decent shower first” Buffy said smiling

“’Hamburger’ - ‘bacon-double cheeseburger’ – ‘chili-hot-dogs’ – ‘pizza’ – ‘fried chicken’ – ‘fries, Dr Pepper’ – 7UP the calls went up from various folk what they’d missed and wanted now, food and drink wise

“I’d rather like a nice cup of tea, actually!” Giles said with a smile

Angel grinned

“I’ll order you food, Buffy, Spike - you can both go up to the main suite upstairs, I’ve had the bed made up with fresh linens for you”

Before another word was said, they were both out the door, up the stairs and into the room. Spike bounced on the bed and ran his hands through his hair

“Oh… to be back to normal – I HATED those silly sideburns and the long hair!”

Buffy smiled, sat astride him and running her fingers through his surprising soft locks and said,

“I don’t know…I quite liked them…they tickled!”

Spike nuzzled at her neck making Buffy catch her breath, she dropped her hands on his shoulders and squeezed gently.

“Down boy – shower, then FOOD and then – well we can come back up here”

Spike pouted

“What?! Aren’t you going to eat in here?”

“No, we’ll go down to the de-briefing – I wanna know what everybody thought……………




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

“So I turned around as said, you think THIS is a little understated? – I couldn’t believe how this woman thought that having the equivalent of a dead pigeon on her head was understated!” Cordelia said, before savouring another bite of pizza.

Chatter was lively, Angel heard it all, Buffy joined in a little, Spike said nothing.

“What about you Spike, what was it like to see old London town again, huh?” Angel asked with a smile

Spike had been thinking about that very subject, but didn’t want to share his thoughts with anybody – least of all that pillock…

“I’m um, I’m a bit tired – come up when you’re ready babe” Spike left the room

“What, what did I say?” Angel was genuinely perplexed at Spike’s reaction

Buffy stuffed the last piece of crust into her mouth, dusted off her hands and picked up her diet soda

“I’ll see you all in the morning – night all”

“Buffy – what’s wrong with, I mean I didn’t mean anything by…(he shrugged) oh…goodnight then” Angel said

Buffy nodded and went on up.

“What did I say?” Angel looked at Giles

“Well, they DID stay at his mothers’ house, perhaps it was having to say goodbye to her?” Giles suggested

“He didn’t, say goodbye I mean – Buffy told me – William was due back to the house in six days time after being in America, so he just left the forgetting draft and left it at that”

Harmony came over to Angel and shoved a piece of paper in his hand.

“Ever thought that the last time he saw Old London town was when you and the whore and looney tunes changed him, huh, perhaps he didn’t want to be reminded – being a vampire sucks!”

A surprisingly spot on Harmony walked away leaving Angel speechless, and also feeling…what sorry? Perhaps.

“What’s wrong with Harm?” Gunn asked

“She’s realised she can’t have a beach holiday with some of her old friends” Angel said, still slightly reeling from her verbal attack.
************

Buffy entered the suite quietly. Spike was in bed covered over, his back to the door.

“Spike…baby are you awake?” Buffy carefully clambered on the bed

“Uh huh”

“What’s wrong babe?”

“Oh nothing really…I just couldn’t take that sanctimonious gits smug face, like he’d done me some bleeding favour sending me back there – stirring up old sad and bad memories and that”

Buffy frowned and gave him a hug and said,

“Never mind, I –“ Buffy began

“And I don’t want your pity either!” Spike snapped, jerking his shoulder away from her

Buffy got off the bed and immediately Spike sat up and said

“I’m sorry, babe, sorry - don’t go, please”

Buffy leant forward and kissed him

“Not going, getting undressed”

“I’m sorry love, didn’t mean to take it out on you”

Naked, Buffy slipped in beside him, and cuddled him up

“Say no more, come on, I can feel you’re so tense, relax”

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


Epilogue

6 Weeks Later…………………

Spike woke and looked at the clock, it was ten to four in the morning, and Buffy wasn’t next to him in bed.

Taking his robe off the back of the door and slipping it on, he padded downstairs, through the lounge and into the kitchen

“What are you doing pet?”

“Oh! You made me jump!” Buffy guiltily slammed the fridge door shut, the left hand side of her cheek bulging.

“You CAN’T be still hungry, surely?”

Buffy finished chewing and swallowed

“But I am! Anyone would think I’d slayed two dozen vampires, I’m starving!”

“Starving huh – you ate six slices of a family sized pizza at teatime, I swear I heard you positively growl at Xander for even looking at that last piece! – You hogged the coleslaw too!”

“Did not!”

“Well you ate all the ice-cream”

“I gave you a taste!”

“Yeah, a TASTE, teeny tiny bit on the end of the spoon – it was a pint tub!”

Buffy blinked, her large green eyes shining, she had a slight frown on her face, as she shifted from foot to foot guilty as charged…

Spike smiled

“You probably can’t sleep that’s all – how about I make you some hot chocolate?”

“Yeah! Yummy – now please – hurry up!”

She plonked herself on one of the kitchen stools and watched while Spike went about methodically getting the things ready to make her drink.

Just as the kettle boiled, she remembered something and went to the fridge, taking out a can of ‘squirty’ cream, she ‘pinched’ another slice of boiled ham and took out a bowl of fruit salad

Spike stirred the drink, turned and shook his head when he saw what she’d got. Buffy squirted a generous portion of whipped cream onto the drink, AND on the fruit in the bowl.

“You’ll be sick young lady”

“Won’t………got any marshmallows?”

“I thought you didn’t like them – what did you say they were monkey brains?”

“I just wondered if I’d changed my mind…put some in yours and I can taste!” Wearily, anything for the quiet life, Spike stood and went and rootled around in the cupboard

“No, we seem to be out”

Buffy pouted

“I’ll have to go shopping”

“We did, day before yesterday…spent a bloody fortune, if I remember rightly too! Give me a bit of that pineapple”

“Please!” Buffy admonished, and picked up a small piece on the spoon

Spike rolled his eyes and said please, opening his mouth, but closed it again when he saw the measly bit Buffy went for

“I want that bit, there”

“But that’s a big piece – I was saving that piece for last!”

“Did you skip lunch yesterday or something?”

Crossing her fingers behind her back, Buffy said,

“Hmm, yeah, well kinda” remembering the soup, skyscraper deli sandwich and potato chips she’d demolished, and then she’d had a choc-chip muffin later on………

Buffy finished off the fruit salad and began to sip her chocolate

She felt a slight twinge in her tummy but ignored it.

Spike drained his mug and picked up the empty bowl, and put them both by the sink

“Don’t be too long now”

“I won’t”

Spike went up back to bed.

When she heard the floorboards creak upstairs, she quietly opened the fridge, shoved another piece of ham in her mouth and another in her hand, and was thinking about opening the cheese when she spied the four-pack of chocolate mousse………

Spike was fast asleep when she got back into bed. She felt slightly sick, but it was more than likely down to the order that she’d eaten things………

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

“Buffy!”

Willow startled her friend in the 7-11, Buffy nearly jumped out of her skin!

“I thought Spike took you shopping”

Willow gave her friend a sunny smile, that faded when she saw the contents of Buffy’s shopping cart………

“That sure is a big jar of pickled onions!”

“Ha-ha, yes…they’re for um, Mrs Thingy, um Jones, next door, I was just popping out for um – toothpaste – yeah, and um, and she asked me you know how it is!”

“Did she want three kinds of boiled ham too? – And what’s that………Kraft instant mac and cheese…hey I thought you didn’t like Mrs Jones, you said she was a nosey old bat!”

“She was, is – but well, you know how it is…so we all at Xander’s tonight?”

“Uh huh, don’t forget to bring snacks”

“Meaning?” Buffy narrowed her eyes at her friend

Willow looked confused for a few seconds

“I mean, he said he’d provide chips and dips, and popcorn, but if we want anything else – what did you think I meant?”

“Nothing – I………oh, oh god I’m, I’m going to………!”

“Buffy are you alright – you’ve gone very pale”

Buffy felt her tummy back-flip and hit the back of her throat and she felt really sick and faint.

“Buffy, BUFFY!” Buffy tried to keep hold of the cart, but it rolled away from her and she crumpled to the floor.

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

Spike carried Buffy into the lounge and put her on the sofa.

Willow helped and whipped off the blanket from over Spike’s head.

Spike put his hand on her forehead and Buffy wriggled it off.

“I’m alright, stop fussing – I was hot, that’s all”

“YOU young lady, are going to the doctors office, no arguments!” Spike said sternly, standing over her, his hands on his hips.

“I’m NOT! I don’t want to waste his time and – and – oh god – MOVE!”

Buffy jumped up and ran to the kitchen and threw up.

Willow wandered back into the lounge with a puzzled look on her face

“What’s up Red?”

“Mrs Jones didn’t know what I was talking about”

It was Spike’s turn to frown

“Mrs Jones – you mean that nosey old bag next door?” Willow nodded

“I don’t – “ Spike continued

“Buffy said this stuff was for her, I took it to her and she just said to me, ‘are you mad – I’m a little old lady, what would I want with a jumbo jar of pickled onions for’?”

Buffy appeared wiping her mouth

“Mrs Jones said-“ Willow began

“They were for me. I got a, a fancy for pickled onions, that’s all, it’s no biggie, it’s just I’m getting fed up of everybody studying every morsel of food that passes my lips”

A smile passed over Willow’s face

“I’m going to make an appointment for you at the doctors, and it’s going to be an evening appointment so I can go with you”

“Er, Spike – don’t worry – I think I know what’s wrong!”

“What?”

“Um, give me half an hour, okay – and if I’m wrong, then go ahead and call the doctors office okay?”

“Half an hour? – You going to use magic?”

“No – no magic! Oh god this is SO exciting sit there, I’ll be ten minutes!” Frowning at Willows ‘giddiness’ Spike and Buffy both sat down perplexed on the sofa.

A little over ten minutes later, Willow came bowling back into the house like the devil was after her, her momentum taking her straight up the staircase

“Buffy, come on, upstairs!”

Heaving a sigh, Buffy went up, halfway up calling,

“Where are you?”

“Bathroom – come on, quick!”

Buffy trudged in like a condemned woman, she felt tired and definitely different.

Willow had her back to her

“Come on then, what is it”

“This – you have to pee on the end of it, if it turns blue, then you are!” Willow held out the small plastic wand with a huge grin

“Are? Am what?”

“Pregnant you fool!”

Buffy looked at the strip of plastic while she processed Willow’s words.

“ME the fool – hello, Spike’s a vampire!”

“Yes Spike is, WILLIAM wasn’t!”

“I’m sorry – what do you – oh…OH – OH MY GOD! I – WE I mean………” Buffy looked at the strip again, her hand shaking

“Go on, I’ll wait outside!” Willow went to leave but Buffy said she could stay

Willow turned her back and couldn’t stop smiling

“This is SO neat! AND it’ll explain why you’ve been such a piggy around food!”

“Piggy? I don’t know what you mean – Willow…I can’t go”

“Run the taps then – here, I’ll do it!”

Willow ran the taps and she heard Buffy sigh

“Okay, all done…what am I supposed to do now?”

Willow turned around and looked at her friend

“We have to wait a minute”

“Is everything alright?” Spike asked from outside the door

“Fine! Won’t be long – be out in a few minutes!”

“Sure you’re alright pet, have you been sick again?”

“No – no, I’m fine!”

“Okay then…I’ll go and make some tea”

“’Kay, be right down!”

“Well – do you think it’s a minute yet?” Buffy still had the little white strip behind her back, hidden from both their views

“Give it a few more seconds………god this is exciting!” Willow grinned

Buffy didn’t know what to think

“Think it’s a minute now?”

“Yeah! Come on, let’s look, unless you want look on your own”

“No…I can’t look!”

“Do you want me to look for-“

“No…I’ll –“ (Buffy took a deep breath and bought her hand round to the front) the tip couldn’t be bluer if it tried – it was bright and it big and it was definitely blue!

Willow squealed and grabbed Buffy’s arm –

“I’m…I’m…uh!” Willow caught Buffy before she fell

“SPIKE!”

Spike was up the stairs three at a time, he stood in the doorway looking terrified something was seriously wrong with his beloved Buffy, before kneeling at her feet

“What, what is it, what’s wrong with her Red?” Willow smiled

“Nothing…here – congratulations!” Willow handed him the plastic wand and the box it came in

Frowning Spike read the words ‘Clear Blue Pregnancy Test’

“What’s this then?”

“Well read it!” Willow said giggling

“Willow, this doesn’t make sense, I’m a vampire, there’s no way I can -”

“And as I said to Buffy, you are, William wasn’t”

“What? William wasn’t what - What do –William, you mean when Buffy and me as William, when we – “ A huge grin spread over Spike’s face

“Spike?” Buffy called groggily

“Baby? Oh gods I was SO worried…I love you so much my baby!”

Willow slipped out of the bathroom leaving the couple to get used to their news.

The news took everyone by happy surprise – Angel was ‘gobsmacked’ – and definitely surprised at the ‘Blue Room’s’ novel use.

But nobody was happier than Spike, who felt he would burst with love and pride every time he looked at his blossoming wife.

The End ( For now!)