December 29, 2007 1:13 PM

Spike folded his fingers together trying to regain control of himself. Two of Sunnydale’s police detectives sat on his couch while Buffy was tucked behind him on the chair. He was worried, not quite sure if the bad day she was having would be a help or a hindrance to the interview the detectives were trying to conduct. She was mumbling about finding ‘it’ which was what they were looking for when the knock on the door had interrupted them. Spike had no clue what ‘it’ was and was doubtful even Buffy did. She had told him that it was imperative that they find ‘it’ so they had been spending the morning searching. The only thing he was hoping was that she wouldn’t start talking about things that would raise the police’s suspicion even higher.

“Mr. Blood is she always like this?” the detective (who’s rotund appearance put Spike in mind of Tweedledee) asked.

“Pretty much, this is getting to be the norm most days.”

“Convenient,” Tweedledum, Tweedledee’s partner, muttered. “Mrs. Blood, do you know who Nicole Rochester is?”

“Nicole, Nicole, Nicole, NICOLE,” Buffy chanted, while dancing her fingers along Spike’s arm,” Nicole, no, no Nicole,” she giggled, “no know no Nicole, Nicole.”

“Maybe you know her by Nikki?”

Buffy’s mood instantly changed and Spike bit back a sigh. Any happiness she’d exhibited was gone and her body stiffened. Spike glanced over his shoulder at her and winced at the storm that raged in her eyes—eyes that screamed accusations at him.

“Nikki,” Buffy whispered, her fingers drifting over Spike’s cheek. “She wanted what was mine but mine didn’t want her. Mine wants only me. Mine always comes back to me.”

Ignoring the others, Spike covered her hand, and kissed her palm. The tempest passed from his wife’s eyes and she relaxed. He smiled and was rewarded with a small smile in return.

“Did you want to hurt her for it?”

“She already lost,” Buffy answered, her eyes never leaving Spike’s. “She will never enjoy the feel of his flesh.”

“As you know, we did pull your bank records and there were two withdrawals for large amounts. What were those for?”

Reaching for the folder on the coffee table, Spike withdrew the two receipts that Angel had faxed to him and handed them to the detective.

“They were for Christmas presents,” Spike said. “Those are copies of the receipts.”

“Nice presents,” Tweedledee commented, reading the items that were ‘purchased’. “Do all right for yourselves, don’t you?”

Spike lifted one eyebrow and stared at the prat, refusing to be baited. The little twerp had been eyeing their home since he had walked in. Their comfortable living already branded them in his eyes as spoiled and willing to bend the law to suit themselves. Tweedledee would have been really surprised to find out that it wasn’t the wealth that made Spike willing to bend the law but the very nature of the beast within him.

“Mr. Blood, the two of you have other children, isn’t that right?” Tweedledee asked.

“What does that have to do with this?” Spike asked, his head snapping back to look at the detectives. He immediately remembered the conversation with Giles and could only hope the Watcher wasn’t stupid enough to threaten his family.

“If your wife is violent then it might not be safe to have the children around her.”

“My children are fine because Buffy isn’t violent,” Spike answered, his voice dropping to an icy pitch.

Tweedledum opened a file, glanced up at him before listing, “Expelled from Hemery High School for burning down the gym, she was a suspect in two murders while attending Sunnydale High, and her sister was removed from her care for neglect and child endangerment.”

“And all of that was years ago,” Spike said, fighting back the demon who wanted loose to protect what was his.

“Isn’t there a scar on your chest from her?”

“That is something that is between my wife and I and it was only brought up because the stalker mentioned it. Our children are doing quite well in spite of everything.”

Buffy plucked on his shirt sleeve and shifted to try to crawl over him. Spike put his arm up to try to keep her where she was. She whimpered as she stared at the two strangers. The smell of her fear teased at his nostrils and his features kept attempting to shift.

“They want to take me away from my babies. Spike, please don’t let them take me.”

Spike pulled her onto his lap and ran a soothing hand up and down her back. He kissed her temple while he pulled her closer. Her fingers clutched at his shirt and she buried her face against his chest.

“No one is going to take you away.” Spike said calmly with an edge of determination as he deliberately made eye contact with each of the men.

“Mr. Blood,” Del said from the doorway. “I’m sorry to interrupt but I’m going to pick up the children now.”

Relief ran through Spike as their friend stepped further into the room. He knew that Del has been listening in the kitchen and had chosen this moment to interrupt to them. Del had been steadfast in her loyalty to their family and Spike had come to count on her to handle things when he and Buffy couldn’t.

“Who are you?” Tweedledee asked.

Del snorted lightly. “I’m the nanny and household manager.”

“The nanny? The children have a nanny?”

“Yes, as I said I’m the nanny. I watch the children when Mr. and Mrs. Blood are unable to.”

“Do you live in?” Tweedledum asked, busily making notes on his pad. “And what is your name?”

“Across the street and the name is Delores Armstrong.” Del said. “If you will excuse me now, the children are waiting at the park to be picked up.”

Spike wanted to cheer her as she gave one last haughty look before exiting. His temporary mirth was quickly snubbed out by Tweedledee clearing his throat.

“Mrs. Blood is under the supervision of a therapist, correct?”

“Yes, she is,” Spike replied, giving them Sara’s name and office contact information. His hand closed around Buffy’s wrist as she once again attempted to leave his protection. “This is only agitating my wife and we have told you everything we know which isn’t much, so I need to ask you to leave now.”

The two detectives glanced at each and after apparently agreeing that they had gotten all the information they could for the moment, they stood.

“We’ll be in touch if we need anything else,” Tweedledum said.

Spike nodded as he followed them to the door. Buffy was tucked under his arm and when he tried to close the door behind the pair, she stopped him. She held onto the door until their car pulled out into the street before closing it with a bang.

“You should have snapped their necks,” Buffy said with a wave of her hand, “useless, useless, absolutely useless.”

A snicker escaped from Spike as his wife muttered and wandered down the hallway toward the kitchen. She was beginning to waddle from the pregnancy and he watched with interest the new movements of her hips. He supposed it was time to start looking for ‘it’ again and shook his head to follow her. Maybe he could distract her with some food and went to catch up to her before she got wrapped up in the search again.

January 10, 2008 9:56 PM

There weren’t many nights like this anymore. Quiet, almost serene. But something was wrong. Every Slayer instinct in Raven told her that blood had been spilled and the evil whispers of laughter played in the wind around her. Connor moved closer to her. The warrior in him was responding to hers and they could feel the air crackle around them as they prepared for battle. A glance over her shoulder reassured her that Dawn and Josh were close behind them.

The campus had many dark corners and wooded paths that were an invitation for vampires and other beasties to hide out to catch their human prey. Sacrifice the young and leave the old town people safe. Turn their heads against the strangers who came to the hellmouth with dreams and hopes of a future only to leave in a wooden box. Anything to save the future of this town that should have been destroyed years ago.

Raucous laughter sounded ahead of them and Raven allowed Connor to take the lead. He was her equal in every way and sometimes it worked better for their opponents to think she was a weak girl that wasn’t a threat to them. They turned off the quad toward the dormitories following the flickering lights of the lamps that brought little illumination to the path. The scent of blood and death were stronger here and their footsteps quickened. But answering footsteps accompanied by the laughter warned them that they weren’t alone. It didn’t take long to find the source, four young men, high on the kill and puffed with self importance. They blocked the path of the Slayer and her friends with smirks darkening their faces. Connor went to step around them but a hand laid in the middle of his chest stopped him.

“Where do you think you are going?” A tall boy asked.

“Back to my dorm,” Connor lied, his eyes flickering over the boys. “Why are you asking?”

“Haven’t you heard? There is evil in the night,” the boy said, leaning close to Raven and waggling his brows in an effort to frighten her. “All sorts of beasties that want to gobble up little girls.”

A sick feeling settled in her stomach. The scent of ignorance and death clung to this human and she wanted to vomit from the foulness of his aura.

“Why aren’t you inside then?” Raven questioned. She tried to appear timid hoping it would loosen his tongue.

“Because I fight the blackness,” he answered his chest expanding as he put his shoulders back. “I am a Soldier of Light, ridding the earth of the threat to humanity.”

“Hey, man, don’t tell them that,” one of his friends said. “Leave them here. If they are so idiotic to be wandering around out here they deserve what they get.”

With relief the four moved off, leaving Raven still shaken. It was only Connor’s hand on her shoulder that returned her to the mission once again and she was grateful that he was there. He had become her rock and with her parents so preoccupied with Buffy’s illness, she depended on him to keep her focused. She watched in wonderment as he lifted his head and sniffed the air. With only minimal eye contact with her, Connor turned and led them behind them Henderson Hall. The yard behind the building disappeared down into some woods. They trekked through the brush to a small clearing where the source of the death scent lay broken on the ground. Dawn shone the flashlight on the victim’s face and Raven gasped as she recognized, Dakmin, a young demon she had met through Clem. Visually he was human except for two small horns that sloped out of his temples and scales that ran along his spine. The two anomalies easily hidden by clothing were now exposed to anyone that happened upon his body.

Dakmin often visited the library on campus to study books on ancient architecture. His dream was to one day study his passion and was a gentle soul that only wanted to build monuments that would live beyond him. There was no evil in the creature that the SOL’s had destroyed but they would be allowed to live without punishment. They were human. Dakmin wasn’t.

Raven wrapped her hand in Dawn’s as she watched Connor scoop the body up. She felt Josh’s hand on her shoulder and together they followed Connor back to the demon side of town. Their small group brought attention and as they made their way to Dakmin’s family home they found their numbers growing as other demons joined them. Evil and good, united by the death of one of their own grieved together. Angry whispers reached Raven’s ear and she knew that she was unwelcome but she held her head high. There would be a time when it was only good against evil. And she would fight for that day with every fiber of her being.

January 10, 2008 11:31 PM

For a moment Raven stood quietly and watched her father play the Sega game with total intensity. She knew that he was aware of her presence and when he was ready would turn to her. She took a sip of her orange juice and slid onto the couch, tucking her feet beneath her. The room was dark and was only lit by the images on the screen. The light flickered across her father’s countenance in varying degrees, highlighting and emphasizing his chiseled features. His beauty was worthy of admiration and Raven felt the gratitude again that his heart was even more magnificent and was able to love this rag tag family as his own. She knew of his weaknesses and the pain he had brought her mother but she loved him in spite of it. In the end, he was here. His love evident in the gentleness that was shown to them and the fierceness of with which he protected them. It still amazed her that inside of him beat the heart of a demon that could be as cruel and as heartless as the humans that had taken Dakmin’s life. She only prayed that it would never be let loose in her time.

“What’s up, Princess?”

She smiled as her father settled beside her. His arm draped over the back of the couch. The patience in his eyes turned her smile into the tears that had been threatening for what seemed forever. Raven felt the strength in his arm’s as he gathered her close and allowed her to weep. Between her sobs she told him of her night and of the hurt that filled her heart. His gentle whispers and even gentler hands stroking her hair made her feel safe. As much as she loved Connor, in the end she was Daddy’s girl and sometimes only he could make her feel protected. Eventually her tears slowed and she backed away. Her hands wiping at her face as Spike waited.

“I don’t know what to do, Daddy,” Raven explained, looking away. “I’m the Slayer but I am one of them. Not quite human. I think it’s only you that clears my way down there. A vampire, even a domesticated one, for a father gives me a little leverage.”

“Hey, not domesticated here,” Spike joked.

“Yes, you are,” Raven said, smiling. “Not quite out there in the killing fields anymore.”

“What do you want to do?”

Raven shifted until her arms were wrapped around her legs. His hand rested on her back now and laying her cheek against her knees, she looked back at him.

“I took this gig to change the world but I’m only one person. I get so scared sometimes. I mean, Clem used to be this scaredy cat but now he’s become this one man army. He doesn’t care. He goes anywhere he wants to and is taking the harassment in stride. I’m afraid that he’s going to get killed one night. Those SOLs aren’t going to care. If they’re not human then it’s open season on them.”

“You know why he does it. A part of him doesn’t care if he lives or dies anymore. It gives him that recklessness. But you,” Spike said, tugging on a lock of hair, “are like your mother. You want to live. You want a future. The love that you want is still waiting for you.”

“I want to come out to the world. Tell them everything about demons and Slayers. Force people to see the truth.”

If she could she would slowly start shaking people one by one until they saw things her way. Impatience burned in her and she wanted to do a huge campaign to get them to see. The sound of her father’s sigh snapped her out of her reverie and she turned to face him again.

“It won’t work, little one. You can’t force them. It will only drive them further away. All you can do is keep trying and keep believing. It won’t be easy and it might not, well actually, probably won’t happen in your lifetime but you can make a difference. Just keep trying. That’s all you can do.”

Raven knew he was right. It was the calm voice of someone who had lived a couple of lifetimes that she had needed. Someone who knew more about life then she would probably ever know that could give her guidance. She had found what she was seeking and it calmed the frantic pace of her soul. She leaned back against him, her eyes closing as he hugged her and for a little while longer she was ready to continue the fight.

to be continued…
Main Page*Chapter 38*Feedback