September 23, 2007 10:15 AM
The room was quiet except for the sound of cups rattling as everyone got settled. Lorne had taken over Spike’s chair, Angel and Cordelia were sitting on the couch, Buffy was sitting cross-legged on the corner of the desk and Spike was leaning back in his desk chair with his feet propped up next to Buffy.
Spike was trying to take the call for a meeting as coolly as he could. Sunnydale was his town now and he didn’t appreciate Angel pulling everyone into his study because of something dire. If something was wrong wouldn’t he know it? Wouldn’t he have been the one to be told and not them?
Not Buffy though, she looked on the precipice of panicking just because Angel said something. It was natural. Angel was the ultimate doom and gloom guy for the PTB and Buffy would always take him seriously. Even though she knew it, she would never admit that he was just a flighty ponce who couldn’t have a good time if it bit him in the ass. And as far as Spike was concerned even when he was getting bit on the ass he couldn’t have a good time.
Buffy’s hand came to rest on his ankle absently caressing it as if it was a good luck charm. Spike put his mug down and decided to take things out of Angel’s dramatic hands.
“So, what’s up? New demon, new apocalypse, LA going up in flames or what thing do we have to deal with now?”
“Don’t be so flip,” Angel responded.
Buffy squeezed gently on his leg, silently asking him not to get angry and with a sigh Spike leaned back in his chair.
“Didn’t mean to be flip, Peaches, but come on, just spill it. There isn’t much we haven’t handled before and we’ll handle whatever this is.”
“Is there something going on with you two that you haven’t told us?” Lorne asked.
“What do you mean?”
“Something going on between you two or with the baby that you haven’t shared with anyone else?”
“Everything is as normal as normal gets around here.” Buffy said.
Lorne leaned forward, “Cheesecake, last night when you were singing, I got a good read on you. And there was some bad mojo going on.”
Spike could see that Buffy was immediately tense at the demon’s words and quickly moved to sit behind her. He stayed far enough away as not to be leaning on her but close enough to lay a hand on her waist to let her know that he was there for her. They both knew to take Lorne’s readings seriously.
“So, what am I getting into now?” Buffy asked, and gripped Spike’s hand.
“Buffy, Lorne saw something inside of you, something black, that was slowly consuming you.” Angel said.
“Like eating me from the inside out?”
“No, darling, it wasn’t a like a creature inside of you that I saw. It was just this blackness that was slowly taking you over.” Lorne said.
“And my baby?”
“The baby was fine. It was like it was protected or loved by whatever the blackness was.”
“And this blackness? Do you know what it was? Was it evil?” Spike asked.
“Blackness usually is evil.” Angel replied.
Buffy moved away from Spike to stand to look out the window to look at her children playing in the backyard. Sean, Fred and Max were there joining in the fun. Spike and I should be out there. Time is so short. Why are we in here discussing this? , she thought to herself as she held her hand protectively over her baby.
“Buffy?” Spike stood so that he could be next to her.
She rubbed her temple then dropped her hand before turning back to him. “If the baby is fine then we have until spring to figure something out to stop whatever this is. I’m going to go outside while you all hash this out.”
With that Buffy left without looking back.
“Well, she took that a lot better than I thought she would.” Cordelia commented.
“Spike, we have no idea what this is.” Angel said. “But I personally would rather figure this out now.”
“Oh and gee, I want to wait until it’s too late to save her.” Spike retorted.
“We’re only trying to help.” Lorne said.
Spike moved back to his chair, slumping down as he threw his feet on the desk again. “I’m sorry. I know. Is there anything in this vision of yours that might give us a clue as to where to start?”
“No, and that’s the bad thing. It was weird because it was like she was filled with all this light and then slowly this blackness crept through all of her except for the womb holding the babe. And then she disappeared leaving only this ball of light behind.”
“The baby?” Spike asked.
“It looks that way. Maybe something wants the child.”
“Could be,” Angel agreed.
“Go ahead and go home as planned.” Spike turned his attention to Angel, “Start researching things on your end and see if you can find anything out. I’ll call everybody here and have ‘em come over this afternoon and get them looking into it.”
“We’ll stay long enough so that Lorne can be here for them to talk to.” Angel said.
“How about I take Buffy shopping this afternoon while you guys do this? She doesn’t seem to want to deal with this right now and frankly, she doesn’t need the stress.” Cordelia said.
“Sounds good,” Spike said as he reached for the phone.
~~~~~~~~
September 23, 2007 4:54 PM
Gathered around the kitchen table were the current adult male occupants of the
Blood house, Spike, Angel, Lorne and Max all holding a mug of their choice of
beverage in their hands. All were wearing a bleak expression as they discussed
the lack of advancement in Buffy’s fate.
The meeting that afternoon hadn’t shed any more light on the current problem. Giles had suggested it might be an illness that Buffy would contract and with the baby her Slayer powers couldn’t heal her fast enough or that there might even be complications in childbirth. So, they were stalled until something else showed itself although they would continue researching.
The front door slammed and they heard the voices of the women along with Sean and Elijah returning from the shopping trip.
“Hey guys,” Cordelia said as she walked into the kitchen followed by Fred. “What’s up?” She moved over to quickly kiss Angel before heading for the coffee pot.
“Where’s Buffy?” Spike asked.
“She headed upstairs saying she wanted to get changed. She’ll be down in just a minute.”
Spike nodded, “Was everything okay this afternoon?”
“Let me tell you we put quite a dent in your credit card, Spike. I’ll deduct my stuff from the bill,” Cordelia said.
The two women having gotten something to drink went to join the men at the table.
“Cordelia, its family. We don’t charge family.” Angel said.
“If you can find a way to keep Buffy safe I’ll give you everything I have,” Spike said quietly. Demons, vampires and hell gods were all things he had confidence in fighting but this blackness left him in fear. How did you fight something when you didn’t even know what it was or if it even had form? If it was an illness or complications then he was totally helpless when it came to Buffy.
“We are going to find out what’s going on.” Angel said. “Nothing is going to happen to her.”
Everyone fell silent as Buffy walked into the room. Her new shoulder length hair couldn’t distract them from her strained and tired appearance. She hesitated for a moment in the doorway as if she knew they had been talking about her.
“Hi everyone,” she said as she watched as her husband stood and approached her. “Hello Spike.”
His hand went to slowly run down hair, twirling the end around one finger. “I like it. It looks like it did when I first saw you.”
“Thank you.” she whispered. Then with a mischievous smile she added, “I brought the pony tail home for you. We measured it and it was over a foot long.”
“Damn, I guess it goes in the family album for prosperity.”
Spike deflected her fingers as they reached to tickle him by wrapping his own hands around them then twisting her until her back was against him and his arms were around her. Thankfully she didn’t push away from him but relaxed a moment before gracefully stepping away.
“We looked at things for the baby. There is so much out there and so many themes to choose from to decorate the nursery in.”
“Definitely need to start choosing the nursery theme,” Cordelia said.
“Giles and the others are going to start looking….” Spike started.
“I’m thinking something bright for the nursery, like maybe yellow with ducks all over the place.” Buffy said interrupting him.
“Buffy, did you hear me?”
“Or maybe lambs but I thought you’d like the ducks better,” Buffy said as she opened the refrigerator. “What are we going to do for dinner? Maybe order something in since there are so many people.”
Spike and Angel exchanged looks as they realized that Buffy was deliberately avoiding what was going on.
“Buffy,” Cordelia said, “whatever you want to do for dinner is fine. We can order something if you want, maybe pizza.”
“I really need to eat something better than that,” Buffy said. “If you order that than I’ll make a salad or something. The baby needs nutrition.”
“Definitely need to keep the both of you healthy, Cupcake.” Lorne offered.
“Maybe we can do more than pizza,” Angel said. “Why don’t we just go out?”
“Sounds good,” Spike said before turning his attention back to his wife. “Buffy, can we talk for a minute?”
Everyone jumped as the refrigerator door was slammed shut and Buffy advanced on Spike with anger marring her face.
“No, we can’t talk if you want to talk about this afternoon. Don’t bother me with it until you have an answer. If you haven’t noticed I’m a little busy right now. I have two children here that need to be taken care of and one on the way. They are the focus of my concerns right now.”
“I wasn’t saying they shouldn’t be, Pet, but we do need to discuss some things,” Spike told her as he reached a hand out to stroke her face when she batted it away.
“Don’t touch me,” Buffy screamed. “God, haven’t you figured it out yet that I hate having you touch me?”
Then she turned and ran from the room. They followed the sound of her feet running up the stairs until the bedroom door finally slammed shut.
“Spike, I’m sure she didn’t mean it like that,” Fred said.
“Yeah, she did,” he replied before retreated into his study, turning his stereo on to mask his weeping.
~~~~~~~
September 23, 2007 5:25 PM
“Is Mum and Dad okay?” Raven asked as she tentatively stepped into
the kitchen. It had been a while since her parents had really fought and when
they had been fighting it had meant trouble. A lot of trouble.
“Just a misunderstanding,” Max answered. “Batten down the hatches and hide the dishes until they’ve calmed down.”
Raven smiled at Max’s attempt at reassuring her. “Third set since we’ve been here,” she quipped back. “Mum’s been kind of jumpy lately and Dad keeps saying its hormones.”
“It is,” Angel said. “Plus I think a lot of it is just there’s been a lot of change lately and she’s feeling…”
“Overwhelmed? She’s been that way since we moved in. Is Mum ever calm and happy?”
“No, not really,” Cordelia said. “But with you being the Slayer now, I’m sure you’ll be the same unhappy, stressed out way soon.”
“Thanks, I appreciate that but I plan on breaking the mold. Smile today because tomorrow will inevitably suck is my motto. Well, going back to my movie, now that I know everything is normal. And I vote for the going out if anyone cares. No dishes that way.” Raven smiled before she sashayed out the door.
“Well, even for their mercurial personalities they have done a good job with the kids because Raven is definitely well-adjusted and comfortable here.” Max said.
“Nice way of saying she’s a little smart ass,” Cordelia countered.
“Yeah, she is but she’s a well-adjusted smart ass.”
“Spike’s influence no doubt.” Angel said as he almost cracked a smile and the others laughed.
“Not to change the conversation and it’s probably really none of my business but,” Fred started.
“But what?” Max asked.
“If Buffy doesn’t want Spike touching her, well…” Fred said unsure of how to proceed.
“Why did she buy that fancy, expensive negligee? I had the same question myself.” Cordelia finished.
Suddenly all eyes at the table turned to Max.
“Why are you looking at me? How would I know?”
“You are here an awfully lot and Spike said that you two spent an afternoon at a motel together,” Angel said quietly.
“An emphatic ‘no’ to that. Besides, there is no way she would with anyone. She is crazy for that guy.”
“It doesn’t add up, does it? The ‘hate you touching me’ and the buying of negligee does not quite equal snog fest with my husband.” Lorne said.
“And maybe she bought it because she’s hoping that things will change and they’ll get a chance to use it.” Angel said.
“Yeah, that has got to be it because they have already done the straying thing once before and if they do it again it would be really old.” Cordelia agreed.
~~~~~~~~
September 23, 2007 11:34 PM
The cemetery was almost eerily quiet as the Grand-sire and Childe moved through
it. Both seemed intent on not speaking to the other as they kept separating
to follow imaginary sounds then would return when they realized it was nothing.
It had been almost an hour since they had left the house, leaving a disappointed
Slayer behind, when Angel asked if just he and Spike could handle it.
“I know you don’t like me,” Angel finally said to break the silence. “And you’re having problems with me being around.”
“Did you rehearse that much?”
“Yeah, actually I did.”
Spike smiled as he headed for an above ground tomb to sit on top of it. “Why bother?”
“Because it’s time we ended this,” Angel replied coming to sit beside him, “for everyone.”
“Buffy?”
“She’s part of everyone.”
“So, consider it settled.” Spike said, torn between not wanting to upset Buffy and not wanting to talk things over with Angel.
Anger teased at him as Angel sighed. Of course poofter couldn’t just let it go. It wouldn’t be enough that he said it was over. Angel had probably promised Buffy a glorious reunion and he wouldn’t want to fail her.
“What do I have to do to get you to see I’m sorry for everything that Angelus did to you?”
“That’s really funny,” Spike said as he laughed. “When are you going to quit using that sorry ass excuse of Angelus? That’s one of the things that really pisses me off. It was Angelus, you’re Angel now, and so, the slate is wiped clean. I sure as hell don’t refer to myself as Spikelus and Spike. And no one else just excused me because I had a soul. I had to earn my way into this family. Still do.”
Spike watched as the older vampire hopped off the tomb and walked a few feet away before turning back with his hands on his hips. “Okay, I’m fucking sorry for everything I ever did to you.”
“Everything?” Spike asked with one eyebrow raised.
“No, not everything but do we have to discuss it?”
Spike laughed again, “I just wanted to see if you remembered. It’s not really the things you did when we traveled together. Not anymore.”
“Dru? Buffy?”
“Them and your self-righteous champion attitude.”
“Dru was mine first and actually so was Buffy but if it’s worth anything to you I’m sorry for hurting them the way I did. Neither of them deserved it.”
“No, they didn’t.”
Angel gave up and returned to sit next to Spike. “Spike, I can’t change what I’ve done…”
“Just atone for it, right?”
“Yeah, and try to do better. Like with Cordelia.”
“Bet you’re glad that you found a way to anchor your soul in.” Spike said trying to divert the conversation to something that wouldn’t easily seduce him into anger and another fight.
“Yeah, I am.”
“Must be nice getting laid every night for a change.” Spike had to ask. It was something that had teased at him for a long time and all he wanted was a straight answer. “Would you have tried to get Buffy back if you had found it earlier?”
“I had Buffy back but it was at the wrong costs and I walked away again.”
It took a moment for the words to register then surprise overcame Spike as well as the pain that were behind Angel’s words. And as blue eyes met brown ones, Spike could see the pain was real. “When? How? Buffy never has said anything.”
“She doesn’t remember. The day was erased. I was made human and I couldn’t fight and there was something bad coming.”
“And you chose to fight instead of being with her.”
“Yeah, and I don’t want her to know now.”
Angel’s admission changed a lot of things for Spike. It was the proverbial straw that broke the camels back so to speak. Although he now knew in his heart without a doubt that Buffy was his, the confession from his Sire released the last of the poisonous jealousy that he had held onto.
“Never would tell her but maybe you should. Secrets aren’t good.” Spike replied. “Did it piss you off that I was given both?”
“Yeah, it did but it’s what she needed and I’m happy for you guys now.”
“After a lot of brooding.”
Angel only smiled at his comment because they both knew it was true.
“You know that’s why it never would have worked between you two with you both being who you are.”
“Enlighten me.”
“It’s simple. The lack of emotions it takes to do what you all to do, to lead the fight. Buffy was like that before she died. Even went on a retreat to get back in touch with herself. And now the kids even know that when Buffy is in Slayer mode to leave her alone. You both need people like me and Cordelia in your lives. People who remember that life is for living and pull you back into it and remind you that you are loved to balance out the other side.”
The surprise was evident on Angel’s face. Apparently he had never thought of it that way.
“You may be right but it doesn’t seem that Buffy is having problems with emotions, right now.”
“Not after six years with me except for that time with that punk. By the way if you ever become Angelus again, can I add Richard to the kill list?”
“And ruin your good boy image? Don’t think so but I’m sure Angelus will remember that he has some gripes about the fool, thinking he can take Buffy away from Sunnydale.”
Spike fell silent as he was slowly drawn into all that went into winning Buffy’s heart and now something was going to destroy her and he had nothing tangible to fight. Then he felt a hand on his shoulder.
“We’ll find a way. Buffy isn’t going anywhere.” Angel said as he pulled his hand back and stood again. “Come on, obviously the demons and vampires are cowards in this town and hid when they heard us coming.”
“Nah, they thought my daughter was on her way.”
“How is that working out? And what is going on with her and Connor?” Angel asked as they started to walk back toward the house.
“Better be nothing going on.” Spike responded.
“Agree with you there.”
It wasn’t completely settled nor would it probably ever be between them but they both felt that they had made strides in working out their relationship. It was almost as if they knew that it would take them working together that would give Buffy any hope of fighting the blackness that threatened to consume her.
