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TITLE: A Mission From God 6: The Epilogue Five couples and two singles sprawled around the lobby of the Hyperion Hotel. "So the Grail was physical and not metaphorical after all." Tara sounded slightly sheepish. Her intuition was rarely so far off. "The part I can't believe is that Drusilla led us to it," Buffy mused from her perch on Giles' lap. "That and her vampire chickens." Xander shuddered. "That sounds like something I'm glad I didn't see. But hey, I'll trade you one image of vampire chickens for one highly embarrassing episode of being saved by my least favorite bloodsucker of all time." "Xander. You might recall not only that Angel saved your...virtue, for lack of a better term, but he is also your host," Giles reminded the young man. "Sorry, Soulboy." "Don't mention it." "But we could have just done a locator spell, and we wouldn't have had to go through all this hassle. 'Cause I gotta say, that whole Muppet thing is probably gonna give me nightmares for a while. Who woulda guessed that Kermit the Frog is not only real, but gay, too?" At that moment, Wesley entered the room with a fully loaded tea tray. "What's wrong with being gay?" he demanded. "Nothing, Wes. Willow was just surprised, that's all." Angel gave his partner a quick kiss on the cheek to placate him. "I'm just glad to have seen the back of Dreg. Perhaps now my life can return to normal." Giles smiled softly at Buffy. "Normal, Sweetie? We live on the Hellmouth where you run a magic shop staffed by an ex-demon and train your Slayer girlfriend who's almost thirty years younger than you are. Not to mention, we keep ending up working with a vampire who can't bite, two of our best friends are witches, and nobody has ever clued in to the fact that we blew up the high school the day I graduated because the Mayor had turned into a giant snake and eaten the Principal. Dreg was annoying, but he was sorta the status quo of our lives." "I can't believe Dru picked that...scabby, toadying little runt over me." Spike shook his head in perplexity. "I don't know that it's so surprising," Cordelia observed. "After all, she picked a Chaos Demon and a Fungus Demon over you before - not to mention Angel when he was all grrr. Face it, you just aren't her type. She likes 'em really, really yuck." "Hey!" "Sorry, Angel, but your evil twin Skippy is pretty much of the yuck. Speaking of which, how are you two getting around that whole 'one moment of happiness' clause? 'Cause I so don't want to find myself working with the enemy one of these mornings." "Relax, Cordy; I'm not gonna turn soulless." "Just for the record, though, how are you planning to make sure of that?" Buffy was deeply curious. Angel and Wesley both blushed deeply and discovered an overwhelming interest in the floor. Gunn stared at the two and shook his head in disbelief. "Do not try to tell me you two are just saying no. Man, that's a whole new level of pathetic." "Don't worry, Angel. Tara and I will see if we can find a spell to make the soul more...permanent, or something. Tara nodded vigorously. "You'll do that so Angel can get together with Wesley, but you wouldn't do it for me? Thanks a lot, Will!" "Buffy!" "Don't worry, Giles; I don't want to be with him anymore. I was just wondering what gives is all." She turned to her ex-boyfriend. "I hope you and Wes will be very happy together...as soon as it's safe. And now, I don't know about the rest of you, but fighting an army of vampire chickens all night has me pretty much wanting to go to bed. You coming with, Sweetie?" Buffy stood and headed for the stairs. "If you'll all excuse us...?" Giles followed the tiny blonde. Once they reached their room, Giles shut the door and smiled at Buffy. "You have no intention of sleeping, have you?" "Nope. But I do want to go to bed. Coming with?" "Always, my love. Always." ***** Several hours later, Dawn crept down the stairs to the lobby. She was surprised to find Spike there. "What are you doing here?" "Might ask you the same question, Niblet. Can't you sleep?" Dawn rolled her eyes. "You try that next door to my sister and Giles. For my birthday, I'm going to ask them to soundproof their room. Anyway, I wanted a drink of water." "And I needed a drink of blood." The pair got their respective drinks and sat down together. "Spike? How is God going to take the Grail?" The vampire shrugged. "Dunno. God doesn't usually let me in on His plans. Funny how He doesn't confide in evil, soulless, creatures of the night." "Are you mad that Drusilla left with Dreg?" Spike considered for a moment. "Could've been worse, I suppose. She might have taken a liking to Giles or something. Slayer'd hurt me a long time before she'd dust me over that." "I guess you're right." The girl drank her water slowly. "Spike? Did you really mean that? About turning me and taking me with you?" "Might have done. If I wouldn't have got myself dusted good and proper doing it." Dawn nodded. "I don't think I want to be turned. But maybe, in a few years...do you think...?" The vampire smiled. "Give it a few years, Little Bit. Give it a few years."
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