Title: Revenant, Ch. 7
"What the bloody hell do you mean, I'm a Slayer, Rupert?!?" Spike yelled, flabbergasted. "Vampire Slayers are girls, mate, have been, always will be! You're a Watcher, for christ's sake, you should know better."
"Gender aside, Spike, you are, for all intents and purposes, the male equivalent or parallel to a Slayer. You are empowered by a demonic force, yet your soul and mind are in the forefront, in control."
"I AM the demon, Rupert! I reclaimed my mortal soul, sure, but I'm still me, still Spike!" Spike threw his hands up in frustration. "Williams in here, sure, but he's ALWAYS been here, I was just missing the guilt and remorse parts of our personality! Or, at least, I was supposed to! Not that that stopped me from being convinced that there should have been some way to save Joyce, or Buffy, when she died! Or from feeling guilt over what happened in the bathroom last year!"
"Which is yet another way that you are a remarkable anomaly, Spike. So remarkable, indeed, that Buffy chose you to be her champion when we fought the First Evil, those months ago. Willow tells me that something happened, down in the Hellmouth between you and Buffy. Buffy told me an abbreviated version of what happened, but I think that she's leaving something out." Giles stood up from behind Angel's old desk, and walked around to face Spike.
"And just what did she tell you?"
"She told me about the Turak-Han army, the moment Willow's spell transformed the Potentials into full Slayer-dom, being stabbed from behind, and the Amulet amplifying both your soul and the sunlight into a force that destroyed the Turak-Han army and the First Evil. She also told me about telling you that she loved you, and your rather suicidal denial." He picked up his cup of tea and took a sip.
"Burning hands and all, eh?"
Giles nearly choked on the sip that he accidentally inhaled. "Burning hands?"
"Ah, I see she left that part out, did she?" Spike pulled out a pack of cigarettes and lit one up. "When she made her big announcement, she grabbed my hand. We both caught on fire at the hands, and when she let go, the flames went out."
"I didn't notice, were either of you burned?" Giles asked, cleaning his glasses, before looking curiously at Spike.
"Couldn't tell, myself, I was burning up from the inside out at the time, but Buffy's hands weren't even blistered or red afterwards. Made her skedaddle, right after, didn't want her dying with me, you know."
"Spike, that's a classic sign of magical interactions right there! Your amulet was interacting with the lingering effects of Willow's Awakening spell. It may have transferred a portion of the Slayer spell over to you, albeit in an altered form."
"Or a weird, coincidental magical side effect, that has nothing to do with this."
"Agreed, but you also said that the Powers That Be offered to return you to the living as a ..Champion." It was as if a light went on in Giles' head. "Dear Lord in Heaven, that could be it." Giles reached for the phone.
"What, Watcher?"
"I'm going to ask Wesley to research any and all references to 'The Champion' in Wolfram and Harts rare books library. There may be a reference in some tome we've missed, perhaps in a demonic text! We've been busy checking out the Aberjian Codice, trying to figure out if this had anything to do with the Sanshu prophesy or not, and ignoring other possibilities!"
Dawn sat at the table as Willow puttered around the Hyperion's kitchen, pulling down a box of pancake batter, and other ingredients, then the redhead turned and reached into the fridge.
"So, are you making it a habit to sneak into Xander's room at night now, Willow?"
A trio of eggs went splat against the floor as the witch jumped in surprise.
"Xander's room?" Willow asked in an as-innocent-as-I-can-be tone of voice as she cleaned up the mess and got out more eggs.
"I saw you coming out of his room yesterday morning, and this morning too, Willow. Moving on kinda quickly, aren't you?" Dawn's words sounded accusatory, even though her tone of voice was curiously neutral.
"I- I can't sleep anywhere else."
"Plenty of rooms here in Angels old digs. What makes Xander's so special?"
"I- it's like I said, I can sleep there. I can't sleep in the room Angel gave me."
"Are you sure it's not because it's Xander's room?" Dawn arched an eyebrow, her tone of voice still not giving anything away. She got up from the table and went to the cutlery drawer, and began setting the breakfast table.
"What? Well, of course it is, Dawnie, Xander's my best friend. This isn't bits of your old crush on Xander coming back, is it?"
"No, it's not. But is your old crush on Xander coming back?"
"What???" Willow's jaw dropped open. "Dawn, where did you get that idea?"
"I'm just asking, is all. There's nothing wrong with it, Willow. For years, you were in love with him." Dawn gave her a look that Willow could have sworn old Rabbi Bernstien could have given out, old and wise and ancient, and totally wrong to be coming from Dawn's youthful face. "Then, you moved on to Oz, and then Tara. Even though I wasn't technically there, I remember it. You loved them. All of them. And maybe, just maybe, deep down inside, you still love Xander. And I don't mean in the way you love a friend."
"Dawn-"
"Don't object, or protest, or try to tell me I'm wrong. I might be, I know, but I doubt it. I AM thousands of years old, even if my body and memories are those of a seventeen-year-old. Just think about what I've said." With that, Dawn finished the final touches on the table, and walked out of the kitchen.
T.B.C.
