Sunnydale, California 2001
One Month Since Buffy's Death
1630 Revello Drive
Sitting alone on the couch staring blankly at the television, Dawn felt nothing. Spike who sat opposite from her tried so hard to try to help her cope with the loss of her sister. But it was useless, no joke or comical snarky comment Spike could say would even twitch a glimmer of a smile from Dawn's mouth.
"Wherever she is, I can guarantee she's happy," Spike said setting the deck of cards down on the coffee table. "She's probably lookin' down on you right now, nibblet. With a harp sting, halo—the whole bloody works."
"I killed her." Dawn felt the tears welt in her eyes and her throat burn.
"No, pet." Spike moved around the coffee table and sat down beside the teen on the couch. "You didn't kill her. Buffy loved you so much. She would've jumped over and over for you."
Dawn wiped the tears from under her eyes. "That's what Tara said."
Spike smirked, "I reckon she has a point then."
"She jumped into a portal straight into Hell—"
"She would fight every demon in the fiery depths if it meant it would keep you safe, luv." He in earnest.
"What if she's trapped in an endless loop of being blown back and forth or she's frozen from the neck down getting her head bitten off repeatedly by Satan!"
Spike frowned quiet surprised by her vividly violent imagination. "Where on earth did you hear that?"
"'Dante's Inferno', we've been reading it in school. My point is, Buffy could be suffering in some Hell dimension because of me."
Spike laid a cool hand on her shoulder and gave it a gentle squeeze. "I think Buffy's in a good place. A place like Heaven."
"You believe in that?" Dawn looked at the vampire curiously.
"I did." Spike shifted his eyes to her face and smiled softly. "I guess I still do. If there are demons, witches, and slayers, why can't there be a Heaven and a Hell?" Spike quietly watched the young Summers girl take his words into careful consideration. He watched the weight of the hurt between her thin brows evaporate into nothing. Spike reached to the coffee table picking up the card deck and placed it into her hands. "Cut the bleedin' deck."
Dawn looked at him with a small smile and began to shuffle the card deck.
Galway, Ireland 1746
One Year Later
Tavern
Drunken men stomped their feet on the ground and banged their pewter beer mugs on the table keeping the roaring beat of the band stuck in the corner of the Tavern. The fiddle kept the melody of the incoherent song while a tin whistle, and Bodhran drum followed along.
"C'mon, bonnie lass! Why don't ye get up there and dance with the other pretty girlies?" A rather large man sitting at the bar with a beer foam moustache over his own unkept moustache grinned at Buffy.
Buffy raised a highbrow not at all offended by the sexist remark and passed the man another pint of ale. "Because, Mr Ryan, how I'll be dancing is for my husband's eyes only." She tossed him a playful wink.
Mr Ryan placed his hand over his heart pretending to fall madly in love with the petite blonde. "Be steal me heart, Mistress O'Connor."
Buffy grinned at the man then turned her attention to another set of men against the counter drooling into their empty pint mugs as they gawked at Buffy.
Living two-hundred and fifty-five years back in time was not as terrible as Buffy would've expected. It was hard for sure but there was something uncomplicated about it all. Perhaps it was because she married the perfect man and was not alone. Maybe it was because she began to fit in very well with the people of this era, though she was still a marvel to them all.
But all in all, nothing is at all as she expected them to be.
One year had passed since coming to this strange land in an even stranger time. Buffy began to find her footing in her young marriage to Liam. Liam learned very quickly that she was not like the other women. She did not follow any of the 'expected' mannerisms of an obedient wife. Buffy is fiercely independent, very intelligent, quick witted, and most of all, she is stubborn as hell.
A few times a week, Buffy filled in for Aodhan, the Tavern owner. Aodhan was an old man on the brink of retirement. Rumor is that Aodhan will be passing his ownership of the beloved Tavern down his to his number one man, Liam O'Connor, in two months time.
In the beginning, the frequent barflies were curious and a bit vexed that a woman was behind the counter strictly to bartend and not to be bouncing their laps like one of the whores in waiting. But soon, the men in the bar began to fall in love with the new Mrs. O'Connor. Like Liam, the men enjoyed her great individual character. She played along with their antics and the scared them shitless when they overstepped the line. No one could explain her strength nor the warrior death glare in her eyes when she appeared cross. Liam was usually the victim of her glares when the two would fight like cats and dogs behind the counter.
Everyone, including Liam, tried their hardest to stay on Mrs O'Connor's good side even when pissed drunk. But sometimes, he attended to be too hotheaded and fiercely ill-tempered for his own good.
"Aye, when ye're tired of that rat bastard husband of ye'r's, me bed will be nice and warm for ye, lass." A yellowed toothed man grinned seductively at Buffy as she pulled the beer tap lever.
"And with that, Mr Travers, I'll take a hard pass." Buffy slid the beer mug across the wooden counter. "That husband of mine keeps me plenty busy." She eyed the drunken man with a thin smile.
Liam came up from behind running his hands down Buffy's sides before wrapping them around her waist. "I can keep ye busy for hours, mhuirnín (darling)." He whispered into her ear and kissed her earlobe.
Buffy was beginning to catch on Liam's Gaelic tongue. A lot of the words he used were ones she had heard from Angel when he used to whisper them into her ear. Unlike Angel, when Liam usually spoke Gaelic it was because of his anger so strong that he could only communicate with her in another language.
Previous Argument
Tavern
The barflies scattered around the Tavern sat in complete silence and fascination watching the ferocious argument happening behind the bar counter. Liam was hot on Buffy's heels as she moved around the bar floor holding a damp rag in her hand. She began to clean off the metal plates off the table. She snatched a fork from someone's mouth and threw them into a beer mug that had been taken from a man in mid-sip.
Buffy whirled around glaring at her husband. "You can be a serious bastard, Liam." Her words were forced through gritted teeth.
"I ordered ye to stay behind the counter and not to socialise with these bastards!" Liam was sent into a raging fit of jealous anger after watching Buffy flirt with the men surrounding her.
Buffy narrowed her eyes at him. From the short months of his new marriage, Liam knew that look. It made him feel incredibly small like prey to a predator. Time and time again, Buffy has proven to everyone that she was nothing like the women of this time. She was modern and way ahead of the social quota set during this century.
"You 'order' me?" Buffy said with venomous sarcasm. "Order me?"
"That's right. I'm the man and ye're the—"
"—Woman?"
Liam pounded his fist on the wooden table and puffed out his chest, "Precisely! Ye should be payin' attention to what I have to say! Gan whorin' féin thart anseo! (Not whorin' ye'r'self around here!"
"I'm calling bullshit, Liam." Buffy felt the anger roll over her body in thick waves.
"Women," he pointed at her, "are only fit to do as they're told. And to obey their husband's orders!" The men behind Liam hooted and hollered with male pride.
Buffy tilted her head to the side shooting her infamous Slayer death glare. "Is that so? Then why don't you," Buffy stepped closer to Liam unintimidated by his towering height, "take that tiny misogynist brain of yours and shove it right up your ass, asshole!" She threw the now dirty rag into his face and stormed out of the Tavern.
"Soith Foulmouthed! Feicfidh Níl aon labhair liom ar an mbealach! Fháil ar ais anseo! (Foulmouthed bitch! Ye'r'll not speak to me that way! Get back here!)" Liam yelled through gritted teeth stomping after her.
The men sitting at the tables and bar counter exchanged surprised looks for the moment then jumped to their feet hoping to catch a front row seat to the argument that was now outside.
"ordú mé tú chun fanacht chur! (I order ye to stay put!)" Liam followed her back and forth trying to catch her arm.
Buffy whirled around jabbing a strong pointer finger into his chest. Liam flinched at her strength but did not break his angered stance. "I don't have to do a damn thing that you tell me to do!"
"Aye, ghrá, ye do!" He argued. "Ye're my wife. Like it or not, ye agreed to it."
"Oh, your wife? I'm not your property, Liam. I'm not a trophy for your shelf. I'm not an object for you to put your cock into whenever you get an itch you can't scratch! That's not what a wife is. I'm your partner. You're equal!"
Liam grunted with an exasperated glare. "Chun saol dom, ní dóigh liom go dtuigeann tú a bhfuil an fear sa phósadh! Tá tú pian astubborn I dom asal! (For the life of me, I don't think ye understand who the man is in this marriage! Ye're a stubborn pain in me arse!)"
"For god's sake speak English!"
Without out a bit of warning, Liam reached out grabbing Buffy by her upper arms and pulled her into his body. He smashed his mouth against hers silencing her frustrated screams. Buffy stood frozen for a millisecond before going limp in the knees and wrapping her arms around his neck deepening the kiss. Liam's hands slid from her arms and around her back slipping down to her lower back.
From the looks of it to those still watching with fascination in the bar, the heated argument had vanished and was replaced with moans of pleasure.
"Alright laddies, it seems our barman's currently preoccupied with the Mrs's. I think we'd be servin' our own ale for the rest of the night." A man with a white beard said. He moved around the bar counter and started to pour beer into the mugs and passed them around.
The Tavern turned their backs to the hot-blooded couple kissing outside and went back to their respective conversations and card gambling games.
Present Day 1746
Buffy cuddled back against him for a moment letting Liam's lips linger on her forehead before he reached for a damp rag to clean off a few tables.
He looked across the counter and grinned at one of the men. Liam was well aware that other men were severally attracted to his wife. She was a beautiful woman not only that but Buffy was a woman from a foreign land that allowed women to be independent and strong willed.
Though jealousy boiled in his chest every time he caught a man's eyes linger a bit too long on his wife, Liam was comforted by the knowledge that she never looked at anyone back. Her eyes were only on him.
"Hey," Buffy sighed feeling completely relaxed in his arms.
Liam opened his eyes to the sound of Buffy's voice. Her soft smile that lingered across her heart-shaped mouth was contagious to him. She turned off the tap lever and turned in his arms uncaring of the eyes watching them. She clasped her hands around his neck, rubbing her nose against his.
"Let's close early. It's a beautiful night and it's particularly… warm outside." She looked up at him from under her long lashes.
Understanding the hidden meaning in her carefully chosen words, "Do ye want to take a dip in the river then?" He whispered not wanting to give away too much away to the drunkards surrounding them.
"You're making me sound so… improper." She teased.
Liam brushed her hair from her face and brushed his lips over hers. "Aye, there's no surprise there, look at the man ye married. I'm an "improper" man tamed by an equally "improper" woman." He kissed her once more, letting it linger just a bit longer than the one before.
Feeling a strange wave of nausea wash over her, Buffy jumped back from his kiss and pushed him away.
"Buffy?" Liam looked at her with concerned confusion.
Buffy stared up at him with huge eyes and covered her hand with her mouth. She quickly brushed past him and ran into the back finding the nearest empty bucket to vomit in.
Liam watched her leave in utter confusion. "What in the devil…?"
"That's it!" One man said slamming the mug in his hand down letting the ale splatter all over. "O'Connor finally made a woman hurl! Not just any 'ole lass, no, his own wife!" He laughed.
"Aye, indeed, that would be a first," Liam said rubbing the back of his neck with worry.
Backroom
Buffy vomited into a metal bucket then sat back on her knees.
A white cloth dangled in her face. Buffy looked up at the Tavern courtesan kneeling beside her.
"Take 'his, dearie." She said.
Buffy nodded her head accepting the polite gesture.
"How long ye been feelin' like 'his?" The woman asked.
Buffy eyed the woman for a moment. She was not much older than herself. She had wildly unkept light red hair, the brightest blue eyes, creamy pale freckled skin, and a heart shaped face. The white corset around her thin frame made the tops of her breasts pop out. Her arms held the knitted shawl hanging off of her shoulders. Her uncleaned red skirt was in ruffles as she kneeled.
Buffy racked her mind for the woman's name. There were so many women like her that came and went, Buffy, failed to remember a lot of their names. Ellis… No… Eil… Eileen? Eileen! That's it!
"Ugh, about a month or so… maybe less." Buffy answered feeling exhausted.
Eileen slowly nodded her head as she pushed Buffy's hair from her shoulders. Eileen sat back slightly holding her chin her hand. "When did ye last bleed?"
Feeling her question like a curve ball, Buffy stared at Eileen with huge eyes. "W—what?"
"When did ye last bleed, dearie?" She smiled.
Slow realisation dawned on Buffy the longer she let the simple question linger in her mind and the thousands of scenarios narrowed down to one. "Oh my god." Buffy was filled with overwhelmed horror.
Eileen smiled, "I dare say, Mistress O'Connor… ye're with child."
It felt like a thousand years until Buffy finally found her voice again and the only thing she could say was, "Huh?"
