Out of Sight
By: PhoenixJustice
Buffy the Vampire Slayer is owned by Joss Whedon, Mutant Enemy, and other things that are not me. I only own this story and make no profit from this.
Warning: Rated M for language, violence, sexual content, etc.
Pairing: Spike/Buffy Summers, Willow/Tara, Xander/Anya, mentions of past Angelus/William, etc.
Setting: During No Place Like Home. Spoilers up season 10 of BTVS, season 5 of Angel, and Angel and Faith.
Summary: Given the gift of life again, Buffy goes back to make things right-but things don't always go the way you expect them to.
A/N: Italics for thoughts and flashbacks. Bold for dreams.
Part One of the Out of 'verse
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Chapter Twelve
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"So," Spike says, after pulling back from kissing her. "What all does it mean?"
"You both got a boost of power from it. Shouldn't be an issue for Spike to carry the Hammer this time."
"Ooh. I get it!" She exclaims happily. Spike looks at her, brow raised. "It's your weapon, Spike. The Hammer. Like the Scythe is mine. A weapon just for you."
He looks a bit bemused at that. "Mine?" He loved the sound of that, she could tell. She knew him very well. He had always liked that sense of something belonging to him, or of belonging to someone, because he had so few moments of that in his life.
"And should make you a bit hardier than normal? It's still a new thing, so the Powers have been scrambling to figure it all out. You keep them on their toes, Summers. As for other things? I'd have said the unaging thing, but Pratt is a vampire," Spike lets out a noise at Whistler using his last name. "And you're a Slayer. Slayer's have a short shelf life normally, but they don't age. Most just never lived long enough to realize it."
"But it doesn't make Spike invulnerable though, does it?" She asks. "He can stand in the sun, but if he's staked-" Her throat contracts.
"Poof." Whistler says, snapping his fingers. He has a gleam in his eye though. "You decided what you want your last boon to be?"
"Yes, I-"
"Wait," Spike interupts. "You acted like she had more. I get the Claim was one, but you made it sound as if there were still more. The sunlight is just a side effect from the Claim."
"Well you didn't think your Chip just fell out, did ya?" Whistler says, obviously amused, crossing his arms. Moments later, the roof gets put back into place.
"So it's gone then? Not just de-activated?" She asks. Whistler nods.
"Yep. Cause it'd still start to degrade on him if it was in his head, deactivated or not. And the Powers want your Champion to make his own decisions, without being hindered by the Chip in his head."
"Also," Whistler continues. "You feel any different, Pratt?"
Spike shrugs. "Other than not being fried to a crisp in the sunlight? No, can't say I do."
This, however, actually seems to satisfy the half-demon. "Good. Means it went right."
"Right how?" Spike asks warily.
She-has a suspicion though. It hits her for some reason and she looks back and forth between them.
"It's how it's supposed to feel." Whistler says, confirming her suspicions. "Angel's was Cursed onto him and yours was won-but by torture and combat that first time. Not supposed to make you wallow like that."
Spike goes still. That quiet stillness that only vampires could pull off. His jaw clenches.
"What?" Spike asks, faintly.
"Pretty sure you know what I'm saying, Pratt. Don't need to spell it out, do I? I do? Ehh. Well, you got yourself a nice little soul in there. Not that you needed it to love, mind you; you loved Summers just fine without it, but hey, it's a help, right? Help convince Summers' friends that your intentions with her are true."
Well, he wasn't wrong. Last time, Spike getting his soul (despite the reasons why or him being unhinged at first, due to the guilt) had helped him get closer with the others much quicker than it would have been otherwise.
"But, your last, Slayer?" Whistler says, looking at her now. "You wanted something. Provided it doesn't break the balance it-well, actually you know that. So I doubt you'd ask for something that huge."
"Nope. I know I couldn't possibly ask for something like Glory just dying outright or something. But I could ask for something small." She swallows. "But I-about my mom though, will she-"
"You don't need to ask for that, Summers. She's gonna be fine. That was one of the ones you used up too. She'll be alright."
She feels her shoulders droop with relief, tension she didn't even know was there ebbing away.
"The last, then, Summers?"
She nods. "I know what I want."
She walks over, holding at her hand.
As if knowing what she was wanting-and considering that most of her boons had been used on things she unconsciously wanted, she was sure that they were well aware of what she wanted this time as well.
He hands her a ring.
She takes in and walks over to Spike.
"That's-" Spike stops.
She takes his hand, putting the Gem of Amara on it.
"Thought the guy was supposed to ask his girl, not the other way around." Spike says lightly.
"Yeah, well...when do I ever do anything the normal way?" She quips.
He starts to speak but stops at the look in her eyes. His eyes widen.
He touches her face.
"Will you?" He asks quietly.
"Yes." She says, kissing him.
"And that's my cue to skedaddle." Whistler says. "You need me, you know how to reach me."
He tips his hat to them and he's gone in the next instant.
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They had rushed to the crypt and gotten dressed-properly this time-before heading to Revello Drive.
"Wait." He says, holding her back for a moment. She turns to look at him confused. He grabs her bare left hand and her breath catches when he slides a ring on her finger. She looks at the skull as if it was a diamond. Her eyes fill with tears and she's in his arms moments later, kissing him again and again. "It's...I don't have anything else yet, but I-"
She shakes her head. "I don't-you don't have to get anything else. This is...it's...it's real this time. Right?" She looks up at him with such-almost innocence, despite everything-that it makes his unneeded breath stop. He kisses her.
"It's real." Nothing had ever been so real in his life, or unlife, before. "If you want it."
She gives him a look like he's crazy. "Of course I want it. Haven't you been listening to anything I've been saying?" She pouts.
"Ooh, no, pet. Miss pouty's returned." He purrs, grabbing her chin with his hand. "Gonna have to chase her away."
"Please do that." She breathes.
He starts to kiss her again when he feels like they're being watched. He pulls back, despite her sound of protest, and looks behind her at the house. Seemed like all of the Scoobies-including Nibblet-were packed into the doorway, staring at them. He snorts, shaking his head.
"Gotta ruin every sodding moment." He mutters.
She turns to see what he's talking about, eyes widening.
"God, guys." She complains. "Can't I kiss my boyfriend without the whole street watching?"
"Boyfriend?!" Xander squeaks.
"Boyfriend?!" Dawn squeals.
"Boyfriend?" Spike mouths at her.
"If I tell them about the rest right away, pretty sure their heads are gonna explode. No want explody family."
He chuckles, pushing some hair out of her eyes. "Be a bitch to clean up off the lawn, that's for sure."
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She tries to get her nerves in check, but she knows she's not successful. This was...it was big.
They get inside and she stops as she gets into the living room. Her mother was sitting there, waiting patiently for her. She stands when she sees Buffy.
"Mom-" She says helplessly.
Her mother takes two steps forward and embraces her. That is all it takes. She breaks down, sobbing as she hugs her mother.
"Mom."
Her mother strokes her hair, like she used to often do when she was younger, which just makes her sob all the harder.
"You've been through so much. But I'm so proud of you, honey. So proud."
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"So you're not-you're not angry with me?" She asks, wiping the remaining tears from her eyes as she comes to sit next to her.
"Oh honey, of course not." Her mother says, patting her hand. "It's not something you could have controlled and I know-regardless of circumstances that led you here, you are my daughter. You're just-complete now, right?" She glances at the Scoobies for a moment. "That's what Rupert and your friends were saying."
Complete, Well that was one way to put it. And not exactly untrue. But she still harbored some guilt. Nowhere in the Time Travel Brochure did it mention on how to deal with Sort Of Killing Your Past Self, Since You Took Them Over. Many time travel stories she had read had glossed over that sort of thing. Considering the seriousness and emotional-ness (was that even a word?) of the subject, she could understand why.
"I'm just glad that you weren't alone in this," Her mom says, patting her hand again, before-surprisingly enough-smiling up at Spike (who looks just as surprised as Buffy feels.) "You've been helping out my daughter, right, Spike?"
He nods. "Yes. I-" He licks his lips, glancing away for a moment before looking back at her. "She's..." He swallows hard, obviously ignoring the looks of the others around him. "She is my world."
She can feel the warmth in her heart at that and smiles at him. She knew that her friends were still a bit shocked about the whole thing between her and Spike (plus the other things that had just happened only a short while ago) but she knew-hoped-that they would be okay with it better this time around, since she wasn't hiding it (she had only been hiding it technically speaking as she had been hiding as well.) She wasn't going to do what she did last time, running away from her feelings and emotions for Spike.
She knew very well who she was and who he was. Knew very well her feelings and she wouldn't run away from them this time. Spike was hers. They had made a vow with those bites as deep as marriage vows; deeper, really. She had promised her lifetime, her immortal span to him as he had promised his lifetime, his immortal span to her. To no death, as it shall not lead us apart.
"I know." Her mother says, nodding at Spike.
"So you're...okay with it?" She asks timidly.
"Of course I am, sweetie. It doesn't take a Slayer or vampire with super eyes to see how much he loves and adores you. And that's all I've ever wanted for you; for someone to treat you like their equal and love you with their whole heart. I never expected it to be another vampire, but I'd be a fool to ignore what the two of you have."
She feels the lump in her throat at that. Her mother stands, moving to stand in front of Spike.
"But this is my one obligatory warning, Spike; if you ever hurt Buffy-"
"I know, mum." He says seriously. "Axe straight to the head."
"Don't you forget it, buster."
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She sits on one of the kitchen stools, watching the age old tradition of her mother making her and Dawn hot chocolate and holds back the urge to cry. It had been...so long. To see her mother again; to see her walking and talking and to know that this time, barring other circumstances outside of brain tumors, that she would be okay. Even just to be able to talk to her again was more than she could have asked for.
Everyone was being supportive and she loved them more than she could say for it. She had felt-still felt-horribly guilty about things, but they kept reassuring her that it was the Powers' fault and not her own. How could one fault a dying person who wanted to protect the world, protect them, after all?
"She did what she always does. What you always do. Made the hard choice, for the world. Just like you would have done." Willow says. "Buffy, you can't let yourself wallow in guilt."
"Yeah." Xander agrees. "Therein lies Angel brooding madness. Not good for anyone."
"The Powers made up their mind about it longer than you would think, Buffy." Giles says, softly. "They plan things out much further than people realize. The world is a giant chess game to them."
"Played against the things like Wolfram and Hart." She says quietly.
"Yes."
"Plus, it's not like anyone lost out on Buffy Summers." Anya says, shrugging. "You're still here."
"I just think of it like a-Buffy upgrade," Willow says, a smile on her face and a sad look in her eye. "Sort of. Like you went from Windows XP to Windows 7. Both great systems. But this one just knows a few things the other system didn't."
"So I'm a computer now?" She asks, amused.
"No." Willow says seriously. "You're Buffy. Our best friend and family. Our sister."
"Marshmellows?" Her mother asks, bringing her out of her trance.
"Ooh, yes please."
"Dawn?"
"No." She rolls her eyes at Dawn. Dawn loved the marshmellows. But she probably saw them as too childish, wanting to look more grown up in front of people like Spike who she thought she had a crush on (though Buffy knew better) but in reality just saw him like a big brother. Spike too thought of her like the sister he never had.
"So," Dawn says, turning to look at her sister. She had taken everything much better than anyone could have expected, so said the others. To see no reproach or hesitation or anger in her sister's eyes made her happy. "Spike's really your boyfriend?"
She rolls her eyes. "Kind of a simplification, but yes." She looks at her sister closely. "That doesn't bother you does it?"
Dawn rolls her eyes now. "Uh, no? Of course not, dummy. You know I've always liked Spike better than Angel. He was an asshole."
"Dawn, language." Their mother chides.
"Fine," Dawn huffs. "He was a gigantic doo doo head. He always acted like he knew better than you did. Spike doesn't do that. He acts like he does, but he actually values your opinion. I can tell." She says proudly. "Angel always acted like he knew what was best for you-even though you both were in the relationship. Plus? He left. And that's not cool at all. Spike didn't. He stayed. That means a lot more, right?"
"Wow. Who knew little-sometimes annoying-sisters could be so insightful?" She ruffles Dawn's hair, laughing as she squeals, batting her hands away, trying to fix her hair.
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He looks in there, undead heart filled with so many emotions he couldn't name at the sight of them. The mother and the sisters. Joyce rolling her eyes-looks like it's where they got it from-in fond exasperation, setting down their mugs of hot chocolate (had she made more? Looked like there was more on the counter) down in front of them. His little sister desperately trying to fix her hair that got all ruffled up. And his Slayer-his everything-sitting there, looking so happy. Some of that weight on her shoulders finally getting lifted.
"Holy crap." Harris says. "You really love her, don't you?"
He turns. His mouth purses, looking Harris over, trying to see what his game was, but relaxes a bit when he doesn't see anything else.
"Yeah," He replies, softly. "I do."
He looks defiantly at the boy, but he doesn't bite back with the harsh words that he expects him to.
"I don't know exactly what the Council told Rupert-and by extention you lot-but vampires have more going for them than they're given credit for. We're more than just a mix of a demon and human. We're not a demon host that destroys the human and takes over with its memories. We are that human; just with a bit of extra in us now. The vampire part. If I'm more than I was before? That's experience. Both outward and inward."
Some experiences good, some bad. Like with Angelus. A lot of it had been terrible, but not all of it had. He had gotten on with Angelus until he caught him fucking who he thought-at the time-was the love of his life (or unlife.) He had hated Angelus for it, but he had never hated him completely.
He had still went into Angelus' bed many times, despite himself. Had even loved him, if he was honest with himself. Not as much as he had loved Dru and certainly not as much as he loved Buffy, but it was there, all the same. And Angelus had taken that and twisted it, used it to his advantage, tried to mold William-and then Spike-into something he wasn't or didn't want to be.
He loved violence but he wasn't a sadist like Angelus was. And now Angel could boo hoo over his past sins and deny he had bedded a man (men, really. Angelus had that old notion of Catholism in him, had hated his urges he had for men as well as women, but it hadn't stopped him from sleeping with men) and try and stay as pure as he could in the eyes of everyone.
"Well, yeah." Anya says, in the tone as if that was obvious. "I've been trying to tell them that for a long time now, but they don't want to seem to believe me. Who has more personal experience? A thousand year old vengeance demon or a bunch of stuffy old guys stuck in a library? Plus? They have biases against anything not human."
Watcher starts to speak at that and stops, closing his mouth. Spike nods at Anya in respect. The rest of the Scoobies didn't give the bird enough credit.
"Even if that is the case," Rupert finally says. "It remains that-save for one-vampires do not have souls. So you cannot-even if you think you do-love anyone."
Spike rolls his eyes. "More Council garbage, Rupe. Tried gettin' that through your head before. Not sure what the soul does exactly-" As he honestly didn't feel much different than he did before getting it. Maybe more introspective? Certainly he wasn't wallowing-though Whistler said that you weren't supposed to, normally, when getting the soul, so who knew. "But I do know that I love perfectly well without it."
"Oh, so you guys are talking about Spike's soul? The Nibblet says, coming, cradling her mug of hot chocolate carefully. "Buffy said you were supposed to all talk about it though. So-" At Spike's look, at the Scoobies' shocked look, at Buffy's exasperated look, her own look turns to one of guilt.
"Oh. Oops. Was that one of those things I wasn't supposed to talk about yet? You didn't tell me I couldn't say anything!" Dawn exclaims at her sister.
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"Holy crap." Xander says faintly. He sits down onto the couch, a shocked look on his face.
"When?" Willow asks, looking between her and Spike.
And welp. She had hoped to put off more huge conversations for a bit, but looked like her string of 'luck' was continuing as it usually did.
"Umm...sometime after I got here. Not sure exactly when, but the Powers did it." She says a bit sheepishly, scratching her neck. She feels a squeeze of her hand and starts to relax, relaxing just from that slight bit of comfort he gave her there. "Something for their Champion."
"Could you tell?" Giles asks, not her, but Tara. Tara looks a bit uncomfortable at all the scrutiny on her suddenly but she nods.
"Yes." She says softly, swallowing a bit. "His aura was changed, like Buffy's. But I didn't think it was m-my place to talk about it. That Buffy and Spike would when they were ready."
She gives Tara, her shy but sweet sister, a grateful smile.
"And I appreciate that, Tara. We both do." She tells her sincerely. "Now if some people could take that hint, of keeping things secret until then, we'd be okay."
She affixes Dawn with a mock glare, but winks at her to show that she wasn't truly mad at her. Dawn was another subject they'd have to bring up soon. She trades significant looks with Spike and he nods, already understanding what she was thinking without her having to say it. The bond, the Claim? Or just because they knew each other so well? Who knew. She hadn't traded any actual thoughts with him as of yet, or a transference of emotions, feeling what the other was feeling, as Claim's in people's fiction books said happened, yet she did feel...more.
Stronger, faster...just call her the Six Million Dollar Woman.
"Why wouldn't you want to tell us about this right away?" Her mother asks, setting down a few more mugs of hot chocolate for everyone else and handing one to Spike, who looks surprised and grateful.
"Thanks, mum." He says quietly. He glances at her. "Even got the little marshmellow like I like."
He goes to sit in the comfy chair and she perches on his lap automatically-so used to it now after being in the crypt with him and sees everyone's shocked looks. The situation reminded her greatly of their time-her and Spike-when they had been engaged due to Willow's spell. But this time was the real thing. The similarities were there, though. She knew that after a lot of thinking back to that time. A lot of that was both of them showing off their complete, undiluted, selves to one another (and by extension, those around them)
"Why not? Well, I wanted you to see Spike is completely the same with or without a soul. What it does, what it's supposed to do is different than the time Angel was Cursed with his. Or," She says softly. "When Spike got his the first time, in the future."
She holds up a hand to forestall the inevitable questions. "He did something he wasn't happy with. He hurt me." She looks at him and strokes his face. "He couldn't forgive himself for it. So he left Sunnydale to 'give me what I deserve.' He went to Africa and faced torture and trials and won himself a soul." She swallows hard. "But he too-like Angel-was all awash in the guilt for a good while. It wasn't how it's supposed to be done."
"And how is it supposed to be done?"
She pauses, frowning. She wasn't sure. She just knew it wasn't the way that Angel had gotten his or how Spike had originally gotten his; Whistler hadn't elaborated on it. But then it hits her, that kinda epiphany. What was the differences in those and this? It was obvious to her.
"Love." She says. "With love. Angel's was Cursed onto him. It was done out of love-and grief-for their lost daughter, the Gypsy Tribe who cursed him. But the love had nothing to do with him personally. And Spike," She glances at him. "While he did it because he loves me, the one who gave it to him had no love-or lingering emotion for him-at all. It was given to him through trial and combat, not love."
"You're saying you gave Spike his soul?" Willow asks.
She stops, looking at Spike in surprise. His smile deepens.
"Well, I'd do anything for the person I love." He says, addressing Willow but looking at her. "Anything at all. Even take on a soul. Especially if she was the one who gave it to me."
He gives her a chaste kiss (though it doesn't stop Xander and Dawn both from making gagging sounds. Xander and Dawn...there was a thought she'd have to wonder about later. If Xander and Anya didn't go well, then sometime down the line-after Dawn was older of course-there was a very good chance that he and Dawn would end up together. While there had been a lot of problems-due to the general nature of all of their lives-they had still been good for each other. Who knew. Things had changed now, so it was hard to say how things' go now.)
"And-" She hesitates, looking down at her hands, twisting them in her lap. "There's more."
"Ooh, does it have to do with you and Spike? Because I've always wondered how it-" Anya starts, before getting stopped by a pained looking Xander.
"Ahn?"
"Oh. One of those things to talk about in private instead?"
"Yep."
"There's...a lot." She says, reluctantly. She looks up at them, gulping hard against the lump in her throat. "A lot a lot. So much so I don't know where to begin...some of it...some of it won't come to pass now, so that's not an issue, so it doesn't need to be talked about, but others..." She looks at Dawn, then at Giles. He looks surprised but nods.
She takes in and lets out a deep breath, strengthed by Spike's presence and the touch of his hand, rubbing soothing circles on her back.
And she begins.
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"I'm-I'm not!" Dawn cries. "I'm real. I'm a person! I'm not-I'm not-"
"Of course you're real, sweetie." She says soothingly, stroking her hair as she held her. Telling them all-including Dawn herself-about her original origins had been last on the agenda, after the soul and the Claim (of which Anya had been intrigued, Xander a bit faint looking, Dawn excited, Tara genuinely happy for the two of them and Willow and Giles intrigued, being academic types and all.)
Glory was apart of the Key talk, so that had been apart of the discussion as well. Now, however, was about getting her sister to see that, no matter how she came to them, she was family just the same.
"You just have different origins than some. Doesn't change who you are now. You're Dawn Summers. You're-" She struggles with more to say. Last time had been difficult as well.
"You're our gift." Their mother says, taking Dawn in her arms now, kneeling down on the carpet to hug her close, stroking her hair now, as Buffy rubs her back soothingly. "You're my little pumpkin belly, the same as before."
"You're precious." Spike says softly. They all look up at him, "To the world at large, yes, but to all of us more than anything else. And that's what's important." He kneels down to look at Dawn square in the eyes. "You know what you are?"
Dawn shakes her head tearfully at him. He strokes the top of her head and smiles at her. The kind of brotherly smiles he had-in the future-given her. The ones that showed the brotherly love for her he had, the pride he had in her.
"You're the little sis I never had, yeah? And that's all you. Nothing manufactured that. You're-" He swallows hard. "You're my family. All of you."
She feels tears stream down her face at that. What it took for Spike to admit something like that in front of all of them... Dawn moves from their mother's embrace to hug Spike tightly. He looks flummoxed at first, hands flailing, before patting her back gently.
"So I've got a big brother then?"
"A couple, more like." Spike says, looking past Dawn over at Xander. A look passes between them and something like wonder passes over Xander's face.
"He's right, Dawn-ster." Xander says. "You've got two big brother's,"
"A whole load of big sisters," Willow says with a smile, while Tara smiles softly, nodding, and Anya looks surprised, but pleased.
"A mother,"
"And a dad who loves all of his children, no matter how much we may annoy him sometimes." Buffy says with a twinkle in her eyes as she looks at Giles. He looks astonished and pleased to no end and her heart fills once more with that familial, not lover like, love. He was the father she never had.
They had only started to repair their relationship in a big way in her time right before she got exiled. Their relationship having been strained due to his leaving and other factors. But most of it had stemmed from that initial moment of him leaving. All the men she had loved-in one way or another, in different ways-had left her. Save for one.
Spike had always returned. He always came back. And that final time, he had stayed. Stayed right until the end. The same as he was staying now.
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"So you're saying Glory is sharing a vessel with a human?" Giles was in full on librarian/research mode now; even had the paper and pencil for notes. She didn't mind spilling the details, as much as she could, especially so now that Dawn was out of the house; their mom had taken her out for ice cream and much needed one on one mother-daughter time.
"Yeah. It was a way to try and keep her in check. They hoped the seals on her would stay sealed and that when the human died, she'd die with him. But the seals didn't hold; even with a good chunk of her power sealed away, she's still the most physically powerful thing I've ever faced in my life and that's counting damn near timeless vampires and many other things besides. But the key-so to speak-to her falling is in there."
"Exploit the enemies weakness." Xander says, nodding sagely.
"And our soldier gets it right again." Willow teases.
"My soldier." Anya insists. "Only for me when we-oh. You were talking about Xander. Carry on."
"By what you've said-or not said-" Giles continues. "You said the battle went fine, so I assume you know who the human in question is?"
"Yeah. Not trying to be deliberately cryptic about that, it's just, the first time around there was this spell that kept us all-all of us who are human, anyhow-unawares that they shared a body or anything like that. It made us instantly forget, until it got closer to the time of the portal needing to be open and there was hardly a barrier left between the two."
"And you think we'll forget if you tell us?" Tara asks. She was still quiet, but not as much as before. Buffy would be sure, with the others, to help Tara come out of that self-created shell quicker than before. Tara didn't deserve the scorn and mistreatment she had gotten at the hands of those who had dared to call themselves her family just because they shared blood with her.
Blood didn't make family. Heart did. Love did. And they, all of them here (and elsewhere) were family.
"Yeah. That's what I'm worried about."
"But if you changed all these other things, then couldn't something like that have changed?" Anya asks, as if it's obvious. They all turn to look at her. She shrugs. "Just, it's not like the Powers That Be would have a problem with information like that getting out; it'd just help you stop Glory sooner."
"And my girl is a genius." Xander says fondly, kissing Anya's forehead.
"Yeah, Anya's right," Willow says, excitedly, not even pausing to consider that was the first time she had paid Anya a genuine compliment. "If we can know who it is ahead of time, we may be able to work on something to keep Glory locked down. Or even just to weaken her, besides the Dagon Sphere. Oh and the Hammer too. I'm sure that hit her good, even if just for a few minutes."
"Oh yeah it did. I gave her a hell of a pounding with it," She looks at Spike and dares him to make a sexy remark. He bites his lip, shoulders shaking with silent laughter. She glares at him but can't hold it for long, shaking her head in amusement at him. "But it's not mine now, it's Spike's." She pats him on the hand.
He looks pleased at that, at her. She can feel her throat drying at his look, his already dark blue eyes darkening further in desire as he looked at her.
"And this Scythe you've mentioned?" Giles interupts with a soft cough, making the two of them jerk their heads to look back at the others sheepishly. "You must bring it to the shop next time so we can give it a proper look over."
"Sure. Would have done it sooner if things hadn't been so-chaotic." That was one way to put it, that's for sure.
"So we've got some weapons," Xander says, looking more serious now, his arm around Anya's shoulder on the couch. "But from everything you said-what you had before wasn't enough. It didn't prevent-" He chokes off, shaking his head. Anya rubs his arm, brows furrowed as she looks at him.
Spike's hold on her tightens. "No, it wasn't. But we didn't have the information I do back then. We'll take that and make Glory good and gone, somehow. She's-" She lets out a breath. "Guys, do you remember an intern in the hospital? Named Ben?"
"Sure." Willow says, immediately, arm wrapped around her girlfriend's middle. "Nice, kind of cute."
Everyone looks at her.
"What? I'm gay, I'm not dead. I have eyes." They laugh.
"That's the guy then? The human? Ben?"
She nods. "Yep. The deities that did the deed with the spell chose a random human baby and placed Glory, locked away, in him at the moment of his birth. Like I said, they hoped that the human's natural life span would go quickly so Glory would die with him, but she was stronger, even bound, than they anticipated. They had barely managed to lock her out of their dimension, as she was stronger than the both of them combined. Ben is the-pardon the phrasing-key here."
Her eyes find Giles without meaning to. They hadn't talked much about it, the first time around, but she had known that he had been the one to kill Ben before he had ever admitted as much to her. He looks at her quizzically now and she knew he'd ask her questions in private about it.
It's silent for a moment.
"Guys?" She says, cautiously. "Do you know what we just talked about?"
"Ben? As in the intern that Willow still thinks is cute, even though she's gay?" Anya offers.
Her shoulders relax. "Good." She says in relief. "That'll be a big help right there."
"Sure will." Spike says in agreement, leaning forward to place his head on her shoulders. "Cause I wasn't going to be the one to remind them every five sodding seconds."
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I hope you enjoyed this!
Let me know what you thought!
-PhoenixJustice