OF THINGS TO COME
Disclaimer: I don't own any of the characters except for the ones that I created like Billy and Zarathos.
CHAPTER 37
While everyone else had either been researching back at Buffy's house or out patrolling and generally blowing off some steam Faith and Wesley had entrenched themselves in the waiting room. Their evening meal consisted of various condiments from the vending machines. After a time Faith fell asleep in one of the chairs that were located off in one corner of the waiting room, but only after Wesley had retrieved a pillow from his SUV, thus allowing Wesley to get back in touch with Giles. Wesley had expected the call to be quite lengthy and detailed, but in the end it lasted only a few short minutes, forcing Wesley to just sit back and wait. He sat down in the nearest chair to the one that Faith was in and picked up the newspaper, intent on reading through the entire thing to try and pass the time. However that plan only lasted about half an hour or so before Wesley slowly drifted off to sleep. The next morning Wesley awoke to the sound of Faith saying his name and shaking him. It took him several seconds to register exactly what was going on and when he finally did figure out what was happening he wished that he could just go back to sleep.
"Hey…c'mon Wes wake up, I'm hungry," Faith said angrily as she continued to shake Wesley, keeping him from getting back to sleep. Grumbling his defiance Wesley fumbled around in his pocket for his wallet before finally finding it and handing it to Faith.
"Fine…here, get something you like," Wesley mumbled back, still half asleep, as he rolled over slightly in the chair with his back to Faith.
"Hey…I'm the pregnant one here pal…you get the food," Faith replied angrily as she reached over and pulled Wesley back to face her as she shoved his wallet back into his hands.
"Okay Faith…okay, I yield," Wesley mumbled back softly as he slowly rose to his feet, yawning widely as he went.
"When are our replacements coming…these chairs are about as comfortable as a church pew," Faith said with an uncomfortable scowl on her face as she sat up and rubbed the back of her neck.
"Calm down Faith, we'll be relieved of our Cordelia watch soon enough, although I'm not entirely sure as to who will replace us, most likely it won't be Buffy, Spike, Angel or Connor as they've all been out patrolling all night," Wesley said with a slightly confused look on his face as he made his way over to the vending machine.
"Knowing our luck it'll be Xander and Anya…god that woman is annoying…and you get the two of them together…nightmare…," Faith replied with a sarcastic tone to her voice as she shook her head in fake dismay.
"Well whoever it is they'd better get here fast, I don't know how long I can stand looking at the same old magazines before I go stir crazy," Wesley added with a bored out of his mind look on his face as he slid some money into the machine and made his selection.
* * * * * * *
By the time Buffy, Connor, and Angel arrived back at Revello Drive Buffy was about ready to drop. The only thing on her mind was of getting into bed as quickly as possible and sleeping as long as possible. Angel wanted more than anything, along with Connor, to return to the hospital and take up positions in the waiting room. Connor was showing signs of the wear and tear of the night when they returned back to Buffy's house and Giles had made a false agreement with the young man if he would only sit down in a particular chair. When Giles checked back five minutes later Connor had fallen asleep. Angel, on the other hand, was a horse of a completely different color as he was obviously very tired but at the same time looking for someone. Buffy had thought for a second about asking him who he was looking for before the realization came in loud and clear. Angel was looking so intently for Spike. Buffy could only guess at to the exact reason that Angel was so intently look for Spike but she bet that it had a great deal to do with their conversation earlier that night.
For a short time Buffy thought about pulling Angel aside and explaining to him that she felt that he should hold off anything that he was going to do to Spike or anyone else until after she had gotten a good nights sleep. But when she tried to formulate in her mind the words to such a conversation they began to muddle together into incoherent babble as she suddenly realized truly just how tired she was. In the end Buffy simply shrugged her shoulders before trudging slowly up the stairs, completely ignoring Giles' pleas for her to talk things over with her about what their next move should be. At that moment all she wanted to do was get some sleep, preferably wrapped in the arms over her lover.
She passed by Dawn's room with but a quick glance inward, only to make sure that nothing was going on. Buffy slipped into her room and at first she thought that she was alone. But seconds later when two strong arms encircled her from behind and pulled her into a tight and warm embrace she relaxed and allowed herself a small giggle. The giggle soon turned into a happy laugh as Spike began to slowly kiss his way up the side of her neck, starting with her shoulder and ending by nibbling on her earlobe.
"I'm glad that you're home," Spike whispered in his most seductive tone of voice and suddenly Buffy didn't seem to be as tired as she had been only moments before.
"So am I…did you wait up," Buffy asked softly as a smile quickly spread across her face and she laid her hands overtop of Spike's.
"Just a bit…my business with Giles didn't take as long as I thought it would…so I took a little jaunt around town, see if I could find anything," Spike whispered back softly as the two kind of duck walked towards the bed.
"Oh really…are you finally going to tell me what your…business…with Giles was…or do I have to guess," Buffy asked nicely, with a cunning smile on her face, as she slowly slid out of Spike's grasp.
"Not yet luv…but you won't have long to find out…," Spike mumbled slowly as Buffy turned around and looped her arms around his neck, as if expecting to dance.
"You sure…what if…I…ask…really…nice…," Buffy asked with a very suggestive tone to her voice and look in her eye as she punctuated nearly every word with a series of kisses.
"Hmm…I know I'm going to regret this…," Spike said with a slightly defeated frown, one that soon copied itself onto Buffy's face.
"Regret what Spike…," Buffy asked with a confused frown on her face as Spike pulled away from her and locked the door before going over to a small stereo that Buffy noticed hadn't been there the day before. She was about to ask about Spike's sudden odd behavior when the first few notes of a song played out. Instantly she recognized the song and blushed deeply as she smiled widely and shook her head.
"Just a little something I thought up to get you to relax a bit…," Spike replied cautiously with a timid smile, one that Buffy had always loved, on his face as he walked back towards Buffy.
"You should know by now that I can always relax…when you're around…," Buffy forced out as the first few words of the song were sung. "Wind Beneath My Wings...," Buffy mused softly with an ever widening smile on her face as she kept blushing.
"Back when Red did that spell on us you wanted it for our first dance after the wedding…thought maybe you'd want to use it again…along with a little bit of practice," Spike said with the happiest look on his face that Buffy thought that she had ever seen him with. Seconds later the two had their arms around each other, bodies pressed close together, as they slowly danced around Buffy's room, completely lost in each other's presence.
* * * * * * *
"What are they doing up there," Xander asked with a slightly confused look on his face as he looked towards the ceiling, the faint sounds of music wafting down into the kitchen.
"Something that we should have been doing hours ago," Anya replied with a frustrated scowl on her face as she lightly slugged Xander in the arm.
"It's none of our business," Angel said coldly from the doorway as he leaned up against the side of the refrigerator.
"What's none of our business…," Dawn asked sleepily as she stumbled into the kitchen, still in her pajamas after an abbreviated night of sleep. Although most had stayed up very late doing research pretty much everyone had fallen asleep hours before Buffy, Angel, and Connor had returned to Revello Drive. Billy had gone home hours before and promised that he'd be back by noon. Xander had again called in sick, using an excuse that Anya had come up with on the spot, explosive diarrhea. Giles had slept stiffly in one of the chairs in the living room while Gunn and Fred had shared the couch at one end with Anya and Xander at the other.
"What Buffy and Spike are doing up in her room…you know he's probably got her halfway to…," Anya began to say with an excited smile on her face before Angel cut her off with a look that could have peeled paint.
"Did you guys find anything out last night," Angel asked slowly after clearing his throat and walking into the kitchen, carefully avoiding the first few rays of sunlight that filtered softly into the room.
"Fred found something about that demon that took Willow in one of Giles' old watcher books…but all it had was a description of the thing…no name," Xander said sadly as he suddenly looked more like a puppy dog that had lost its toy.
"Well at least it's a start right," Angel said with a let down look of hope on his face as he fully stood back up and then walked out of the room.
"He must not have had a very good night," Dawn said with a bummed out frown as she looked first at Xander and then at Anya.
"I don't think that any of us did Dawnie…but Anya and I have to be going, we're next up to relieve Faith and Wesley at the hospital," Xander replied with an unhappy with the world look on his face as he stood up and pulled up a slightly tired looking Anya with him.
"Do we have to, Cordelia's just lying there in a hospital bed, she's not a puppy," Anya asked defiantly as she lightly glared over at Xander as Dawn started making herself breakfast.
"Someone needs to be there when she wakes up, and it'd be best if it were a friendly face, and she's not a puppy," Xander replied at first with a forced look of calm on his face before at the end the look on is face changed to one of anger as he stormed out of the kitchen.
* * * * * * * * *
After her long meeting with Zarathos a trio of vampire had accompanied her back to her cell and made sure that she was inside with the door firmly locked before they left. Much to her horror Willow found that the cell had a special spell placed on it. A spell that canceled out any magic that anyone tried to cast within its limits. After almost cursing Willow sat down to try and tend as best she could to her various bumps and bruises. She was thankful to find that there were no cuts only a wide variety of different colored bruises. A few of the bruises looked bad enough to last for quite some time. Despite her seemingly dire situation the inclination to laugh suddenly hit Willow full force and she stifled, as best she could, the laugh fit that soon followed. The laugh fit soon slackened off and then quit altogether as Dawn heard the beginnings of a chant that she would remember until the day that she died. The chant was only the first of a series of spells that would raise the unholy temple and bring about the end of the world. The continued chanting sent a shiver down her spine. The last thing that Willow saw before the lights entirely blinked out was a line of several heavily robed figures passing by her cell.
* * * * * * *
It took her some time to come down off of the high that she was on. Since returning home she had slept with Spike and gotten some of the most peaceful hours of slumber that she had ever known, with dreams of Spike and the future front and center. She relished in the realization that these dreams were not in any way slayer dreams, ones that usually foretold some type of death and or destruction, but normal happy dreams about the man that she loved with all of her heart and soul. She woke up slowly, not knowing exactly how long she had been out, to find herself firmly encircled by Spike's arms. For she knew not how long she just laid there and relished in the feeling of his arms around her and his naked body pressed against hers. She still marveled at the sound of Spike breathing so close to her. Sure she had heard him breathe before, but in those situations the breaths had been more about a reflex than a necessity. Buffy's next target of scrutiny became Spike's scent, where once it had been a cocktail of cigarettes and booze now it more closely resembled a normal man, soap mixed with shampoo, cologne, and an inherent scent that when she caught it drove her wild with thoughts that would most likely have made Giles suffer a heart attack if he were to ever learn of them. Not because they were about him but Buffy had a feeling that if she ever went into detail about what she and Spike did behind the closed door of her room it'd be too much for her old watcher to take. That thought started to bring a smile to her face before the thought was interrupted as the delicate hairs on the back of her neck suddenly stood on end and send a welcome tingling sensation throughout her body.
"About time you woke up," Buffy mumbled softly before a giggle took control over her body and forced itself out, a giggle that Spike soon joined in with before he responded.
"Had to get my beauty sleep pet…you understand," Spike whispered back softly as he stopped blowing on the back of Buffy's neck and leaned in closer and began to nibble softly on her earlobe.
"You and beauty sleep, three words that I never thought that I'd ever hear used in conjunction…," Buffy replied with a fake mocking tone to her voice as Spike allowed her roll over so that she now faced him, their lips merely centimeters apart.
"Well you know what they say…there's a first time for everything," Spike said grinning slyly as a sparkle lit up his deep baby blues and he brought his hand up slowly by drawing a line up her body, starting at her hips and ending with a soft dusting on her cheek.
"That could be the summary of your life huh…I wish we could stay just like this forever, but then Giles would say that it wouldn't be proper for the slayer to act this way and Xander…well Xander would…I don't even want to know what Xander would do," Buffy replied with a fake pout on her face, one that Spike quickly remedied with a soft kiss on her lips, before she smiled at the thought of what Xander would do.
"Whatever he would do I'd like to see it…but," Spike started to say with a cocky smile on his face before he was interrupted by a voice from the other side of the door.
"Buffy…Spike…are you awake yet," Dawns voice called out from the other side of the door with a definitely nervous tone to it, one that caused the initial shock that took hold of both Buffy and Spike to turn to a highly stifled fit of laughter.
"Yes Dawnie we're awake, what is it," Buffy asked slowly as she desperately tried to continue to hold back her laughter as she rolled over slightly and looked at the clock.
"It's two o'clock in the afternoon…it's your turn to go and sit at the hospital, Xander has already called twice and I can only stall him for so long," Dawn replied with a frustrated scowl on her face as she leaned her shoulder up against the locked door.
"Our turn already…who came up with this damn schedule anyway…oh…uh…don't answer that," Spike started to say angrily before the realization dawned on him and he blushed.
"We'll be right out Dawn, just give us a minute," Buffy almost shouted out with a look of frustration evident on her face as then Buffy and Spike shared one more passionate kiss before slowly slipping out of bed and going about putting some clothes on.
"How long do we have to stay at that bloody hospital again," Spike asked angrily as he pulled a pair of sweatpants on that he had borrowed from Xander.
"Until either Cordelia wakes up or Angel and Connor come to relieve us," Buffy answered back with a look of little enthusiasm on her face as she pulled a bathrobe tightly around her before she unlocked the door.
"Alright then…maybe we should take a shower together…save time and all that," Spike exclaimed softly with a combination suggestive and yet helpful tone to his voice as he slowly turned the doorknob and opened the door.
"I think I could handle that," Buffy replied, her green eyes twinkling, as she almost raced Spike to the bathroom before the two pushed their way in and shut the door behind them. Only minutes later the two were trying to keep their minds on the job at hand and take a shower, but it didn't take to long before what had been begun in her bedroom continued on in the shower. Downstairs Faith and Wesley had also just awoken, but Wesley had left the house to seek out Sweet-Tarts, thus trying to fulfill another of Faith's odd cravings. Angel was now sitting on one end of the couch in a deep brood as beside him Connor sat, remote in hand, idly flipping through channels trying to find something that he was even remotely interested in watching. Fred was back in the kitchen with Giles pouring over one book after another, desperately trying to see if they could find anything that they had missed on their earlier tries. Faith was firmly entrenched on the other end of the couch with her feet up, under a small pillow, on the coffee table. She spent the time commenting on Connor's ability to not stay on one channel for more than a few seconds. Indeed the only thing that had brought Angel out of his brooding phase was when Faith had suddenly lunged for Connor. Gunn had helped restrain the pregnant slayer, who by all accounts wouldn't have to much longer to wait before the twins would arrive, was on a hair trigger.
"Do we have any idea where they're keeping Willow," Fred asked Giles some minutes later as she leaned back in her chair, barely taking notice a few minutes earlier of the sounds of Buffy and Spike returning to her room after their shower to find something to wear.
"No…and that concerns me deeply, from all that I have read they will hold the ceremony tonight, but if we do not know where Willow is being held…then…," Giles said with a frustrated and angry scowl on his face as he took his glasses off and laid them down on top of the book that he had been reading.
"Well then lucky for us we do know…she's being held about a mile from here in one of the tunnels that runs through the hills surrounding Sunnydale," Buffy said with a very serious look on her face and tone to her voice as she entered the kitchen with Spike in tow.
"Really…how did you…," Fred asked with a very confused but yet very hopeful frown on her face as she looked up from the table at the two slayers.
"After I talked to Rupert last night I took a little walk and ended up running across a few loud demons, I simply followed them into the tunnels a bit and…saw Red getting the intimidation treatment," Spike replied with an almost bored look on his face as he stepped around Buffy and lightly leaned on the back of one of the chairs.
"So what do we do now," Fred asked with a growing look of hope on her face and in her eye as she closed the book in front of her.
"Simple…we save Red and kill the big bad," Spike said with a very excited smile on his face as behind him Buffy nodded her head in agreement.
END OF CHAPTER 37