All in the Family--part 21 of The Island of Galleno (Only a man who has felt ultimate despair is capable of feeling ultimate bliss.)
by Isabelle
Rating: R (for cursing, mild nudity, adult situations and violence)
Disclaimers: BTVS belong to Joss Whedon, ME, and UPN they are being used for entertainment, I don't own them. The Count of Monte Cristo belongs to Alexandre Dumas--Spike's journey was taken from the idea of the book and is used in the skeleton of the Series.
Summary: The moment that Spike finally has Buffy he is vamp-napped by Riley and a new officer, Jack Marshall and sent to the Island of Galleno off the Moroccan coast where all the leftovers of the Initiative are being placed. Buffy frantically looks for Spike but gets news that he was 'accidentally killed' by Jack, who decides to make Sunnydale his residence. The whole thing is Spike trying to get back to Sunnydale and Buffy thinking he's dead. It's filled with exotic places, tons of Original Characters, mysticism, enchantment, magic and love. It takes him years to find out who he is before he can find the one he loves.
Spoilers: Set after Normal Again, Season 6
Feedback: bih80reviews@yahoo.com
Archiving: Carnal Sins, DeathMarkedLove, and Only Time--all others please ask.
A/N: I know you all want Jack dead but he has to deal with some issues--plus let him cower in fright for a while, he deserves it *eg*
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They ran to find a waiting doctor in sweats with a clipboard in his hand as he wrote something furiously that would probably turn out to be in chicken scratch.
"Is he okay?" was the first thing that Buffy blurted out when she did a quick halt in front of him.
He looked at her with a short glance and continued writing.
"Are you the mother?" he asked her, not looking at her.
Buffy wriggled her hands together. "Yes, Buffy Su--I mean, Marshall."
"Mrs. Marshall I need your consent to take William into surgery right now, I can only tell you that it looks really bad--he's lost tremendous amounts of blood but he's a strong little guy," he looked up at her smiled, a small plastic-like-smile. "I can only tell you to hope for the best and expect the worst."
"What do you mean by worst?" Spike asked, beside her.
The young doctor arched his eyebrow at him. "And you're the...?"
"Father," Spike gulped, in the background Xander fainted. "I'm his father."
"Okay, then --all in the family, I see--we could be in surgery for a few hours, we need to make sure he's stable before we leave." he then looked at Buffy seriously. "There is a probability that he might die in surgery, I can only do my best but if the damage is beyond my control then there is nothing we can do."
"I think your best will do--William is not dying tonight," Buffy told him.
The doctor nodded and signaled for a waiting nurse to come forward with the paperwork. "Please sign the release form and I'll see you in a few hours."
They watched him walk away and through the glass doors.
~~~~~~~~
She saw him sitting outside, counting the pebbles in the street, piling them in different places. The whites were to the right, the dark ones were to the left.
She would've sat down next to him but she couldn't bring herself to do it.
"They haven't called your name yet," she told him.
He looked up at her, there was still caked blood on his face. "I don't know why I have to see a doctor, I've been hurt more badly than this."
She rolled her eyes and placed her hands on her slim hips. "Then don't see a doctor, have a concussion for all I care!"
He looked down and gulped.
"I'm sorry, Dawn... for making you care," he said after a while of piling street pebbles.
She shrugged, pretending her heart wasn't breaking. "I'm used to heart break," she lied--this was actually the first guy that had really done it for her.
"Are you?" he asked her, not containing the large wave of jealousy that ran over him. "Who was it?" Now his jaw was clenching and unclenching.
She smirked. This was her moment to get back at him--she could care less if she was being childish. "Well... his name was, hum... his name was Larry... Larry Montgomery. He was a sophomore and I was a freshman in UCLA... he was a pre-law major and completely sweet and cute." Larry had been sweet and cute but he had also been gay and one of the greatest friends she had made. "We were inseparable... me and Larry."
Lugo dug his dirty finger in the ground, until it hurt his skin. "Did you love him?"
Dawn nodded. "Very much."
He took a deep breath. "What happened?"
"He transferred to NYU... liked the east coast better," she said softly, not lying this time.
Lugo stood up abruptly and started to pace in front of her.
"Everything is messed up! Zeru's heir might not live, that--that--bastard is still out there and you will never be able to look at me the same way again!" he ranted.
"Would you really have kept that from me?" she asked, a bit miffed. "Did you think it wasn't important?"
"I do, Dawn, of course I do think it's important!"
"But not important enough to tell me! You're married, for Christ-sakes! You have a daughter!" her eyes were watering now." she bit her lip. "That alone prevents us from being together."
"I cannot choose who my heart falls in love with," he insisted.
"But your words dictate your actions--and by your words were you married, therefore it makes you a liar, a fake and a bad candidate for love," she said, now standing and facing him. "One cannot live by the heart, the heart does not change reality... and reality is the truth and truth is your most valuable commodity."
He gaped at her.
"What are you saying Dawn?" he whispered.
"That if you loved me, if you truly loved me... you wouldn't have lied." she smiled. "And I wouldn't have lied."
"You lied?" he asked, confused.
She smiled--sadly, nodded, and walked back in.
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It was 4:15AM by the time the doctor came back out of surgery. They had been moved to a private waiting room because the media was swarming all around the hospital.
Buffy was curled up together with Spike on a sofa as he softly stroked her hair, trying to ease the tension for them both.
Willow and Tara were fast asleep with Dawn at their feet.
Xander had taken Anya and the baby home after he was basically told to shut up about Spike by Giles.
Giles had some books on the table and was fast asleep over one of the texts.
It was basically Buffy and Spike who were still awake but too tired to speak when the doctor came in.
Buffy jumped from the sofa and strode over to the doctor, Spike at her heels.
"Perhaps we should sit down?" he offered.
"We've been sitting for hours," she told him, anxiously. Somehow this gave her a nasty flashback of when her mother got sick.
"Right... I have to tell you that in all of my medical profession I have never seen a case like William's," he said, rather proudly.
"How is he?" she asked, cutting him off.
"He's about 65% recovered.... in a period of what? 6 hours?" he told them puzzled.
"He's healing fast?" Spike asked, confused.
The doctor laughed. "Well I'm not saying he's some type of a superman but the little guy has got his cells obviously working overtime--I mean, by the time we went to surgery the main organs had all but completely healed. It's amazing!"
Buffy let out a sigh of relief and had to laugh.
Spike wrapped his arms around her from behind and smiled into her hair in relief.
"He went into a coma on me, for about forty-five minutes but promptly woke up, he was in pain, obviously but we gave him something for that and he's completely stable, sleeping like a baby."
"Can we see him?" she asked, quickly.
He nodded. "He's no longer in ICU, so both of you are welcomed to come.... family members can come in later 5 minutes at the time."
Buffy was ready to bolt for the door when he placed his hand up. "Please try to not to say anything negative, positive words is what he needs to hear. If you feel you might loose your control take it outside, he can still slip easily into a coma, he's small body has been through a lot these past few hours."
Buffy nodded, vigorously.
"Follow me then."
They did as he led them down a quiet darkened hall. Patients were connected by various devices and could be seen through glass doors. "Don't be frightened by the equipment around him, he needs it to stay stable."
Spike reached down and wrapped his hand around Buffy's not realizing how nervous and anxious he was himself.
"Here it is," the doctor told them. "Anything you need, Kimberly is the head nurse here she or any of the others would be glad to help you."
"Thanks, mate," Spike nodded and opened the door for Buffy.
She stepped and instantly gasped, her eyes watering. She had to be strong, she couldn't freak out, she couldn't freak out, she couldn't freak out.
It was just that... he looked so tiny underneath all the ... stuff... that was around him.
"Oh William...." she whispered, placing her hand on her mouth, preventing herself from crying out.
He had a cut above his left eye where he had fallen and hit the floor, his arms were in a temporary upper body cast, preventing him from moving. There were tubes up his little nose and coming out of his small hospital gown--his other arm was swollen because of the IV in it.
"C'mon, luv--you've got to be strong," Spike said, trying to hold back the nausea at seeing him like that.
She nodded. "Right, strong."
They walked to his bed, Buffy standing on his right and Spike on his left, the only noise in the room was the steady and strong heart monitor that indicated he was still alive.
Buffy leaned down and kissed his forehead, then his small nose--making him wriggle it in his sleep.
"Mommy's here, baby," she whispered.
He stirred, eyes still closed. "Mommy?" he asked, in a hoarse whisper.
This brought tears to Buffy's eyes. "Hey, my darling--you're doing wonderful."
His blue eyes opened to look at her, still drowsy from the pain medication. "I'm sorry, mommy."
"Shhhh, no more of that--you rest and get better, okay?" she asked him, running her hand down his small chubby cheek.
"It hurted," he told her.
"Does it hurt now?" she asked, looking at Spike desperately.
He shook his head. "They gave me a shot."
She smiled at him. "You're so brave, baby--mommy is really proud of you."
He smiled. "I didn't cry."
"I bet you didn't," she kissed his cheek.
"Where's daddy?" he asked, yawning.
"Right here, bitty bad," Spike spoke up. William turned to look at him.
"I found you, daddy," he said, his eyes closing in exhaustion.
"Yeah, you did," Spike asked, not quite familiar with the feeling building up in his chest--a mixture between worry and relief and complete happiness.
"Don't go 'way again," he pleaded.
Spike leaned in and kissed his forehead. "Not going anywhere, William."
William smiled and finally gave into his sleep, snoring softly.
Buffy took a deep breath, wrapping her hand around his smaller one, wanting desperately to climb up in bed with him and hold him tightly.
"You think he's got healing powers?" Spike asked her. She looked up at him.
"There's no other explanation... that shot would've killed him," she gulped and looked down at him again, kissing his hand and his forehead once more.
Spike nodded and looked around the room, he spotted a large chair and pulled it to the bed.
"Why don't you get some sleep, I'll watch over him," Spike told her.
She shook her head. "I can't sleep--not with him like this."
"You're no good to him exhausted." he insisted.
Buffy kissed William's hand once more and placed it gently over his stomach then turned to look at Spike. She still had trouble believing he was there--even more she had trouble believe that he'd ever been gone.
"You owe me a long explanation," she whispered and sat down on the chair, turning so that she was still watching William.
Spike, finding nowhere to sit, sat down on the floor next to her and looked at William also.
"I'm sorry you had to do it all by yourself..." he told her after a while.
"I didn't mind... it would've been nicer to have you here," she looked down at him. "But having you here right now is perfect also."
He took a deep breath, a part of him was relaxed that William was doing perfectly well and another part of him wanted to hunt down Jack for doing this.
"Tell me about him... what is he like," Spike pleased, looking up at her.
She smiled. "He's shy--very shy. He likes to write and draw, he also loves to play with his toys--never had many friends."
Spike smiled as he studied his child.
"He gets picked on at school and has come home crying various times..." Spike looked at her alarmed. "Because of his glasses. They call him names..."
"I get that," he whispered.
She grinned. "Remind you of someone?"
He chuckled and shook his head. "This is surreal. Too good to be for me."
"Well he's all yours, believe me he is--you can't deny it. He has your eyes, your facial expressions, your hair, your soul..."
He looked back up at her, disturbed.
"Sometimes I really think he's William..." she looked at her son. "William the Bloody Awful Poet."
"He's not," now Spike stood up, aggravated and started pacing.
She studied him for a while and let him vent out his frustrations with the floor.
"And he's perfect," she whispered.
He stopped and looked at her. "Pet, you don't understand--William was a --a --..."
"A what?" Buffy demanded. "Loving, kind, truthful, a dreamer... well William is all of that and more--he's got that Spike spice in him and he's got my attitude."
"I didn't mean to insult him--"
"Well you did." she turned away from him. "He's mine, and I love him just that way. Not because it was all of you I had left or because he's flesh of my flesh but because in those moments when I was feeling most alone he wrapped those little arms around me and told me that he loved me and that everything was going to be alright."
"Buffy I didn't--"
"Save it, Spike. I think it's about time you accepted that William is part of you, he never died. And all that was good about you has been poured into this little soul," she looked at him. "He's perfect."
"I know he is, luv--I know it. Being with 'im for only a while and I wanted to take all his pain away..." he sighed and ran his hands through his hair. "I can't tell you everything will be perfect between us--"
"I'm not asking you to," she told him. "I accepted reality a long time ago."
"Jack is still out there," he told her.
"The police are looking for him," she reminded him.
"Then I have to find him before they do," Spike said, looking down at his child and rubbing his belly, lightly.
"Spike, please--" Buffy started.
He snapped at her. "Please what? Let him live?"
Her eyes narrowed. "He's human!"
"So is William," Spike reminded her.
She took a deep breath, pulling her legs up under her until her chin rested on her knees. "Please don't kill him... not because I love him because I don't... but because William is not going to have a daddy that murdered the man he called father."
"What are you saying, Buffy?" he asked her, his eyes narrowing.
She met his eyes. "You kill him and you don't came back to me... you don't come back to William. If you leave here with intentions of killing him, you can look at William one last time."
Their eyes met.
He sighed.
"Fine... I wont kill 'im." he glared at her. "Though he damn well deserves it."
She smiled, stood up and walked up to him. "I know."
They stood in front of each other, temptatively.
Now they were not greeting each other, or comforting each other.
What they did now was out of their own will.
She reached out, and lightly ran her hand down his chest.
He inhaled sharply.
Her eyes traveled up his black-clad-chest and to his neck.
He watched as her hand traveled up his shirt. She paused to play with a button.
Pushed the button aside and touched his cool flesh.
He inhaled sharply.
"How long will you be gone," she asked shyly, though shyness was nowhere hear her fingers, as they naughtily slipped between two buttons and found the hard smoothness of his chest.
"Hummm...I..." two fingers slipped into his shirt. "Buffy..."
She smiled and leaned in, pulling those fingers out. "Just letting you know what's waiting for you."
He looked down at her smiling face, her hair softly tickling his forearm. "Like I could forget."
They stared at each other for sometime, studying each other's face, the lips, the eyes, the eyebrows.
"Do you want me to kiss you?" he whispered.
Her eyes narrowed.
"Never--ever--ask me that!" she slammed her hand over his chest. He instinctively grabbed her hand and twisted it behind her back, pulling her flush against his chest.
Now she was panting lightly.
Eyes locked.
He didn't wait another minute as he reached down as grabbed her bottom lip, biting it and lightly rolling it between his teeth.
She moaned into him, closing her eyes and letting herself drown.
Her free hand moving up to his face and running it along the nape of his neck, letting her fingers play with the baby hair there.
He closed his eyes as he felt her response and took that opportunity to let his tongue dip into her waiting mouth, running it on top of the smoothness of her teeth, letting his tongue make friction with hers as small taste buds connected once more with each other--remembering the taste from so long ago.
Now it was him that was moaning, letting go of her pinned arm and wrapping both of his around her small frame.
Her hands grabbed his face, wanting him closer, his scent, his feel, his hardness...
"No kissing!"
They both jumped, panting, and trembling.
They snapped around and looked at William who was staring at them with a scowl on his face. "Coodies!"
Buffy bit her bottom lip and chuckled, letting Spike wrap his hands around hers. He pulled her in, chuckling with her and kissed the top of her head.
"Mommies and daddies can kiss," Buffy told her son.
He was still not convinced, glared at them despite his prone condition.
Spike wrapped his arms around her and gently rocked her. "You'll like it when you're older."
William made a face. "I'm not kissing mommy like that!"
Buffy burst out laughing, hiding her face in Spike chest--letting him handle this situation.
"Well, of course not--but one day you'll find a nice girl with pretty breast--"
"Spike!" Buffy scolded him, completely shocked that he would speak of that. "You're perverting him!"
Spike laughed and kissed her chastely once more. "Better to hear it from me than from someone else."
"What's perteting?" William asked, confused.
"Perverting, love," Buffy corrected him. "And you don't repeat that word until you're 16."
"What happens at 16?" he asked, still curious as to why they couldn't keep their hands off each other--eyeing them warily.
"You'll be a walking testimony of that word," Spike told him then looked at Buffy. "I'll be back."
She studied him. "I hope so."
"Why is daddy leaving?" William asked, in the verge of tears.
Spike and Buffy walked to his bed, Spike leaned in. "Here," he took off his watch. William grabbed the watch with his IV'ed hand and studied the Rolex. "When it's 6PM I'll be back."
"It's 6AM now," William informed him.
Spike smiled. "Can you give me 12 hours?"
William looked up at him and studied him. Then nodded. "But I don't want to be alone."
"I'm staying with you, baby," Buffy reassured him, kissing his head once more.
William was still looking at Spike. "Can you bring me back Piglet?"
Spike grinned. "I think I can arrange that."
William smiled back.
Spike looked at Buffy and took her hands, kissing her. "Worry not, pet."
He walked away from his family and started for the door.
"Daddy!"
He instantly stopped and looked back at them. "I love you, Daddy."
Spike couldn't help but smile, way too much emotion for him in these past few hours.
"Love you too, Niblin'," he said then walked out of the room.
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Giles was completely asleep when a nurse softly shook him.
He woke up in confusion.
"Mr. Rupert Giles?" she asked him quietly, trying not to wake the rest of the room.
"Yes," he asked, fixing his glasses.
"You have a phone call," she told him.
He nodded and in shaky legs followed her.
He thanked her and picked up the receiver at the nurses' station. "Hello?"
"Rupert?"
He shivered at the electronic voice in the receiver. "Who's this?" he asked.
"That doesn'tt matter, look in the book 'Origins and Facts of the Slayer', page 546. Only there shall you find the truth."
Then the line went dead.
"Hello," he clicked on the dial. "Hello?"
The line was completely dead.
He set down the phone and thanked the nurse once more. His brain racing, he walked to the books he had on top of his table.
There, on top, laid 'Origins and Facts of the Slayer'--he did not own this book and it had not been there when he left.
Looking around the room he saw Tara, Willow and Dawn fast asleep.
He carefully opened the first page.
Written in 652, translated to English in 1475.
He turned to page 546 and perched his glasses when he saw that a paragraph had been highlighted in green.
Who would highlight such a valuable book?
Regardless he picked it up and read the script.
"The only way for a Slayer not stop being a Slayer and leave her calling is by death--no other way is known to man, and those who said that they have found one lie. The powers deem whom is to be the Slayer and only in death will they take it away," he whispered to himself.
'And those who said that they have found one lie...' he thought to himself. Then dropped the book like wildfire and walked down the hall to talk to Buffy.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
TBC....