PART 3
Buffy was excited for her friends. She knew they would be happy together. In fact she was almost jealous of them. They would be able to have that normal life that she never could. Subconsciously she started looking around for Spike. When she didn't immediately see him she noticed that both he and Anne had left the room. The rest of the group quieted down and then they also noticed who was missing. That's when they heard the thumping sounds coming from the training room. With Buffy in the lead they all ran over and opened the door. That's when they stood still in shock and fascination. Buffy's eyes were wider than saucers and her mouth was hanging open.
****
"I want you to fight with me."
"What?"
"If you want to know who I am, then you need to fight with me."
"Ok, look, you're new in town so let me just say that I can't fight you. See I have this..."
"Chip I know."
"How?"
"I've always known, but the point is, that you can hit me. The chip won't hurt you."
****
The two people in the training room were just a swirl of dusters. They could match move for move and neither seemed to tire. They would kick, block, spin, punch, and duck. Spike was having to invent new moves on the spot, but every time he did, she would counter, just as if she already knew what he was going to do. No one knew how long the fight had already been going on, but they did know that it wasn't likely to end any time soon. Buffy knew that she probably could have interfered but it didn't appear as though either one was getting hurt so she just stood back and watched. This girl had power and strength, speed and agility. Buffy was growing more anxious to find out who she was, or maybe WHAT she was seeing as how Spike was able to hit her without his chip zapping him. To the best of her knowledge, she was the only one who had, at least since she had met him, been able to best Spike. Not even Angel could beet him without being severely damaged in the process.
After quite some time had passed, Anne was finally able to get in a blow that Spike could not defend. She flipped him onto the floor and pinned him with a stake to his chest. Even though he didn't need to breath, Spike was panting. He had never had a workout that intense and that long in his entire un-life. Buffy saw the stake stop half an inch from it's target. But before she could even react, Anne was leaning forward.
Spike laid there. He knew that there was a stake above his heart but he could see her eyes. She looked as though she were having a good time. Not in an "I'm so Evil I have fun killing things" way but in an innocent "I want to ride the pony again" sort of way. He closed his eyes when she started to lean forward. But what he felt was not what he had been expecting (and he had no idea what to expect but this was not it).
Anne just leaned forward and kissed him on the forehead. Her warm lips on his cold skin. His eyes flew open in surprise, once again she had left him speechless.
****
"Alright, you are going to tell me right here and right now exactly what the hell you are."
Anne stood up and looked at the blonde Slayer who had both hands on her hips. She knew that posture, it meant business. Spike stood up and gingerly walked over to Anne. She felt him coming but she kept her eyes on Buffy. He took her shoulders and turned her towards him, forcing her eyes to meet his. "Alright, I fought with you. Now tell me who you are."
"I was sent back in time by Whistler." It was true and didn't reveal anything that she wasn't ready to reveal.
"Back from when?" It was Dawn who chose to speak before anyone could. Anne kept eye contact with Spike while she answered. "From the year 2021. He sent me here to help you." At this she turned to look at Dawn and continued. "But the little bugger wouldn't tell me what when or how."
Without warning, Spike reached up and gripped her chin, forcing her face up and towards his. He was looking at her lip. In the scuffle it had cracked and had bled a little. He allowed his game face to emerge in order to have full access to his senses. Everyone watched in horror and Dawn in fascination as he leaned in and sniffed her blood. Then he wiped it away gently with his thumb. He locked eyes with Anne again. She was not disturbed by what he was doing she was just waiting patiently and expectantly. He then looked at his thumb and then tasted the blood that was on it. Her blood. The blood he distinctly remembered wiping from her lip.
"Spike! What the hell do you think your doing?" Buffy stormed up to him and hit him in the nose. Before she could advance any further on him though both her wrists were caught in a vise grip. Anne had grabbed her. "I think he's had enough abuse for one day. Besides, it's my blood and I'll do whatever I want to with it." Buffy fixed her with a glare that would have cowed most people who knew her. "I don't deserve your wrath and neither does he."
Spike decided to interrupt before Buffy decided to get ugly. "Slayer, back off. You, let go of her." Anne released her grip but kept her eyes focused on Buffy. Spike stepped between them and spoke to the Scoobies who were still standing at the door. "Go wait in the shop. The three of us need some time to figure this out."
Xander got that look and said "We are not leaving you guys alone. In case you haven't noticed Deadboy, we don't trust you." Buffy looked at Xander. "I agree with Spike. We'll fill you in on everything once we have it figured out. But in the mean time starting looking up if there are any significant dates coming up for supernatural occurrences."
"Ok, Fine. We'll leave you alone. But if you need us just yell."
After they left Anne lowered her head. She was so unsure of herself and now she was in a room alone with these two people. There deaths had haunted her and now she couldn't even really enjoy having them back. They didn't know her and therefore they didn't know what she was going through.
"Are you a slayer?" Buffy didn't really feel that she needed to ask. After all, if this girl really was from the future then that would explain her fighting ability. Although, she didn't really like the idea of having a slayer around that was stronger than Spike, because that meant she was stronger than Buffy. This did not bring forth warm fuzzy thoughts. But she asked the question anyway even though she was pretty sure what the answer was.
"No, I'm not"
Spike was confused. He had tasted her blood. It was slayer blood. But now that he had Anne's answer that she was not a slayer he was forced to rethink that zing he had tasted in her blood. It was something he could not identify. Something far off and unknown that itched at the back of his mind telling him that he should know the answer.
Her answer stunned Buffy. Not a slayer? Calmly and with a little patience Buffy spoke. "You're not slayer. Then what are you?"
"My title? I am what the Powers have termed as The Balance. Look it up. I don't know what book you'll find it in but I do know that there is a prophesy somewhere."
"You have the blood of a slayer in your veins. I can taste it. But there's something else. How old are you?"
Anne was expecting him to ask why or something along those lines. So when he asked how old she was her head snapped back to his and she gave him an incredulous look as she told him that she was 19.
"I'm going to have the others start looking up anything they can in reference to The Balance." Buffy left the two black clad figures alone together. After she was out of ear shot, Spike proceeded. He didn't want anyone else here for this part of the conversation. Spike stepped forward so that there was only about a foot between them. She looked up at his face and he looked at her. "You're mum was a slayer,.........wasn't she?"
He saw her eyes start to mist over and take on a look of resignation. Anne slowly lowered her head and leaned her forehead against his chest. He stepped forward and wrapped his arms around her.
Her reply was muffled but he heard it. After she confirmed his suspicion she wrapped her arms around his waste under his coat and tightened her grip so that he was glad he didn't need to breath.
Buffy walked back into the training room to find Spike and Anne embracing. "Did I miss something?" Anne pulled her head up as both of them looked at Buffy, then she turned to look up at Spike. He noticed her movement and looked back down at her. Her eyes were beseeching his, begging him not to tell Buffy what he had just discovered. He looked down between them as he barely shook his head and disentangled her arms from around his waste and he backed out of the embrace.
Anne gathered her courage and straightened her shoulders. She would not let them get the best of her. She was stronger than this. It would not beat her. Besides, there were bigger fish to fry. She knew that, given the opportunity, the three of them together would be a force to wrecken with.
Without looking at either of them, Anne moved towards the door. When she was right next to Buffy she stopped. They were side by side and faced opposite directions. Buffy turned her head to look at Anne. Her expression was one of uncertainty as to what was going on. The room was silent. Spike simply watched without saying a word. After a few seconds of silence, Anne brought her left hand up to rest on Buffy's left shoulder. She didn't look at Buffy's face, she couldn't, but she did manage a small smile and a soft almost tender expression that was filled with love and sorrow. More silence was the only response to Anne's gesture. She then dropped her hand and left the room, leaving Spike and Buffy to look at each other.
****
Willow was working on the laptop while Xander and Anya pored over some books. Dawn was at the shelf pulling down some more that might be of any help at all. "Oh, hey Anne. Um, how are you doing?" Willow had looked up when she heard the door. "Life could be better, but it's been worse. How's the research coming along?"
Xander replied. "Well, we haven't exactly had a whole lot of time yet. If we do find any reference to this balance thingy, than we still won't know if you're really who you say you are or not."
Anne looked at him. She knew he had a point and she already knew to expect this. "You'll probably want to call Giles and have him search through the Council's resources. But tell him to be careful. We don't want the Council to know that I exist. At least not yet."
"Why? What are you hiding?"
"She has a point Xander, remember what the Council has done to me? Who knows what they'll try to pull against somebody they're not in charge of. They tend to go off on power trips." Buffy had emerged in time to here Xander's comments. Dawn walked back over to the table and set down another tall stack of books. "Buffy, where's Spike?" "Hm? Oh, he left."
"Why? I thought he was going to help."
"I don't know. He got really moody and refused to say anything. Which, now that I think about it, really worries me. I mean, Spike? Not have anything to say? It's unheard of. Anne, do you know wh............where is she?"
All the scoobies looked around for her. In the training room, the office, storage, basement, and outside (front and back). No one could find her.
**** (tbc) PLEASE REVIEW!!!!!!! :) makes me happy.
Buffy was excited for her friends. She knew they would be happy together. In fact she was almost jealous of them. They would be able to have that normal life that she never could. Subconsciously she started looking around for Spike. When she didn't immediately see him she noticed that both he and Anne had left the room. The rest of the group quieted down and then they also noticed who was missing. That's when they heard the thumping sounds coming from the training room. With Buffy in the lead they all ran over and opened the door. That's when they stood still in shock and fascination. Buffy's eyes were wider than saucers and her mouth was hanging open.
****
"I want you to fight with me."
"What?"
"If you want to know who I am, then you need to fight with me."
"Ok, look, you're new in town so let me just say that I can't fight you. See I have this..."
"Chip I know."
"How?"
"I've always known, but the point is, that you can hit me. The chip won't hurt you."
****
The two people in the training room were just a swirl of dusters. They could match move for move and neither seemed to tire. They would kick, block, spin, punch, and duck. Spike was having to invent new moves on the spot, but every time he did, she would counter, just as if she already knew what he was going to do. No one knew how long the fight had already been going on, but they did know that it wasn't likely to end any time soon. Buffy knew that she probably could have interfered but it didn't appear as though either one was getting hurt so she just stood back and watched. This girl had power and strength, speed and agility. Buffy was growing more anxious to find out who she was, or maybe WHAT she was seeing as how Spike was able to hit her without his chip zapping him. To the best of her knowledge, she was the only one who had, at least since she had met him, been able to best Spike. Not even Angel could beet him without being severely damaged in the process.
After quite some time had passed, Anne was finally able to get in a blow that Spike could not defend. She flipped him onto the floor and pinned him with a stake to his chest. Even though he didn't need to breath, Spike was panting. He had never had a workout that intense and that long in his entire un-life. Buffy saw the stake stop half an inch from it's target. But before she could even react, Anne was leaning forward.
Spike laid there. He knew that there was a stake above his heart but he could see her eyes. She looked as though she were having a good time. Not in an "I'm so Evil I have fun killing things" way but in an innocent "I want to ride the pony again" sort of way. He closed his eyes when she started to lean forward. But what he felt was not what he had been expecting (and he had no idea what to expect but this was not it).
Anne just leaned forward and kissed him on the forehead. Her warm lips on his cold skin. His eyes flew open in surprise, once again she had left him speechless.
****
"Alright, you are going to tell me right here and right now exactly what the hell you are."
Anne stood up and looked at the blonde Slayer who had both hands on her hips. She knew that posture, it meant business. Spike stood up and gingerly walked over to Anne. She felt him coming but she kept her eyes on Buffy. He took her shoulders and turned her towards him, forcing her eyes to meet his. "Alright, I fought with you. Now tell me who you are."
"I was sent back in time by Whistler." It was true and didn't reveal anything that she wasn't ready to reveal.
"Back from when?" It was Dawn who chose to speak before anyone could. Anne kept eye contact with Spike while she answered. "From the year 2021. He sent me here to help you." At this she turned to look at Dawn and continued. "But the little bugger wouldn't tell me what when or how."
Without warning, Spike reached up and gripped her chin, forcing her face up and towards his. He was looking at her lip. In the scuffle it had cracked and had bled a little. He allowed his game face to emerge in order to have full access to his senses. Everyone watched in horror and Dawn in fascination as he leaned in and sniffed her blood. Then he wiped it away gently with his thumb. He locked eyes with Anne again. She was not disturbed by what he was doing she was just waiting patiently and expectantly. He then looked at his thumb and then tasted the blood that was on it. Her blood. The blood he distinctly remembered wiping from her lip.
"Spike! What the hell do you think your doing?" Buffy stormed up to him and hit him in the nose. Before she could advance any further on him though both her wrists were caught in a vise grip. Anne had grabbed her. "I think he's had enough abuse for one day. Besides, it's my blood and I'll do whatever I want to with it." Buffy fixed her with a glare that would have cowed most people who knew her. "I don't deserve your wrath and neither does he."
Spike decided to interrupt before Buffy decided to get ugly. "Slayer, back off. You, let go of her." Anne released her grip but kept her eyes focused on Buffy. Spike stepped between them and spoke to the Scoobies who were still standing at the door. "Go wait in the shop. The three of us need some time to figure this out."
Xander got that look and said "We are not leaving you guys alone. In case you haven't noticed Deadboy, we don't trust you." Buffy looked at Xander. "I agree with Spike. We'll fill you in on everything once we have it figured out. But in the mean time starting looking up if there are any significant dates coming up for supernatural occurrences."
"Ok, Fine. We'll leave you alone. But if you need us just yell."
After they left Anne lowered her head. She was so unsure of herself and now she was in a room alone with these two people. There deaths had haunted her and now she couldn't even really enjoy having them back. They didn't know her and therefore they didn't know what she was going through.
"Are you a slayer?" Buffy didn't really feel that she needed to ask. After all, if this girl really was from the future then that would explain her fighting ability. Although, she didn't really like the idea of having a slayer around that was stronger than Spike, because that meant she was stronger than Buffy. This did not bring forth warm fuzzy thoughts. But she asked the question anyway even though she was pretty sure what the answer was.
"No, I'm not"
Spike was confused. He had tasted her blood. It was slayer blood. But now that he had Anne's answer that she was not a slayer he was forced to rethink that zing he had tasted in her blood. It was something he could not identify. Something far off and unknown that itched at the back of his mind telling him that he should know the answer.
Her answer stunned Buffy. Not a slayer? Calmly and with a little patience Buffy spoke. "You're not slayer. Then what are you?"
"My title? I am what the Powers have termed as The Balance. Look it up. I don't know what book you'll find it in but I do know that there is a prophesy somewhere."
"You have the blood of a slayer in your veins. I can taste it. But there's something else. How old are you?"
Anne was expecting him to ask why or something along those lines. So when he asked how old she was her head snapped back to his and she gave him an incredulous look as she told him that she was 19.
"I'm going to have the others start looking up anything they can in reference to The Balance." Buffy left the two black clad figures alone together. After she was out of ear shot, Spike proceeded. He didn't want anyone else here for this part of the conversation. Spike stepped forward so that there was only about a foot between them. She looked up at his face and he looked at her. "You're mum was a slayer,.........wasn't she?"
He saw her eyes start to mist over and take on a look of resignation. Anne slowly lowered her head and leaned her forehead against his chest. He stepped forward and wrapped his arms around her.
Her reply was muffled but he heard it. After she confirmed his suspicion she wrapped her arms around his waste under his coat and tightened her grip so that he was glad he didn't need to breath.
Buffy walked back into the training room to find Spike and Anne embracing. "Did I miss something?" Anne pulled her head up as both of them looked at Buffy, then she turned to look up at Spike. He noticed her movement and looked back down at her. Her eyes were beseeching his, begging him not to tell Buffy what he had just discovered. He looked down between them as he barely shook his head and disentangled her arms from around his waste and he backed out of the embrace.
Anne gathered her courage and straightened her shoulders. She would not let them get the best of her. She was stronger than this. It would not beat her. Besides, there were bigger fish to fry. She knew that, given the opportunity, the three of them together would be a force to wrecken with.
Without looking at either of them, Anne moved towards the door. When she was right next to Buffy she stopped. They were side by side and faced opposite directions. Buffy turned her head to look at Anne. Her expression was one of uncertainty as to what was going on. The room was silent. Spike simply watched without saying a word. After a few seconds of silence, Anne brought her left hand up to rest on Buffy's left shoulder. She didn't look at Buffy's face, she couldn't, but she did manage a small smile and a soft almost tender expression that was filled with love and sorrow. More silence was the only response to Anne's gesture. She then dropped her hand and left the room, leaving Spike and Buffy to look at each other.
****
Willow was working on the laptop while Xander and Anya pored over some books. Dawn was at the shelf pulling down some more that might be of any help at all. "Oh, hey Anne. Um, how are you doing?" Willow had looked up when she heard the door. "Life could be better, but it's been worse. How's the research coming along?"
Xander replied. "Well, we haven't exactly had a whole lot of time yet. If we do find any reference to this balance thingy, than we still won't know if you're really who you say you are or not."
Anne looked at him. She knew he had a point and she already knew to expect this. "You'll probably want to call Giles and have him search through the Council's resources. But tell him to be careful. We don't want the Council to know that I exist. At least not yet."
"Why? What are you hiding?"
"She has a point Xander, remember what the Council has done to me? Who knows what they'll try to pull against somebody they're not in charge of. They tend to go off on power trips." Buffy had emerged in time to here Xander's comments. Dawn walked back over to the table and set down another tall stack of books. "Buffy, where's Spike?" "Hm? Oh, he left."
"Why? I thought he was going to help."
"I don't know. He got really moody and refused to say anything. Which, now that I think about it, really worries me. I mean, Spike? Not have anything to say? It's unheard of. Anne, do you know wh............where is she?"
All the scoobies looked around for her. In the training room, the office, storage, basement, and outside (front and back). No one could find her.
**** (tbc) PLEASE REVIEW!!!!!!! :) makes me happy.