Court kicked open the doors to the mansion that had lain dormant since Angel had left town. He breathed the air deeply, finding it musty, but ridden with the scent of blood and pain.
"This suits me well."
The minions who had shown this place knew that if they could breath, they would have been sighing with relief.
"Tomorrow, we will begin the process. Tomorrow, everyone in this dismal town will know exactly who I am. Tomorrow, everyone will tremble before me. And tomorrow, everyone will fall on their knees and call me Master."
One minion, Christian who had been only fifteen when he had been turned, stepped forward.
"Uh…master? What process?"
Court smiled, hoping that someone would step forward and ask. He took a step towards the young vampire and quickly gave him an affectionate kiss on the forehead.
"The process of opening the hellmouth of course."
There was a shocked silence. No one had tried to open the hellmouth for at least a year.
"I'll need as many sacrifices as you can find. Yhidnamma will accept nothing less than the best. They must be fresh. No feeding, no killing. Yhidnamanna will come when he is called, and he will be called when we have five. Do you understand this?" Court asked, his eyes glaring at the minions who stood cowering before him.
Christian went to ask a question but quickly stopped himself.
"You have a question?" Court asked, directing his gaze at the younger vampire.
"How…how do we live if we have no food?"
Court laughed and ruffled the vamps hair. "You will be provided for. No harm will come to you. Just bring me my sacrifices. Until then, rest up. Tomorrow will be a big day for you all."
The vamps went to leave, only one lingering behind.
"Christian, you seem to be full of questions."
Christian looked at Court with admiration.
"Sir, I want to be your right hand man."
Court looked at him for a moment, sizing him up.
"What have you done to deserve that responsibility?"
"I'll prove my worth to you. I swear, I can do whatever you ask."
Court hesitated, stroking his chin thoughtfully.
"Very well then. If
you can bring to me the Key, I will make you my right hand man."
"The key, Master?"
Court nodded. "Glorificus knew of only one ritual to open the dimensions of the worlds. It just so happens that Yhidnamanna will not only open the hellmouth, but every portal if we bring him the Key. And you will bring her to me."
Christian nodded, grinning at the chance he was being given.
"I will not fail you."
"No," Court said. "Because then I would be forced to kill you."
~*~
Buffy smiled as she watched what was happening on the earth below her. Things were hard, she knew that the gang would take her death with great pain, but…they were living, just like she had bade Dawn to tell them.
Giles was…coping. She had watched his torment, his frustration, his anger, his tears. She had watched the phone call he had made to the council telling them that she was dead. She had watched him throw the telephone at the wall when he had hung up. She had watched him fall to his knees, his body wracking with sobs, and she had watched as he had fallen asleep on the floor, his last thoughts had been on her.
The gang was patrolling, Xander wanting to take over a lot of it. He had no formal training, the council had pointed that out to him before, along with Cordelia and Anya, again and again, but he had 'clocked field time', and his pain was helping him to fight.
Dawn…it hurt to watch Dawn. She was becoming quieter than she had been after Joyce had died. Though, Buffy thought that it would be fairly normal, given the circumstances. Even if Dawn hadn't been the Key, she still would have taken it badly. Giles was looking after her though, and Buffy had first hand experience that Giles would staunchly protect her against anything and everything.
And Spike…Spike was keeping his promise to protect Dawn to the end of the world. Somehow, Buffy knew she had made the right decision with entrusting his sister's life to him, no matter how monstrous he thought he was. To Buffy, he was a man.
The fact that he was soulless and still completely protective made him all the more trustworthy. Spike wouldn't and couldn't turn on Dawn, even if he came to his sense, or if the chip was removed.
Buffy smiled softly and continued watching their lives, not noticing that someone had come up behind her. That someone was a young man, no older than twenty-one. He coughed softly, letting her know that he was there.
She turned and looked at him. She recognised him, but she wasn't sure where she knew him from.
"Hi Buffy."
Buffy took a step back, her heart catching in her throat.
"What – what are you doing here? I don't understand."
He smiled slightly and gave a small shrug.
"I'm not who you think I am. Not really."
"Then who are you? You look and talk a lot like Spike," she said. "Except, you know, you have brown hair, and you're lacking in the leather."
He smiled at her description and went to stand next to her.
"I'm not Spike. Well, I am, but…I'm not the vampire. You're here, but you're body is buried. I'm here, but my body walks the earth. Understand?"
"You're Spike's soul?" she asked slowly, trying to take what he was telling her in.
"William's soul, and yes. And if Angelus was roaming the earth, then Angel's soul would be here as well."
Buffy stared at him for a moment before continuing. "What happens when I dust vampires then? I mean…when I used to dust vampires? I thought they'd go to hell or something."
"Well, the human, the person, depending on what the did in life, they would either come here, to this realm, or if they had committed acts of unspeakable evil, they would go to hell. But, when a person dies by a vampire bite, they physically die. Their soul is brought here. Their body remains on earth."
Buffy nodded, beginning to understand. She had never thought about what happened to a person once they had died. Being brought to this realm of safety, peace and love had been a great relief to her. She had been unsure about the afterlife, and this realm had treated her kindly so far.
She had always assumed that when a person was turned that…well, admittedly she had never questioned what happened. When Angel had lost his soul, it made her wonder where the soul had gone if it was lost, but, she had never thought that the souls of the vampires she had been dusting had been in heaven all along.
"Isn't it hard having to watch yourself do all that?" she asked.
"I hate watching anything evil, but that's not me. I have no control over him, and he has no control over me. He thinks of me a lot. Especially lately. He thinks of what might have been. He thinks that maybe if he had his soul back, like Angel has his soul, then you might be able to love him. The amazing thing is, you learned to love him without me being there."
Buffy went to protest, to tell him he was wrong.
"I know you have feelings for him, pet," William said softly.
Her heart leapt at the familiar endearment, her smile spreading across her face.
"He thinks he's a monster, but he's not. Not completely. Not the part that counts. He didn't need me to bring out the man in him. He had you."
Buffy closed her eyes, wishing that this realm would stop reminding her of all that she had missed out on by not accepting the love that was offered to her again and again. Instead, she had pushed it away, telling him that he was incapable of feeling, incapable of loving. But he had proved his love, had proved his worth, and now it was too late.
~*~
For the first time in a week, Spike was patrolling beside Xander, rather than lurking in the bushes.
"Kinda slow tonight, eh?" he asked casually.
Xander glared at him, wondering how he had been convinced to let Spike come with him on a hunt.
Rolling his eyes, Xander realised that he could either stay quiet and make the evening dull, or he could reply and possibly liven up the night with the bantering that always took place.
"What gives you that impression?" he asked bitterly. "The fact that there's no vampires around, or the fact that the only vampire around here is you."
Spike looked at him and raised his eyebrows. He shrugged and continued walking.
"What, no comeback?" Xander asked.
Spike turned to look at him. "You state the truth, I'm not about to answer you back."
Xander shook his head, confused. "I always state the truth and you always have some smart-alec comment to throw back in my face."
Spike gave a slight grin and kept walking.
"So, that's it? You're just gonna keep walking?"
"Why not?" Spike answered as he continued on. "My not answering is pissing you off more than my answers usually do. Why stop the fun now?"
Xander ran a few steps to catch up with the blonde vampire. Without warning, he fell to the ground. Spike stopped and looked around him confused. He hadn't smelt any attacker near to them, and he couldn't see anywhere there either.
He looked down at Xander, lying on the ground, moaning in pain, clutching at his head.
Spike put out a reluctant hand to help him up. Xander hesitated before accepting the hand and was pulled to his feet.
"What was that?" he asked, rubbing his head.
"Buggered if I know mate. One moment you're running, the next…you're moaning worse than usual."
Xander looked around him, trying to see what had knocked him down.
"I didn't see anyone."
Without any warning, Spike felt someone kick the back of his head. He managed to stay balanced and looked up to see a young boy, about nine years of age, swinging in a tree.
"You shouldn't be out here after dark," Xander said as the boy dropped down to the ground. "There's scary stuff around here at night."
The boy shrugged and Spike immediately knew something was awry. He listened carefully and heard no heart beat besides Xander's.
He lunged towards the boy and caught his neck, throwing him against the tree he had just swung from.
"Who sent you?" he cried angrily.
The boy pushed Spike away, surprising both Spike and Xander with his strength.
Spike regained his balance and quickly picked up the boy-vamp, obviously a fledging, and threw him against the tree once more, aiming him directly to a broken branch.
The boy turned to dust and Spike watched as the dust particles settled at his feet.
"They're getting cockier. They're turning littluns now."
Xander stepped forward and looked down at the dust. He spat on it quickly and walked away.
"Without the Slayer here, they're bound to get cocky," he replied.
Spike went to follow but stopped suddenly.
"He wasn't alone," he said.
Xander stopped and looked towards the vampire.
"How do you know?"
Spike held up a hand, signalling for Xander to be quiet.
"Listen," he whispered.
Xander listened carefully but still heard nothing. Suddenly, he felt something fall against him, bringing him crashing to the ground once more.
"William the Bloody dusting his own kind," said a young vamp. He looked to be fifteen. Another youngun. "Gotta say, I'm kinda disappointed. You were a hero of mine once."
"And who might you be?"
The vamp smirked and stepped off Xander who had been knocked out by the blow to the head and the consequent collapse to the ground.
"I'm hurt Spike. Forgotten me already?" he asked.
Spike glared at the boy-vamp, wondering how he knew him. It suddenly clicked.
"Christian."
The boy-vamp smirked again and gave a bitter smile.
"Good to see you remember. Not that it will matter. In a few days, you'll be wishing that you had have left this town for good a long time ago. You're gonna die William, you and everyone you care about."
Spike glared at him, advancing forward with a stake that he pulled from his coat pocket.
"Oh wait…that's already happened hasn't it?" Christian jibed, knowing how to grate on the vampires nerves.
Christian pushed Spike to the ground, Spike tumbling over Xander.
"I'll see you in a few."
~*~
"Seems we've got ourselves a new bad-ass about the town," Spike announced, opening the door to Giles' apartment and strolling in comfortably.
The Scooby Gang looked up at him, surprised to see him supporting Xander as he tried to walk.
"Xander," Anya cried, rushing towards him. She freed him from Spike's hands, gave a grateful smile to the vampire and helped her fiancée to a chair.
"What happened?" Giles asked.
"Vampires, two of em. Younguns. Dusted one. The other, name of Christian. He got away," Spike summed up quickly.
"Uh, do you mean young in our time or in yours?" Willow asked, looking up from her seat on Tara's lap.
"Both," he replied.
"Dusted vamp was no more than ten. Other one was about fifteen. I can guarantee that he's a fully trained fledgling."
"Fledgling?" Willow repeated.
"Young vamps. If a vamp sires someone, that's the fledgling. The vamp will train them, teach them," Spike explained.
Willow nodded and stood up, walking over to Xander.
There was a cut on his head, still bleeding, but not as profusely as it had been.
She put a hand over it, ignoring Xander as he flinched away.
The group watched as Willow muttered something underneath her breath. They watched as Xander's wound stopped bleeding and, when Willow took her hand away, the wound was gone.
Giles looked at her surprised.
"Where did you learn that?"
Willow smiled and retook her place on Tara's lap.
"Just something I picked up when I was looking for a way to help Tara."
Tara smiled and took Willow's hand.
"Why is it, then," Anya started, "that you can heal Xander, but you can't de-rat Amy?"
Willow looked up, shocked. She smiled sheepishly. "I'd kinda forgotten about her. What with everything that happened."
"Perhaps you may want to de-rat her Willow," Giles suggested. "We could use all the help we can get right now."
Spike nodded in agreement. "That Christian bloke wasn't out there for eats. He was targeting us for something. That was no random attack."
Giles took off his glasses, polishing them on his white handkerchief.
"We'll have to work out what's going on then. If there's something going on, we're going to have to stop it."
Not for the first time that week, the Scooby Gang began to cast their thoughts to a time when taking down the evil of town hadn't been so complicated.
Spike looked around awkwardly and watched as Dawn closed the book that she had been enthralled in, stood up and walked over to him.
"Walk me home?" she asked in no more than a whisper.
"Dawn, we'll be going home in an hour if you want to wait," Xander said, standing up and moving over to her.
Dawn shook her head, thankful that they would be going home soon, but she needed to be at the house by herself for a while.
"It's alright. I can handle being there by myself," she said.
Giles looked up and caught Spike's eyes. Spike nodded, silently promising that he wouldn't leave Dawn at the house by herself.
"We'll see you in an hour then," Giles said, knowing that Dawn could be just like her sister in that she hated to be pushed. Time and space was what she needed, and who was he to refuse her of that?
Spike gave a small farewell smile to the group. With that, he took Dawn by the hand and walked out the door in the darkness.
~*~
Dawn unlocked the door and walked in, holding it open for Spike to enter. He gave a small smile and walked in after her.
"You want anything?" Dawn offered. "Food, drink?"
Spike shook his head and sat comfortably on the stairwell.
"So…you got big plans for tonight?" Dawn asked, trying to make conversation with the man she had come to regard as an older brother of sorts. A much, much older, deader brother of sorts.
"Gonna do another sweep. See what I can find out about this Christian bloke."
Dawn nodded and sat beside him. With only a moments hesitation, she rested her head on his shoulder.
Spike was taken aback for a moment, but shifted his position to put his arm around her, bringing her closer. Carefully, he wiped a tear from her eyes and kissed the top of her head.
"I miss her, Spike. I miss her so much," she sobbed, breaking down into tears that she had been holding back for days.
He rocked her gently back and forth, holding her tightly, wishing he could do something to ease the young girls pain, wishing he could do something to ease his own.
________________________
From the outside of the Summers' house, a young boy-vamp stood, peering in through the windows, watching in disgust as the blonde vamp cradled the young girl in his arms.
The Key.
Everyone knew who the girl was. As the sister to the Slayer, she had been someone much sought after. Many vamps had planned to kidnap the Key, hoping that the Slayer would swap herself for her sister.
It was only a few days ago that word had spread of the importance of the young girl named Dawn.
Christian looked away, repulsed by what he had seen his sire doing. He was acting…he was acting human.
He walked away from the front porch and round towards the back, finding a comfortable spot in the tree that the Slayer had used to climb in and out of her room without being seen or heard.
He would wait until the blonde vamp left and then make his move.
________________________
Spike looked up as he heard the front door open. He saw Xander and Anya walk through, hand-in-hand. Dawn had fallen asleep about twenty minutes ago and he had quietly taken her up stairs to her own room.
"Where's Dawn?" Xander asked quietly.
Spike pointed upwards. "Poor thing, fell asleep. Not the happiest thing on earth right now."
Xander gave a small nod and looked towards the vampire and who had stood up.
"I'll see you all tomorrow. Take care of 'er."
Anya smiled. She hesitated for a second and stepped forward, dropping Xander's hand.
"Thank you," she whispered, quickly kissing Spike's cheek.
Spike looked at her, confused.
Anya looked back towards Xander.
"Isn't that what we're meant to do?"
Spike gave a small laugh and walked out the door, oblivious to the pair of eyes that watched him from a branch in a tree that towered above the Summers' residence.
________________________
Dawn woke up with a start. She wasn't sure what had woken her at first, but as she began to wake up properly, she could remember the recurring dream that had plagued her thoughts since Buffy had died.
She stood up, wiping fresh tears from her eyes and walked out of her room. She wandered past the guest room, its door wide open, showing her that Xander and Anya were at home as well.
She peeked inside what had been her mother's old room and saw Giles laying there asleep.
She walked down the stairs towards the kitchen, hoping that a drink would calm her down, possibly even help her to sleep. She looked at the clock on the microwave, its bright red luminous lights telling her it was a little after two in the morning.
She sighed and pulled out a small bottle of orange juice, opened it and poured a glass for herself. She replaced the bottle back in the fridge and took a seat at the counter.
Restlessly, she stood up again and walked over to the door, staring out into the black night.
She opened it, leaving the door open wide, making sure that if it closed it wouldn't lock her out.
She took a seat on the back porch, sipping her juice, wondering how Buffy could stand being alone in the dark, night after night for five years.
She closed her eyes and leant against the railing.
She jumped startled as she opened her eyes to find a boy standing in front of her. He looked to be no older than fifteen.
"W-what are you doing here?" she asked, standing up, instinctively moving backwards.
"I'm sorry I startled you," he said politely.
She looked at him and saw that his clothes had rips in them, his feet were shoeless and muddy.
"Can I have some?" he asked, pointing to her glass of juice.
Dawn looked down and gave him the glass.
He smiled and drank it heartily, almost as though he hadn't drank a thing in weeks.
"Thank you."
Dawn nodded and gave him a small smile.
"A-are you from around here?" she asked.
He nodded and looked down. "Down the road a bit. I was walking. I saw the light turn on in the kitchen. I…I was hoping it would be you."
"Why me?" she asked.
He shrugged a little. "You look nice. You looked like maybe…maybe you would give me something to eat."
Dawn felt her heart sink. The boy in front of her was homeless and starving. She may have been having a crappy life lately, but having nowhere to go to at night would have been worse.
"I was sorry to hear about your sister," the young boy said softly.
She looked at him, startled. "How do you know about my family?"
"Everyone knows about your family. Small town. News spreads," he explained. "We all heard about your big sis'. And about you're mom."
"Where are your family?" Dawn asked quietly.
The boy shrugged and put his hands into pockets that Dawn suspected were covered in filth.
"My dad's alive. He's…he's not what he used to be. He…he changed when mom left."
Dawn looked at him with sympathy and finally looked away.
"Wait here, I'll get you something to eat."
The boy looked at her gratefully.
"Could…could I come inside? It's kinda cold out here."
Dawn nodded and stepped inside, waiting for the boy to enter.
~*~
Dawn looked at him, giving him a 'what are you waiting for' look.
He grinned sheepishly and took a step towards the door. "Thanks."
She turned her back to him and went towards the refrigerator once again. She removed some ham and quickly made a sandwich for the boy, putting it on a plate for him.
She turned and saw him standing outside still, very close to the entrance.
"What's wrong?" she asked. She handed the plate to him and he took it from her, sinking his teeth into the sandwich hungrily.
"Didn't feel comfortable going in after all," he explained.
"Well, maybe if you weren't a vampire, you coulda just waltzed in," a voice from the stairs said.
The boy turned and saw Spike standing there, his game face on. Dawn took an unconscious step backwards. She wouldn't have recognised him if it hadn't have been for his cocky accent.
"Stay inside lil' bit," Spike growled.
Dawn nodded and moved further from the door, almost afraid that the boy would walk in, invited or not. She made a quick mental note to not say anything until the boy was completely gone, lest she accidentally invite him in as she did with Harmony so many months ago.
"Something you wanted boy?" Spike asked, stepping forward and grabbing hold of the younger vamps collar.
Spike threw him mercilessly down the stairs, grabbing hold of the porcelain plate that Christian still held before making the boy-vamp become air-born.
Christian spat out a mouthful of blood and glared at Spike.
"Why do you protect her Spike? You used to be one of us. You used to be the best. Don't you even remember who you are?" Christian yelled. "You're Spike for hell's sake! Spike, the Big Bad. Spike the vamp who got his nickname by beating people to death with railroad spikes!"
Spike mentally winced at the jibe, hoping that Dawn would understand that he wasn't anything like the old Spike. No matter how much he pretended to still be the Big Bad, he didn't have it in him to do any of the things that had once been done only for the fun of it.
"You were my sire you bastard! You were everything! You taught me everything! And now…look at you! You're pathetic," Christian spat out.
Spike glared at him, advancing towards him once more. He quickly delivered a powerful backhand to the boy's face.
"He can de-chip you, you know. You could be powerful again," Christian said calmly.
Spike looked at his fledgling and raised his eyebrows.
"He?"
"Yhidnamanna," Christian replied. "He could do it. If you came back to us, he could do it."
Spike gave a low growl and backhanded his fledgling once more.
"Get out of here. Stay away from me, stay away from here. And if you know what's good for you, stay away from whoever you're following. He'll most likely kill you in a second."
Christian went to walk away but stopped.
"Sad fact: I'd rather be killed by Court than see you here. Consorting with the enemy. You're pitiable man. You've got nothing left."
With that the boy-vamp walked away.
Spike closed his eyes, trying to catch his breath. He went to turn back to Dawn, but quickly de-vamped. He looked up at her, standing in the kitchen, frightened as anything.
He took tentative steps towards her, keeping complete eye-contact with her.
She took a step away from him as he entered the house, and automatically Spike stopped where he was.
Spike knew that if his heart could still beat, it would have skipped about four beats and sunk down into the pits of his stomach.
Spike looked towards Dawn, letting her make the first move, afraid to scare her away.
For what seemed like hours, they stood staring at one another in what seemed to be a checkmate. Finally Dawn stepped forward, collapsing into Spike's arms, choking on her sobs.
Somehow they both knew that the coming weeks would be extremely long without the Slayer.
~*~
William stood beside Buffy, holding her hand gently. It wasn't the hand holding of lovers, only of confidantes, of two souls trying to make sense of the world in which neither one had any part of.
"It's kind of nice having part of you live on long after you're dead," William said, after a long silence.
Buffy looked at him, silently asking him to explain to her what he meant, though part of her already knew the answer.
"When I died…I hate to sound pitiful, but I was pathetic."
Buffy gave a small smile, remembering the condensed version of what Spike had told her in the Bronze of his past life and how he was turned.
"Now…there's confidence, and warmth, and family. And love. I feel what he feels, even though I don't want to feel some of it. What he felt for Drusilla…it was real, I don't doubt that. But it was pity, concern. He hated being with her when she was weak, even though he would always take care of her. 'til the end of the world," William said.
"But he didn't."
"She didn't want it. She didn't want him. She wanted all of the demon in her man. And Spike didn't have that. Angelus did. I think part of me was still with him. I don't really understand him properly. All I know is, I see what he sees, I feel what he feels. The enormity of it. The power of it. He's…he's strong but he'd break in a second if he left himself open to it."
Buffy watched on in silence, sighing softly at everything that was happening. She didn't want to go back, but it hurt her to watch those that she loved mourn over her death.
"Out of all the people on this world to trust…I chose him. And I still don't know why," Buffy admitted amidst the silence.
"Do you want an actual answer, or just a sympathetic shrug?" William asked, grinning a little.
She glared at him a little, happy that he reminded her so much of the Spike that she had grown to…care for.
"The former."
"You trusted him, but…you were testing him a little. You needed to know if it was for real or not."
Buffy sighed, hating that she was so transparent.
"How come you know so much?"
"I know it because he knows it, luv."
~*~
"You haven't given up on me yet, have you?" she asked, her hand moving to the back of his neck.
He shook his head and leant forward to kiss her.
"I told you I'd wait forever if I had to. You should know that I mean that. I don't make promises I can't keep."
She smiled and took his hand, holding her hand palm-to-palm with his.
"For someone who's hands are half the size of mine, you know how to use them," he whispered.
She smiled and raised her eyebrows a little.
"For defending yourself, I mean. From demons."
"I don't defend myself. I protect the others. I didn't do what I did for me. I did it for them. For everyone."
"I know you did luv. But there was someone you weren't thinking of," he whispered.
"I know I hurt you."
He looked away from her, tears in his eyes.
"You tore my heart and battered my soul. Every part of me was alive because you made it that way. I can't even feel anything anymore. I'm…numb."
"I'm sorry," she whispered.
He sighed and ran his hand across her cheek softly.
"What am I waiting for kitten? Just tell me. I need to know."
She smiled and placed her hand over his, pressing her cheek further into his touch.
"You'll find out. It's not much longer. If you wait for me, you'll see."
He wrapped his arms around her, pulling her against him tightly.
"All you can do now is wait. And help the others. They need you," she said.
"They don't need me. They need you. Everyone does. Dawn. Giles. Me."
"I know," she whispered. "It's too early. Please don't leave without me."
"I won't. I'm not like the others, I swear. I would never leave you."