Author's Note: This is a response to a challenge from a Buffy/Spike fanfic
site. I own nothing. Everything Buffy related belongs to Joss Whedon and
UPN. The Challenge idea belongs to Sylvie Tuddle. The work itself belongs
to me. Ophion and Eurynome are Ancient Gods said to be the mother and
father of all creation after Chaos gave life to Eurynome. The story is set
in Parts, each part has four chapters. Buffy The Vampire Slayer is a
registered trade mark of UPN and all that rot. Enjoy my story! ( Bek
Allen.
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Chapter One
Any Takers?
"Are you afraid?" The dark haired beauty smiled.
"Afraid? No. She's a warrior, she'll kill him." Her dark counter part replied matter of factly.
"She won't. Her heart is too full of love for him."
"Love for him! They just met, it's impossible."
"Ophion, did you not fall in love with me the moment you saw me dance across the sky." She turned to him, a gleeful look in her eye.
"Eurynome, you know that it isn't the same," He answered reaching for her hand. "No one looked as beautiful as you as you danced across the stars that night."
"Attempting to make me forget my offer is not going to work Ophion." She smiled and squeezed his hand softly.
He sighed, "Alright Eurynome, I accept the bet. They won't make it to the end however. They'll kill each other first."
"She won't kill him, she'll realize that she loves him, and he will realize he loves her." Her face radiated self-assurance as she extended her hand to shake his.
"The terms my love?" Ophion asked as he looked into the shimmering pool beneath them.
" If you lose, you'll help them when the time comes, no questions asked."
"And if you lose?" He looked at her questioningly.
"I'll help Angelus when he returns." Her smile faded and a look of worry washed over her fine features.
"He is returning?" Ophion's voice echoed her worry.
"Soon," She whispered, "very soon."
They turned and gazed into the pool, the clouds of mist parted and suddenly, in the water, a lone blond girl walked through a darkened street.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
She had decided to walk home alone after they had finished at The Bronze. Her brain was fried, mostly not from her study session with Willow, but from her encounter with 'Spike'. Her mind had been reeling since he told her he would kill her. She'd spent the rest of the evening trying to place his name. Something in her mind knew she had to feel afraid, but something in her heart fluttered when she thought of the danger and the mystery surrounding the new big bad of Sunnydale. Suddenly, something in the environment around her shifted and she stepped into the shadows of a near- by building.
"Eleanor Rigby picks up the rice in the church where a wedding has been
Lives in a dream
Waits at the window, Wearing the face that she keeps in a jar by the door
who is it for?
All the lonely people
where do they all come from?
All the lonely people
where do they all belong?"
She knew that song, her mind raced to try and place it. Giles! She had often heard him humming it while he was working in the library. The beasties.the bugs. The Beatles. She smiled and took a step out of the shadows not realizing that the voice singing was not her Watcher. The singing continued.
"Father McKenzie writing the words of a sermon that no one will hear
No one comes near.
Look at him working. Darning his socks in the night when there's nobody there
what does he care?
All the lonely people
where do they all come from?
All the lonely people
where do they all belong?"
"Giles!" She said as she moved into the light of a street lamp.
"Hello Pet." Spike smiled and stopped just out of her reach. He had been following her ever since she had left The Bronze. His intent to make sure she got home safely. 'Although, why I care if she gets home safe or not, I have no clue.' He thought to himself.
"What are you doing? Setting me up this evening wasn't enough?" She looked at him and moved into a fighting stance, her entire body radiating both fear and confidence.
"I'm on my way home, if you must know." He could smell her fear and it made the demon inside him go crazy.
"Don't you know that it's dangerous for your kind to be out and about on a night like this?" Buffy asked. "Oh, that's right, I forgot, you're all a bunch of mindless things who don't care if I kick your ass and send you back to wherever it is you all came from." She tossed her hair over her shoulder and reached for the stake hidden inside her waistband.
"I'm not lookin' for a fight Luv if that's what you're thinking." Spike looked at her and took a step back. "I'm just on my way home, singin' my song and lookin' for a scrap to eat."
"Okay. Firstly, it's not your song; it's John and Paul's. Second, home? Don't you mean some sewer somewhere? And the all you can eat buffet of Sunnydale is now closed. You had your chance, but you let your idiot friend screw you over. Not to mention your own big mouth."
"You know who The Beatles are?" he asked, impressed. "It's a good song, should be a mate's theme song. You know, 'all the lonely people, where do they all come from?' Us vampires should use it as a theme song, we are, after all lonely people, and most no one knows where we come from."
She rolled her eyes, before taking a step closer. "I suggest you leave, like, now." Her former valley girl attitude surfacing for a brief moment.
"You go first." He replied. "I told you I wasn't going to kill you until Saturday, and I may be a vampire, but, I'm a man of my word."
"Whatever, I'm going now. I've got other things to do then talk shop with you." She turned to leave. "However, if you do try anything, I'll." She was cut off by someone pulling her into the dark recesses of the building. Before she could react, her vision became blurry and she slumped into the arms of her captor.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
Chapter Two
Stakes Are Set.
When she came to, all she could think of was Spike's last words 'I may be a vampire, but I'm a man of my word.' "Yeah right, just another vampire. Note to self. Turning back on undead, wrong." He surroundings were dark and unfamiliar. "And. is that. Mud! Ugh! My new boots!" She cried, "Spike! When I get my hands on you, Saturday will be nothing but a distant memory, cos you'll be sitting in an urn in the school library." Suddenly, her eyes adjusted to the dark and she checked out her surroundings.
He sighed, 'Just when the chit turns around so I can stare at her behind.' He shifted into his game face and got a look at his surrounding. "Whoever is responsible for this, I'm going to rip out your heart and feed on it while you bleed to death." He was in a room, most likely a crypt. The ground was muddy and the walls were concrete. He could faintly make out the sound of a steady heartbeat coming from someplace close by. He sighed and moved towards the door.
"Now, where was I?" He said aloud. "Oh, that's right. Eleanor Rigby died in the church and was buried along with her name.
Nobody came.
Father McKenzie wiping the dirt from his hands as he walks from the grave
No one was saved.
All the lonely people
where do they all come from?
All the lonely people
where do they all belong?"
Her head turned to where she heard the familiar voice; she shifted positions to where she could easily defend herself if the need arose. Her hand reached for the stake in the back of her waistband. "You are so going to be dust the moment you walk through the door." She whispered as the voice got closer. As she went to remove her stake, her hand floundered. Her stake, it was missing. She heard a door open then close, her mind reeling as she tried to search about on the ground for a makeshift weapon.
"You won't find anything." A soft female voice spoke. "You won't be able to destroy anything while you are in this room. This is a haven. No violence is allowed."
"Who is that? And he's a vampire; he'll kill me. He doesn't need a weapon, he has fangs!" Buffy replied.
"He won't hurt you child." The voice became soft and comforting. "There are rules to this.game, if you will." Eurynome reached out a hand to caress Buffy's cheek. "You are both quite safe in here."
"It's what's outside that is the danger." A male voice spoke up. "Ahh, welcome William, nice of you to join us."
"And who the hell are you two?" Spike whispered as he backed against the door he had just entered. "And, you do know that she can most likely kill all three of us in less then a heart beat?" In his true face, he could clearly see Buffy standing next to a dark haired young woman and dark haired young man.
"We are the mother and father of all that is." Eurynome answered.
"Huh?" Buffy asked. "Cos, I'll I'm hearing is, lady with funky accent and man with funky accent have locked The Slayer in a room with a vamp that wants to kill her." She looked incredulously towards the sound of the voices.
"You're not really big on the books are you Luv?" Spike smirked. " The accent is Greek and, they are the mother and father of all creation, am I right?" He looked to the smiling man.
"Yes, you are correct William. We are Ophion and Eurynome." As he spoke, the room became full of a soft light. Illuminating Eurynome, Spike, Buffy and himself. "We are the oldest of all the Gods. We were created when Chaos erupted into life and gave shape and form to the World. We then gave birth to all living things that fill the world with wonder." He moved to stand beside Eurynome, taking her hand in his.
"Oookay." Buffy said as she gazed around the room. "If you two are Gods, then, why do you need The Slayer, and where are we? Oh God! Am I dead?" She began to panic, Spike could hear her heart rate increase, "Cos, Giles is sooo gonna kill me if I've died again."
Eurynome's soft laughter filled the room. "You have not died child. Do not fear us, you are just here to perform a small.test, if you will."
"A test? More tests?" Buffy's face fell, "I have school for tests, which I'm already no good at, what makes you think I will pass this one?"
Eurynome smiled and reached out again to stroke Buffy's cheek. "Relax Ellesbeth. This is a test to decide your destiny and future."
"Both of your futures." Ophion added as he motioned for Spike to come closer.
Eurynome and Ophion turned to each other and smiled. "Children, children, please calm down and save your energies." Eurynome pulled Buffy into a small embrace. "You have now entered the realm of the Gods. Time is precious and your test awaits you." She laughed again.
"Wait, you said something about rules." Buffy looked up into the older woman's eyes.
"Oh yes, the rules. Ophion my love," She looked to him and smiled, "the rules please."
Buffy smiled. The gentleness between the two Gods reminded her of her parents when she had been so much younger. Before the fighting and arguing began, before her need to escape into a different world where she could be free from the screaming and the breaking of coffee mugs, before Merrick and before being kicked out of Hemery. Before moving to Sunnydale.
"Ahh the rules." Ophion pulled out a pair of small backpacks. "In here is everything you will find you will need for the journey." He handed one to each of them. "They are stocked with food and blood and bandages and a small calendar."
Buffy peered into the bag. "No weapons? No map?" She asked hopefully.
Ophion shook his head. "You must find your own way, you must get to the center. Your destiny will be decided if you two can work together to reach the center. There are stops along the way, shelters much like this one. However, in the shelters, a spell has been placed so no violence can take place in them. There will be enough hardships throughout the test that you do not need to be fighting for your lives while you are trying to rest."
"Right." Spike said as he pulled a bag of blood out of the backpack. "If we have to do this test. All right. First off. What is to stop her from staking me the moment we step outside of this room, second, what's to stop me from biting her."
"Oh as if you could!" Buffy snorted, "I'd stake you in less then a heartbeat if you even tried."
"Thirdly," Spike continued glaring at her, "How do we get out of this here room?"
"The light will show you." Eurynome smiled. "But be wary of dangers children. There are demons that will try to thwart your path. However, if you both succeed, your destiny will be rewritten and changed. If you don't succeed, your destiny will remain the way it is written, and all of life as you know it, shall be destroyed."
"Alright then," Buffy whispered, "I guess, the sooner we get this over with, the sooner I can go home and take a nice hot bath and chill out." She smiled at Eurynome. "Let's kick this puppy. But, I can't promise that I won't kill him, he's pretty annoying, plus, he's a vampire and it's my job to slay him."
Eurynome laughed again and pulled Buffy into an embrace. "Let your heart guide you child and be safe."
"Eurynome, it is time." Ophion smiled at Spike and nodded towards the door. "Let the light guide your way out of this safe haven." And just as quickly as he had arrived, Ophion stepped back into the shadows and was gone.
"But, light, is most likely sun light. I'll turn to dust!" Spike became nervous.
"Oh well, not like you'll be missed and it's not as though I'd care." Buffy looked at him and then turned to Eurynome. "Will you be guiding us?" She asked.
"Oh no my dear Ellesbeth. This must be done without guidance. You will know what to do. Remember, let your heart guide you and be strong."
"Eurynome, we must leave now to get them started." Came Ophion's genteel voice from the shadows.
"Yes, yes, I must get back. Coming my love. Good luck Ellesbeth and William." Then, chuckling softly, she disappeared into the shadows and was gone.
Spike looked at Buffy strangely. "Ellesbeth?"
"One word, and you're dust William." She spat back at him before slinging her backpack over her shoulder and walking out of the room following the soft white light.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
Chapter Three
No Turns, No Openings.
He sighed and followed her. This was going to be one hell of a test. He had killed two slayers in his time. And now, he had every chance to kill another, but something was stopping him. He looked up. She sure was a pretty young thing. 'Nice little ass too.' He thought to himself as she walked ahead of him down a long corridor. He shook his head. 'What am I thinking?! She's The Slayer, I should be draining her right now. Not marveling at the curves of her hips and ass.'
She sighed and glanced back over her shoulder. He was handsome. Any fool could see that. 'Yeah, and that's what brings the fools to their death. Some girls are so fickle it's not funny. And ooh, big word, Yay Buffy.' She prided herself on the use of a big word. She'd be sure to tell Willow when she got home.
"What, is being a little quicker not on your schedule?" She turned to look at him and caught him staring at her backside. "Hey! Stop staring or you'll be dust quicker then the road runner can run past the coyote."
He looked up at her confused. "What's the road runner and the coyote? And, I wasn't staring. I was thinking."
"You don't know who the road runner and coyote are? And, yeah right, thinking about my ass. Walk in front of me Spike. NOW."
He sighed and jogged to walk beside her. He took in an unneeded breath and could smell her. Apples and cinnamon, it was a different aroma to the usual musk and blood that Drucilla often smelled of. 'What is with you?' Spike chastised himself. 'Slayer, bad.Slayer slay Spike.Slayer lay Spike.NO!' He shook his head and kept on walking.
"Hey, a door." Buffy stopped abruptly. She tensed and prepared to open the door. "You wanna open it? Or should I?" She glanced at Spike. 'Ugh!' She thought. 'Is he always this pathetic?' She shoved him, pulling him out of his reverie. "Okay, we are coming to a compromise."
"Huh?" Spike asked looking down at her.
"Compromise.truce.you don't bite me, I don't stake you.a deal." She tossed her hair over her shoulder and looked him in the eyes.
"Oh, sure Luv, what about it?"
"The way I see this, we have two choices. Choice one, kill each other and miss out on all the fun-ness of kicking your ass on Saturday, or two, we can set aside our differences and work together to get this over with quickly."
"Isn't there another way around this? Like, you do your thing, I sit back and watch and laugh when some big beastie thing rips your head off and drinks your blood." He looked up at her with a self-satisfied smirk.
"Whether you like it or not, Eurynome said we had to work together." She glared at him. "And, just because you came from the lower levels of hell, doesn't mean that I'm going to ruin my chances of resting in peace later on in life. We are going to do what the Gods say and get this test over and done with so I can kick your ass on the weekend." She turned her back on him and pushed open the door.
"Fine, whatever Pet, this doesn't mean that I like you." He followed her through the door. "You've got to be kidding me!" He said as he stopped behind her and gazed around. "This is going to take forever!" His eyes traveled around the seemingly endless maze of hedges and stone walls.
"Ugh, I can't believe this!" She turned and looked at Spike. "You piss me off, I'll stake you seven ways from Sunday." She moved away from the wall and started following the path.
He looked after her; 'This is going to be the worst night of my entire unlife.' He thought as he quickened his pace to follow her down between the first row of hedges. His eyes scanned the walls for the first opening or turn. They had been walking for close to three hours, and he was so close to paying attention to his surroundings that he didn't see Buffy screech to a halt in front of him. "What the hell! Slayer, you forget how to work or something?" He looked at her with annoyance.
She had crouched down onto the ground in front of him next to a hedge, motioning for him to shut up; she reached up and pulled him down beside her. "Shut the hell up and find me something to use as a weapon." She ordered. "Quickly!"
"But I haven't done anything to annoy you.yet." He looked at her before reaching into the hedge and breaking off a branch.
"Thank you, and, if you keep yabbering away like that, I'll stake you." She turned back to face the direction in which they were headed. Suddenly, a large scaly demon turned the corner and Buffy stood up. "The Gods said this was a test, they never said it would be a fun test." She sized the demon up. "You aren't very big, in fact, I've taken down bigger."
"You gonna talk me to death or are we actually gonna fight?" The demon snarled.
"Oh, You're gonna try and fight, I'm gonna kill you."
The demon laughed, showing a mouthful of sharp, jagged teeth before Buffy lunged and landed a punch to his upper jaw. The demon's head reeled from the blow; he retaliated by lashing out and kicking her in the ribs, knocking her back to the ground. She smiled and grunted as she threw her wait back onto shoulders before leaping back up into a fighting stance. The demon rushed her and she leapt out of the way and brought her leg down on the back of his neck, sending him face first into the ground.
"Who are you?" The demon asked between sucking in great gulping breaths of air.
"Me, don't tell me you've never heard of The Slayer." She asked, the heel of her boot pressing down on the middle of his back.
"Slayer?" The demon asked, trying to push himself off the ground.
"Yeah, The girl who kills demons, she who hangs out in cemeteries a lot." Spike answered as he came out from the shadows. "You gotta remember that pal, she is a real danger this one." Then, in a flurry of quick movements, Spike had bought a sharp piece of twisted branch down between the demon's shoulder blades and had twisted the demon's head, snapping his neck. "Oh God that felt good!" He exclaimed. "C'mon Slayer, we've got demons to fight, destiny to change." He moved off down the row and made a quick left turn. "Hey! An opening."
Buffy stood there dumbfounded and speechless. Spike, the vampire Spike, the one who had proclaimed outside The Bronze five hours ago that he was going to kill her on Saturday, just helped her kill a demon. She smiled, 'He's really, kinda nice underneath the whole bad ass thing. If it weren't for the whole, he's out to kill me; he'd be kinda cute. Plus, vampires in general don't make very good boyfriends. Angel is proof of that.'
"Slayer!" Spike called. He'd already been away from Drucilla for five hours; he didn't want to be gone any longer. 'I can't believe she's not going to thank me! I just saved her life, I helped her and she's just going to stand there like a little rabbit caught in the headlights of an oncoming truck. The ungrateful little chit.' He sighed as he pulled a cigarette out of his jacket pocket. "Hurry up!" He called again. 'I don't ever want you out of my site ever again. It's too dangerous.' He continued to think.
"Uh, yeah, coming. wait up!" She called back, hurrying to the opening he had found. "Which way?" She turned her head to look in either direction.
"I don't know." He looked over her head to the right. The row of hedging and wall seemed to continue on and on.
"We could split up." She suggested, "You go left, I go right, we'll meet at the center."
"Oh no we don't Slayer." He grabbed her arm and began to drag her between the rows to the left of the opening.
"Hey! Let go!" She cried out, she twisted her body and flipped him over her hip. "I'm perfectly capable of walking by myself. And why not split up? We'd cover more ground if we did." She began to walk back down the rows, leaving him lying on his back on the soft earth.
"Because I just saved you're ass is why."
"You didn't save my ass!" She screamed. "He was already on the ground when you decided to come out of your little hiding place and help! I did all the hard work! I was the one who got a kick to the ribs! You just broke his neck, which by the way, I could have done WITHOUT staking him in the back."
Spike replied as he stood up and shook the dirt from his duster. "Whatever. Look, I think the idea of this was for us to work together." He hurried to catch up to her. "And, as evil as I am, I do not need two Gods pissed at me for not following their rules."
She sighed and nodded, he had a point. 'A small point but a point none the less.' "We should just keep walking until we find an opening or a turn." She said, more to herself then to him.
"Alright Luv, but, let's just hurry along shall we? I've got places I have to be."
"Don't we all?" She stopped and looked back. The turns and openings where well hidden within the walls of the maze. 'May as well be no turns and no openings,' She thought to herself, 'The walls and row looks like it goes on forever.'
"Coming Pet? Or are you just going to stand there and look at the hedges?" Spike asked.
"Yep, coming, now shut up or I'll stake you." She turned and walked away from him. Her mind whirling with images of their surroundings, trying to figure out where she had seen it all before.
'Moody bitch.' Spike followed her, his eyes scanning the bushes for any oncoming predators that may want to take him on. 'Better be some bloody good future I've got going for me when we get to the center of this bloody thing. Maybe.' He wandered along a few feet behind Buffy, thinking about the possibilities of the future the Gods promised him for helping the Slayer.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
Chapter Four
Pit Stop.
"About time." Buffy sighed. They had been walking for four hours since they had left the haven and Eurynome and Ophion. They had slain three vampires; five demons and two things neither Buffy, nor Spike could identify. The walk had been relatively quiet, except for when Buffy spoke to say that she had spotted an opening or a turn and that they would be taking it. She had made all the decisions on about which way they would go. Choosing mostly right turns or paths that led to the right of an opening.
Spike had stopped and looked back in the direction they came. It had taken them four right turns and one left turn to reach the first haven since beginning this silly quest. "You gonna go in or just look at the door like an idiot?" He moved forward only to be pushed back as Buffy walked through the door.
"Don't piss me off Spike." She whispered as she lit a lamp on the table inside the door.
"How'd you know that was there?" Spike looked at her curiously.
"Eurynome said that there were havens like the one at the beginning throughout this entire test. When the light was on, I noticed a small table and lamp near the door we walked out of. Duh." She rolled her eyes and threw her backpack on the floor. "I'm gonna be so grounded when I get home. Mom must think I've run away or something. And, oh god! Giles will think I'm dead."
Spike laughed. "Oh well, isn't it your destiny to eventually die?" He looked at her as she sat Indian style on the floor in front of him.
"Whatever." She opened her bag and pulled out a bunch of grapes. "The Gods sure know how to pack food." She began popping them into her mouth. She sat there silently thinking about how worried her mother and Giles would be. Not to mention Willow and Xander.
He sighed. 'Can't beat her, may as well join her.' "Mind if I sit Pet?" He asked, motioning to the floor beside her.
"Like I have a choice." She continued eating, her hair falling in front of her face.
"Thank you." He sat beside her and opened his own bag, retrieving a packet of blood and an apple.
Buffy looked at him and raised her eyebrow. "YOU, eat food?" She snatched his bag and continued to paw through it.
"Well, duh." Spike replied, "My mum used to say, 'an apple a day keeps the doctor away.' I've always followed the superstition. She used to have a saying for everything. She was a good woman my mum." He bit into his apple and smiled, lost in memories of when he was younger.
"But, you're not alive, so why worry about keeping doctors away?" She looked confused. A year with Angel hadn't taught her anymore about vampires then what she already knew. 'Undead, drinks blood. To become a vampire, they need to suck your blood; you need to suck their blood. It's like this whole big sucking thing. And, oh yeah, sunlight, crosses, holy water, stakes, decapitation, me in general, Bad.'
"Well, fortunate for me, I'm a real good boy and I always take heed of what my mother says. It's the way it was done. You listened to your parents, you respected your parents and you always did as you were told. Not like you lot of today. Always running around sleeping with whoever, showing no respect, not listening to a word your parents say." He looked at her. "Just because I'm a vampire, doesn't mean I don't enjoy the luxuries in life that you mortals take for granted. I eat 'real' food because, it tastes good, and it has a different smell and texture to blood."
"Oh." She handed his bag back and continued to sift through her own. "Sorry."
"No need to be ashamed of askin' questions Luv. If you don't ask, you don't learn." He looked at her and smiled. "Although, I am giving you an insight into a vampire, which, is potentially dangerous to me and mine." He chuckled.
'God he's got a cute laugh.' Buffy thought. 'No! Bad Buffy! Bad! Evil vampire wants to kill you on Saturday. Stop thinking like that!'
"Slayer? Hello? Earth to Slayer? Come in Slayer." Spike shook her shoulder gently.
"Huh? What?" She looked up at him.
"Care to give me a little insight into who you are and what you're about?" He asked her again.
"Uh, maybe later Spike. I'm kinda tired." She looked at him and saw confusion sweep across his face.
"What? It's alright for me to tell you things about me, but the moment we move on to you it's all forget about it? I have to know who I'm working with here, so I can hurry my ass up and get back home." He got up and moved to the other side of the room and began to pace. "Note to self, NEVER trust a Slayer."
"It's not that, honest, I just really am tired. Tomorrow, I promise." She looked at him pace angrily around the room. "Unlike the living dead, I need my eight hours of beauty sleep to look this good."
"Fine." Spike snapped and turned around. "I just wish we knew how to contact."
"Don't be so hostile William." Eurynome smiled as she stepped out into the light from the shadows of the room.
"The Gods." He finished and smiled back.
"You wanted blankets didn't you?" She asked as she moved over to greet Buffy. "I've bought you some. And some water too." She stretched out her hand to stroke Buffy's cheek.
'Just like Mom used to.' Buffy thought to herself.
"She will again my Ellesbeth. Don't worry." Eurynome brushed the hair out of Buffy's eyes.
'Cor she's beautiful. Why I want to kill her I don't know. Oh wait, I'm s'pose to kill her cos I'm a vampire, and she's the slayer.' Spike thought as he watched Eurynome speak with Buffy.
Eurynome giggled and looked at Spike. "Ophion will be so pleased." She smiled and stepped away from Buffy.
"He will?" Spike looked at her warily. "Pleased with what?"
"That you have gotten this far." She smiled. "I must be returning now, Ophion will need me. You'll find everything you need for tomorrow and the rest of the journey in these two bundles. They should fit in both your bags. Now, get some rest, from now on, I will not be able to come and see you. Be safe and."
"Let our hearts guide us." Buffy smiled. "Thank you Eurynome, for everything, we will be safe. See you at the end, and, thank you. For everything." Buffy took a bundle and sat back down to unwrap it.
"See you then Pe.Eurynome." Spike gave her a wavering smile before she stepped back into the shadows and was gone.
Buffy had successfully pulled her bundle apart. It contained a woolen blanket and small book. "Oh, cool. Wonder what's in yours." She asked Spike.
He shrugged and sat down next to Buffy with his bundle. "Exactly the same as yours. Only, my book has a 'W' on it, and yours has an 'E'."
"Does yours have funny writing in it?" She asked, opening her book up to the first page.
"Yep, what does yours say Pet?" He asked laying his book open in front of her so she could see.
"It reads, 'It shines brighter then any star.' but, then it cuts off, and that's all it says." She looked at him confused, "what does yours say?"
Spike tilted his head so he could read the book. "Says, 'and it can be found in each of us.' I think she's given us a riddle Luv." He shook his head. And grabbed his blanket. "I'm going to sleep now, you should do the same, my head feels like it's about to implode." He smiled. "Good night Slayer, don't let the nasties bite." He slipped into his demonic visage and growled at her.
"Oh please. If the nasties did bite, they'd be dust before the first drop of blood touched their tongue. Good night Spike." She grabbed her blanket and moved herself over to the door, away from Spike.
'I wonder what it would be like to cuddle up next to him.' She thought as she lay out her blanket. 'He'd be cold, like Angel to the touch, but maybe he'd make you feel safe. Would he make you feel bad for loving him? Would he make you feel guilty? Maybe he'd make you feel alive, loved.Hey Summers get a grip okay? He's a blood-sucking fiend. He'd bite you before you had a chance to say boo.' She curled up under the blanket, her backpack as a pillow and closed her eyes, letting her conscience argue over what was wrong and what was right.
It wasn't long until sleep took its toll and washed over her, and her breathing became gentle and even. It was then, that Spike sat up and watched her as she slept. 'Like an angel almost, only, she's deadlier then any angel can ever be. Wiser and not as innocent as well. Completely beautiful.' He smiled to himself in the darkness of the room before laying back down to rest. 'C'mon William, get a hold of yourself. She's the Slayer.granted, she's beautiful, but, she's still the Slayer, she'd still drive that wooden stake through your heart before you even had a chance to take an unneeded breath.' He sighed and closed his eyes, willing sleep to come and silence the voices that battled inside his head.
Soon, they had both fallen asleep, welcoming the serenity of their subconscious and the darkness of the room.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Chapter One
Any Takers?
"Are you afraid?" The dark haired beauty smiled.
"Afraid? No. She's a warrior, she'll kill him." Her dark counter part replied matter of factly.
"She won't. Her heart is too full of love for him."
"Love for him! They just met, it's impossible."
"Ophion, did you not fall in love with me the moment you saw me dance across the sky." She turned to him, a gleeful look in her eye.
"Eurynome, you know that it isn't the same," He answered reaching for her hand. "No one looked as beautiful as you as you danced across the stars that night."
"Attempting to make me forget my offer is not going to work Ophion." She smiled and squeezed his hand softly.
He sighed, "Alright Eurynome, I accept the bet. They won't make it to the end however. They'll kill each other first."
"She won't kill him, she'll realize that she loves him, and he will realize he loves her." Her face radiated self-assurance as she extended her hand to shake his.
"The terms my love?" Ophion asked as he looked into the shimmering pool beneath them.
" If you lose, you'll help them when the time comes, no questions asked."
"And if you lose?" He looked at her questioningly.
"I'll help Angelus when he returns." Her smile faded and a look of worry washed over her fine features.
"He is returning?" Ophion's voice echoed her worry.
"Soon," She whispered, "very soon."
They turned and gazed into the pool, the clouds of mist parted and suddenly, in the water, a lone blond girl walked through a darkened street.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
She had decided to walk home alone after they had finished at The Bronze. Her brain was fried, mostly not from her study session with Willow, but from her encounter with 'Spike'. Her mind had been reeling since he told her he would kill her. She'd spent the rest of the evening trying to place his name. Something in her mind knew she had to feel afraid, but something in her heart fluttered when she thought of the danger and the mystery surrounding the new big bad of Sunnydale. Suddenly, something in the environment around her shifted and she stepped into the shadows of a near- by building.
"Eleanor Rigby picks up the rice in the church where a wedding has been
Lives in a dream
Waits at the window, Wearing the face that she keeps in a jar by the door
who is it for?
All the lonely people
where do they all come from?
All the lonely people
where do they all belong?"
She knew that song, her mind raced to try and place it. Giles! She had often heard him humming it while he was working in the library. The beasties.the bugs. The Beatles. She smiled and took a step out of the shadows not realizing that the voice singing was not her Watcher. The singing continued.
"Father McKenzie writing the words of a sermon that no one will hear
No one comes near.
Look at him working. Darning his socks in the night when there's nobody there
what does he care?
All the lonely people
where do they all come from?
All the lonely people
where do they all belong?"
"Giles!" She said as she moved into the light of a street lamp.
"Hello Pet." Spike smiled and stopped just out of her reach. He had been following her ever since she had left The Bronze. His intent to make sure she got home safely. 'Although, why I care if she gets home safe or not, I have no clue.' He thought to himself.
"What are you doing? Setting me up this evening wasn't enough?" She looked at him and moved into a fighting stance, her entire body radiating both fear and confidence.
"I'm on my way home, if you must know." He could smell her fear and it made the demon inside him go crazy.
"Don't you know that it's dangerous for your kind to be out and about on a night like this?" Buffy asked. "Oh, that's right, I forgot, you're all a bunch of mindless things who don't care if I kick your ass and send you back to wherever it is you all came from." She tossed her hair over her shoulder and reached for the stake hidden inside her waistband.
"I'm not lookin' for a fight Luv if that's what you're thinking." Spike looked at her and took a step back. "I'm just on my way home, singin' my song and lookin' for a scrap to eat."
"Okay. Firstly, it's not your song; it's John and Paul's. Second, home? Don't you mean some sewer somewhere? And the all you can eat buffet of Sunnydale is now closed. You had your chance, but you let your idiot friend screw you over. Not to mention your own big mouth."
"You know who The Beatles are?" he asked, impressed. "It's a good song, should be a mate's theme song. You know, 'all the lonely people, where do they all come from?' Us vampires should use it as a theme song, we are, after all lonely people, and most no one knows where we come from."
She rolled her eyes, before taking a step closer. "I suggest you leave, like, now." Her former valley girl attitude surfacing for a brief moment.
"You go first." He replied. "I told you I wasn't going to kill you until Saturday, and I may be a vampire, but, I'm a man of my word."
"Whatever, I'm going now. I've got other things to do then talk shop with you." She turned to leave. "However, if you do try anything, I'll." She was cut off by someone pulling her into the dark recesses of the building. Before she could react, her vision became blurry and she slumped into the arms of her captor.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
Chapter Two
Stakes Are Set.
When she came to, all she could think of was Spike's last words 'I may be a vampire, but I'm a man of my word.' "Yeah right, just another vampire. Note to self. Turning back on undead, wrong." He surroundings were dark and unfamiliar. "And. is that. Mud! Ugh! My new boots!" She cried, "Spike! When I get my hands on you, Saturday will be nothing but a distant memory, cos you'll be sitting in an urn in the school library." Suddenly, her eyes adjusted to the dark and she checked out her surroundings.
He sighed, 'Just when the chit turns around so I can stare at her behind.' He shifted into his game face and got a look at his surrounding. "Whoever is responsible for this, I'm going to rip out your heart and feed on it while you bleed to death." He was in a room, most likely a crypt. The ground was muddy and the walls were concrete. He could faintly make out the sound of a steady heartbeat coming from someplace close by. He sighed and moved towards the door.
"Now, where was I?" He said aloud. "Oh, that's right. Eleanor Rigby died in the church and was buried along with her name.
Nobody came.
Father McKenzie wiping the dirt from his hands as he walks from the grave
No one was saved.
All the lonely people
where do they all come from?
All the lonely people
where do they all belong?"
Her head turned to where she heard the familiar voice; she shifted positions to where she could easily defend herself if the need arose. Her hand reached for the stake in the back of her waistband. "You are so going to be dust the moment you walk through the door." She whispered as the voice got closer. As she went to remove her stake, her hand floundered. Her stake, it was missing. She heard a door open then close, her mind reeling as she tried to search about on the ground for a makeshift weapon.
"You won't find anything." A soft female voice spoke. "You won't be able to destroy anything while you are in this room. This is a haven. No violence is allowed."
"Who is that? And he's a vampire; he'll kill me. He doesn't need a weapon, he has fangs!" Buffy replied.
"He won't hurt you child." The voice became soft and comforting. "There are rules to this.game, if you will." Eurynome reached out a hand to caress Buffy's cheek. "You are both quite safe in here."
"It's what's outside that is the danger." A male voice spoke up. "Ahh, welcome William, nice of you to join us."
"And who the hell are you two?" Spike whispered as he backed against the door he had just entered. "And, you do know that she can most likely kill all three of us in less then a heart beat?" In his true face, he could clearly see Buffy standing next to a dark haired young woman and dark haired young man.
"We are the mother and father of all that is." Eurynome answered.
"Huh?" Buffy asked. "Cos, I'll I'm hearing is, lady with funky accent and man with funky accent have locked The Slayer in a room with a vamp that wants to kill her." She looked incredulously towards the sound of the voices.
"You're not really big on the books are you Luv?" Spike smirked. " The accent is Greek and, they are the mother and father of all creation, am I right?" He looked to the smiling man.
"Yes, you are correct William. We are Ophion and Eurynome." As he spoke, the room became full of a soft light. Illuminating Eurynome, Spike, Buffy and himself. "We are the oldest of all the Gods. We were created when Chaos erupted into life and gave shape and form to the World. We then gave birth to all living things that fill the world with wonder." He moved to stand beside Eurynome, taking her hand in his.
"Oookay." Buffy said as she gazed around the room. "If you two are Gods, then, why do you need The Slayer, and where are we? Oh God! Am I dead?" She began to panic, Spike could hear her heart rate increase, "Cos, Giles is sooo gonna kill me if I've died again."
Eurynome's soft laughter filled the room. "You have not died child. Do not fear us, you are just here to perform a small.test, if you will."
"A test? More tests?" Buffy's face fell, "I have school for tests, which I'm already no good at, what makes you think I will pass this one?"
Eurynome smiled and reached out again to stroke Buffy's cheek. "Relax Ellesbeth. This is a test to decide your destiny and future."
"Both of your futures." Ophion added as he motioned for Spike to come closer.
Eurynome and Ophion turned to each other and smiled. "Children, children, please calm down and save your energies." Eurynome pulled Buffy into a small embrace. "You have now entered the realm of the Gods. Time is precious and your test awaits you." She laughed again.
"Wait, you said something about rules." Buffy looked up into the older woman's eyes.
"Oh yes, the rules. Ophion my love," She looked to him and smiled, "the rules please."
Buffy smiled. The gentleness between the two Gods reminded her of her parents when she had been so much younger. Before the fighting and arguing began, before her need to escape into a different world where she could be free from the screaming and the breaking of coffee mugs, before Merrick and before being kicked out of Hemery. Before moving to Sunnydale.
"Ahh the rules." Ophion pulled out a pair of small backpacks. "In here is everything you will find you will need for the journey." He handed one to each of them. "They are stocked with food and blood and bandages and a small calendar."
Buffy peered into the bag. "No weapons? No map?" She asked hopefully.
Ophion shook his head. "You must find your own way, you must get to the center. Your destiny will be decided if you two can work together to reach the center. There are stops along the way, shelters much like this one. However, in the shelters, a spell has been placed so no violence can take place in them. There will be enough hardships throughout the test that you do not need to be fighting for your lives while you are trying to rest."
"Right." Spike said as he pulled a bag of blood out of the backpack. "If we have to do this test. All right. First off. What is to stop her from staking me the moment we step outside of this room, second, what's to stop me from biting her."
"Oh as if you could!" Buffy snorted, "I'd stake you in less then a heartbeat if you even tried."
"Thirdly," Spike continued glaring at her, "How do we get out of this here room?"
"The light will show you." Eurynome smiled. "But be wary of dangers children. There are demons that will try to thwart your path. However, if you both succeed, your destiny will be rewritten and changed. If you don't succeed, your destiny will remain the way it is written, and all of life as you know it, shall be destroyed."
"Alright then," Buffy whispered, "I guess, the sooner we get this over with, the sooner I can go home and take a nice hot bath and chill out." She smiled at Eurynome. "Let's kick this puppy. But, I can't promise that I won't kill him, he's pretty annoying, plus, he's a vampire and it's my job to slay him."
Eurynome laughed again and pulled Buffy into an embrace. "Let your heart guide you child and be safe."
"Eurynome, it is time." Ophion smiled at Spike and nodded towards the door. "Let the light guide your way out of this safe haven." And just as quickly as he had arrived, Ophion stepped back into the shadows and was gone.
"But, light, is most likely sun light. I'll turn to dust!" Spike became nervous.
"Oh well, not like you'll be missed and it's not as though I'd care." Buffy looked at him and then turned to Eurynome. "Will you be guiding us?" She asked.
"Oh no my dear Ellesbeth. This must be done without guidance. You will know what to do. Remember, let your heart guide you and be strong."
"Eurynome, we must leave now to get them started." Came Ophion's genteel voice from the shadows.
"Yes, yes, I must get back. Coming my love. Good luck Ellesbeth and William." Then, chuckling softly, she disappeared into the shadows and was gone.
Spike looked at Buffy strangely. "Ellesbeth?"
"One word, and you're dust William." She spat back at him before slinging her backpack over her shoulder and walking out of the room following the soft white light.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
Chapter Three
No Turns, No Openings.
He sighed and followed her. This was going to be one hell of a test. He had killed two slayers in his time. And now, he had every chance to kill another, but something was stopping him. He looked up. She sure was a pretty young thing. 'Nice little ass too.' He thought to himself as she walked ahead of him down a long corridor. He shook his head. 'What am I thinking?! She's The Slayer, I should be draining her right now. Not marveling at the curves of her hips and ass.'
She sighed and glanced back over her shoulder. He was handsome. Any fool could see that. 'Yeah, and that's what brings the fools to their death. Some girls are so fickle it's not funny. And ooh, big word, Yay Buffy.' She prided herself on the use of a big word. She'd be sure to tell Willow when she got home.
"What, is being a little quicker not on your schedule?" She turned to look at him and caught him staring at her backside. "Hey! Stop staring or you'll be dust quicker then the road runner can run past the coyote."
He looked up at her confused. "What's the road runner and the coyote? And, I wasn't staring. I was thinking."
"You don't know who the road runner and coyote are? And, yeah right, thinking about my ass. Walk in front of me Spike. NOW."
He sighed and jogged to walk beside her. He took in an unneeded breath and could smell her. Apples and cinnamon, it was a different aroma to the usual musk and blood that Drucilla often smelled of. 'What is with you?' Spike chastised himself. 'Slayer, bad.Slayer slay Spike.Slayer lay Spike.NO!' He shook his head and kept on walking.
"Hey, a door." Buffy stopped abruptly. She tensed and prepared to open the door. "You wanna open it? Or should I?" She glanced at Spike. 'Ugh!' She thought. 'Is he always this pathetic?' She shoved him, pulling him out of his reverie. "Okay, we are coming to a compromise."
"Huh?" Spike asked looking down at her.
"Compromise.truce.you don't bite me, I don't stake you.a deal." She tossed her hair over her shoulder and looked him in the eyes.
"Oh, sure Luv, what about it?"
"The way I see this, we have two choices. Choice one, kill each other and miss out on all the fun-ness of kicking your ass on Saturday, or two, we can set aside our differences and work together to get this over with quickly."
"Isn't there another way around this? Like, you do your thing, I sit back and watch and laugh when some big beastie thing rips your head off and drinks your blood." He looked up at her with a self-satisfied smirk.
"Whether you like it or not, Eurynome said we had to work together." She glared at him. "And, just because you came from the lower levels of hell, doesn't mean that I'm going to ruin my chances of resting in peace later on in life. We are going to do what the Gods say and get this test over and done with so I can kick your ass on the weekend." She turned her back on him and pushed open the door.
"Fine, whatever Pet, this doesn't mean that I like you." He followed her through the door. "You've got to be kidding me!" He said as he stopped behind her and gazed around. "This is going to take forever!" His eyes traveled around the seemingly endless maze of hedges and stone walls.
"Ugh, I can't believe this!" She turned and looked at Spike. "You piss me off, I'll stake you seven ways from Sunday." She moved away from the wall and started following the path.
He looked after her; 'This is going to be the worst night of my entire unlife.' He thought as he quickened his pace to follow her down between the first row of hedges. His eyes scanned the walls for the first opening or turn. They had been walking for close to three hours, and he was so close to paying attention to his surroundings that he didn't see Buffy screech to a halt in front of him. "What the hell! Slayer, you forget how to work or something?" He looked at her with annoyance.
She had crouched down onto the ground in front of him next to a hedge, motioning for him to shut up; she reached up and pulled him down beside her. "Shut the hell up and find me something to use as a weapon." She ordered. "Quickly!"
"But I haven't done anything to annoy you.yet." He looked at her before reaching into the hedge and breaking off a branch.
"Thank you, and, if you keep yabbering away like that, I'll stake you." She turned back to face the direction in which they were headed. Suddenly, a large scaly demon turned the corner and Buffy stood up. "The Gods said this was a test, they never said it would be a fun test." She sized the demon up. "You aren't very big, in fact, I've taken down bigger."
"You gonna talk me to death or are we actually gonna fight?" The demon snarled.
"Oh, You're gonna try and fight, I'm gonna kill you."
The demon laughed, showing a mouthful of sharp, jagged teeth before Buffy lunged and landed a punch to his upper jaw. The demon's head reeled from the blow; he retaliated by lashing out and kicking her in the ribs, knocking her back to the ground. She smiled and grunted as she threw her wait back onto shoulders before leaping back up into a fighting stance. The demon rushed her and she leapt out of the way and brought her leg down on the back of his neck, sending him face first into the ground.
"Who are you?" The demon asked between sucking in great gulping breaths of air.
"Me, don't tell me you've never heard of The Slayer." She asked, the heel of her boot pressing down on the middle of his back.
"Slayer?" The demon asked, trying to push himself off the ground.
"Yeah, The girl who kills demons, she who hangs out in cemeteries a lot." Spike answered as he came out from the shadows. "You gotta remember that pal, she is a real danger this one." Then, in a flurry of quick movements, Spike had bought a sharp piece of twisted branch down between the demon's shoulder blades and had twisted the demon's head, snapping his neck. "Oh God that felt good!" He exclaimed. "C'mon Slayer, we've got demons to fight, destiny to change." He moved off down the row and made a quick left turn. "Hey! An opening."
Buffy stood there dumbfounded and speechless. Spike, the vampire Spike, the one who had proclaimed outside The Bronze five hours ago that he was going to kill her on Saturday, just helped her kill a demon. She smiled, 'He's really, kinda nice underneath the whole bad ass thing. If it weren't for the whole, he's out to kill me; he'd be kinda cute. Plus, vampires in general don't make very good boyfriends. Angel is proof of that.'
"Slayer!" Spike called. He'd already been away from Drucilla for five hours; he didn't want to be gone any longer. 'I can't believe she's not going to thank me! I just saved her life, I helped her and she's just going to stand there like a little rabbit caught in the headlights of an oncoming truck. The ungrateful little chit.' He sighed as he pulled a cigarette out of his jacket pocket. "Hurry up!" He called again. 'I don't ever want you out of my site ever again. It's too dangerous.' He continued to think.
"Uh, yeah, coming. wait up!" She called back, hurrying to the opening he had found. "Which way?" She turned her head to look in either direction.
"I don't know." He looked over her head to the right. The row of hedging and wall seemed to continue on and on.
"We could split up." She suggested, "You go left, I go right, we'll meet at the center."
"Oh no we don't Slayer." He grabbed her arm and began to drag her between the rows to the left of the opening.
"Hey! Let go!" She cried out, she twisted her body and flipped him over her hip. "I'm perfectly capable of walking by myself. And why not split up? We'd cover more ground if we did." She began to walk back down the rows, leaving him lying on his back on the soft earth.
"Because I just saved you're ass is why."
"You didn't save my ass!" She screamed. "He was already on the ground when you decided to come out of your little hiding place and help! I did all the hard work! I was the one who got a kick to the ribs! You just broke his neck, which by the way, I could have done WITHOUT staking him in the back."
Spike replied as he stood up and shook the dirt from his duster. "Whatever. Look, I think the idea of this was for us to work together." He hurried to catch up to her. "And, as evil as I am, I do not need two Gods pissed at me for not following their rules."
She sighed and nodded, he had a point. 'A small point but a point none the less.' "We should just keep walking until we find an opening or a turn." She said, more to herself then to him.
"Alright Luv, but, let's just hurry along shall we? I've got places I have to be."
"Don't we all?" She stopped and looked back. The turns and openings where well hidden within the walls of the maze. 'May as well be no turns and no openings,' She thought to herself, 'The walls and row looks like it goes on forever.'
"Coming Pet? Or are you just going to stand there and look at the hedges?" Spike asked.
"Yep, coming, now shut up or I'll stake you." She turned and walked away from him. Her mind whirling with images of their surroundings, trying to figure out where she had seen it all before.
'Moody bitch.' Spike followed her, his eyes scanning the bushes for any oncoming predators that may want to take him on. 'Better be some bloody good future I've got going for me when we get to the center of this bloody thing. Maybe.' He wandered along a few feet behind Buffy, thinking about the possibilities of the future the Gods promised him for helping the Slayer.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
Chapter Four
Pit Stop.
"About time." Buffy sighed. They had been walking for four hours since they had left the haven and Eurynome and Ophion. They had slain three vampires; five demons and two things neither Buffy, nor Spike could identify. The walk had been relatively quiet, except for when Buffy spoke to say that she had spotted an opening or a turn and that they would be taking it. She had made all the decisions on about which way they would go. Choosing mostly right turns or paths that led to the right of an opening.
Spike had stopped and looked back in the direction they came. It had taken them four right turns and one left turn to reach the first haven since beginning this silly quest. "You gonna go in or just look at the door like an idiot?" He moved forward only to be pushed back as Buffy walked through the door.
"Don't piss me off Spike." She whispered as she lit a lamp on the table inside the door.
"How'd you know that was there?" Spike looked at her curiously.
"Eurynome said that there were havens like the one at the beginning throughout this entire test. When the light was on, I noticed a small table and lamp near the door we walked out of. Duh." She rolled her eyes and threw her backpack on the floor. "I'm gonna be so grounded when I get home. Mom must think I've run away or something. And, oh god! Giles will think I'm dead."
Spike laughed. "Oh well, isn't it your destiny to eventually die?" He looked at her as she sat Indian style on the floor in front of him.
"Whatever." She opened her bag and pulled out a bunch of grapes. "The Gods sure know how to pack food." She began popping them into her mouth. She sat there silently thinking about how worried her mother and Giles would be. Not to mention Willow and Xander.
He sighed. 'Can't beat her, may as well join her.' "Mind if I sit Pet?" He asked, motioning to the floor beside her.
"Like I have a choice." She continued eating, her hair falling in front of her face.
"Thank you." He sat beside her and opened his own bag, retrieving a packet of blood and an apple.
Buffy looked at him and raised her eyebrow. "YOU, eat food?" She snatched his bag and continued to paw through it.
"Well, duh." Spike replied, "My mum used to say, 'an apple a day keeps the doctor away.' I've always followed the superstition. She used to have a saying for everything. She was a good woman my mum." He bit into his apple and smiled, lost in memories of when he was younger.
"But, you're not alive, so why worry about keeping doctors away?" She looked confused. A year with Angel hadn't taught her anymore about vampires then what she already knew. 'Undead, drinks blood. To become a vampire, they need to suck your blood; you need to suck their blood. It's like this whole big sucking thing. And, oh yeah, sunlight, crosses, holy water, stakes, decapitation, me in general, Bad.'
"Well, fortunate for me, I'm a real good boy and I always take heed of what my mother says. It's the way it was done. You listened to your parents, you respected your parents and you always did as you were told. Not like you lot of today. Always running around sleeping with whoever, showing no respect, not listening to a word your parents say." He looked at her. "Just because I'm a vampire, doesn't mean I don't enjoy the luxuries in life that you mortals take for granted. I eat 'real' food because, it tastes good, and it has a different smell and texture to blood."
"Oh." She handed his bag back and continued to sift through her own. "Sorry."
"No need to be ashamed of askin' questions Luv. If you don't ask, you don't learn." He looked at her and smiled. "Although, I am giving you an insight into a vampire, which, is potentially dangerous to me and mine." He chuckled.
'God he's got a cute laugh.' Buffy thought. 'No! Bad Buffy! Bad! Evil vampire wants to kill you on Saturday. Stop thinking like that!'
"Slayer? Hello? Earth to Slayer? Come in Slayer." Spike shook her shoulder gently.
"Huh? What?" She looked up at him.
"Care to give me a little insight into who you are and what you're about?" He asked her again.
"Uh, maybe later Spike. I'm kinda tired." She looked at him and saw confusion sweep across his face.
"What? It's alright for me to tell you things about me, but the moment we move on to you it's all forget about it? I have to know who I'm working with here, so I can hurry my ass up and get back home." He got up and moved to the other side of the room and began to pace. "Note to self, NEVER trust a Slayer."
"It's not that, honest, I just really am tired. Tomorrow, I promise." She looked at him pace angrily around the room. "Unlike the living dead, I need my eight hours of beauty sleep to look this good."
"Fine." Spike snapped and turned around. "I just wish we knew how to contact."
"Don't be so hostile William." Eurynome smiled as she stepped out into the light from the shadows of the room.
"The Gods." He finished and smiled back.
"You wanted blankets didn't you?" She asked as she moved over to greet Buffy. "I've bought you some. And some water too." She stretched out her hand to stroke Buffy's cheek.
'Just like Mom used to.' Buffy thought to herself.
"She will again my Ellesbeth. Don't worry." Eurynome brushed the hair out of Buffy's eyes.
'Cor she's beautiful. Why I want to kill her I don't know. Oh wait, I'm s'pose to kill her cos I'm a vampire, and she's the slayer.' Spike thought as he watched Eurynome speak with Buffy.
Eurynome giggled and looked at Spike. "Ophion will be so pleased." She smiled and stepped away from Buffy.
"He will?" Spike looked at her warily. "Pleased with what?"
"That you have gotten this far." She smiled. "I must be returning now, Ophion will need me. You'll find everything you need for tomorrow and the rest of the journey in these two bundles. They should fit in both your bags. Now, get some rest, from now on, I will not be able to come and see you. Be safe and."
"Let our hearts guide us." Buffy smiled. "Thank you Eurynome, for everything, we will be safe. See you at the end, and, thank you. For everything." Buffy took a bundle and sat back down to unwrap it.
"See you then Pe.Eurynome." Spike gave her a wavering smile before she stepped back into the shadows and was gone.
Buffy had successfully pulled her bundle apart. It contained a woolen blanket and small book. "Oh, cool. Wonder what's in yours." She asked Spike.
He shrugged and sat down next to Buffy with his bundle. "Exactly the same as yours. Only, my book has a 'W' on it, and yours has an 'E'."
"Does yours have funny writing in it?" She asked, opening her book up to the first page.
"Yep, what does yours say Pet?" He asked laying his book open in front of her so she could see.
"It reads, 'It shines brighter then any star.' but, then it cuts off, and that's all it says." She looked at him confused, "what does yours say?"
Spike tilted his head so he could read the book. "Says, 'and it can be found in each of us.' I think she's given us a riddle Luv." He shook his head. And grabbed his blanket. "I'm going to sleep now, you should do the same, my head feels like it's about to implode." He smiled. "Good night Slayer, don't let the nasties bite." He slipped into his demonic visage and growled at her.
"Oh please. If the nasties did bite, they'd be dust before the first drop of blood touched their tongue. Good night Spike." She grabbed her blanket and moved herself over to the door, away from Spike.
'I wonder what it would be like to cuddle up next to him.' She thought as she lay out her blanket. 'He'd be cold, like Angel to the touch, but maybe he'd make you feel safe. Would he make you feel bad for loving him? Would he make you feel guilty? Maybe he'd make you feel alive, loved.Hey Summers get a grip okay? He's a blood-sucking fiend. He'd bite you before you had a chance to say boo.' She curled up under the blanket, her backpack as a pillow and closed her eyes, letting her conscience argue over what was wrong and what was right.
It wasn't long until sleep took its toll and washed over her, and her breathing became gentle and even. It was then, that Spike sat up and watched her as she slept. 'Like an angel almost, only, she's deadlier then any angel can ever be. Wiser and not as innocent as well. Completely beautiful.' He smiled to himself in the darkness of the room before laying back down to rest. 'C'mon William, get a hold of yourself. She's the Slayer.granted, she's beautiful, but, she's still the Slayer, she'd still drive that wooden stake through your heart before you even had a chance to take an unneeded breath.' He sighed and closed his eyes, willing sleep to come and silence the voices that battled inside his head.
Soon, they had both fallen asleep, welcoming the serenity of their subconscious and the darkness of the room.