AN: For those who have not read chapter 20, it isn't pertinent to the story, other then to say that Spike and Buffy consummated their relationship. Chapter 20 is now available on my website again (sorry about that mix up, y'all just flooded my site, and tore my bandwidth to shreds!), so if you are old enough, and do wish to read it, click on the link in my profile, and go to my site.

Thanks all! I'm anticipating that it will have one more chapter after this, and possibly an epilogue!

Chapter 21

Buffy felt odd as they walked up to her watchers house. She didn't know how they would react, and was suddenly very scared of the rather real possibility of being staked. Buffy blinked, and rubbed her chest. Where the hell did that come from? A low chuckle behind her assured her of the source of her fears. Turning with a glare, Buffy found herself on the receiving end of a soft reassuring kiss. She took in a deep breath, then turned again, and knocked on the door.

After a few moments, Giles opened the door, looking as though he hadn't slept in days. He stood silent for a moment, then tugged her to him, and enfolded her small form into his large arms. "Oh, thank God, Buffy. I was so scared that you had been… that is…" His words were ragged with emotion as he rocked his slayer and surrogate daughter back and forth in his arms.

Pulling back, he held her at arms length away, and took in her form from top to bottom. Other then being a bit pale, he saw that she was doing fairly good, though. Buffy looked up at him, her eyes wide as she took in his own appearance. Finally, she broke free of his arms, and took another deep breath.

"Giles, we have a problem, and I don't know what's going to happen." She stepped aside, and reached out with a hand to tug Spike forward. Giles immediately reached for the cross bow he kept next to the door, and had it aimed at Spike's heart before he was even fully out of the shadows. "Giles, NO!" Buffy instinctively stepped in front of the cross bow, and glared at Giles. A shot of fear had lanced through her when Giles had first aimed the crossbow.

"Buffy, step aside." Giles' voice was quiet and authoritive as he looked at Buffy. "I can stake him with this quicker then he can do any thing about it. Now, move."

Buffy planted her hands on her hips, and shook her head. "No, you can't stake him, because I'm pretty sure that when Travers said, 'Death is your only escape', he meant we would both die if one of us was killed. So, put it away, and invite him in."

Giles stared in shock at Buffy, before shaking his head. "I most certainly will not!"

Buffy glared at him, and moved to shove him out of the way so she could at least enter, but she found herself facing an invisible barrier, stuck on the outside, looking in. Shock was clearly evident on her face, and then on Giles. Behind her, however, Spike either wasn't shocked, or if he was, he didn't show it. Giles looked up at the night sky, then back at Buffy.

"Buffy?"

"Relax, watcher, she's not a vampire. I think it's something to do with whatever your little council did to the both of us. She's in me, and I'm in her, or some such rot. I suggest you let us in, so we can figure out what's going on." Hesitation flickered in Giles' eyes, but he finally stepped aside, and said quietly, "Spike, Buffy, please come in." He kept the crossbow at his side, however, as the two slipped into the apartment.

Spike prowled the small space with barely retained energy, and Buffy went immediately to the bookshelf. Pulling out random books, she comprised a pile, and sat them on the coffee table.

"Ok, this is what we know. I was locked in a house and tested," Buffy paused to glare at Giles before continuing, "again. After a few days of fighting, with Spike helping me I might add, we were knocked about by soldier types, and locked into a glass room in the basement of that house. They shot me up with something, and shortly after, I started craving blood. Blood, Giles! I couldn't drink enough of it! Anyway, to be blunt, Travers told us that we were becoming one, that our minds were merging, and our bodies, too. What did he mean, Giles?"

Giles sat hard on the chair behind him as his mind worked furiously. He had heard talk recently of a prophecy that needed filling. It was something or other about a slayer and a vampire, fighting as one. Without a word, he reached into the pile of books, and found the right one.

Flipping through it, he started running his finger down the text as he tried to locate what he needed. Finally, he came to it, and read the words silently to consider them.

Blood is shared,

Enemies as one,

Come together,

Fighting for each other.

Two as one,

One as two,

Mind and body,

Body and soul,

As one they shall be,

Consummated whole.

He thought through the lines, and read them as he had been taught to, as a watcher. The words came together for him, and he understood, though he wasn't sure of the implications. The last line gave him hope, however. He turned to see Buffy and Spike watching him intently.

"You are sharing… traits, then? Blood, for instance. You craved it? Spike, were you hungry when she drank the blood?" Spike nodded curtly as he listened to Giles. "Well, then, I suppose what is happening, is you two are fulfilling a prophecy for… well, it doesn't really say. Buffy, can you, uh, find me the book on slayers? The one with the gold lettering and green cover."

He was still scanning the page when she handed him the book. Giles sat the first book down, page open still, and started flipping through the slayer book. There was a section dealing with Slayers and Vampires that he hadn't needed to look at since Angel left for LA. He came to a small paragraph at the bottom, and read the words slowly.

Prophecies foretell of a slayer and a vampire who will become one, fight as one, and live as one. The act requires compassion between the two, we believe, and a strong link. It is believed that the two must share the act of feeding before it will start to happen, and that the slayer and vampire must both be open to each other's thoughts and feelings. An act of consummating the relationship in the biblical sense is the final step. Without the consummating, it is widely believed by researchers that the joining can be reversed. However, once joined, the Slayer and Vampire will be the most formidable fighters the council has ever seen. This is all unfounded information, however, and we are not sure what will actually happen.

Giles sat back as his mind raced with the information. Blood, she craved blood. But, that didn't make sense, either. How could she have started to change before drinking the blood? Or…. No, that couldn't be it. Giles looked up and found the two of them staring at each other almost blankly, but he could tell that they were able to understand one another, possibly even hear each other's thoughts.

Clearing his throat, Giles waited for the two of them to turn towards him. "Well, apparently, there is a prophecy that two will join as one, fighting together, living together, and well, being one person together. The information on the actual prophecy is a bit sketchier, but still, there is some. I, uh, think we can reverse it, if that is your wish, Buffy. However, I must caution you, if you allow this to happen, the two of you will fight as one. You will be a very powerful team against demons."

Buffy looked at Spike, and he glanced towards her. Her mind was paused for a moment, before she thought of the pros and cons. Without exchanging a word or thought with Spike, she turned back to Giles, and took in a deep breath. "Before we decide, how is it reversed?"

"Well, they don't know, that is, nothing like this has happened, so you're the, uh, guinea pig, so to speak. The only thing it does say pertaining to the reversal, is that it can happen anytime before the relationship is, well, consummated." He glanced from Spike to Buffy, and saw the two exchange worried expressions.

"That's out. No, before you ask, I'm not sharing details, how's, or why's. Let's just assume that reversal is out. Get on the phone with your little buddies, and find out what's going to happen to us now." Buffy said to the slack jawed watcher. Swallowing clearly, he finally nodded and walked to the phone, as though he were on autopilot.

See, he took that better then you thought he would, pet. Spike smirked as his thought went to her, and saw her trying to hold back a chuckle as she watched Giles glancing at them with a dumbfounded expression.