Author: Shroomie
Title Family Links
Disclaimer: Joss is god. I am merely a lower level angel with a crooked halo that wishes to play with his creations.
Reviewers: This chapter is longer, as I was inspired by a very nice talk with my little sister. The twelve-year-old's wise words of inspiration: are you still writing that?!
*********************** By the time Spike, Buffy, and Giles arrived at the house, Kat was in bed. Dawn was sitting at the kitchen table, papers spread all around her. Buffy gave her a quick hello before taking Giles upstairs to put his stuff away.
Spike, left standing in the entranceway, paced nervously. He glanced around, noting the small changes in the house. The pictures going up the stairs were different. The first was one he had seen before, Buffy with Joyce and Dawn. Next to that were Dawn's graduation shots, high school and college, then one of Buffy, Xander, and Willow at the beach. There were a few of Kat, first as a baby, then a toddler, then a little girl, together with Alex. The last picture caught Spike's eye. It was a portrait, like the ones done at studios. Spike was in the center, Buffy sitting next to him, Kat kneeling at their feet.
*we look so happy* Spike thought.
"You could actually come in, you know. It's only your house." Dawn's voice pulled Spike out of his own thoughts. He shook his head to clear it, walking into the kitchen. "Hey, 'lil bit." Dawn smiled at her nickname. Spike, noticing all the paperwork around her, pulled up a chair as he asked, "What's all this?"
"Just some papers from the office." Dawn started cleaning up the mess.
"Office?" Spike asked in surprise, "You work?"
Dawn just rolled her eyes. "Of course I work. What'd you think, that I'd stay fifteen forever?" When Spike didn't answer, she continued. "well, here's the short version. I graduated, went to Sunnydale Community College, got a degree and went to work as a legal aide at the local law firm. It pays the bills, plus, I can help the rest of the group when things happen that are a little hard to explain in court, since those type of things happen a lot around here."
Dawn's explanation was simple, yet Spike was still surprised at her words. She had grown up, he realized, grown from the teenager he had seen only yesterday into the woman before him. He looked at her more closely, a slow smile spreading across his face. Dawn looked up at his steady gaze, suddenly feeling self-conscious.
"What?" she asked. Spike smiled broader as he spoke quietly. "You're beautiful." Dawn blushed, ducking her head as she finished putting her papers in her bag.
Buffy had come down the stairs right after Spike entered the kitchen, but she lingered on the bottom step, listening to the exchange between her sister and her, well. *what is he, exactly?* Buffy thought *he's not the Spike I know, not the Spike I love*
She sat down on the stop. *but he will become that Spike* she told herself. She smiled as she heard the surprise in his voice at finding that Dawn had a job. How hard it must be to be pulled suddenly into the future and to have to face everyone you know in a different time. *at least he wasn't magicked into the past. I probably would have killed him* Buffy chuckled at the thought, getting up to join her family.
"Buffy," Dawn noticed her sister standing in the doorway, "I was just packing up."
"Actually, Dawnie, would you mind staying tonight?" Buffy asked, "I thought Spike and I might do a quick patrol." Dawn nodded, putting her bag back down. Buffy started out the back door, stopping on the porch, waiting for Spike to follow. With one last smile at Dawn, he joined the Slayer outside. As the pair disappeared into the dark, Dawn shook her head and smiled, pulling her papers back out of her bag and settling back to work.
****************************** The Slayer and vampire walked in silence. They reached the graveyard where Spike's crypt was, or used to be, in this time. Spike, although he didn't know what to say, couldn't stand the silence anymore.
"So, Slayer." *oh yeah, great start there. 'oh slayer' bloody brilliant* Spike mentally slapped himself. "I mean, um, Slayer, I that is, um, how are you? *oh yeah, 'cause that is so much better, you ponce, ask her how she is after everything that she just told you about what's going on here. Hell, even the demon girl would've said something better*
Buffy, seeing the stupid look on Spike's face as he silently cursed himself, bit her lip to keep from laughing. She took a deep breath to steady herself. It didn't work. She burst out in a fit of laughter, laughing so hard she had to sit down on a nearby tombstone.
*she's lost it* Spike thought. Nothing else could explain it. He shook his head in wonder at the sight of Buffy doubling over. She slid off the tombstone to rest on the ground.
"Thanks Spike," Buffy finally stopped laughing enough to choke out a few words. Now Spike was really confused. *did she just thank me?* he wondered.
"Um, not that I mind, luv, but what?" Spike was definitely confused.
"Your face," Buffy started, but quickly amended her words when she saw how his face fell. "I mean, you were just trying so hard. It was cute." She stopped laughing and stood up, wiping her hands off on her jeans. Realizing that Spike was staring at her, she cleared her throat self- consciously and continued walking.
"Um, so," Buffy didn't know where to start either. "Yeah, how did your talk with Dawn go?"
"Okay," Spike hesitated. He still wasn't sure how he felt about all of this. Buffy could tell he was very mixed up inside and she let him take his time. Being with Spike for over ten years, she had learned to read his moods. This one was a quiet thinking kind, almost brooding. Almost.
"It's just weird, you know?" Spike continued, letting himself think aloud. "I mean, just a few hours ago, everyone was fine, just the way they were supposed to be. Now, suddenly, everyone is older. Bit's graduated, got a job, doesn't even live at the house. The witches got a kid, whelp and demon girl's got a kid, hell, even I've got a kid." He stopped walking, reaching in his coat pocket for a cigarette. After lighting it, he continued, "It's just a lot's different, it's a lot to take in, you know?"
Buffy nodded. "Well, if you have any questions?"
Spike thought carefully. There were hundreds of things he wanted to know about this future, things about Buffy and him, Dawn, the other, Kat. Remembering the picture of him holding the baby, he decided to start there.
"How did we have a daughter?" He spoke quietly, but Buffy could sense the seriousness in his voice.
"It was a prophecy. Isn't everything always a prophecy?" she smiled wryly. "Giles found it in a book after we found out I was pregnant. He actually knows more about it then I do, something with magic and the stars and that stuff, oh, plus the fact she's supposed to save the world one day. I didn't care then. All I knew at the time was we were gonna have a baby." Buffy looked at him. "We were happy."
Spike nodded, throwing down his cigarette, absorbing the information silently for a moment. "And us?" he asked, "How did that happen?"
Buffy took a deep breath, stopping to sit on the edge of a crypt opening. "That's a little more complicated. Let's see, you come from after our little musical and the whole 'Randy Giles' shindig," Spike cringed at the memory, causing Buffy to smile. "So we've started something. I can't really tell you all of it, 'cause Giles thinks that if you know too much it could, let me see, 'cause dire repercussions on the existence of the future as we know it'."
Spike snorted at the Watcher's choice of words. "Yeah, right."
Buffy, choosing to ignore him, continued, "Let's just say it happens. I don't think either of us planned on it, I know *I* didn't, but it did." She finished with a shrug. "So now we have the house and the kid, the whole deally thing."
"What, no dog?" Spike asked sarcastically.
Buffy gave him a cheesy smile. "No dog, but we do have a. . .duck!"
Spike's confused look returned. "Duck, we have a duck?" he managed to ask the question before getting hit from behind by a very large demon. He fell to the ground, Buffy jumping over him, ready to fight.
There was only one demon and two vampires, but all were large and they did not look happy. As Buffy fought the demon, Spike, recovering quickly, rolled out of her way. He stood up, sneaking behind the other two, who were standing to the side, watching the Slayer fight.
Spike tapped one on the shoulder. The vampire turned his head, his eyes widening as he recognized Spike's face. A quick punch sent him to the ground; a kick to the head and the other vampire joined him. "B-b-but how, how did you escape?" the first one stammered out as Spike pulled a stake and dusted the second one.
"What?" Spike turned to the now standing first vampire, "What did you say?" Before he could receive an answer, the vampire disappeared in a burst of dust. Buffy, who had finished off the demon, had come up from behind and staked him in the back.
"Ha. Take that, blood breath." She brushed the dust off her coat, smiling proudly at Spike. "You okay?"
Spike didn't answer her at first. He was still trying to understand what the vampire had meant. Shaking his head slightly, he shook out his duster.
"What's wrong?" Buffy asked with concern in her voice that would have made the vampire ecstatic at any other moment.
"He said something, when he saw me. He said 'how did you escape?'" Spike's eyes lit up as he realized what it meant. "Buffy, that means I'm still alive, well, undead at least. He must have been with the demons who took me, and I'm still there."
Buffy wasn't sure whether to be happy that her Spike was still not dusty or sad because someone who could have led her to him was. She thought about his as they started to walk home. "Spike?" he raised his head at his name, "vampires don't like demons much do they?"
"No, not usually. Why?" he responded.
"Well, that just means these vampires must have a pretty good reason for joining up with the demons who took you." Buffy cocked her head to the side, trying to think what that reason might be. "I don't know. Let's get back home. We could use some sleep. We'll talk it over with Giles in the morning." She looked at her watch. "Well, later in the morning." ****************************** When Spike woke up, it was already daylight. Buffy had pulled the curtains shut in the living room so he wouldn't fry. *considerate of her* he thought. Rubbing his eyes, he stood up and stretched a little. Looking around, he noticed that it didn't seem like anyone else was home.
"Spike?" Dawn called from the kitchen, "Are you up yet?"
"Yeah, Dawnie, I'm up," he walked in to see her, "What's going on? Where is everyone?" No one else was in the kitchen. Dawn finished the juice she was drinking, tossing the empty cup into the sink.
"Buffy and Giles went to see someone he knows to try and find out about vampire and demon alliances," Dawn spoke quickly as she put her coat on and grabbed her bag. Spike, noticing her actions, became a little suspicious.
"Um, bit, where's Kat?" he asked.
Dawn smiled slyly. "Well, what a good question. She's upstairs, in her room. I have to run to the office, Buffy and Giles will be back a little after lunch, food's in the fridge, numbers are by the phone, you'll be fine."
Before Spike could protest, she was running out the back door. Hearing a giggle, he turned around. Kat was standing in the doorway, smiling. *bloody hell* was all Spike could think.
Title Family Links
Disclaimer: Joss is god. I am merely a lower level angel with a crooked halo that wishes to play with his creations.
Reviewers: This chapter is longer, as I was inspired by a very nice talk with my little sister. The twelve-year-old's wise words of inspiration: are you still writing that?!
*********************** By the time Spike, Buffy, and Giles arrived at the house, Kat was in bed. Dawn was sitting at the kitchen table, papers spread all around her. Buffy gave her a quick hello before taking Giles upstairs to put his stuff away.
Spike, left standing in the entranceway, paced nervously. He glanced around, noting the small changes in the house. The pictures going up the stairs were different. The first was one he had seen before, Buffy with Joyce and Dawn. Next to that were Dawn's graduation shots, high school and college, then one of Buffy, Xander, and Willow at the beach. There were a few of Kat, first as a baby, then a toddler, then a little girl, together with Alex. The last picture caught Spike's eye. It was a portrait, like the ones done at studios. Spike was in the center, Buffy sitting next to him, Kat kneeling at their feet.
*we look so happy* Spike thought.
"You could actually come in, you know. It's only your house." Dawn's voice pulled Spike out of his own thoughts. He shook his head to clear it, walking into the kitchen. "Hey, 'lil bit." Dawn smiled at her nickname. Spike, noticing all the paperwork around her, pulled up a chair as he asked, "What's all this?"
"Just some papers from the office." Dawn started cleaning up the mess.
"Office?" Spike asked in surprise, "You work?"
Dawn just rolled her eyes. "Of course I work. What'd you think, that I'd stay fifteen forever?" When Spike didn't answer, she continued. "well, here's the short version. I graduated, went to Sunnydale Community College, got a degree and went to work as a legal aide at the local law firm. It pays the bills, plus, I can help the rest of the group when things happen that are a little hard to explain in court, since those type of things happen a lot around here."
Dawn's explanation was simple, yet Spike was still surprised at her words. She had grown up, he realized, grown from the teenager he had seen only yesterday into the woman before him. He looked at her more closely, a slow smile spreading across his face. Dawn looked up at his steady gaze, suddenly feeling self-conscious.
"What?" she asked. Spike smiled broader as he spoke quietly. "You're beautiful." Dawn blushed, ducking her head as she finished putting her papers in her bag.
Buffy had come down the stairs right after Spike entered the kitchen, but she lingered on the bottom step, listening to the exchange between her sister and her, well. *what is he, exactly?* Buffy thought *he's not the Spike I know, not the Spike I love*
She sat down on the stop. *but he will become that Spike* she told herself. She smiled as she heard the surprise in his voice at finding that Dawn had a job. How hard it must be to be pulled suddenly into the future and to have to face everyone you know in a different time. *at least he wasn't magicked into the past. I probably would have killed him* Buffy chuckled at the thought, getting up to join her family.
"Buffy," Dawn noticed her sister standing in the doorway, "I was just packing up."
"Actually, Dawnie, would you mind staying tonight?" Buffy asked, "I thought Spike and I might do a quick patrol." Dawn nodded, putting her bag back down. Buffy started out the back door, stopping on the porch, waiting for Spike to follow. With one last smile at Dawn, he joined the Slayer outside. As the pair disappeared into the dark, Dawn shook her head and smiled, pulling her papers back out of her bag and settling back to work.
****************************** The Slayer and vampire walked in silence. They reached the graveyard where Spike's crypt was, or used to be, in this time. Spike, although he didn't know what to say, couldn't stand the silence anymore.
"So, Slayer." *oh yeah, great start there. 'oh slayer' bloody brilliant* Spike mentally slapped himself. "I mean, um, Slayer, I that is, um, how are you? *oh yeah, 'cause that is so much better, you ponce, ask her how she is after everything that she just told you about what's going on here. Hell, even the demon girl would've said something better*
Buffy, seeing the stupid look on Spike's face as he silently cursed himself, bit her lip to keep from laughing. She took a deep breath to steady herself. It didn't work. She burst out in a fit of laughter, laughing so hard she had to sit down on a nearby tombstone.
*she's lost it* Spike thought. Nothing else could explain it. He shook his head in wonder at the sight of Buffy doubling over. She slid off the tombstone to rest on the ground.
"Thanks Spike," Buffy finally stopped laughing enough to choke out a few words. Now Spike was really confused. *did she just thank me?* he wondered.
"Um, not that I mind, luv, but what?" Spike was definitely confused.
"Your face," Buffy started, but quickly amended her words when she saw how his face fell. "I mean, you were just trying so hard. It was cute." She stopped laughing and stood up, wiping her hands off on her jeans. Realizing that Spike was staring at her, she cleared her throat self- consciously and continued walking.
"Um, so," Buffy didn't know where to start either. "Yeah, how did your talk with Dawn go?"
"Okay," Spike hesitated. He still wasn't sure how he felt about all of this. Buffy could tell he was very mixed up inside and she let him take his time. Being with Spike for over ten years, she had learned to read his moods. This one was a quiet thinking kind, almost brooding. Almost.
"It's just weird, you know?" Spike continued, letting himself think aloud. "I mean, just a few hours ago, everyone was fine, just the way they were supposed to be. Now, suddenly, everyone is older. Bit's graduated, got a job, doesn't even live at the house. The witches got a kid, whelp and demon girl's got a kid, hell, even I've got a kid." He stopped walking, reaching in his coat pocket for a cigarette. After lighting it, he continued, "It's just a lot's different, it's a lot to take in, you know?"
Buffy nodded. "Well, if you have any questions?"
Spike thought carefully. There were hundreds of things he wanted to know about this future, things about Buffy and him, Dawn, the other, Kat. Remembering the picture of him holding the baby, he decided to start there.
"How did we have a daughter?" He spoke quietly, but Buffy could sense the seriousness in his voice.
"It was a prophecy. Isn't everything always a prophecy?" she smiled wryly. "Giles found it in a book after we found out I was pregnant. He actually knows more about it then I do, something with magic and the stars and that stuff, oh, plus the fact she's supposed to save the world one day. I didn't care then. All I knew at the time was we were gonna have a baby." Buffy looked at him. "We were happy."
Spike nodded, throwing down his cigarette, absorbing the information silently for a moment. "And us?" he asked, "How did that happen?"
Buffy took a deep breath, stopping to sit on the edge of a crypt opening. "That's a little more complicated. Let's see, you come from after our little musical and the whole 'Randy Giles' shindig," Spike cringed at the memory, causing Buffy to smile. "So we've started something. I can't really tell you all of it, 'cause Giles thinks that if you know too much it could, let me see, 'cause dire repercussions on the existence of the future as we know it'."
Spike snorted at the Watcher's choice of words. "Yeah, right."
Buffy, choosing to ignore him, continued, "Let's just say it happens. I don't think either of us planned on it, I know *I* didn't, but it did." She finished with a shrug. "So now we have the house and the kid, the whole deally thing."
"What, no dog?" Spike asked sarcastically.
Buffy gave him a cheesy smile. "No dog, but we do have a. . .duck!"
Spike's confused look returned. "Duck, we have a duck?" he managed to ask the question before getting hit from behind by a very large demon. He fell to the ground, Buffy jumping over him, ready to fight.
There was only one demon and two vampires, but all were large and they did not look happy. As Buffy fought the demon, Spike, recovering quickly, rolled out of her way. He stood up, sneaking behind the other two, who were standing to the side, watching the Slayer fight.
Spike tapped one on the shoulder. The vampire turned his head, his eyes widening as he recognized Spike's face. A quick punch sent him to the ground; a kick to the head and the other vampire joined him. "B-b-but how, how did you escape?" the first one stammered out as Spike pulled a stake and dusted the second one.
"What?" Spike turned to the now standing first vampire, "What did you say?" Before he could receive an answer, the vampire disappeared in a burst of dust. Buffy, who had finished off the demon, had come up from behind and staked him in the back.
"Ha. Take that, blood breath." She brushed the dust off her coat, smiling proudly at Spike. "You okay?"
Spike didn't answer her at first. He was still trying to understand what the vampire had meant. Shaking his head slightly, he shook out his duster.
"What's wrong?" Buffy asked with concern in her voice that would have made the vampire ecstatic at any other moment.
"He said something, when he saw me. He said 'how did you escape?'" Spike's eyes lit up as he realized what it meant. "Buffy, that means I'm still alive, well, undead at least. He must have been with the demons who took me, and I'm still there."
Buffy wasn't sure whether to be happy that her Spike was still not dusty or sad because someone who could have led her to him was. She thought about his as they started to walk home. "Spike?" he raised his head at his name, "vampires don't like demons much do they?"
"No, not usually. Why?" he responded.
"Well, that just means these vampires must have a pretty good reason for joining up with the demons who took you." Buffy cocked her head to the side, trying to think what that reason might be. "I don't know. Let's get back home. We could use some sleep. We'll talk it over with Giles in the morning." She looked at her watch. "Well, later in the morning." ****************************** When Spike woke up, it was already daylight. Buffy had pulled the curtains shut in the living room so he wouldn't fry. *considerate of her* he thought. Rubbing his eyes, he stood up and stretched a little. Looking around, he noticed that it didn't seem like anyone else was home.
"Spike?" Dawn called from the kitchen, "Are you up yet?"
"Yeah, Dawnie, I'm up," he walked in to see her, "What's going on? Where is everyone?" No one else was in the kitchen. Dawn finished the juice she was drinking, tossing the empty cup into the sink.
"Buffy and Giles went to see someone he knows to try and find out about vampire and demon alliances," Dawn spoke quickly as she put her coat on and grabbed her bag. Spike, noticing her actions, became a little suspicious.
"Um, bit, where's Kat?" he asked.
Dawn smiled slyly. "Well, what a good question. She's upstairs, in her room. I have to run to the office, Buffy and Giles will be back a little after lunch, food's in the fridge, numbers are by the phone, you'll be fine."
Before Spike could protest, she was running out the back door. Hearing a giggle, he turned around. Kat was standing in the doorway, smiling. *bloody hell* was all Spike could think.