Summary: Buffy and Dawn spend a day at the beach. Spike has a fight with Cassandra. Giles learns something interesting about the Key.
Disclaimer: Joss Whedon and Mutant Enemy own everything. But I wouldn't mind leasing Spike from them for a couple of weeks :) And I don't own the Victoria's Secret Catalogue either!
Feedback: As always, appreciated.
Seeing Spike Through Buffy's Eyes Chapter 9 - Changing TideBuffy adjusted her sunglasses as she watched the kids cavorting on the beach. She wasn't exactly sure how Dawn had talked her into being the chaperone for this little Beach Party Bingo, but here she was, denmother to a pack of teenagers. Buffy knew most of them could drive, but none of them had a car. She smiled as she heard Dawn scream with faux-horror the second before Michael through her into the surf. Dawn was happy. I wish Spi-. No, not going there, Buffy thought. Today was Dawn's happy day.
Recently, there had been many happy days for Dawn. Michael had transferred to Sunnydale High in the middle of the school year. Janice had been banished from the Summers' household after the shoplifting incident and Dawn had been lonely. Being the new kid, Michael had been lonely too. But Michael was an army brat, his father a retired captain. He had grown up being the new kid, so he knew how to handle it. One day, he saw Dawn eating lunch alone and asked if he could join her. They had become fast friends.
Michael was a year older than Dawn, something that had bothered Buffy in the beginning. She remembered the huge argument it had caused. An argument consisting of references to 100- and 200-year-old vampires, 1000-year-old ex-demons and ageless Keys. In the end, Buffy had let it go. Michael had introduced Dawn to kids she normally wouldn't have met at school. Kids in his grade. Together, they found a nice group of friends. Over the past couple of months, Buffy had become accustomed to a new group of teenagers hanging out in her living room. Sometimes she would study them, trying to catch a glimpse of Xander, Willow or herself at that age. So young, she thought.
Buffy went back to reading the latest book Giles had sent her. His trip to New Orleans had been very profitable. His friend had taken him to an occult shop where he found several books containing information about the Key, the monks that protected the Key and the Knights of Byzantium. Giles' friend was even able to persuade the owner to part with a book from his private collection. Giles was scanning each of the text into his computer. Once completed, he shipped the book to Buffy, that way each of them had a copy of the material. Although he still hated the 'infernal contraptions', he did concede the advantages his PC gave them in their cross-continental studies.
Dawn ran up to Buffy, shaking seawater out of her hair. "Watch the book Dawnie. Giles'll kill you if you ruin it!" Buffy wiped the water off the page, then closed the book to look up at her sister.
"You can't come to the beach and spend all your time reading." Dawn was worried about Buffy. She never did anything fun anymore. All she did was bury herself in the books that Giles sent. She had hoped the trip to the beach would loosen her up. "The water's just the right temperature. Let's go for a swim." Dawn grabbed Buffy's arm, trying to drag her out of her seat.
Buffy disengaged her arm from her sister's grasp. "Dawn, I agreed to drive you and your friends down here, but I told you I need to finish reading this. Giles is calling me tomorrow so that we can discuss it, and I'm nowhere near done. I'll swim another day. Promise."
Dawn plopped down on the towel next to her sister. "I know the book is important. And I appreciate all the research you are doing to find out more about me. But Buffy, you've got to have some fun. You've been all study-girl lately. It's summer, remember? We haven't seen a Big Bad in months. If Spike were here –" Dawn stopped herself. Oops, wrong subject.
Buffy let out a frustrated breath. "If Spike were here, he would have exploded from the sunlight hours ago. I'm fine, Dawnie. Go talk to Michael. He'll think you're ignoring him." Buffy re-opened the book and began to read, signaling to Dawn that the conversation was officially over. But Dawn wasn't done talking.
She stood up, brushing the sand from her legs. "Okay, Buffy. I'll go back and have fun with my friends. Do the best I can to try to forget that I miss him, since that is obviously what you want. But hiding behind research isn't going to convince me you don't still miss him too." Before Buffy could reply, Dawn ran back to her boyfriend who was waiting for her at the water's edge. Michael's arms enveloped Dawn in a hug. As Buffy watched her sister, a twinge of regret found a home in her heart.
"So she won't come join us?" Michael asked. He knew Dawn was concerned about her sister. She told him Buffy just wasn't herself ever since her boyfriend had left. Michael remembered asking Dawn why the idiot had broken up with Buffy, since it was clear to him Buffy had been the break-upee, not the break-uper. Dawn had quickly come to Spike's defense, saying he hadn't broken-up with Buffy. Something else had happened to make him leave. It had taken some pushing, but Dawn confessed she was the reason he had left. Some fight the two of them had. Michael said he didn't understand what Dawn could have said to make Buffy's boyfriend leave, but Dawn had just looked at him. "Life with Spike is complicated." And that had been the end of that.
"Nope, she just wants to sit and read." Dawn laughed. "Mom would never believe it. Buffy would rather be researching than hanging out." Dawn pushed the thought of her mother from her mind. "Well, I guess I can't make her do something she doesn't want to do. I should know that by now."
"Yes, you Summer's women seem to be a stubborn lot," Michael said in his best English accent, smiling. Dawn loved it when Michael smiled. It made his cheeks sink in and his blue eyes shine. She wondered if Buffy had ever noticed the resemblance between Spike and Michael. Similar build, similar height, similar hair color. Well, at least Spike's roots. Of course Michael wasn't as pale as Spike, but still. Summers' women also seem to have the same taste in guys, she thought.
"Stubborn, but loveable." Dawn gave Michael a quick kiss. "Let's get back to the water."
Buffy's attention was drawn away from her book, as Dawn's faux-horror scream filled the air once more.
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Spike was spending the afternoon going through his mail. This sort-of-being-human-thing had its disadvantages. The bills concerning the pub and the flat he could tolerate, but the junk mail was annoying. Although he didn't mind the Victoria's Secret Catalogue. Why he got it, he had no idea, but he wasn't complaining. In the middle of the stack was a letter from Faith. He set it aside, telling himself he'd read it before he went downstairs to open the pub.
"Oh, Victoria's Secret. Let me look at that." Cassandra grabbed the catalogue from the top of the stack. She sat down on the couch, flipping the pages. "I need some new bras."
Spike mumbled under his breath. "What's wrong with the one's you've got? They look fine to me."
"I heard that," Cassandra said, never looking up from the catalogue. "A girl can never have enough lingerie. It's one of the more important rules of life. You should have learned that by now."
Spike turned away from his desk to look at her. Long, curly chestnut hair now pulled back in a braid. Eyes the color of emeralds glittering in the sunlight. She reminded him of an Irish lass walking across the moors. Not his dark princess or his light princess, just somewhere in between. "You're right. I should have learned that by now. Buy what you want, Cass. Charge it to the pub."
Cassandra looked over at the vampire. Oh, boy. Here we go again. Wonder what set it off this time? "What's wrong, Spike? And don't tell me it's nothing, 'cause you have the same expression on your face grandfather gets. Vampire in brooding. Not one of my favorites."
Spike smirked. Cass was a good kid, but she was nosey as hell. "I'm not brooding. I never brood. I become pensive. I leave the brooding to those with a soul. Besides it's nothing. Just the bloody bills."
Cassandra snorted. Fine, if he didn't want to talk about it, she'd leave it alone. She slammed the catalogue closed on the couch next to her. Like hell she'd leave it alone! "Look, just pick up the phone and call her. From what your friend Giles said, I'm sure she wants to hear from you."
Spike spun back around in his chair. "Don't know what you're talking about, pet. Call who?" He didn't want to have this conversation again. It always ended badly. The last time she brought the subject up, they hadn't talked for two days.
"For the love of Mike! If I knew the number, I'd call myself. Who? Who am I talking about? Buffy." Cassandra walked over to stand next to the desk. "Buffy! Buffy! Buffy! Buffy's who I'm talking about. And you say she's the queen of denial. Pick. Up. The. Phone."
He never should have told her about the Slayer. "Why do you want me to call her? Trying to get rid of me?" Spike slowly slid his hand up Cassandra's arm, a lecherous smile spreading across his face.
Cassandra removed Spike's hand from her arm, dropping it back on the desk. "Diversionary tactic not going to work this time, William. For the record. To get rid of you, I'd have to have you to begin with, and I don't have you. I'm leasing you. And I think the lease has run out. So just call her. Put all of us out of our misery." Cassandra wasn't stupid. Spike didn't love her. They worked together. They played together. They had mind-blowing sex together. But he wasn't hers to keep. He belonged to the Slayer. She had understood that from the beginning.
Spike stood up to pace around the room. Sometimes fighting with Cass was like fighting with Buffy. Neither one of them knew when to give up. "Cass, we've been over this before. Because of me, she died. Died! That's not something you forget about. The Nibblet was right. Even Peaches was right. I'm not what she needs. What she needs is a normal life. And from what Faith tells me, she's finally on her way to having one. Why can't you drop it? I'm happy here. Happy with you and the pub. I've made a life for myself."
"She needs a normal life? God save us from men who think they know what women need." Cassandra's Irish temper began to flare. "Did you ever ask HER what she needed? Oh no, you didn't. I almost forgot. You have one fight with a hormonal teenager and you leave town. Yes, she died, Spike. But she's not dead now! And you're not happy with me. If I learned nothing else from my great-grandparents, I learned how strong the bond is when a vampire picks a human mate. Not a lover, but a mate."
Spike growled, but Cassandra continued. "You do forget who you're dealing with sometimes, don't you? I grew up with vampires, Spike. I might know more about vampiric ways than you do. You didn't share the blood ritual, but the bond is still there. She's calling to you, why can't you just admit it?"
Spike's demon flashed for a second. He picked up Faith's letter, stormed out of the flat and went down to the pub. Stupid chit. Doesn't know what she's talking about. Buffy didn't want him. She had said so plenty of times. Where did women get these crazy ideas?
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Giles reread the passage in the book Anthony had given him. If his interpretation was correct, there were two spells that could be used to bind the energy of the Key to human form, one temporary, one permanent. In the temporary spell, a living being shared their blood and soul with the Key to bind it to this dimension. The other spell still required the blood as a binder, but a soul, freely given, was needed to make the transfer permanent. Unfortunately, the particulars of neither spell were listed.
Giles placed the book on the table. If the monks hadn't had time to acquire a freely given soul, then Dawn's existence was only temporary. He should call Buffy – No. That wasn't a good idea. Not yet. Scaring her and Dawn until he knew more would not be good for either of them. He was going to need help. Buffy and Dawn were going to need help. Giles had to think. After a few minutes, he had the beginnings of a plan. Giles picked up the phone.
"British Airways, Karen speaking. How may I help you?" the operator said.
"Yes, hello. I'd like a one-way ticket to New Orleans, please. Soonest available flight." Giles thought it could work. He hadn't been able to find any information about the Key in England. All the books he had found had come from Anthony's shop in New Orleans. With Anthony helping him research, he might be able to find the spell they needed to keep Dawn in this dimension permanently. Yes, it could work. The most difficult part would be convincing Spike to return to Sunnydale. Someone had to be there for Buffy and Dawn.
-----TBC
