Title: A
New Beginning - Chapter 2 of Maybe When...
Author: Xionin
Rating: R
Pairing: Buffy/Spike.
Feedback: Pretty please?
Disclaimer: ME dropped the ball. I picked it up.
Summary: This a medium series based on Buffy's line to Spike from 'End
of Days'. She begins to say 'maybe when [this is all over,] but Spike interrupts
her. It's an AU approach to the series finale [because you know how much I loved
that] and then moves into the 'what ifs'.
And oh yeah, it's a total piece of fluff. Enjoy!
A New Beginning
Nineteen people
died.
Anya, Cho Ahn, Amanda and more than a dozen others.
Nineteen lives: the price for saving the world.
Contacting all of their families was the hardest thing Giles ever had to face. As only one of two remaining Watchers, and the only one to witness their heroism, the task fell to him.
He felt compelled to do it anyway and, as the senior member of the shattered Council, he took charge of its finances. Over the first few days after the 'Final' battle, he'd made room number 257 of the Sunnydale Astor Hotel into a makeshift Council headquarters. From his window, he could see the ruins of the high school and its surrounding blocks. It stood, a gaping hole in the ground, as tribute to those who had fallen. In some way it steeled his reserve as he dialed the numbers to reach the families of these little heroines.
Only a day after the Victory, basic utilities had been restored as civil servants slowly mad their way into town. Most of the town remained deserted, however. The police set up barracades around the "crater" and local news crews were beginning to set up shop with the breaking news: Sunnydale hit by meteorite.
Ah well, whatever they needed to believe.
Giles knew the truth and he offered it, abridged of course, to each family along with promises to help with any arrangements and an offer of a generous gift from the Council to ease their pain and suffering. Money was nothing in the face of loss, but it could take the sting out of the day-to-day and some of these families were in desperate need of any help they could get.
So did his family.
The night of the battle had been spent at 1630 Revello Drive. A hushed atmosphere housed both mourning and relief. Giles had padded silently through the house, which seemed so empty then, despite still bursting at the seams. He'd stopped at Buffy's door and peered in at her sitting beside the bed. In it lay a comatose Spike. Spike. He had somehow saved them all.
Even now Giles cannot seem to wrap his head around that one.
His Slayer was...well, she was doting, there was no mistaking. She'd caressed his hand and kissed it lightly, when she thought no one was around. She'd whispered to him, no doubt asking him to please come back and to be alright. He'd felt like a voyeur watching her with him, but it was like a train wreck: he couldn't turn away. But he'd forced himself to. He gently rapped on the open door to get her attention. When her reddened eyes looked up at him, however, he'd been momentarily dumbstruck.
"Hey." She'd said.
"Buffy...I wonder i-if I could speak with you...a-and the others, Willow, Xander, Dawn...for a-a moment?" He'd raised his eyebrows apologetically and she'd smiled a small smile.
He'd taken them into the kitchen to explain his plans. Mostly, it involved money. Money to give them new lives and take them wherever they wanted to go. But it also concerned the Council and his plans to rebuild it.
He'd told them, in no small detail, of what they would each receive, taking each one aside privately. He'd also explained that all active slayers would be paid a salary. He'd fought to check his anger when he recalled how he'd found out exactly how much money the Council had stashed away for no good use. He'd remembered how Buffy had struggled to keep a roof over their heads and food on the table.
No more.
He'd made her a millionaire in the space of a conversation. Thank God for retro-active pay.
She was awestruck and thanked him with tears and hugs. All of them had reacted that way. A Watcher's salary for Xander, if he would accept an apprenticeship, which he did. Eagerly. A 'consultant's fee' for Willow that made her eyes wide and her stutter prominent. And a rather sizeable trust fund for Dawn. He wasn't sure how to justify that one to the Council, but then again he didn't need to. He was the Council.
In the end, they all fell silent again. It was Xander that had spoken first.
"I..." Words were difficult for him in these hours since Anya's death. "I need to get away...f-for a while. Y'know." He'd made a half-hearted attempted at a snort. "Clear my head?"
Willow put her arm around his shoulder and gave it a squeeze. Do whatever you need to do, Xan. We'll be here for you. He'd nodded, and with that, was gone. He hadn't told anyone where he was going and they didn't ask. He needed this.
Faith was at Robin's and he could talk to them later. So everyone, it seemed, had been taken care of. Everyone except Spike.
When it came to the unusual vampire, Giles was at a loss. What would he give him? What would he want?
It had been nearly 12 hours and Spike hadn't come to. Buffy had said he was warm, which was nearly impossible. Vampires didn't get fevers, did they? Willow had promised to explain everything, but not until he came around. Still, she wouldn't be able to explain why Spike had done the things he'd done to help them. Why he had been willing to die in that cavern. For them.
Two days later, Giles looked out over the cavern. He drank the rest of his tea and headed out the door, on his way back to Buffy's house. The girls were leaving today, and he needed to see them all off.
-----------------
On the afternoon of the seventh day, Spike opened his eyes. Buffy had been at his side almost the entire time, constantly asking Willow why his was still so warm. Again and again, Willow refused to answer. "Not until he's awake."
The first thing he saw, in the haze of filtered sunlight seeping through the closed curtains, was a head of honey-blonde hair resting next to his arm. He slowly reached over and caressed it, careful not to wake her. He smiled to himself.
"Mus' be in Heaven." He thought aloud, which caused the Slayer to raise her head.
"Spike?" She smiled. "Not heaven. Just me." She sat up and took his hand in hers.
"Then I was right." The words were slurred. Shaky. His head was pounding, his mouth dry, but other than that he felt...fine. Mostly. Something was off. "What happened?" As if on cue, Willow poked her head inside the door.
"Oh goody, you're awake!" She swung the door open wide. "Giles! Dawn! Come quick!" She stepped in the room and Spike tried to sit up a little more. He was weak and Buffy had to help him.
"You up for a little chat?" Willow seated herself at the end of the bed, opposite Buffy, facing him. Giles and Dawn both entered the room, a huge sigh of relief surprised Giles. Dawn was beaming.
"Spike!"
"Niblet." He smiled at her with obvious fatigue.
"OK." Willow took a deep breath. "So...this is the deal."
TBC Chapter 3: The Whole Nine Yards
