Part 13
The truth will set you free
Willow was sitting cross legged in front of her laptop in the study hall of Sunnydale University, typing away. She was looking for an answer to her questions. If everybody was acting so secretive and refused to tell her what was happening, she wouldn't give up. There were so many other ways of finding out what she wanted to know. She had decided there was already too much magic involved in this mystery without her adding more to it, so she was going to get her answers the old fashioned way. By looking. And what better place to start than the internet. One of the regular sites she visited "Demons, magic, witches etc" was an on-line encyclopedia of all things magic and demon related, a little database a handle full of demon hunters from all around the world had concocted to help each other out. Luckily for her, the site also came with a chatroom and people always eager to help someone out. She logged in with the nickname Sparklin_red, which she occasionally used.
Sparklin_red: Anyone out there?
Demon_hunter256: What do you need?
Sparklin_red: Let's play a game.
Any_broomflyer: I like games :D
Sparklin_red: It's called name that spell.
Expert_tease: Shoot.
Sparklin_red: We have: a candle with black incense, a little inhuman pure blood - a vile, a little wiccan blood and a Sanskrit incantation. It opens a portal to another dimension. A particularly strange uninhabited dimension.
Demon_hunter256: Sounds like you already have your spell right there. Why's the name so important?
Expert_tease: Interdimensional Sanskrit spells...They usually open intermediate portals.
Sparklin_red: Intermediate?
Any_broomflyer: You know the place where you are right before a spell is completed.
Demon_hunter256: The kind of spells that need a lot of concentration and give you the feeling you're not in this world anymore.
Any_broomflyer: Which is true. Cause you transport your astral self into another dimension.
Sparklin_red: How can I tell what kind of spell a person made to transport itself into that dimension?
Expert_tease: It's hard to tell.
Any_broomflyer: How was the dimension like?
Sparklin_red: A piece of land floating around in colors. A very vague figure was there. It talked to me.
Demon_hunter256: Didn't you ask it what it was? Who it was?
Sparklin_red: It wasn't really interested in me. I think it had something else on its mind.
Any_broomflyer: Was it hostile?
Expert_tease: Evil maybe?
Sparklin_red: I don't think so. I think it was a woman. She was looking for someone I know.
Any_broomflyer: You should warn that someone.
Sparklin_red: Problem is she already knew about this...visit. And I don't know her too well. I only met her a couple of days ago.
Expert_tease: So that's the problem. You want to know if this person is a threat?
Demon_hunter256: If she is who she says she is?
Sparklin_red: Yeah. Any suggestions?
Amy_broomflyer: Truth spell?
Sparklin_red: Something tells me she can make a counter-spell.
Expert_tease: I know one that can't be counter-spelled until you find out what you want.
Sparklin_red: Can you send it to me?
Expert_tease: Sure. It'll take a minute.
Sparklin_red: Take your time.
Willow smiled to herself satisfied she had found her answer.
"Something told me I'd found you here," a voice startled her. She turned around to find Wesley standing behind her with his arms crossed over his chest.
"Would you stop with the suspicious glares?" she closed her laptop before he had a chance to see what she was working on. "You said you didn't want to tell me. I respect that."
"I bet," Wesley was more than a little skeptical. He knew Willow could be curious and he also knew she had the skills to find out anything her heart desired if she only put her mind to it. "Is that why you were chatting with the "Demons, magic, witches etc" people? They often used the site in LA too. There weren't all that many demon databases on the internet.
"No, we were just swapping spells," Willow assured him. "It's a witch thing. I give them a localizing spell they give me a beheading spell..."
"Yeah, I think I got it," Wesley didn't believe her and decided he would make it his personal mission to stop what ever she was planning. They stared at each other for a while.
"So you just came here to spy on me?" Willow broke the silence.
"That was the plan," Wesley paced in front of her. "But I guess I overreacted."
"I guess you did," Willow just wanted him gone so she could study the truth spell.
"I should go. Bye," he headed for the exit.
"Bye," Willow said and watched him until he was out of the study hall, then returned to her laptop. A new e-mail had arrived in her inbox from Expert_tease:
Hi,
I attached the document with the spell to this e-mail. It was made by gypsies, who else could make a spell without a counter-spell :) It's in Romanian, but I sent you the English version too. It should work in either language. I have to warn you it can have some unexpected side effects so be careful with it.
Expert_tease
"Perfect," Willow murmured to herself as she downloaded the attachment. She was a bit worried about the side effects, but she thought she could maybe work out the glitches.
Wesley hadn't gone home, but taken a detour to the computer hall of the university. He accessed the "Demon, magic, witches etc" site and looked up in the member's section the names he had spotted before Willow had closed her laptop: Expert_tease and Any_broomflyer. Any_broomflyer was an art student from New York who was also a witch in her spare time. Expert_tease on the other hand had a more interesting profile. He was a peaceful Navrok demon from Dublin, Ireland who was apparently a magic expert. He owned a pub called "Puckoon" and a cat named Pinky. There was even a picture of the massive demon with sharp fangs and blue skin, smiling, wearing a "Demons rock" t-shirt and holding a small pink kitten in one of his large palms. It could have very well been what Willow had told him it had been, but he severely doubted it. He entered the chatroom to see if he could pick up something. He didn't even have to type a word as Expert_tease and a certain Wicked_wiccan were discussing the Sanskrit spell Wesley had performed the other night. The question that remained was: if Willow knew what kind of spell it had been what was she planning to do?
Meanwhile Willow had already gathered the supplies for the spell and retreated in her room in the Summers house, telling everyone not to disturb her because she was studying. Joy politely left the room at her request and went downstairs to rescue Dawn from Buffy. As soon as she was gone, Willow opened her laptop and the document with the truth spell. She sat down cross legged on the floor and spread out the supplies. She made a circle of candles and in the middle of it she drew a symbol with blue powder, it looked celtic to her, but it must have been something else. She lit the candles and then started reading the spell in English:
"May the truth be more than lie and the lie be truth and no more lie," she threw a fist full of powder over the candles. "I ask for the truth and not the lie and may no lies come before the truth I seek and no one kill the truth before it's out and done," she waved her hand over the flames sprinkling down on them a crushed herb. She waited for a few moments, but nothing happened. Had she done something wrong? She went over the spell again on the laptop. Everything was in place. Then what? Maybe the translation wasn't quite accurate so she decided to do the Romanian version, it could work if she knew what it meant.
"Fie ca adevarul sa fie mai mult decat minciuna si minciuna adevar si sa nu mai fie minciuna. Cer adevarul si nu minciuna si fie ca nici o minciuna sa vina inaintea adevarului pe care-l caut si nimeni sa nu ucida adevarul inainte de a se arata," she spoke the words as clear as she could given the unknown language and then waited. The flames of the candles suddenly formed an intact circle of fire and the symbol started to glow, the strands of powder began to rise off the carpet and regroup into a crystal that floated above the floor.
"Asa sa fie!" a voice was heard out of nowhere. The candles burnt out and only the newly formed crystal still glowed in the dark a foot above the floor.
"Now, let's see if it worked," Willow said grabbing the crystal and putting it in a jewelry box in one of her drawers before cleaning up the mess made by the spell, trying to erase any evidence that might point towards magic.
Downstairs, Buffy had just finished her 'magic is dangerous' speech to an exasperated Dawn who just wanted to remind her she'd heard it a million times before and that she'd never do anything stupid with magic as she had seen its effects on Willow in the past.
"Are we clear?" the slayer asked for the last time and Dawn nodded.
"Yeah, already," she just wanted to leave.
"Can I rescue you?" Joy asked coming in. "Maybe you could show me around this Bronze everyone told me about?"
"Can I?" Dawn looked over at Buffy.
"I should ground you for at least half your lifetime, but I'll let this one slide. Go ahead," Buffy told her. "Just be careful."
"We will," Joy assured her before she and Dawn left.
"Kids grow up so fast," Spike noticed.
"Yeah and they turn into rebel angst driven teens," Buffy sighed. "Was I like that at her age?"
"No. You were worse," Spike smirked. "Walking around like you owned the world in those tight little outfits of yours. Made a vampire get nasty thoughts."
"Really? And me thinking I was just your average insecure teen yearning for popularity and scared of rejection," Buffy rolled her eyes.
"Well you'd have to ask the big poofer about that one, I'm more of a late years expert," Spike said smiling.
"I'm sure he'd agree with me. So what brings you here? Business or pleasure?"
"Pleasure?" he gave her a funny look. It had been her choice of words after all.
"My bad," Buffy realized how out of place her words had been. "So no demons or vampires?"
"Nope. I was just bored," he lied.
"Watching TV just isn't as fun as it used to be, huh?" Buffy didn't buy his excuse. It was about now when Willow's spell kicked in. "Did you just feel something?"
"No... I don't think I did," Spike looked around the kitchen.
"Never mind. So what are you really doing here?" the slayer asked still feeling something was suddenly very wrong.
"I just missed you," Spike seemed surprised of his own words. That was definitely not what he was about to say.
"Spike..." Buffy thought they had gotten to the level where they started to lie about any kind of feelings towards each other again. "I thought we talked about this."
"I don't know what got into me. Maybe it's Angel being here and..." he stopped mid- sentence realizing that no matter what he wanted to say instead he'd wind up saying the truth.
"I know it bothers you that he's here. And if it tickles your ego he's just as bothered as you. Like I'm bothered Cordelia is sleeping in my house. Okay, I didn't mean that," Buffy stopped her would-be rant, coming to the realization that something was wrong. "Oh, yes I did."
"Cordelia? The cheerleader?" Spike was surprised. He had noticed she was there but thought she had come along as Angel's employee.
"He didn't have time to tell you the great love story?" Buffy asked exasperated. "I think it wouldn't bother me as much as it does if it wasn't Cordelia."
"Bollocks," Spike smirked. "As long as it has two legs and is preferably female you'll be bothered. And Angel's the same. Bla, bla she shouldn't be dating another vampire. Yadda, yadda, yadda. You're dancing on the oldest tune in the world, luv. You expect him to be *your* knight in shinning armor forever. We're not in the Dark Ages anymore, Buffy. Deal with it."
"Gee, thanks for the pep talk," Buffy stared at him.
"I'm not saying I'm different from the rest of the lot. Hell, I'd probably go crazy if I saw you with someone else. If I weren't already crazy that is," he smiled.
"I guess that makes me less safe," she leaned on the table. "I'd hate to see the poor sap who'll have to deal with *two* maniacal exes."
"I'd hate to see him too," he suddenly got an idea. "If you had to choose between me and Angel, who would you choose?"
"Oh, god, you guys are never going to grow up no matter how many centuries you live, are you?" Buffy rolled her eyes.
"Do you at least love me?" he touched her hand on the table.
"Spike...of course I love you," she slapped her hands over her mouth the moment the words had slipped out. Spike stared at her in disbelief with a smile on his face. Willow walked in, in a hurry.
"Hey, guys, have you seen Joy?" the witch asked and then stopped to look at the both of them and realized she might have interrupted something. "Is this a bad time?"
"No!" Buffy said wanting a way out of the conversation, but at the same time Spike said:
"Yes!"
"So have you seen Joy?" the witch asked again.
"She went to the Bronze with Dawn," Buffy told her knowing there was no escaping the aftermath of her words. She had never really defined her feelings for Spike. At some point it had been hate, annoyance, then the strange sense of care she had developed for him, then the lust... the bad lust, but in the end she supposed she winded up being connected to him on one too many levels and there was love. The sort of love she had never known before. And maybe she never wanted to. Because it wasn't comforting and it could be dark and evil and disgusting and heart breaking at the same time. And now that he had a soul, that strange love had grown a tender side she was afraid of falling into.
"Oh, I'll just wait till she comes back then," Willow said and exited the kitchen.
"You do love me," Spike smiled again.
"Maybe I did at some point. But that's all in the past now. And I really don't feel like dissecting the corpse of another relationship right now," she said and headed out of the kitchen.
"You love me!" Spike yelled after her still in disbelief, laughing. Not looking back at him, Buffy gave him the finger.
"So now you love him?" Buffy run straight into Angel in the living room.
"Were you eavesdropping?" she looked at him incredulously.
"Yes," Angel surprised himself with the answer. He hadn't really intended to tell her the truth so bluntly. "It's what I hear jealous exes do."
"Do you think he's right? That no matter how much we talk about it, we'll never be able to get over dating others?" she sat down on the couch.
"I think it's safe to say, we're lost cases," he sat down next to her.
"I was afraid of that," she smiled.
"So do you really love him?" he looked at her and she couldn't help but chuckle.
"In a rather sick, crazy way, I guess I do."
"Just like Spike. Sick and crazy," he smiled.
"A little more crazy than usual lately," she leaned her head on his shoulder. "How about you? Do you love her?"
"I do. But not like I love you. I don't know how to explain it. She's just very special to me," he put his arms around her shoulders.
"Can't we go back to when we only used to love each other?" she asked smiling.
"Sometimes, I wish we could," he hugged her to his chest.
The back door of the Summers house closed behind Spike as he left. He didn't need anything more than that. He didn't want to listen to what Angel and Buffy were talking about. He had gotten all he had wanted: an I love you, whether she had meant it or not, he didn't care. Now he could leave Sunnydale in peace.
At the Bronze, Joy and Dawn were sitting at a table next to the ring, talking.
"How are the kids at your school?" Dawn asked her as she took a sip from her juice.
"Uptight would be one word to describe them. Not particularly likeable. I just go there because of my mom. I'd be only going to the magic school if it were up to me," she said wishing her juice had a shot of bourbon in it. Another bad habit she had inherited from her father. "Now those are some crazy kids you can really have fun with."
"Magic school? Cool!" Dawn couldn't believe it. "Buffy freaks out every time I even touch a spell book. Your mom must be really great."
"She didn't really have much of a choice," she smiled.
"I can imagine what mom would've said," Dawn stared into her drink.
"I'm sorry about her. I heard she was a wonderful woman," she had always wanted to meet her grandmother.
"She was," Dawn sighed. "So are at least the guys cute in your school?"
"I guess, but I only had eyes for one guy," she leaned her head in one hand.
"Uh, first love?" Dawn wiggled her eyes brows.
"Only love. He was actually a few months younger than me, but...he seemed ages older. His parents died when he was very young so he winded up living with us."
"What was his name?" Dawn asked.
"Liam Chase," Joy contemplated the dance floor and remembered when she used to go dancing with Liam, Jacques and the gang from the magic school. The things they could do, the fun they would have...
"Funny, that's Cordy's last name too. Maybe they were like related or something," Dawn noticed.
"Maybe," she smiled thinking Dawn had no idea how right she was.
"Where is he now? Waiting for you back home?" she asked wondering when her first love would walk into her life.
"He's been dead for a year now," her smile was nostalgic.
"I'm sorry. Can I asked what happened?" Dawn knew she had touched a nerve.
"You could say he committed a very heroic suicide," it was as fresh in her memory as the day that had just passed. Liam had stopped fighting the past and the sadness all of a sudden and had given into it all. He had left her that night and gone straight towards the largest nest of gholas he could find. He had fought bravely, but there were too many, so he died a good death, she supposed. The next day his corpse was laying on their front step. They never did find out who brought him there, but Joy thanked the stars someone did. "He was killed by demons."
"Oh," there was a moment of silence between them. "Are you something like a slayer? Connor said you're some fighter. And something tells me he doesn't give out a compliment like that everyday."
"He said that?" Joy was surprised.
"Yeah, we were waiting in line at the bathroom last night. We had another heart to heart. Okay, so I think he's using me as a Sunnydale Angel-before-LA dictionary," Dawn chuckled. "He was particularly curious about you."
"Like everyone else, I guess," Joy took another sip of her drink.
"He said he never saw a human fight as good as you, so since you *are* human I thought, maybe slayer?" Dawn suggested.
"No, no, I'm not a slayer," she assured her .
"Then what's your secret?" Dawn leaned in to hear her answer.
"I'm half...wow," she stopped herself from continuing. She realized what she had been close to saying: that she was half-vampire. Something was terribly wrong. No matter how loose and good she felt around a person she didn't leave her guard down. Especially when it came to her origin. She suspected Willow was after answers and she had only found the hard way to get them. Through magic. There's already too much magic in this whole thing, Joy thought to herself.
"Is something wrong?" Dawn looked behind herself, where Joy had been staring blankly.
"Yes, I thought I..." she couldn't lie. A truth spell. Oh, Willow was barking up the wrong tree. She could counter-spell any truth spell she'd throw at her. "You could say my mom and dad were two very special people and they insisted I train in order to protect myself."
"Buffy finally decided I should train a little too. It took her a while to figure it out though," Dawn chuckled, ignoring Joy's previous hesitation.
"So you think we can sneak ourselves a real drink?" Joy asked eyeing the bar.
"Now see that's the second Buffy rule you'd be breaking today. Getting the little sister drunk. Very bad thing," Dawn faked a serious face. "That could get you thrown out of the house. And believe me you don't want to go to a Sunnydale motel unless you really want to die a horrible death."
"I'll take your word for it," Joy smiled.
"Besides I'd get grounded for the rest of my natural life," Dawn smirked.
"I guess no bourbon for the lady with the white hair," Joy pouted. "Unless I could convince one of the college studs in this place to buy me a drink."
"Oh, I don't think you'll need a college stud," Spike had reached their table.
"Da... Spike, isn't a little early for you?" Joy could swear it was still daylight outside.
"Sun just set, luv, this is as good as it gets," he wanted to talk to her in private for a moment. "What's your poison?"
"Bourbon, make it a double," Joy had the feeling she was going to need it when she was going to face Willow that night.
"Got your father's taste," Spike noticed smiling.
"I guess I do. Dawn? Want anything?" she glanced over at the teenager.
"I..." she was about to say something, but Spike caught her off.
"In your dreams, nibblet," he headed for the bar.
"He knew your father?" Dawn was surprised.
"He definitely does. You could say they're...identical," Joy twisted the words in such a way that she'd be telling the truth, but hiding it at the same time. Spike returned with Joy's drink and one for himself. He and Joy drank them in the same way: in one clean shot, while Dawn watched them curiously.
"Forgot how good it tasted," Joy said smiling. A slow song started playing in the background.
"Let's dance," Spike thought it was the perfect opportunity to talk to her without Dawn listening in. Joy, realizing he wanted to speak to her, accepted.
"What's wrong?" Joy asked once they were on the dance floor.
"I talked to your mother."
"And what did she say?" she wondered where he wanted to get to.
"She said she loves me," he smiled and hugged her happily.
"I already knew that," Joy returned the smile. "However, this doesn't really help me. She just said it like that?"
"Something weird happened. She couldn't lie anymore. Apparently not even to herself," he chuckled.
"Oh," Joy shook her head. "I think Willow made a truth spell and it affected everyone in the house. Don't worry I'll break it as soon as I get there."
"Then I'll have to thank Willow cause this is one of the best things that's ever happened to me," he said. "And you, luv, would be the best, if it ever happened."
"I was the best, dad," she hugged him back. Dawn sitting at the table wondered what was going on? Did Spike know Joy? Cause it certainly looked like it.
End Part 13
The truth will set you free
Willow was sitting cross legged in front of her laptop in the study hall of Sunnydale University, typing away. She was looking for an answer to her questions. If everybody was acting so secretive and refused to tell her what was happening, she wouldn't give up. There were so many other ways of finding out what she wanted to know. She had decided there was already too much magic involved in this mystery without her adding more to it, so she was going to get her answers the old fashioned way. By looking. And what better place to start than the internet. One of the regular sites she visited "Demons, magic, witches etc" was an on-line encyclopedia of all things magic and demon related, a little database a handle full of demon hunters from all around the world had concocted to help each other out. Luckily for her, the site also came with a chatroom and people always eager to help someone out. She logged in with the nickname Sparklin_red, which she occasionally used.
Sparklin_red: Anyone out there?
Demon_hunter256: What do you need?
Sparklin_red: Let's play a game.
Any_broomflyer: I like games :D
Sparklin_red: It's called name that spell.
Expert_tease: Shoot.
Sparklin_red: We have: a candle with black incense, a little inhuman pure blood - a vile, a little wiccan blood and a Sanskrit incantation. It opens a portal to another dimension. A particularly strange uninhabited dimension.
Demon_hunter256: Sounds like you already have your spell right there. Why's the name so important?
Expert_tease: Interdimensional Sanskrit spells...They usually open intermediate portals.
Sparklin_red: Intermediate?
Any_broomflyer: You know the place where you are right before a spell is completed.
Demon_hunter256: The kind of spells that need a lot of concentration and give you the feeling you're not in this world anymore.
Any_broomflyer: Which is true. Cause you transport your astral self into another dimension.
Sparklin_red: How can I tell what kind of spell a person made to transport itself into that dimension?
Expert_tease: It's hard to tell.
Any_broomflyer: How was the dimension like?
Sparklin_red: A piece of land floating around in colors. A very vague figure was there. It talked to me.
Demon_hunter256: Didn't you ask it what it was? Who it was?
Sparklin_red: It wasn't really interested in me. I think it had something else on its mind.
Any_broomflyer: Was it hostile?
Expert_tease: Evil maybe?
Sparklin_red: I don't think so. I think it was a woman. She was looking for someone I know.
Any_broomflyer: You should warn that someone.
Sparklin_red: Problem is she already knew about this...visit. And I don't know her too well. I only met her a couple of days ago.
Expert_tease: So that's the problem. You want to know if this person is a threat?
Demon_hunter256: If she is who she says she is?
Sparklin_red: Yeah. Any suggestions?
Amy_broomflyer: Truth spell?
Sparklin_red: Something tells me she can make a counter-spell.
Expert_tease: I know one that can't be counter-spelled until you find out what you want.
Sparklin_red: Can you send it to me?
Expert_tease: Sure. It'll take a minute.
Sparklin_red: Take your time.
Willow smiled to herself satisfied she had found her answer.
"Something told me I'd found you here," a voice startled her. She turned around to find Wesley standing behind her with his arms crossed over his chest.
"Would you stop with the suspicious glares?" she closed her laptop before he had a chance to see what she was working on. "You said you didn't want to tell me. I respect that."
"I bet," Wesley was more than a little skeptical. He knew Willow could be curious and he also knew she had the skills to find out anything her heart desired if she only put her mind to it. "Is that why you were chatting with the "Demons, magic, witches etc" people? They often used the site in LA too. There weren't all that many demon databases on the internet.
"No, we were just swapping spells," Willow assured him. "It's a witch thing. I give them a localizing spell they give me a beheading spell..."
"Yeah, I think I got it," Wesley didn't believe her and decided he would make it his personal mission to stop what ever she was planning. They stared at each other for a while.
"So you just came here to spy on me?" Willow broke the silence.
"That was the plan," Wesley paced in front of her. "But I guess I overreacted."
"I guess you did," Willow just wanted him gone so she could study the truth spell.
"I should go. Bye," he headed for the exit.
"Bye," Willow said and watched him until he was out of the study hall, then returned to her laptop. A new e-mail had arrived in her inbox from Expert_tease:
Hi,
I attached the document with the spell to this e-mail. It was made by gypsies, who else could make a spell without a counter-spell :) It's in Romanian, but I sent you the English version too. It should work in either language. I have to warn you it can have some unexpected side effects so be careful with it.
Expert_tease
"Perfect," Willow murmured to herself as she downloaded the attachment. She was a bit worried about the side effects, but she thought she could maybe work out the glitches.
Wesley hadn't gone home, but taken a detour to the computer hall of the university. He accessed the "Demon, magic, witches etc" site and looked up in the member's section the names he had spotted before Willow had closed her laptop: Expert_tease and Any_broomflyer. Any_broomflyer was an art student from New York who was also a witch in her spare time. Expert_tease on the other hand had a more interesting profile. He was a peaceful Navrok demon from Dublin, Ireland who was apparently a magic expert. He owned a pub called "Puckoon" and a cat named Pinky. There was even a picture of the massive demon with sharp fangs and blue skin, smiling, wearing a "Demons rock" t-shirt and holding a small pink kitten in one of his large palms. It could have very well been what Willow had told him it had been, but he severely doubted it. He entered the chatroom to see if he could pick up something. He didn't even have to type a word as Expert_tease and a certain Wicked_wiccan were discussing the Sanskrit spell Wesley had performed the other night. The question that remained was: if Willow knew what kind of spell it had been what was she planning to do?
Meanwhile Willow had already gathered the supplies for the spell and retreated in her room in the Summers house, telling everyone not to disturb her because she was studying. Joy politely left the room at her request and went downstairs to rescue Dawn from Buffy. As soon as she was gone, Willow opened her laptop and the document with the truth spell. She sat down cross legged on the floor and spread out the supplies. She made a circle of candles and in the middle of it she drew a symbol with blue powder, it looked celtic to her, but it must have been something else. She lit the candles and then started reading the spell in English:
"May the truth be more than lie and the lie be truth and no more lie," she threw a fist full of powder over the candles. "I ask for the truth and not the lie and may no lies come before the truth I seek and no one kill the truth before it's out and done," she waved her hand over the flames sprinkling down on them a crushed herb. She waited for a few moments, but nothing happened. Had she done something wrong? She went over the spell again on the laptop. Everything was in place. Then what? Maybe the translation wasn't quite accurate so she decided to do the Romanian version, it could work if she knew what it meant.
"Fie ca adevarul sa fie mai mult decat minciuna si minciuna adevar si sa nu mai fie minciuna. Cer adevarul si nu minciuna si fie ca nici o minciuna sa vina inaintea adevarului pe care-l caut si nimeni sa nu ucida adevarul inainte de a se arata," she spoke the words as clear as she could given the unknown language and then waited. The flames of the candles suddenly formed an intact circle of fire and the symbol started to glow, the strands of powder began to rise off the carpet and regroup into a crystal that floated above the floor.
"Asa sa fie!" a voice was heard out of nowhere. The candles burnt out and only the newly formed crystal still glowed in the dark a foot above the floor.
"Now, let's see if it worked," Willow said grabbing the crystal and putting it in a jewelry box in one of her drawers before cleaning up the mess made by the spell, trying to erase any evidence that might point towards magic.
Downstairs, Buffy had just finished her 'magic is dangerous' speech to an exasperated Dawn who just wanted to remind her she'd heard it a million times before and that she'd never do anything stupid with magic as she had seen its effects on Willow in the past.
"Are we clear?" the slayer asked for the last time and Dawn nodded.
"Yeah, already," she just wanted to leave.
"Can I rescue you?" Joy asked coming in. "Maybe you could show me around this Bronze everyone told me about?"
"Can I?" Dawn looked over at Buffy.
"I should ground you for at least half your lifetime, but I'll let this one slide. Go ahead," Buffy told her. "Just be careful."
"We will," Joy assured her before she and Dawn left.
"Kids grow up so fast," Spike noticed.
"Yeah and they turn into rebel angst driven teens," Buffy sighed. "Was I like that at her age?"
"No. You were worse," Spike smirked. "Walking around like you owned the world in those tight little outfits of yours. Made a vampire get nasty thoughts."
"Really? And me thinking I was just your average insecure teen yearning for popularity and scared of rejection," Buffy rolled her eyes.
"Well you'd have to ask the big poofer about that one, I'm more of a late years expert," Spike said smiling.
"I'm sure he'd agree with me. So what brings you here? Business or pleasure?"
"Pleasure?" he gave her a funny look. It had been her choice of words after all.
"My bad," Buffy realized how out of place her words had been. "So no demons or vampires?"
"Nope. I was just bored," he lied.
"Watching TV just isn't as fun as it used to be, huh?" Buffy didn't buy his excuse. It was about now when Willow's spell kicked in. "Did you just feel something?"
"No... I don't think I did," Spike looked around the kitchen.
"Never mind. So what are you really doing here?" the slayer asked still feeling something was suddenly very wrong.
"I just missed you," Spike seemed surprised of his own words. That was definitely not what he was about to say.
"Spike..." Buffy thought they had gotten to the level where they started to lie about any kind of feelings towards each other again. "I thought we talked about this."
"I don't know what got into me. Maybe it's Angel being here and..." he stopped mid- sentence realizing that no matter what he wanted to say instead he'd wind up saying the truth.
"I know it bothers you that he's here. And if it tickles your ego he's just as bothered as you. Like I'm bothered Cordelia is sleeping in my house. Okay, I didn't mean that," Buffy stopped her would-be rant, coming to the realization that something was wrong. "Oh, yes I did."
"Cordelia? The cheerleader?" Spike was surprised. He had noticed she was there but thought she had come along as Angel's employee.
"He didn't have time to tell you the great love story?" Buffy asked exasperated. "I think it wouldn't bother me as much as it does if it wasn't Cordelia."
"Bollocks," Spike smirked. "As long as it has two legs and is preferably female you'll be bothered. And Angel's the same. Bla, bla she shouldn't be dating another vampire. Yadda, yadda, yadda. You're dancing on the oldest tune in the world, luv. You expect him to be *your* knight in shinning armor forever. We're not in the Dark Ages anymore, Buffy. Deal with it."
"Gee, thanks for the pep talk," Buffy stared at him.
"I'm not saying I'm different from the rest of the lot. Hell, I'd probably go crazy if I saw you with someone else. If I weren't already crazy that is," he smiled.
"I guess that makes me less safe," she leaned on the table. "I'd hate to see the poor sap who'll have to deal with *two* maniacal exes."
"I'd hate to see him too," he suddenly got an idea. "If you had to choose between me and Angel, who would you choose?"
"Oh, god, you guys are never going to grow up no matter how many centuries you live, are you?" Buffy rolled her eyes.
"Do you at least love me?" he touched her hand on the table.
"Spike...of course I love you," she slapped her hands over her mouth the moment the words had slipped out. Spike stared at her in disbelief with a smile on his face. Willow walked in, in a hurry.
"Hey, guys, have you seen Joy?" the witch asked and then stopped to look at the both of them and realized she might have interrupted something. "Is this a bad time?"
"No!" Buffy said wanting a way out of the conversation, but at the same time Spike said:
"Yes!"
"So have you seen Joy?" the witch asked again.
"She went to the Bronze with Dawn," Buffy told her knowing there was no escaping the aftermath of her words. She had never really defined her feelings for Spike. At some point it had been hate, annoyance, then the strange sense of care she had developed for him, then the lust... the bad lust, but in the end she supposed she winded up being connected to him on one too many levels and there was love. The sort of love she had never known before. And maybe she never wanted to. Because it wasn't comforting and it could be dark and evil and disgusting and heart breaking at the same time. And now that he had a soul, that strange love had grown a tender side she was afraid of falling into.
"Oh, I'll just wait till she comes back then," Willow said and exited the kitchen.
"You do love me," Spike smiled again.
"Maybe I did at some point. But that's all in the past now. And I really don't feel like dissecting the corpse of another relationship right now," she said and headed out of the kitchen.
"You love me!" Spike yelled after her still in disbelief, laughing. Not looking back at him, Buffy gave him the finger.
"So now you love him?" Buffy run straight into Angel in the living room.
"Were you eavesdropping?" she looked at him incredulously.
"Yes," Angel surprised himself with the answer. He hadn't really intended to tell her the truth so bluntly. "It's what I hear jealous exes do."
"Do you think he's right? That no matter how much we talk about it, we'll never be able to get over dating others?" she sat down on the couch.
"I think it's safe to say, we're lost cases," he sat down next to her.
"I was afraid of that," she smiled.
"So do you really love him?" he looked at her and she couldn't help but chuckle.
"In a rather sick, crazy way, I guess I do."
"Just like Spike. Sick and crazy," he smiled.
"A little more crazy than usual lately," she leaned her head on his shoulder. "How about you? Do you love her?"
"I do. But not like I love you. I don't know how to explain it. She's just very special to me," he put his arms around her shoulders.
"Can't we go back to when we only used to love each other?" she asked smiling.
"Sometimes, I wish we could," he hugged her to his chest.
The back door of the Summers house closed behind Spike as he left. He didn't need anything more than that. He didn't want to listen to what Angel and Buffy were talking about. He had gotten all he had wanted: an I love you, whether she had meant it or not, he didn't care. Now he could leave Sunnydale in peace.
At the Bronze, Joy and Dawn were sitting at a table next to the ring, talking.
"How are the kids at your school?" Dawn asked her as she took a sip from her juice.
"Uptight would be one word to describe them. Not particularly likeable. I just go there because of my mom. I'd be only going to the magic school if it were up to me," she said wishing her juice had a shot of bourbon in it. Another bad habit she had inherited from her father. "Now those are some crazy kids you can really have fun with."
"Magic school? Cool!" Dawn couldn't believe it. "Buffy freaks out every time I even touch a spell book. Your mom must be really great."
"She didn't really have much of a choice," she smiled.
"I can imagine what mom would've said," Dawn stared into her drink.
"I'm sorry about her. I heard she was a wonderful woman," she had always wanted to meet her grandmother.
"She was," Dawn sighed. "So are at least the guys cute in your school?"
"I guess, but I only had eyes for one guy," she leaned her head in one hand.
"Uh, first love?" Dawn wiggled her eyes brows.
"Only love. He was actually a few months younger than me, but...he seemed ages older. His parents died when he was very young so he winded up living with us."
"What was his name?" Dawn asked.
"Liam Chase," Joy contemplated the dance floor and remembered when she used to go dancing with Liam, Jacques and the gang from the magic school. The things they could do, the fun they would have...
"Funny, that's Cordy's last name too. Maybe they were like related or something," Dawn noticed.
"Maybe," she smiled thinking Dawn had no idea how right she was.
"Where is he now? Waiting for you back home?" she asked wondering when her first love would walk into her life.
"He's been dead for a year now," her smile was nostalgic.
"I'm sorry. Can I asked what happened?" Dawn knew she had touched a nerve.
"You could say he committed a very heroic suicide," it was as fresh in her memory as the day that had just passed. Liam had stopped fighting the past and the sadness all of a sudden and had given into it all. He had left her that night and gone straight towards the largest nest of gholas he could find. He had fought bravely, but there were too many, so he died a good death, she supposed. The next day his corpse was laying on their front step. They never did find out who brought him there, but Joy thanked the stars someone did. "He was killed by demons."
"Oh," there was a moment of silence between them. "Are you something like a slayer? Connor said you're some fighter. And something tells me he doesn't give out a compliment like that everyday."
"He said that?" Joy was surprised.
"Yeah, we were waiting in line at the bathroom last night. We had another heart to heart. Okay, so I think he's using me as a Sunnydale Angel-before-LA dictionary," Dawn chuckled. "He was particularly curious about you."
"Like everyone else, I guess," Joy took another sip of her drink.
"He said he never saw a human fight as good as you, so since you *are* human I thought, maybe slayer?" Dawn suggested.
"No, no, I'm not a slayer," she assured her .
"Then what's your secret?" Dawn leaned in to hear her answer.
"I'm half...wow," she stopped herself from continuing. She realized what she had been close to saying: that she was half-vampire. Something was terribly wrong. No matter how loose and good she felt around a person she didn't leave her guard down. Especially when it came to her origin. She suspected Willow was after answers and she had only found the hard way to get them. Through magic. There's already too much magic in this whole thing, Joy thought to herself.
"Is something wrong?" Dawn looked behind herself, where Joy had been staring blankly.
"Yes, I thought I..." she couldn't lie. A truth spell. Oh, Willow was barking up the wrong tree. She could counter-spell any truth spell she'd throw at her. "You could say my mom and dad were two very special people and they insisted I train in order to protect myself."
"Buffy finally decided I should train a little too. It took her a while to figure it out though," Dawn chuckled, ignoring Joy's previous hesitation.
"So you think we can sneak ourselves a real drink?" Joy asked eyeing the bar.
"Now see that's the second Buffy rule you'd be breaking today. Getting the little sister drunk. Very bad thing," Dawn faked a serious face. "That could get you thrown out of the house. And believe me you don't want to go to a Sunnydale motel unless you really want to die a horrible death."
"I'll take your word for it," Joy smiled.
"Besides I'd get grounded for the rest of my natural life," Dawn smirked.
"I guess no bourbon for the lady with the white hair," Joy pouted. "Unless I could convince one of the college studs in this place to buy me a drink."
"Oh, I don't think you'll need a college stud," Spike had reached their table.
"Da... Spike, isn't a little early for you?" Joy could swear it was still daylight outside.
"Sun just set, luv, this is as good as it gets," he wanted to talk to her in private for a moment. "What's your poison?"
"Bourbon, make it a double," Joy had the feeling she was going to need it when she was going to face Willow that night.
"Got your father's taste," Spike noticed smiling.
"I guess I do. Dawn? Want anything?" she glanced over at the teenager.
"I..." she was about to say something, but Spike caught her off.
"In your dreams, nibblet," he headed for the bar.
"He knew your father?" Dawn was surprised.
"He definitely does. You could say they're...identical," Joy twisted the words in such a way that she'd be telling the truth, but hiding it at the same time. Spike returned with Joy's drink and one for himself. He and Joy drank them in the same way: in one clean shot, while Dawn watched them curiously.
"Forgot how good it tasted," Joy said smiling. A slow song started playing in the background.
"Let's dance," Spike thought it was the perfect opportunity to talk to her without Dawn listening in. Joy, realizing he wanted to speak to her, accepted.
"What's wrong?" Joy asked once they were on the dance floor.
"I talked to your mother."
"And what did she say?" she wondered where he wanted to get to.
"She said she loves me," he smiled and hugged her happily.
"I already knew that," Joy returned the smile. "However, this doesn't really help me. She just said it like that?"
"Something weird happened. She couldn't lie anymore. Apparently not even to herself," he chuckled.
"Oh," Joy shook her head. "I think Willow made a truth spell and it affected everyone in the house. Don't worry I'll break it as soon as I get there."
"Then I'll have to thank Willow cause this is one of the best things that's ever happened to me," he said. "And you, luv, would be the best, if it ever happened."
"I was the best, dad," she hugged him back. Dawn sitting at the table wondered what was going on? Did Spike know Joy? Cause it certainly looked like it.
End Part 13
