Disclaimer: Still don't own anything. It all belongs to the splendid Joss.
Gotta love that guy...
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Buffy was still shaking when she took a shower that morning. She had spent most of the night crying and then falling asleep in Spikes arms. That dream had wigged her out like nothing before, it was a fear that she felt in the very core of her being. But no matter how frightened it made her, it also made her more determined. She was ready to fight this thing, to stop her dream from coming true. She stepped out of the shower, wrapping a large white towel around her and looked in the mirror. She looked tired and distraught from last night.
"Pet?" she jumped at the sound of Spike's voice behind her as he wrapped his arms around her waist. "Sorry, ducks. Didn't mean to frighten you there." He said as she relaxed from her initial jumpiness. He was fully dressed and had already been downstairs to see Giles while Buffy was taking her extra long shower.
"Its ok, I didn't notice you, seeing as you have no reflection for me to notice, besides I'm extra jumpy at the moment," she said as he placed kisses down her neck and shoulder, tightening his grip on her, as if to assure her she was his and no one would ever hurt her. She noticed how weird it looked starring into the mirror, only herself reflected, clutching onto invisible arms wrapped around her body.
"Better get dressed, luv. Giles is already awake and anxious to start talking." Spike smirked, as he released her from his grip and went back into the adjoining bedroom.
* * *
Buffy came downstairs about 30 minutes later fully dressed in simple jeans and a black v-neck top, got herself some coffee from the kitchen and walked into the living room where Dawn, Giles and Spike were sitting. She walked over to the armchair that Spike was sitting in and curled up on his lap, careful not to spill her coffee.
"Spike informs me you had another dream about Lucidus" Giles asked Buffy who was fiddling with the hem of Spikes shirt with her free hand before placing her mug on the small table beside the chair.
"Yeah," She answered, looking up at Giles, slightly reluctant to talk about her dream. But she knew she had to if they were going to have enough information to stop this thing. "I dreamt about what will happen if we don't stop him. What the world will be like with him in control. It wasn't pretty." She sighed.
"I see." Giles said realizing this was a touchy subject and not wanting to push Buffy, he continued. "Well, I have gathered as much information on this dimension as I could find and I must say reaching Lucidus will be quite a challenge. I assume Spike will be going with you?" Giles asked, knowing the answer. Spike simply nodded. "Well, then the good news is that your vampire, disadvantage, if you will, won't be a problem in Phainein." He continued.
"Huh?" Buffy said, obviously confused. "What do you mean?" Spike asked, sharing her confusion.
"Well, from what I can gather, the sun in this dimension will not have an affect on you, you w-will be able to move freely in the daytime." He answered.
"So basically Spike can be in the sun without turning into a big pile of dust?" Buffy asked. "Well that makes our job somewhat easier. What else do we know?"
"Well...not much." Giles said flatly. Dawn just rolled her eyes. "Well, from your dreams, and what little information I have gathered from my books, we really don't have anything new to go on, I'm afraid." He continued. "Basically, it's a dimension of dreams, anything you could envision, or dream of is found in Phainein. It is the world of the subconscious. But seeing as we knew all that already it doesn't exactly help us a great deal." He explained.
"Sounds kind of nice" Dawn piped up from where she was sitting on the couch. "I mean a place where your dreams come true, sounds nice in theory" she finished.
"In theory, yeah." Buffy answered. "But my dreams didn't give me a 'nice' kind of feeling, they gave me a 'dread and imminent peril' kind of feeling. Think less 'dream' more 'nightmare'" She said, Spike placing his hand on her back and rubbing it slightly in an assuring manner.
"Besides, if *anything* you could dream of is there, it's not just going to be hugs and puppies." She continued, "but monsters and vampires, and any thing else that goes bump in the night." She said, looking over to Giles as if for some kind of confirmation that what she said was true.
"Yes, quite right." He said, taking off his glasses, yet again, to clean them. "That's really all we know, I'm afraid."
"Ok, so basically we know nothing new. Gee, isn't square one fun?" Buffy said sarcastically. "Its ok, I guess we'll play it by ear, figure things out when we get there."
"Yes, I suppose, seeing as I have no idea how you will find Lucidus, or even how you will stop him for that matter." Giles said.
"Thought I might try violence" Buffy replied.
"Yes, well, that may very well be the way to go, but Buffy, don't you think your being a tad rash? Are you really just going to go to some unknown dimension, find its ruler and kill him with a pointy stick?" Giles asked half sarcastically.
"Sounds good to me," Buffy stated simply. "We leave this evening."
* * *
It was a dim Sunday evening when Spike, Buffy, Giles and Willow got into Giles' car and made their way to Sunnydale, leaving a disgruntled Dawn at home with Xander and Andrew. The car made its way to the freeway that would eventually lead to SunnyD, trunk full of weapons and spell books. Giles drove, much to Spike's dismay, "Drives live a bleeding Grandpa, he does. Be lucky if we make it by dawn," he had said as Giles slowly made his way out of the driveway. Giles had only retorted with an exasperated "same old Spike" before driving on.
Willow sat in the passenger seat discussing some kind of volume of some kind of old book with Giles, while Spike and Buffy sat in the back, Buffy leaning against Spike's chest, his arms clutching her petite form.
"Tired, pet?" Spike asked the blonde girl whose eyes were now firmly shut as the world passed them by outside the moving vehicle.
"Hmm." She confirmed. "But I don't want to sleep, I'll just end up having another dream." She said opening her eyes trying no to let sleep take her over. She hadn't slept much last night and knew she should rest before they went to go fight this thing, but she just didn't feel up to another awful dream.
He kissed the top of her head. "It's ok goldilocks, I'm here, wont let any baddie hurt you," he said to her. She tried to resist falling asleep in his strong embrace but soon found she couldn't keep her eyes open any longer and soon she drifted off into a dreamless sleep.
* * * * * * * * * * * *
A/N: ok, I know I ripped off the whole 'vampires can be in the sun in another dimension' thing from Angel, but I needed Spike to be able to move around once we got there.
Information -
Buffy was still shaking when she took a shower that morning. She had spent most of the night crying and then falling asleep in Spikes arms. That dream had wigged her out like nothing before, it was a fear that she felt in the very core of her being. But no matter how frightened it made her, it also made her more determined. She was ready to fight this thing, to stop her dream from coming true. She stepped out of the shower, wrapping a large white towel around her and looked in the mirror. She looked tired and distraught from last night.
"Pet?" she jumped at the sound of Spike's voice behind her as he wrapped his arms around her waist. "Sorry, ducks. Didn't mean to frighten you there." He said as she relaxed from her initial jumpiness. He was fully dressed and had already been downstairs to see Giles while Buffy was taking her extra long shower.
"Its ok, I didn't notice you, seeing as you have no reflection for me to notice, besides I'm extra jumpy at the moment," she said as he placed kisses down her neck and shoulder, tightening his grip on her, as if to assure her she was his and no one would ever hurt her. She noticed how weird it looked starring into the mirror, only herself reflected, clutching onto invisible arms wrapped around her body.
"Better get dressed, luv. Giles is already awake and anxious to start talking." Spike smirked, as he released her from his grip and went back into the adjoining bedroom.
* * *
Buffy came downstairs about 30 minutes later fully dressed in simple jeans and a black v-neck top, got herself some coffee from the kitchen and walked into the living room where Dawn, Giles and Spike were sitting. She walked over to the armchair that Spike was sitting in and curled up on his lap, careful not to spill her coffee.
"Spike informs me you had another dream about Lucidus" Giles asked Buffy who was fiddling with the hem of Spikes shirt with her free hand before placing her mug on the small table beside the chair.
"Yeah," She answered, looking up at Giles, slightly reluctant to talk about her dream. But she knew she had to if they were going to have enough information to stop this thing. "I dreamt about what will happen if we don't stop him. What the world will be like with him in control. It wasn't pretty." She sighed.
"I see." Giles said realizing this was a touchy subject and not wanting to push Buffy, he continued. "Well, I have gathered as much information on this dimension as I could find and I must say reaching Lucidus will be quite a challenge. I assume Spike will be going with you?" Giles asked, knowing the answer. Spike simply nodded. "Well, then the good news is that your vampire, disadvantage, if you will, won't be a problem in Phainein." He continued.
"Huh?" Buffy said, obviously confused. "What do you mean?" Spike asked, sharing her confusion.
"Well, from what I can gather, the sun in this dimension will not have an affect on you, you w-will be able to move freely in the daytime." He answered.
"So basically Spike can be in the sun without turning into a big pile of dust?" Buffy asked. "Well that makes our job somewhat easier. What else do we know?"
"Well...not much." Giles said flatly. Dawn just rolled her eyes. "Well, from your dreams, and what little information I have gathered from my books, we really don't have anything new to go on, I'm afraid." He continued. "Basically, it's a dimension of dreams, anything you could envision, or dream of is found in Phainein. It is the world of the subconscious. But seeing as we knew all that already it doesn't exactly help us a great deal." He explained.
"Sounds kind of nice" Dawn piped up from where she was sitting on the couch. "I mean a place where your dreams come true, sounds nice in theory" she finished.
"In theory, yeah." Buffy answered. "But my dreams didn't give me a 'nice' kind of feeling, they gave me a 'dread and imminent peril' kind of feeling. Think less 'dream' more 'nightmare'" She said, Spike placing his hand on her back and rubbing it slightly in an assuring manner.
"Besides, if *anything* you could dream of is there, it's not just going to be hugs and puppies." She continued, "but monsters and vampires, and any thing else that goes bump in the night." She said, looking over to Giles as if for some kind of confirmation that what she said was true.
"Yes, quite right." He said, taking off his glasses, yet again, to clean them. "That's really all we know, I'm afraid."
"Ok, so basically we know nothing new. Gee, isn't square one fun?" Buffy said sarcastically. "Its ok, I guess we'll play it by ear, figure things out when we get there."
"Yes, I suppose, seeing as I have no idea how you will find Lucidus, or even how you will stop him for that matter." Giles said.
"Thought I might try violence" Buffy replied.
"Yes, well, that may very well be the way to go, but Buffy, don't you think your being a tad rash? Are you really just going to go to some unknown dimension, find its ruler and kill him with a pointy stick?" Giles asked half sarcastically.
"Sounds good to me," Buffy stated simply. "We leave this evening."
* * *
It was a dim Sunday evening when Spike, Buffy, Giles and Willow got into Giles' car and made their way to Sunnydale, leaving a disgruntled Dawn at home with Xander and Andrew. The car made its way to the freeway that would eventually lead to SunnyD, trunk full of weapons and spell books. Giles drove, much to Spike's dismay, "Drives live a bleeding Grandpa, he does. Be lucky if we make it by dawn," he had said as Giles slowly made his way out of the driveway. Giles had only retorted with an exasperated "same old Spike" before driving on.
Willow sat in the passenger seat discussing some kind of volume of some kind of old book with Giles, while Spike and Buffy sat in the back, Buffy leaning against Spike's chest, his arms clutching her petite form.
"Tired, pet?" Spike asked the blonde girl whose eyes were now firmly shut as the world passed them by outside the moving vehicle.
"Hmm." She confirmed. "But I don't want to sleep, I'll just end up having another dream." She said opening her eyes trying no to let sleep take her over. She hadn't slept much last night and knew she should rest before they went to go fight this thing, but she just didn't feel up to another awful dream.
He kissed the top of her head. "It's ok goldilocks, I'm here, wont let any baddie hurt you," he said to her. She tried to resist falling asleep in his strong embrace but soon found she couldn't keep her eyes open any longer and soon she drifted off into a dreamless sleep.
* * * * * * * * * * * *
A/N: ok, I know I ripped off the whole 'vampires can be in the sun in another dimension' thing from Angel, but I needed Spike to be able to move around once we got there.