Per Aspera Ad Astra
Ok, I just realized that the last chapter was just seven pages of nothing. Haha. I'll try to give you some plot this chapter. :) All standard disclaimers apply. Livia, Lucius, and Tiberius are MINE (haha). Oh, and my birthday was yesterday (the 15th), so this is my gift to you. I love you guys!
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Chapter Quinque
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Buffy walked alongside Spike through the Roman graveyard. Nothing much seemed very different from the modern-day cemetaries in Sunnydale. It was just not as well-kept, darker, and altogether spookier. She grinned when she noticed that many of the graves had the letters 'RIP' on the tombstones.
"Hey, Spike, look," she pointed to the letters, allowing a little giggle to escape. "Just like in the cartoons, huh?" It was becoming more and more comfortable talking to Spike. Here, he wasn't as annoying as he seemed to be, and it was so much easier to accept him knowing that he wasn't the only one. It -could- be possible.
"It means 'Recite in Pace,' Slayer, not 'Rest in Peace.'"
"But-"
"It translates out to 'May he rest in peace.'" Spike grinned cockily at her, feeling a little uncomfortable without the constant weight of his duster on his shoulders.
"Big difference." She looked over at their other two companions. It seemed as if Livia and Lucius were becoming annoyed with their constant banter and sarcasm.
They stopped in their tracks. A group of vamps had gathered around a moss-covered monument of Pluto. Without warning, Lucius and Livia attacked as Lucius pulled out a broadsword.
"Do you wanna join them?" Spike asked, grinning.
"Let's."
The two sprung into action. There were at least ten vamps, and they had already dusted six earlier that night. Buffy and Spike reached the fray as Livia and Lucius took out two, leaving eight. They were able to split the vamps, taking on two each.
Buffy easily took out hers. The vamps weren't big on fighting, and she took them down quickly despite her skirts. It appeared they were of the lower class judging by the looks of their burial clothing.
She turned to Spike as one of the vamps exploded into dust. He was having problems with his last vamp. This one wasn't like the others. Whereas the others were definitely of lower status, this was a Roman soldier. He was decked in mail and helmet, with a broadsword in one hand and a large oval-shaped shield in the other.
Spike was dodging fatal swings by the sword, searching silently for an opening. Buffy attacked from behind, causing the vampire to swing blindly inadvertantly cutting Spike across the shoulder.
Clutching the wound seeping through the white of his tunic, he kicked the sword out of the vampire's hand. "Don't kill it," he gritted out to her.
Delivering a series of punches and kicks, Buffy backed it up against the statue of Pluto that the vampires had previously been gathered around.
Fighting back desperately, the soldier managed to smack Buffy hard across the face with his shield. Spike quickly took over, using the vamp's shield to pin it to the statue.
Lucius and Livia finished their four and approached them, each brandishing stakes.
"Wait," Spike stopped them with a hand, using his body weight to keep the shield in place. "Now listen, mate," he growled to the vampire. "We may be new in town, but you still looked mighty suspicious to me." The vamp struggled, and Spike slammed him back into place, full gameface. "Wanna tell me what's going on?"
"Never," the vamp hissed, spitting in his face.
"Doesn't really matter," Spike smirked, wiping the saliva from his cheek with the back of his hand. "You're going to die anyway. Let's just say that this little questioning session determines how you're going to be sent to hell."
"You will never win," the vamp growled, ceasing his struggles.
"Oh, so there's a new Big Bad in town, eh?" Spike grinned at Buffy. "This is getting kind of old." He turned his attention back to the vamp. "Well, never matter. There are -two- Slayers in town now and me, too."
"Two Slayers?" the vampire gaped.
"Did you hear the next part? The part about me?" Spike asked glaring.
"Traitor," the vampire hissed at him, then to Lucius, "Both of you."
"You couldn't scare a puppy, Spike," Buffy laughed, then at Spike's look. "Sorry, this is Buffy being serious." She put on a mock glare. "Whoever you're working for, they're not gonna win." She grinned. "And killing me won't do much. I've died twice already, and trust me," she smirked, "I could torture you until sunrise."
The vamp's eyes widened, and he resumed his struggles until Lucius slammed his sword into the statue near his head. "Who is your master?" he snarled. "Livia!"
The girl apprached with a large crucifix, hair swinging behind her. She ran it lightly up and down the vampire's face, watching closely as the skin sizzled. "Gonna tell me now?" she asked quietly.
"Severus!" the vampire screamed out, desperately moving his face away from the source of pain. "Lord Severus sent me to gather newly risen minions!"
"Is that so?" Livia asked thoughtfully. She pressed the cross full on his face, its size blocking the vampire's features from view.
A blood-curling scream followed. "He plans on opening the Hellmouth during the solar eclipse!"
Buffy groaned, pulling out her stake and quickly dusting the vampire. "You think they would be a little more original," she said to Spike. "I was hoping for something new."
"What are you talking about, love?" Spike asked as Lucius and Livia watched, finally interested in the conversation.
"The Mayer planned his ascension during the solar eclipse a couple years back," she explained.
"The bloke that burned down the high school?"
"No," Buffy blushed. "Um, that was me."
Spike laughed at this, a deep rumbling laugh that brought a smile to Buffy's face. He never laughed like that.
"He was the one that turned into the giant snake during graduation."
"And this happened during a solar eclipse?" Livia asked, frowning. "I don't like it. No sun equals a lot of vampires."
"Well, yeah," Buffy answered. "That's how Angel was able to ..." she trailed off when she saw Spike. "Sorry."
Spike shrugged it off, trying to deflect the conversation from him. "I think we should save this for later when we can talk to Tiberius."
"Perhaps we can try to gather some information from the local demons, Williamus," Lucius suggested, still in gameface. Spike nodded in response.
"Are there any other places we should check up on?" Buffy asked Livia absently.
"Usually we go home after patrolling one graveyard, but perhaps it would be best if we visited the mausoleums, just in case," she said, her fingers flexing around her stake.
"Good idea," Buffy agreed. "You lead the way."
***
After reporting all information to Tiberius, they headed out back.
"We have our own private bath," Livia explained. "The servants always heat the water and leave out extra clothing whenever we go on patrol. I think it best that we do not go to sleep with a sheet of vampire dust covering us."
The bath was actually a small pool, to their amazement. Not as large as the public baths but still three feet deep with a divider down the middle.
"You two go over there," Livia directed Spike and Lucius to the other side of the divider. As soon as both were safely on the other side, she began stripping her tunica, slipping into the warm water as Buffy stared on. "What?" Livia asked. "Are you not going to wash?"
"Oh," Buffy blushed red. Livia expected her to bathe with her?
"Do you not bathe like this at home?" Livia asked again, matter-of-factly, pouring some bath oils into her hands and scrubbing her body down.
"No, can't say I do," Buffy murmured.
"It is only us women," Livia reassured her, dipping a pitcher into the water and wetting her hair.
Reluctantly, Buffy quickly stripped down and joined Livia in the tub, sitting on one of the underwater benches and scrubbing herself ardently.
"So," Livia said mischievously. "Are you really married to him?" She arched a perfect dark eyebrow, her dark blue eyes sparkling with impishness. "Just between us," she added.
Buffy fingered the ring Spike had given her underwater thoughtfully. "No," she whispered.
"I thought so," Livia said. "I did not think you could marry a vampire."
Buffy looked up. "I'm starting to think that it might not be so bad," she whispered, "Being married to Spike."
"Why is that?" Livia asked.
"He loves me," Buffy answered softly. Images and memories flashed through her head.
"I'm drowning in you, Summers. I'm drowning in you ..."
"But you treat me like a man and that's ..."
"'Til the end of the world ..."
"Every night I save you ..."
Buffy looked up and repeated herself louder. "He loves my sister and he loves me." Dipping herself under the water to clean off the remaining soap, she quickly left the water, grabbing one of the cloths apparently left there for drying and wrapping it around herself. The bottom of the light material brushed the floor. She picked up her sandals and one of the laid out tunicas, trotting back to the entrance.
She was surprised to see Spike already standing there fully clothed. "Done already?" she asked softly, gripping the ends to the cloth tighter.
"Was feeling weird being naked in the water with him," Spike explained with a toss of his head. He looked down at her hands. "Need help dressing, pet?"
Buffy nodded. "Can we do this in the room?" she asked quietly.
"Course, love," he answered, pulling the cloth around her body. "It's like a robe," he explained. "Find the sleeves?"
True to his word, Buffy found holes where the sleeves should be, slipping her arms through. Holding the front closed with one hand, she took his hand with her other and let him lead her back to their cubiculum.
Setting her tunica on the bed and tossing the sandals to the floor, he asked if she was wearing any undergarments. At her answer, he turned to let her do so, tugging the curtains to the window closed as an afterthought. The lit torch sent long shadows across the small room.
At her word, he turned to help her into her tunica, trying to keep focused on the task at hand. She reached for the rope to tie around her waist, but he took it from her hands and tossed it into the trunk. Digging around some, he found a fine bristled brush and handed it to her.
"What do you think about our situation now?" Spike asked, watching her pull the brush through her blonde hair.
She stopped, sitting the brush on the bed next to her. "I really want to lie to you, Spike. But I'm scared." She looked at him, the torch's flame dancing across her pupils. "We're not even sure if we can go back home," she resumed her brushing, her shaking fingers gripping the wood tightly, taking out her frustration on her hair.
Spike took her hand, gently pulling the brush from her. Turning her back to face him, he continued the task meticulously, brushing her newly short hair dry.
Buffy clutched her hands in her lap, bunching the light material in her fists. "It'm so scared, Spike, for Dawn, for everybody. This isn't our time. It's not our turf." He could smell the salt of tears slowly welling in her eyes. "This is not our fight." She turned to look at him. "I'm -tired- Spike."
He paused, placing the brush on the foot of the bed, pulling her drying hair to one side. Running his fingers through the drying strands, he marvelled at the young woman in front of him. She had been through so much and had sacrificed so much already. Kissing her gently where her neck and shoulder met, he pulled her into his arms. "I know you are, love," he murmured, tightening his embrace. "But we're all here to help you; that's what we always do. I'll always be here to help you. I'm not going anywhere." He kissed her below her ear softly. "I love you, Buffy."
Buffy smiled, silently leaning back into his arms. She could feel the walls she had built around her heart crumbling. "I know that," she agreed, and Spike couldn't help but wonder if she was agreeing about the Scoobies or the fact that he loved her.
"Spike, can we go to sleep?" she asked, eyelids drooping. It was so easy to let go around him, to let herself be vulnerable knowing that she was safe and cared for. It was soothing and such a relief to let the fact of the world lay on someone else's shouldes, if only for a little while.
"Anything, love," he told her, lifting her off the bed to pull the blankets down. Laying her back on the featherdown mattress, he spoke delicately to her as he crawled in next to her. "Go to sleep, love. Let go. I'll catch you, love. I've got you." Pulling her into his arms, Buffy laid her head on his cool chest. He wrapped his arms around her, stroking her back sleepily, and Buffy fell asleep listening to Spike's soothing, deep voice.
***
I think that's enough for now. Hmm, I feel like Dawn. Like I'm not old enough to be talking about these things, but I mean, they tell us all about this in Health class! I swear, they even handed out pictures of penises to us and explained how guys got hard-ons. ... -_-() And 15 year old guys? Hello? Can we say raging hormones? Ok, I'm done. And I actually have something of relevance to say to you! Hopefully, you've been noticing that I've been labelling the chapters with Roman numbers (i.e. una, dua, tres, quattor, quinque ...) The next chapter is chapter six. I'm not going to use the Roman number for this because AOL Parental Controls or whatever might not let some people load my page, and it's only got a rating of PG-13, though I do plan to have some limey (you'll know what I mean if you read anime fanfics) stuff in here. Anyway, the Roman letter for six is exactly the same thing as it is in English, just change the "i" to an "e" and you've got it! Right!!! It's the same word as intercourse!!! Whoa!! Hehe ... I feel like I'm from K-Mart or something, censoring myself.... whatever. Now, you know where I was going bringing up the Family Life stuff. Hehe. Review!!
And sorry! Somebody earlier asked me about this, but I completely forgot. They wanted to know how to say, "More and soon please." Here it is: "Mage et mox si places." Roughly translated, it means "More and soon if you please." Hope this helps!
Evangeline