Chapter 18

                Giles decided that first Spike and Dawn should relate again, for Angel and his crew, their dreams.  Spike growled at Giles for suggesting it, cause he really didn't to tell them again, they already knew it. But Willow came over and asked him nicely, saying that Giles must want to get all the info down at once, so they could go over it.

            He had a soft spot for the red headed witch, for she had been with his Slayer for years.  Besides, he knew sometimes, she could see through his armor, and tell how he was feeling. 

            He nodded, but refused to stand in front of the group, when he related his dream, again.  Dawn, sitting in his lap, to give the others more room on the couch, next went over her dream, once more. 

            Giles then told them what he and Spike had found in the Codex.  And they recapped that the Codex and the dreams together brought them to seek the scroll of Shanshu.

            Giles had written down the part of the scroll pertaining to their situation, and he told everyone that they should go over it part by part, to be sure that everyone understood what was to be done.

            He pulled out his slip of paper, with the scroll on it, and they went to work deciphering it.

            ...And upon the day the souled vampire returns to its own dimension, a great warrior shall fall in a mighty battle with one god of three.  This warrior, however, shall not be stopped by death. 

            "Well, this part is simple," Giles explained.  "Buffy fought Glory on the same night that you," he looked to Angel," returned from the Host's dimension, right?"

            Angel nodded, looking sad for a moment.

            Willow laid a hand on his arm, and whispered,

            "Don't be hard on yourself, we were there, and we weren't able to help much."

            Angel covered her hand with his and squeezed gently, then they refocused their attention back to Giles, who had continued.

            "This next part, we understand as well."

            The Ancient Key of Worlds, Blood of Souled & the ashes of the warrior's true love's head matriarchal sire brought together on top of the great warriors remains, by the night of the blood moon and with the chant of the lost soul, will restore this warrior once again. 

            "We know 'The Ancient Key of Worlds', would be Dawn.  'The Souled' is, of course, Angel.  The ashes of her true love's head matriarchal sire, though?  Angel, didn't Darla sire you?" Giles asked, no one had to ask who the true love was.

            No one noticed how Spike bent his head, trying to keep his emotions in check, except Dawn.  He wanted to weep and howl and bash someone's head in.  How dare his ponce of a sire get to be so key in bringing her back, after he left her the way he did.  His unlife just wasn't fair.  Dawn hugged him to her, trying to soothe him, without gaining anyone's attention.

            Spike looked down at her and gave her a grateful hug and smile.

            Now was not the time to grieve about the unfairness of it...first, he had to get Buffy back.  Later he could be mad.  He turned back to the conversation that hadn't paused because the others hadn't noticed his distress.

            At Angel's nod, Giles continued,

            "But I distinctly remember you killing her.  So, I don't understand what we're supposed to do now."

            Angel looked down and Spike, who knew, stared at him.

            Angel looked directly up at Spike, knew he knew, and then told Giles.

            "She's not dead, Giles."

            "But I distinctly remember her dying, oh...four years ago."

            "Oh, she did die...but this law firm, Wolfram and Hart, brought her back to life just this year.  They brought her back to be a dying human and then brought Druscilla in to sire her.  For a while, I became...unstable, to say the least, and I hunted the pair of them down."

            "Even set them on fire, didn't you Peaches."

            "How did you know?"

            "I got a visit from Dru about a week ago and she told me the story.  They said they were going to try and get rid of that pesky soul of yours, Peaches."

            "And you were going to tell us, when?" Giles asked him.

            "Well if you and the Scooby brigade hadn't of had issues with me, I would have, but if you remember, right about then is when I became 'The Rejected One', and I figured you wouldn't believe me anyway.  Then everything started happening so fast anyway, I just didn't get a chance to tell you."

            Angel and his crew, stared at them all in fascination.  They didn't really know what was going on between them, but it was interesting to watch. 

            Spike rolled his eyes, he wasn't going to get into a match with Giles now.

            "Look, Watcher, why don't we figure out the rest of the sodding scroll, then you can chew me out over the things I didn't tell you or the Scoobies."

            Giles realized which was more important now, so he dropped the subject and looked at Angel.

            "So Darla's now undead again, right?"
            Angel nodded.

            "Do you know where she is, right now?"

            "No...we'll have to track her to find her.  She went into hiding about a week or so, before we had our trip to the other dimension."

            "Okay...you'll have to really work fast, the night of the Blood Moon is next week...we have 10 days, to find her, dust her, and bring the ashes to Sunnydale."

            Angel and Spike nodded, they didn't like it, but they were going to have to work together. Both turned their attention back to Giles,  who was now pouring over the next part of the scroll,

            "Now, this last bit, I'm not so sure about.  What is the 'chant of the lost soul'? Which lost soul would chant?"

            "Maybe it's one of those people that Glory brain sucked."

            "I don't think so Xand."

            "Did you just call me my name?"

            "Yeah.  It's your name isn't it, Whelp?"

            "Yeah...but you hardly ever call me it.  I didn't know you knew it."

            Spike just shrugged.  If he wasn't careful, people would know that he liked Xander more than he thought he should.  Sometimes the boys a bloody pillock...but sometimes, I think of him as my friend.  But I won't be telling him so, so if your listening Buffy...don't you be telling him either.

            "Well...anyway...why don't you think it's one of them?"

            "Cause it says Lost Soul."

            "And that means?"

            "Soul-less! I'm figuring that a scroll this old wouldn't think of a loony as being a lost soul.  Besides, they still have their souls, they just don't have their minds.

            "True.  Giles, what do you think?"

            "I think that since we're not sure, we should just put it to the side.  Maybe once we find Darla, we'll understand that part of the scroll in more depth."

            Everyone nodded and they moved on.

            "Now, this next part:

                        Said warrior shall return as before, but with additional strengths. 

            I'm figuring that this means that when Buffy returns to us, she's going to have new strengths.  But neither this scroll, nor the Codex, actually say what these new talents will be."

            "But she'll still be Buffy Buffy, right?" Willow asked.

            "Well...sounds like she'll be Buffy Buffy with some shiny new attachments."

            Most of the group groaned at the 'Xander phrase', but a few of the girls giggled anyway. 

            Xander smiled and then looked towards Giles.

            "Well, am I right?"

            "While I don't agree with your exact phrasing, I have to admit that you seemed to have gotten the gist of the situation very well & very quickly."

            "Again with the long use of unnecessary words, G-man.  Haven't the last five years in our presence taught you nothing?  Repeat after me....a simple yes would have 'sufficed.'

            Giles was too shocked by Xander's correct use of the word 'sufficed' to admonish him for either his phrasing or for the fact that he had called him G-man.

            Spike, however, howled with laughter. 

            Xander and Spike shared a grin before they realized that they were teetering on the edge of bonding again.  The realization caused them to promptly look away from each other and drop their smiles.  Unfortunately for them, however, everyone noticed their connection.

            The girls held their giggles in, knowing they would receive deadly stares and glares if they didn't.

            Giles cleared his throat & promptly looked away and found an extremely interesting portion of the Codex, just right at that moment.  Wesley did the same, and they both pretended to be deeply interested in a past event.

            Gunn just looked amused, but although he didn't comment, he didn't avert his eyes either.  The smirk on his face was the only indication of his feelings.

            Angel, however, didn't even bother to act like he wasn't amused.

            This was too good an opportunity...one he just couldn't miss.  A chance to annoy and bother both the 'Harris' boy, who had always been a thorn in his side, taking every chance to give him those oh so funny nicknames, like 'Dead Boy,' and his errant childe.  He just barely stopped himself from rubbing his hands together in excitement.  Oh, unlife just didn't get any better than this!  With a wicked grin, he began his torment of the two boys.

            "Well, well...would you look at that?"
            "What?" Spike asked him sullenly.

            "'The Whelp' and the 'Big Bad,' or is that 'Former Big Bad' now, being best buds."

            "We bloody well are not!"

            "Take that back!"

            "Now, now boys...there's no use denying it.  I saw it, you're bonding, with my own two eyes.  I think....no, I know you like each other."

            "I don't like him, I tolerate him, and there's a difference you know."

            "I don't like him, I just like to bloody insult him, that's all."

            Spike and Xander glared at one another first and then turned their icy gazes, full blast, on Angel.

            The girls could no longer hide their giggles, but they did manage to keep them silent.  Their shoulders were shaking, mightily, and tears rolled down their eyes, all from the strain of keeping quiet.

            Angel's wicked gleam got bigger and brighter.

            This was much more fun than he could have ever dreamed or anticipated.  And he would make it worse, for him, before he would drop the subject and let them be.

            "I never thought I'd see the day when you two would come to love & care for each other as brothers."

            "Hey!  Wait just a minute there, 'Dead Boy Senior'!  I don't see 'The Harmless Bleached Wonder' there, as any kind of kin of mine.  And I sure as hell don't love or care for him!!!!"

            Spike's anger, momentarily, switched to Xander.

            "Who you calling "Harmless?"        

            "Excuse me, Mr. I-Can't-Bite-Humans-Now, I didn't mean to hurt your feelings...hold up, wait a minute... that's right...I don't care about your feelings."

            Spike growled at him.

            "Listen up 'Monkey Man,' If it wasn't for this bloody sodden chip, and the fact that you're one of Buffy's most loyal and trusted friends, although I can't fathom why, I'd tear you limb from limb and beat you to death with your own arms."

            He then switched his gaze back to Angel & he expression became so deadly, everyone felt the room get colder.

            He then said menacingly,

            "If I were you, Peaches, I'd stop trying to provoke me.  Unless you've forgotten that I can harm you."

            "Yes, you can, but you can't kill me Spike...you need me...remember," he had the gall to wink, " Blood of Souled and all."

            Spike's growl was extremely menacing. 

            But Angel, his fun had, decided to get the meeting back on track.  So he ignored it.

            Xander was trying to hold in his response.

            He was shocked that he wanted to defend Spike, but he wouldn't allow himself to do it. 

            Not again, he thought, remembering the earlier session with Giles. 

           

            Spike is evil, I don't like Spike.

            Spike is evil, I don't think he's funny.

            Spike is evil, I don't trust him.

            Spike is evil, I will not defend him.

            Spike is evil, I will not not think of him as a true member of the Scooby core/ team.

            Xander kept repeating the phrases as a mantra.  Trying to get himself to believe them, as if by repeating them over and over, he'd make them true.

            Buffy, who had heard his pleas/mantra cracked up.  She then looked at and said to Spike,

            "Xander's on your side."
            Spike's head shot up & he looked over at Xander. 

            Dawn giggled even more, for she had heard what Buffy had said, silently.  She was almost cracking with the pressure of holding it in.  Boy was this fun! She just knew she would have something great to write in her diary tonight.

            Xander looked up & noticed Spike's incredulous look and blurted out,

            "I didn't say that out loud, did I?  Please tell me I didn't say that out loud?"

            "Say...didn't say...what, exactly, mate?"

            "Oh no...I'm not going to fall for that trap!" Xander said, promptly claming up & refusing to say more.

            Spike grinned, but dropped it for now.  He was sure he could torture Xander over supporting him, but he'd wait until later.

            "Giles, " Angel said, with a smile," you were saying?"
            Giles rubbed the bridge of his nose in frustration.  I wish I had some whiskey, he thought.  Really strong whiskey.

            "I was saying," he said, with a pointed look at Angel, Spike and Xander," that Buffy shall return as before with some extra strengths or talents.  The rest of this, however, is a bit puzzling."

            The all bent over the remaining parts to try and figure them out as a group.

            Buffy sat on the stairs, watching them, occasionally disappearing, but always returning to them after some time.  Only Dawn and Spike were fully aware of her, but the others now had gained a sort of sense, to know when she was around and when she wasn't.

            The prophecy continued with:

                                               

            This warriors magical companions will also receive additional gifts of increased power.

            "I'm guessing this means the lover Wiccas, here, will have even more power?"

            "I'm thinking ...um...your right, Spike."

            Spike remembers how powerful Willow is already & is awed by the fact she'll soon have more power soon.

            "Well, I guess that's alright...as long as you, Red, and you too, Blondie, know how to control your anger.  I don't fancy waking up a bloody toad one night, cause you've got your knickers in a twist about something."

            They all laughed.  And an embarrassed Willow told him that no matter how angry she got, she'd never turn him into a toad.

            A smiling Tara, decided to get in on the fun & said,

            "No..n..never a t..toad, Spike.  B..But Miss Kitty Fantastico could use a n..nice c..cuddly..male kitten as a companion."

            Dawn, Willow, Cordelia, Xander, Angel, Gunn, and Buffy burst out laughing.  Tara put her head down, smiling hugely, she was glad that they had liked her joke.  It made her feel more like a member of the team, and she hopefully Spike wouldn't be too mad at her.

            Obviously the thought of the 'Big Bad Vampire' turned into a 'Big Fluffy Kitten' was too much for them all to take.

            They were all sinking deep into their chairs or onto the floor, clutching their stomachs and laughing.  And they kept there, until their lungs needed air to breathe, and they had to stop laughing to do it. 

            Sometimes murmuring small phrases as:

            "A cat..." or "Can you imagine..." or "Can't you just imagine a cat striking those poses of his" or "William the Cuddly," which all kept them in stitches.  They then started to calm down until Xander exclaimed, tears rolling down his face with the newest name that came to mind," William the Bloody Cat."

            And they all started laughing all over again, only calming down again, much later..

            Only Angel got away with laughing the longest, since he didn't breathe, and he continued to laugh for much longer, only stopping much later.

            Wesley & Giles, however, held a better hold on their emotions, just barely though, but they both still had to turn away so Spike wouldn't see their smiles.

            Spike, himself, was having a bit of trouble holding back his own smile.  He like the Blond witch almost as much as he liked Red.  But he had an image to keep, so he scowled at them all, until they had calmed down and stopped laughing.  He waited until no one was looking at him and until Tara looked up at him to drop his scowl and give her a lopsided grin and a wink.

            She gave him one of her rare smiles & then put her head down.

            Spike soon dropped his smile...as the others turned back to him.

            "Can we get back to the bleedin' prophecy?" he asked, his voice deliberately cold, for he was afraid he'd smile at them all and ruin his image, and who wanted to be known as a big, poncy, cuddly kitten.  Not he...William the Bloody.

            Lucky for him, most of them believed that if he got ticked off enough, the chip wouldn't be enough to stop him, so they decided to stop messing with him, for now, and get back to work.

            "The next part," Wesley said," is this:

             An obstacle will be removed, an understanding will take place, and a choice will be made. 

            I can't even imagine what this is talking about.  Giles, did the codex have anything other to add, to give us a clue?"

            "No, I looked.  It basically says only the same thing as this scroll does except not so much.

            It says,

                        "The slayer will come upon a great battle against a greater foe than has ever been faced in millenniums.  The slayer shall make the ultimate sacrifice to keep the world from turning completely into darkness.  After this battle, a gate will open, and what was lost will return.  After understanding is reached, a new phase shall be started, and a creature of dark will be surrounded by light and it's destiny will be bound and allied with a creature of light."

            "I see what you mean.  It basically gives the same information, but doesn't tell us anywhere near as much as we've learned from the scroll of Shanshu."

            "Um...hello Wesley," Cordelia teased him," we've already gotten that part...where were you?"
            Wesley gave Giles a see-what-I-have-to-put-up-with look?

            Giles smirked.

            Xander and Spike chuckled.

            Giles continued before someone could call attention to their strange type of male bonding, he didn't want another argument or they'd never get the text broken down.

            "Well I guess we won't really understand that last part until it happens.  This last part, however.  I wonder if it has something to do with this understanding, choice, etc?"

            "Why would you think that?" Angel asked him.

            "Because...it makes no sense otherwise."

            "And when did prophecies ever start making sense, because I must have been sleeping, absent, or maybe in the bathroom when they did...and I missed it."

            "Shut up Xander," was the general answer.

            "I'm here. I'm quiet...I'm looking at the next part of the scroll," he said, reading out loud. "It says,

            A creature of dark will be surrounded by light and its destiny will be bound and allied with a creature of light.  The creature of dark's weaknesses will be weaknesses no longer and its strengths will double.  The creature of light will go through a similar path of change.  A  perfect balance will be borne of this union.  The balance will aid in the next battle between a double triumphren...."

           

            "Quick someone, give 'im a cookie, the 'Wanker' can read.  And here I just thought he was a bleedin' human paperweight."

            Xander figured he'd plucked Spike's nerves enough today, but he couldn't restrain himself from saying,

            "Shut up Spike."

            Spike smirked, but didn't comment.

            Xander then smiled and said,

            "I also have lovely penmanship."

            Spike chuckled, then looked at Giles.

            "Gonna tell us what the last part means?"
            "I would if I knew.  I'm not sure how much of this refers to Buffy or even if it does.  And if it does...what kind of creature of the dark?  Neither the scroll nor the Codex give too much of a hint about it...so we're kind of left in the dark.  So for now, lets just keep it in mind, but not refer to it.  Maybe when Buffy returns, she can tell us if she knows more."

            "What if she knows, but she can't say...or what if she doesn't remember after she comes back...or what if..."

            "You're having way to many what if's, Will."

            "I know...but I'd like to know."

            "I know the feeling...but hey...I have an idea..."

            "Be still my unbeating heart."

            "Shut up...anyway...as I was about to say...let's ask those from the 'I See Dead People' group to ask Buffy now."

            Spike and Dawn smiled, but shook their heads.

            "She's not allowed to mention it, or she doesn't know.  She just shook her head, but she didn't say anything," Dawn told them.

            "Bad Ghostly Buffy," Xander said with a teasing smile," no Scooby Snack for you."

            Buffy rolled her eyes, but smiled.

            Spike told him," She said for you to go outside and play in some traffic."

            "She did not." 

            "Did too."

            "Did not"

            "Hey...I can hear her, so I know she bloody well did too say it."

            "Shut up, lying dead guy."

            Buffy turned to her sister and mouthed the words...All yours.

            Dawn's grin got bigger, she turned to Giles and asked, over the two bickering males, "Are we done yet?"

            "Yeah...I say we're done for the night...I don't think they're gonna stop anytime soon.  Besides, we've gone over everything now...I say we get some rest and then Spike and Angel and Gunn, because he told me he had experience in this sort of thing, can go hunt down Darla, kill her, and bring back her ashes.  Why?"

            "Just making sure we're done here.  I just got permission...and I'm going to have me some fun.  You said you don't need Spike for a couple of hours, right? "

            "Yes...why?" Giles couldn't tell what was going on, but Dawn's eyes and the look on her face reminded him of Buffy when she had something extremely amusing and wicked on her mind.

            Dawn just smiled, then said, "That's good...we should be done by then, and he'd have calmed down by then too."

            She sauntered away from him and up to the still bickering boys, without giving him an explanation.

            Dawn walked up behind Spike and slipped an arm around his waist.  Now to the casual observer, it just looked like Dawn was giving Spike a hug, or she wanted him close to him, but her fingers had brushed lightly against his side.

            Spike stiffened and he stopped, mid-bicker with Xander, and looked down at Dawn's face.

            Seeing that bright innocent face and wildly wicked gleam in her eyes, he turned and bolted, slipping out of her reach seconds before she would have wrapped her other arm around him to keep him from running off.

            He passed all the others, who were now standing up and getting ready to either head out or up to their rooms, at inhuman speed, running up the stairs.

            Giles heard him mutter,

            "Evil...evil slayer ghosts and evil mystical glowy keys," as he raced at top speed by them.

            Dawn, at a much slower pace, was running after him, but she was still keeping  good pace, must be that Slayer blood running through her veins.

            Giles, and the rest of the gang heard her calling him, wickedly,

            "Spike...why are you running from me.  Come back Spike, I have something to tell you."

            Then his answer,

            "Stay the bloody hell away from me gal."

            "Sppppiiiiiikkkkkkkkeeeeeeeeeyyyyyyyyy."

            They then heard a shrill shriek, Dawn's loud giggle, Spike yelling, "Stay back," and lots of footsteps, and then Spike raced back down the stairs, leather duster billowing out behind him, as he jumped to the bottom of the stairs, skipping a few to by him more time, and out of the front door.

            Dawn came back down the stairs a moment later.

            "Where'd he go?" She asked, her face flushed and her eyes a bright with mischief.

            "Out the door," Giles answered her.

            She looked at Angel, "You'd better go and find him in an hour...he may not come back in time.  He'll wait for me to fall asleep.  Usually, I'd stay awake, just to bug him, but I'm pretty tired now.  So when either, you find him, or he comes back, you can tell him  that he's safe for now...but next time he better remember the rules."

            Angel nodded and smiled.

            "You wouldn't mind telling us what was going on would you?"
            Dawn's grin got bigger.

            "I can't...I promised Spike, Buffy would kill me, and you've already had enough fun for today."

            Angel's grin widened, but he knew better than to make her break her promise.  He merely nodded and smiled, before walking up to his room.  If he had to, he'd go collect Spike in an hour or two, he thought, picking up one of his favorite books and settling down to read.

                                                TBC…