Interlude
Sometime after midnight, there was a tap on Dawn's hotel room door. She stopped pacing and dashed over to yank the door open. "Well?" she demanded. "Did you find her? Is she OK?"
"Yes, we found her. She's fine. She should be here in about ten minutes."
"Where was she? I'm gonna kill her. She's not supposed to do stuff like this."
"Actually, she was at, er, at Circus Circus playing carnival games. She sounded rather odd on the phone. I'd take it easy on her, Dawn. I fear she's at the breaking point, what with the business of Sunnydale and the shock of seeing Sp-- William."
Dawn tilted her head and looked at Giles, much the way Spike would have. "IS he Spike? I haven't had a chance to ask you yet. I told Buffy that when I hugged him, it felt like Spike's body, but that he wasn't in there. What do you think? Is it possible? And how do we get him back the way he was?"
"I'll do some further investigating in a couple of weeks, when we get home," Giles responded as he wiped his lenses on his handkerchief. "I have called Wesley to see what he could find in the database, but for the moment, I would have to say that he is NOT Spike. Because of the startling resemblance and the fact that he's from England, I'd have to say they probably share some lineage though."
"You mean like that old show, what was it? Patty Duke! Identical cousins. Only instead of at the same time, over a hundred years apart."
"Well, something like that, I suppose, yes."
"Wait a minute. Home in a couple of weeks? What do you mean? It's only a few days to drive home from here."
"Oh, that, yes, well," Giles began cleaning his glasses yet again, "we thought we'd take a bit of an extended trip. We all need a vacation and William wanted to see quite a few things that were just a bit out of the way."
"We who? You and Xander? And what do you think Buffy's gonna say? She's not gonna like this, Giles."
"Not going to like what, Dawn?" Buffy asked as she came through the door. She was dry eyed and calm. She didn't have much to say to either of them about extending their trip. She just nodded, said good night and went off to bed. Giles and Dawn looked at each other helplessly and decided it was probably best if they, too, got some sleep. The next day was going to be quite busy.
Early in the morning, the girls all went on a shopping expedition. Faith surprised herself by having fun being pampered in preparation for her wedding -- an event she never thought she'd be part of. They even took her to a salon and had her hair and makeup done. Through all of it, Buffy was almost disturbingly calm. Dawn and Willow kept exchanging looks and shrugging. They were both afraid to say anything for fear it would destroy the equilibrium Buffy seemed to have found. At last, it was time to head for the chapel.
Everyone was in position and the music began. As the justice of the peace started to speak, Buffy's eyes went out of focus and she pictured herself in Faith's place. Then she heard the words "'til death do you part" and the illusion shattered. Spike was already dead. He'd been dead when she met him. And now he was gone. She took a deep breath, pushed the pain deep inside and pasted a smile on her face. She hugged Faith and Robin and went through the motions of enjoying the party the male members of their little group had put together while the girls had been shopping and primping. At last, the happy couple headed for their suite and the others all retired to their rooms for the night.
Tomorrow it would be time to get back on the road.
Sometime after midnight, there was a tap on Dawn's hotel room door. She stopped pacing and dashed over to yank the door open. "Well?" she demanded. "Did you find her? Is she OK?"
"Yes, we found her. She's fine. She should be here in about ten minutes."
"Where was she? I'm gonna kill her. She's not supposed to do stuff like this."
"Actually, she was at, er, at Circus Circus playing carnival games. She sounded rather odd on the phone. I'd take it easy on her, Dawn. I fear she's at the breaking point, what with the business of Sunnydale and the shock of seeing Sp-- William."
Dawn tilted her head and looked at Giles, much the way Spike would have. "IS he Spike? I haven't had a chance to ask you yet. I told Buffy that when I hugged him, it felt like Spike's body, but that he wasn't in there. What do you think? Is it possible? And how do we get him back the way he was?"
"I'll do some further investigating in a couple of weeks, when we get home," Giles responded as he wiped his lenses on his handkerchief. "I have called Wesley to see what he could find in the database, but for the moment, I would have to say that he is NOT Spike. Because of the startling resemblance and the fact that he's from England, I'd have to say they probably share some lineage though."
"You mean like that old show, what was it? Patty Duke! Identical cousins. Only instead of at the same time, over a hundred years apart."
"Well, something like that, I suppose, yes."
"Wait a minute. Home in a couple of weeks? What do you mean? It's only a few days to drive home from here."
"Oh, that, yes, well," Giles began cleaning his glasses yet again, "we thought we'd take a bit of an extended trip. We all need a vacation and William wanted to see quite a few things that were just a bit out of the way."
"We who? You and Xander? And what do you think Buffy's gonna say? She's not gonna like this, Giles."
"Not going to like what, Dawn?" Buffy asked as she came through the door. She was dry eyed and calm. She didn't have much to say to either of them about extending their trip. She just nodded, said good night and went off to bed. Giles and Dawn looked at each other helplessly and decided it was probably best if they, too, got some sleep. The next day was going to be quite busy.
Early in the morning, the girls all went on a shopping expedition. Faith surprised herself by having fun being pampered in preparation for her wedding -- an event she never thought she'd be part of. They even took her to a salon and had her hair and makeup done. Through all of it, Buffy was almost disturbingly calm. Dawn and Willow kept exchanging looks and shrugging. They were both afraid to say anything for fear it would destroy the equilibrium Buffy seemed to have found. At last, it was time to head for the chapel.
Everyone was in position and the music began. As the justice of the peace started to speak, Buffy's eyes went out of focus and she pictured herself in Faith's place. Then she heard the words "'til death do you part" and the illusion shattered. Spike was already dead. He'd been dead when she met him. And now he was gone. She took a deep breath, pushed the pain deep inside and pasted a smile on her face. She hugged Faith and Robin and went through the motions of enjoying the party the male members of their little group had put together while the girls had been shopping and primping. At last, the happy couple headed for their suite and the others all retired to their rooms for the night.
Tomorrow it would be time to get back on the road.