Buffy looked up when Giles enter his small hotel room carrying a guitar case followed by Kia holing a duffle bag and some rolled up posters. After breakfast they had all gotten ready and congregated in Gile's room to wait. Giles and Kia set down the bags and Giles sat down with a weary sigh in one of the heavily cushioned chairs in the room. Willow and Tara looked up from the magazine they were examining and smiled at Kia and Giles.
"How did it go?" She asked with a smile at the other shy red head. Giles nodded and began cleaning his glasses.
"Very well I think. We got everything signed and Kia is ready to go as soon as we leave." Giles informed them. Kia leaned down and pulled a worn army issue green messenger bag out or the larger duffle and slung it over her shoulder.
"I'm gonna go for a walk." She said quickly and practically ran out of the room. Giles looked at the partially open door Kia had left through. Buffy moved to follow her but Spike shook his head.
"No, give her time." He said softly. To everyone's surprise Buffy sighed and nodded, sitting back down in her chair. She glanced at the door and closed her eyes, her eyebrows furrowed with worry. God I wish we didn't have to do this. We are ruining this girl's life. She thought to her self. Spike saw the wave of pain and frustration cross over her face and gently took one of Buffy's clenched fists in his hand under the table. Buffy's eyes fluttered open and her hand instantly relaxed, her fingers curving to link her hand with his. Giles, willow, and Tara looked anywhere but at the two who were staring raptly into each other's eyes.
"I'm gonna go get some more sleep." Willow said quickly, leaping up with a very fake yawn. Tara leapt up after her and nodded.
"Yeah! Me too." They both left the room, then Giles gave a very real yawn and looked at Buffy and Spike who had let go of each other's hands and were staring at the floor. Giles ignored the obvious embarrassment and moved towards the bathroom.
"You two should go get some more sleep yourselves. I'm going to." He said and the bathroom door closed behind him. Buffy and Spike shared a look and silently got up and walked out of the room together.
Kia wandered the crowded New York streets to Inner speech to give them her resignation. Mary cried and hugged her. The owner, and older man named Ryan also hugged her and went to the back storeroom door. The one only he had a key for.
"I've been expecting this. It was only a matter of time before you moved on. But we'll miss you Kia." He told her and pulled out a wide heavy hard guitar case. Kia looked at him confused and lifted the latches, pushing the top open. Kia's breath caught in her throat and she thought her heart skipped a beat. Inside the case on top of a sea of blood red velvet lay the most beautiful electric guitar she had ever seen. Raw black, sharp wicked points, and impossibly smooth curves. The calloused fingertips of her left hand stretched out and shakily she stroked the gleaming instrument.
"I-Ibanez custom? Humbucker pickups. Lo-TRS two double locking tremolo?" she asked, her voice sounding hollow and tinny in her ears. Ryan nodded.
"This is a $900 guitar." She informed them. Ryan and Mary nodded. Kia just stared at the guitar and continued stroking it reverently. Mary growled her frustration and snatched the guitar out of the case, shoving it into Kia's hands.
"Ack!" Kia squawked and glared at Mary even as she ran her fingertips over the mother of pearl inlays in the fret board. Kia looked up at Ryan's kind old face that had become a staple in her life ever since she was fourteen and a half and Mary's wild beautiful one that was no less familiar with wide shocked eyes.
"Do you like it?" Ryan asked softly and Kia burst into tears. In a rare display of affection Kia set down the guitar and flung her arms around the older man, burying her face in his shoulder. She hugged him so tightly he thought he felt his ribs squeak in protest but just hugged her back. She pulled away and threw herself at Mary who caught her and squeezed her till Kia could barely breath.
"We love you kitten." She whispered into Kia's ear. Kia just sobbed harder and clung to Mary's lean body like she thought it would melt away. She pulled away slowly and sniffled a little. Kia closed the guitar case and locked it carefully then turned to Mary and Ryan again. They said their final goodbyes and Kia left, not able to stay for fear she would break down and cry again. Kia walked to the park and played three hours worth of chess games with gullible tourists to earn some extra cash. She came away with a little over eighty dollars.
Kia then went to a second hand store just a few blocks from inner speech. She quickly bought a few pairs of ratty jeans that hung to big on her narrow hips and a few equally ratty sweatshirts. Some thread bare tee shirts and a couple of black beaters. She came out of the store wearing the same black sweater over white collared long-sleeved shirt but her bottom half was clad in a pair of black jeans three sizes to big for her, held up by virtue of a wide studded leather belt and her plain old combat boots. Her hair was tied up in a slopped bun at the back of her head with tendrils falling out all over the place cascading down her back. An unlit cigarette rested between two unpainted fingers. Kia adjusted the guitar strapped to her back and closed the clip of her bag, now stuffed with clothing. Kia deftly flicked open a silver Zippo and lit the cigarette. She inhaled deeply and let out a stream of diaphanous smoke.
A young man coming out of the store behind her eyed her appreciatively. Kia stiffened and all of the sudden she felt exposed. Kia moved quickly down the street away from the boy relaxing only when she got around the corner. She took a comforting drag of her cigarette and her hand drifted up to the black and red rosary she had worn since she was ten. I can't ever escape it. I'm chained to it no matter how far away I get from this place. Kai dashed a bit of moisture from her left eye and went back towards the park to watch the sunset.
Buffy yawned awake and raised her hand to rub the sleep from her eyes. Spike was sprawled half on top of her and snuggled closer when she shifted. His face nuzzling unconsciously into the hollow of her throat. Buffy sighed and her hand drifted down to rest on spike's bleached locks. She became much more awake when she felt spike's tongue dart out and barely lick the curve of one collar bone. Buffy shivered slightly and her head tilted back to give him better access. Spike nipped at her flesh and kissed the long column of skin.
"Oh god." Buffy gasped when spike sucked on her sensitive pulse point.
"Glad to know I've been promoted so quickly." He muttered against her skin. The mood was broken from something very serious to a more gentle teasing when Buffy laughed.
"Well this has been some of the better sleep I've had. Even though it was only..." Buffy glanced at the clock and her eyes widened. "Seven hours! We've been in you bed for seven hours!" she exclaimed. Spike shrugged and went back to nuzzling her throat. Buffy's eyes drifted closed when he nibbled on her ear but only for a moment.
"No Spike! Seven hours means that the suns gone down and we have to go check in with everybody. And that means clothes and defiantly showers." She told him and climbed out of bed. She walked towards the bathroom and looked back at the mostly naked man lying sprawled on the bed amidst a tangle of sheets.
"Coming?" she asked innocently. Spike leapt up with a growl and chased her into the bathroom.
Willow and Tara were sitting at the table in their room with Giles when Buffy and spike finally walked in. Willow looked slightly worried as she looked to Buffy and Spike.
"Kia's not back yet." She said. Buffy frowned but Spike just shrugged.
"Ill go get her." He said reassuringly and left the room. Spike barely had to go out of the building before he saw Kia coming up the street with a guitar case strapped to her back. Spike appraised her clothing an appearance before smiling.
"Casting off the shackles, eh luv?" he said sounding amused. Kia sighed and lit a cigarette.
"Yeah." She said but her hand rested on the rosary around her neck and her eyes told him a different truth. Spike leaned against the brick wall of the hotel and nodded.
"I get that. You change everything, your looks your attitude, try to get rid of the voice in your head and when your done, you realize that your right back where you started only someplace completely different and a few blocks in the wrong direction." Kia looked at him for a beat as if gauging his truthfulness before a smile broke over her face like the sunrise, making her somberly beautiful features more human and warm.
"More like a few miles." She replied. He nodded.
"So who is your voice?" he chanced. Kia's smile vanished but her expression stayed warmer than before.
"My mother." She said softly then looked at the cement.
"Who is yours?" she asked. Spike's eyes drifted closed and his jaw tensed.
"My father and my sire." He answered. Kia nodded. They stood in silence for a few minutes before Kia spoke again.
"Your name is Spike right?" she asked. Spike nodded but the name sounded wrong coming from Kia.
"My real name is William but nobody calls me that anymore." He told her, not quite knowing why. Kia smiled.
"William. I like that." She told him. "Can I call you William?" Spike thought for a moment before nodding.
"Do you have a nickname?" he asked a little more gruffly that he intended. Kia bit her lip and looked at the ground again.
"Mary calls me kitten." She said thickly. Spike smiled slightly. At some unspoken signal Kia put out her cigarette and they went inside. Kia followed spike into willow and Tara's room and shut the door behind them. Buffy smiled at the young girl while spike took a seat on the edge of the bed.
"Hey, have a nice walk?" she asked with an amused smile. Kia blushed slightly and removed the guitar case from her back and set it on the floor.
"I had a few things to take care of." She explained quickly and sat down on the bed next to spike. Spike smiled and nudged Kia with his shoulder. Buffy watched the exchange and her eyes narrowed. Spike looked up and saw the all too familiar expression on Buffy's face. Kia saw it also and looked questioningly at spike. Spike shrugged and sent a loving smile at Buffy. Buffy's expression softened and she smiled back.
"... And Buffy will help with training, right Buffy?" Giles finished, turning to Buffy. Buffy looked at Giles slightly startled, as did Kia and Spike, all three realizing that Giles had been speaking since Kia and Spike had returned.
"I'm sorry, could you repeat that?" Buffy asked Giles a little sheepishly. Giles sighed and removed his glasses, polished them on his shirttail and replaced them before speaking again.
"I was saying that the council has arranged for us to leave tomorrow at eight pm. Since Kia had been adopted in my name she should most likely stay with me. The council has had her listed in state records as home schooled so as long as she can pass all the standard tests we shouldn't have a problem. We should start training her as soon as we can once we are settled in back home. Buffy, you will be willing to help with that right?" Giles asked her pointedly. Buffy nodded. "How does all this sound to you Kia?" Giles asked. Kai froze for a second with a shocked look on her face.
"M-m-me? Um... I'm fine with whatever you guys decide." She said softly and nervously pulled on a lock of her long fiery hair, praying that she wouldn't have to speak again.
"Now Kia," Giles began, Kia mentally cursed, "have you had any prior training? Gymnastics self defense, even dance would be-"
"I'm a black belt in karate, kick boxing, and Tia Kwan Do. I speak Russian, Gaelic, Spanish, German, Latin, and proto Slavonic/old church Slavic. All fluently. My I.Q. is 173 and I failed AP calc last year. And I'm sure all of this is in my file, I'll be outside." Kia cut him off and spouted a long list before stomping off, muttering curse words in several of the languages she had just listed.
Giles, willow, Tara, Buffy and Spike stared wide-eyed at Kia's retreating back and all visibly flinched when the door slammed behind her.
"How did it go?" She asked with a smile at the other shy red head. Giles nodded and began cleaning his glasses.
"Very well I think. We got everything signed and Kia is ready to go as soon as we leave." Giles informed them. Kia leaned down and pulled a worn army issue green messenger bag out or the larger duffle and slung it over her shoulder.
"I'm gonna go for a walk." She said quickly and practically ran out of the room. Giles looked at the partially open door Kia had left through. Buffy moved to follow her but Spike shook his head.
"No, give her time." He said softly. To everyone's surprise Buffy sighed and nodded, sitting back down in her chair. She glanced at the door and closed her eyes, her eyebrows furrowed with worry. God I wish we didn't have to do this. We are ruining this girl's life. She thought to her self. Spike saw the wave of pain and frustration cross over her face and gently took one of Buffy's clenched fists in his hand under the table. Buffy's eyes fluttered open and her hand instantly relaxed, her fingers curving to link her hand with his. Giles, willow, and Tara looked anywhere but at the two who were staring raptly into each other's eyes.
"I'm gonna go get some more sleep." Willow said quickly, leaping up with a very fake yawn. Tara leapt up after her and nodded.
"Yeah! Me too." They both left the room, then Giles gave a very real yawn and looked at Buffy and Spike who had let go of each other's hands and were staring at the floor. Giles ignored the obvious embarrassment and moved towards the bathroom.
"You two should go get some more sleep yourselves. I'm going to." He said and the bathroom door closed behind him. Buffy and Spike shared a look and silently got up and walked out of the room together.
Kia wandered the crowded New York streets to Inner speech to give them her resignation. Mary cried and hugged her. The owner, and older man named Ryan also hugged her and went to the back storeroom door. The one only he had a key for.
"I've been expecting this. It was only a matter of time before you moved on. But we'll miss you Kia." He told her and pulled out a wide heavy hard guitar case. Kia looked at him confused and lifted the latches, pushing the top open. Kia's breath caught in her throat and she thought her heart skipped a beat. Inside the case on top of a sea of blood red velvet lay the most beautiful electric guitar she had ever seen. Raw black, sharp wicked points, and impossibly smooth curves. The calloused fingertips of her left hand stretched out and shakily she stroked the gleaming instrument.
"I-Ibanez custom? Humbucker pickups. Lo-TRS two double locking tremolo?" she asked, her voice sounding hollow and tinny in her ears. Ryan nodded.
"This is a $900 guitar." She informed them. Ryan and Mary nodded. Kia just stared at the guitar and continued stroking it reverently. Mary growled her frustration and snatched the guitar out of the case, shoving it into Kia's hands.
"Ack!" Kia squawked and glared at Mary even as she ran her fingertips over the mother of pearl inlays in the fret board. Kia looked up at Ryan's kind old face that had become a staple in her life ever since she was fourteen and a half and Mary's wild beautiful one that was no less familiar with wide shocked eyes.
"Do you like it?" Ryan asked softly and Kia burst into tears. In a rare display of affection Kia set down the guitar and flung her arms around the older man, burying her face in his shoulder. She hugged him so tightly he thought he felt his ribs squeak in protest but just hugged her back. She pulled away and threw herself at Mary who caught her and squeezed her till Kia could barely breath.
"We love you kitten." She whispered into Kia's ear. Kia just sobbed harder and clung to Mary's lean body like she thought it would melt away. She pulled away slowly and sniffled a little. Kia closed the guitar case and locked it carefully then turned to Mary and Ryan again. They said their final goodbyes and Kia left, not able to stay for fear she would break down and cry again. Kia walked to the park and played three hours worth of chess games with gullible tourists to earn some extra cash. She came away with a little over eighty dollars.
Kia then went to a second hand store just a few blocks from inner speech. She quickly bought a few pairs of ratty jeans that hung to big on her narrow hips and a few equally ratty sweatshirts. Some thread bare tee shirts and a couple of black beaters. She came out of the store wearing the same black sweater over white collared long-sleeved shirt but her bottom half was clad in a pair of black jeans three sizes to big for her, held up by virtue of a wide studded leather belt and her plain old combat boots. Her hair was tied up in a slopped bun at the back of her head with tendrils falling out all over the place cascading down her back. An unlit cigarette rested between two unpainted fingers. Kia adjusted the guitar strapped to her back and closed the clip of her bag, now stuffed with clothing. Kia deftly flicked open a silver Zippo and lit the cigarette. She inhaled deeply and let out a stream of diaphanous smoke.
A young man coming out of the store behind her eyed her appreciatively. Kia stiffened and all of the sudden she felt exposed. Kia moved quickly down the street away from the boy relaxing only when she got around the corner. She took a comforting drag of her cigarette and her hand drifted up to the black and red rosary she had worn since she was ten. I can't ever escape it. I'm chained to it no matter how far away I get from this place. Kai dashed a bit of moisture from her left eye and went back towards the park to watch the sunset.
Buffy yawned awake and raised her hand to rub the sleep from her eyes. Spike was sprawled half on top of her and snuggled closer when she shifted. His face nuzzling unconsciously into the hollow of her throat. Buffy sighed and her hand drifted down to rest on spike's bleached locks. She became much more awake when she felt spike's tongue dart out and barely lick the curve of one collar bone. Buffy shivered slightly and her head tilted back to give him better access. Spike nipped at her flesh and kissed the long column of skin.
"Oh god." Buffy gasped when spike sucked on her sensitive pulse point.
"Glad to know I've been promoted so quickly." He muttered against her skin. The mood was broken from something very serious to a more gentle teasing when Buffy laughed.
"Well this has been some of the better sleep I've had. Even though it was only..." Buffy glanced at the clock and her eyes widened. "Seven hours! We've been in you bed for seven hours!" she exclaimed. Spike shrugged and went back to nuzzling her throat. Buffy's eyes drifted closed when he nibbled on her ear but only for a moment.
"No Spike! Seven hours means that the suns gone down and we have to go check in with everybody. And that means clothes and defiantly showers." She told him and climbed out of bed. She walked towards the bathroom and looked back at the mostly naked man lying sprawled on the bed amidst a tangle of sheets.
"Coming?" she asked innocently. Spike leapt up with a growl and chased her into the bathroom.
Willow and Tara were sitting at the table in their room with Giles when Buffy and spike finally walked in. Willow looked slightly worried as she looked to Buffy and Spike.
"Kia's not back yet." She said. Buffy frowned but Spike just shrugged.
"Ill go get her." He said reassuringly and left the room. Spike barely had to go out of the building before he saw Kia coming up the street with a guitar case strapped to her back. Spike appraised her clothing an appearance before smiling.
"Casting off the shackles, eh luv?" he said sounding amused. Kia sighed and lit a cigarette.
"Yeah." She said but her hand rested on the rosary around her neck and her eyes told him a different truth. Spike leaned against the brick wall of the hotel and nodded.
"I get that. You change everything, your looks your attitude, try to get rid of the voice in your head and when your done, you realize that your right back where you started only someplace completely different and a few blocks in the wrong direction." Kia looked at him for a beat as if gauging his truthfulness before a smile broke over her face like the sunrise, making her somberly beautiful features more human and warm.
"More like a few miles." She replied. He nodded.
"So who is your voice?" he chanced. Kia's smile vanished but her expression stayed warmer than before.
"My mother." She said softly then looked at the cement.
"Who is yours?" she asked. Spike's eyes drifted closed and his jaw tensed.
"My father and my sire." He answered. Kia nodded. They stood in silence for a few minutes before Kia spoke again.
"Your name is Spike right?" she asked. Spike nodded but the name sounded wrong coming from Kia.
"My real name is William but nobody calls me that anymore." He told her, not quite knowing why. Kia smiled.
"William. I like that." She told him. "Can I call you William?" Spike thought for a moment before nodding.
"Do you have a nickname?" he asked a little more gruffly that he intended. Kia bit her lip and looked at the ground again.
"Mary calls me kitten." She said thickly. Spike smiled slightly. At some unspoken signal Kia put out her cigarette and they went inside. Kia followed spike into willow and Tara's room and shut the door behind them. Buffy smiled at the young girl while spike took a seat on the edge of the bed.
"Hey, have a nice walk?" she asked with an amused smile. Kia blushed slightly and removed the guitar case from her back and set it on the floor.
"I had a few things to take care of." She explained quickly and sat down on the bed next to spike. Spike smiled and nudged Kia with his shoulder. Buffy watched the exchange and her eyes narrowed. Spike looked up and saw the all too familiar expression on Buffy's face. Kia saw it also and looked questioningly at spike. Spike shrugged and sent a loving smile at Buffy. Buffy's expression softened and she smiled back.
"... And Buffy will help with training, right Buffy?" Giles finished, turning to Buffy. Buffy looked at Giles slightly startled, as did Kia and Spike, all three realizing that Giles had been speaking since Kia and Spike had returned.
"I'm sorry, could you repeat that?" Buffy asked Giles a little sheepishly. Giles sighed and removed his glasses, polished them on his shirttail and replaced them before speaking again.
"I was saying that the council has arranged for us to leave tomorrow at eight pm. Since Kia had been adopted in my name she should most likely stay with me. The council has had her listed in state records as home schooled so as long as she can pass all the standard tests we shouldn't have a problem. We should start training her as soon as we can once we are settled in back home. Buffy, you will be willing to help with that right?" Giles asked her pointedly. Buffy nodded. "How does all this sound to you Kia?" Giles asked. Kai froze for a second with a shocked look on her face.
"M-m-me? Um... I'm fine with whatever you guys decide." She said softly and nervously pulled on a lock of her long fiery hair, praying that she wouldn't have to speak again.
"Now Kia," Giles began, Kia mentally cursed, "have you had any prior training? Gymnastics self defense, even dance would be-"
"I'm a black belt in karate, kick boxing, and Tia Kwan Do. I speak Russian, Gaelic, Spanish, German, Latin, and proto Slavonic/old church Slavic. All fluently. My I.Q. is 173 and I failed AP calc last year. And I'm sure all of this is in my file, I'll be outside." Kia cut him off and spouted a long list before stomping off, muttering curse words in several of the languages she had just listed.
Giles, willow, Tara, Buffy and Spike stared wide-eyed at Kia's retreating back and all visibly flinched when the door slammed behind her.