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What Is To Be

-Ninth-

By Annie

2003-09-16

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Buffy woke with a jerk, sitting up in bed with her heart hammering in her chest.

Looking at the clock on her bedside table she saw that it was close to eight o'clock in the morning and just as she slid to the edge of the bed there was a knock on her door.

"Be right down!" she called out, trying to steady her heart beat as she got to her feet on shaky legs.

She needed to speak with Angel, straight away.

"Just wanted to let you know that breakfast's ready," Cordelia said through the door and Buffy opened it, rushing through it and making the other take a surprised step back. "You look terrible," Cordelia stated, following the Slayer who merely gave her a look over her shoulder.

Angel turned his head their way when they entered the kitchen, and at the expression on Buffy's face he dropped what he was doing and met her halfway.

"What's happened?" he asked and she shook her head.

"Nothing. Well, I mean, something's happened, but..." She trailed off, trying to make a less mess of the jumbled memories of pictures and words from what she had just dreamed. "Nothing's happened that'll need us armed and ready... I think," she then said, now having the rest of the assembled group's attention directed on her as well.

She noticed Spike was missing, making a mental note to make him breakfast in bed - if he was in fact still in it.

"Okay," she now said, "how do I say this...? Remember my dreams that I've been having?" Angel nodded. "Well, the one I had last night... it changed. It had a different warning in it. I told you I'd had this dream for a couple of months now, right? Right. And that Sp-... William spoke in it for the first time just a few nights ago. He said it was 'upon us'... Not so positive. Okay, last night he told me to 'watch out for the big, black bird'," she stated, rather hopefully as she finished: "Does that say anything to you?"

Angel shook his head and Buffy's face clouded slightly.

"But that doesn't have to mean that it's not important!" he tried to reassure her.

"Right," she sighed. "Just another piece to fit into the puzzle," she added gloomily. "There's something else too..." she then said silently, grabbing his arm and pulling him aside before she finished: "I don't know why - but something's just telling me that the letter A in my dream isn't referring to you... Look, the whole point of my Slayer dreams is to grant me warnings... I usually know at least something to go on and often I really have to trust my instincts in order to interpret the signs and this just doesn't scream 'Angel' to me. I can't explain it. It's just... Well, you're the one person I actually know who START with an A," she said and once again he nodded, listening with obvious interest; she continued: "So, why didn't I link the dream to you two months ago? Why didn't I fly here instead of back to England? That's the two-thousand dollar question and I happen to have the answer: because it's referring to someone else."

Angel frowned at that.

"But..." he began, not finding anymore words to add to the sentence as this information sunk in and she nodded.

"Exactly," she agreed.

"You don't wanna tell the others?" he asked.

"You can, if you want to. I didn't mean it to seem like it was for your ears only, I just..." she replied, then smiled a little.

"Wanted a heads on reaction?" he wondered and her smile widened.

"Yeah, and it worked perfectly with mine, so I think you should fill the others in... I mean, the more brains working out the problem, the quicker it might get solved, right?" she replied and he returned her smile, giving a nod that he agreed. "Is Spike up?" she asked casually, Angel's smile broadening just a tad.

"Yeah, actually he is." There went breakfast in bed. "He's out in the garden," he answered and she smiled a little coyly before she hesitated, and when he merely smiled back she turned and left the room.

She came to a slow stop in the doorway leading out from the foyer and into the spot where Spike currently was. Leaning against the frame she watched him as he leisurely strolled about the rows of rose bushes and wildflowers. They seemed to be growing pretty much by their own accord, but stood in pretty contrast to the gray stone building which surrounded them.

He carried a notebook in one hand and a pen in the other, from time to time jotting something down and then sinking back into whatever thoughts occupied his mind. He looked very determined, very concentrated and extremely sexy.

She smiled at the thought.

Three years ago he would already have been pouncing at her by now. He would have sensed her coming through the foyer... He would have been ready with an everlasting smirk and a cocky raise of one eyebrow. He would have asked her what the bloody hell she was staring at like that, and then he would have made no secret of how much he was enjoying it. The leverage he had over her back in those days... It sure had been a few intense months they had shared.

And following those months came a chaotic year where he had turned his existence on end for her sake... And she had slowly, but surely, had to understand what she felt for him. How much she felt for him. And then he had died.

She swallowed, breaking the chain of thoughts and stepping out onto the small platform which lead to the steps taking her down to him. She took the latter and approached him as he was just scribbling another row down on the paper in his hand.

She came to stop almost right beside him and he smiled a small smile, not looking at her, as he said:

"Morning."

"Morning," she agreed. "Been up long?"

"Long enough," he replied with a shrug, turning around and being one fraction of a second away from stepping into the part of the garden illuminated by the rays of morning sun.

"Spike!" she said, stopping him by grabbing his arm and pulling him back into the shade.

Then she realized what she had done and she let his arm go with an apology written all across her features.

"I'm sorry," she stammered, shaking her head. "I just..."

He was, however, smirking widely, eyeing her in obvious amusement as he waited for her to continue and finally she gave it up and pretty much glared at him.

"It's not THAT funny," she muttered and he laughed.

"Yeah, it is," he disagreed. "Do you have any idea how long it took me to not pause every time I was about to take that step into the sun right after I was turned human?"

She smiled at that.

"What're you writing?" she asked and he shrugged, closing the notebook and then tucking it in one of his back-pockets before he answered:

"Nothing important."

She didn't believe him for a second, but didn't want to push it. He reached out and slid his hand in hers before giving her a look and before she had time to react he pulled her with him into the warmth of the sun. She giggled as he twirled her around and then they slowed to a stop, facing each other.

"Wow," he mumbled and she raised her eyebrows quizzically as he moved one hand up to gently grace the corner of her left eye.

His fingertips brushed over her cheek and she closed her eyes, sliding her hands up his chest and stepping into him before she wrapped her arms around his neck in a tight embrace which he returned, pressing her to him.

"Buffy!" Fred called and Buffy sighed, turning her head to the woman though she kept it resting against Spike's shoulder.

"Yes?" she then asked.

"We're heading out, it's a one hour drive to the good stores," the other replied, looking rather remorseful as she knew she must have interrupted something.

"I haven't eaten breakfast," Buffy stated. "I haven't dressed!" she added and Fred smiled.

"Okay, then, you have half an hour, make the most of it," she said before turning and walking back inside.

Buffy grumbled.

"Shopping for clothes is supposed to be FUN!" she muttered and Spike smiled at her as she pulled back and looked up at him with her trademark pout on. "It's not supposed to feel like an obligation," she added.

His smile suddenly minimized, and then he said:

"Well, just think of Angel."

Her eyebrows rose at that.

"Angel?" she asked and Spike nodded a little.

"Yeah, you wanna go get all pretty for him, don't you?" he wondered and she stared at him.

"Spike, that's not at all..."

"You're not ready?" Susannah's voice cut her off and Buffy resisted a glare as she turned her head to the woman. "Come on, chop-chop!" the girl hurried her on, coming down the steps as the two blondes reluctantly let go of each other.

"When I get back..." Buffy said and Spike smiled, still she could tell of a trace of sadness in his eyes and she cursed herself for not explaining the deal with Angel last night.

"Go get dressed," Susannah encouraged and Buffy couldn't mask her growing impatience with the woman any longer, giving her a look which she hoped told the latter to butt the hell out before the Slayer turned and walked in through the glass doors. "We're all waiting for YOU!" Susannah called after her.

"Be careful," Spike said with the hint of a smirk on his mouth as he walked passed Susannah as well. "You don't wanna piss her off."

"I think I can take her," Susannah replied, watching him go and squaring her shoulders before she followed. "I'm pretty sure I could," she added firmly, though out of hearing range of him.

***

Spike looked at the picture in the book before him, then bent forward to reach another book, pulling the second to him he compared the picture in the latter with that of the former and frowned. Getting to his feet he walked from his place by the research table and over to the shelf containing material and notes. Looking for a moment he then found the notepad he wanted, flipping it open he began to read what he had written in it nearly three months earlier.

His eyes grew slightly.

"Angel!" he yelled. "Angel! Come here!"

The vampire in question soon appeared in the doorway with a wondering expression and the bleached blonde waved at him to come and see what he had found.

"I was thinking this might have ties to Greece and creatures which figurate in their mythology," he said and Angel nodded, urging him to go on; which Spike did, saying: "Now, I went down that road a few months back and then left it when I couldn't find a single lead... Back then it was the stars part of the prophecy, and how they have aligned and WILL align with 'the god of fire' that got me thinking of Greek astronomy et cetera. And just now it hit me what I must've overlooked before! Egypt!"

Angel straightened his posture slightly at this, getting a gleam in his eyes which Spike recognized and the latter nodded eagerly before walking around to his place and pointing to the books lying belly-up there.

"The god of fire could be a reference to Aton, the ancient Egyptian sun- god," Spike stated triumphantly. "I can't believe I didn't connect the dots before, but I guess it was too bloody obvious," he added as Angel came around to look at the pictures in the two bands showing drawings of worshippers before two human forms and in the sky there was a large golden sun looking as though set afire. "There's a lot more to this," Spike added. "And I think I actually may have enough to support this theory. I may have found our monster."

"My boy, I think you've struck gold," Angel commended, smiling widely. "You need to give me the details."

"Take a seat," Spike replied, nodding to a chair. "It's a bit complicated."

Angel did as he asked, sitting down and Spike did as well, thinking for a moment before he began.

"About three-thousand-five-hundred years ago there lived a king and queen in Egypt set to change the course of history for their country. The pharaoh had always been forced to share his power with a group of individuals seen with as much reverie as he himself was - these were the high priests of the cult of Amon, keepers of Egypt's most important god said to dwell in the deepest corridor of the temple of Karnak, over which the cult of Amon guarded. The pharaoh, as well as his wife, wanted to break the priest's source of power and so they created their own religion - through the sun- god Aton. Where Amon was cloaked in darkness, Aton shone brightly...

The Amon priests saw the temples built for Aton as sacrilege, and to thwart the uprising conspiracy to murder the king the royal couple fled the ancient capitol of Thebes to build for themselves a new city - Amarna. The Egyptian people had no choice but to follow their leader and Amarna quickly grew... But the pharaoh and his queen had darker intents than merely letting the subject of Amon lie. They started a revolution, plundering the temple of Karnak for funds and beginning an uprooting of the religion of Amon. These were bad times for Egypt... The country was thrust into a crisis of faith as gods known throughout the ages were declared a lie, while nothing of substance seemed to be offered in their stead.

Aton made the king and queen into deities themselves as the only way of worship was to bow down before them in order to have the prayers of the people passed on to the god. And see here..." Spike stopped his story, turning a few pages of the book closest to him before showing a picture of an old stone carving. "This is not a person in awe," he said, "this is a person groveling. Everything seemed to have taken a rather disturbing turn, wouldn't you say? Well, a chain of events lead up to the final demise of the worship of Aton. The first of these was a plague haunting the city of Amarna. The rest is mostly speculation, but the fact is that the cult of the sun-god was laid to rest nearly two decades after it had been born."

Angel cocked an eyebrow.

"Quite a tale," he commented. "The pharaoh of course being Echnaton?" he then asked and Spike nodded. "And the queen..."

"Nefertiti," Spike filled in.

"Why do I get the feeling there is more to the story?" Angel inquired and Spike smirked.

"'Cause this version is the HUMAN one," he then replied simply.

***

"Wait, wait, wait," Buffy said, six hours later and Spike stopped his telling. "This Anton guy..." she added and he smirked.

"Aton," he corrected. "And that's 'god'."

She merely rolled her eyes at him before continuing:

"Okay, this Aton GOD is really a demon?" she asked and Spike nodded.

"According to one of the oldest - and dustiest - history books yours truly could dig up in the matter of two hours, Aton, or Satoch, infiltrated the course of power - power being the main thing that makes this demon tick - through Nefertiti. He possessed her and through her he also got to the king, poisoning both of their minds with visions of power... And he got the chaos he wanted."

"But you said that the religion died out..."

"Yeah, it did," he nodded. "According to the book of Toob, which is the one I've focused on, the plague that swept in over Amarna was sent there by the priests of Amon. Amon, you see, was a powerful demon as well. He is christened Aatoch by the author of the book of Toob, and is supposed to be the opposite of Satoch. Where Satoch craves mayhem, Aatoch prefers order to things. Actually Aatoch is supposedly one of the few demons who seek out peace. The text says that he prefers to lay latent and that the fact of him being stooped into the image of a god was mere coincidence as the first high priest stumbled across his place of rest at a moment when Aatoch was in a state of... wake."

Buffy smiled a little, then said:

"This is growing into a history lesson. Sorry I didn't bring an apple, teacher sir."

He gave her a look at that, and her smile widened.

"I suppose, though," Susannah spoke up and Spike slowly let Buffy's eyes go for turning his own on the other girl, "that Satoch wasn't going to be defeated that easily?" she finished.

"You're, unfortunately, very right," Spike replied. "After the plague, which killed a lot of Satoch's - or rather Aton's - followers, there seem to be a question mark left. No one really knows what happened, only that Satoch lost his power and that it's probable that Aatoch had something to do with it. Some think that Nefertiti outlived her husband and after he had died she ruled in his stead, that the king documented as Achnaton's successor is actually his queen taking another name... However, Nefertiti died as well, and with her the last trace of Satoch."

"And all this was over three-thousand years ago, right?" Gunn asked, his face rather incredulous.

"Yes," Wesley replied. "But it is of little matter, of course. Satoch and Aatoch existed three-thousand years ago, and they most certainly exist today. If a man has a vision for two days after Satoch was defeated or for a decade later or for two millennia later... It is of little consequence, wouldn't you agree?"

"Yeah," Gunn replied. "I guess I would."

"Okay, so WHAT is it that you've figured out, exactly?" Buffy asked, having Spike's eyes in hers again. "I mean... Aton is the god of fire? What does that mean, then?"

"That Satoch is what is about to wake," Spike answered her. "He was, and this is according to legend and not history, blinded by the sun on the morning of his very birth... So, too much seem to fit for us to discard this as what we've been looking for."

"You found our Big Bad?" she asked and he smirked before giving a small bow.

"Tonight I want to look for the missing piece of our prophecy," Angel stated. "That's what Buffy and myself will be engaged in. The battle plan is simple - there is none. We'll have to go on feeling on this one, people."

"Ready, set, steal?" Buffy asked as she rose and the rest followed her lead.

"No, no, that's a dirty word," Gunn replied. "We 'borrow'."

**************************************************************************** **************************************************************************** **************************************************************************** ******************

Facts of Egyptian history based on facts taken from a (and don't mock the cliché here) Discovery channel episode following Joann Fletcher's work on the missing mummy of Nefertiti. All deep thoughts on the queen's fate reserved to Ms. Fletcher. And I hope me borrowing it will not end me up in court! *tremble*

All further deep thoughts than that which lay within the scientific realm are products of yours truly. Satoch and Aatoch being produced by these thoughts. ;) Just to clearify, if it is needed.

People, people! I thank you all dearly for a stash of great fun feedback!

Very warm thanks to Winters1 (*lol* You're deperate enough to bribe me?! Okay, so I'm glad you're thinking of this as good work, anyways. Hope you liked this chapter! And... sorry.) :), wol116 (*smirks* How did you know? Oh, and don't worry about the plot, girl, I've got the whole thing actually already worked out in my head - I just need to get the scramble of words down on paper! :) It IS great to have you guessing, though, and it's so much fun reading what you're thinking! Of course, if you're even close - I'll never tell.) ;), Hope (thank ya and I SO feel accomplished! *smile*) ;), Taelyn (*smiles wide* I know, it IS hard to get used to William, isn't it? It's just so... not Spike, somehow. *smirk* Glad ya liked the kissing thing... ;) And you like Chrises then? Heh-heh. I am, as always, obliged that you enjoy my work. Hope this chapter was no exception!) :), Captain (I'll head for my email right now. I don't check it that often 'cause our computer is SO damn slow you wouldn't believe it! I'm so glad you're still liking this story! Thanks for sharing!) :), MissK (Oh, why, I take that as a very nice compliment! And I hoooped this was fast enough!) ;), skybound (*smiles over the Susannah and the hate thing* :) And she WILL not be so much an enigma throughout, I promise! And I will aim for one chapter a day, my friend! And what was this about a hurricane? That's totally cool, though perhaps not from your perspective, I suppose...) ;), Tobert (*wide smile* Susannah is one disliked chick! Heh-heh. But it is fun that you're liking this!) :) and Jam (So glad you're enjoying and about the Susannah bit - it's nice to read another point of view on her. I totally respect that, it's really cool to read your thoughts on the whole scenario. Thanks for the share!!!) :)

I know this chapter was bursting with new information and I really hope you guys didn't think it was difficult to digest it all. Any questions please don't hesitate to ask me, okay? Not that I think you're idiots or anything! It's just easy to get blinded by facts when you know all of them in your head, and then when you wanna make them clear to others they might not be. Clear, I mean. Okay, any messed up brains - let me try to straighten them out. And EW, gross thought. ;)

HOPE you enjoyed the chapter!

A.M.L, Annie.