THE END IS ONLY THE BEGINNING
Disclaimer: I don't own any of the characters except for the ones that I created.
Author's Note: I've put what happens in this chapter off for 16 chapters but it had to happen sometime so…hope it works out.
CHAPTER 17-THERE'S A FIRST TIME FOR EVERYTHING
It felt odd to him, being back in the Sunnydale of the past, knowing what it would mean if someone were to see him and remember him. The danger that any slipup could cause to the events yet to take place was impossible to predict, let alone understand or hope to control. Buffy, Joyce, and Molly were back home in Texas waiting for him to return with good news and Miss Calendar, charging all of the tickets and everything that he would need on credit cards that they had under one of their fake names, only to be used for extreme emergencies. Buffy had fought back the tears as she said her I'll see you later to him, not wanting to say goodbye because she had been so positive that he'd return. Molly had at first begged to come with him to first Cleveland, then Hawaii, and finally back to Sunnydale to pick up the teacher, but both Spike and Buffy had talked her out of it. And so when he had left home to search for the weapons four weeks prior the new slayer had at first tried to be brave but as he turned to leave she had burst into tears and nearly hugged the life out of him.
The legendary weapon in Cleveland had been easy enough to find, easy if you count having to wade through rave after rave in pursuit of a rather unscrupulous demon. After he had finally gotten hold of Grabulac the cowardly demon had told him of the location of the first of the legendary weapons. Spike had been about to leave then when he had been attacked by a pair of vampires. The attackers were soon turned to piles of dust and before he left Spike had given Grabulac a piece of his mind, leaving the demon's head ten feet from the rest of him. The weapon had been placed in a secure government lockdown, accessible only by people with the right security clearance as scientists tried to determine what the weapon was. With memories of himself and Buffy and the Scoobies sneaking into the Initiative in the back of his mind, and an almost daydream memory of Buffy in a lab coat and how beautiful she had looked, he had taken the place of one of the guards and gained entry into the compound. The instant he had seen the weapon everything had gone haywire, a seemingly limitless electric charge rocketed through all of the compound's systems, frying everything and erasing all of the data that had been collected.
Not being one to look a gift horse in the mouth Spike had shattered the glass case surrounding the weapon before deftly using it to get himself back out of the compound. The power had been shut off and so he had been forced to rely on his senses to keep him away from guard patrols on his way out. Luckily for him the weapon had been a sword, one that looked like it had been made by the one that had made the scythe. Spike had even thought to himself how the sword looked a little like a pirate sword, although he couldn't remember many pirate swords made of whatever material it was exactly that the scythe and this sword were made out of. The instant that he had touched the sword he could have sworn that he had heard a voice thanking him for freeing the weapon and that he must hurry in his efforts to find the second one.
The trek through Hawaii had been an entirely different matter however. He had found Hulauu easily enough but the old woman had told him a riddle that it took almost a full week to figure out. And he had only figured out the riddle when he had overheard a conversation between two suspicious looking men in a back alley. Through solving the riddle Spike had determined that the second legendary weapon was in a magically protected cave in the middle of an active lava field. Nary less than fifteen demons had sprung up in front of him as he tried to even get to the cave's entrance. But with thoughts of what would happen to Buffy and Joyce if her were to fail in the back of his mind Spike had pressed on and managed to get inside the cave. He had traveled for what felt like hours before he had come across an old man sitting near a fire. He had wondered how the old man could possibly have survived in that predicament but urgency had pushed him forward.
That old man had talked his ear off and riddled him with what felt like a million questions before finally shutting up and seeming to approve of the answers that he had received. Spike had been hesitant to mention Whistler's name but once during the conversation it had slipped out. The old man had only smiled at that mistake and kept going, but Spike could tell that the tone of the talk changed after that moment. At the end Spike had started to leave when the old man had asked him why he was leaving without getting what it was that he had come for in the first place. With a sarcastic and witty comment back Spike had retrieved the second weapon before having to run faster than he though that he ever could to outrun the collapsing cave and then the fast moving lava that threatened to engulf him. After he had gotten back to his hotel he had phoned Buffy, an act which he did at least twice a day, and given her the good news.
He had arrived in Sunnydale only hours before Jenny Calendar had bought the Orb of Thessala that she was going to use to restore Angel's soul. Since he had arrived early he had taken to patrolling one of Sunnydale's many cemeteries looking for something to kill. The two legendary weapons were safe and sound in the last place that anyone would ever look for them, hidden inside the crypt that Spike would one day take over as his own. He had thought about stashing the weapons in the school but he had decided against that idea as he bet that some stupid student would find them. He hadn't come across any vampires or demons yet and the sunrise wasn't to far away, prompting him to take a look around the town. He thought about stopping by the Bronze but he guessed that Buffy or one of the others would be there and he didn't want to run into any of them. Instead he swung through the Sunnydale mall and took in a movie.
* * * * * *
"Hey Wes…who are those guys," Faith asked with a jumpy frown on her face as she stepped out onto one of the Hyperion's many balconies and looked down at the courtyard below. The courtyard that had been empty only half an hour earlier was now filled if not overflowing with well armed soldiers.
"A Wolfram and Hart special ops team, I asked the tech team that's looking into Buffy's disappearance to make sure to bring them along…remember," Wesley replied with a nervous frown on his face as he scratched his chin.
"Oh yeah…hey you okay," Faith asked with an immature laugh before the look on her face changed to one of concern and worry as she turned around and leaned back up against the railing so that she could face Wesley.
"You know me Faith…I haven't been okay in a good long while…," Wesley said with a very gruff and somber tone of voice as he leaned forward and put his hands on the railing, with his axe propped up nearby.
"Yeah, I know…me either…but still Wes…I mean…God…this is all just going to hell faster than I think that I can handle," Faith started to say with a make believe shrug of confidence before she slouched and looked up at Wesley with a worried look in her eyes.
"You can handle anything Faith, you're a slayer, it's what you do…but I do agree that this is all happening to quickly, as if hastened by some spell or conjuring," Wesley replied with an equally worried look in his eyes even though the look on his face was that of total confidence.
"Ooh…bringing out the big words aren't we…," Faith mumbled softly with a gentle smile on her face as she leaned in closer to Wesley and gently traced the line of the scar on Wesley's neck with her finger.
"The bigger, the better," Wesley said with a cheesy smile on his face as he turned to look at Faith before a part of him realized just how close the two were at that moment. But instead of pulling away and keeping his wall of indifference up he stayed where he was.
"You know you don't have to do that to impress me," Faith said almost in a whisper with a very nervous smile on her face as she slowly began to inch closer to Wesley.
"Yeah I know…but it's…," Wesley started to say with a very unsure smile on his face, as he uncontrollably began to slowly lean towards Faith, before she interrupted him by softly pressing her lips against his in what he at first thought was an accident. But then because he didn't make a move to pull back she pressed on, kissing him again. Even though a million thoughts kept spiraling through his mind about how what he was doing was wrong for the life of him Wesley didn't want to be doing anything else.
"Uh…sorry…," Faith mumbled softly with an embarrassed look on her face as she quickly pulled away and looked down at the courtyard.
"Why…I'm not," Wesley said with an almost to nervous to move look on his face before Faith slowly turned her head back towards him with a scared stiff look in her eyes. Before Faith could turn her attention back to the courtyard below Wesley reached out and cupped her face with both of his hands. "I'm not…," Wesley whispered softly with an overly excited smile on his face before he pulled Faith back into a kiss that started off slow and kind of awkward but turned into one of earnest when he felt Faith heavily lean into the kiss and press her body firmly up against his. For several moments the two, disgraced watcher and rogue slayer, were in total bliss, not caring whether or not anyone saw them. As Wesley began to pull away from the kiss to take in some much needed air Faith abruptly stepped back and briskly walked back into the room. "Faith…," Wesley asked with a concerned frown on his face as he left his axe out on the balcony and followed Faith into the room.
"Wes I…I now that we shouldn't…but…hell this has always been so easy for me but now…I'm like a stupid freshman on prom night," Faith said with an oddly nervous for her smile on her face as she found that she couldn't look Wesley in the eye.
"I'm not your watcher anymore Faith…and even though I have some of the same feelings that you have, telling me that my feelings…for you, are wrong I'm willing to take a chance…if you are," Wesley said softly with a very sincere smile on his face as he slowly walked over to Faith, who now stood at the foot of the bed, before laying a hand on her shoulder.
"Ya know what Wes…I am…that's what I'm afraid of…," Faith whispered back her reply as she brought her hands up and slowly started to slide one underneath Wesley's shirt and around towards the small of his back while the other she lifted up to softly brush up against Wesley's cheek.
"Me too," Wesley said, barely in a whisper, as he cupped Faith's face with one hand while slowly wrapping his other arm around her slightly shivering body.
"Good…," Faith added back only in her head as she and Wesley leaned into one of the most eager and memorable kisses that either had ever experienced. Seconds later Wesley slid his hand that was on the back of Faith's hip under her shirt. The former rogue slayer jumped a bit at what Wesley thought was either the coolness of his touch or just the fact of his hand making contact with her skin. As his hand continued its trek up her back Faith laughed into the kiss a bit.
"Who knew she was ticklish," Wesley thought with a small laugh back before Faith brought her other hand back down from Wesley's face and slowly pulled Wesley's shirt off, leaving her trying not to stare at his chest. Her eyes slowly flickered over the many different size and shapes of scars that Wesley seemed to almost wear with pride. Cautiously she traced one of the particularly ugly scars with her finger, her brows furrowing with worry. "Gunshot from a zombie cop…I'll tell you about it if you want," Wesley asked with a soft smile on his face before Faith shook her head and smiled. Before he could ask anything else Faith grabbed him by his belt and pulled him back into another passionate kiss. This time his hands both went to work slowly pushing Faith's shirt up until she broke the kiss and helped him pull her shirt off, shivering slightly as the cool night air brushed up against her skin. "Cold…," Wesley asked softly, his voice full of concern, as he pulled Faith close.
"Not anymore," Faith almost giggled back with a happy smile on her face before she pulled Wesley back into a kiss and started to back up towards the bed. At the same time that the back of Faith's legs hit the foot of the bed Wesley's hands found the clasp of her bra. With an unsure look on his face Wesley pulled away from the kiss and looked deep into Faith's eyes, seemingly asking for permission. Faith said nary a word, only a sexy smile and nod of her head before pulling Wesley back into another kiss gave him his answer. As the two collapsed back onto the bed Faith's bra slipped unceremoniously to the floor. Unconsciously Faith dug her fingernails into Wesley's back, drawing blood from every cut. In response Wesley turned the pair onto their side and brought one hand around to cup one of Faith's breasts while he pushed the fingers of his other hand down the back of her jeans, eliciting a sharp inhalation of air by Faith as he squeezed.
"Hey," Faith forced out through a smile before she continued the kiss as she leaned her upper body into Wesley and brought her hands down from his back and set them about unbuttoning his jeans. As she pushed the zipper down Wesley pushed her back a bit. "What…," Faith asked with a confused and slightly hurt frown on her face.
"You first…," Wesley replied with a kiss as he returned the favor and began to unbutton Faith's pants, with a sheepishly smiling Faith soon helping.
"Jerk…," Faith shot back with a fake scowl of anger on her face as she wriggled out of her jeans and kicked them off of the end of the bed.
"Slut…," Wesley growled back before he tilted his head and started trailing a line of kisses from Faith's collarbone up to her ear, finally nibbling at it a bit, causing Faith to shudder while snickering. As he pulled back to kiss her again Faith took command and grabbed his jeans by his front pockets and pulled them off, getting quite a shock as she pulled his underwear off at the same time. Wesley started to smile sheepishly and shrug his shoulders but Faith stopped him with a smile and a kiss before she let Wesley trail a warm hand down from her cheek along the curves of her body down to her hip. Catching his thumb underneath the waistband of her panties he continued his trek and pulled the clean off, twirling them around on the end of his index finger before sending them flying towards the door.
"Bastard…," Faith shot back as she pulled Wesley into her, biting her lip and snapping her eyes shut at the sensation while Wesley went back to trailing a line of kisses on her neck. For the two new lovers the next several hours were lost in one moment of ecstasy after another.
* * * * * *
Meanwhile downstairs in the lobby Angel was pacing nervously back and forth in front of the counter while Cordelia sat behind it, idly flipping through the paper. Fred had called earlier about her progress at Wolfram and Hart. She had said that Gunn and Giles had split everyone up and were able to find places to sleep for them all. Almost immediately after that Giles had begun using everything at Wolfram and Hart's arsenal to try to find a way to get Buffy, Spike, and Molly back. Robin had said that he wanted to talk to Faith but when Angel had looked around he had only been able to catch sight of Faith hurrying around a corner after flying up the stairs. The slayer's son had become very angry at Angel's answer that Faith was probably wherever Wesley was. Cordelia had grabbed the phone out of Angel's hands then and was quickly embroiled in a conversation with Willow about something that Angel didn't find any interest in. But that phone call had been over an hour ago and Angel was finding it harder and harder to stay calm.
"Would you stop pacing around…you're making me nauseous," Cordelia exclaimed with a slightly sickly frown on her face as she placed a hand over her stomach.
"Sorry…but I hate this…waiting around for something to happen while Buffy's God knows where with Spike," Angel shot back with a frustrated and angry scowl on his face as he stopped pacing long enough to make sure that he got his point across.
"Of course…can't forget about Buffy…an army of murderous demon thugs is coming here God knows when to kill you…and me…and all that you can do is get jealous about your grandchilde and ex," Cordelia said with a very sad and somber tone to her voice and look on her face as she slumped her shoulders and looked away.
"Cordy…it's not like…Cordy…," Angel started to growl back with an angry scowl on his face before he actually looked over at Cordelia and saw the condition that she was in. Without another word he slipped around the counter and walked up to her. "I'm sorry…I didn't mean to…," Angel mumbled softly with an embarrassed frown on his face as he hesitantly put his arms around Cordelia and drew her close.
"I know…it's just that…," Cordelia started to say with a heartbroken look in her eyes before she couldn't finish the sentence as she let a few tears fall and dropped her face into Angel's chest.
"We'll get through this Cordelia…I promise…and then things will get better, for all of us," Angel said with a worried smile on his face before he hugged the former cheerleader tightly, hoping that his prediction would come true, for all involved.
END OF CHAPTER 17