Divine Interference
Part Eight
Posted: April 19, 2004
Author's notes: Ok, guys, this is LITERALLY all I've got typed. I might have a bit more that isn't typed, but I'm on a huge roll with Stolen Innocence, and almost got that done, besides that even though I'm on vacation, I'm getting up at 6 am every morning, just to get $100 on Thursday. If only JW would let me either sleep or write...yeah, I'm babysitting this kid, she's eight, and off the walls. Remind me to NOT let her have any more candy, or coffee, ok? Thanks.
So this might be it for awhile, at least until Thursday, though I think I'm gonna start posting Stolen Innocence soon....
Oh yeah! I'm also judging for two categories for the Barefoot Awards! Can't forget that, sheesh. So if you don't hear from me until after May 6th, or something like that, you know the reason why. I'm reading insanely long stories for someone who actually trusts my judgment on stories! And won't it be hilarious if I end up nominating this story for the next round, and they find this stuff! Lol. Poor, poor, pitiful me. All these boys won't let me be...no, wait, that's a song. Sorry!
*Sigh* and my two of my favorite stories were updated today! I'm gonna end up getting behind, and then lost! ARG!
Ok, here are the reader's Responses:
And I still can't spell responses right...oh! I just did! Yay for me!
*sigh* way too many One of a Kind reviews...can't find reviews for this.....
THERE THEY ARE!!!
Bluie: yeah, I thought you'd know who you are, but ah, Bluie? Xander doing Sesame Street, that was from the script....go and watch Dracula, season five a couple times, ok? It'll all be ok....we'll get you help, someday. Just not today, I'm too tired.... And I will read I am Wyatt eventually....hopefully...I can do that study hall next week! If I'm done with my judging that is...*sigh*
Buffy and Giles moment...I think I wrote that myself, if I'm remembering the right one...I think I've written all of the Buffy/Giles moments in here... just too tired to think straight! Lol. But I'm glad you liked it!
What? Only one review? Huh.....
Yuppers, only one. Oh well. That means you get the story sooner!
And for future reference, can I just ask you to review? Cuz I have a feeling I'm gonna get real.
And this chapter, yet again, has some script in it. Not sure how much is mine, and how much is script, but oh well. Hopefully you should be able to tell what's mine and what's not, though I may have edited some things in the script. *sigh*
~ * ~ * ~ * ~ *~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~
Life was good, few vampires each night, spending time with the gang, spending time with Dawn, spending time with Angel, no matter how much it hurt her heart.
In October, after the last proprietor's death, Giles decided that it was time to get the Scooby Meetings out of his living room, and so he bought the local magic shop, renaming it the Magic Box. He even revamped the back room, making it a training space for Buffy, and Angel, when he was around.
Buffy wasn't sure she liked the thought of her daughter hanging around a magic shop all day, but she really didn't have any other choice. Giles soon hired Anya, to help him with the shop, and Dawn.
Buffy was patrolling one night, and she was fighting a vampire near a fence. She got thrown into the chain link fence, hitting the NO TRESSPASSING sign posted there. Just her luck she had to find a burly, Hell's Angel vampire to fight that night. No skinny, wimpy toothpicks for her. He stood menacingly over her, where she sat on the ground.
"I've always wanted to kill a slayer."
"And I've always wanted piano lessons. So who's surprised that we have all this unexpressed rage?" she hit him again and again. He landed a punch to the face, and she stumbled backwards, he edged forward, throwing a punch at her, this one she catches, twisting his arm around behind his back and slamming him against the fence. "But honestly, I think I'm expressing mine better. Tell ya what, you find yourself a nice anger management class..." he tries to throw her off, but she returned quickly, slamming him against the fence once more, and whipping out her stake. "I'll just jam this stake into your heart." She did so, before slipping the stake back into her pocket, "And one more for the Buffster." She started to walk away.
"HEY!" a security guard called from the driveway of the building. She turned to look, only to be blinded by a flashlight. "Miss, if you're looking for one of those rave parties, I'm afraid you're late. Chased a bunch of kids out of here last night."
Buffy quickly thought up a response, "Oh, right. Yeah. Darn. My fellow ravers will be so disappointed. It was my turn to bring the Bundt cake."
"You know, if it was my call, I'd let you do whatever you want. It's not like anybody's using this place or nothin'. But they just don't pay me enough to argue with the boss so..." the guy said.
"Already gone!" She turned to leave but the guard stopped her.
"Oh, hey! Hold it, miss. Take your... whatever this is with you." He bends over, and picked up a glowing yellow orb and handed it to her. She looked at it curiously.
"Thank you." She murmured.
"Glow balls, huh?" he laughed, "I swear, I don't get your generation. What is that thing?"
"I'll let you know as soon as I find out." She said, distracted, wondering. She turns and walks off into the night.
~ * ~
The next day, Buffy brought the strange glowing orb to the Magic Box, for Giles' overview.
"You all right? You seem a little distracted." He asked after she had settled Dawn's carrier by the table. Willow sat across from her, keeping the baby occupied for the time being.
"I didn't get much sleep last night. Dawn was up most of it, cranky."
"Then leave her here, I'll take her for the day, go home and get some well deserved sleep."
"Actually, I have a little Scooby-centric deal to deal with first." Buffy reached into her bag and removed the glowing yellow globe. "I put this before the group. What the hell is it?"
"It appears to be paranormal in origin." Giles said, picking it up.
"How can you tell?" Willow asked.
"Well, it's so shiny." Giles said, an un-Giles-like statement.
"I found it on patrol last night."
"Well, ah, leave it here, and Dawn, and go get some sleep. We'll research, and see what we can come up with."
"Yeah, we can take care of Dawnie. If I had known you were so tired, I would have offered before." Willow told her.
"Thanks guys. This parenting stuff is harder than I thought it would be." Buffy said, sighing. "Bye, baby. Be good for Aunt Willow and Grampa Giles." Giles turned a pale shade of red, but Buffy ignored him as she kissed her child. She was getting so big, at four months of age.
*****A/n: is she really four months already? Where have I been? Gotta check that number....later...
"Do you think this could have anything to do with that prophecy?" Willow asked as she took the baby out of the carrier after Buffy had left.
"Anything's possible on the hellmouth." Was his reply.
"Are you going to tell her?"
"She's worried enough, being a single parent. Until we find something more concrete, keep quiet, please. She's under enough stress as it is. We don't need to add to it." Willow nodded.
~ * ~
"Buffy? Oh, I'm glad I've caught you. I think we may have underestimated what we're dealing with." Buffy sets down her things on the table, she was just getting ready to go pick up Dawn.
"Go on."
"We've uncovered more than expected about this orb. It's called the Dagon Sphere and it has a history going back many centuries."
"What's it do?"
"It's a protective device, used to ward off ancient primordial evil."
"Any word on what this evil looks like?"
"Unfortunately, no. This is where accounts get vague. All we've managed to uncover so far is the Dagon Sphere was created to repel That Which Cannot Be Named."
****A/N: Voldemort?
****** I'm sitting here, rereading it before I post, and that's all I can think of....lol.
"I'm going to go back to the factory where I found it. Whoever planted this doohickey's got answers."
"Buffy, you've heard me say this before, but do be careful. Anything that goes unnamed is usually an object of deep worship or great fear- maybe both."
"What isn't around here?"
"Maybe you should wait until Angel can go with you, Buffy. He's coming tonight, correct?"
"Yeah, to spend time with his darling daughter. He can be the one that stays up all night with her, since he would anyway. Don't worry about me, ok? I'll be fine. I've got to go, ok? Bye." With that, she hung up.
****A/N: *pouts* I'm currently working from the transcript for the Episode No Place Like Home, and here's my fav quote from like the whole season! You know, the "Spike, what are you doing here? In five words or less?" But it just won't work in this story. Sorry.
*pouts some more*
******And I'm sorry how this is going. The transcripts are all in present tense, and I always write in past, so.... things are pretty bumpy right now, but I'm not a good enough writer to fix the kinks.
~ * ~
Buffy snapped the chain holding the gate shut by the old building she had patrolled at the night before. She then snuck inside. Once there, she flicked on her flashlight and started exploring the musty corridors of the abandoned building. Eventually, she came across the tremendous gaping hole in the wall and the twisted remains of the tempered steel door. She examined the wreckage with concern. She shined her light over the shattered remains of the blast door, then looked deeper into the room. She sees the monk, semi-conscious and tied to the chair.
"Whoa." She ran to his aid and started loosening his restraints. "It was you who planted the Dagon Sphere, right? I got it. Don't worry. I'm stronger than I look." Glory silently approached Buffy from behind. "I have had experience with stuff like this before. Best of all..." Buffy whirled around and seizes Glory by the throat. "I'm not stupid."
Glory gives Buffy a withering look, wrenching Buffy's arm from her neck and backhanding the Slayer with such force that she flies 50 feet across the room and impacts the cement wall so hard she cracks it. Buffy fell to floor and looks up at Glory, stunned at her power.
"You sure about that last part?" She asked.
"You- you're that woman from Angel Investigations." Buffy said, standing slowly.
"Yeah, what's it to ya?"
Buffy went to attack her, but she slammed her into the cement wall again, face first. The wall cracked under the impact. Glory strides toward her and seized her by the shoulders. "And another thing? I just want you to know..." She slammed Buffy into a support pillar and pummeled her. "The whole "beat ya to death" thing I'm doing? It's valuable time out of life that I'm never gonna get back. Let's just hope it doesn't put me on bad terms with that guy, Angel. He is helping me, after all." Buffy tried to fight back, but Glory grabbed both her arms and wrenches them downward. Buffy cries out in pain.
"Wait, I've always wanted to try this. You know that thing with worms where if you have one, you rip it in half, you got two worms? Do you think that'll work with you?" Buffy slams her head into Glory's face and breaks free. Glory cried out in shock. "You hit me! What, are you crazy?" Buffy pressed the attack, hitting and kicking for all she's worth, forcing Glory backward, but her blows seem more to offend Glory than injure her. "You can't go around hitting people. What, were you born in a barn? Fine. Be that way."
Glory easily blocked Buffy's next blow and swung her around into the wall. She sent a blow for Buffy's head but the Slayer ducked at the last instant and Glory's fist punched through the concrete. Glory picked Buffy up by the throat and holds her there, gasping for air.
"I just noticed something. You have super powers. That is so cool. Can you fly?" She hurled Buffy clear across the room where she lands, dazed, next to the dying monk. Buffy got to her feet and prepared to engage Glory again but realizes her priority is the monk. She helped him out of the chair.
"Hey! Hands off my holy man!"
Buffy picks him up and runs toward the window. Realizing what Buffy was about to do, Glory charges after them. She's too late, Buffy crashes through the window with the monk and tumbles to the ground below.
Glory stumbles to a halt when the heel on her shoe breaks off. She takes off the shoe and glowers at it in frustration.
Outside, Buffy helped the critically injured monk across the lot.
"Stop. Please." The monk pleaded.
"No. We have to keep going." They stumbled across the lot to the chain-link fence surrounding the property. The monk collapses against it, gasping.
"My journey's done, I think."
"Don't get metaphory on me. We're going." She tries to lift him again but he stops her.
"You have to... the Key. You must protect the Key."
"Fine. We can protect the Key together, okay, just far, far from here."
"Many more die if you don't keep it safe."
"How? What is it?" Buffy asked, knowing that Angel was looking for it, though she was thinking about having him call the whole thing off.
"The Key is energy. It's a portal. It opens the door..."
"The Dagon Sphere?" Buffy didn't understand.
"No. For centuries it had no form at all. My brethren, its only keepers. Then the abomination found us. We had to hide the Key, gave it form, molded it flesh... made it human and sent it to you." Buffy stares at him in shock as the realization finally sinks in.
"Dawn..." she shook her head, not wanting to believe, but knowing it had to be true. How else could a child be conceived on a day that had never existed?
"She is the Key."
"You put that in my house? I-In my body?"
"We had to knew the Slayer would protect."
"My memories...did you alter them?"
"No...someone else did that." The monk starts coughing heavily. He's fading fast. "You cannot abandon."
"I didn't ask for this! I don't even know... what is she?"
"Human... now human. And helpless. Please... she's an innocent in this. She needs you."
"She's not my baby, though, is she?"
"Yes, she is. She's your flesh and blood. Made out of...you." The monk exhales one last time and dies. Buffy is stunned, her life turned upside down.
She just sat there, stunned. After a moment, she remembered the danger still inside the old building, and ran for home.
She closed the door and leaned against it, breathing hard, not so much from the excursion, but from the fear of what she had learned. "Buffy?" he melted from the shadows, their daughter in his arms.
"Don't find the key, Angel. Please."
"Why? What happened? Buffy, you're shaking." he touched her arm, and she instinctively flinched away from the physical contact.
"T-the key was sent to me...to protect it."
"You have the Key?" she bit her lip, worrying a cut that began to bleed again, and she winced at the unexpected reminder of her defeat. "You're bleeding." he gently wiped the welling blood from her lip. "Who did this to you?"
"T-that bitch." she saw she needed to clarify, "The woman, Glory. Sh-she killed a man. And she wants the key."
"But you have it. You have the key, right now, right?"
She shook her head. "No. You do." she whispered. She dropped her gaze to the sleeping child, and his followed.
"No," he whispered softly. She nodded. "We can't tell anyone. It would put them in danger, put her in danger."
"So, Wes and Cordy, they're just going to keep searching? And what if they find something? What then?"
"We'll make due."
"I can't not tell Giles. I've...taken him for granted and...I just have to tell him."
"That would be wise, he is your watcher. But no one else. Not your mom, not Willow or Xander, or Anya. No one."
She nodded, "I understand." He handed her the baby and hugged the two of them.
"Go on to bed, it's late."
"Will you-"
"I'll be right here. I promise." She nodded, and turned to go to her room, "Uh, Buffy...?"
"Of course." She handed him back the child, and his eyes lit up. Dawn made him so happy. "Night, Baby. I love you." She waved one of Dawn's tiny hands, then turned to go to her room.
"Goodnight, Buffy. I love you." He said softly as the door closed behind her.
She stood on the other side of the almost closed door. In the silence of the house, she had heard his whispered confession. "I love you too." She murmured, before quickly changing for bed.
She woke up the next morning refreshed. It had been the first night in months that she had gotten a full night's sleep. Well, what counted for a full night's sleep in her line of duty.
It was early on a Saturday, so Willow was still sleeping, and the apartment was surprisingly quiet. She shuffled out into the living too. Angel sat, slouched, on the couch, fast asleep. Dawn lay on his chest, also sleeping. She smiled, and slipped past them into the kitchen
At the table sat someone she hadn't thought she'd ever see again. "Good morning. You're the last person I'd thought I'd see today. Or ever."
"Yes, the Powers felt you had enough help, with the watcher, vampire and witch. But she wanted to send you some final information. You've no doubt figured some of it out, but the rest will soon follow. The End of Days is near. Be ye prepared."
"Ok." Buffy said wearily.
"Then goodbye, Lass. You have the prayers of me, and my kin. For it is not just your world that will suffer the wrath of the consequences. All worlds will tremble. I just fear you will need so much more within the coming days." The elf bowed, then disappeared. Buffy sighed. Now she was going to have to forgo the tea, she really needed the extra caffeine of coffee this morning.
~ * ~
"Giles, I need to talk to you." She said, walking into the shop minutes after Giles himself had arrived.
"Uh, ok. Sit down, Buffy. What's wrong?"
"I went patrolling last night, and I met one of Angel's clients. She wanted Angel to find the Key, but now I have information on it, and I...." She sighed. Giles got up and locked both doors into the shop.
"Continue." He said, after sitting down, beside Buffy.
"Dawn is.... the...she is..." she couldn't say it.
"This key." Giles inferred. Buffy nodded.
"They...they sent her to me. To keep her...it....her safe. I want to keep her safe. She's my child."
"Do we tell the others?"
"NO! No, they'd just act weird around her, and she's so little, and she wouldn't comprehend it all.... Angel says its best they don't know."
"Right, I agree. For the time being, anyway. Now, we just have to find out what she needs Dawn for." He stands and starts pacing, as Buffy taps her fingers on the table, thinking. "I mean, if she comes after-"
"She'll come. She'll come for us. I know it." She sighed.
~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~
Beacoup de reviews, s'il vous plait?
Ok, so I'm no good at speaking, or writing French!
I'm gonna try to shoot for another update as early as next Tuesday, but depending on how things go...I don't know. I just don't know. Lol. See ya all later!
ANGELic dreams!
Lol....hehehehehhehehe.....
And if something doesn't make sense, tenses, or verb agreement, or sigular/plural agreement, just blame it on lack of sleep! I know I do!
Part Eight
Posted: April 19, 2004
Author's notes: Ok, guys, this is LITERALLY all I've got typed. I might have a bit more that isn't typed, but I'm on a huge roll with Stolen Innocence, and almost got that done, besides that even though I'm on vacation, I'm getting up at 6 am every morning, just to get $100 on Thursday. If only JW would let me either sleep or write...yeah, I'm babysitting this kid, she's eight, and off the walls. Remind me to NOT let her have any more candy, or coffee, ok? Thanks.
So this might be it for awhile, at least until Thursday, though I think I'm gonna start posting Stolen Innocence soon....
Oh yeah! I'm also judging for two categories for the Barefoot Awards! Can't forget that, sheesh. So if you don't hear from me until after May 6th, or something like that, you know the reason why. I'm reading insanely long stories for someone who actually trusts my judgment on stories! And won't it be hilarious if I end up nominating this story for the next round, and they find this stuff! Lol. Poor, poor, pitiful me. All these boys won't let me be...no, wait, that's a song. Sorry!
*Sigh* and my two of my favorite stories were updated today! I'm gonna end up getting behind, and then lost! ARG!
Ok, here are the reader's Responses:
And I still can't spell responses right...oh! I just did! Yay for me!
*sigh* way too many One of a Kind reviews...can't find reviews for this.....
THERE THEY ARE!!!
Bluie: yeah, I thought you'd know who you are, but ah, Bluie? Xander doing Sesame Street, that was from the script....go and watch Dracula, season five a couple times, ok? It'll all be ok....we'll get you help, someday. Just not today, I'm too tired.... And I will read I am Wyatt eventually....hopefully...I can do that study hall next week! If I'm done with my judging that is...*sigh*
Buffy and Giles moment...I think I wrote that myself, if I'm remembering the right one...I think I've written all of the Buffy/Giles moments in here... just too tired to think straight! Lol. But I'm glad you liked it!
What? Only one review? Huh.....
Yuppers, only one. Oh well. That means you get the story sooner!
And for future reference, can I just ask you to review? Cuz I have a feeling I'm gonna get real.
And this chapter, yet again, has some script in it. Not sure how much is mine, and how much is script, but oh well. Hopefully you should be able to tell what's mine and what's not, though I may have edited some things in the script. *sigh*
~ * ~ * ~ * ~ *~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~
Life was good, few vampires each night, spending time with the gang, spending time with Dawn, spending time with Angel, no matter how much it hurt her heart.
In October, after the last proprietor's death, Giles decided that it was time to get the Scooby Meetings out of his living room, and so he bought the local magic shop, renaming it the Magic Box. He even revamped the back room, making it a training space for Buffy, and Angel, when he was around.
Buffy wasn't sure she liked the thought of her daughter hanging around a magic shop all day, but she really didn't have any other choice. Giles soon hired Anya, to help him with the shop, and Dawn.
Buffy was patrolling one night, and she was fighting a vampire near a fence. She got thrown into the chain link fence, hitting the NO TRESSPASSING sign posted there. Just her luck she had to find a burly, Hell's Angel vampire to fight that night. No skinny, wimpy toothpicks for her. He stood menacingly over her, where she sat on the ground.
"I've always wanted to kill a slayer."
"And I've always wanted piano lessons. So who's surprised that we have all this unexpressed rage?" she hit him again and again. He landed a punch to the face, and she stumbled backwards, he edged forward, throwing a punch at her, this one she catches, twisting his arm around behind his back and slamming him against the fence. "But honestly, I think I'm expressing mine better. Tell ya what, you find yourself a nice anger management class..." he tries to throw her off, but she returned quickly, slamming him against the fence once more, and whipping out her stake. "I'll just jam this stake into your heart." She did so, before slipping the stake back into her pocket, "And one more for the Buffster." She started to walk away.
"HEY!" a security guard called from the driveway of the building. She turned to look, only to be blinded by a flashlight. "Miss, if you're looking for one of those rave parties, I'm afraid you're late. Chased a bunch of kids out of here last night."
Buffy quickly thought up a response, "Oh, right. Yeah. Darn. My fellow ravers will be so disappointed. It was my turn to bring the Bundt cake."
"You know, if it was my call, I'd let you do whatever you want. It's not like anybody's using this place or nothin'. But they just don't pay me enough to argue with the boss so..." the guy said.
"Already gone!" She turned to leave but the guard stopped her.
"Oh, hey! Hold it, miss. Take your... whatever this is with you." He bends over, and picked up a glowing yellow orb and handed it to her. She looked at it curiously.
"Thank you." She murmured.
"Glow balls, huh?" he laughed, "I swear, I don't get your generation. What is that thing?"
"I'll let you know as soon as I find out." She said, distracted, wondering. She turns and walks off into the night.
~ * ~
The next day, Buffy brought the strange glowing orb to the Magic Box, for Giles' overview.
"You all right? You seem a little distracted." He asked after she had settled Dawn's carrier by the table. Willow sat across from her, keeping the baby occupied for the time being.
"I didn't get much sleep last night. Dawn was up most of it, cranky."
"Then leave her here, I'll take her for the day, go home and get some well deserved sleep."
"Actually, I have a little Scooby-centric deal to deal with first." Buffy reached into her bag and removed the glowing yellow globe. "I put this before the group. What the hell is it?"
"It appears to be paranormal in origin." Giles said, picking it up.
"How can you tell?" Willow asked.
"Well, it's so shiny." Giles said, an un-Giles-like statement.
"I found it on patrol last night."
"Well, ah, leave it here, and Dawn, and go get some sleep. We'll research, and see what we can come up with."
"Yeah, we can take care of Dawnie. If I had known you were so tired, I would have offered before." Willow told her.
"Thanks guys. This parenting stuff is harder than I thought it would be." Buffy said, sighing. "Bye, baby. Be good for Aunt Willow and Grampa Giles." Giles turned a pale shade of red, but Buffy ignored him as she kissed her child. She was getting so big, at four months of age.
*****A/n: is she really four months already? Where have I been? Gotta check that number....later...
"Do you think this could have anything to do with that prophecy?" Willow asked as she took the baby out of the carrier after Buffy had left.
"Anything's possible on the hellmouth." Was his reply.
"Are you going to tell her?"
"She's worried enough, being a single parent. Until we find something more concrete, keep quiet, please. She's under enough stress as it is. We don't need to add to it." Willow nodded.
~ * ~
"Buffy? Oh, I'm glad I've caught you. I think we may have underestimated what we're dealing with." Buffy sets down her things on the table, she was just getting ready to go pick up Dawn.
"Go on."
"We've uncovered more than expected about this orb. It's called the Dagon Sphere and it has a history going back many centuries."
"What's it do?"
"It's a protective device, used to ward off ancient primordial evil."
"Any word on what this evil looks like?"
"Unfortunately, no. This is where accounts get vague. All we've managed to uncover so far is the Dagon Sphere was created to repel That Which Cannot Be Named."
****A/N: Voldemort?
****** I'm sitting here, rereading it before I post, and that's all I can think of....lol.
"I'm going to go back to the factory where I found it. Whoever planted this doohickey's got answers."
"Buffy, you've heard me say this before, but do be careful. Anything that goes unnamed is usually an object of deep worship or great fear- maybe both."
"What isn't around here?"
"Maybe you should wait until Angel can go with you, Buffy. He's coming tonight, correct?"
"Yeah, to spend time with his darling daughter. He can be the one that stays up all night with her, since he would anyway. Don't worry about me, ok? I'll be fine. I've got to go, ok? Bye." With that, she hung up.
****A/N: *pouts* I'm currently working from the transcript for the Episode No Place Like Home, and here's my fav quote from like the whole season! You know, the "Spike, what are you doing here? In five words or less?" But it just won't work in this story. Sorry.
*pouts some more*
******And I'm sorry how this is going. The transcripts are all in present tense, and I always write in past, so.... things are pretty bumpy right now, but I'm not a good enough writer to fix the kinks.
~ * ~
Buffy snapped the chain holding the gate shut by the old building she had patrolled at the night before. She then snuck inside. Once there, she flicked on her flashlight and started exploring the musty corridors of the abandoned building. Eventually, she came across the tremendous gaping hole in the wall and the twisted remains of the tempered steel door. She examined the wreckage with concern. She shined her light over the shattered remains of the blast door, then looked deeper into the room. She sees the monk, semi-conscious and tied to the chair.
"Whoa." She ran to his aid and started loosening his restraints. "It was you who planted the Dagon Sphere, right? I got it. Don't worry. I'm stronger than I look." Glory silently approached Buffy from behind. "I have had experience with stuff like this before. Best of all..." Buffy whirled around and seizes Glory by the throat. "I'm not stupid."
Glory gives Buffy a withering look, wrenching Buffy's arm from her neck and backhanding the Slayer with such force that she flies 50 feet across the room and impacts the cement wall so hard she cracks it. Buffy fell to floor and looks up at Glory, stunned at her power.
"You sure about that last part?" She asked.
"You- you're that woman from Angel Investigations." Buffy said, standing slowly.
"Yeah, what's it to ya?"
Buffy went to attack her, but she slammed her into the cement wall again, face first. The wall cracked under the impact. Glory strides toward her and seized her by the shoulders. "And another thing? I just want you to know..." She slammed Buffy into a support pillar and pummeled her. "The whole "beat ya to death" thing I'm doing? It's valuable time out of life that I'm never gonna get back. Let's just hope it doesn't put me on bad terms with that guy, Angel. He is helping me, after all." Buffy tried to fight back, but Glory grabbed both her arms and wrenches them downward. Buffy cries out in pain.
"Wait, I've always wanted to try this. You know that thing with worms where if you have one, you rip it in half, you got two worms? Do you think that'll work with you?" Buffy slams her head into Glory's face and breaks free. Glory cried out in shock. "You hit me! What, are you crazy?" Buffy pressed the attack, hitting and kicking for all she's worth, forcing Glory backward, but her blows seem more to offend Glory than injure her. "You can't go around hitting people. What, were you born in a barn? Fine. Be that way."
Glory easily blocked Buffy's next blow and swung her around into the wall. She sent a blow for Buffy's head but the Slayer ducked at the last instant and Glory's fist punched through the concrete. Glory picked Buffy up by the throat and holds her there, gasping for air.
"I just noticed something. You have super powers. That is so cool. Can you fly?" She hurled Buffy clear across the room where she lands, dazed, next to the dying monk. Buffy got to her feet and prepared to engage Glory again but realizes her priority is the monk. She helped him out of the chair.
"Hey! Hands off my holy man!"
Buffy picks him up and runs toward the window. Realizing what Buffy was about to do, Glory charges after them. She's too late, Buffy crashes through the window with the monk and tumbles to the ground below.
Glory stumbles to a halt when the heel on her shoe breaks off. She takes off the shoe and glowers at it in frustration.
Outside, Buffy helped the critically injured monk across the lot.
"Stop. Please." The monk pleaded.
"No. We have to keep going." They stumbled across the lot to the chain-link fence surrounding the property. The monk collapses against it, gasping.
"My journey's done, I think."
"Don't get metaphory on me. We're going." She tries to lift him again but he stops her.
"You have to... the Key. You must protect the Key."
"Fine. We can protect the Key together, okay, just far, far from here."
"Many more die if you don't keep it safe."
"How? What is it?" Buffy asked, knowing that Angel was looking for it, though she was thinking about having him call the whole thing off.
"The Key is energy. It's a portal. It opens the door..."
"The Dagon Sphere?" Buffy didn't understand.
"No. For centuries it had no form at all. My brethren, its only keepers. Then the abomination found us. We had to hide the Key, gave it form, molded it flesh... made it human and sent it to you." Buffy stares at him in shock as the realization finally sinks in.
"Dawn..." she shook her head, not wanting to believe, but knowing it had to be true. How else could a child be conceived on a day that had never existed?
"She is the Key."
"You put that in my house? I-In my body?"
"We had to knew the Slayer would protect."
"My memories...did you alter them?"
"No...someone else did that." The monk starts coughing heavily. He's fading fast. "You cannot abandon."
"I didn't ask for this! I don't even know... what is she?"
"Human... now human. And helpless. Please... she's an innocent in this. She needs you."
"She's not my baby, though, is she?"
"Yes, she is. She's your flesh and blood. Made out of...you." The monk exhales one last time and dies. Buffy is stunned, her life turned upside down.
She just sat there, stunned. After a moment, she remembered the danger still inside the old building, and ran for home.
She closed the door and leaned against it, breathing hard, not so much from the excursion, but from the fear of what she had learned. "Buffy?" he melted from the shadows, their daughter in his arms.
"Don't find the key, Angel. Please."
"Why? What happened? Buffy, you're shaking." he touched her arm, and she instinctively flinched away from the physical contact.
"T-the key was sent to me...to protect it."
"You have the Key?" she bit her lip, worrying a cut that began to bleed again, and she winced at the unexpected reminder of her defeat. "You're bleeding." he gently wiped the welling blood from her lip. "Who did this to you?"
"T-that bitch." she saw she needed to clarify, "The woman, Glory. Sh-she killed a man. And she wants the key."
"But you have it. You have the key, right now, right?"
She shook her head. "No. You do." she whispered. She dropped her gaze to the sleeping child, and his followed.
"No," he whispered softly. She nodded. "We can't tell anyone. It would put them in danger, put her in danger."
"So, Wes and Cordy, they're just going to keep searching? And what if they find something? What then?"
"We'll make due."
"I can't not tell Giles. I've...taken him for granted and...I just have to tell him."
"That would be wise, he is your watcher. But no one else. Not your mom, not Willow or Xander, or Anya. No one."
She nodded, "I understand." He handed her the baby and hugged the two of them.
"Go on to bed, it's late."
"Will you-"
"I'll be right here. I promise." She nodded, and turned to go to her room, "Uh, Buffy...?"
"Of course." She handed him back the child, and his eyes lit up. Dawn made him so happy. "Night, Baby. I love you." She waved one of Dawn's tiny hands, then turned to go to her room.
"Goodnight, Buffy. I love you." He said softly as the door closed behind her.
She stood on the other side of the almost closed door. In the silence of the house, she had heard his whispered confession. "I love you too." She murmured, before quickly changing for bed.
She woke up the next morning refreshed. It had been the first night in months that she had gotten a full night's sleep. Well, what counted for a full night's sleep in her line of duty.
It was early on a Saturday, so Willow was still sleeping, and the apartment was surprisingly quiet. She shuffled out into the living too. Angel sat, slouched, on the couch, fast asleep. Dawn lay on his chest, also sleeping. She smiled, and slipped past them into the kitchen
At the table sat someone she hadn't thought she'd ever see again. "Good morning. You're the last person I'd thought I'd see today. Or ever."
"Yes, the Powers felt you had enough help, with the watcher, vampire and witch. But she wanted to send you some final information. You've no doubt figured some of it out, but the rest will soon follow. The End of Days is near. Be ye prepared."
"Ok." Buffy said wearily.
"Then goodbye, Lass. You have the prayers of me, and my kin. For it is not just your world that will suffer the wrath of the consequences. All worlds will tremble. I just fear you will need so much more within the coming days." The elf bowed, then disappeared. Buffy sighed. Now she was going to have to forgo the tea, she really needed the extra caffeine of coffee this morning.
~ * ~
"Giles, I need to talk to you." She said, walking into the shop minutes after Giles himself had arrived.
"Uh, ok. Sit down, Buffy. What's wrong?"
"I went patrolling last night, and I met one of Angel's clients. She wanted Angel to find the Key, but now I have information on it, and I...." She sighed. Giles got up and locked both doors into the shop.
"Continue." He said, after sitting down, beside Buffy.
"Dawn is.... the...she is..." she couldn't say it.
"This key." Giles inferred. Buffy nodded.
"They...they sent her to me. To keep her...it....her safe. I want to keep her safe. She's my child."
"Do we tell the others?"
"NO! No, they'd just act weird around her, and she's so little, and she wouldn't comprehend it all.... Angel says its best they don't know."
"Right, I agree. For the time being, anyway. Now, we just have to find out what she needs Dawn for." He stands and starts pacing, as Buffy taps her fingers on the table, thinking. "I mean, if she comes after-"
"She'll come. She'll come for us. I know it." She sighed.
~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~
Beacoup de reviews, s'il vous plait?
Ok, so I'm no good at speaking, or writing French!
I'm gonna try to shoot for another update as early as next Tuesday, but depending on how things go...I don't know. I just don't know. Lol. See ya all later!
ANGELic dreams!
Lol....hehehehehhehehe.....
And if something doesn't make sense, tenses, or verb agreement, or sigular/plural agreement, just blame it on lack of sleep! I know I do!