Severed Ties
Chapter 18
That Other Pesky Shoe
All eyes were trained on the Watcher as he scrubbed his glasses. It wasn't that they were surprised in the least—except for maybe Dawn's friend—rather, the announcement was so typical, expected even, that they really couldn't muster a single remark from their collective repertoire of witty Scoobie-isms that were remotely original and unique. That was Sunnydale, all right, stay here awhile and the apocalypse became just another weekly event, along with manicures, guy talk, and Tuesday night shows at eight.
"Leave it to Rupie here to disturb the peace," Spike said, and threw a leg across the arm of the chair.
"I apologize, Spike," the Watcher said, "if my ill tidings are hampering your laying about."
"Please ignore my undead boyfriend," Buffy said and cast an annoyed glance over her shoulder, only to have it stripped at the vision of joy etched across the vampire's face. She quickly turned to her mentor, hoping he ignored the flaming rose tint of her cheeks. Thankfully, he did. "So, is it bad?"
"No," he said, and bent over to pick up the books at his feet, "it's just your ordinary, run-of-the-mill, doom-filled apocalypse."
"Well, well, well," Faith said, "Watcher man is all one with the sarcasm."
"Giles can be fun sometimes," Willow said.
"Guess I have been away," Faith said.
"Okay," Buffy said, and helped the bespectacled man gather the books, "so it's another apocalypse. Like you said, it's not like we haven't faced one before. Right?"
"Uh, question," CJ said, "when you guys mean 'apocalypse', are you talking about the whole end-of-the-world-Revelations type thing? Cause, if you are, raising my hand here; haven't experienced an apocalypse."
"Well, then I suggest you get used to it, and fast," a voice suggested from another room. Buffy turned towards the foyer and, glancing over Giles's shoulder, saw Xander limping into the room.
"Xander," she said, and ran over to him, embracing the former construction worker. She buried her face in his chest and sighed when he stroked her hair.
"As much as I'm liking this reunion, Buff, still very sore here."
"Oh sorry," she said, and pulled away from him. Her eyes scanned her friend's bruised form, noting that the severity of his injuries had decreased significantly during the night. She frowned before remembering that Willow had kept watch over him. Maybe she and Tara did some recovery magick on him, the slayer rationalized.
"You know you shouldn't be up, don't you?" Willow chastised from her seat next to Tara and Dawn. Despite her serious tone, Buffy heard the relief the Wicca carried.
"Well, you know me," Xander said. "Guy: therefore I must ignore all advice that concerns my well being."
"So how are you feeling?" Tara asked.
It was Xander's turn to shrug. "Other than the Acme Piano dropped from the sky onto my head, fit as a fiddle with, well, several broken strings."
"And still you braved the Great Downstairs to be with us, eh, lover?" Faith said. Buffy turned to her sister slayer and although the bravado that made her Faith was there, the blonde caught a flash of something in the other woman's eyes that looked suspiciously like—
"Wouldn't miss it for the world," Xander smiled and glanced over everyone in the room, his eyes resting on Jay's tense features a fraction longer than the rest. Buffy frowned, but said nothing, deciding that it was probably just her imagination.
"Excuse me, people," CJ said, and Buffy bit back a laugh when she saw the utter confusion in his eyes, "but could you explain to me this whole thing about an apocalypse. Still kinda foggy about it."
"That's okay," Dawn said, and to everyone's surprise, kissed him on the cheek, "we've got all day to fill you in."
All afternoon was bloody well right, Spike thought. It had taken the Watcher nearly two hours to gather his materials and situate himself at the kitchen table where Dawn, CJ, Willow, Tara and Xander also sat. Faith lounged in the corner, arms folded and Jay stood sentry against the back door, her posture strikingly similar to the brunette slayer.
Spike sat on the island, his legs dangling off the edge and Buffy positioned between his legs, resting against him and the counter; her hands caressed his arms that encircled her waist.
"So, Rupes," Spike said, "are we gonna get this show on the road any time soon?"
Giles rolled his eyes and turned his attention to Buffy. "Are you sure we should not wait for Angel and Cordelia to arrive? We have a great deal to cover and I'd rather not recite this information twice."
"It's cool, Giles," Buffy said, "I'm sure that one of use will happily fill Angel and Cordelia in on the prophecies, portents and thingamabobbies you're gonna tell us about."
"I got your 'thingamabobbie' right here, luv," Spike whispered in Buffy's ear.
"Parental units," Jay pled, "if we could please refrain from giving your only child disturbing images of your desires to copulate."
"Yeah, B," Faith said, and winked at the blonde duo, "it's not nice to flaunt you and Studly's nightly activities here in front of us folks who aren't getting any."
"Guys," Buffy said, and glared at her daughter then Faith, though her cheeks flamed red, "could we please concentrate on what Giles has to say?"
"So, Rupes," the vampire said, "the floor's yours."
"I appreciate your generosity," the watcher deadpanned. "Now, if we may begin.
"Generally speaking, prophecies are an extremely dicey field. Very few are specific towards the details; usually spouting off in some sort of metaphoric nonsense that is deciphered after the event has occurred. In that respect, we have been lucky. On several occasions, Buffy's own prophetic dreams have clarified the particulars of several potentially apocalyptic events. Other times, it has been by sheer stroke of luck that we have prevented such end of the world situations. In fact…"
"Giles," Buffy said, "you're babbling."
"She's right," Willow said, and gave the Watcher a sympathetic smile. "You're almost as bad as me and Buffy were in high school."
"Sorry, Wills, but you and the Buffster are peerless when it comes to the mindless drivel," Xander said.
"Somebody's feeling better," Buffy replied, and rolled her eyes.
"Unfortunately," Spike muttered, and was rewarded with an elbow to the stomach. "Oy, luv, watch it."
"Then don't talk about my friend like that." Spike scowled at the former carpenter who smiled in triumph.
"Are you three quite finished?" Giles asked, and removed his glasses. Xander and Buffy lowered their eyes at the older man's fiery gaze but Spike returned it with a cold glare of his own.
"Maybe they would, Watcher, if you get to the bloody point and quit trying to sound like a soddin' Encyclopedia Britannica. We don't need the bloody history of prophecies or their cryptic nature. Just spill the goods, so we can fight this thing and be on our merry little ways."
Pale silence filtered through the room, two pairs of blue eyes locked, engaged in a battle of the wills. Spike knew it was pointless, yet his pride, as always, kicked in at the most inopportune times and he was helpless against his own bravado. From the look of things, Giles was the same way. Of course, the Watcher didn't have the warm arms of a slayer stroking his arm to curb said pride.
Minx does it ev'ry time, Spike thought and reluctantly lowered his gaze to the back of Buffy's head. He kissed her hair, inhaling her intoxicating scent. She sighed and squeezed his hand before nodding for Giles to continue.
"Yes, as I was saying. This particular prophecy I found is quite detailed, though I must say some of what I found would never have made sense were it not for Faith's--Jay's warnings from the future."
"Speaking of which," Xander said, "do you think this apocalypse has to do with Jay's arrival here?" Xander glanced at the aforementioned party in a way that Spike didn't like in the least.
"It is entirely possible. I must say that dealing with temporal mechanics and the ensuing repercussions are not my strong suit."
"Excuse me," CJ said, "what do you mean temporal mechanics? Isn't that like Star Trek talk for time warps and that crap?"
"Something like that," Dawn said.
"Wait, 'something like that', or that?"
"Well, CJ…" Dawn started but was interrupted by Jay.
"What it means is that I'm not from this time." CJ blinked and Spike chuckled at the boy's furrowed brow. He had a fleeting thought that the boy reminded him of someone but it passed as CJ spoke.
"As in, you're from the future?"
"Yeah."
"I see." He stared at his hands for several seconds before turning towards Giles. "Please, don't let my unparalleled befuddlement draw halt to the proceedings."
"Yes, well, as I was saying Xander, it is quite possible and, given the circumstances surrounding this particular prophecy, probable, that Fa--Jay's arrival is the precipitating factor in it coming to fruition."
"But at the same time," Faith said, "Jay's arrival could have been part of the big bad plan from the jump, am I right?"
"Except that things turned out differently forty years from now than they did then," Xander said, his voice almost hollow.
"Still," Faith countered, and walked over to the table, "that doesn't disqualify the chance that Baby Jay was supposed to come back to change things."
"That's true," Tara said, speaking for the first time, "Dawnie--I mean Emerald did send Jay back for a specific purpose."
"A purpose that she was extremely vague on," Xander muttered.
"Maybe because she couldn't risk changing it by any other means than by Jay figuring things out," Will suggested. "I mean, yeah, everything was snuckered up by Jay coming here and you would think what's the big if Emerald did tell her what to do, when, in reality, Jay knowing the truth could have bungled things up even more."
"Willow is correct, Xander," Giles said. "The whole point of Emerald sending Jay back in time may have been to thwart whatever is to come."
"And I guess killing Anya was a part of what's to come, huh?"
Xander's words tore the air out of the room. Everyone averted Xander's gaze and Spike's attention immediately fell to Jay. At the mention of Anya's name, she had retreated within herself, blanking out all emotions although he had seen the sorrow and guilt clearly before he had pulled the mask on. He tried to reach out to her as he had moments before but she didn't acknowledge it.
"Xander," Buffy said, "that wasn't Jay's fault, you know that."
"No, I know she didn't kill Anya, and I know she didn't have anything against her. That bastard Seth and those demons killed her. But why was Seth her in the first place?" His eyes fell on the emotionless face of Jay. "To bring her back."
"Xander, stop it, now," Tara's voice, confident and angry, cut through the oppressive atmosphere. "You have no idea what happened to Jay there, no idea whatsoever. The things she…" Tears welled in Tara's gentle eyes and her voice hitched. It was only through Willow's loving caresses that she found the strength to continue. "It wasn't her fault."
"I know," Xander said, and stood, "I know." He walked out of the kitchen and they listened as his footfalls against the steps subsided.
"I should go see about him…" Willow said and started to rise but Faith beat her to it.
"Stay here, Witchiepoo, I got it."
"I don't know if that's a good idea," Buffy said. She pushed away from Spike and he nearly groaned at the loss, but hopped off the island and took his position to Buffy's right, her devoted sentinel.
"Relax, B. Me and Xander, we, well…"
"Have a history, we know," Willow said, and couldn't quite mask her bitterness.
"Well, maybe she can help him," Dawn said. They all looked at her and she shrunk into her chair. "I'm just saying, you guys know Xander too well. Maybe what he needs is someone who's not as scared about hurting his feelings."
"Thanks, brat," Faith said. "I'm sure if I dig a little, I could find a compliment somewhere in there."
"I didn't…"
"Five by Five, Dawn. I know what you meant and you're right." Faith turned to the others. "Look, Xander tried to help me when I was flippin' outta control and I tried to…I owe him, just as much as I owe B. Let me do this."
Spike felt Buffy's eyes peering into the other slayer, attempting to detect the truth in Faith's words. He knew Buffy was hesitant to trust Faith after their sorted history. Still, he knew Buffy and what her decision would be.
"Go. We'll fill you in when we brief Angel and Cordy."
"Thanks, B," Faith said and trotted out of the room.
"You okay, Bitlet?" Spike asked Jay. She offered him a weak smile but said nothing.
"What just happened here?" CJ asked, his tone indicating his growing bafflement.
"Dawn'll explain later," Buffy said. "Giles, can we finish this up?" Spike ran his hands along Buffy's shoulders, trying to push away the tension that bled from her pores. She sighed and leaned into him, her petite form adhering to the indentations of his own body. His hands slid down to her waist and snaked to the front. She rested her hands on his and cocked her head to the side, exposing the golden flesh of her throat. It was something she did often and without provocation and Spike couldn't help but feel overjoyed at the trust she displayed with the simple gesture.
"Yes," Giles said, breaking the vampire's thoughts, "well, as we were saying, Jay's presence here may be the way things are supposed to be, especially since this prophecy does indeed include the Harbinger at the forefront."
"Harbinger?" CJ asked.
"His name is Gabriel," Jay said, "and he's coming."
"How do you know?"
"Because I've seen him, in my dreams."
"Jay's a slayer, like my sister," Dawn supplied. "They have dreams about bad things coming. Part and parcel of the whole slayer gig."
"So they're like, what, professional demon fighters?"
"Yep," Buffy answered, "except the lack of getting paid for risking our lives on a nightly (and sometimes daily) basis, that is. Why is that, Giles?"
"Buffy, focus, please," the watcher sighed.
"Sorry. I just think we should get paid," she muttered.
"Me, too, luv," Spike said.
"Okay, back to my question," CJ said, "who is this Gabriel dude? And why does he want to end the world?"
"We're gonna have to tell him," Dawn said, "about everything."
"What's everything?"
"I agree," Giles said, and pinched the bridge of his nose. "CJ, you obviously know more than you let on about what's happening in this town, and I know that Dawn has explained something about us but I don't know how much."
"Well, she really didn't tell me much. I mean, other than you guys fight the good fight and all that."
"Sorry," Dawn said, "but I wasn't sure if you were gonna be staying to hear the rest."
"It's cool, I understand. But if I am gonna stay, I want at least an idea about what's going on."
"Fair enough," Spike said, "but on the flip side, you've gotta be straight with us, too." CJ opened his mouth to protest but closed it immediately. He gave Spike a cursory nod before turning back to Giles.
"I will be as brief as possible, however, if you do have questions, Dawn can fill you in when Angel and Cordelia arrive." His gaze hardened and Spike saw the Ripper aura flaring just below the surface. "What we tell you now, CJ, is in great confidence. We are trusting Dawn's judgment on this, along with your actions from last night. Do not disappoint us."
"I won't."
"Good. Well, as you know, Buffy and Faith are slayers, as is Faith Joyce over there. Buffy and Joyce--Buffy and Jay are mother and daughter. Her father is Spike, whom, you may not have noticed, is a vampire."
"I knew there was something about you," CJ said, half-teasingly.
"By nature, vampires are evil and cannot produce offspring, but Spike has always been different. Evidently, he and Buffy having a child is a part of a prophecy that we are dealing with now. And this Harbinger, this Gabriel, is directly connected to Faith Joyce's conception and subsequent birth."
"And who is Emerald?" CJ asked.
"Me," Dawn said.
"You? But I thought…"
"She was in the future? That is correct," Giles said. "However, Dawn is not just your typical teenager."
"Well, I could've told you that," CJ said, and gave Dawn an affectionate pat on the hand that made her blush. The growl that threatened to spill from Spike's chest was quelled by a firm squeeze of Buffy's hand.
"Needless to say," Giles said, "Dawn becomes Emerald in the future, with the ability to open portals into time. She sent Jay here for a purpose, one that has to do with Gabriel."
"I'm the only one that can defeat him," Jay said.
"Why?"
"Don't know, but it has something to do with me being born." She chuckled humorlessly and Spike noticed the unease in her eyes. "Guess we have that love connection going."
"So, Giles," Buffy said, and gave her daughter a reassuring smile, "when is this Gabriel supposed to be arriving with the apocalypse in tow?"
"While I am unsure as to his arrival date, I do know that the apocalypse is," he hesitated and sifted through his papers, "the day of His birth and death, the day in which the second miracle was brought into this world."
"And what does that mean?"
"September third," Jay said. "My birthday."
"How do you know?" Willow asked.
"I saw it, a few months ago. And before you ask, Giles, yes I am sure," she said amiably.
"Okay, so we have a few months to prepare for the blighter, no harm, no foul, eh?" Spike said.
"I'm afraid that's not quite accurate, Spike," Giles said. "I believe that demon you, Xander and CJ here fought last night is the first of many preordained vessels that will pave the way for the Harbinger's arrival."
"What does that mean?" Buffy asked, and pulled away from Spike. Despite his desire to keep Buffy relaxed, the vampire couldn't suppress the tension that settled throughout his body. He didn't like the sound of this one bloody bit and, call it a lucky guess or experience, but he knew there was still a lot more to this tale.
"The prophecy I found in the Br'allyn Tome states that the Harbinger arriving but not before those that symbolize what he is.
"And for Death--the Harbinger, shall await the sacrifice of his Body, cleansing it of pain and suffering. And the Body's sacrifice shall pave the way for the Vessels; Hand and Heart and Will. Together the three shall bring forth He that will end all."
"Wow," Buffy said, and shook her head. "Does it say anything else, about these Vessels, or about this Harbinger?"
"Yes, it does, though I am not quite sure what to make of it."
"Tell us," Buffy said, and Spike sensed her rising desperation. So she felt it, too.
"It says that the Hand is Destruction, Will cold and cruel, Heart revels in obliteration of love. And as unlikely as it may seem, it is this Heart, not the Hand, that is the most dangerous of the three."
"Why? And what's this about 'obliteration of love'?" Buffy asked, her voice strained. Giles lowered his eyes back to the text and skimmed until he came upon the passage to answer Buffy's question.
"Using not strength of body but splinters of doubt and mistrust, the Heart will tear and break the Improbable's pillars."
"The Improbable?"
"Yes, I assume they are referring to Faith Joyce, considering that in the prophecy she told us named her as the single entity that could arrest the Harbinger's machinations."
"Why?" Buffy nearly shouted. "What is so special about this damn Harbinger? What does he have that me and Spike can't fight? Why does Faith…why does our daughter have to do this?" Spike heard Buffy's words falling into panic and he grabbed her shoulders. He wasn't surprised to find her shaking, and he knew that her fear originated from something that had not been said--maybe not even known except by her. Although Spike's mind was laced with fear of losing his daughter, Buffy's fear was something born of certainty. And that terrified him.
"Mum," Jay said, and walked over to her mother. She leaned her forehead against Buffy's and smiled genuinely for the first time since they had come into the kitchen. "I'll be all right. You and Daddy will be there to help me. Faith and Dawn will be there, so will Willow and Tara and Giles. I'm not going at it alone, 'kay?"
The young woman's words soothed Buffy and the latter calmed noticeably. She hugged Jay tightly before breaking away and wiping her own half-formed tears away. "So what are these pillars of the Improbable? Does that mean me and Spike?"
"That was my initial assumption," Giles admitted.
"But how is this Heart thing going to get us out of the way?" Buffy asked.
"I truly do not know, but I can only assume that it plans to use whatever reservations that a slayer and vampire have for one another. Regardless of how much you two…love each other, you cannot discount that there is a great deal of discord in regards to your nature as mortal enemies. This Heart will most likely prey on that, as well as any doubts that you have in entering this--union."
"Doesn't matter what's in our nature, Rupes," Spike said. "We've been together in one way or the other for the better part o' five years, and we're both still walkin' around." Spike lowered his gaze to Buffy and entwined his fingers with hers. "Nothin's gonna get between us, not now, not for-bloody-ever."
"Promise?" Buffy whispered.
"Promise." Buffy smiled and brushed a kiss across his lips before returning her attention back to Giles.
"Is there anything, anything at all on this Gabriel guy? Is he a vampire? Some other sort of demon…"
"That's the thing that perplexed me," Giles said, and flipped through a few more pages before finding the proper section. "This passage reads:
And for He, blood is the life, twisting and turning, mingling with the strength of Hell He was cast into…
"That in itself makes me assume that he is a vampire, although there are other demons that feed on blood, albeit not exclusively as vampires do. And yet…"
"What, Giles?" Buffy demanded. "You're holding something back."
"I do not mean to, however, this particular passage further obfuscates the true identity of this Harbinger.
"Two souls, that from void and that from the consummation of the Lifeless, torn into One, colder than that which is without…"
"Why can't prophecies ever be even semi-coherent?" Buffy asked to no one in particular, eliciting a tired smile from the Watcher.
"Unfortunately, this is all that I have been able to ascertain in regards to the Harbinger--there is no more…" Giles stopped in mid-sentence, his eyes drawn to the figure standing near the back door. "Jay? What is it?"
All eyes turned towards the slayer and Spike cringed at the terror that was in her eyes. He and Buffy rushed over to her and both instinctively kept their distance.
"Bitlet?" Spike asked. "What is it?"
"It's--the…what Giles said…about Gabriel."
"What about him, sweetie?" Buffy asked.
"I…I know what he is, who he is, but I didn't get it until now."
"What do you mean?" Giles asked.
"He's a vampire, but an incredible warlock. He was even more powerful than Auntie Willow at her strongest, where she's like a hundred times stronger than she is now."
"Okay, that doesn't sound too good," the redhead whispered.
"But it's more than that," Buffy said, and she latched onto Spike's forearm painfully.
"I mean, I knew all along, even when I saw him here, but I thought it was something else entirely. It had to be…"
"Jay," Buffy said and the panic in her voice made Spike want to wretch. Her nails dug into his flesh but he remained, even as the first scent of blood wafted to his nostrils.
"The two souls thing made me see. I'm so sorry, Mum, I didn't tell you earlier but I know it couldn't have been him, not like he was when you told me…not even without the soul."
"No…" Buffy whispered.
"What's going on?" CJ asked.
"Angel," Jay said.
"What about the Poof?"
"Him and Gabriel--they're one and the same."
WHAT!!!! Oh boy, what in the hell is going on here? TBC in The Smallest Cuts are the Deepest…
Xander and Faith talk. Plus Angel and Cordelia finally arrive…
A/N: Notice the props I gave to one of my favorite writers, witchiepoo? Hehe. Those of you that I leave reviews for, be on the lookout, you may see your name in some of my fics, too. ;)