Disclaimer; see chapter 1
AN/: here is chapter three. I hope you all like it! Maybe I'll get to the phone conversation between our two favorite watchers..., I re edited the whole story, just to let you know.
*----*----*----*----*----*----*----*----*----*----*----*----*----*----*----*----*----*----*----*----*----*----*
10 minutes later, everyone was packed and in Angel's mini-van(I know he doesn't have one, but I am giving him one!) headed to get Spike's stuff from the hotel. Once Spike was signed out, they were on their way to Sunnydale. By the time they got there, the sun would be just getting up, so they could all get to Giles' place before Dru had a chance to get there.
Wesley was thinking about the phone call he had made to Giles earlier. The older watcher had not believed Faith was out of jail yet, so that story didn't fly real well. Wesley had ended up telling Giles that he was headed to Sunnydale with some more facts and questions. Giles had, in fact, known that a slayer turned kept their soul, but every watcher to train a slayer was sworn to kill the girl if it ever came to that. But there had been a slayer that escaped killing, and didn't go insane. She was in Paris currently. Giles had promised to try and get a hold of the vampire slayer, for that was what she still was. The woman still killed demons and had stopped her fair share of hellmouths from opening after she was turned. The girl's name was Alexandria De'Moon. She was Celtic, and had been raised as a druid. Wesley had been surprised, but what had kept that slayer alive until she was 22, and kept her from going insane after being turned, was her coven. The Council had hidden that little fact from everyone. if a slayer had a family, then she would survive longer. That was how Buffy was still alive at 20. Of course it helped if she had a little sister she wanted to protect, and a group of friends willing to die for her.
"So, Spike, you said that Dawn was getting powers? What kind of powers? I wonder if this has anything to do with her being the key?" Buffy interrupted Wesley's train of thought. The girl Buffy claimed as her familiar was curled up in her lap, asleep. The larger cuts and bruises were starting to heal, and the littler scratches and cuts were already gone.
"Yup. lil' bit can levitate, and start fires. Giles is helping her to learn control. She also had a dream about you being turned, and since you were missing for a few days we were worried. but you left us that note, so we dismissed it as a nightmare. Guess that means she is getting prophetic dreams too. The odd thing about it was she wasn't scared of you being a vampire. She just up and said, 'I had a dream and Buffy was a vampire,' she had started to say something else, but the wanker blew up, all comforting her and saying it was just a nightmare, that Buffy was alright. Dawn had this frustrated look, and the wanker wouldn't shut up. She didn't say it like she was scared, but like she was happy. Then she got mad a Xander, and the curtain caught fire. Xander put it out and turned around to Dawn floating in the air. He didn't know what to do. Red came downstairs at his commotion, and got Dawn calmed down and over to the watcher's place. I was there, and they sent me to find you. The rest is history. I thought I had left Dru for good slayer, when I found her in that park, fucking that chaos demon. But I guess my sire will never give up. I won't be able to kill her slayer. I want you to know that now. The only vampire that was ever able to kill her sire was a slayer or a witch, and I am neither. She still has that power over me."
"Then how did Angel kill Darla the first time?" Buffy asked, patting Spike's knee. Angel answered for his grandchilde.
"Because I have my soul." Buffy nodded her head, mouthing and 'oh'. Spike had gotten a far away look in his eyes. Buffy put her hand on his opposite cheek, turning his head to her. He met her eyes.
"I told you if we were together, everything would work Spike. Don't back away just yet. We still need to talk to prophet girl when she doesn't have a fever. Celia is good at solutions. Don't worry my love. We will figure it out. So Wes, what did Giles say?"
"Um. well, he said that slayers did keep their soul if they were turned. He also said that a watcher took an oath to kill a slayer that was turned before they got to powerful. There is a slayer that was turned about 2 hundred years ago in Ireland. Alexandria De'Moon. She is in Paris now, and Giles is trying to reach her. Giles didn't buy that Faith was out of jail just yet, so I had to tell him I was going to Sunnydale with more facts and questions. I didn't tell him about you, because I thought you'd want to tell him." Buffy smiled.
"Thank you Wesley." They were passing a cemetery and Buffy perked up. "I'm hungry, can we stop for a moment?" Angel nodded and pulled over. Buffy laid the girl down in her seat, and hopped out. Angel and Spike followed her, and were amazed at how fast the turned slayer moved, and how quiet. They knew she was focused on the hunt, having been there before. They stayed rather far back, not wanting her to turn on them, because she could in this focused state. They hadn't noticed something she obviously had, because she turned her head and started over the back of a mausoleum, emerging with a newbie female vampire. She was whimpering and crying.
"Please don't kill me. Please. Please. Please. Please." Angel and Spike scoffed in shame of the whimpering vampire. It was kinda pathetic when a vampire was reduced to begging to someone not their master. Buffy was rolling her eyes at the fledgling.
"You know, sweetheart. You don't deserve to live if you are this easily scared. Don't you know that you are already dead? I am just gonna save someone else the trouble of dusting you later. But first I am going to eat." Buffy went all "grr" as she liked to say, and sunk her fangs into the girl's neck. Both Angel and Spike were awed at Buffy's vampire face. Her eyes weren't yellow, but silver, and the ridges above her eyes were muted, softer than was normal. Her hands, which normally were claws, were the same, but her nails were ½ an inch longer. They noticed her nails didn't shorten when she shifted out of game face. Neither vampire was breathing, which they had gotten used to doing for sake of their human companions, and hadn't noticed. Buffy ripped off the fledgling's head and walked up to them. "What is the appeal of a hunting vampire? I mean, every time I am confronted with a vampire that is older than a year, they are practically struck dumb when I go "Grr"." When Buffy said 'grr' she went game face and curled her hands at the two vampires. Spike snapped out of it first and swung Buffy into his arms. He kissed her neck and bit her with blunt teeth.
"You are magnificent Buffy luv. Your eyes aren't yellow, but silver. Your ridges are softer. You are closer to the original vampire, and all of us, a year or older, aspire to become that close to the beauty of the First Ones. Here you are, a slayer, and barley a week old, and are close to the First Ones than any vampire out there. That is why we are struck dumb luv. We wish to savor such magnificence before we die. And we know we are extremely luck if we live through and encounter with one such as you, because the First Ones are not happy with us."
"Wow. I didn't know I was that special." Buffy kissed Spike, and turned to Angel. "Hey Angel, come out of the daze will you? We've got to get going." Angel just nodded, absorbed in his thoughts. Buffy and Spike shared a glance, and picked him up by his arms and toted him back to the car. "Cordelia? Will you drive? Angel is sorta dazed."
"What did you do to him?"
"Nothing. He can explain when he snaps out of it, but we have to get to Sunnydale." Cordelia nodded and slid into the drivers seat and adjusting it while Buffy and Spike put Angel into the seat Cordelia had been in. Once again they were off to the hellmouth. Buffy had fallen asleep on Spike's shoulder, Celia still in her lap. The young seeming girl woke up when they passed the 'Welcome to Sunnydale' sign. Everyone but her and Cordelia were asleep. Celia had been given a large t-shirt until some one could take her shopping for some appropriate cloths, because she was even smaller that Buffy. Cordelia spoke up.
"So, if Buffy has a familiar, won't Faith?"
"Faith does, and Micha is in jail with Faith. They are cellmates. Micha is a were-tiger, and just as small as me. All slayer familiars are my size. The other Vampire slayer's familiar is a were-cheetah named Tinne. We are never far from our slayers."
"Uh huh. Do have to pick the current slayer, or can you choose to wait for the next?"
"Neither. We are born at the same time as our slayers, to random parents that give us up for adoption. We do not know what we are until our slayers are called."
"So, in essence, you don's have parents?"
"The PTB are our parents, and they are the slayers' parents. We are just born to random humans. If those humans serve as a stable family, then great. I assume that Faith feels much better now that Micha has let her know that her abusive humans weren't really her parents, just worldly vessels that delivered her into this world."
"Aren't you lonely? I mean. With a slayer, it must be hard to have a boyfriend."
"We aren't lonely because, no matter what is happing, our slayer doesn't ignore us. Besides. Most of the time our slayer is our mate, if not, we simply look to her and her mate for love."
"Oh. That is interesting. Did you know that Angel wasn't her mate?"
"Yes."
"Yes what? What are you two talking about?" Buffy said groggily.
"Nothing Elizabeth. Go back to…nope, we're here. Get everyone else up." Buffy nodded once and whistled. Fred and Gunn jerked awake from their little corner. Angel sat up and growled, Wes woke up murmuring about demons, and Spike murmured, "Five more minutes Slayer" and turned over. Apparently he was the only one use to Buffy's way of waking everyone up. When they heard Spike, they all laughed. Spike sat up growling like his grandsire had done. They all laughed again. The sun was coming up, so the three vampires huddled under their blankets. Cordelia pulled up to Giles' place, and everyone but the vampires filed out. Wes held open the van door, while Fred held open Giles' door so that the male vampires could run from shelter to shelter. Buffy, with her max five-minute exposure walked in behind Spike. Giles, who had been watching, sighed in relief when Buffy didn't run in with a blanket. However, she did stop at his door and called for Dawn. She came down and when to the door.
"You are, aren't you?"
"Yes. Can I come in? I don't have that much more time in the sun." Dawn pushed Giles aside and looked at her now-dead-again sister.
"Please come in Buffy. You are welcome here." Xander, Willow, and Giles heard this and freaked. They pulled out their crosses to Buffy. She rolled her eyes and went up to her watcher, taking the cross out of his hand.
"I have my soul Giles, which is why the sun has a delayed reaction, and crosses don't effect. Hence the golden one I am wearing. Besides you already know this." Xander looked doubtful, along with Giles, but Dawn and Willow hugged the cold slayer. Spike laid a hand on the watcher's shoulder and whispered in his ear.
"She has her soul watcher, so don't make this hard on her. She now had to live with the knowledge that she will watch all of you die." The watcher nodded, knowing that she had her soul, but wanted to believe she was alive, not undead.
"It's alright Xander. She does indeed have her soul. I have gotten a hold of Alexandria, and she and her companion are headed here." No one had notice the girl/woman that had walked in behind Buffy. They noticed her when she shouted.
"Yes! Tinne is coming! Elizabeth! We get to see Alexandria and Tinne!"
Dawn saw the small girl/woman and squealed happily. "Celia! You did come!" and ran to hug her. The rest of the Scoobies stared in shock at the girl in a large t-shirt, and nothing else that they saw. "Oh! Everyone, this is Celia, Buffy's familiar and the sweetest girl alive."
"Now, Dawnie, don't tell lies about me! You know very well that I am a viscous leopard!" Dawn, Buffy, and Celia went into a fit of laughter at the reminder of the games they used to play. Everyone looked at them weird. Giles looked at the people he considered his children, well some of them anyways. Buffy, Dawn, and Willow lived at the Summer's home, and Xander lived with him, deciding that after Anya left, he couldn't live in his apartment. Despite the years of annoyance, Giles was glad Xander trusted him. Giles had come back for Xander's wedding, and stayed when everything went to hell. He took over the Magic Box, and move back into his condo. Both men were comfortable in bachelorhood, although Giles found himself falling in love with Willow. No one knew, as far as he knew. He didn't want them to know. Willow was on the rebound from magick and Tara. Giles didn't want her to get more confused, or carry any more pain. He also didn't want to face the rejection.
"Hey, wait. If Buffy can face crosses, and can stand a limited exposure to the sun because she has her soul, why can't Angel?" Everyone that was awake looked at Xander in surprise. It wasn't often that he was so observant. It was Angel who answered him.
"Because Buffy never lost her soul. I, however, did for about 100 something years. That's a lot of damage. Taking away those two gifts are part of my payment."
"Oh. Sorry Dead-boy." Another first in Angel's mind. Xander and compassion…
Willow watched Giles, the man she had been in love with since she first met him. She had moved on, knowing that it was impossible for Giles to love her, or even look her way because of his 'British proper thinking'. It sucked. Willow watched her best friend, the girl she, all of them, considered their little sister, and the new girl Xander was drooling over. She watched the handsome black man cradle the small brunette sleeping in his lap. Gunn and Fred, she remembered. How she wanted Giles to hold her like that. She felt the peace just radiating off of them. Yes, she had stopped practicing magik, but that didn't stop her from feeling everything around her. The two male vampires were conversing in the corner of the living room, Angel holding a sleeping Cordelia. Who would have thought? Brood-guy and Queen C. Wesley, she noted, had changed. He seemed calmer, more sure of himself. He was still a British watcher, but nothing could change that. Both watchers had loosened their style of clothing over the years, but always managed to exude a British air. That was part of their charm. Spike was still British to the core, after 100 or so years, after all. Willow sat at the other end of the couch after making sure no sunlight could leak through the windows and hit their three favorite vampires.
Spike and Angel were talking in the corner of the room, and noticed the witch's and watcher's non-to-discreet glances at each other. "You think that after this many years, those two will figure it out and get together?" Angel asked his Grandchilde.
"You mean they have always done this? I thought they had just started doing it. Maybe we can interfere and get them together. They are so obviously in love, it's pathetic."
"You mean like us and out hopeless love for our women?"
"Yeah…Hey! You may be pathetic, but not me…well, at least we aren't in love with humans. Our women are able to keep up with us. I bet you Red could help you determine what kind of demon you lady is. She may not be practicing, but she still has the senses of a witch. That doesn't just go away."
"Yeah, we'll see what Cordy wants. Right now, since almost everyone is asleep, we need to figure out sleeping arrangements." Buffy heard them, and wondered why she didn't notice the witch and watcher before. She also looked around and agreed with the sleeping arrangements. She whistled again.
"Alright everyone. Angel, Cordy, Celia, and Wes can stay at our house. Fred and Gunn, you don't mind staying here do you? Cause I will have no more room…" The shook their heads, letting her know they didn't mind. Alright. "We will reconvene here at 8:00pm. Lets get some sleep." Buffy then pulled Giles aside and explained to him about Drusilla. Giles said that he would keep Dawn there with him, since Spike lived with her, and vampires could get in vampire homes. Buffy agreed that would be better and told Dawn. Everyone going over the Summer's resident got into Angel's van, and headed over to sleep for the day. Buffy, Celia, and Spike had her mom's old room, Willow had moved into Buffy's old room, and Wesley would sleep in Dawn's room, leaving Angel and Cordy with the guest bedroom. With everyone settled and asleep, Buffy set the alarm for 7, allowing them an hour to shower, eat, and get to Giles'. Buffy, Spike, and Angel went to sleep with dreams of matchmaking in their head. The witch and the watcher had better watch out. Cause three very stubborn vampires were planning…
*----*----*----*----*----*----*----*----*----*----*----*----*----*----*----*----*----*----*----*----*----*----*
Well…did I do good? Tell me please! I live off reviews…I need them to sirvive! Good or bad, just tell me…!
