Sunshine
Disclaimer: I own nothing of importance.
Summary: Sunlight and speculation.
Reviews: Yes please, give me a happy. I love reviewers. They make the muse extra creative. Readers Rock but REVIEWERS RULE!
A/N: Demonica Mills: I would have posted this sooner but I figured I should at least write it first. (smiles)
WayWard Childe: You were playing? Thank God! (wipes sweat from brow) That's certainly a relief. Thanks for sparing me.
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Buffy was speechless at the sight of Spike standing in the sunlight streaming through the kitchen window. The vampire whirled around and let the warm rays shine on his face, closing his eyes in ecstasy.
Wesley couldn't take his eyes off the vampire standing in full sun. He'd never seen a daywalker before. He'd heard of them but thought they were purely myths.
"I don't get it. How?" Dawn finally found her voice and asked the question on everyone's minds.
"I'll have to investigate this." Wes said quietly.
"Investigate without me." Will told him.
"What?" The former watcher was stunned.
"I'm going outside." The joyful vampire stated as he headed for the door.
"Wait! What about a shirt, shoes? At least wear your jacket." Susan tried to get the giddy daywalker to stop for a second.
"Vampire, Luv. Don't feel the cold." Will pulled the door open and dashed out into the snow. He stopped dead center of the yard and tipped his head back to bask in the golden rays.
Dawn raced into the living room and tugged on her shoes. She grabbed her jacket and joined Will outside. She threw her arms around him and laughed when he twirled her around so fast her feet left the ground. The sound of their joy was clear to those watching from the kitchen door.
Buffy took her cup of coffee over to the table and covered her face with shaking hands.
"Buffy, he's still a vampire? Isn't he?" Wes asked the slayer quietly as he regained his chair.
She nodded, clasping her hands back around her coffee. "No heartbeat, no body temperature. Slayer tinglies even now. I don't get it."
Wesley watched Jake as he reluctantly closed kitchen door and got himself a cup of coffee. He took a seat at the table. "Jake, has Will been exposed to the sun before now? Did you know about this?"
Jake shook his head, tobacco brown hair falling into his eyes. He pushed it back with slender fingers. "No. It was raining and overcast the first few days he was here. Then we found out he was a vampire and I did some research on the Internet on how to kill a vampire. Sunlight, stake to the heart, decapitation, you know? So we made sure he was never exposed to the sun. He usually sleeps until early afternoon so the sun is normally over the top of the house and not shining in that window. The rest of the windows have heavy drapes on them so they were never an issue. He just never had any interest in going outside. The only other time was the other day when I took that picture. Speaking of which. Excuse me." Jake got up suddenly and rushed from the room, returning in seconds with a digital camera. He went out and started snapping photos of the vampire and his Little Bit as they played in the sun.
Susan exchanged amused glances with Buffy and Wes. "He'll be out there as long as they will." She observed wryly.
Buffy smiled. "Bunch of big kids we have here. A hundred and thirty year old vamp, a seventeen year old key and… How old is Jake?" She asked Susan.
Susan's gray eyes sparkled with humor. "Twenty-six."
Buffy turned her green gaze to Wes. "What's the deal? How can he be in the sun and not go all flamey?"
Wesley considered the situation for a moment. "He mentioned having the sun pouring through him while he was wearing the amulet in the Hellmouth. Is that correct?"
Buffy nodded with a shudder. The memory of the man she loved going up in flames as the sun burned a hole through him was something she lived with daily.
"Was there anything else that happened at the time?" Wesley questioned.
The slayer closed her eyes and let the memory of those last few minutes surface. "He told me to leave. I held his hand. Our hands burst into flames while they were connected. He made me go and leave him there to die. Said he wanted to see how it ended." A tear tracked down her face.
"I see." The former watcher murmured. He was beginning to get an idea about how Will's new abilities had come about.
"I believe he has become a daywalker." Wes began.
"A vampire immune to the sun?" Susan asked incredulously.
Wesley gave her an appreciative look. "Yes. Exactly. Well done. You've done your homework."
Susan beamed. "I live in LA. Lots of things go bump in the night. After Will appeared and we found out what he was, I did some extra research. I knew about them but I wanted to know everything I could about vampires. There's very little known about daywalkers. Most people think they're just stories, that they don't really exist. I guess there's at least one in the world now."
Wes nodded. "It's more imperative than ever that we get his memory back and keep him out of Wolfram and Hart's clutches."
Buffy gaped at Wes in dismay. "That evil law firm that's always giving Angel grief wants Spike?"
Wes studied his teacup. "We have reason to believe that Will is tied to the amulet and Wolfram and Hart will want it back, with it's bonus vampire."
Buffy's resolve face would have rivaled Willow's at her best, Wes noted with some amusement. "That's my vampire and they can't have him." She declared.
"They won't. Angel will make sure of it." Wesley assured her. Buffy nodded. "We probably should move to the Hyperion. We need to get Angel and Will in the same place and try to get Will's memories back."
"Won't that hurt him? Give him the migraine again?" Susan asked with concern.
"I hope not. I'm thinking that the effect of the amulet will be negated by Angel's proximity. At best we may be able to short it out and drain it's power. I believe that the amulet was created for Angel to wear and that's why it has the effect on Will that it does. It could also be why he has amnesia." Wesley explained seriously.
"Are you telling me that by giving Spike the amulet I circumvented Angel's destiny?" Buffy asked disbelievingly.
"In a way. The plan was that if Angel wore the amulet he would Shanshu and become human." He held up his hand when Buffy looked like she was going to interrupt. "The Shanshu prophesy states that the souled vampire who has a major role in an apocalypse would receive his reward and become human."
Buffy's eyes filled with tears. "I prevented Angel from getting his reward?"
Wesley gazed at her with sympathy. "Only during that apocalypse. We've been informed that Wolfram and Hart have their own apocalypse in the works. They wanted Angel out of the way so they could succeed."
Susan held up a hand. "Wait a minute 'that apocalypse'? 'Their apocalypse'? I thought there would be only one?"
Buffy smiled sadly. "I've foiled…what is it now…eight, nine? They seem to happen at least once a year. Angel almost caused it once. Spike helped prevent that one too." She remembered an earlier comment. "Spike is a souled vampire and he prevented an apocalypse, why isn't he human?"
Wesley thought about it for a moment. "I don't know. It's possible that Spike's destiny was also circumvented and it may be why he was brought back. From what Angel has said, I believe that the last thing Spike wants is to be human. It could explain his becoming a daywalker. It's the closest they could come to making him human without taking away his vampirism. Another explanation may be that having the sun flow through him by way of the amulet, it gave him immunity when he was brought back through the amulet. Or the joining of your hands during his last moments transferred some of your abilities to him. The Powers That Be would be the ones who could explain it. That's another reason we need to go back to Los Angeles."
A blast of icy air blew into the kitchen as the door flew open and two very cold humans and one equally cold, though he wouldn't admit it, vampire tumbled through. They were laughing and had snow sliding off their clothing. Susan got up, hurried into the bedroom to retrieve three blankets, wrapping the shivering trio in them. She guided them into chairs and poured them each a cup of hot coffee.
"Did you have fun?" She asked with a smile, as she brought the cream and sugar to the table.
Dawn grinned. "That was great!"
Will laughed. "I wonder if I'll freckle?"
Buffy sent him a startled look. "You asked that once before."
"I did?" He asked in surprise.
"When you had the Ring of Amarra. While you were still trying to kill me." She explained. He nodded, remembering what she'd said about that incident.
He looked into his coffee cup. "Do we have any hot chocolate?" Then wondered why Buffy and Dawn started to giggle uncontrollably. Susan shook her head and got up to provide the requested replacement.
Wesley filled the newcomers in on the speculations and conclusions. Will was intrigued at the thought of being a daywalker. They weren't happy about going to LA but could see the need for it.
Susan looked at the cold and wet threesome. "Will, go take a shower. You need to warm up. Jake and Dawn you need to do the same. Dawn, I'll lend you some clothes." Will didn't move for a moment. "Move it." She instructed. Wesley watched in bemusement as the lovely young woman bullied the master vampire into doing what she wanted. Will took his cup with him as he left. Protesting the entire time that he wasn't cold although the shivers running along his bare torso indicated otherwise.
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By late afternoon, Giles, Willow and Xander were in Los Angeles and on their way to the Hyperion. Angel and Cordy welcomed them with hugs. The former Scoobies were tired from their trip but anxious to see Buffy, Dawn and Spike. They were stunned by the paintings still on display in the lobby.
Angel had told Gunn to move Lindsey into an upstairs room with the provision that he stay locked in. The lawyer was surprised by the sudden showing of kindness on the part of his enemy but decided to stay quiet. He was holding onto a faint hope that the vampire and his friends could help him escape his bosses once and for all.
The former Sunnydale residents were catching up on each other's lives when their reunion was interrupted by a woman walking through the front door of the hotel.
Angel stood up as she advanced into the lobby. "Get out."
