A/N : Thanx for tall the wicked-cool reviews; Brunettpet, PltnmDancer, funkydevil206, maigain, demonica mills, Hellmouth2, EMBER91, urbanstonerrock, and Moluvsnumber17. This chapter is where the main plot kicks in - here's hoping you like it!
(For disclaimer, etc. - see chapter 1)
Chapter 10
After some convincing, Spike had agreed to take Illyria with him to see Buffy. It would be easier for his companion to explain about the visions, since Spike himself became easily distracted around his Slayer. Illyria had been right of course, as she so often was. He should have told her before about the danger she might be in, but one look at her and he was completely defeated, and when they kissed he lost the capacity for all rational thought.
"Sometimes I wonder about fate" the woman beside him said suddenly, "The Powers That Be as you call them put us back here on Earth as mortals to do their bidding. My visions lead us to danger which we then overt for the good of the human race and the world at large" she said thoughtfully.
"What's your point, pet?" Spike asked her with a look. At least getting philosophical with Blue took his mind off Buffy for five minutes.
"My visions have brought us here, to help your Buffy Summers" she continued, "Surely it confirms that your destiny lies with her?" she said with that strange tilt of her head.
"Nice little assumption" Spike smirked, "but one thing I learnt over the past century or so is these Powers have a bleedin' dodgy sense of humour, especially where a certain Slayer and yours truly is concerned" he told her as they arrived outside the building where Buffy lived, "Point I'm making, luv, is that I never assume anything anymore, not where me and her are concerned" he said as he opened the door for her like a gentleman.
"Do have a little faith in yourself, William" Illyria told him with a look as she passed by him to go through the door, "If nothing else, your physical form is not at all displeasing to the female eye" she smirked as he sometimes did and he laughed lightly at her words, immensely grateful for the sense of humour she had developed over time.
"Gotta say, luv" he said as he followed her into the building, "Not too shabby yourself y'know"
"I shall have to tell Buffy that you think so" she teased him, but when he didn't repond she wondered if she'd gone a joke too far with that comment. She glanced at him as they ascended the stairs and he gave her a small smile to prove he wasn't mad at her, still he didn't feel like joking anymore.
"Davy these are my good friends Giles and Xander" Buffy introduced awkwardly, "Guys this is Davy, my...boyfriend" she said deliberately putting her hands behind her back and hiding the engagement ring she still wore. She was going to have to explain about that and Spike's return and so much more, as well as find out what the surprise visit was all about, but none of that was too easy with Davy hanging around.
"I will leave you to catch up with our friends" he said with a nod before heading for the door. Buffy felt bad about how sad he looked, but until she figured out what exactly she was feeling and what she wanted to do with her life, she couldn't do anything to help him.
"Did we walk in on something?" Xander asked as the Slayer stared after one of two men she loved dearly, "Cos I'm getting vibes of awkwardness" he noted.
"It's kinda complicated" Buffy admitted with a sigh, "I guess I should start from the beginning, huh?"
"It may be an idea if we start from our beginning first" Giles suggested, "I'm afraid something may be amiss"
"Amiss?" Buffy smiled slightly at that, "Boy can we ever tell that you've been back in England a while"
Giles smiled too, so glad to be back at his Slayer's side. He'd missed her a great deal. She was so much more than a job to him, she was family, the daughter he so wished he could've had for real.
"So what's the what?" she asked, glad to have something to take her mind off Spike and Davy and that whole thing, even if it was a disaster of the apocalypse kind. Still, after taking on the First Evil and winning as she had, there was little else that'd scare her now.
"Kinda starts with this guy I met in Africa" Xander began to explain, taking a seat opposite his friend as Giles pulled up a third chair, "He was this psychic kind of a warlock guy, heavy with the tribal dancing and added mojo"
Buffy nodded along to her friends story as it continued.
"He got all big with the ramblyness right after we got introduced, a whole mass of stuff that made no sense at all, and everybody told me not to pay attention, so I didn't... til the word Slayer came out of his mouth"
"But Xan, that could mean anything" Buffy shook her head, "The world is full of Slayers now, he could've been talking about any of them"
"No, not possible" Xander disagreed, "I thought of that but this guy, Muraguri, he made this big deal about making me listen. When I tried to walk away he put his hand on my arm, pulled me back, made me listen"
"What did he say?" Buffy asked, both puzzled and a little worried now.
"He kinda gave up with the words" Xander told her, sharing a glance with Giles before rolling up his sleeve and showing his forearm to the Slayer. She gasped at the sight of a definite hand-print that looked as if it'd been burnt into his flesh.
"Did it hurt?" she asked stupidly, almost certain from the look of the would that it must've.
"Not as much as the pictures he put in my head" the boy said with an unidentifiable look, "Take it from me, that hurts"
"Xander was given a vision by this man" Giles explained "His name, Muraguri, means Seer and somehow through magicks I believe he was able to show Xander the pictures he saw within his own mind"
"But what...?" Buffy's question was drowned out by someone knocking on the door and she excused herself to answer it. The loud noise had also startled the children and she sighed, knowing she should go to them as well.
"Giles can you get the door" she said changing her mind, "I need to..." she gestured towards the bedroom where the kids had been sleeping soundly til now and her Watcher moved towards the door as she disappeared out of sight.
"Bloody hell!" came a stereo exclamation from the Brit on either side of the front door.
"Spike!" Giles gasped in shock, "What on Earth...?"
"Spike?" Xander echoed as he came to see what the cursing was about, "What? How What?"
"Turnin' into a bit of a reunion, eh?" Spike smirked, "Red here too is she?"
"No, actually, Willow is not here" Giles shook his head, completely bemused as he removed his glasses and polished them on his shirt.
"You know these people?" Illyria asked, eyeing the two men as she and Spike came into the apartment.
"Yeah, old acquaintances, you might say" the ex-vampire nodded, "This is Giles, Slayer's Watcher, and that's Xander he... he's the Whelp" he shrugged not knowing how else to explain.
"Hey!" the brunette protested but not for long as Buffy emerged from the bedroom with Chloe on her hip.
"Wow, it's a real party" she commented, feeling very tired suddenly. Too many people, too many tangled relationships, too much to deal with right now.
Chloe made a bunch of baby noises, the only sound in the now silent room as she reached out to the unfamiliar brunette at her mother's side.
"Hey sweetie, I guess you must be mini-Slayer number one, huh?" he smiled at the little girl, who giggled at the silly voice he used to talk to her.
"You wanna get technical, she's number two" Buffy smiled, "Chloe was born two minutes after Ellie, who is thankfully still asleep right now" she told them, "So voices down, huh guys?"
"We came here for a reason of some importance" Illyria told Buffy, stepping forward, "Do you wish me to explain in front of these people?"
"Er, Illyria, right?" she checked, glad when the other woman nodded "If you wanna take a seat, just give me a minute to get my girl here back to sleep and then you can tell me whatever it is you have to tell me"
"Very well" the girl with the blue streaked hair agreed, taking a seat at the table. Xander and Giles sat back down too and Spike pulled up a fourth chair from by the wall. Buffy disappeared back to the bedroom to settle her daughter, leaving the four unlikely people at the table.
"So, Evil Dead" Xander said to Spike, "A little less dead than we thought, huh?"
"A lot less" the ex-vampire smirked, "Living breathing human just like you now Harris, got myself a little gift from the Buggers That Be"
"The Powers granted you a mortal life?" Giles asked, looking completely astonished.
"Me and the bird here, champions of the people now y'know" he said, tilting his head at Illyria's whose eyes seemed glued to Xander. The boy smiled at her but shifted a little uncomfortably under her intense gaze.
"It's really quite astonishing" Giles commented, as Buffy came back into the room, not minding that there was no longer a seat free for her. She felt she needed to be standing or she might fall asleep, and it seemed everybody had some info they really needed to give to her.
"Okay, let's start with you" she said to Illyria, "You got information for me?"
"Not merely information" the ex-god replied, her gaze finally shifting from Xander to the Slayer, "It is a warning that I bring. I do not know how much Spike has told you, but I am granted visions by the Powers That Be, painful pictures in my mind that lead myself and Spike to those in distress"
"Like Angel used to do?" Buffy checked, "Cordy used to have the visions for him, before they... before" she said sadly, reminded of both their passing.
"Yeah, we pretty much help the helpless" Spike nodded, using the old Angel Investigations slogan. He felt a little more comfortable with other people sitting between him and Buffy right now, no pressure to explain himself or what he was feeling.
"Hold on a second, you have visions?" the Slayer checked, hand gesturing towards Illyria.
"I do" she confirmed.
"And Xander, you got given a vision type thing from that seer guy, whatever his name was?" she asked him.
"Muraguri" he filled in for her, "And yeah, I did"
"Okay, pattern emerging" Buffy nodded, "Now, we come back to Little Miss Bluebird here" she said turning back to Illyria, "I'm guessing you're latest brain picture had something to do with me, right?"
"Indeed" the ex-god nodded, "I have suffered two visions, the first of yourself and an engagement ring" she explained, making Buffy pay attention to the rock on her hand, "The second concerned your children"
"My kids?" Buffy asked, eyes snapping up to meet the bright blue of Illyria's, her voice wavering with fear for her children's safety. When Illyria opened her mouth to explain further, Spike put a hand on her arm and gave her look that begged her to let him explain. As much as he loved his companion, the bleached blond knew Lyri could not always be trusted to be delicate and mindful of her words.
"Didn't know it was you at first, luv" he told the Slayer, "Lyri here felt like she was right there in her own vision, screaming and crying she was as these kids she thought were hers got snatched away"
"Ellie and Chloe?" she asked fearful of hearing anymore but knowing she must.
"Didn't know at first" Spike continued as he got up from his seat and came towards her, hating to see the pain and fear in her eyes, "Was when we saw you and your bloke at the grocery store, Blue clocked the kids and gave me the nod. I took a swing at the fella assuming he was the bastard taking them away from their mother"
"He wasn't" Buffy shook her head, and Spike nodded that he knew that now.
"When you came rushin' in, we realised the mistake, but it was still those kids, your kids, in the vision" he said gently as he could.
"There is one more thing we should tell you" Illyria cut in, making sure she had the Slayer's attention before she continued, "These visions I have are usually of events that are happening at the time, I receive the pictures simultaneously that the event takes place"
"But nobody tried to take the kids away from me" Buffy frowned, "Maybe it's a mistake"
"Can't be, pet" Spike told her, "Wish it was but Lyri's never had a false vision. Granted, she never had a picture show of the future either" he admitted, "but this wasn't just your average vision. Poor girl was blacked out for twenty minutes from the pain before the pictures even kicked in"
"Xander" Buffy said suddenly, looking to her old friend, "You got a vision too, from that guy in Africa" she prompted as all eyes tunned to the boy, "What did you see?"
"He gets visions too now?" Spike frowned looking at Giles for an explanation since he always used to have one and he assumed at least that hadn't changed.
"Not like your friend Illyria here, no" the Watcher told him, "This was one specific sequence, passed into his mind by a warlock in Africa who seemed quite agitated by what he'd seen within his mind"
"And what exactly was that?" Spike wanted to know as did Buffy, and Illyria too.
"Something not pretty" Xander said looking down at the table and then around the assembled group, "Something I'd rather not have seen"
To Be Continued...