A/N : Thanx so much to the reviewers of the previous chapter; Brunettepet, Ember91, spuffymonica, KelleyTheSelfToastablePopTart, Max, SpuffyChiclet, LiLi, and Moluvsnumber17. Glad you all seem to like the Xander/Ilyria idea. I didn't plan it when I started the fic, it just started to make sense and seemed to happen all by itself! Hope you like this new chapter...
(For disclaimer, etc. - see chapter 1)
Chapter 14
Buffy's mind whirred at ninety miles an hour as she worked her shift at the cafe. She wasn't sure whether it was a good or bad thing that wiping tables, serving food, and making coffee only required half of her brain power, leaving the other half to think about everything that was going on in her life. Spike was back. Just those three simple words made her smile so much it hurt, but it wasn't as simple as that. There was Davy to consider, he'd been so great and loved her so much these past months. He'd helped her with the kids, understood about her past, and she did love him, still Buffy knew she'd never feel for her current fiancé what she felt for her ex-love and the father of her children.
Ellie and Chloe could well be in danger too, and that scared Buffy more than anything else ever had. Herself she could protect and if she couldn't well the world could get along without her, she wasn't the only Slayer anymore. When it came to her little girls, however, Buffy just could not let anything bad happen to them, and she knew Spike felt the same. He loved them already, despite the fact he barely knew them, she could see in his eyes what he felt about his daughters.
It was the end of Buffy's shift and the sun was just beginning to go down. She started walking home, taking her usual route when something caught her eye. Someone or something was watching her. Buffy turned slightly, tried to concentrate and hone her senses. It had been a while since she'd really done the Slayer thing, not counting a little trip to the graveyard a couple of days ago. Now as she focused she found it all came back to her, the heightened awareness, the knowledge that she was being stalked.
"Come on, where are you?" she whispered to herself as she turned in the empty street, "Gotcha" she said as she ran towards a shadowy figure. Far from running away the demon showed itself, an ugly thing, with horns jutting from it's head and down it's spine. It's skin resembled that of an elephant or some such animal, all grey and wrinkled, and it wore an old fashioned type of armour made up of leather and metal. Buffy was just taking in it's appearance, working out how best to attack when a force pushed her back. The creature grinned evilly as Buffy bounced off an invisible barrier several feet from the demon. It was as she fought against the wall she couldn't see that the Slayer noticed something else, a small gemstone in the demons head, glittering clear and bright like a diamond. It flashed and gleamed, presumably the source of the power that held Buffy back.
The demon growled ferociously, pointing an arm out at the Slayer and gabbling in a language she didn't understand. At first she worried it was casting some kind of spell but from it's tone she thought not. It was talking to her, telling her something, maybe warning her of something, before it pelted off down the road. Buffy gave chase, getting faster as she realised where they were headed. The demon was taking her home and she hated to think of the reason.
A demon with a diamond in it's head, it had been in Xander's vision, the same vision that told of Ellie and Chloe being snatched away. With the demon able to put up a barrier against her, Buffy knew she could not stop it doing whatever it wanted, but that didn't mean she wasn't going to try.
She caught up with it outside the building where she lived, slamming it face first against the wall. In a second she was on it's back, holding it's head and attempting to snap it's neck but the demon flipped her off with ease. It gestured with it's arm and the barrier was back, Buffy could not get through the door as the demon raced up the stairs to her apartment.
"Nooo!" she screamed, banging on the air that pushed her back, "No, my babies! Oh God, my children!" the Slayer cried, feeling so painfully helpless. She could only hope Spike and Illyria were able to save the kids now, there was nothing left that she could do.
"What the bloody hell...?" Spike was woken from shallow sleep by a scuffle downstairs. Illyria was by the door in an instant, listening to the sounds of fighting beyond it. She crossed to the window and peered down only to see a demon throw Buffy back with such a force.
"It is Buffy" she told Spike, "She is losing to a demon"
"Bugger" the ex-vampire exclaimed leaping up from the sofa, "Keep an eye on the kids" he called as he ran for the door and met the nasty looking demon half way down the stairs, "Why don't I think you come in peace?" he quipped as he kicked the creature in the chest, knocking him back slightly.
The demon spoke in some old garbled language that Spike thought he should know but couldn't place as he wailed on the creature. The demon was stronger than it looked but Spike was a man possessed as he fought to keep the creature back, away from his kids that he'd just found. As they grappled with each other the pair tumbled down the flight of stairs, landing at the bottom with a thud.
"Spike!" Buffy called desperately from the doorway where she was still held back. He glanced to look at her, losing concentration just long enough for the demon to clobber him over the head and knock him unconscious, "No!" Buffy cried and the demon grinned evilly as it lumbered up the stairs once again. The Slayer was forced to stay back behind the door, staring in at her broken and bloody lover, knowing she could be about to lose her children too.
The demon reached the door of the apartment and knocked it off it's hinges in just two hits.
"You will not harm the children" Illyria told the creature, "I am charged with their care, I will not fail my companions"
The demon just growled as it lunged at her, and the ex-God easily dodged it's attacks, expertly flipping away and using the creatures weight against it. It came back at her, hitting her across the back and sending her flying. It took all the effort she had to get back on her feet but she was so determined. She flew into the back of the creature, slamming it into the window. The pair smashed through together, and both would've plummeted two floors to their imminent death were it not for the fact one was a near-indestructible demon and the other had finely tuned reactions. Illyria grabbed hold of the fire escape as they toppled out into the night air. She hung there by one arm, watching as the demon dropped to the floor and landed with a sickening crunch. It wasn't dead, but it was unconscious and injured enough they may be able to capture it, learn what it's aim was in taking the children.
Buffy saw the demon coming down towards the ground and winced as it hit the stone beside her, sending sickly green blood flying in several directions. She'd had her whole weight on the invisible barrier in the doorway and it gave way as the demon lost consciousness. The Slayer tumbled into the foyer, landing on her knees beside Spike.
"Buffy?" he said hoarsely as he came too, his head swimming spectacularly and blood obscuring his vision in one eye.
"Spike, oh thank God" she cried when she realised he was alive at least. She put her head on his chest and felt his heart beat there, still strong. He manoeuvred an arm towards her, hand stroking her hair for a moment before he shifted.
"Buffy, the kids" he choked out and her eyes went wide with alarm as she realised just because the demon was dead didn't mean the children were okay.
"Oh God" she exclaimed, bolting for the stairs, wanting to stay with Spike but needing to know Ellie and Chloe were safe too. She was relieved to hear the cries and yells of her babies as she reached the top of the stairs. At least their noise proved they were alive and she ran to them, crying floods of relieved tears when she realised they were fine, just disturbed from sleep by the commotion.
"Buffy!" Xander yelled, running into the apartment, "Buffy, answer me!"
"I'm here" she called as she emerged from the bedroom with her children in her arms, blood running down her cheek and cuts visible on her arms and through the rips in her clothes, "Oh God Xander I thought..." she couldn't even tell him as she cried like she'd never stop. She'd never felt so helpless and afraid in all her life as just then.
Illyria managed to pull herself up the fire escape and appeared in the shattered window then, coughing and choking as she did so.
"Geez, you okay?" Xander asked stupidly as he ran to pull her up.
"I... I think I shall be" she told him as he got her to her feet and helped her over to the armchair as Buffy sat down on the couch with her kids held tightly to either side of her.
"Giles is downstairs with Dawnie, they're helping Spike" Xander explained, "The demon's not dead but it's not getting up for a long time, Andrew knows a spell to bind it for now, he's gone to get what he needs"
"It's all coming true" Buffy sniffed, "It tried to take my kids, and I couldn't stop it"
"I know" Xander nodded, feeling terrible for her, "The demon, it's the one I saw"
"Buffy?" said a voice from the door and the three turned to see Spike limping towards her. He almost collapsed at her feet so relieved to see both her and his children alive and relatively well.
The rest of the group looked on as the family held onto each other. They'd been back together just a couple of days and yet it was as if Spike and Buffy had never been apart, as if he'd been with her and the kids all this time.
Illyria watched with jealous eyes as the little group hugged each other, revelled in the fact they were all alive, that they'd come through something so horrific. She felt a little guilty for expecting thanks for the part she played, but it wasn't the words and the gratitude she really wanted to receive. She wanted to be held, it was quite the miracle that she was alive too, but the only one to care was Spike and he was so pre-occupied. Illyria glanced wistfully at Xander who seemed almost as alone as she did. If they could be together, they'd never have to worry about being lonely or unloved again, she realised, but now was not the time to speak of it.
It was a couple of hours since the demon attack. The creature itself was bound by a spell Andrew knew how to perform, and held in an abandoned building two streets away. It would be safe and out of the way there until the gang figured out what to do next. Eloise and Chloe were settled back to sleep, and Giles took Dawn to fetch the books in order to do further research at Buffy's apartment. Buffy took Spike through to her bedroom to clean up his and her own wounds, leaving Illyria and Xander alone.
"Looks like I'm back to being Mr Fix It" Xander said to himself, examining the window that had got smashed during the fight, "Demon did some serious damage here"
"It was my fault, I believe" Illyria told him, as she removed her boot from her left leg, "I pushed the demon through the glass..." she began to explain, stopping sharply and hissing with pain as the large gash on her leg stuck to the fabric of her pants as she tried to roll it up.
"You're hurt" Xander realised as he came to kneel in front of her, "Let me see that" he said, pushing her hands away and gently taking hold of her leg, examining the damage.
"It is a minor injury" she lied, "It was a necessary evil, damage to my body in order to save the children"
Xander smiled at her attitude. She was an ex-demon-god from what he'd been told, but there was no mistaking the fact she'd been made human now, complete with soul and ability to care, maybe even love.
"Buffy and Spike appreciate it" he told her kindly, "Pretty much just you stood between the demon and those kids, you were brave to take it on alone"
"I did what I must" she said in a strangely soft tone she didn't recognise as her own, as Xander's hand shifted on her leg and sent shivers down her spine in a way that was foreign to her. Her eyes met his and she wasn't sure whether it was the blood loss or the way he was looking at her that made her dizzy.
"We should clean up this leg" Xander smiled, "Don't want it going icky, might have to cut it off, and how weird would you look with just one leg, huh?" he joked, getting up and going to find a first aid box or similar.
"You have just one eye, and still manage to be attractive" she told his back, wishing the very next moment that she hadn't said it at all.
"Er, thanks" Xander said awkwardly, keeping his back to her.
Since Anya he'd barely looked at a woman, never once thought he'd be desirable to anyone the way he was now, disabled and lacking in any kind of real skills or anything. It was nice to know he was still attractive to a woman like this, even if Illyria probably was lying to be polite.
"Hold still" Buffy told Spike as she cleaned the rest of the blood from his face.
"Doesn't even hurt" he told her, earning himself a look, "Okay, so it's bloody crucifying me" he admitted with a half-smile, "but it could've been worse"
"It could" Buffy nodded, "I never felt so helpless in all my life, couldn't protect my kids, couldn't even help when that thing attacked you" her voice wavered as tears welled in her eyes.
"'S alright luv" Spike told her softly, taking hold of her hand, "Everything worked out, the kids are fine and I'll mend y'know. Might be a human now but still bleedin' tough, make no mistake"
"I know" Buffy nodded, "but, standing behind that barrier, knowing I couldn't help, knowing I could lose you again..." she was so close to tears and yet determined for him to know how deeply she felt for him, couldn't bear to think he didn't believe it like before, "Spike, I love you so much" she told him as tears crept down her cheeks, and he pulled her into a hug despite the fact it hurt like hell to hold her close.
"I know, baby" he assured her, "I love you too, and you're not gonna lose me. I'm not going anywhere, I swear it"
He pulled away enough to see her face and wiped the tears from her cheeks with his thumbs, before gently kissing her lips.
"Look what that bugger's done to my girl" he winced a little at the sight of the cuts and bruises down Buffy's arm.
"I'm okay" she told him, with a smile "I'll mend, I'm bleedin' tough too y'know" she said, mimicking his accent very badly making him laugh til he coughed violently, and clutched at his chest.
Buffy reached for the edge of his shirt and lifted it up, running her hand over his ribs to check for damage. Her hand on his skin made Spike shudder involuntarily, and his eyes closed of their own accord, it'd been a long time since they were last so close.
"Buffy..." her name came from his lips as a whisper and he wasn't aware how close her face was to his til she kissed him. Though every movement was painful they longed to be together that way again and their passion started to overtake them.
"Buffy! Spike!" Dawn yelled their names as she arrived back at the apartment with Giles and a whole heap of books.
Spike pulled back from Buffy who made a sound of complaint at the loss of contact.
"You know there's nothing I'd rather do, pet" he told her, reading the look in her eyes, "but state I'm in right now, it might just kill me" he smirked, "'Sides we gotta get this research done, figure out why that demon son of a bitch is out to take the Little Bits away" he reminded her, sobering her up pretty fast. However, as she scrambled to her feet, she was still pouting.
"When did you get all rational and boring?" she complained, tidying up the medical supplies and putting her messed up clothes in the laundry.
"Might be rational on occasion, luv" he told her, moving up behind her and grabbing her around the waist, "but I'll never be boring" he promised, planting a kiss on her neck before letting her go and heading out of the door.
"No" Buffy smiled as she finished tidying up and followed him out to the living room where the gang waited, "Never boring"
To Be Continued...