A/N : Thanx so much to my latest reviewers; Moluvsnumber17, spuffymonica, KelleyTheSelfToastablePopTart, LiLi, Brunettepet, Ember91, and tippex-groupie. More info about the demon in this chapter and some more of the Spike-Illyria friendship.
(For disclaimer, etc. - see chapter 1)
Chapter 15
Buffy was naturally concerned for her kids lives and knew she should be concentrating on the book in her hands in an attempt to find something useful, but her eyes kept leaving the page to survey the scene around her. It was just like being back in Sunnydale, all the Scoobies spread around the room just like they had been back then in the Magic Box or the Summers house. Books on the tables and on the floor, Giles and Dawn making notes, Spike with his cute little 'serious study' look on his face, and Xander and Andrew both fidgeting because those boys just couldn't ever keep still!
Buffy had missed this, missed being amongst her friends. Giles being in charge and Xander asking why there were no doughnuts. Of course they were missing Willow, who might still be in Brazil or could be somewhere else entirely by now. Nobody had heard from her in months which worried them slightly, but they were all too aware of how strong the witch had become, she could look after herself now.
"You tired, pet?" Spike asked her, his hand on her shoulder, startling her out of deep thought, "Your eyes keep glazing over" he smirked as she looked at him.
"I'm fine" she assured him, putting her hand over his and squeezing his fingers gently, "Just thinking is all, about Sunnydale"
"Done a lot of that myself over the time" he nodded, "Wasn't all sunbeams and rainbows, but there were good times"
"Yeah" Buffy smiled, just enjoying this little moment when Andrew all but squealed.
"Okay, burst eardrum now" Dawn complained, leaning away from her boyfriend who bounced in his seat.
"And so say all of us" Xander agreed from across the table.
"You guys, I found it!" Andrew said excitedly, handing the book over to Giles and gesturing at the paragraph he meant, "The demon, I found it!"
The gang all gathered closer as Giles read aloud from the book.
"Propulso Antesignanus, roughly translated, the soldier that repels..."
"Well that makes sense" Buffy cut in, "I couldn't get within a few feet of that thing without getting blasted back"
"But it was only you, luv" Spike frowned, "Me and Lyri had ourselves a right old punch up with the thing"
"If you would all wait just a moment" Giles said, looking a little annoyed, "I shall continue"
"Please do, oh mighty Watcher" Spike smirked, as Buffy and Dawn tried not to giggle. It was nice to have something to laugh about after the last couple of days.
"The soldier that repels..." Giles continued from where he'd left off, "is very rare, almost extinct in fact, but those that live on are extremely vicious creatures. They are foot soldiers in a way, working for others and when they are given a goal, something they're supposed to acheive, they will not stop until their task is complete" he explained, and nobody liked the implications of that, "The demon has the ability to keep fellow 'soldiers' at bay by activating a forcefield between the stone in it's head and theirs..."
"But I'm not one of his kind, there is no diamondy stone in my head...right?" Buffy frowned feeling her forehead for signs of gemstone growth.
"Not in your head" Spike shook his head grabbing her left hand as it rubbed her face, "On your finger" he pointed out, bringing her hand down to the table and watching the light shine through her engagement ring.
"No" Buffy shook her head as the gang all stared at her, "No, you cannot be suggesting that this demon has anything to do with Davy. He is NOT evil!" she protested loudly.
"It's kind of a weird coincidence though" Dawn said carefully, not wishing to amplify her sisters anger as the Slayer got up from her seat and walked away from the table.
"Dawnie, it's Davy" she implored her sister, hoping for some support, "He's not a bad guy" when Dawn looked away Buffy glanced at Andrew.
"Anakin started out good but... y'know, lure of the dark side's kinda tricky to avoid" he shrugged, not wanting to get in the middle of this. What started out as simple spat could easily lead to imminent death with a Slayer around.
"Look, Buff" Xander tried to calm her down, "Nobody is saying that your guy Davy is the big evil, we're just saying maybe he, I dunno, maybe..."
"Maybe he gave her a bloody repeller demons ring and then accidentally sent said demon after her kids!" Spike exploded angrily, "What is wrong with the bleedin' lot of you, the man is evil!"
"He can't be!" Buffy shot back, "You don't know him, he couldn't be a demon or anything evil he just couldn't"
"Why Buffy? Tell me why the bloody hell not!" Spike wanted to know.
"Because he was the first real man to love me!" she yelled without thinking, immediately clamping her hand over her mouth when she realised what words had escaped, "Spike, I'm sorry, I didn't mean..." she began to apologise but he shook his head.
"Save it, Slayer" he told her nastily, grabbing his coat from the back of the chair and disappearing out the door before anyone else could say a word.
Tears streamed from Buffy's eyes and Dawn came over to hug her as she cried.
"I didn't mean it the way it came out, Dawnie, I didn't" the Slayer sobbed.
"I know" the younger girl nodded rubbing her sisters back.
"Not that I wish to upset matters further" Giles said carefully, "but, er, if we are to solve the mysteries of this demon, it might be in our best interest to get your ring checked Buffy"
"Checked?" she asked, sniffing as she pulled out of her sisters embrace and they came back to the table.
"Yes, a simple spell should tell us if it is a diamond or... something else" he explained. Buffy wanted to say no, wanted to swear black and blue that it was a diamond, because Davy wasn't evil, because she'd found a good and normal man to love her, but it seemed she was wrong.
"I think I must go after, Spike" Illyria said suddenly scrambling to her feet, "He is... my friend, I suppose, and he is distressed. I am of no use to you at this time" she told the group as she made for the door.
"Illyria?" Buffy called behind her. The woman with the blue-streaked hair turned back.
"Thank you, for protecting my children" the Slayer said sincerely, "and, if you find Spike, please tell him I'm sorry and that... that I love him"
"I will" Illyria nodded, "Though I am certain he already knows it"
As the woman left, Giles pushed some books aside and picked up another, flicking pages til he found the spell he was looking for.
"Ah yes, here we are" he announced, "This spell is for identifying the mystical powers of gemstones. Some are enchanted, some are purely decorative, and it is not always simple to tell which is which. By way of specific ingredients and a little Latin, this spell puts a sort of forcefield around the stone. Those with mystical properties will glow brightly, others will remain as they were"
"What do we need?" Buffy asked flatly. She wanted this over with as soon as possible. She couldn't let herself believe that Davy might be behind it at all, but if the spell proved positive, it seemed she would have to.
Spike couldn't believe the pain in his heart right now. He was sure it would not hurt so much if Buffy had put a knife through him, her words had stung just as a blade might've, only worse. Davy was the first real man to love her, God did she really not know how painful that was to hear. He wasn't a real man when he fell in love with her, maybe she didn't even consider him a man now, just a former demon, not good enough for the likes of her.
Spike had thought seeing Buffy kiss Angel not twenty four hours after spending the night in his arms had made him feel as bad as he ever could, but this was worse. He felt like such an idiot when he noticed a tear in his eye and he wiped it away harshly as he stormed down the street, duster flying out behind him. He reached in his pocket for his cigarettes. Though he smoked much less as a human than he had as a vamp, he could never quite kick the habit completely. In times of crisis and stress, he needed a fag to keep him sane.
It was only when Spike stopped walking to light his cigarette that he realised it wasn't just his heart that ached. In the rush to escape from Buffy's apartment, his body seemed to have forgotten about the beating it had taken just a couple of hours ago. Of course his healing powers, much like Buffy's, had kicked in and he was better now than he had been a few moments after the attack, but muscles still burned as he tried to walk on further, his head pounding and spinning as he tried to focus his eyes.
Spike sat down heavily on the side of a fountain and flicked ash onto the pavement. With his head down the first he knew of his companion were her boots coming into view.
"Not now, Lyri" he shook his head turning away. Ignoring him, Illyria took a seat beside him.
"She is sorry you know" she said, "Your Buffy Summers, I do not believe she intended to wound you"
"Well, she bloody did!" he snapped, throwing his spent cigarette to the ground and stamping on it, "If I wasn't such a stupid ponce, maybe it wouldn't hurt so damn much" he half-yelled, "Or maybe if I wasn't so much in love with her..." he added bitterly, "How does she do it to me, Lyri?" he asked, not really expecting an answer, "How can she make me feel so good, and then so worthless in a matter of hours?"
"I believe these are the ways of love" Illyria told him, a comforting hand on his shoulder, "A wise man once told me that sometimes the pain we suffer for it is worth the rewards in the end"
She was smirking slightly when he glanced over at her and a small smile broke through his dismal expression.
"Know what, pet?" he sighed, putting his hand on hers, "Sometimes wonder if life might not've been simpler if I'd just shacked up with you and had done with it"
"We will not have this conversation" Illyria said sharply, pulling her hand from under his, suddenly uncomfortable.
"Don't have a panic attack, luv, it was a joke" Spike told her with a slight frown.
"Love is not to be made fun of" she said shaking her head, "I believe I am developing an understanding of the subject, and I do not think one should find amusement in the tos and fros of it"
"An understanding of the subject, eh?" Spike said, his smirk returning as he tilted his head and stared at her, "You really are falling fast for the boy, aren't ya?"
"Do not presume you know my heart" Illyria snapped half-heartedly, unable to look her companion in the eye.
"Don't need to, luv" he explained, "I know you, and I know people in general. You could do worse than Harris y'know. Not saying he wasn't a royal pain in the ass from time to time but I'm fairly certain he'd treat you decent"
"I am not certain he even likes me" Illyria admitted, feeling very strange. She was not accustomed to the feelings she was having, and it unsettled her.
"The way he was looking at you before, reckon he might" Spike smiled, "Wish it was as simple for Buffy and me"
"You do not need coy glances across the room" Illyria told him, "You know Buffy loves you, just as you love her"
"How can we be in love when one of us barely qualifies as a human being?" he sneered and his companion rolled her eyes.
"Really William, the more I see of the two of you, the more I begin to wonder why you bother to be together at all" off his incredulous expression she continued, "but I know it is because you are in love, and all rational and logical arguments have no place where true love exists. Is that not so?"
Spike nodded slowly, looking away again.
"Almost a hundred and fifty years living and dead" he sighed, "And I'm still running out on arguments like a bloody kid"
"It is fortunate then that you have wise council from one who's birth was many millennia before your own" Illyria smiled as he looked back at her, "Now, I think we should go back to Buffy's apartment. Mr Giles is performing a spell that will end your feud, and help us to know who is planning to take your children from you"
Spike got up with his friend and began walking, back towards the only woman he ever truly loved, and whom he knew he would forgive anything. She and his children mattered more to him than anything else in this world. He'd be damned all over again if he was going to let a silly argument stop him from protecting them.
To Be Continued...