A/N: I am so sorry I haven't updated in such a long while. Writers block is a bitch. I've had this chapter half finished in my computer for weeks now. And with the summer ending and all... Again, I am so terribly, terribly sorry!
I can also say that you would have had to wait even longer for this chapter if not for the wonderful review LizZin gave this story. Thank you so, so much! You gave me the kick in the butt I needed to write the final 1000 words. This chapter is for you! Hope you like it. :)
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Her strength was returning to her faster then she could ever have expected! She had thought it would take her at least three days to get her hand son another head, but here it was, in her hands less than 30 hours after she had collected the first!
The watcher had turned out to be quite an asset. Who would have thought?
The real effort had been to move the body from London to the place where she wanted it to be found. When she had been at her full strength moving an object across a continent had taken little to no effort at all, but now, after such a long time of weakness the shear effort of the task just to move the body a couple of miles had left her crippled for hours. But still, it was better than before. Two months ago she'd barely been able to move her eyes in their sockets, much less move objects with only her will and mind. And considering her first act in over 90 years of complete stillness had been to achieve the impossible...
The people who had captured her had made sure that the only thing that could possibly bring her back from the dark abyss she'd been confined to would never come to exist. A union between a vampire and the one destined to rid the earth of the creatures that fed on the blood of the innocents... why, who had ever heard of such a thing? And even if one slayer betrayed her calling and came together with one of the demons she was supposed to kill, it didn't matter. All knew that vampires were sterile, were they not?
She had never given up hope though. And when she had picked up the rumour that there actually were a slayer that had succeeded to ensnare the hearts of not only one but two master vampires of the clan of Aurelius... well, there was no way that she could pass up her one chance to get free again. Her one chance to regain her strength.
Her one chance at revenge.
To create a child from a vampire and a slayer...
In her prime days, even that wouldn't have been a greater effort. A simple fertility spell, albeit ten times more potent than normal. But to do it sitting in a room two continents from the vampire in question, without even being able to lift her arms, barely whispering the incantation...
The fact that she had succeeded was a true testament of exactly how strong she would be once the curse on her had been lifted. And the wait was almost at an end.
***
Dawn soon disentangled herself from Spikes embrace and rushed over to her sister instead. They hugged, mindful of not squishing the toddler between them, then Dawn bent down and planted a soft kiss on the crown of her nieces head.
"I've missed you sweetie," she said to Heather, and the child smiled at her toothlessly and tugged at the long locks of her brown hair. She carefully loosened Heathers hold on her long tresses and turned back to Buffy.
"So, sis. How's merry ol' England been treating you since I left?" Dawn sat down on the bed next to Buffy, leaving Spike with no other options than the uncomfortable chair by the desk or to remain standing. He chose the latter, and settled to lean against the wall by the door, crossing his arms and his ankles.
"Oh, you know. Same old. Got threatened by an unknown skinless demon, moved from London to the obscure countryside, found a decapitated corpse on my lawn and ended up in the middle of a murder investigation. How was Rome? "
"I live with Andrew. How do you think it is?" Dawn quirked an eyebrow in a gesture that showed quite clearly what she thought about that living arrangement.
"Your own fault for choosing a school in Italy. You could have picked any school on the British isles, but no, you had to go to Rome." Buffy actually pouted, and Spike groaned inwardly. He was both relieved and a little disappointed that the gesture was not directed to him.
"Can you think of a better place to study the classical languages? No, didn't think so." Dawn smirked at her.
"Wait a minute now... You actually live in Rome? With the Wonder Boy? For real?" Spike asked incredulously. "I was there you know. Few months back, I was there with the poof."
Now it was Dawns turn to stare incredulously at Spike. "Wait... What?! You were in Rome? And who's 'The poof?' What were you doing there? Did you know abut this?" The last question was aimed at Buffy, who shook her head ruefully at her.
"I didn't know anything. A couple of hours ago I didn't even know he wasn't dust. The trip to Rome he just told me about."
"I was there with Angel. Was there on a retrieval mission. Getting a head." Spike clarified, but his explanation only served to get Dawn more confused.
"And again with the explanation you owe me Spike." She stood up, crossed her arms over her chest and tapped her foot. She even gave him a passable attempt at Willows 'resolve face', and he had to smile at the picture she presented. Behind her on the bed Buffy's shoulders shook as she tried to hide her snicker.
He was just about to answer her when someone knocked at the door again, and he turned his gaze heavenwards and cursed under his breath. Then he turned around on his heel and wrenched the door open before the person on the other side had a chance to knock again. When he saw who is was he had to steel himself not to close the door in his face.
"Watcher." He gritted out through clenched teeth. There really weren't any words on earth that could describe just how much he did not want to see this man right now.
"Spike. Would you mind stepping aside?" The look Spike gave him in return was pure ice, and might have frozen a lesser man to the spot. Nevertheless he complied, and moved out of the doorway. Giles didn't give him a second glance when he passed him into the room.
"Giles." The girls in the room did not react to the watchers presence as Spike would have expected. Buffy greeted him with a calm, almost indifferent look on her face, whilst Dawn pressed her lips together in a thin line and fell mute, all the while doing a rather impressive impression of a thundercloud. She looked pissed, to say the least, and he wondered what the watcher had done to invoke the Wrath of the youngest Summers Sister.
Incredibly enough, Giles didn't seem to notice. Or if he did, he simply chose to ignore it. He smiled at Buffy and stepped towards her. As Dawn had done before, he bent down and kissed the top of Heathers head, and then straightened up again.
As much as he would have liked to have stayed and watched as the old man was put down a notch by the obviously irate teenager, he honestly couldn't stand to be in the same room as the wanker right now.
"I'll be right back, I'll just go out for a fag. Give you some time to talk to grandpa here." He smirked when he saw the watchers shoulders tense and his lips press together. Before Giles had time to retaliate or Buffy or Dawn had a chance to answer, he slipped out the door and down the stairs towards the entrance. He really hated leaving his girls in that room with the watcher (and they really were his girl now), but he'd rather cut of his own ears than sit and listen to another of Giles 'We can't trust you, you evil bloodsucking fiend'-lectures. Plus, he really needed a cigarette. Or three. Or five. Oh hell, how many was left in that package again?
***
It was three o'clock in the afternoon, but he could honestly say that it already had been one of the longest days in his entire life.
It was raining. It was the heavy, dense kind of rain that almost had you expecting a trout to swim by you at shoulder hight. The kind of rain that felt like you'd thrown yourself head first into a lake in February, instead of walking (or rather sprinting) down the side walk in the middle of august.
And of course the weather rapport had said nothing about rain, so he didn't have an umbrella.
This day just kept getting better.
For the second time that day Barnaby was on his way to the Bed and Breakfast that currently housed miss Sinclair and her daughter, and hopefully the elusive William as well. It was him that he hoped to talk to right now. Before he called in all his favours and asked his contacts from MI6 for help, he wanted to talk to the non-existing man himself first. Dealing with the politics and bureaucracy of SIS would always be his last choice.
So distracted by his thoughts and trying to get out of the rain as quickly as possible, he almost ran straight into the suddenly open door. Pulling all the brakes and stopping himself right on time, he discovered that the man that had opened the front door to the BnB was in fact the very same man who he was there to see. He had almost collided with William Sinclair.
Spike had almost run straight into someone when he opened the door, and he groaned out loud when he realised it was the DCI that had tried to interview him earlier in Buffys room. During the 120-something years he'd spent as a vampire he'd actually had very little experience at handling the police. When they eventually discovered his 'leftovers' he was usually long gone, and if they happened to catch him doing something not very legal, it was usually solved with a broken neck or his fangs in their throat, depending on how hungry he was.
Those solutions to the problem wasn't really available to him now, what with the soul and all. He would actually have to talk to the bobby. Bugger...
Best get this over with.
"I'm guessing you came here to 'ave a chat with me or the lady upstairs, am I right? She's busy right now, her..." he racked his brain for the identity she'd given Giles in her earlier statements to the police. "...uncle and sister just arrived, and they're having some quality time right now."
"I'm actually here for you. Do you mind if we step inside? I'm sure the host wouldn't mind putting the kettle on. I'd rather not stay out in his rain much longer."
Spike shrugged and turned on his heel, walking inside again. He didn't wait for the DCI to follow him, he just went straight to where he guessed the dining room was located, since he'd never actually been there before. He guessed he'd have to save those cigarettes for later.
Barnaby followed the young man to the dining room. Spike had chosen a chair and was currently playing with his lighter with a bored expression on his face. The DCI ventured to the kitchen and came back a couple of minutes later with two mugs full of tea. He settled opposite Spike and placed one of the mugs in front of him. He got no acknowledgement from the younger man.
"Lets get right to the point, shall we?" Barnaby said after he'd taken a first sip of his warm beverage. "I was hoping you could help me with some facts that I have some trouble understanding."
"Lets hear it then. Anything to help the long arm of the law." Spike smirked, still not taking his eyes from the zippo in his hand, an air or absolute boredom and indifference surrounding him.
Barnaby just looked at him for a long moment, staring at him as if trying to read his mind. When he didn't succeed at getting eye contact with the man opposite him, he finally spoke.
"It seems you don't exist."
Spike dropped the lighter.