If There Was No Buffy

Chapter Six
Suspicions

The front door hadn't even closed and Dawn was in the kitchen dialing Xander's home phone. "Come on! Come on! Pick it up, already!"

She waited a half a minute, hung up and called again, and still got no answer.

"What are you doing?" Willow asked.

"Trying to call Xander. He needs to go get Spike before those bleach-blond Slayer bitches get to his crypt and kill him. Why the hell don't they have a cell phone!"

"Well, I can assure you their hair isn't bleached. Not sure about that other description, yet. But don't worry, I sent Xander a telepathic message to get Spike and bring him back here."

Dawn threw her arms around Willow's neck. "Thank you, so much. After him being here all summer, I've gotten used to him being around, you know?"

"I know. And I know there's no way I'm going to let the Slayer twins do anything to him."

"Hey, you two," Tara said as she joined them. "Quite the trio aren't they?"

"Trio?" Willow said.

"You didn't feel it? Something about them is – not quite right."

"I did do a quick touchy-feely around their auras, and could tell how connected their consciousness is. It's almost like they're one person in two bodies."

"I kind of got that too," Tara said. "But I thinks there's more. I can't explain it, but I just felt they have some kind of connection with Mr. Giles as well."

"You guys didn't sense the same thing?" Dawn asked. "But you're both witches."

"Well, it's like – gymnastics," Willow tried to explain. "Some like the floor exercises. They have balance, and rhythm, and coordination, and—" Willow looked at Tara, smiling lovingly. "- there's real beauty in what they do."

"But some like the uneven bars," Tara said, continuing the analogy, and returning Willow's loving smile. "Not only is there beauty, but they also have poise, and agility, and strength."

"So that one's stronger?"

"Not really," Willow replied. "They all have strength. It's just that you can't really see it. But it's there, trust me."

Just then they heard a car's horn sounding from out front. It was Xander bringing Spike. Dawn grabbed the old, heavy, dark olive green Army surplus tarp to put over Spike to keep him from burning up in the afternoon sun, and went to the car.

"Dawn's gotten quite attached to Spike," Tara noted.

"Yes she has," Willow agreed. "There was a time when she had this huge crush on Xander. But since Anya, his attention has been more on her and less on Dawn. I guess Spike has become almost like a father figure to her. Or maybe more like a big brother."

"He has been good to her. Do you think it's because of Buffy?"

"It might have started out that way, but now I think he truly cares for her."

The two witches stood aside to let the tarp covered Spike, helped by Dawn, to get onto the porch out of the sun, then into the house.

"When is someone going to wash this bloody thing?" he asked as he threw it off. "It smells worse than a regurgitating Frovlax demon."

"You're the one who uses it," Willow replied. "It will give you something to do while you're hiding from the Slayer twins."

"Yeah, Xander was telling me about them. What's up with that? Do the Powers think there should be two Slayers, again?"

"Don't know. I probed around their auras, and it was like one soul in two bodies."

"And I think Mr. Giles is connected with them somehow," Tara added.

"It's this bloody Hellmouth! Always gumming up the works," Spike exclaimed, half serious and half joking.

"Okay," Xander interrupted. "Everyone's safe. Anya's waiting. Shoulder's killing me. I'll be off."

"Thanks," Willow replied, with a half hug. "You drive safe and we'll call you if there's anything to report. Take care of that arm."

Xander nodded then headed back to his car.

"I'll make up the bed in the cellar," Dawn volunteered. "That way you won't have to worry about the sun. And if those two come back, you'll be out of sight."

"Thanks, Little Bit. Give me and the adults some time to hash out this new Slayer thing."

After Dawn left there was a momentary silence as each waited for the other to start.

"Well, I think someone should go out tonight and keep an eye on those two," Spike finally said.

"Might not be a bad idea," Willow agreed. "But we need to keep a very low profile, you know? Stay WAY out of sight. There's no telling what kind of powers they have."

"What powers would they have?" Dawn asked. "Other than the usual Slayer powers." When she saw the others looking at her, she added, "The clean sheets are in the hall closet."

"That's what we need to find out," Willow answered. "But you don't shouldn't be concerned about this."

"Why not? Besides, I'll find it out anyway."

"She will," Tara agreed. "She knows more than we know she knows. And she isn't little Dawny anymore. I think she should be included."

"Thank you, Tara," Dawn said with a smug smile. Then she turned to Willow. "Now, you were saying?"

With a deep breath Willow continued, "As I was saying, there is more to them than just being Slayers. I just have – suspicions about them. Call it a gut feeling, or witch's intuition."

"I'm with Red," Spike chimed in. "The more we know about them, the safer we'll be. I'll follow them for a while, see how they handle things."

"Maybe we should both go. Just in case. They did say you should be killed. 'Put down' I believe were their exact words. You can protect me and I can protect you."

"It's too bad you don't know where they're staying. You could follow them right away instead of having to find them," Dawn said, stating the obvious.

"Little Bit's got a point. Any way to find out where they are?"

"Maybe some kind of locator spell. Tara, any ideas?" Willow asked.

"Yes, I think I may know one or two that might work. But – don't you think maybe we ought to be worrying about this Big Evil they said was coming?"

"Oh, Tara! You're right! I was so worried about these new Slayers, and what you said about Giles, I completely forgot about that."

"But we still should keep track of them," Spike said. "Maybe we can learn something about the evil."

"So I guess we need to do some real brainstorming," Willow concluded.

"Uh, guys?" Dawn said in an unsure voice.

"Not now, Dawny," Willow cut her off. "We have two, maybe three things we need to concentrate on."

"But this might be important. I think it's important."

In an impatient voice, Willow said, "Alright. What is it?"

"Well, after hearing everything you all are so worried about – Marty and Marian, and maybe Mr. Giles, and this new Big Bad that's coming, and seeing that this is the Hellmouth…."

"What IS it, Dawn! Please get to the point!"

"What if this evil Evil is, are, really the twins, and they have Mr. Giles under their spell or whatever."

Everyone looked at each other, realizing this was something none had thought about. Then Tara said, "It's Mary and Marie. And you're right – it IS something we should consider."

"All the more reason to keep an eye on them," Spike said. "And the sooner the better."

To Be Continued