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“What do you mean you don’t want me to go with you?” Eric
asked looking at Spike.
Eric’s voice broke the silence in Giles’ living room. When he had returned
to the watcher’s flat, he had been relieved to find out William hadn’t
been dusted, he had been hurt but his wounds had already begun to heal.
They had all known what had happened at that point, Willow had been
researching on Buffy’s whereabouts, while Giles, Xander and Spike had
already began planning a possible way to free the Slayer.
Eric had read surprise in Giles, Spike and Anya’s eyes when he had
mentioned where Buffy had been taken.
On one thing they all agreed with: whatever the Council had in mind, was
different from the standards procedures.
He had mentioned his suspicions to them and had had the surprise of his
unlife when William had succinctly and clearly told him not to enter their
plans.
Eric ignored the glares he was getting from the other people in the living
room and asked, “Would you care to explain me why?”
Spike briefly looked at the other people in the room, and then pointed
with his eyes at the kitchenette, Eric frowned puzzled, he followed the
blonde vampire there and his frown deepened when the younger vampire
closed the binds.
“William?” He said. “I think it’s a bit late for trying to keep the
secrecy about our calling up! Our cover has blown for a while now…”
“I know…” Spike calmly said, he got close to him saying, “The old tossers
are used to my methods, they know the way I work…but it’s different with
you, you’re a Gheraious”
Eric cocked an eyebrow at him and slowly said, “So? I’m not sure I’m
following you, here…”
“When a Gheraious starts bending their rules they tend to notice, when a
Gheraious ignore their direct orders, they get brassed off. With you doing
so? I’m surprised they haven’t already sent you away…”
“What else was I supposed to do, William?” Eric asked.
“Time was, when you wouldn’t have…and I bet that didn’t go unnoticed on
them…” Spike said.
Eric crossed his arms over his chest nodding, “Oh, I see…you don’t want to
risk losing your tie with Eletti…”
“Bloody well right…” Spike said, “especially now, with that bitch in
town…and the Slayer’s life at risk, we know how anal can they be with
rules… ”
There was something ironic in William’s words, and for some instant Eric
was tempted to snort at the younger vampire’s words. William was right,
though. He had broken too many rules; defied direct orders…the Eletti were
going to do something about it…if they weren’t already planning something.
He slowly nodded at his words and said, “Things are not going to be simple
once you go there, you know that, don’t you?”
Spike smirked at his words, “That would be a first in Sunnyhell.” His face
became serious when he continued, “the only thing that matters is that
when the old tossers contact you to ask you not to stick your nose in it,
they will have to think I defied your direct orders…”
Eric nodded then asked, “Is something the matter, William? You usually
don’t much…”
Spike stopped him, saying, “Something’s brewing, Eric…I can feel it…the
Eletti are…” He sighed. “You know who they are…what they are…let’s not
take risks, shall we?”
Eric nodded at Spike’s words. The younger vampire had no idea of what the
Eletti were really capable of. He had no idea about how unforgiving they
could really be.
William had been always spared because of the peculiarity of his
assignments he had made sure he was…but he had no excuses.
“Alright,” He eventually said, “I will have to explain a few things to
Rupert then, before you leave”
Spike nodded back at him, they were about to exit the kitchenette when he
said, “Oh, and Eric? You and I are going to have a long talk when this
finishes about that sodding chip; I want it out of my head! ”
*~~*~~*~~*~~*
The thin glaze that had filled Buffy’s restless drowsiness slowly faded,
she knew she was awake; it was the pain in her body, which was reminding
it to her. The mattress under her back was soft, but it didn’t lessen the
ache in her lower back.
<Lower back? >
“My baby…” She whispered, forcing her eyes open.
She blinked, while stars exploded behind her eyes, she fought back a wave
of nausea, taking deep breaths, while she slowly got in a sitting
position, looking around.
The room where she had been taken was circular, the walls had been painted
in a bright, almost dazzling white and she noticed that the windows had
been walled up.
There weren’t neons hanging from the ceiling, yet the light in the room
was so bright that it was giving her a headache.
She wasn’t surprised realizing she hadn’t been tied.
<Why should they have? I can’t do anything… >
She bitterly thought resting her head against a wall. She had to fight
back tears; she kept blinking them away, refusing to give in to her fear.
She had to be strong, she thought, putting her hand over her belly. She
had sworn to herself no one was going to hurt her baby, no one, including
herself, and she was going to keep her promise.
“Mommy is going to be fine, sweetie…no one will hurt us,” She whispered.
She closed her eyes, and continued, “Daddy and the others will be here
shortly…wherever they have brought us”
She blinked her eyes open, when she heard the door opening. A tall, dark
haired man entered the room. He took a look at her and gently said,
“Hello, Buffy…I take you’ve regained consciousness”
“Why, aren’t we perceptive?” She mumbled.
The man smiled at her, he was carrying a tray in his hands, he placed it
on the floor saying, “I’d wager you are quite hungry”
Buffy shook her head saying, “I didn’t ask for room service, thank you…”
The man got close to her saying, “I know what you are thinking…”
Buffy had to resist the urge to flinch, she wasn’t used to being that
scared, at least not of human beings, she swallowed and said, “Do you? I
don’t think so-” She looked at the man before hissing, “And it’s Miss.
Summers for you…”
The man shook his head at her words; he put his hands in his pocket and
said, “Don’t think this is easy for any us, Miss. Summers.” Buffy frowned
puzzled as the man continued, “Alas, I don’t think we have another
choice…”
“Oh, please…” Buffy said rolling her eyes at the man’s words, “You’re
saying that bringing me here, isn’t giving you a happy?”
The man shook his head no, he shrugged and said, “I’m just doing the right
thing, this doesn’t mean I like it. Your pregnancy…”
“I know everything about the Obscuritas!” Buffy exclaimed.
“Then you are aware of the risks…believe me, I wish there was another
way…”
Buffy rested her head against a wall and said looking at him, “Forgive me
for not believing a word you’re saying…you have injected me with that
shit, you have kidnapped me, you have probably dusted my friend. So far?
Not so big with the trust in you guys…”
“As I said, we’ve just done the right thing” The man said interrupting
her. Buffy noticed he almost looked ashamed by his own words.
He pointed with his eyes at the tray and said, “You’d better eat
something, I can promise you the food has not been poisoned”
“Why should I believe you?” Buffy asked, ignoring the growling in her
stomach.
“Because you don’t have another choice…” The man headed toward the door
saying, “Whatever the outcome will be, I want you to know the Council only
acts for the sake of the world.”
“Yeah, right…” Buffy mumbled. Yet, somehow, that man looked sincere. He
really believed he was acting for the sake of the world. She hugged her
legs and said, “You know, don’t you, that whatever the outcome is, you
guys are so gonna pay for this?”
The man shrugged again. He looked at her for some long seconds, he didn’t
talk, and Buffy knew he didn’t need to.
She felt it was exactly what the Council wanted. That was exactly what
they had planned.
The man put his hands in his pocket and said, “You’d better eat
something…”
He left the room, and Buffy couldn’t help noticing he didn’t lock it. Yet
she couldn't let herself going at the door to leave the room, she was
afraid of what could happen if she did
Goosebumps covered her skin. They were all ready for Giles and the others
to arrive. They expected them to arrive.
~ It would be best if you had no further contact with the Slayer.
I’m not going anywhere.
No, well, I didn’t expect you would adhere to that. However, if you
interfere with the new Watcher, or countermand his authority in any way,
you will be dealt with. Are we clear?
Oh, we’re very clear. ~
Travers’ words, sounded clear and incredibly dangerous in that moment. She
had totally forgotten about that threat. Their lives had gone on after
that night. There had been so much to do, after that, and she thought they
had been safe, when she had left the Council for good.
Buffy closed her eyes
“So we’re the enemies now, uh?” She asked in a low voice to the empty
room.
She opened her eyes, someone had told her once a Slayer wasn’t just a
killing machine, and her powers went beyond her strength.
~ We’re not in the business of fair, Miss Summers; we’re fighting a war. ~
“Fine,” She whispered, “War it is, then…”
*~~*~~*~~*~~*
It was strange how life had changed in such a short amount of time, Spike
thought. He was in the Watcher’s car; they were heading toward that old
lighthouse where the Slayer had been taken.
Three months before he had been the enemy, the chipped vampire none of
that group of people could kill because he was harmless.
He had been a silent helper; he had been alone, carrying on his mission,
his assignment.
Everything had changed on a summer’s night, when forces had conjured
taking away the woman, the human woman he had fallen in love with. It had
taken that event to made him realize the depth of his feelings for
Willow…and the moment he had, all his life had changed. All of his
perspectives had shifted; saving Willow had become the most important
thing for him…even more important than his calling.
His cover, a cover he had skillfully kept up for years had shattered and
he hadn’t cared about it. He had friends, now. Some of them, such as
Xander Harris, were reluctant ones, others, like the Slayer, trusted him
implicitly.
The young woman he had fallen in love with during his assignment, loved
him back, with all of her heart. He could read the love in her eyes, feel
it whenever she touched him, or talked to him. More than that Willow
Rosenberg had made him feel human, again. For a long time he had forgotten
how it was like to feel…to be a man. He had forgotten what it really meant
to have a soul. Before that summer night he had started wondering whether
he still had a soul or if it had imploded along the way.
He shared a bed with Willow. They made love, each time as if it could be
the last time. They always loved each other with frantic urgency, the
passion always burning them, almost to the core.
They shared his past. They shared recollections of a past he didn’t like
to remember.
She had been with him during the darkest moment of his life, she had been
with him on his last day as human and even then– funny how the
recollections were so vivid and yet almost evanescent in his mind- she had
tried to help him…and he had used her.
He had shagged her on the hard floor of an almost empty room, while a
lukewarm sun, bathed them both. He had barely looked at her after that…he
had gone out from that room, and he hadn’t thought about her. He hadn’t
though about what had happened.
He had just forgotten about her.
They hadn’t really talked about what had happened that afternoon. They
hadn’t talked about that day. Once he had tried to tell her he was sorry,
but Willow had brushed it all aside, telling him that that it belonged to
the past.
She had told him that it didn’t matter, that there was nothing to be sorry
about. Yet, she had changed…he had been able to see lines of worry on her
face ever since.
She had told him to forget.
Time, though, didn’t forget. It never forgot.
It was strange, his human self hadn’t thought about consequences, he
hadn’t cared about them, yet in the back of Spike’s mind, there had been
doubts, there had been questions he hadn’t had both the strength and the
nerve to ask Willow.
Consequences.
The past hadn’t changed. He had fallen in love with Drusilla, he had kept
being an Eletti, he hadn’t screwed everything up for that young redhead.
Yet, there were consequences…there had been for the past two months:
Willow’s dreams had been haunted by what had happened. Her nightmares had
gotten uglier and uglier, even that afternoon, it had been her cries to
wake him up and on her beautiful face there had been all the sorrow, all
the fear that experience had given her.
Consequences.
Anya had told him everything about the Philomela spell and how Willow had
been willing to take any risk to retrieve the blood to save him. The after
effects of the spells used to send her back in time had taken its toll on
her, yet she had been willing to accept the consequences.
Consequences…
Consequences…like the feeling he had, that their relative peace, their
relative freedom from the Council and mostly from the Eletti was going to
end. A gut feeling he couldn’t push away. He hadn’t been able to, since he
had entered his crypt that evening before going to Buffy and Giles’
apartment. He hadn’t lied to Eric, something was brewing…he was sure of
that.
Consequences…
There had been for the past two months and there were going to
be...because Willow, his Willow was about to have a baby. She was
pregnant, with his baby…William’s baby.
He didn’t know why he hadn’t been able to sense it sooner. He didn’t know
why he hadn’t been able to hear that tiny heartbeat.
He suspected it was one of the after effects of Eric’s spells.
It didn’t matter though. Willow was pregnant and she didn’t even suspect
about that. She didn’t know. She just felt tired and cranky.
He hadn’t heard that tiny heart beat until he had been about to leave the
apartment. Willow had quickly tended his wounds, she hadn’t spoken and
neither had he.
He hadn’t missed the way she had greeted him when he had come back from
the graveyard. Once again she had been afraid to lose him, for good.
She had lived his death during his kidnapping, and had been there with
him, when he had been activated…when his death’s sentence had arrived.
He hadn’t missed the way she had touched him, as if to make sure he was
still there, that nothing had happened to him when he had entered Giles’
apartment.
He hadn’t missed the unnatural paleness of her skin.
He hadn’t had the time to think about her worries, though. He hadn’t let
his worry for her entering his mind. Yet, while she had tended his injured
shoulder and leg, he hadn’t been able to stop himself from asking, “Are
you ok, Red?”
“Peachy” She had answered, yet her voice had been broken, she had looked
up at him and had mumbled, “I should be the one asking this question,
though…”
They had been alone in Giles’ bathroom, Spike had been able to hear the
others talking through the closed door, Eric had been explaining Giles how
to pass through the shields which surrounded the lighthouse. Xander and
Anya had been talking in low voices; Xander had tried to reassure Anya
that everything was going to be fine, yet everything that had really
mattered to Spike had been Willow.
He had tried to assure her he had been fine, Willow hadn’t looked
convinced by his words, but she had known as well as not to ask any more
questions.
“Be careful,” She had whispered, once they had both been on the front
door.
Spike had nodded, and had wordlessly pulled her in a hug. He hadn’t heard
anything at the beginning, just the sound of Willow’s heartbeat, and of
her breath against the fabric of his shirt. Only when had he tilted his
head down to brush her lips with his, had he heard it for the first time.
The baby’s heartbeat. It had been so clear that for an instant it had been
all he had been able to hear.
The other sounds had faded and he had been almost deafened by it.
Images of that afternoon of his last day as mortal had filled his mind,
his heart, his soul. The feeling of Willow’s heart beating against his,
her green eyes so full of love and understanding…and the life, his life
entering her, filling her.
He had pulled back from her, feeling angry, confused, scared…and knowing
he had to push away those feelings for the sake of the Slayer.
A pregnant Slayer who just a few hours before had told him he was never
going to be a father...and she had been right. He wasn’t going to be a
father…because that child was William’s not his. It hadn’t been conceived
out of love, it had been an act of desperation, of selfishness…
“Bloody, soddin’ hell” He said through clenched teeth, slamming a hand
against’ the steering wheel.
Xander shot him a puzzled glance but Spike ignored him.
“What’s the matter, Spike?” The dark-haired boy asked from the driver’s
seat.
Spike snorted and mumbled, “Not your business, Harris…”
“O-ok” The boy said. Spike shook his head, hanging on all of his knowledge
to block out those feelings.
He couldn’t think about Willow now.
He hadn’t had time to talk to Eric, before leaving the Watcher’s house,
but he was sure that if he had been able to hear the baby’s heartbeat,
Eric was going too.
…And so were all the vampires on the Hellmouth.
<Very nice image, are you planning to think about it while bloody trying
to get the Slayer free, you ponce? >
He thought all but snarling.
He had been so proud of the control he had always had on himself. He had
been able to fool anyone into his facade of reckless vampire…yet now that
he really needed that cold blood he had been chosen for, he couldn’t let
himself to stop thinking about Willow, the baby…and what was about to
happen to them.
To all of them.
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