IN THE INTERREGNUM-

He held her face into his chest, trying to protect her, “Love,” he whispered, “ you don’t have to watch this. In fact I’d prefer that you didn’t,” his eyes met hers and he tried to bury the fear under a need to protect her, “Please Love, leave me now. I can do this on my own.”

Buffy’s eyes glistened up at him, “I know you can. But you shouldn’t have to, not now.”

Spike shook his head angrily, “But Love, it didn’t need to be this way! All Angelus had to do was stay away from Jonina. That’s all that had to happen. Just a few more months and Rupert and he would have sussed this out. And the body count,” Spike sighed in frustration. Not even the gentle press of her lips on his could pull him from his dark mood. He abruptly pulled away from her comfort, “I was just starting to believe that we could find a way to minimize the damage. Now, with Joni in danger again, he won’t be able to see. Love he can’t even think straight,” he ran his hands over her soft skin and lovingly cupped her face so that he could see her eyes, “He was just starting to put the pieces together. Now the Home Office found a way to throw him off the track…”

“Throw him off the track?” Buffy whined, “Spike, this is our girl! Not just some nameless, faceless…”

“I know,” he said softly, trying to soothe her, “I know. And he does too, on some level. I’m getting him so bothered he’s calling me ‘Jiminy Cricket.’ I’m part of the reason he can’t think. That’s how the Home Office was able to step this up,” he rolled his eyes up, “ I can’t help but think that part of this is my fault. And, that thing with Angelus? Yeah, part of me enjoyed it. You know that. But I know it didn’t help. In fact, it may have made things worse. I still can’t understand how Holland Manners’s word weighs more with that Ponce than…”

Buffy noticed his voice trail off, and looked up to see his mouth pulling into a smirk, “Spike?”

“…That’s it Love. That’s it.”

“Spike, what?” Buffy asked, afraid to know the answer.

“I told the Higher Ups I’d protect Joni. But, they left me to my own devices as to how I did the protecting.”
**************************

All the way back to Los Angeles, the rage kept building. The boy had told him the odds he was up against. A part of him knew it was hopeless. But, his mind kept flashing on Buffy’s eyes and the way they looked when he found her in that empty nursery. That was all he needed to drive him onward. He would have their daughter back.

The only problem he saw was this, would she be their daughter, still, when she came back, if she came back? The boy told him that when he was in the Hell dimension he called home, there, sixteen years had passed and he had come to call Holtz, Angelus’s nemesis and his captor and only human contact, Father.

Sixteen years had passed for him, while on the outside a scant two weeks had gone by. Jonina was less then a month old, and had only been missing for three days. Three days had never felt more like a century than they did now. At least the boy had Holtz. Who did Jonina have to cling to? What would fill the empty space? Was there anything that could? Would she remember, once he had her back in his arms, would she remember them? Would she be theirs, or would she be changed forever? Would she still be his?

What would fill the empty space, the part of him that she took with her when she left?
*************************************************

Homer barely remembered her as he looked at this young lady sipping her cocoa, thoughtfully. Had she always been this beautiful?

He ducked his head, hiding behind his lashes; afraid he would reveal something of his loneliness to her in his eyes, “What do you remember of your Da, Sweetheart?”

She put her cup down and licked her lips taking away the sweet chocolate taste, “So many things,” she said dreamily, “Mostly, what I remember is his strength. And, his stillness.”

Homer’s eyes widened in wonder and he had to hide the grin that was threatening, “Stillness?” he asked, clearing his throat.

“I know,” Jonina felt the need to defend him, “I know he didn’t seem like he could sit still for three seconds at a stretch. But, I was a very colicky baby. The only way I would go to sleep, nights, was lain out on my stomach, across my Daddy’s chest. It was still,” Joni could feel the heat flushing her face, “I know it’s silly. But, it was soothing.”

The memory ran across his mind and his breath caught, “That’s a very vivid memory. But, you were so small, surely you don’t really remember, do you?”

She nodded, “A part of me does,” she touched her heart, “It’s here. Even if I don’t consciously remember it, a part of me always will.”

Homer stifled his need to tell her, “Tell me more,” he said.
****************************************************

NOVEMBER 1, 2005- ROME

The phone rang. One. Two. Three. The machine picked up. Giles hated leaving something like this on a machine. Still, there was nothing to be done for it, “William, this is Rupert. I’m calling to inform you that the tests have been done. And, I regret to inform you that your child had…” he winced at his own insensitivity. So far as he knew, the child was still among the living, “…Has an extremely rare, ‘birth defect.’ I’m sending you the particulars, via fax, right now. Get back to me as soon as you can.”
***************************************


Spike stood outside the brick building on Jennings Street. Now the place looked dark and foreboding, when only days ago it had been filled with light. It was ready to become his little oasis of life in this maelstrom of death that had consumed him for so long.

As he put the key in the lock and turned on the lights, illuminating the small dojo around him, he chastised himself. Brooding like my Ponce of a Grandsire isn’t going to help me get my daughter back. He could hear the phone machine chattering away in Giles’s voice. Something to do with Jonina. Please, don’t remind me, not now. There’s no place for the hurt. Angelus. I can’t believe I actually dusted him. Yes, I can. I couldn’t see past the rage. It’s still in me.

Spike made his way to the locker rooms at the back of the dojo. There he carefully shed his duster and boots, and came out into the dojo proper.

The demon in him was itching for a bit of violence. Needed it, in fact, if he was going to center himself again. There was one person on this whole planet, aside from Buffy, who understood that need, and could give him a good fight.

He went up to the secretary’s desk, dialed the number and punched the button for the speakerphone. One ring. Two. Three. Spike closed his eyes. It was clear that no one was home.

Just as he was about to resign himself to the dim fate of having to abuse old Ray once again, he heard a voice question the air, “Hello?”

Spike let out a sigh of relief, “Georgie, did I wake you?”

“Nope,” she said quickly.

“You up for a round then?” he asked, “Usual weapons?”

“Sure. I’m on my way.”

Good. If he was going to sublimate his baser instincts, he could think of no one better to be with. He knew his demon would not be satiated until blood was flowing. He also knew that if he let it take him over, if he truly gave himself over, the part of him that loved humanity and Buffy and Jonina in particular, would be snuffed out. He would become the thing he hated most.

He would become Angelus.

So, until Georgie arrived, a brutal round with the heavy bag would have to suffice.
************************

On her way to Jennings Street, Georgie couldn’t help but be concerned for him. She’d never heard that edge in his voice before. This was an obvious emergency.

She pulled up, slowly got out and retrieved the supplies from the trunk. Carefully going up to the door, she gave a timid knock. Rustling could be heard from behind the door. It opened and it was apparent that he’d been working out.

She tried, she really did, to hide the appreciative look she gave him. But, it wasn’t working, not if the smile he was giving her was any indication, “Sorry,” she said, clearly embarrassed by her girlish reaction.

“Not at all, Love. I always knew you were a woman. And,” he winked at her, and she felt the blush burn deeper, “Seeing that,” his eyes flashed on her face, “Makes me know it’s all worth it. Did you bring the equipment?”

“Uh,” Georgie stuttered, “Yeah,” she said holding up the chess set, “White or black?” she asked as she followed him into the dojo.

“Black, Love. Always black.”
*****************************

“VERITAS” NIGHTCLUB

Lorne chanced a worried look over at Buffy, and turned his back, hoping she wouldn’t overhear, “Yeah, there was a hot spot where my old club was. I think it’s still hot. Why?” Lorne couldn’t believe what he was hearing, “The little sugar lump is there? In that place, oh no. Of course I’ll tell her,” he looked at Buffy again. He hoped she was together enough to understand, “We’ll be ready,” Lone said as he hung up the phone.

Lorne knelt in front of Buffy, “Well Moon Pie, Spike’s coming. He’s gonna get your baby back to you, that’s a promise. But he’s gonna need your help.”
*****************************

Homer noticed the tiny glint of metal as it shone in the light. He had to ask her about it, “What’s that around your neck, Sweetheart?”

“Oh, this?” she asked as she fished the ring from under her sweater, “This is my Daddy’s wedding ring,” she said as she touched the metal with loving fingers, lost in memories, “Mommy gave it to me when he…” her voice trailed off, the memories too painful to relive.

Lost in memories himself, Homer touched, absently, the place where that ring had rested for so many years. His voice was weighed down with emotion as he said, “He must have loved you very much.”

Joni nodded, her eyes shining with tears, “He did,” she agreed, looking up into an old man’s tearful gaze, “I know he did.”