This chapter skip jumps around a bit but I wanted to move the story along.


 Chapter 19

 

Xander opened his eyes and looked directly into Spike’s grinning face “Ughhh” he pushed Spike backwards straight into the sunlit doorway. 

Spike began to move towards the safety of the shadows when a flash on his finger caught his attention. He grinned widely as he settled himself against the doorjamb and began discretely manoeuvring the ring on his finger so that it sent small bursts of light directly into Xander’s eyes “Well good morning to you too whelp”. 

Xander snorted in disgust as he realised that Spike was wearing his ring; then he remembered why he was here “What did you do to her Deadboy?” 

“What did I do to who?” Spike said as he scanned Xander for signs of the claim and smirked as he took note of the distinct bite marks on his neck. 

“DAWN you bleached wonder” Xander stormed towards him “I know you did something to her.  She was scared.” Xander sneered as he continued “I felt it.” 

“Felt what Xander?” Dawn asked as she came bouncing back into the kitchen. 

“Dawn your ok!” Xander blinked in surprise as he tried to process the fact that Dawn now stood in front of him seemingly unharmed.  “But I felt it.  You were frightened.”  

“Oh that” Dawn waved a dismissive hand in Xander's direction “It was nothing really, I just used the claim to draw on Willow and Tara ’s magic without realising it.” 

Xander whirled back towards Spike an ugly look marring his face “I knew it was your fault.” 

“Oi” Spike began to protest. 

“Xander” Willow moved forward to place a reassuring hand on his arm “Spike didn’t do this, you know that.”  

Xander looked around the kitchen at everyone assembled, the others had returned to the kitchen when they had heard the commotion.  His eyes finally returned to Spike and he could feel the frustration and anger welling up inside him again. 

The others gasped as they felt the waves of hostility that were emanating from Xander. 

“I don’t like this” complained Xander 

“I know” soothed Willow gently “But with a little practice we’ll all be able to learn how to block out the others until we need them.” 

An awkward silence fell over the group for a few moments before Buffy took charge of the situation “Ok here’s the plan we will all head back to Midian tonight so we can train and get some help getting the claim under control.”  She spun round “Dawn you have school today so get a move on, Willow and Tara can you two work on that no violence spell that you learnt.”  Buffy turned her attention to Giles and Anya “Giles can you find anything researchy that you might find useful back in Midian, Anya can help you when she’s not busy with the store.” 

Buffy softened her voice slightly “Xander can you have a look at doing something more permanent with Spike and Rebecca’s room in the basement.”  She smiled reassuringly “We managed to get something temporary done but I don’t think our girly construction skills will stand the test of time.” 

“An what about us luv?” Spike enquired softly. 

Buffy thought for a moment “Meet at the Magic Box for training I guess, see if we can use the claim to our advantage during a fight.” She turned to look the others before striding out of the room “Well what are you all waiting for?  Get moving”. 

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~* 

 

Three Weeks Later  

Buffy sat on the soft grass watching Spike and Rebecca training with the Redwulf’s, Bo barked orders occasionally as the pair swung the deadly weapons with surprising grace.  So much had happened in the last few weeks that she had felt overwhelmed at times.   

All of the familial claims were now in full effect, thankfully it had not taken them long to learn how to control the flow of emotions from one to the other.  Xander had been the most eager to learn and had therefore been the first to control the claim.  It had been somewhat of a relief when the feelings of anger and resentment and ceased to bombard them.  Buffy was worried though as he was unwilling to learn how to draw from the other’s strengths.  He also seemed to be distancing himself from the other Scoobies, all except Dawn and surprisingly Rebecca. 

Willow and Tara had decided to become apprentices to Jayala so that they might one day become Amaran priestesses.  They had successfully placed a sanctuary spell around the Summers home, even managing to extend it to the property boundary ensuring that the inhabitants would be safe from harm in their own yard as well as the house.   

Dawn, with Anya and Mathews help, was now able to open portals as large as a doorway that could sustain themselves for a short amount of time.  The only problem was that Dawn needed to be able to visualize a person or place for her to be able to create the portal.  The three were currently working on a way for Dawn to establish a permanent doorway to Midian that could be accessed from the Summers home without drawing too much energy from Dawn.  

The most surprising revelation had happened not long after they had returned to Midian, Giles had gathered them all together along with the elders of Midian. 

………………………… 

Giles had cleared his throat nervously as he paced around the room, the others watched and waited for him to begin.  

“The reason I have called you all here is that I have some information about Samuel.”  

Sarah had gasped softly at this but did not interrupt.  

“I’ve been trying to discuss this with Buffy but we always seem to get sidetracked, so I decided to just tell all of you together.”  

Giles sat opposite Hoston and Sarah clasping his hands together as he found the words to continue.  “Samuel is still alive and well.”  

Sarah let out a cry and she grasped her husbands hand, tears welling in her eyes.  

“He is currently 101 years old and has worked in the council library for most of his adult life.” Giles smiled reassuringly “He’s quite spry for his age and refuses to leave his books.  The council has been trying to retire him for the past 30 years to no avail”  

“Why is that?” asked Willow curiously  

“The catacombs?” questioned Hoston . 

Willow looked at Giles curiously  

“The Council’s library is quite extensive” Giles explained “So much so that much of it is housed in catacombs beneath the building.  It’s like a labyrinth down there and the tunnels stretch for miles.”  He chuckled softly “I remember getting lost down there when I was just a new watcher.  I’d been wandering around for hours when all of a sudden Samuel popped up out of nowhere and led me out.  No one else can ever seem to navigate them, hence the council’s inability to retire him.  If they lost Samuel it would take years to locate a single book down there.”  

A thoughtful looked crossed over Hoston’s face “Back in my day there was talk about there being secret passages that led to every part of the council.”  

Giles was nodding furiously “Yes I was searching for them when I became lost.  I had also heard that there was an escape passage hidden away in the catacombs somewhere.  If Samuel were to be approached this could provide us with…”  

“A way in.” Interjected Rebecca  

This had immediately caught everyone’s attention  

“If one of us could access the catacombs with Samuels help then Dawn would be able to open a portal to allow the rest of us in without the council ever being aware that we have left Sunnydale.” Giles continued.  

……………………………….. 

Buffy was pulled from her thoughts by a shout; Spike was laying flat on his back, Rebecca standing over him the stake of the Redwulf pointed at his heart.  The sound of the couple’s laughter filtered across the field to where she sat.  She watched as Spike rose to his knees and pressed his face against Rebecca’s swollen stomach. 

That had been another area of concern for the small family; Rebecca’s pregnancy had progressed at an alarming rate.  Her stomach was now full and rounded, after much research it had been theorized that the pregnancy had accelerated to match what should have been its natural state.  They had calculated that Rebecca had been about 8 weeks pregnant when she died; she had been ‘back’ for almost 5 months when the incident in the cemetery had resurrected the baby.  Giles and Hoston had therefore concluded that the babies natural gestation would be around 7 to 8 months and the pregnancy would continue at a normal rate once this mark had been reached.  Tara had been studying Rebecca’s aura on a daily basis and they had all been relieved when this seemed to be the case. 

Buffy smiled as Spike flopped down beside her, laying his head on her lap as he watched his wife sparring with Bo. 

Spike watched in amazement as Rebecca spun gracefully and took out Bo’s legs in one swift movement “How does she do that?”  

“I have no idea” Buffy answered “No-one should have that much energy” she ran her fingers through his hair as Spike closed his eyes and enjoyed the sensations Buffy was creating. 

That was another thing that had changed in the past few weeks.  Rebecca had encouraged Buffy to spend time with the two of them as much as possible.  Some days Buffy would spend time alone with Rebecca, the two having formed a close friendship.  Buffy would playfully rub Rebecca’s stomach and whisper to the baby within.  Rebecca would tell the baby to listen to what mummy Buffy was saying because it was very important.  The first time she had said that Buffy had looked up at her startled; Rebecca had merely smiled and shrugged.   

Rebecca’s one concession to her pregnancy was her afternoon nap, most days Buffy would curl up on the bed beside her, one hand resting protectively on Rebecca’s stomach.  

Spike had walked in on them one afternoon and had merely placed a kiss on each of their foreheads before settling himself beside them and placing his hand over Buffy’s.  After this the relationship between Buffy and Spike changed, he would now her offer Buffy gentle hugs and soft kisses whenever they were alone or with Rebecca.  The three had formed a loving family unit which extended to the others around them as well.  The other girls accepted the new family dynamic without question, Giles was slightly bemused by it all and Xander seemed to hover between open hostility and acceptance.   

Spike in the mean time was basking the glow of being the alpha male and head of the family.   

“We have to go back tonight” Spike pulled himself up to sit beside Buffy 

“Do we have to?” Buffy complained “It’s so peaceful here, can’t we just stay and forget about the real world” 

“Sorry luv duty calls” Spike wrapped his arms around her “Soon it’ll be all over and you can spend as much time here as we like.” 

“Bliss” Buffy sighed 

“What’s bliss?” asked Rebecca as she came to stand in front of the pair. 

“This place” Buffy spread her arms wide “I can’t wait until we can enjoy it without having to worry about Travers.” 

Rebecca merely laughed “Come on it’s time we headed back to get the others.”