Disclaimer: Joss owns the characters, I play with them.

Author’s note: Some dialogue taken from ‘Older and Far Away’ Here’s where it gets sorta confusing. Buffy=Erixel, you know, that girl you’ve been reading about for the past 25 chapters, Liz=Joss’ Buffy. Thanks to Bloodytearsoflife for the great betaing and making Spike feel more icky. Thanks to Chanel 5, Cewcew, idk, Marzbar and nichole for the great reviews.
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Chapter 26: History

Buffy had no problem lifting the curse; it was a relief to get the various not necessary people out of the way.

“So this is where you’ve been,” said Buffy, as she and Spike sat on the living room couch.

“Last five or so years.”

“Where’s Dru?” Buffy asked.

“Brazil somewhere,” Spike muttered.

Buffy’s heart leapt with joy for a moment. Of course that meant nothing in the long run. He‘d been away from Dru the same amount of time during the last world war and he‘d still gone back to her.

“So you aren’t attached at the hip anymore?” she asked hopefully.

“No.”

Buffy smiled for a moment, until she realised just where Spike’s gaze was focused. In another part of the house, Liz was having a discussion with Dawn. Spike was listening to that conversation first.

“You’ve fallen in love with Elizabeth,” observed Buffy, sadly. “You do seem to have a thing for Slayers, William.”

Spike exhaled a breath. “Ya, I do at that. But to be fair pet, I didn’t know you were one until after the fact.”

Spike reached up and fingered Buffy’s golden locks. “Glad to see you went back to your natural colour, pet. “

Buffy laughed, “You didn’t like the purple?” she asked. “It was the seventies Spike and as I recall, you didn’t complain too much when you were biting me.”

“No love, you have the sweetest demon blood ever.”

“Have you bitten her?” Buffy asked, not bothering to hide her jealousy.

Spike shook his head. “No, she doesn’t love me. Wouldn’t sully her virtue with the likes of me. Nothing’s happened, not likely to, not now, or ever.”

The couple on the couch had their attention drawn by Liz’s return into the living room.

“Make with the explaining,” the current slayer ordered.

Buffy smiled. “Forceful little thing isn’t she?” asked Buffy turning to Spike. “What would you like to know?”

“Well for starters, how about just how can a vengeance demon be my grandmother?” questioned Liz, her voice getting angrier and angrier.

“Oooh I have a family tree!” exclaimed Dawn, holding out a piece of paper. Dawn’s excitement was contagious.

Eagerly Buffy took the paper from Dawn and looked it over. She followed the paternal line of the two girls in front of her until she met the name, Henry Christopher Underwood Summers, Brother of Isabella Elizabeth and William Thomas where the information stopped.

Buffy willed away a tear, touching the names tenderly.

“Henry Christopher Underwood Summers, was my grandson,” Buffy stated simply. “He changed his name to hide. He was born Henry Christopher Fairchilde, the son of Christopher William Fairchilde, my son.”

“How is that possible? Demons, vengeance demons can’t reproduce.”

“Who told you that?” Buffy asked.

“My watcher.”

Buffy shook her head. The Council would never change. “What your watcher told you is completely untrue. Vengeance demons are merely humans elevated. Without their pendant they are just as they were before they were elevated. To have a child was certainly not what I was expecting, but it happened. Do you have a pen?” she asked.

Dawn offered the pen she had waiting in her hand eagerly.

“I can’t believe that you are related to us, you’ve got to be ancient, like Anya, right?”

Buffy smiled up at the teen. “Good grief no, I’m young compared to Anyanka. Turned 138 a couple of days ago.” Buffy turned her attention to the paper in front of her and wrote in, Christopher, Kristina, Noël, her name and the name of Christopher’s father in the blank spaces. She handed the paper back to Dawn.

“Elizabeth Cecily Underwood and William Thomas Fairchilde,” said Dawn reading off the paper. “Shouldn’t our last name be Fairchilde then?” The teen wrinkled her nose.

“Yes, I suppose it should be,” conceded Buffy, with a sideways glance at Spike.

“Is William Fairchilde a demon too? Is he still alive?” asked Dawn, intently looking at the paper.

“Yes, he is,” said Buffy glancing at the shocked looking Vampire.

“Elizabeth Cecily Underwood. Wait, I know that name...” said Liz confused.

“I was a Slayer, before I was elevated, you probably read about me in the Watcher’s diaries.”

“Oh,” said the very articulate Slayer. “You were a Slayer and you let yourself be elevated to demonhood? Did you get dropped at birth?”

“No, Elizabeth. It’s a long story, if you are interested in hearing it.”

“So if you are only 138, then did you know Spike when you were human?” asked Dawn.

Buffy nodded. “William and I are old friends,” she explained and Liz gave her a glare.

Dawn sat down on the couch next to Buffy eagerly awaiting more information. “Tell me? Please, Spike doesn’t talk about his human days at all!”

Buffy laughed pleasantly, while Spike scowled.

“Can I change my last name to Fairchilde?” asked Dawn.

A look of horror passed over Buffy’s face. “You can’t!” exclaimed Buffy, who jumped as if becoming aware of her surroundings. “Oh D’Hoffryn! I’ve stayed too long already!”

Buffy stood up from the couch and looked at Dawn’s pained face for a second. With a sigh she crouched on the floor beside the teen and raised a hand to caress the teen’s cheek.

“Oh, Dawn. I can’t stay; I put you in danger if I stay too long. I had to hide Christopher to save him from a demon that wanted to use my offspring as a sacrifice. You are in just as much danger.”

Buffy pressed a kiss to Dawn’s forehead. “I am so glad I found my family again though! I’ll come visit you again, when I’ve taken better precautions. Okay?”

Dawn nodded.

Buffy stood again and looked harshly at Liz who was standing confused in the middle of the room.

“You really are the spitting image of me, my dear,” said Buffy proudly. “No wonder he fell in love with you,” she continued with a look at Spike who was still glaring. “I don’t think you’ll be bothered with his unwanted advances now though.”

And with that she teleported away.
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Spike stepped into his crypt and slammed the door angrily. He stomped to his fridge and took out a jar of blood, taking a swig and snarling.

“Are you angry at the blood? Or is something else wrong?” asked Buffy, appearing in a puff of smoke. “How could you not know? How could you keep it from me!” she asked angrily. “You know I was looking for Henry and Isabella’s children!”

Spike put down his jar of blood and stalked towards her shaking form.

“Buffy, love, I didn’t know,” he tried to reassure her. “I should have. I would have told you if I knew!”

“She looks just like me!” she wailed. “How could you not know!”

“To be fair, pet, your hair was purple the last time I saw you.”

“Oh like that makes a difference! William!” she yelled as was rewarded with Spike’s undivided attention. “Liz and Dawn, they are our family!”

“You gave the bit a right scare when you disappeared like that, you know,” Spike muttered, putting the blood back in the fridge.

Buffy nodded. “I didn’t mean to scare her. Tell me about them, please, you’ve been here for five years. Tell me about them. Where are their parents?”

Spike sat down on a sarcophagus and patted the stone beside him. Buffy sat down beside him and prepared herself for the story.
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“I need to find Hank,” declared Buffy angrily as she sat up from the tomb, vengeance on her mind.

Spike reached out and gripped her arm. “No sense in performing vengeance on our kin, pet. The best thing that Hank Summers can do for his children is to leave them be.”

“How can you say that?” she questioned.

“Cause I got to know his ex wife, right nice lady she was. Heard enough stories to know that she was glad that Hank was out of the Slayer’s and the Bit’s life.”

Buffy nodded in understanding but pouted anyways. “I can still feel Dawn calling out for vengeance you know. She’s got a lot of anger in her. Liz too. What her friends did...”

“Leave it be, Buffy,” warned Spike. “You can only make it worse.”

“I don’t believe that.”

“Liz isn’t a happy person right now, before the whole kissing business, which frankly turns my stomach now, she was opening up. She doesn’t want to be here. And her Watcher abandoned her to grow up, not realising that she’s about to fall apart.”

“They need a parent.”

“That they do,” he agreed.

Buffy smiled. “Good thing that they’ve got two here in town don’t they?”

Spikes eyes expanded and he held up a hand. “Oh, hold on a mo there pet. I’m no one’s parent. Christopher’s gone. Liz and Dawn, they don’t want me around parenting them!”

“Maybe Liz doesn’t. Dawn does though. I won’t tell them who you are if you don’t want to. Just promise me that you won’t duck out on them,” Buffy pleaded.

“I don’t leave them!” he protested angrily and Buffy smiled, pleased.

“Glad to hear it. Now that I’ve found them. I don’t plan on leaving them either. First I need to make sure I’m not tracked, though.”

Spike nodded. “The Immortal still giving you troubles?”

Buffy rolled her eyes. “He was in New York last week for a fashion show and had to come look me up, for old times’ sake. Got a couple of the models to curse him with a small dick and a case of the clap. Nothing big...He’s still getting girl’s pregnant and sacrificing his children every 20 or so years.”

“We’ve got to keep him away from Dawn and Liz,” muttered Spike absently.

“Or get Liz to fulfill my wish. Only one of our descendants can kill him. I wished it.”

Spike looked at Buffy, shocked.

“And you know, you kissed your own great granddaughter right?” Buffy asked, trying to divert Spike’s mind from making a deal about the wish.

“Oh bloody hell!”
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Buffy rang the doorbell of 1630 Revello Drive, slightly nervous about just how this meeting would go. The sun was down. It had taken her a day and a half to close up her New York apartment and to put out word to her demon friends that she was going to Australia for a couple of months. She knew that the Immortal kept track of her. Most of the time it didn’t matter where she was. She’d lost track of her family, there was no way to lead the Immortal to them. Now it had all changed.

Slowly the door opened and Dawn peeked her head around the corner of the door.

“Erixel?” asked Dawn curious as to why the demon was on the other side of the door.

“Dawn!” greeted Buffy happily. “I told you that I’d come back.”

“Liz told me not to let you in,” continued Dawn.

“Oh,” noted Buffy, disappointed.

“She’s out patrolling.”

“You’re all alone?” Buffy exclaimed sadly.

Dawn nodded. “Everyone else has things to do that are more important than spending time with me,” the teen continued bitterly.

“Well if I’m not allowed in, you want to come with me? I can answer all those questions that are burning in your mind. I don’t have to come in.”

Dawn thought for a moment before giving Buffy a bright smile. “Let me grab my coat. You aren’t going to abduct me are you? Liz warned me that you are evil.”

“She’s a Slayer, they are programmed that way. I know, I used to be one. How about this. You know Spike’s crypt? I’ll meet you there. Spike’s there. He’ll protect you from the evil that is me. ’Kay?”

Dawn agreed and quickly turned to gather her coat.
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“The Slayer has her programmed,” muttered Buffy as she teleported into the crypt.

“It’s for her own protection,” answered Spike, grabbing his duster from his easy chair. “I’ll go watch for Dawn. Bit shouldn’t be roaming cemeteries in the dark.”

Spike went to reach for the door handle, only to have the door open, revealing an out of breath Dawn.

“Ran...didn’t...want...the vamps...to catch me,” the teen panted, taking off her coat and laying it on the back of Spike‘s chair.

“Well you are bloody hell not doing that again!” chastised Spike. He turned back to Buffy. “You take her back to her house, when you are all done.”

Buffy snorted at him. “Yes, dear,” she intoned, sarcastically. At Dawn’s questioning look Buffy blushed. “He’s just frustrated, and scared I’m going to out him.”

“Am not!” the vampire protested.

“Whatever, William,” answered Buffy, drawing Dawn towards one of the tombs in the crypt and sitting down upon it. “I’m so glad you came.”

Dawn sat down on the tomb beside her, as Spike found himself a comfy spot in his easy chair. Buffy reached out and touched Dawn’s hair tenderly.

“You look just like my sister.” Buffy smiled. “And you have your great great great grandfather’s eyes. Don’t you think so Spike?”

“Not answering that question, Buffy,” Spike replied.

“Is your name really Buffy?” asked Dawn. “It sounds silly.”

Buffy laughed. “Maybe, but it was what my father called me when I was a little girl. Spike calls me it occasionally. I’ve gone by a whole whack of names in my time. Elizabeth as a Slayer, Buffy to my friends, Cecily in society, Anne as a watcher, Erixel as a demon...”

“You were a watcher?” asked Dawn excitedly.

“My best friend was one, she tried to get me to give up the demon thing and give being a Watcher a try.”

“That’s messed up,” Dawn commented.

“Damn straight it was, nothing more ridiculous than her parading around with red hair and taking tea with watchers,” interrupted Spike.

“Hold on, she was a watcher, and you were friends with her?” asked Dawn. “Are you insane? Watcher...Vampire?”

“I was a Slayer first, and William wasn’t always a vampire, Dawn,” continued Buffy.

“K, so let me get this straight. William’s a human. Elizabeth is a Slayer. Then William gets turned and is still friends with Elizabeth the Slayer?” asked Dawn.

“I wouldn’t say friends exactly, bit.”

“And he didn’t know I was a Slayer.”

“Didn’t know her name was Elizabeth either,” Spike added.

“I’m confused...” started Dawn.

“I don’t blame you one bit, Bite Size,” smirked Spike. “It confuses the hell out of me too sometimes.”

“Oh quiet you!” mocked shouted Buffy.

“So what was Spike like as a human?” asked Dawn eagerly.

“Bit...” warned Spike.

Buffy gave a sigh and looked at a sport over Dawn‘s shoulder. “He was gorgeous, and kind and gentle. He was the most wonderful man I knew,” declared Buffy succumbing to the nostalgia. “And I was falling in love with him.”

“Awww,” cooed Dawn. “Why didn’t you get married? ’Cause well, if you were in love, and well it was like the 1800’s didn’t people get married a lot then?”

“’Cause I had the Council dictating my every move, Dawn,” admitted Buffy.

“I hate the Council.”

Spike smirked. “Right wankers they were last year showing up and putting the Slayer through the motions just to tell her that they didn’t know how to beat Glory.”

“They were nasty when I was a Slayer too.”

“But you became one?” asked Dawn again.

“Not quite, if I’d stuck around long enough. If I had stuck around longer...”

“If you hadn’t been found out by your watcher at Reagan’s wedding,” added Spike.

“That too,” admitted Buffy.

“So, William Fairchilde huh?” asked Dawn, sneaking a sly glance at Spike. “You sure I can’t change my name to Fairchilde?”

“No!” barked both Buffy and Spike at the same time.

“Summers-Fairchilde? Fairchilde-Summers? Come on! Hyphenated names are all ‘posh’ and English. Like Wesley’s name! One of Liz’s watchers. Not that I want to be like him all stiff and English. Way more than Giles...”

“Giles?” asked Buffy startled at Dawn’s introduction of the name into the conversation.

“Giles. Liz’s Watcher,” Dawn elaborated. “He’s in England now.”

“My watcher was named Giles too,” said Buffy softly. “Got to be related.”

“Cool!” bounced Dawn. “It’s like Liz and you are mirrors of each other. Both have watchers named Giles. Both got a thing for Spike...”

“Your sis does not have thing for me!” protested Spike. He was deeply icked by the fact that he’d had more than platonic thoughts about his granddaughter and was considering douching himself in holy water just because of it.

“Sure, whatever, Spike.”

Suddenly, the crypt resonated with a loud crash. In the doorway, Liz stood, her arms crossed and looking mighty angry.

“What the hell are you doing with my sister?” asked Liz.

Spike stood up from his chair and approached the Slayer.

“In polite society it is customary to knock on the door of someone’s home, Slayer,” noted Spike.

“Shut up, Spike,” Liz snapped, stepping around him and walking towards Buffy and Dawn on the tomb.

“I wasn’t doing anything!” protested Dawn. “Just talking. Erixel’s way cool! Did you know she was a Slayer and a Watcher? She knew Spike when he was human!”

“Well she’s a demon now!” responded Liz, a glare in her eye. “Get your coat Dawn. We’re going home.”

Dawn pouted but hopped down off the tomb and moved to grab her coat.

“And you will stay away from my sister,” continued Liz.

Buffy’s happy expression fell from her face. “I have no wish to hurt your sister or you for that matter, Elizabeth,” noted Buffy. “Whether or not you like it, I’m family. One of the few members of your family who actually cares about you and Dawn at the moment.”

“If you care about your own life, I’d stay away from us,” continued Liz, grabbing Dawn’s hand and dragging her out of the crypt.

The crypt door slammed behind them, leaving the vampire and the vengeance demon alone in the cool space. It didn’t take long for Buffy to crumble; long pent up emotions coming to the surface. Her only family didn’t want to have anything to do with her.

Spike moved to take her in his arms. She held up a hand to him, halting his progress across the floor.

“The Bit likes you, Buffy...” started Spike.

Buffy sniffed, cutting him off. “No, it’s alright, Spike. I’m a demon. I shouldn’t have expected to be welcomed with open arms. You’ve been around for five years and still they don’t consider you part of the group.”

“Demon girl’s been part of the Scoobies,” Spike pointed out.

“Demon girl? Anyanka? Marrying into the group? Ya I see that working out well,” she laughed.

She spied a bottle of whiskey on top of his fridge.

“You wanna get drunk?”
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tbc...