Disclaimer: I don’t own them, I only play with them.

Author’s note: Thanks to the great and wonderful Bloodytearsoflife for the betaing. *hugs*
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Chapter 37: Curse

Buffy reclined on her couch as she listened to Spike’s recital of Tennyson. He was really a good orator. He paused between verses just as Buffy heard D’Hoffryn’s summons in her head. She stood, halting her mate mid poem.

“D’Hoffryn’s calling. Be back soon,” she said, planting a kiss on his cheek as he growled his frustration.

She teleported to her boss’ location surprised to find herself in Sunnydale, Anya and Liz in the room with him, both in standing defensively.

“You know the price,“ intoned D’Hoffryn, to Anya.

Buffy felt the heat envelope her at D’Hoffryn’s words. The feeling of her skin being burnt off at a temperature that would have evaporated human flesh wasn’t painful, but she knew that this would kill her, eventually.

Her thoughts turned to Spike, then Dawn. She didn’t want to leave them like this with no trace of what happened to her. It was some small consolation that both Anya and Liz were there to witness her demise, they could tell Spike what had happened to her.

Suddenly the heat ended and a piercing scream filled the frat house. With her skin charred, but slowly healing, Buffy turned attention to the screams of her boss.

D’Hoffryn was ripping at his skin, cutting himself with his claws as he fought against whatever it was that was happening to him. It was then that Buffy realised what happened.

So did Liz.

“The curse,” the slayer started, her eyes wide. This was just another piece of the puzzle that fit and proved to her that Buffy was really who she said she was. “The curse still works. You can’t kill her.”

The pitiful wails of the Master of Arashmahar turned to whimpers as he cowered on the floor.

“Will it kill him?” asked Anya, looking at her boss.

“I don’t know,” Buffy offered honestly. “He’s a demon, the original curse was for humans. I had no idea that it would still work.”

“I think it still works,” noted Liz, waving a hand in the direction of D’Hoffryn, groaning in pain, his whimpers becoming less.

At last he stopped his moaning and lay prostrate on the ground.

“Is he dead?” asked Anya, prodding the still body with her foot and getting no response.

“I guess...” offered Buffy.

“Well that was kinda anticlimactic,” Liz commented.

Buffy looked up from the body of her boss and to her best friend and her granddaughter.

“So how is everyone?” she asked.

“Confused,” started Anya. “What happens now? Am I still a vengeance demon? Who’s the master of Arashamahar now? Is Liz still gonna try to slay me?”

“Valid questions,” began Buffy. “Can you teleport?”

Anya poofed out of the room and reappeared in another corner of the room. “Affirmative. And I feel all weird, powerful, and uneasy, like there’s trouble at home.”

Buffy nodded.

“I feel it too.” Buffy turned to Liz and cupped her cheek tenderly. “I’ll be back soon to visit with you and Dawn. I’ll bring Spike.”

Liz nodded.

Buffy took Anya’s hand and together they stepped into a portal that led to D’Hoffryn’s audience chamber, leaving his body behind.

The room was filled with demons milling about, worried, suddenly without a master, a boss, a god. The moment Anya and Buffy entered the room all eyes turned to them. It was no secret that D’Hoffryn had favoured them above all others of his creation.

Krevlin approached the pair, a sad look on his face. With definite planned motion, Krevlin took Anyanka’s hand and kissed it. The other demons in the room hushed, parting ways as Anyanka approached. Buffy knew exactly what was going on. Anya was the new mistress of Arashamahar.

The worried look on Anya’s face was enough for Buffy to know that Anya would do a good job in her new position, even though she was still concerned about Liz, the Slayer and Xander.

Buffy knew that she would be able to take care of Liz.

Buffy curtseyed to her new boss and smiled knowingly. Anya was going to do a fabulous job.

With a small wave goodbye, Buffy returned home to New York to her waiting lover waiting for her. She knew he was worried about her.

“D’Hoffryn is dead,” she stated simply.

Truthfully, Spike didn’t know how to react to that kind of news. When she had disappeared at D’Hoffryn’s request he had the eerie feeling that something was up.

A lone tear rolled down Buffy’s cheek for her boss, even though he had tried to kill her. He had been her father figure since she lost Giles to bigotry. He’d babysat Christopher when she sought out vengeance seekers. He’d looked out for her in all things since she was elevated. She had been his greatest creation since Anyanka.

She was going to miss him.

Buffy reached out to her mate for comfort and consolation, more tears threatening to spill over the edge. Spike pulled her close into his arms and soothed her soft sobs as the story of what had happened over the last few hours bubbled from her lips. His grip on his girl tightened as she related how she was going to be the sacrifice for the wish Anyanka had wanted to take back, then his grip softened as he listened to how the old grey wanker died at the hands of the curse that protected Buffy for all time. He was grateful for Reagan’s meddling in witchcraft in that moment.

“Don’t be mad, Spike,” Buffy begged. “He was like a father to me. He took care of Christopher. Anya’s the Mistress of Arashamahar now. She’ll do a great job at it, I know it.”

“If you say so, love,” soothed Spike, rocking her gently in his arms.

He was more concerned that the change in power in Arashmahar meant in the great scheme of things. How would this translated to problems for the Slayer and the First Evil coming to rise again? After Buffy’s safety he thought about his other girls. Dawn and Liz.

Now that Liz had somewhat accepted that Buffy was who she said she was, he had hope that someday, someday soon, the two grandparental demons would be welcomed back in Sunnydale to help with the do gooding. It was a small hope.

Buffy liked to think of him as still an evil vampire, but he knew better. His time with Liz had changed him. He was still bagging it, still had the chip in his head, though Buffy would remove it if he wished it, but he didn’t plan on that changing anytime soon.

Erixel, his mate, the woman that had his heart, was evil. He accepted that. She’d been pure once, and misuse and deceit had made her what she was now.

His nights were spent in idle waste of the hours he had to be apart from her as she sought out vengeance seekers, when he really wanted to dust vamps snacking on innocent children and demons trying to end the world.

They were Buffy’s friends though. They had been his friends, or acquaintances once. Working with the Slayer had changed him. Liz had changed him. He hoped that if Buffy had the opportunity to work with the Slayer too that she would be changed too.

It was an ironic wish.

A wish he was careful to keep to himself.
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Buffy looked up from the blood smattered mess of her latest victim to have Dawn’s voice echo in her head. Hastily she wiped her hands on a nearby towel and teleported to her New York apartment to clean herself up. It would never do to appear before her granddaughter with blood on her hands. Even if it was the blood of a man who assaulted his daughter over the past four years.

They wouldn’t understand.

With clean hands, Buffy teleported to Dawn’s location. She was expecting Dawn to be in need of her attention, to miss her or something, certainly not what she discovered.

Buffy appeared before Dawn to see that the teen was not alone. Surrounding her was not only Liz and her ‘Scooby’ friends, but another man she had never met in her life, but instinctively knew who he was. This was Liz’s watcher, the descendent of her own watcher and Miranda Travers. This was Rupert Giles.

“Ooh, ambush?” quipped Buffy.

“No!” the teen exclaimed. “Giles wanted to meet you. That’s all,” protested Dawn.

“Oh, ok then, so not ambush. No one expects the Spanish inquisition,” Buffy laughed to herself, knowing that the children wouldn’t get the British pop culture reference.

Giles did though, letting out a little laugh.

“Oh good, you aren’t as fuddy duddy as I thought you would be,” Buffy praised.

“Thank you, I suppose,” answered the watcher before clearing his thoat. “I had asked Dawn to summon you so that I might meet the demon with whom Dawn is so enraptured.”

“She sees good in people that don’t have much good left in them,” offered Buffy with a shrug. “Look, I didn’t come here to talk about my past again for the umpteenth time, ok? If you want proof you are going to have to find your own. I’ve laid my life bare enough times since last January.”

Giles nodded. “I am convinced of Liz and Dawn’s belief in just who you are. I trust my Slayer and her instincts.”

“Well you didn’t get that from my Giles, that must be a Travers quality...” Buffy muttered.

Dawn snorted.

“G-man is related to Travers of the ‘All Powerful Council, Kill Liz’ clan?” laughed Xander Harris.

Buffy glared at the man evilly. She would never forgive him what he did to Anya. Giles glared at the young man for good measure too.

Giles cleared his throat once again and turned back towards Buffy. “I had hoped to glean from you information about the evil Liz is facing. The evil that seems to be killing off all the potential slayers that are on the face of the earth?”

Buffy nodded. “The First Evil. Not much to tell. Just what every demon knows. The Council probably has books enough to satisfy your curiosity for knowledge.”

“They blew up the Council,” added Dawn.

Buffy opened her mouth in shock.

“Ya, that’s what I said too, or you know, not said,” said Liz.

“It’s...it’s gone?” asked Buffy in shock. “The entire building? The library? The training rooms? The place where...” Buffy trailed off.

Liz nodded along with all of Buffy’s exclamations. “Oh Anyanka,” Buffy swore, her choice of demon to swear to throwing the assembled people for a loop.

“What does Anya have to do with it?” asked the red headed witch.

“Nothing,” answered Buffy truthfully. “Tell me what has happened since the Council blew up? Are the Council members ok?” asked Buffy.

Giles shook his head sadly.

“I can’t tell that any of the London based watchers escaped the fate of the First and its minions. There have been a few...”

Buffy nodded. Her thoughts immediately went to Reagan’s brood. They must be still watchers. Chances are she would never be reacquainted with the Wyndham-Prices.

“And all the potential Slayers?” asked Buffy.

“I am rounding them up, some are here. They are hunted, even now...”

“I’d help...” started Buffy, even formulating the ‘I’m evil’ excuse she had planned to give in this instance.

“Please?” asked Liz, her eyes wide. “You’re a Slayer, I could really use a little Slayer type help here. Soon this house is going to be flooded with Slayer wannabes. I don’t think I can do this alone.”

“You won’t be alone, Liz,” Buffy answered. “You have your friends and your watcher. What would you do with a demon like me in your house? Send the little baby slayers out to try to kill me?”

“Actually I thought that’s what I’d use Spike for,” laughed Liz.

Buffy gave her a ‘that’s not funny’ look. Even so, the boy was laughing hysterically.

“Xander, I do wish you’d be quiet,” started Giles, catching himself and his mistake too late.

Buffy shifted into demonic guise and grinned evilly. “Wish granted,” she intoned.

Suddenly, Xander Harris didn’t have a mouth.

The rest of the group stood in shock. With a puff of smoke there was another added to their group as Anya appeared in their midst. Her cackling echoed throughout the room.

“Oh this is wonderful!” she laughed manically. “Xander, you’ve never looked better! I told you karma is a pain in the butt.”

Xander moaned as only he could with no mouth.

“Rixy I love you!” babbled Anya through her laughter.

“Uh...Happy birthday?” offered Buffy. “It was too good to let go, this is the first vengeance wish that anyone’s been able to cast on him.”

Anya nodded wisely. “So how do you like that, Xander Harris?” taunted Anya, her hands on her hips. “I’ve got the whole demon population eager to make me happy in anyway possible, and you suffering, that makes me happy.”

“And sometimes I wonder if you are really over a thousand years old,” muttered Giles.

“Some of us never lose our youthful exuberance,” explained Anya. “Besides he totally deserves it.”

“Undo it,” ordered Giles, acting very tired.

Buffy crossed her arms and refused to do it. Xander Harris deserved what he got. Unfortunately for all her strict stance on wishes cast, Buffy ultimately wasn’t the one in charge anymore. Anya was.

“Fine, it’s undone,” stated Anya with a flick of her wrist. “Don’t you cross me, Xander. There might be a time when I’m not in such a good mood.”

And with that Anya disappeared in a puff of smoke.

While Xander used his newly freed mouth to protest his misuse, Buffy muttered to herself at her friend’s all powerful wish reversal.

“He damn well deserves it, and she has to go a forgive him. She’s lost her touch,” Buffy muttered.

“Xander, do shut up!” barked Giles. “This is what got you in trouble in the first place.”

The whole congregation stared at Giles for a moment, who simply ignored them.

“I believe your experience and knowledge will be most invaluable,” continued Giles, to Buffy. “Please consider the proposal.”

Buffy nodded seriously at the watcher. “I’ll think about it. I have to talk to Spike about it,” Buffy added.

“He’ll say yes,” said Dawn eagerly.

“Even if he knows that he’s going to be used as a training dummy?” asked Buffy.

With a devious smile, Dawn nodded back.
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tbc...