Disclaimer: The characters from Buffy the Vampire Slayer are owned by Joss Whedon, Mutant Enemy, and Fox studios. This story is not meant to infringe upon anyone's rights, only to entertain.


Thank you guys... all of ya... for all the friggin' awesome reviews you keep leaving me! You just don't know what they do for me! Keep 'em coming! Supersized thanks to Ria! You rock sista!

Guardians has been nominated for Best WIP and Best Buffy Characterization at Love's Last Glimpse Awards! How friggin' cool is that? An innumerable amount of 'Thank You's to whoever nominated me! I did a happy little squee dance when I found out. And, hey, only if you want, no pressure, but- GO VOTE FOR ME! teehee. Just kidding!

No, really. Go vote!

(kidding)



CHAPTER TWELVE-
 
 
While the Slayer and her vampire partner patrolled the city's many cemeteries, the scene inside the Magic Box was less than entertaining. The six remaining members of the Scooby gang all sat with their noses buried deep in a book or parchment of some sort.
 
Willow was deeply entranced with anything and everything that she could find on Sires and their Childer. She was hoping that she would be able to find something that would tell them whether or not it was pointless to include the search for anything related to a vampire Childe in with the rest of the research. She had a ‘witchy inkling’ telling her that it was, in fact, not pointless; but she didn’t want to take the chance and then it end up being a waste of time. The only thing she’d found so far was what they already knew, courtesy of Anya and Spike. Childer were special in Vampire families. Childer had a bond with, and shared links with their Sires. The only thing she’d found so far that they hadn’t told them was, that Sires trained, or taught, Childer how to be Vampires, Much like Mr. Miyagi had done with young Danielson. But Sires were the ones responsible for Childe rearing. They molded them into the monsters they would become. But that in no way helped them with the prophecy.
 
Xander and Anya were in the process of doing generalized searches for prophecies involving Slayers returning from the dead. They sat at the table, huddled close together, with several book open in front of them, but had found nothing so far.
 
Tara and Dawn were in charge of doing generalized searches for prophecies involving a child or Childe. Tara sat to the left of her girlfriend, and they were holding hands as they searched. Dawn was holding sentry at her usual spot- the loft stairs- searching with zeal. Giles had done as Buffy asked and made sure that the books Dawn was in possession of weren’t too harsh for her young, impressionable eyes. Regardless of they level of harm any book had, or didn’t have, none of them were proving helpful in their search.
 
Giles had abandoned the ‘Daggarnthor Codex’ in favor of the Codex that housed the prophecy concerning the Master and Buffy after Anya had ever so ‘eloquently’ told him that he’d been a less than good Watcher for not even thinking of the Childe aspect as far as vampires were concerned. The chance that the prophecy involved a vampire Childe was a large one; it dealt with the Slayer after all. He had not looked at this Codex in years, and was hoping maybe something might jump out at him; something he had not seen before, or something he simply overlooked thinking it had nothing to do with anything. But his search was also proving fruitless.
 
He slid his chair back from the table and stood up. Looking off into space at something only he could see, he racked his brain, rewound the conversations with Buffy and tried to latch on to something that would be helpful.
 
She said a Seer wrote the prophecy, that the Powers had no clue of its existence, that she would be stronger, as a result. A Seer...? Maybe if I try... He moved to the bookshelf for the hundredth time that evening and began scanning the titles. The book he was looking for didn’t actually have its title on the binding, it was too old and worn, but the absence of a title was part of his process of elimination.
 
He remembered hearing of this book during his years of training with the Watcher’s Council. Having just gotten over his stint as a rebel-More like an idiot raising demons because Father had been pounding into my brain for years that I was destined to become a Watcher- and as a result of the things that happened to him during that time, he had immersed himself in studying everything he could about Slayers and vampires. One was never sure they would even have a ward during their careers, so he had wanted to know everything he could, just in case he found himself actively watching a Slayer. He never actually got his hands on the book back then, but during one of his many buying expeditions at various estates, he had come across it. Actually, when he thought about it, he was almost positive that he had gotten it at the same estate sale as The Word of Valios.
 
Finally, his eyes rested on a worn red leather binding. Ahh, here we are. He returned to the table, sat the book down and went to get a fresh cup of tea. A bit of Earl Grey to make it complete. A cup of tea, a sturdy table and a really old book of prophecies and portents- who could ask for more?
 
___________________________________________________________________________________________
 
Less than an hour had passed and not much of the scene in the shop had changed- only minor details.
 
Tara and Willow were taking a break from research, their vision having become blurry; Dawn was still seated on the stairs, but she had abandoned her books in favor of inspecting her hair for split ends; Xander was leaning back in his chair dozing quietly; and Anya was perched at the cash register tallying the sales for the day. Only Giles remained the same- his nose planted firmly in his book. The only sounds heard throughout were the occasional turning of pages, quiet whispers between Willow and Tara, and Anya letting out a few happy noises here and there.
 
Because of the overwhelming silence in the shop, when Giles voice rang out, it startled everyone in the room.
 
"Yes!"
 
Tara and Willow abandoned their whispers and looked at Giles with wide, expectant eyes. Dawn sat up ramrod straight and graced the Watcher with the same look as the other two females. Xander jerked awake when Giles let out his exclamation, causing him to jerk in his seat, followed by an ungraceful tumble to the floor and an extremely feminine screech sounding from his mouth.
 
Anya left the counter and started making her way to help Xander. "He's possessed," the young blonde said from her crouched position next to her fiancé. The two stood up, Anya brushed dust off Xander's clothes and Xander rubbed one hand over his bruised rear and one hand on his not quite as bruised head.
 
Everyone in the shop was looking expectantly at Giles, waiting for him to share the findings that caused the outburst. He remained silent though, still reading from the book in his hands. Just as Willow was about to open her mouth to inquire about what he had found, he repeated himself with more force. "Yes! Yes!" He stood up so quickly that it knocked his chair over. He looked around the shop with wild eyes, appearing to be on the search for something.
 
"See? Possessed," Anya said again.
 
Willow followed Giles throughout the shop, looking at him strangely, "Ya know? I think she's right."
 
"Yo! G-Dog!" Xander called, knowing that if anything, calling Giles by a nickname he hated was sure to get his attention. Only, it didn't. "Oookay then. Should we call a priest or something?" He asked the room with a smile.
 
Willow stood and walked over to Giles. Putting a hand on his shoulder she called his name softly, "Giles?"
 
He jerked his head in her direction, surprised not only by the touch of her hand but also the nearness of her voice. Giles ducked his head, clearly embarrassed at having been so involved in his book that he had forgotten the existence of the others. "Sorry, Willow," he muttered.
 
She removed her hand from his shoulder and gave a small shrug, "It's all right. What'd ya find?"
 
Xander spoke up, "Yeah, what was it? Musta been something pretty big judging by the fabulous impression of someone with Tourette's you demonstrated for us all.” He grinned, satisfied that he once again was fulfilling his own destiny as 'The Bringer of Levity and Laughs'.
 
Giles gave a sheepish smile, pulling his glasses off and giving them a good seeing to, and then placed them back on his face. He cleared his throat. "Yes, Xander, quite right. Very big indeed."
 
Before Xander could respond, or inquire, Dawn hopped off the stairs and walked up to the table. "So? What was it? What'd you find? Was it something about Buffy? Why she's back? What she'll have to face?" Her voice had an almost frantic tone.
 
Giles gave the teenager a patient smile, "Calm down Dawn, there's no need to start panicking already." He told her, but inwardly he understood fully where she was coming from. He had been nervous when he first found out that Buffy would be returning to them and that there was yet another prophecy involved. He was in no way a fan of his charge returning from a death caused by a big, apocalyptic fight, only to face another so soon. So far though, his findings had not produced anything apocalyptic, so it might not turn out quite so bad after all.
 
Dawn nodded to him and took a seat at the table. Willow and Xander both retreated back into their seats and Anya took station behind Xander's chair. They all looked to Giles with expectant eyes, waiting patiently for him to share his recent discovery.
 
Giles couldn't prevent the proud smile that spread across his face as he took him the group before him. These were 'his kids'. They had already been through so much, and yet here they were, still fighting the good fight and ready to take on whatever the universe threw at them. None of them had to be here, save Dawn, and yet they were.
 
He shook his head to clear it of nostalgic thoughts before they had time to evolve into more. No time for that now. There is much yet to be learned, we still haven't much of a clue as to what's going on with Buffy. He reprimanded himself for letting his thoughts stray from the more important events occurring. Then, as an afterthought, he added, And exactly who the Childe is.
 
Before his thoughts could board another train, Dawn cut into them. "Hello? Earth to Giles!" When he looked at her she smiled, "Still with us big guy?"
 
Giles shook his head and cleared his throat before he started speaking. "Erm, yes, Dawn. Quite. Sorry."
 
Xander dismissively waved his hand. "'S all right G-m-" the word quickly took a left turn at Giles' glare, "-miiiles. Giles. A little brain wandering is allowed every now and then, even for you brain-y types."
 
"Well thank you for that Xander," he commented sarcastically. "But, be that as it may, we haven't time for wandering brains, as you call them." He stopped, allowing a small smile, then quickly became serious again. "I believe I have located the prophecy pertaining to Buffy." He paused again to gauge the reactions of the group. They were looking at him with rapt interest but shock and fear nowhere evident.
 
He should have expected no less.
 
Anya clearing her throat, rather loudly and not at all discreetly, prompted Giles to start speaking again.
 
"Right. As I was saying, I believe I've found at least part of what we've been looking for." He picked up the book he had been buried in for the last couple of hours and started speaking again. "I've found a passage in this book- now, it's in written in Cherus, and I haven't found the need to keep abreast of Cherus, so my translation is a bit iffy at best. But I think it's relatively accurate. It speaks of a text, 'Guardians of The Middle'." Giles took a deep breath and rubbed his eyes behind his glasses. "Or, it could quite possibly be 'Guardians of The Median'. Either way, we still don't know what that means exactly, but we have somewhere to start."
 
"'Guardians of The Middle'? And that's a…?" Willow asked.
 
He sat down and leaned back in his chair, wiping his glasses. "I honestly don't know Willow. It could mean or be about any number of things. I don't even know where to begin to speculate, much less form a solid opinion."
 
"Well, if that's the case, let's start from the top." Xander sat up leaning his elbows on the table and looked at Giles as he asked the next question. "How do we know it has to do with Buffy?"
 
"It has a specific sentence that tells me it is, in fact, Buffy it's talking about."
 
"Oh." Xander sat back in his seat deflated. "Well, you didn't say that. You just said you didn't know what it was about. What else does it say?"
 
Giles pulled his notepad out from under the book. This is what I believe it translates to. It's all I've got."

'One of dark(ness). One of light(ness).

Always (Eternal) sunlight. Always (Eternal) Night.

One, a child Chosen.

One, a Childe turned.

The Chosen twice returned.

The Childe twice reverted.'
 
He gave it a moment to sink in with them, because he knew once it did, the questions would start. He knew the exact moment recognition reached each member. And the questions started.
 
"'One of darkness, one of lightness'? What's that?"
 
"Is it with an 'e'?"
 
"What does it mean? Twice reverted?"
 
"Who’s going to turn a child? That's a very bad decision; they never grow out of that bothersome whiney thing." There was no question as to who asked the last. It was worded in true Anya fashion.
 
"All right. All right," he said trying to quiet everyone. "Take a breath then ask your questions." When they all opened their mouths at the same time he quickly added, "One! One at a time."
 
Willow meekly raised a hand in the air; the student waiting on the teacher to call on them. When he lifted his eyebrows in her direction she took that as her cue to speak. "From the way it sounds, Buffy isn't alone in this. Sounds all balance havin' and yin and yang. Ya know?" she asked looking at the others for support. "So, I'm bettin' that, the prophecy? It's Median, not Middle. Guardians of The Median. Get it? Happy median? Balance?" Everyone nodded their head in Giles' direction.
 
"I agree with you Willow. That and the fact that it says Guardians instead of Guardian. It's plural. We just need to figure out what it all means, then, I'm willing to bet we'll have a clue as to the identity of the other party."
 
I've already got my idea as to the identity. But more research is required before I can voice it. Giles thought to himself, not in the mood for ruffled feathers. As he was sure there would be some when he spoke of his ideas.
 
"So who is it then?" Xander asked.
 
"That's what we have to find out." Giles answered.
 
"Well, who’s on the list of suspects? Do we at least have one of those?" The younger male inquired.
 
Giles tossed his pad onto the table with a sigh. "I have a few people in mind,” he answered Xander vaguely.
 
"’Kay, and they're…?" Xander shook his head back and forth while gesturing with his hand that he wanted Giles to fill in the blanks.
 
A flicker of irritation ran across Giles' features as he realized that the boy obviously wasn't letting it go, then he resigned himself to having to answer. "Well, um, Dawn is one of them."
 
Xander nodded his head. "Yeah, I guess I could see how Dawn might be connected to a prophecy that has to do with Buffy coming back. On account of what happened and all. Buffy jumpin' to deactivate the key, Dawn being the key,” he finished sheepishly as he looked in Dawn's direction and took note of the pain reflected in the young girl's eyes. "Not that... I mean, I don't think... That sounded worse outside my brain." He closed his eyes and turned his head up towards the ceiling. "Why do I have to say things?" He shook his head and then looked at Dawn. "Dawn you know I didn't mean it that way. It wasn't your fault."
 
Dawn simply nodded, unshed tears pooling in her eyes.
 
Tara rose from her seat and put her arm around the pre-teen and reaffirmed what Xander said. "Xander's right, Dawnie. It wasn't your fault."
 
"I know. I know. Just, still hurts a little, ya know? Knowing that Buffy had to die 'cuz I was the stupid key."
 
Everyone was quiet for a moment, not really sure what to say next.
 
Finally, the silence was broken by Anya. "So, does it have to do with Dawn or not? It talked about a child after all."
 
"I am not a child." Dawn protested.
 
Anya looked at Dawn, "Of course not." She said in a patronizing voice, then she turned to the others at the table and gave them a 'don't listen to her she's crazy' look.
 
Dawn didn't miss the look. "I'm not!" She reiterated.
 
Tara, ever the mediator, tried to calm the young teen. “Dawn, no one thinks you are.” She looked pointedly at Anya. “Right?”
 
Anya rolled her eyes and conceded defeat; she was going to have to play nice. “Right, Tara. No one thinks that. I was being ridiculous, like always.” She gave a forced laugh. “You know me and my ridiculousness.”
 
Tara gave Dawn’s shoulder a squeeze. “See?” While Xander gave his fiancée’s hand a squeeze in comfort.
 
When it was clear that the girls’ spat was over, Giles started speaking again. “If you’ll kindly allow me to continue…” When everyone remained silent he began, “What you didn’t allow me time to say was, Dawn was one of the potentials. But, when I looked more closely at the spelling, I noticed it does indeed indicate the involvement of a vampire Childe.”
 
“Ha!” Anya called out triumphantly from beside Xander.
 
“Yes, Anya, thanks to yours and Spike’s earlier tutorial, everyone knows what those are.” He took off his glasses and wiped them clean. “And as a bonus, this will most certainly lessen the scale of our searches by an incredible degree.”
 
Xander looked at the older man with a question in his eyes. “How’s that?”
 
“Now we know the prophecy involves a vampire Childe, so we don’t have to continue searching for anything other than that. I’d say that’s a substantial difference.”
 
Xander nodded, “Yeah, I get that part, but how many Childer you reckon there are on this big round rock?” He asked. “I’m betting on thousands myself.”
 
“That may be true, but it still gives us one area to focus on.” Willow offered. “And, surely there aren’t a thousand vampires out there that share a prophecy with the Slayer. Right?”
 
“Very good Willow. At least someone understands English.” Giles commented giving the others looks of pity.
 
The red head beamed a smile at the group until she noticed the semi-glares being directed at the Watcher and herself.
 
“Teacher’s Pet.” Xander grumbled good-naturedly. To which his best friend responded with a good ole tongue sticking out.
 
“So, if I’m crossed off the list, who’s left on it?” Dawn asked taking a seat at the table while Tara reclaimed her own.
 
Giles cleared his throat, “Well, to be quite honest, Angel. He’s at the top of my list, Actually, he sort of is my list.”
 
“So, you’re thinking Angel is the Childe?” Tara confirmed/questioned in a soft voice.
 
Giles nodded. “It would certainly make sense. Angel already has a connection to Buffy and he’s already been mentioned in one prophecy.”
 
Dawn wanted to argue. She wanted to rant. She wanted Giles to be wrong. What she did not want was for Angel to be involved in anything that involved her sister. Really not wanting to go through anymore of that drama. She thought to herself. Out loud she said, “How do you know it’s him Giles? I mean, it’s not like he’s the only vampire in the world. Just ‘cuz he’s got a soul and is all ‘Mr. I’m-a-Special-Vamp-With-My-Very-Own-Prophecy‘, that doesn’t necessarily mean that he’s a part of this one too.”
 
Xander piped up, “He certainly thinks he’s the only vampire in the world.”
 
Willow gave him a scolding look, the cousin to her ‘resolve face’. “Xander! Play nice.” In a softer tone, she continued. “If it is Angel, this is gonna be hard enough for Buffy without any comments from the peanut gallery.”
 
“Aw, c’mon Will. I was just sayin-”
 
His words were quickly cut off at the implementation of the aforementioned ‘resolve face’. Willow pointed a finger at him, “Ssh.”
 
“But…”
 
She shook her head. “Uh-uh mister. Look at this face.” She pointed to her face.
 
Xander huffed, “Fine… Spoilsport.”
 
“Thank you.” She looked back to Giles. “How do you know it’s Angel?”
 
“I don’t know. It’s only a speculation.” Giles pointed out. “I speculate it’s Angel because, like I said, there is already a connection between them, and he’s already got one prophecy with his name on it.” He stood from the table and started towards the kettle to freshen his tea. “I may be completely off base in assuming it’s Angel. But with the connection and the prophecy tied in with the wording of this prophecy, I don’t think I am.”
 
“What about the wording?” Dawn asked.
 
“Well,” He returned to the table, set down his mug and retrieved his legal pad. “This part,” He underlined the section he was talking about. “’The Childe twice reverted’- I think it’s referring to Angel’s transformation.”
 
“Angel transformed into something? When?” Willow questioned.
 
“Well, there are actually two transformations I can think of. The first is, when he was turned and became evil, and then later on he was given a soul, which caused him to renounce his evil ways. The second is, when he received his soul and lost it, then when it was returned to him. I’m not positive which one it is. Or if it even is either of them.”
 
“Makes sense to me.” Anya commented. “But prophecies don’t usually make much sense, so you could be wrong. This was an easy conclusion for you to come to concerning a prophecy no one even knew existed until recently.”
 
“Yes. Thank you, Anya.” Giles replied, unable to hide some of his contempt for her tactless words. “I’m aware that it seems to be too easy. But it does still make sense.”
 
Anya simply shrugged at his response.
 
“What’s the prophecy about Angel? The other one?” Dawn asked, wanting to know as much as possible about the situation. It concerned people she cared about. And Angel is so totally not one of them. She thought with a growl.
 
Giles looked at Dawn and blinked his eyes at her, sort of, change in subject. “Um, it’s called ‘The Shanshu’.” He held up a hand to stave off any forthcoming questions. “And before any of you start, the particulars of ‘The Shanshu’ aren’t pertinent to what’s going on at present.” He lowered his hand when everyone stayed silent. “The gist of it is this; the vampire with a soul will play a pivotal part in the Apocalypse and as a result he will achieve his redemption. His reward being, his humanity is returned to him.”
 
“That means he’ll be human right? Like totally, one hundred percent, home grown human?” Willow asked. Her face scrunched up tight, “Well, I guess he won’t really be home grown, but, he’ll be completely human right?”
 
“Yes.” Giles answered.
 
“Angel’s gonna become a human?” Xander asked. The tone of his voice implied that he didn’t think such an occurrence should ever be allowed.
 
Giles nodded, “Yes. At least, that’s the conclusion that everyone who has ever read and translated the prophecy has come to. Of course, not everyone knew who exactly it pertained to, but seeing as Angel is the only vampire with a soul that we know, well, clearly you can see where this is leading.”
 
Willow spoke with an edge of uncertainty to her voice, like she didn’t want to look like an idiot for asking her question. “You really think there’s two prophecies out there with Angel’s name on ’em?
 
Giles shrugged.
 
“That’s so not fair!” Dawn called out.
 
“Dawnster’s right.” Xander agreed. “Angel needs to not be a Mr. Selfish Vampy Britches and share some of the prophecies with the other less fortunate vampires.” The sarcasm was almost visible as his voice dripped with it. Anya snickered at her fiancé’s comment, while Willow and Tara were almost unsuccessful in hiding their smiles.
 
Dawn spoke again, to Giles, as if nothing had been said after her exclamation. “I really don’t want to relive Buffy and Angel crap. Are you sure it’s him?” Almost pleading for him to tell her that he was sure it wasn’t Angel that her sister had to share a prophecy with.
 
“No, Dawn, I’m not completely sure it’s him. But the chance is a great one that it is him.” He sat back down in his chair. “And while I’m sure none of us really wants a repeat of the cataclysmic events that unwittingly occur with Angel and Buffy in the same city, much less both involved in the same prophecy, we have to face the fact that it just may be him. So researching as much as possible so that we can be sure is very important.”
 
“So… What’re you gonna tell Buffy?” Xander inquired.
 
“And Spike?” Dawn added.
 
“I’m not sure yet what I’m going to tell Buffy. I’d like to know a bit more before I tell her anything. Anything said prematurely could have an impact on her emotional state. We’ve all seen how she gets when Angel is involved and I think it best to have her in top form instead of distracted by emotions.” Giles answered.
 
“Yeah, I guess that makes sense too.” Xander agreed. “Man G-Diddy, you are one with the making sense, aren’t’cha? Does that ever make you tired?” He asked with a smile.
 
As a result of the appalling name Xander had called him, the older male glared murderously at the boy while refusing to dignify his questions with any answers.
 
“What about Spike?” Dawn repeated herself with more force.
 
Everyone turned to look at her, all with large question marks blinking above their heads.
 
“What about him, sweetie?” Tara finally asked the question they had all been thinking.
 
“What? Are you kidding me?” The youngster asked with wide eyes. “He’s totally gonna wig when he finds out that Buffy and Angel have a prophecy. Together.”
 
“Now, Dawn, I’m sure Spike won’t be happy to discover that Angel and Buffy share a prophecy. But once he realizes it was destined and that there isn’t anything anyone can do, he’ll realize any objections he may voice would be futile,” Giles commented, knowing himself that what he was saying probably wouldn’t turn out to be true.
 
“Oh, he’ll still flip a British lid regardless of destiny. And- I’ll have an ally,” Xander declared with a big smile. He looked off to the side lost in thought. When he came back to reality after a few seconds he scooted forward in his chair excited. “Ooh, hey, maybe we could start a club.” He looked at Willow, "Ya know? Like the 'We Hate Cordelia Club'?" She glared at him reproachfully.
 
Dawn giggled at him, “I’ll join.”
 
Xander looked at her, “What? You mean you don’t wanna join ‘Brooders Anonymous’ instead Dawnster?”
 
“Ew. Are you joking? You know I was never a fan of the Buffy/Angel Drama Club.”
 
Tara and Anya chuckled while Willow tried to be the adult of the younger members. “Guys… Be nice.” But even Giles was having a hard time not smiling.
 
Xander completely ignored Willow and continued talking animatedly with Dawn. “Okay. Cool. It’s a deal.” He sat back in his chair with his arms crossed over his chest. “And- I get to be president,” He added in a smug tone.
 
Dawn shook her head. “Nuh-uh buddy. You can’t be president.”
 
Xander looked shocked. “What? Why not? I’m older than you.”
 
“But you’re not older than Spike.” She pointed out. “And besides, he hates Angel more than anyone.”
 
Xander’s shoulder slumped and he deflated. “Fine,” He grumbled. “Them I’m vice-president.”
 
Dawn shook her head again. “Nope.”
 
“Ugh. Why not?” He almost whined.
 
She jerked her thumb towards herself. “That’s me. I hate him second most.”
 
“Well, then, what am I?” He asked with a pout.
 
Dawn tapped a finger against her chin thinking. “Got it.” She snapped her fingers. “We’ll be joint vice-presidents,” she told Xander with a huge smile, which he returned.
 
“You’re on!” He nodded then added excited. “We should get cards.”
 
Dawn and Xander burst into laughter and this time no one was immune and smiles were making appearances.
 
Unbeknownst to the occupants of the shop, Buffy and Spike chose the moment Xander spoke to enter.
 
“Wow. It’s like a smile-a-thon,” the Slayer commented as she and her patrol partner made their way down the steps. She spoke again as she reached the table. “Hey guys,” she greeted, unable to keep a smile from blooming on her face, even though she didn’t know why they were all smiling. “Whatcha gettin’ cards for?” She asked looking at Xander and Dawn.
 
For some reason Buffy couldn’t figure, everyone seemed to sober a bit as she joined them. She felt like a mom walking in on a slumber party after something she wouldn’t like had just been said. Everyone was quiet.
 
Dawn suddenly looked like a deer caught in headlights. “Uh… Heh… Hey Buffy! Hey Spike!” She squeaked out. “We were just talking about buying some cards to play Rummy with.” She nodded vigorously while, inside she was scolding herself. Brilliant there, Summers.
 
Spike cocked his head to the side inquisitively. “What’re you on about Bit? We have cards. Lotsa cards, point of fact.” He gave her a strange look. “We played all the time while Big Sis was vacationing.”
 
Buffy opened her mouth to respond to Spike’s words, but she opted for scowling instead. She turned her attention back to Dawn when she spoke again.
 
“Oh.” Dawn slumped, stumped. Then suddenly she perked back up. “Oh, but, hey! Why keep those cards when, every time you look at them, they remind you of less than happy times?" She looked to Xander for backup. “Right Xander?”
 
He nodded his head fast. “Absolutely. Oh yeah.” Then he adopted a sorrowful look. “Bad associations and all.”
 
“What? You wanna throw away cards because you say that they have bad associations that come with them?” Buffy asked incredulously.
 
Xander and Dawn nodded hopefully, while Tara, Anya, Willow and Giles looked on amused. Watching these two try to flounder out of a sticky situation was entertaining. Spike watched it all with his head tilted and his scarred eyebrow arched so high it almost touched his hair.
 
Buffy shook her head, “No. You two are up to something.”
 
“Us?” Xander asked with a nervous giggle. “Us up to something? Why would us be up to anything? What makes you think there's a something us should be up to?”
 
“Hmm…” Buffy paused dramatically, seemingly lost in contemplation. “I dunno. Maybe it’s the appearance of matching ‘something faces’ you’re sportin’.”
 
“Or, it could be your complete lack of proper English you twit,” Spike added, taking a dig at Xander.
 
Xander wanted to fling a snappy comeback at the vampire, but in favor of avoiding having to actually answer any of the questions he was asked, he turned to Giles instead. “So, Giles. Back to that prophecy stuff you were talking about. That was some good stuff. Very insightful. What was it you said again?”
 
The word prophecy was all either of the two blondes needed to hear for their attention to be drawn away from Xander and Dawn, who both sighed in relief when Buffy and Spike turned to Giles.
 
“You know something?” Buffy asked her Watcher.
 
Giles shot Xander a glare for saying something when Giles had, only a short time ago, told him that he wasn’t sure what to tell Buffy yet. He had wanted to find out more before he told her anything. Once he glared for an appropriate amount of time, he turned to Buffy.
 
He cleared his throat. “Erm, well, I’ve not really found anything. More like a book that will most likely provide enlightenment. But it will take some time.”
 
“Oh,” Buffy replied.
 
Spike noticed that there was a tinge of disappointment etched across her beautiful face. Maybe th’ Slayer’s not keepin’ mum about anything. He thought. But then he recalled the little twitches and glances he had noticed earlier. Nah. She’s got something’”
 
Willow stood from her seat and walked up to Buffy, linking her arm through her friend’s. She tried to be reassuring, “Don’t worry Buffy. It’ll be no time at all before we have something for you. Quicker than you can say ‘Buffy the Vampire Slayer’ and we’ll know everything.”
 
“Sure,” Buffy replied, distracted. She was too caught up in her thoughts to really pay any attention to the young witch at her side.
 
She was thinking that maybe Willow and Tara should be her first confidants. It’ll probably be easiest to get out if I’m gettin’ it out with them. They’re so… so… Willow and Tara. They’re perfect to be the first secret-in-onners.
 
Giles speaking to her brought her out of her reverie.
 
“How was patrol? I trust it wasn’t too bad as you don’t appear to be injured.” He took a closer look at his charge. “Or dirty. Or even winded. Was it uneventful?”
 
Buffy raised her eyebrows. “Oh, no. It was full of eventful-ly goodness.” She glanced at Spike, “What was the total? I lost track.”
 
Spike squinted his eyes and appeared to be mentally counting. “Think it was 15 or so vamps, luv. One Shrelnesk demon and two Vronisklar demons.”
 
She nodded in agreement, that number seemed correct and then turned back to Giles. His eyes were wide and when she took in the face of her friends and sister, she saw astonishment painted on then also. “What?” She self consciously asked.
 
“Leaping Iguanas,” Xander commented amazed.
 
“Wow, Buffy, that’s… wow,” Willow added.
 
Dawn and Tara nodded in agreement with Willow’s statement.
 
“That is impressive,” Anya agreed also. “Especially since, the only thing you look like you’ve been doing is walking around the mall.”
 
“Buffy, that’s incredible. That you faced all of that and came back completely unscathed.” Her Watcher beamed with pride. Which, she could only respond to with a hundred-watt smile.
 
“Yes. Especially with a Shrelnesk. They’re extremely slimy and not slimy with the kind of slime that washes out easily either,” Anya added with a grimace.
 
“They’re slimy all right,” Buffy commented with a sly smile directed at Spike.
 
The slime factor being mentioned reminded Spike that he was supposed to be angry with the Slayer. But how the buggerin’ hell am I s’posed to stay mad at the dozey bint when she does that? He saw a mischievous glint in Buffy’s eyes and ’Pissed Off Spike’ took over driving for ’In Love Spike’ again.
 
“How the bloody hell would you know how slimy they are when you didn’t get any on you? Not even a tiny drop,” He sneered.
 
“Ooh. I did so get a drop. There was a big drop right on the tip of my nose. It looked like a radioactive orange snot ball.” She grimaced as the memory resurfaced.
 
“What are you whining about Bleach Boy?” Xander asked him sarcastically. “You look fine too. Ahn said the slime doesn’t wash easily. But I don’t see any slime on you either.”
 
Spike glared contemptuously at Buffy one more time before he slowly turned his body so that his back was facing the group assembled at the table.
 
Everyone collectively gasped in shock at what they saw.
 
Spike was covered, every inch covered, in fluorescent orange goo. It was plastered to the back of his bleached head, all the way down his body, to the backs of his boots. He looked like Two-Face from Batman, only, front and back instead of left and right sides.
 
Buffy snorted when she saw Spike scowl and the faces of her friends as they responded to the sight before them.
 
“Wow.” Came from Willow.
 
“Holy crap.” From Dawn.
 
“Oh my goodness.” Tara.
 
“Good Lord, Spike.” Giles.
 
“That’ll never wash out.” It was obvious who said that.
 
Xander let out an almost girlish cackle. “How the heck did that happen?” He asked pointing at the vampire. “And why’d I have to miss it?”
 
“Get stuffed, Harris,” Spike responded when he turned back around to face the others. He glared once more at the Slayer. “Bloody Slayer’s fault.”
 
“Hey!” Buffy cried defensively. “I said I was sorry didn’t I?”
 
Spike rolled his eyes. “Oh, yeah. That’ll mend my coat and threads, won’t it? Not to mention my hair.” He said as he put his hand up to the back of his head, not actually touching his hair.
 
“It’s not my fault Shrellnest demons sorta… self destruct, when you’re trying to kill them.” She pointed at Spike. “You didn’t tell me that part.”
 
“Well, you still could’ve told me he was behind me.”
 
“I didn’t have time.” She countered. “As soon as you stepped in front of me you starting flappin’ your jaws”
 
“Oh, don’t get me started again little missy.” Spike started to move closer to Buffy. He was stopped though when Giles cleared his loudly cleared his throat. He looked at the older man. “Right, so we come up on the Shrelnesk demon in the woods by Hendricks cemetery.” He emphasized and enunciated the demon’s name while shooting a superior glance at the Slayer that she replied to by sticking her tongue out. He turned back to the Watcher. “The tumble gets all started and then not two minutes into some ‘Lost Boys’ rejects try to get a shot at the Slayer battling a big demon.” He started taking off his duster, Gods, please let my coat survive, and once he got it off he gingerly laid it across the counter.
 
Anya wasn’t pleased by this action. “Hey!” She ran over to the counter and carefully picked up the coat like it was infected with e. coli or something. She placed it on one of the posts on the loft stairs and returned to Xander’s side with pursed lips directed towards Spike.
 
He rolled his eyes, unaffected by Anya’s obvious displeasure with him. “So, anyway,” he continued, “I start work on the two fang brothers while the Slayer continues to work on the Shrelnesk.” He took out a cigarette and lit it, completely ignoring all protests concerning the act. “I finish up the brothers and look for the Slayer, and she’s just standing there with this weird look on her face. So I stepped in front of her to see what was up and all the sudden, there’s this really squishy sounding explosion and I feel all that gunk,“ he pointed to his duster, “slammin’ into m’back. Didn’t even get so much as a whistle of a warnin’ from Queen Summers here.”
 
“I didn’t know!” Buffy repeated with vehemence.
 
“Still your ruddy fault,” Spike grumbled.
 
“Whatever, Fangless,” Buffy shot at him.
 
“Whatever, Brainless,” he shot back.
 
Buffy opened her mouth to continue the verbal sparring but Giles spoke before she could.
 
“Maybe it’s best to call it a night. It’s getting rather late. We’re obviously not going to find anything.”
 
Xander took it upon himself to try and make up for his almost blunder. “Yeah. Still got nothing. We have heaping mounds of nothing with even more nothing piled on top.”
 
“Yeah,” Willow agreed. “Not to mention the fact my eyes are on sabbatical at the moment.”
 
Everyone murmured some form of agreement and started straightening up the mess created by their searching in various books. When they had everything pretty much back in place, they made their way out.
 
As they exited the shop, they called out their ‘goodnights’ and headed in separate directions. Giles to his flat, Xander and Anya to their apartment, and the Slayer, the former Key, a witch, a Wicca and a vampire headed towards Revello Drive.
 
Buffy and Spike bickered the entire trek home. It was enough for the others to beat hasty retreats to their rooms when the group reached the house.
 
The pair, themselves, were standing in the living room appearing to be at a standoff.
 
“Just admit it Blondie Bear. Harmony so totally kicked your ass.”
 
“She bloody well did not Slayer! Take it back!” He growled moving closer to her.
 
“No. I won’t take it back. It’s the truth.” She edged closer to him and looked him dead in the eyes. “It’s not like you can do anything to me to make me take it back. Fangless.” She drew out the last word for effect.
 
“You don’t know the half of what I could do to you without layin’ even one soddin’ digit on you, pet.” He challenged her.
 
“Look,” She spoke slowly, not backing down. “We’re not having this argument again!” Her voice had steadily risen with each word and by the last one she was shouting in his face.
 
Spike blinked his eyes, although not at the volume of her words, but the words themselves. “We’ve never had this argument you daft cow,” he responded incredulously, his own voice booming.
 
“Yes we have,” she argued heatedly.
 
“No we haven’t!” He replied in the same fashion.
 
“Yes. We. Have!” Somehow she was able to move even closer to him even though there didn’t appear to be any space left between them. He simply continued to stare straight into her eyes with his eyebrow arched. She finally faltered under his intense gaze and rolled her eyes. “Okay, so, it was an argument I had with you in my head when I first thought of ragging on you for it.” She stood back straight and leveled out her shoulders. “But I still don’t wanna have this argument again. Even if the other one wasn’t real.”
 
“But it didn’t happen that way!” Spike countered. “Stupid chit caught me unawares, she did. I had enough goin’ on at that point with you and Dru that I didn’t have enough time to try and defend myself.”
 
“Whatever.” Buffy rolled her eyes. “You got your butt kicked by Harmony Kendall.”
 
“You’ve gone completely out your head, haven’t ya?” He commented and shook his head.
 
“No, I haven’t.”
 
“Yes you- oh, bloody hell. That’s it! I’m not gettin’ started with you again.” He turned away and headed for the kitchen.
 
Buffy followed him into the kitchen and watched as he heated up a mug of blood in the microwave. “That’s only ‘cuz you know I’m right. On both accounts.” She leaned against the island and crossed her arms.
 
The microwave dinged and he retrieved his mug. Before he took a sip though, he replied with a sigh, “No. I’m not gettin’ into again ‘cuz it’s pointless.”
 
“Call it what you want, I know what’s true.” She walked to the sink and poured a glass of water. After she took a few gulps she placed her glass in the sink and walked to the doorway. “Well, it’s Buffy’s bed time. See you in the morning?”
 
Spike gave her a look that clearly said ‘and what else would I be doin’ but waitin’ to catch my next glimpse of you’.
 
“Right.” She said with a nod. “See ya then. G’night.”
 
“’Night Buffy.” He called back softly before he rinsed his mug and descended into the basement.
 
Buffy stayed awake for a while longer. Taking a hot shower and then lying across her bed lost in thought. She had decided she would start the coming clean process with Willow and Tara, and then move on from there. With her decision made and the promise of a clearer conscience come the next day, Buffy closed her eyes and drifted to sleep.
 
Spike lay on his cot and stared at the ceiling until he heard Buffy’s heartbeat slow to a rate which indicated that she had fallen asleep. The he closed his own eyes and slept.



____________________________________

tbc...

please tell me what you think!