willow_25 | Story: What If, Book 1 (Ch 6 of ?) (Reply)

Only one more completed chapter after this, so you may lack updates for longer than the usual week to 12 days before I post again. My only excuse is my obsession with completing FAA in a timely manner.

Chapter 6

Spike rubbed his forehead, trying to ease away the tension. Whoever had said vampires couldn't get headaches had obviously been barmier than Dru, who was the source of his current pain. The weary vampire was walking down the stairs toward the kitchen to get a snack, when the doorbell rang.

"Better not be a sodding Jehovah's Witness." He muttered, as he detoured down the hall to answer the front door. To his surprise, he was greeted by the Slayer; her Watcher and mother waiting behind her like anxious parents. "Well, well; what have we here?" Spike smiled toothily, and nearly laughed when the Watcher grabbed Buffy's shoulders to pull her away from him. He didn't have the heart to tell the nervous humans the windows on the porch were treated with necrotempering; the sun might feel warm out here, but it wouldn't keep them safe. As much fun as it was to scare them, though, he was interested in helping out. It was best to be nice, up to a point. "Well, come in. I was just going to get myself some lunch, you're welcome to join me."

In the interest of appearing non-threatening, Spike turned away and headed back toward the kitchen. After a few seconds, he heard the telltale noise of the threesome entering the darkened hallway and shutting the door behind them. Satisfied that the humans weren't there to kill him, he knocked on Jill's office door on his way past. At her muffled "Come," he eased the door open to reveal the Watcher, Slayer, and the Slayer's mother who had joined him there.

"Hey, Jilly-bean, look what the cat brung in." Spike motioned to the group. "I was just on my way to get some lunch. You should come eat with us. You're getting thin again."

Jill rolled her eyes, pushing her chair back from the desk. "Please, spare me the lecture about societal ideals of beauty and human body chemistry, alright?"

The vampire was already walking towards the kitchen again, and his reply was muffled. The hall filled with a burst of light as Spike entered the kitchen, and it seemed even darker as the door slid shut behind him. As Buffy directed her attention away from where the vampire had disappeared, to the strange woman coming toward them, she caught Giles' frown out of the corner of her eye.

"Hello." Jill smiled at them. "Buffy, Buffy’s Mom…”

“Joyce.” The woman in question supplied.

The witch smiled. “Yes, sorry, Joyce…And Rupert; it's nice to see you again. Come right this way; if I don't get in there and supervise, he's liable to burn something." Jill turned to follow Spike into the kitchen, but was stopped by Giles' voice.

"I am very interested to know, Ms. Walker, how a former student of the Devon Coven came to socialize with two of history's most infamous vampires." It wasn't a question, but there was a wealth of curiosity in Giles' voice.

Jill turned to face them. "Someday, Rupert, I may appease your curiosity. For now, just know they are my friends, and no harm will come to you within these walls. I'm sure you came here for a reason, and if it is within my power I'll help, but before we get too bogged down in details, we must join William." She headed down the hall, trusting, as the vampire had, that they would follow.

Buffy snorted and glared at her Watcher. "Giles, I came here to ask for their help. I know you're not totally on board with this, but if you could please not piss anyone off more than you need to, I'd totally appreciate it." With that, the young Slayer hurried to follow Jill into the kitchen.

Giles sighed, but nodded Joyce ahead of him. He pushed open the door, following Buffy and Joyce into a large, sunny kitchen. Rupert wondered if the vampire had left to find another shady spot, until Spike emerged from a door across the room, carrying an armful of food towards the sunny countertop. As he gaped at the vampire, Spike pushed aside a sheer lavender curtain and examined the back yard. "I told you we shouldn't have put that bird-feeder up; the squirrels are in it again." He dropped the curtain, shaking his head as he crossed to the refrigerator. "I was thinking of making fried sandwiches; how does that strike you lot?"

Spike turned back to the group, and found Giles standing near the hallway door, gaping at him, Buffy seated at the large oak table watching with interest as he moved around, while Joyce and Jill sat to the Slayer's left, quietly discussing the house and its décor. Shaking his head, Spike turned back to the fridge and pulled out more food. "Well, would anyone care for a drink? Coffee, tea, juice, milk, scotch?" He pivoted on his heel, revealing a canister of red fluid to the Watcher and Slayer who observed him. "I'd offer to share, but something tells me you lot aren't all that into the O-pos." With a wicked grin, he darted for the cabinet closet to Giles, making the Watcher gasp and stumble out of his path. When he turned and motioned to the Watcher with the oversized mug he'd retrieved, Spike had the full attention of all four humans. "So, anyone for coffee or tea?"

********

"Well, as I understand it, Buffy's main concern is with training, although I don't know that she needs the extra assistance. She did manage to kill the Anointed One on her own, but then again, the Master will inevitably…"

Spike cut Giles off. "The Anointed One's not dead. I am a bit in the know, despite keeping to myself like I do. He's safe with the Master, likely won't be separated 'till it's time for them to strike at the Slayer again, yeah?"

"What do you mean, the Anointed One's not dead? I staked that Andrew guy with my own stake!" Buffy was horrified by the idea that, if she had staked an imposter, she'd now have to fight the real anointed vampire.

"Well, luv, I don't know who all you staked. Whoever he was, the bloke's not important. Thing is, the Anointed One had to be pure before he was turned. Pure good transformed into pure evil. So, that narrows your options, a bit. You're looking for a boy under 18, most likely a little kid, mum took him to church, never did a bit of wrong." Spike dunked half of his fried peanut butter and banana sandwich in his mug of blood, and took a huge bite. He chewed thoughtfully, looking off into space. "Mind my asking how you figured this other bloke was the Anointed One?" He asked once his mouth was clear.

Giles cleared his throat, toying with what was left of his Swiss cheese and tomato sandwich. "Well, there was a prophecy that told of the coming of the Anointed One; it said that five would die, and one would rise. There was a bus crash, during which five passengers died, one of which was Andrew Borba, a convicted murderer, and…"

"And you assumed he was the best candidate because he was already a killer." Spike sat back in his chair, taking a quick sip of his blood. "That's just typical, you know. As though only bad people get turned into bloody vampires. It's easy for the Council to sit on their high horse; strong blood can't be turned, but it's just as easy as blinking to take that protection away. And, if a bloke does get turned, then he must have been a bad seed to start with, no matter who he was or what he did before they started messing with him." The vampire was working up a real head of steam when Jill gently touched his hand to get his attention. Spike grumbled a bit as he relaxed.

"Despite all of our differences." Jill looked back and forth between the vampire and the Watcher. "I think we can agree that our main goal is to keep Buffy safe and alive for as long as possible, and to make sure that whatever The Master has planned next doesn't come to pass. The third priority, I believe, is hunting down Angelus and curing Drusilla; and we can argue about that and about a million other things, but we can all agree to work together on the first two, right?"

Spike, Buffy, and Joyce all nodded, and four sets of eyes fell on Giles as he struggled with his decision. He was sure this had to go against every rule the Council had ever enacted, and truthfully he was a bit offended at Spike's scathing descriptions of his life's work, but he was in the field, and he had to make an independent decision based on what he knew to be true and what was going on in his Slayer's life.

Giles was the first to admit he'd allowed Buffy more freedom than he should. He'd gotten the idea from her first Watcher, who had described her as 'a force of nature, not easily swayed by rules, but willing and able to set and accomplish goals in training and on patrol'. So far, all of that had proven to be true, excepting the period when she had not trained in favor of spending time with her mother. Even when she hadn't trained, she had still reported on her patrols, and he was pleased to note that as Buffy and Joyce spent time learning about the Slayer's calling, she had read about many demon species, enough that she could name most of the things she slayed.

Perhaps, he didn't need to take the Council-approved road in order to be on the right one. William and Jill had presented him with other options, other ways of looking at the situation. He wouldn't say he was converted just yet, but he was willing to learn.

Rupert nodded, and raised his eyes to the rest of the group. "Agreed. Keeping Buffy safe, and defeating The Master for good are our priorities. The question is, who has the most trustworthy information, and what do we do with it?"

The white witch smiled at the Watcher, tossing her long hair over her shoulder. "Excellent, Rupert, I'm certain it will be a pleasure to work with you. So, first thing's first; gathering up as much info as we can on The Master as quickly as possible. There are three days this year and one day next fall when it will be possible for him to rise, or escape his captivity, or whatever. At least, according to my research. Of course, that doesn't count any of the more obscure rituals we haven't discovered yet. The first of those days is in two months, so we'd better get cracking."