Love Brings You, Chapter 11/14

This entry is part 11 of 13 in the series Love Brings You
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Title: Love Brings You
Author: maryperk73703
Season: 5
Rating: PG-13
Summary: Buffy’s talk with Glory’s dying monk has surprising revelations.

Chapter 11

Spike waited for Buffy at the gate of Restfield cemetery. They’d made plans on patrolling together. Spike tapped out a cigarette to smoke, but then thought better of it. Now that he knew he wasn’t a vampire, he didn’t know exactly how smoking would affect him.

“Hey, Spike.” Buffy walked up to where Spike was standing. She felt a little self-conscious. There was no way she was going to tell him that her nervousness at their patrolling together resulted in her changing her clothes at least ten times before her final selection.

“Evenin’, Slayer.”

Spike and Buffy strolled through the cemetery, slow but on the alert. Outside the range of their supernatural senses, an ugly demon in a robe watched them. Jinx was too far away to hear the conversations, but he could see the way the Slayer wasn’t letting any harm come to her male companion.

Jinx grinned. “I found it. I found the Key. Hooray for me.” He followed at a distance, hoping to get the blond male alone.

“How’s Joyce?” Spike asked. He hadn’t hung around for long after dropping Buffy, Dawn, and Joyce off at the hospital. He’d opted for going on patrol for Buffy to let her stay with her mother.

“The MRI found a swollen blood vessel. If it had popped, she would have died.” Buffy shivered in the cool spring air. She had almost lost her mother. “She was rushed to OR for emergency surgery.”

“Good thing we convinced her to go.”

“Yeah, good thing.”

They were interrupted by a fledgling jumping out of a crypt. After a brief tussle — where Buffy kept the baby vampire from slamming Spike into the crypt wall — the Slayer and her companion continued their talk.

“Giles thinks I need to go on a vision quest,” Buffy said in a quiet voice. “His contact in the Council was no help about Glory. All they can tell me is that she’s a Hell-god. Dawn is more helpful than those old farts.”

Spike snorted at that. “The Wankers have always been a group of tight-lipped geezers,” he said.

“They wanted to come to Sunnydale to ‘test me’.” Buffy glared at one of the tombstones. “Giles and I had to put our feet down. Like I needed more people running around to worry about.”

“So, what’s the purpose of this quest?” Spike’s curiosity got the better of him.

“Giles thinks if I can speak with the first Slayer that she’ll have some insight on this whole soul mate deal. I told him it is what is,” Buffy answered in a soft voice. “But, I guess after Angel and Riley, I think I need some reassurances. I thought Angel was my true love and that Riley was the long haul guy.”

Spike nodded. He felt a little hurt by Buffy’s words, but he admitted to himself that he understood where she was coming from. After all, hadn’t he been dumped by the woman he’d stood beside for over a hundred years? It didn’t matter that he now knew there were parts of his story that weren’t exactly true. Angel had hurt Buffy in many fundamental ways, and Riley wasn’t much better. Although, he was sure that Captain Cardboard wouldn’t think that way.

“When does the Watcher want you to go?”

“Later tonight after patrol.” Buffy looked vaguely uncomfortable. “But, I’m thinking I shouldn’t leave. With Dawn playing bait, she could be in danger.”

“Nothing is going to happen to her. I won’t let it.”

“I don’t want anything to happen to you either,” Buffy blurted out. “If Glory figures out it’s really you that she’s after, we’re all in deep shit.”

Spike arched one eyebrow. “So, you like me just because I’m … well, you know?”

Buffy slapped Spike’s arm. “Don’t be silly. I like you for your athletics and good looks too.”

“Good thing, then.” Spike chuckled. He was worried that Buffy only wanted him around because he was the Key that she needed to protect. He wasn’t ready to think about the whole soul mate part of the equation.

Spike and Buffy finished up their patrol with small talk. They parted company when they got back to the gates of Restfield Cemetery where Spike’s crypt was located. After a final wave to Buffy, Spike set out across the field of gravestones. He passed another crypt, and everything went black.

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

“I know you,” Buffy said. “You’re the first Slayer.”

“I am a Guide.” The dark-skinned woman across the fire from Buffy had mud caked on much of her partially clothed body.

“Awesome. I have a question about this whole soul mate thing going on. Is what Dawn said true? Is the demon inside Spike another Slayer?”

“Yes, he is our mate. The one they hid from us to make us compliant.”

Buffy was confused. “Did they make it into the Key? Is the Key a Slayer demon?”

The Guide shook her head. “No, the spell to make William seem like a vampire allowed our mate a way to find us after a millennia of searching for us. The Key is separate entity. Present, but only available when certain portents are aligned.”

“I’m so confused.” Buffy rubbed her forehead.

“It is easy to be confused. William is Buffy’s soul mate. The demon inside him is the Slayer’s soul mate.”

“So, together, William and Spike is my soul mate. What about Faith?”

The Guide got a faraway look on her face. “When she does her own Questing, I will show her what she needs to know.”

Buffy resolved that when the whole Glory apocalypse was over she’d pay her sister Slayer a visit.

“The monster that is after our mate needs to be dealt with,” the Guide said. She paced back and forth on the other side of the fire pit.

“I know. I’m just not sure how. Dawn is our daughter from the future. She said that last time Spike bled. So, I covered myself with blood and jumped. Willow pulled me out of heaven.”

“Time has no meaning to me. I see the past and I see the future. All will happen as it is meant to happen.” The Guide squatted, and she stared directly into Buffy’s eyes. “Love. Give. Forgive. Risk the pain for it is your nature. Love will bring you to your gift.

“Gotcha.”

“Time for you to return. The Abomination has our mate.”

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

Giles sat in his car waiting for Buffy to return from her quest. He was surprised when he could hear Dawn’s voice in his head as clearly as if she was sitting beside him.

“Grandpa Rupert, I forgot.”

“Forgot what?” Giles spoke aloud.

“Glory kidnaps Daddy. She doesn’t know he’s the Key, but she tortures him.

“Do you think she’ll figure it out?”

“No. He’ll register as a vampire until after the time that she needs to do the ritual passes.

“And he won’t try to make her think someone else is the Key?”

“Grandpa Rupert, don’t be silly. Daddy would never do that. He won’t even tell her that I’m acting as bait.

“Are you talking to yourself, Giles?” Buffy spoke aloud in Giles’ ear.

Giles jerked and blinked at Buffy. She’d gotten into the car without him even noticing. “You startled me.”

“Sorry. You looked like you were having a good conversation with yourself,” Buffy chuckled.

“No, I was talking to Dawn. She’s quite powerful. She said that Glory kidnapped Spike.” Giles glanced sideways to see how Buffy would take the news. He wasn’t disappointed when a fierce grimace crossed her features.

“Then, we better get back to town,” Buffy growled.

Giles started the car. “How did the quest go?”

“I talked to the first Slayer. She confirmed that Spike and I are soul mates.” Buffy rubbed her hands together. “Are you disappointed in me?”

“Somehow, I don’t think so, my dear.” Giles smiled at Buffy before he shifted the car into drive. “Let’s get back to town.”

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

Jinx and Murk dragged Spike into the bedroom of Glory’s penthouse. His hands are tied behind his back, and he is spluttering with indignation. “Where the hell am I?”

“What the hell is that and why is its hair that color?” Glory sneered.

“Stunning One, I believe … ” Murk started to speak.

Jinx nudged him. “No, it was me. I found him, not you.” He turned to Glory. “I found you the Key.”

“Really? That’s fabulous,” Glory exclaimed with glee. “And impossible.”

“But Your Unholiness …”

Glory shook her head. “He can’t be the Key, because, you see, the Key has to be pure.” She pointed to Spike. “This is a vampire. Lesson number one, boys, vampires equal impure.”

“But I observed the Slayer. She protected him above all others. She treated him as precious.”

Spike inched backwards. “I’m just gonna let myself out.”

Glory’s gaze narrowed onto Spike. “Really? Precious?” She marched over to Spike. “Let’s take a peek at you, Precious.”

“Sod off,” Spike sneered.

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

Buffy and Giles stepped into the Magic Box. The Scoobies and Dawn were already there, awaiting their return.

“How was the quest?” Willow asked.

“Glory has Spike,” Buffy announced.

Xander shrugged. “Maybe she’ll kill him and put us out of our misery.”

Dawn glared at Xander. She opened her mouth to speak, but Buffy beat her to it.

“Shut up, Xander,” Buffy snarled. “There’s more going on than I’ve told you about. I told you all who Glory is and what she is looking for.” She pulled the amulet from around her neck. “I told you all that this is the Key that she is searching for, but this is just a decoy.”

“A decoy?” Willow asked in surprise.

Buffy nodded. “The Key is not in an inanimate object.”

“It’s a person, isn’t it?” Anya asked. “Is one of us a fake person?”

“I don’t feel fake,” Tara replied.

Buffy shook her head. “It’s none of you, I promise.”

“It’s Spike,” Dawn blurted out. “He’s the Key, and we’re going to rescue him right now.” She moved to the weapons box behind the counter.

“How do we know it’s not Dawn?” Xander stared at the young girl. “There’s been something weird about her since this whole Glory thing started.”

“Do shut up, Xander,” Giles grumbled.

“You might as well tell him,” Dawn said. She opened the weapons chest. After she pulled out a sword, she turned to Xander. “Mom and I are rescuing Daddy, with or without you.”

The Scoobies watched in astonishment while Dawn threw Buffy the sword and pulled out a crossbow for herself. Dawn and Buffy left the Magic Box with weapons in hand.

“Did Dawn just call Spike her Daddy?” Willow asked.

Tara nodded. “I think she did.”

Buffy stepped back inside the store. “In case you didn’t figure it out already, Dawn is my daughter from the future. Yes, Spike is her Daddy. Isn’t she beautiful? Let’s get going. Chop, chop.”

After Spike was rescued from Glory and her minions, he found himself on Buffy’s couch with her holding his hand while she went into more detail about the Key and Dawn’s part in the whole affair. Spike didn’t even care that Xander kept glaring at him.

Buffy had rescued him.

 

Originally posted at http://seasonal-spuffy.livejournal.com/539736.html

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