The Tie That Binds...
Theme "Mum-in-Law from Hell" (The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly")
Introduction...
For those who missed Sunnydalopolis 1-XXVIII and In for a Penny... I-XXIII...
Spike has met, loved, been redeemed by, and lost the love of his life...and unlife, a robotic copy of Buffy...Buffy Rebecca, created by Warren the cybergenius with an artificial human brain as a perfect copy of Buffy Summers...
With the slight twist that she was the potential Buffy capable of giving Spike aka Dr. William Walthrop "cybergenius" the chance to prove himself...
Which he did by his growing love for her and his willingness to accept her sacrificing herself in the final battle with the Goddess of Glory and Victory...Despite his terror of losing her...
But she was not lost forever...He felt it and planned to search for her soul forever...While doing his best to maintain his newwon humanity and protect his human "sisters-in-law" the Summers' girls...
His services were called on quickly...Darla sought revenge on the Slayer and thanks to Drusilla's ESP detected the presence of the feckless, long-delayed Hank Summers in LA...At last on his way to meet Buffy and Dawn...And "help" them unload their "unnecessary" home...
At the same time, Spike turned to Willow for help in reaching Buffy Rebecca's spirit...Which they did...Fortunately the same night Hank and his "West Coast girl" (Darla in disguise, her vampire nature masked by a magic pendant, courtesy Wolfram-Hart) paid a visit on Dawn and Buffy...
Trapped by Darla and vampire Hank, Buffy could not kill her own father when his soul briefly made an attempt to save her...As Darla had hoped it would...
Buffy was killed and transformed...Dawn survived...Barely...Due to the power of her Key life-force...
Despite the disaster Buffy had an ally...The spirit of Buffy Rebecca called that night by Spike and Willow, who helped her contain the vampire demon within and kept her soul in the fight to hold on to her body...But it was not enough and Buffy, already having killed once, weakened
steadily...Slipping into the darkness...While Dawn faced death and transformation...
But neither her robot sister or her "brother-in-law" or her friends were willing to give up...Not as long as there was the Wolfram-Hart resurrection ceremony which had revived Darla as human...And not as long as they had a doctor friend who made house calls, Glory's counterpart god, Ben...
While Benedictus, powerless God of Healing and Mercy, struggled to save Dawn from death and transformation with the aid of Warren's synthetic blood...Willow helped to contain Buffy's demon and they brought her to LA...Where Cordelia and Wesley helped them in the fight against
Darla and Drusilla...Angel being on a quest for knowledge in Tibet...
A reluctant Willow assisted Spike in putting Lilah Morgan, star of Wolfram-Hart, in thrall, and with her now eager help, they retrieved the resurrection ceremony...And flattened W-H, Inc...at least temporarily.. by having Lilah dispense her knowledge of the firm's activities to the proper
authorities...
Buffy was restored by the resurrection ceremony...A sad and shattered Buffy despite her relief at rejoining family and friends...Spike had accepted that this would mean the loss of his contact with his beloved BR...To whom Buffy had offered her body, feeling her sister had more to live for...A offer which had been declined...
But Buffy was desperate to do something for BR and Spike...So with Willow's help she merged BR's memories with her own just before the resurrection when BR's soul left her...
So that Warren, now a dear friend of the gang, who had assisted them in the current fight by reactivating BR's body, the Greatest Slayer of All Time, using April's reprogrammed brain as a stop-gap...could make a new neural recording of her brain...And with luck, separate Buffy Rebecca's memories from her own...And
Now you're up to speed...
Part I...
Spike found little to do...Thanks to Buffy Rebecca's enhanced abilities the past month had been a disaster for Sunnydale's vampires...
So much so that a large number had joined in offering a peace proposal, cemented by the offering of Drusilla to the Slayer just before Darla had killed and transformed Buffy...
And, as they had not known that Buffy had nearly lost her fight for survival...They were still striving to prove themselves to the Slayer...And her minions...
Giles had received notice through the vampire network that those who accepted peace would feed solely on animals and purchased blood, and would identify themselves to the Slayer by a special emblem...
Neither he nor Spike believed the killer demon could be suppressed in them for long but if their fear of the Slayer was performing the function of a chip...And since Buffy was likely to be out of action for a couple of weeks...Why not try it?...
Warren had even offered to place more of his blood synthesizers, developed as a component of Buffy Rebecca for Spike's "special nutritional needs" at their disposal...
Anything to promote the cause of peace...
But it left Spike with little to do in his temporary role as Slayer on Patrol...
However, as always...Harris was available as a source of amusement...
And, since Willow had been occupied and unable to attend tonight's rounds...There was no reason not to have a little fun...
With a dear old friend...
***
Buffy had had a rough night...
Three hours of neural recording under the care of Warren and Tara...Accompanied by some terrifying dreams...
But all in the cause of restoring her robotic sister...Buffy Rebecca...
Whose memories had been merged with Buffy's during the resurrection ceremony that had saved the human sister...
Courtesy of a certain red-haired wiccan...
Who was at hand...And anxiously awaiting the final result...
As was Dawn...waiting anxiously at home...
And Giles...likewise waiting...at his apartment...
Not to mention Cordelia and Wesley back in LA...Who had met the spirit of Buffy Rebecca while she shared consciousness with Buffy during the fight for Buffy's soul against Darla and Wolfram-Hart...And planned to head out the moment there was news...
Not that Buffy's own resurrection had not been received as a true miracle...But...
They were all...long, long overdue for a little extra happiness...
And all wished to see a certain blond reformed vampire and assistant "cybergenius" receive the greatest surprise of his existence...
***
"Quick..." Spike hissed at Xander and Anya, his assistants for the evening... "There's something coming...Over there..."
He pointed in the vague direction of the decrepit McGarvey cemetery...One of the last places remaining in Sunnydale where vampires might still feel somewhat secure...
He put just the right edge of concern and tension in his voice...
"Down.." he waved them flat...Into the muck of a soaked dirt road...
"Ok..up..." they rose, somewhat the worse for wear...
The fearless vampire vampire-hunter and his minions advanced toward whatever lay in the dark ahead...
"Down, quick...roll, toward those bushes..." he pointed to the side of the road...
Hmmn...Xander had not as yet seen anything "coming"...But...
If the temp Slayer on Duty tells you to drop and roll...
***
Buffy was nervous...and confided in Willow...
Buffy Rebecca's memories had of necessity been kept at the surface of her mind...And they were having a powerful effect on her...
After all, Buffy Rebecca was Buffy...A perfect neural copy...And her additional memories were what Buffy might well have experienced...Had she for some reason been forced to spend three weeks living with Spike in his crypt...
Spike, aka "Dr." William Walthrop, British "cybergenius", his cover story since his partnership with Warren...had been a surprisingly devoted and gentle companion...
Buffy Rebecca had felt his loneliness...And desperation...And recognized that a human soul was still there...lost in the mix of demon and man that was William the Bloody...
Just as Buffy had...If less consciously, she now realized...
The love that had developed between BR and Walthrop had been a gradual and beautiful process... Including Spike's moment of redemption when BR risked her existence to save her human sisters...And, trusted by her, he had come through, despite his terror of losing her...
Expressed to date...by a simple hand squeeze and a single "I love you"...
Capped by his faith that, if he retained his rewon humanity, he would find Buffy Rebecca again...If it took all eternity...
And for a lonely, vulnerable Buffy these were hard memories to carry...
***
Willow was sympathetic...As always...
"Buffy..." she said... "This is only natural...Heck, I'm half in love with the guy myself after all he did to save you..."
Tara was fortunately not in earshot...
"Willow...These memories...these feelings...They're not mine...But..."
"Warren says these memories will fade...Now that the recording has been made..." Willow tried to reassure...
Buffy smiled faintly at her...
"I'm not so sure I want to lose them at that..."
***
'Dad' Warren, father of Buffy Rebecca and her artificial human brain, friend and partner of the distinguished "Dr. Walthrop" decides it's show time...
"We're ready as we'll ever be..." Warren nods to Buffy and Tara...
Tara thumbs up to Willow...Who was hopeful...After all...
If she could resurrect the human Buffy...
The new neural recording was perfect...
Now they just had to create the world's second artificial human brain...And see if the memories contained within would recall BR's spirit...
She'll have to go back in the glop tank to fully regenerate her biologic tissues, thought Warren...God, how Buffy Rebecca had hated that biotank...
***
By now, after several drops into the muddy road, accompanied by rolls into the bushes, Xander has become a leetle suspicious of Spike the temp Slayer's "sensing something out there"....
Anya is still uncertain...She prefers muddy road on the blouse to Xander's bloody gore on the blouse...
Xander didn't even have the pleasure of holding the news of the attempt to revive BR from Spike...
It wasn't that Willow and Buffy didn't trust him...or Anya...to keep the secret...Oh no...
It just...might have distracted them...from their life-threatening work...
***
Unfortunately...something was actually out there...
Spike practically stumbled over it...Just as Xander was reaching the limit of his gullibility...
Terrifying and hideous...Only one creature could have created such a horror and left it...No, Spike realized...Left it, deliberately...For them...
For him and Buffy in particular...A little calling card...A warning...
He motioned to Xander to come up...So that he could see and keep Anya away...
But Xander has had just about enough of Spike's games for one evening...And Anya is plowing through the muck at top speed...
So it was poor Anya who saw it after Spike...
And screamed in horror and sorrow...
At a vampire...less than a year old...
With a note tucked in its blanket...a Dickensian touch, sure to appeal to William Walthrop, fellow Brit and Dickens' lover...
"Dearest Buffy and William,
Please take care of my poor little baby..."
***
It only took a few minutes for Xander to determine by phone that an infant had disappeared and that its parents were dead...
Brutally murdered...and their baby gone...
Spike looked at Anya...And Xander...
Anya was desperate...
"Willow...Willow could resurrect it...Like Buffy?...Oh, please...Xander?..."
Spike stares at Xander...Who embraces Anya...
"You know there's only one way we can help it, honey...Its parents are gone, there's only a demon in there now..."
"Anya, I'm sure its soul will be born again...Once it's free of this thing..." Spike tells her...
She insisted on holding it until the last moment, even though it snarled and clawed at her...
***
They called Buffy...only Dawn at home...and casually asked that she remain in the house to man the phones...Oh, just a little more activity...Not even a return to normal...But...
Giles was at home...And promised to be on guard...Yes, he thought he could get hold of Buffy and the others...
To alert them that Dru was in the neighborhood...And aware of Spike's intention to free her human soul...
***
"She won't stay long..." Spike notes to Xander, as they returned to the Summers'..."She's not bitter...obsessed with revenge like Darla...She's all demon...And a vampire demonsimply wants survival...and the hunt...She's sensed that I mean to find her..."
"So...this was what?...A warning to back-off?..." Xander looks at Spike...
Harris' small brain sometimes works wonders...Spike thinks...
"She's warning us to let her go without any fuss..."
***
Spike strolled into the Summers' home...Where he was now a welcome guest...
Within limits...
Xander followed with Anya...still shaken...
They had decided not to mention Dru's little bundle of joy...It was enough that everyone knew she was in the vicinity...
"Sis...Nibs?" Spike called out, a trifle nervous...It's been a very bad week in a terrible month...And one never knows...
Buffy came out and smiled at him...In a dress no less...She looked much better...As did the grinning Niblett who trailed her...
"All's well on patrol?..." Buffy asks him...
"Sunnydale sleeps peacefully tonight, Slayer..." he grins back...
"Harris...however..." Xander glares at him...
She glares at him...Picking on Xander again...
"Spike...What did I say to you about picking on Xander?..."
What did she say?...Nothing...Of course he could guess what she would have said...
"Harris can take care of himself... And I didn't pick on him...Besides...You never gave specific orders as to his care and treatment..."
"You don't remember what I told you eight days ago?..." Buffy is glaring but he senses she's pulling his leg...The grinning Niblett is a dead giveaway...
"Eight days ago?...You never said anything to me about Harris eight days ago..."
"That night, William?..."
That night?...One night he would never forget...We were at the crypt that night for the seance...The night her dad came home...The night Buffy Summers died and transformed...And Buffy Rebecca spoke to me...
Wait...William?...She never calls me William...Well, except right after her resurrection...But Red was there...
Well, Buffy died eight days ago...A little confusion is understandable...Still, no need to make a big deal out of it...
"Buffy...You're a little mistaken..."
Dawn attempts a look of deep concern...Is her sister losing it?...Understandable under the circumstances...
Buffy looks concerned as well...
She frowns...I could have sworn...
"Are you sure?...I was sure when I spoke to you at the crypt...I remember distinctly telling you to lay off Xander..."
At the crypt?...Ah, Buffy Rebecca must have mentioned that to her when they were together...She's just confused?...
"Maybe Warren ought to look me over..." she looks at him...
"Yes, just the thing..." Spike agrees...Though...Perhaps a doctor, say good old Benedictus...
"Still, my diagnostic subroutine says I'm fine..."
"That's fine, but you should really..."
He remembers which Buffy had a "diagnostic subroutine"...
That's the dress she wore the night I took her to that restaurant...Spike suddenly realizes...Our first time out together...
As he collapsed in a faint he couldn't help thinking that it was nice of Buffy Rebecca to remember the dress...
But then she has a back-up, supplemental memory...
***
The sound of Spike's fall, plus BR's cry brought Buffy and Willow, followed by the rest...Tara, Warren, Giles, and a newly arrived Wesley and Cordelia...from their concealment...
Spike looking so dazed... even Xander couldn't bring himself to enjoy the picture of the vampire...falling in a perfect swan dive...onto the floor...
Buffy Rebecca was a little worried for him...She lifted his head and stroked his hair...Looking around frightened...She never meant to do this to him...She should have done it more gradually...
He really has to get that Cat-Scan Willow joked about...
A brain well over 100 could only be expected to take so many shocks...
But she couldn't help noticing that Buffy had rushed to him, grabbed his hand, and was patting it with deep concern..
And perhaps something else...Which Willow noticed as well...
Uh-oh...
***
While Spike gradually came to, BR suggested she, Dawn, and Buffy step outside for a bit...to give him a chance to absorb the new situation...
And so the sisters could finally have a moment to themselves...
The sisters went out and the two Buffies sat on the grass...With exactly the same motion, Dawn noted...
She was especially glad to have them together...Being artificial herself...at least...in creation...it was nice to see Buffy welcoming BR as a sister...a twin...
Which she always had been...
***
"Rebby?..." Dawn offers, trying it out...Nah...
BR had suggested it was hopeless for them to both use Buffy as a short name...
By unconscious mutual agreement..."Becky" was not even considered...
"I'll stick with Buffy Rebecca for now..." she smiles at Dawn...
Warren comes out...A little reluctant...Not wanting to disturb...
"Hey, 'Dad'..." BR calls to him...
"Buffy Rebecca...I hate to tell you this...But you'll be needing the biotank again...for a few days..."
She grimaces...Back to the glop tank...
Buffy has an inspired idea...Spike's new place is nowhere to drag the tank...And no way is BR spending her first nights back sleeping in a crypt...
There won't even have to be a polite argument over who refuses to take her bed...
***
They were called back inside...
To an anxious William Walthrop...still uncertain that this could be true...
And terrified that somehow, someway...This could still slip from him...
But just as he had known instinctively...He'd found her...And as he'd known...
And all of them deserved...
Oh, the joy...
***
After a bit, without discussing it, they asked the gang to spare them for a few minutes and went alone to the Greenwood crypt...
Buffy Rebecca feeling over every brick...Every part...In wonder...
Spike still dazed...Following her every move...
She climbs down to the lower section...Her private room...
"I kept some of your things...Buffy took the rest..." Spike calls to her as she stares at the walls...
Buffy took them...Yes, she told me...when I was with her...So we're forgiven, Spike and I...
And Buffy, Dawn, and I...sisters at last...
"I'm glad, William..." she pauses... "Of course I'll want some of them back..."
She climbs up and faces him...
He's still shaken by all that's happened...In one month...one little month...
"Well, Buffy Rebecca..."
He's still so anxious to get this right, she thinks...My sweet Will...reformed vampire...Victorian gentleman...
I never thought Spike would need encouragement...
Well, we have waited long enough...
And this is the right place...Our first home...
She embraces him and pulls him down to his old slab...
Spike and Buffy Rebecca love theme
Spike realizes the tears are streaming down his face...And Buffy Rebecca's tears are falling on his...
"Let Buffy kiss all the tears away..." she says gently, kissing his face...
A century of sorrow...kissed away in a moment...
***
***
The Tie That Binds...Part II...
On their way back, Buffy Rebecca requested that Spike...speak with Buffy...When an opportunity allows...
She gave him the full Buffy stare...Wide-eyed, open-hearted...Totally trusting and completely loving...
She had absolute faith in her human sister...And in her beloved William...
But...
After three disasterous relationships in as many years...Angel, slimy Parker, Riley...
She wasn't about to let anything jeopardize the one that might be permanent...
Buffy Rebecca Summers...already Summers-Walthrop unofficially...No fool, she...
***
Willow was worried...
Buffy was still showing entirely too much interest for comfort in a certain blond and spoken for vampire and "cybergenius"...The memories she had received from her robotic sister had had a powerful effect on her...Especially given the past month of sorrow and horror...
And as happy as she was to have her "twin" back...joyous as it was that Buffy Rebecca and Spike were reunited...And sincere as her desire for their happiness was...
Willow could see...The "potential" for "trouble"...
Buffy needed distraction...
***
"Ok...everyone's here, do it..." BR looks at Spike...
They are back from the crypt...And whatever they were doing there... Which Willow and Xander especially prefer not to think about...Which Buffy has guessed...She is Buffy Rebecca after all...
Not that it would have been difficult to guess...
Do...what?...he wonders...Looking at the group standing around...The gang, Dawn, Buffy...
"You asked me once before..." she smiles at him... "I even said yes then...Well, actually I said.."This is all so sudden'..." She eye-bats at him...
He gulps...Oh...
Willow now fidgets a little, embarassed...Oh...yeah...Does she have to remember that time in particular?...It was just a little mistake...Her will spell gone wrong...
"Well, if you'd prefer..." Buffy Rebecca gets down on one knee...
He nervously tries to raise her up...No self-respecting 19th century Brit lets his girl propose...
Well, actually...in reality...And contrary to what some social histories of the era would claim...
But "Dr. Walthrop" prefers the old-fashioned way...And with a little nervous persuading gets her permission to proceed...
Which pleases the Niblett no end...
***
Spike discussed his "Mother" problem with the gang and the Buffies...
"It's best to let Dru have her head start...She just wants to survive...If we leave her for a few days...she'll be on her way to Europe...And you fellows will be that much safer when we take up after her..."
Which left time for a wedding...
***
After considerable struggle, the gentlemen of the group had manuevered BR's biotank into the Summers' storage room...
BR could have done it easily alone...But why deprive the boys of their chance to show off?...
The Summers women were at last alone...Hanging in their living room...
"Child Psychologist?..." Buffy grinned at BR... The career choice BR'd left in her journal, given to Buffy by Spike after her death...
"I thought it would be useful...In understanding Spike..." BR grinned back...God, it was nice to be home...
I mean the crypt was a dear little place but...
***
She has a question for Buffy...
"Did you ask Giles yet?... Has he checked with the Council?..."
Buffy nods...
Giles?...Council?...Dawn wonders...
Are they going to start speaking in some kind of crazy twinspeak now?...
"We're thinking there may be another Slayer coming..." Buffy explains, seeing Dawn's frustrated look...
Another one?...Oh, right...Buffy died...again...
"But Giles had no word from the Council as yet..." Buffy tells them...
Not another Faith...Dawn thinks...
Still Kendra was nice...Hey, wait...
"Maybe it'll be me..." she says happily...After all, Slayer's sister...Key...I should be a Prime Candidate...she thinks...
"Doubt it, Dawn..." "Not likely, Dawn..." the Buffies are quick to say...
Like hell...they both think...Not if the members of the Council hope to see their next birthday...
***
***
The Tie That Binds...Part III
Willow discussed the "situation" with Xander...in private...
She had no doubt Buffy would do her utmost to repress her new feelings for the distinguished "Dr. Walthrop"...
And that BR would completely understand...
But...Buffy needed some distraction...
And the upcoming wedding...Wedding?...Xander gulped...He still had...Concerns...On that one...Would definitely not be that needed distraction...
Nor would Angel's promised presence be likely to do much except deepen Buffy's despair...
And with no immediate prospect of Riley's return...
Buffy needed someone "nice"...
If something was not done soon, Willow thought...
There was after all only one dependable man left in her life...
The one who always came through for her...
Who had known her longer than anyone but her father...
Giles...
Giles?...thought Xander...
Willow could picture it...And described it, to Xander's mounting horror...
Buffy...hanging around the Magic Shop...with cow's eyes for her dear Watcher...
Giles, pleased no end with Buffy's eagerness to train...To improve her research skills...To spend nearly every moment away from college, patrol, or Dawn with him...
Until he caught on...And suddenly discovered he had to make a brief trip to England...
A Council emergency only he could deal with...
From where, Willow had no doubt, he would inform them that the Council had insisted on a new Watcher for Buffy...And that he reluctantly had accepted their decision...
Yes, a distraction had to be found...
And not simply that caused by the preparations for the upcoming nuptials...
Nor the usual fight against evil...
Xander was still trying to get his mind past the image of Buffy pursuing Giles...
Willow continued with her idea...
Fortunately...there was one alternative on hand...
A certain young "cybergenius"...currently still minus his fiancee...
A bit nerdy...But...
Recently proven in battle...To be all in all a first-rate fellow...
And bearing the sterling recommendation of his "daughter" Buffy Rebecca...
And, for once, someone with enough income to take Buffy out to a few decent places...
Warren...
Warren?...thought Xander...
"Of course, Xander...I would say you...But..." Willow smiles at him...
"Warren...definitely Warren..." calls Anya from where she had been listening...
***
Dawn remained fascinated with BR's biotank...Although she had seen it in operation at the
Greenwood crypt...
Buffy had memories of it, courtesy of BR...Ugh...
But it at least had kept Spike polite...Until William Walthrop came triumphantly to the surface...
At that Buffy wouldn't have minded "regenerating" some of her tissues...
Both Buffies were exhausted...
After all, both fresh back from the dead...
***
The next day they all met at The Magic Shop...
Willow had the Walthrops' first gift ready in advance...With help from Wesley and his contacts in LA...
And to help with the wedding plans, it was given early...
Spike, brought in under heavy swathing, was dumbfounded...He'd mentioned it once to Willow after BR's death...As a useful thing to have... Someday...Something to aid him in his role as "Protective Brother-in-Law"...
She and Wesley must have gone crazy searching for it...
And Red was giving it to him at just the perfect moment...
Buffy Rebecca smiled...A little frozen smile...
Oh, she was just delighted with the gift...Delighted...So deliriously happy...
A crystal...Mounted as a ring...To allow Spike to go out in the daylight...Just in time to allow a daylight wedding...
Nightmare scenario...
Dr. William Walthrop, reclaimed semi-human and "cybergenius", strolls happily out of his and Buffy Rebecca's honeymoon hotel for his first quiet walk in a garden in daylight in over a century...
An English country garden, no less...
Minus his dear wife...Sleeping in...Unaware of her spouse's early morn excursion...
A pile of slippery debris...Carelessly left behind...
The eminent "cybergenius" goes for a tumble...Oops...where did that new ring go?...
Roast Walthrop...on the grass...
***
Yes, Buffy Rebecca was delighted with the present...Which she planned to keep under her permanent lock and key...
***
Drusilla had fled...First from LA...After the disastrous fight with Buffy's friends...
Then from Sunnydale...After leaving a warning for Spike and Buffy...
To let things be...
Spike was quite right...Dru had no great interest in revenge...Although she would have dearly enjoyed slowly torturing the gang to death in front of a chained Buffy...Then Buffy, with her silly little boy watching, likewise chained...
However, fun must wait...survival came first...And Buffy and co had proved themselves a deadly enemy...
But she also knew...That now that Spike had seen her human soul in more than those briefest of flashes which he had experienced in their time together...
He would not rest until he had given that Drusilla the peace she deserved...
Even Europe would not be far enough to hide from him...
But it would provide a suitable battleground...
***
The Tie That Binds...Part IV
[Suggested theme..."Going to the Chapel"]
Angel, on his way home from his trek to Tibet and Nepal, was still trying to recover from the shock caused by the various news bulletins passed to him by Wesley...Most received in one lump...due to broken connections and lost mails...
Buffy dead?...Transformed?...Saved?...By Willow?...And Spike?!...And by her robotic sister's spirit?!...
Robotic sister?!!...Victorious over the Goddess of Glory and Victory as well?...
Spike redeemed?!!...By the same robot "sister"?...Who had just been brought back to life?...
And his old nemeses...Darla...and Wolfram-Hart...knocked flat?...
And all accomplished...
Without him?...
In a brief phone call he had passed on an assurance to Wesley that he would return asap...
Uh, yes...Certainly...Of course he'd be there for Buffy's robotic "sister's" wedding to Spike...
Wouldn't miss it for the world...
Obviously an evil force is at work, driving them all insane...
No doubt, Spike is involved...
But Angel is on his way...
***
After Buffy Rebecca secured Willow and Wesley's gift...away from Spike...the gang waited...for a prearranged peace meeting with the spokesperson of those Sunnydale vampires who had accepted the agreement...
While waiting, Xander was still troubled...
Not only by the image Willow had placed in his mind...A hapless Giles pursued by a lonesome, vulnerable Buffy desperate to repress the feelings for Spike she'd inherited from Buffy Rebecca...and perhaps which had simply been waiting to surface...
No, he could deal with that...
And not by the idea of using old Warren, Spike's fellow "cybergenius", creator of Buffy Rebecca, as a "stop-gap" nice guy to give Buffy a little distraction until the Walthrops were safely away in pursuit of Drusilla and Riley or some other alternative showed up...
He could deal with that as well...If he had to...But...
Spike...That was the trouble...
Spike...aka William Walthrop...aka "Dr." Walthrop, "cybergenius"...Soon to be husband of a perfect neural copy of Buffy...
To let Spike off like this...Xander could acknowledge his heroic efforts to save Buffy, his help in the fight with Glory...all that...
And the new feeling all of them felt toward him as a result...
That was all well and good... But...
He was still a vampire...Still held back only by the chip the Initiative had placed in his head...
Still a creature with murders on his hands...Hundreds...Perhaps thousands?...
Not to mention...Two Slayers...
Now...The object of affection for both Buffies...human as well as robotic?...
Quite soon to marry...a perfect copy of Xander's practically sister Buffy?...
He would have to speak up...Make his doubts known plainly and firmly...
At least to Willow...
***
Giles also had some reservations...but after all...
He had been willing to sacrifice Buffy Rebecca...even Dawn...To save Buffy...
And felt a little "morally compromised" here...
He had to admit that anyone could see both Buffies were now...close to Spike...
Besides, vampire redemption was possible...Buffy herself was living proof...
Spike had performed like a true hero...
Had proven ready to die for the Summers' girls...
And there was no doubting his love for Buffy Rebecca...
If anyone could redeem Spike and maintain that redemption...She could...
Sometimes one just had to trust in love, hope for the best...
And let in a little happiness for however long it might last...
***
[Suggested Leto's Theme (The Godfather)]
Leto, father of the Sunnydale vampire peace movement, arrived at the Magic Shop as he had promised...Wrapped into mummy form, escorted by two burly human "friends"...Who looked quite experienced in the use of weapons...Though currently disarmed in the interests of peace...
His former self, George Letos, Sunnydale politician and businessman, had had a lot of "friends" like these two...
And, vampire or not, he still knew where the bodies were buried...in a figurative sense as well as the literal one...
Therefore...he still had human "friends"...And Giles had only insisted on no additional vampires...
Buffy and Buffy Rebecca remembered him...the little waiter from Darla's "restaurant" who had spoken for the Sunnydale vampires when they offered the Slayer peace...and a trussed-up Drusilla...Too bad there'd been no time then to properly accept their gift...
He was looking quite prosperous now...And seemed to have reacquired some of his old politician's style...
***
He knew Willow...And to her horror she remembered him...
"You're Al Rosenberg's little grand-daughter, aren't you?...It's Georgie Letos, honey...remember?..."
Remember?...the nice man who always came to Grandpa's and bounced me on his knees?...Grandpa's old friend and crony?...
A vampire?...Well, a nicer vampire...A peace-seeking vampire...but...
"Mr. Letos?..." What do you say to a vampire who used to bounce you on his knees?...And called me Firehead... "How you doing?..."
"Can't complain, Firehead, can't complain...Say how's the family...How's old Al?..."
"Good...living far away now...very far away...But good...really good..."
"That's terrific...Tell him Georgie says hi..."
Um...Something nice...A little friendly concern, maybe...
"Umm...Sorry to hear about your...problem..." she smiles nervously at him...
"Ah, well, things happen...But it's good to see my little Firehead again..."
He turns to Buffy and is a little taken aback to see two Slayers, identical...
No wonder the past month has been a vampire's nightmare...
***
In Salt Lake City...
The gentle Englishwoman smiled gratefully at the flight attendant...She had mislaid her baggage tickets and had completely forgotten just how many bags she brought to the terminal...
She was so out of sorts she was ready to forget her own name...Thank heavens for id...
Dru's mind always worked best when motivated by fear...
And she had not completely forgotten Grandmother Darla's lessons...On passing for human when necessary...
After a dull drive across the desert in a "borrowed" car, Dru had decided to go home by plane...She would have preferred ship, a leisurely cruise...
But humans didn't cruise to Europe so much anymore...And in any case she needed time to prepare for Spike and she was certain, Buffy's, arrival...
A strange Buffy, who had carried two human souls during her brief vampire days...
Two Bad Ones...
A Buffy who had won out over her own demon...Defeated Grandmother Darla...
And whose powerful friends had made contact with her own Bad One, hidden for so long...
No, America was no longer a jolly place...
It was a simple matter to find a woman bound for New York on an evening flight... And would be equally easy to find one headed for England from there...
***
Willow wanted to go home...And pull the covers over her head...
Her Grampa's best friend...Her knee bouncer from childhood...A vampire peace negotiator...
Sometimes she really hated the Slayer business...Just hated it...
Tara was on the other side of the table, but sent a comforting look...
Leto continued his discussion with the Buffies and Giles...
He had accepted the story of them being twins...One trained in a distant locale...Now both on the scene and ready to Slay...
This would certainly settle the hash of any of his people who doubted in Slayer-Vampire peace negotiations...They were ready to crumble with one...Two?...Forget about it....
"We will see that those who follows the Slayer's instructions will be supplied with ample blood...At the designated locations..." Giles declared...
Thank goodness for Warren's blood synthesizers...
"Excellent, Mr. Giles...And we will do all we can to maintain the peace between us...You have my word on it..." Leto smiled...Teeth carefully hidden...
"And we'll call you on it, if necessary..." Buffy told him.
"Alas, some will not heed the call of reason...I fear..." he looked at her...
"We'll deal with them..." Buffy Rebecca told him...In the same voice and manner as Buffy...
"Just keep your friends in line..." Buffy finished...Both Buffies giving him the full Slayer stare...
An offer the Godfather of Sunnydale vampires cannot refuse...
***
Xander decided to let his feelings be known...to Willow and to the best alternative to Buffy Rebecca herself...Buffy...
They were continuing with Giles to discuss the "peace" situation in Sunnydale as well as what they could learn on Drusilla's movements... Except for Spike and Buffy Rebecca...
She wanted him to rest at his place for awhile...She was still worried about him...And she'd been consumed with curiosity to actually see his apartment...Buffy's memories of it had been sketchy...
Too bad she couldn't find that ring...He was anxious to try it out...But as long as he was still properly mummified...She was sure it would turn up later...
"Bye guys..." she waved, pushing the slow-moving vampire through the store...Good thing Giles had closed for today...
Xander turns to Buffy and Willow...At last a chance...
"Should we let Spike do this?..." Xander asks...
"He feels Drusilla's suffering..." Buffy begins...But he interrupts her...
"No, I mean...Spike-vampire, Buffy Rebecca-Slayer...ok robotic Slayer..."
"Meaning...what?..." Buffy looks at him...Somewhat coldly...
"Buf...Whatever you...all of us...feel for him now..." Xander starts...
"He's a monster...Right?..." she stares at him...Arrogant...little...human...
***
Buffy rages at Xander...
"What do you know about it?!"
Anya jumps in her seat, startled....
Xander looks at Willow and Tara...Giles watches Buffy...
She pauses...
"Oh, that's right...You did kill people, didn't you 'jackal boy'?...How many was it now?...Don't think we ever asked?..."
Anya's hand on Xander becomes a vise grip...
He stares at her...
Buffy trembles...
"Now, me...I only have one kill to my credit..."
"Buffy, we love you..." Xander says quietly... "You haven't done anything to blame yourself for..."
Then he and Anya got up and left...for Spike's...
***
Anya had relearned enough about human behavior...And learned enough about Xander...Not to say much on the ride over...
Whatever blow Buffy had dealt him, he was still determined to settle this...If not with her, then with BR...
And the distinguished Dr. Walthrop...
And she had told Buffy Rebecca the night of the battle with Glory that Xander wasn't superhuman...
***
The Tie That Binds...Part V
Terror gripped Xander's heart...Buffy Rebecca...in Spike's new studio apartment...
Humming..."quite pleasantly" as Giles had once put it...Wearing a scarf around her head...
Scrubbing Spike's bathroom tile...
***
"We never stop, we Stepford wives..." she grinned at Xander and Anya...likewise horrified...
But she was a leetle embarrassed to be caught so unprepared for guests...
And just a little nervous about her absent "cybergenius" who she had reluctantly allowed to use his new daylight ring...to unload some trash...
After all...well over 100 years and only one real time out in the sun...Mostly spent fighting her...
And it was getting on toward sunset...
But she wished he was back...
Anya offered to check on him...
Which Buffy Rebecca could see was to give Xander a few minutes with her...
She had a fair idea of what he wanted to talk about...And was only surprised no one else had yet brought it up...
***
Anya headed out in search of Dr. Walthrop...It was not unlikely the distinguished "cybergenius" had gotten lost on the way to the dumpster...
Buffy Rebecca took Xander over to the balcony...
He looked at her...And told her of his concerns and Buffy's reaction...Much as he did not want to anger both Buffies, he had to get this off his chest...
"How can she think that way?" he asks her... "She is not a monster...I would never think that way..."
Buffy Rebecca was pensive...She had all of Buffy's memories of those days plus her own...but she had a "dad", a love...happiness in her life and could distance herself better...
"We've killed Xander...An innocent woman...Nothing can ever change that..."
"But that does not make you...her...like Spike..."
"Xander, I don't want to hurt you...But you realize I...she would have killed you all...Tortured you if possible..."
"You would not have been capable of that, Buf...Never..."
"Xander...When you were possessed and ready to kill Willow...Could you stop it?..."
"I didn't know what I was doing...Neither did you..." he was pacing...
"I knew what I was doing...I...we couldn't stop it...But we knew..."
He stopped...
"I believe you if you say that Spike couldn't control what he did...But how I can just accept that he's fine now...Let you go off with him..."
"Better me than Buffy...I can't be turned...I'm more or less immortal...And I can throw him much farther than she can..." she grinned at him...
***
It was inevitable she explained to him...Inevitable that Buffy would grow to care for Spike...
It was her nature to love...Hadn't the first slayer told her...Buffy that the day of her vision quest...The day she...Buffy Rebecca...Had been born out of the glop tank...
She...both...now knew they Slayed not from hate...but from love... To save, not to destroy those trapped in vampire bodies...
And no one knew better now the joy and relief that escape offered...
But she had more to give than even that...And desperately desired some chance to reach out to the lost souls...
She had always fallen for vampires with any humanity...Look at Angel...
And when Spike had shown in flashes that there was still a human soul trapped and suffering within...More lost than Angel...Throwing himself in her way...Running to her for salvation...
And showing more humanity with each encounter...
It was inevitable...As natural as breathing, Warren had once told Spike...
But it was dangerous...Too dangerous for the human Buffy...So...Somehow...Pity had been taken on William Walthrop...
And she was here...The one Buffy who could love William Walthrop safely...
But as for Spike's worthiness...his redemption...She was as firm as Buffy...If he could continue in his new life...No one had the right to judge...Besides...
"See, Xander...You think it's over...That he's free and has been given
happiness with a ticket to immortality in the bargain...But it's not...He and
we both know it's not...And he is willing to accept it...not just to be with me...
To have the chance to do what good he can while he can...Like saving poor
Dru...Protecting Buffy and Dawn..."
Buffy Rebecca looked quietly at him...
"And, one day...tomorrow...a hundred years from now...ten thousand...the chip will fail or some enemy...maybe Dru...maybe another...will succeed...somehow...his demon will be released again...And he won't be able to control it...No matter how hard he tries..."
"Any more than I...Buffy and I...could..."
She paused...
"When that happens...When nothing more can be done..."
She looked down...
"I'll give him peace...And then it will be my turn...to wait for him... However long it takes..."
"And he knows this?..." Xander looked at her...
"Yeah..." She grinned at him... "Well, it sure beats waiting for a Slayer strong enough to stake him..."
They heard Anya and Spike from below...Spike full of his first moments in the sun...Anya a sympathetic and naturally, understanding audience...
Buffy Rebecca smiled at Xander...
"But today...Xander, let's be happy today...For as long as we can be..."
***
Back at the store, Buffy had tearfully explained her behavior to the others along similar lines...
After all...
Giles counseled her not to worry...Xander would understand...They all did...And he had faith in Buffy Rebecca's love for Spike...As he would have even if it were she, the human Buffy...
She nodded...As always her Watcher was there for her...Dear Giles, she would have to show him a little more of her affection and respect...Train harder, help him in his research...
These Englishmen...when you get right down to it...
Willow who had gotten over her initial anger over Xander, noticed the cow's eyes forming...
Uh-oh...
"How's Dawn doing back at school?..." she asked Buffy brightly...
Distraction, distraction...
***
Two communications reached the store just before they broke up...Willow and Tara to take Buffy to Spike's to hopefully catch Xander and Anya and...Willow hoped...Warren...
One, a telegram...from Angel...
"Giles...Am on my way...Meet me at your store...Try to keep things under control until I get there. Angel..."
"He seems a little worried...I wonder if Wesley reached him with all the news..." Giles hoped Angel would not be making any scenes about Spike just now...
"Wesley said he called and he told him about things including the wedding...But I'll explain the situation when he gets here..." Buffy smiled at them... "It'll be nice to have him back..."
He wants "things kept under control until He gets back..."? she wondered to herself...God, Spike is right...he is bloody stupid sometimes...she thought...
The other missive was a priority mail envelope...Addressed to Giles...
Which read...
"Hold the fort...I'm coming fast as I can..."
Signed, Basey Granger...
Basey Granger?...
"I believe she is the next Slayer, following on Buffy's...temporary death..." Giles noted...
Next Slayer?...thought Willow and Tara...It hadn't even occurred to them...
"Giles?...You have anything?..." Buffy asked
"Well, I only know that Ms. Granger was under observation...She did have a questionable report made on her by a former Observer...several years ago...But...That Observer being Ms. Post..."
The Ms. Post?...Faith's evil Watcher?...Hmmn, a black mark from her...
"The Council decided to review her case after she appealed Ms. Post's review...Since then Max Creave has been her Observer...A fine fellow Max...Had great faith in her abilities should she ever be called on...Especially after she overcame the vampire who had put her in thrall..."
In thrall?...Buffy wondered...She was in thrall to a vampire and they're bring her in as a Slayer?...
Well, Dracula and me...But I wasn't really in thrall...Not really...Whatever Riley and Giles thought...
"How long was she controlled by a vampire?...Willow asked...
"Apparently the better part of a year until Max met up with her and helped her escape and destroy the creature...But the Council had her throughly tested and pronounced her free...Ms. Post may had played a role in her being revealed to her captor..."
Giles is so on the ball...Buffy noted, pleased...You can always depend on my Giles...
She was starting to feel a little better...A little competition might be good for the soul right now...
"Hmmn...she's from...Craftville, Indiana...the Midwest..." Tara noted...
"Umm, Giles...This Max?...He will be her Watcher now, right?..." Buffy asked, just a little anxious...
"I'm afraid not...Max was killed in helping her defeat the vampire...But I'm sure I can help you both until her new Watcher is assigned..."
Oh...great...thought Buffy...
Phew...thought Willow...
***
The Tie That Binds...Part VI
Willow, Tara, and Buffy with a home-collected Dawn had caught up to Xander and Anya at Spike's...
Buffy had apologized profusely to Xander...
Who told her in private, on the balcony, that he now accepted the idea of the Walthrops as a permanent thing...And would trust Buffy Rebecca to keep Spike in line...
And hoped that she, Buffy would find her own fair share of happiness...In fact he planned to do what he could to make the upcoming celebrations happy...They all deserved it...
Which was good...As she and Willow had had a great idea...And hoped that he would help them to carry it out...
Bachelor party?...thought Xander...
The thought...flashed through his mind...of Giles, Wesley, Warren, Angel, himself, and Spike...the new Walthropian Spike...Whom Buffy Rebecca teasingly noted was showing an increasingly Victorian attitude...
Partying on down...Giles, Wesley...Warren...Angel...Spike...Xander...
Without the female members of the gang...
No...Oh, dear God...No...
But the ladies wanted a night out...
***
Willow and Buffy also informed them of the new Slayer's imminent arrival...
Dawn liked the name..."Basey Granger"...Definitely Midwestern...
Although she was disappointed to be dropped from the running...
Xander was intrigued to learn that Ms. Post had been her Observer for a time...Before she'd been assigned as Watcher to Faith... It did not surprise him that she was implicated in betraying her charge to a vampire...
"She couldn't have been more than 14 when Ms. Post left her
and she was captured by that one..." Buffy noted...
Imagine, a pre-Slayer enslaved to a vampire for nearly a year... Most of
her family murdered by him at the same time, according to Giles'
information...
Of course, a Midwestern vampire...but still...
"You'd better be careful before you go and after you come back..." Xander noted to Spike...
"She'll probably be out for vamp blood...Big time..."
Hmmn...thought Buffy Rebecca...I must have a talk with Ms. Granger first thing...
Willow was still enjoying the thought...We are here at William the Bloody's bachelor pad, helping Buffy and her robotic sister plan his wedding to the said robot sister...And having the nicest time we've all had in weeks...
If anyone had told me this a month ago...
***
‘Dr.’ Walthrop was conscientiously headed for his office...If he was to take a combination "business" trip and honeymoon to Europe with his new Missus...He'd better have some idea of what his company was manufacturing...
Besides Buffy Rebecca would be heading back with Dawn and Buffy for another night in her glop tank... After some planning...and dinner...A large one, please...
That still surprised Xander and Willow...she needs to eat?...
She grinned at their question...
"Needs to...Well, only to keep Spike's blood supply flowing...Loves to... Definitely..."
Buffy didn't need to be told that...And Dawn was not surprised...Why if Xander had ever seen the way Buffy chows at home...
And Walthrop would send Warren along to them...after a much needed consultation...
Which Willow was glad to hear...Tara also...She wanted to go over some possible courses she might take in cybernetics with him...
Hmmn...Willow thought...Yes, Operation Distraction should be commenced as soon as possible...
***
She would have been pleased to learn that the thought of Warren had in fact crossed Buffy's mind in a favorable way as well...
She had felt herself acting a wee bit foolish toward Giles today...And she was deeply embarrassed at losing it with Xander...over Spike...
She was lonely...And Warren was the ultimate in lonely guys...Building a robot girlfriend to keep him company...
But redeemed by his recent activities in Buffy's and Buffy Rebecca's resurrections unquestionably...And of course his fiancee...Who seemed to have left, with little hope of return...
Unfortunate but convenient...
Spike's good buddy...Who'd recognized the genuiness of his affection for Buffy Rebecca before anyone else...
Buffy Rebecca's dear second dad...
And he'd been true blue during their little escapade at Xortox Labs with the sinister Dr. Severn...When Buffy had posed as BR to learn what the nutty employer of Spike and Warren was up to...
Not that she expected anything serious to come of it...A new friendship at best...But it would be nice to have him around to fill out the set of couples...in the next few, likely to be hectic days...And she wouldn't mind making him feel welcome...appreciated...
If she could ever get him to stop calling her "Ms. Summers"...
Not exactly a dream catch...But she had had her fill for the moment of hunkily dark and brooding types...
A nice "stop-gap" guy...
***
The other problem with planes as opposed to ships Drusilla noted was the difficulty in obtaining a meal...On board ship, there was plenty of leisure time to stroll around...a vast ocean to dump unwanted corpses in...
Here she would either have to be very clever or make an immediate transformation...And it might be difficult to have a hungry newborn vampire killing its way around a plane in mid-air...
Drusilla dearly loved a massacre, but she was not a fool when it came to survival...
Still, her last meal in New York had left her feeling...unsatisfied... However, much as she disliked animals...there were dogs and cats in the cargo hold...And it offered the best chance of catching a wayward human and disposing of them out of sight...
She settled on a Great Dane...And sat down to a leisurely meal...During which her thoughts ran to her little boy...Her naughty little boy...Who was not content to hound his "mother" out of America but would soon be following her home...To destroy her...
And she sensed the tie binding him to Buffy strengthening...even as hers weakened...
Becoming...permanent?...Her silly little boy?...
And she wasn't even welcome at the upcoming wedding...
Well, she'd deal with him...And her new "daughter-in-law" as well...When the time came...
Kids...they sure keep you hopping...
***
The Tie That Binds...Part VII
After settling "Dr. Walthrop" in at the lab with enough review material to keep him busy all night, Warren dropped by Spike's to find the gang bustling with plans and news...
A new Slayer on the way...
All evidence pointing to Drusilla's being headed as far away as possible...
The peace agreement holding for now...
Buffy Rebecca positively glowing with happiness...With Dawn, Anya, and Tara scanning through wedding catalogues...For dress plans...
No enormous to do in the works...A simple ceremony...but definitely a wedding gown...
And definitely a party...
And planning her honeymoon in Europe...Which would combine a crusade against evil with pleasure and business...
A true Slayer’s honeymoon...
Xander nervously trying to come up with the least disastrous potential venue for the "boys night out"...Which he had decided to expand to include Dr. Ben, Glory's brother, the immortal but powerless God of Mercy and Healing whose efforts had been instrumental in saving Dawn from death and transformation after Darla's little scheme had nearly destroyed her...
Buffy looking much happier herself...And with Willow was planning a wild time for the ladies...and traveling among the various planners to lend an ear or offer a suggestion...
Quite a pleasant commotion to come into...
***
Buffy Rebecca and Buffy greeted him warmly and urged him to come with them on their patrol before they headed home...
Along with Xander and Anya...Willow and Tara taking Dawn home...
They expected a peaceful night and he deserved to see the fruits of his labors with the blood synthesizers...
***
Leto had kept his word...Sunnydale was quite peaceful and the few vampires spotted made clear their peaceful intentions...
Warren noted the Buffies seemed a little uncertain with the success of the
peace process...Which Buffy explained to him when Buffy Rebecca made a fast extended circuit ahead of them...
After all, she was three times faster and more powerful...And had spoken with Willow about "Operation Distraction"...
"We can't help wondering...Is it right to let these creatures live as they
are?...Suppose we're just prolonging their suffering?..." Buffy said, looking
at him...
"Well, you did say Leto seemed more human when you saw him last...Maybe they are becoming more human as they hold off killing humans..."
"I hope so...It's hard to know what to do..."
"Well...Ms. Summers...I'm sure you'll make the right decision..." he smiled at her...
Nice eyes she thought...
And definitely a generous heart...To take on Spike as a permanent business
partner...
And for once, a guy with a documentable income...
"Warren, after all we've been through you really should call me Buffy..."
***
Angel arrived at the Magic Shop the next evening...Ready to face whatever evil had overwhelmed the gang...
To find Giles in fact a bit overwhelmed...
The bustle from the night before had transferred itself from Spike's to his
store...
The Buffies...Yes, there was indeed a second Buffy...were working on BR's wedding dress with Dawn in enthusiastic support...
Willow was doing what research she could on potential threats as well as Dru's movements but there was little to go on...She was happy to see Angel...Could he tell her anything about Dru's past history that Spike might not know?...Had his Tibet trip generated any prophetic information?....
Tara was helping both camps as well as discussing cybernetics with Warren...And Spike who was hoping to get in a few of the new terms he'd learned...Warren was pleased to make the famous Angel's acquaintance...As for Spike...
A Spike distinctly different from the one Angel had known...Friendly, rather tweedy, and clearly an essential fixture of the gang...But still a little of the old...Enough to be wry about his new status...And enjoy Angel's obvious shock at the turn of events...
No sign of evil afoot...In fact they were about as happy as he'd ever seen
them...Including Buffy...Who was enjoying the bustle as much as her sister...
Buffy and the new Buffy made him as welcome as they could...Buffy feeling a bit guilty about her heretical thought about him the other day...
After all, he'd come running to do battle for her...as always...
Even if the trip to Tibet in search of knowledge idea sounded bloody
stupid...And well, he might have been a leetle more efficient in disposing of Dru and Darla when he'd had the chance...
Still, that was unfair...And here he was...Her dear Angel...Her first vampire love...
Not exactly the relationship she needed right now...
He was astonished by Buffy Rebecca...A perfect match of his Buffy...And was slightly disturbed to see both Buffies obvious affection for "Dr. Walthrop"...
But everyone was glad to him...The Buffies made a point of taking him aside...
Brought him up to speed on all the latest, including the news that a new Slayer was on her way...
And showed great interest in his trip to Tibet...
***
Leto was likewise pleased with the fruits of his labors...The majority of
surviving Sunnydale vamps were happy to grab at anything that would provide relief from the Slayer's unrelenting, increasing pressure...
And none were surprised to hear that a second Buffy was in part responsible...
It figured...
Warren's artificial blood supply was a welcome boon...Definitely superior
to rats...And most were quite ready to admit, there was something to be said
for having your meals delivered without a long and tedious hunt...
And all the credit went to their new leader...
Yes, Leto had regained a measure of his old status...And old memories were surfacing...The pleasures of power, the joys of contact with his fellow men...
But with them came a measure of loneliness...He missed his old gang, his
family...No one...human that is...seemed around Sunnydale anymore...Except...
Except his little Firehead, Al's little grand-daughter...Dear Willow...
Not that he had ever thought of her in life as anything but a sweet little
kid...But now, with time on his side...He could see her in a different light...
She reminded him of his dear wife, so gentle and sweet and concerned for
him...In fact...He couldn't help thinking she would make an excellent
wife...for some lucky fellow...
And his vampire senses hinted that she had unusual abilities...just as he had no trouble confirming the power of both Buffies...
George Letos had not been an evil man in any sense of the word...But he never had had a chip installed...And his sire had been a "professional" in every vampiral sense of the word...Not a young, immature, psychotic like Dru... In addition he had been an older fellow when transformed, not a young romantic wearing his soul on his sleeve so to speak...
And he was, in vampire terms, still rather young...Without Spike's long period of suffering...
In short he was not a William Walthrop...And although he was determined to
maintain the new agreement with the Slayer, he felt his noble efforts in
peacemaking deserved...some reward...
Yet he could not risk violating the peace by transforming the Slayer's friend openly...In fact he could see a way to cement the Slayer's faith in him...
If poor Willow's transformation process were to be begun by another, some renegade?...And noble Leto, peacemaker, were to attempt to prevent such a terrible thing?...But sadly, fail?...
And later Willow were to succumb to the effects?...
Surely the Slayer's love for her friend would dissuade her from destroying the new Willow...And who better to be entrusted with her care then the noble Leto, old family friend, who had tried valiantly to save her?...Who would keep her secure and able to continue contact with her old friends...
Everybody wins...
Yes, thought Leto...Not too much to ask for one who'd done so much for the cause of peace...
***
The Tie That Binds...Part VIII
Spike got quite a kick out of inviting Angel to stay at his new digs...
Any former boyfriend of his "sister-in-law"...
Xander who had arrived late with Anya...after picking up good old Ben at
Sunnydale Hospital...rather enjoyed the scene himself...
Dawn was extremely pleased to see Ben...Who was glad to see his recent patient so well and happy...
And brought greetings from the Byzantines as well as Dreg...Who wished to pass on his profuse thanks to the Slayers for sparing his beloved goddess...
"How's Glory doing?..." asked Willow...
"I should have tried electro-shock therapy for her years ago..." Ben
grinned...
***
Buffy and naturally Buffy Rebecca couldn't help noticing that Dawn had
developed a serious crush on a certain young doctor and god...
Who fortunately would be around for the upcoming festivities...And equally fortunately they thought, would be leaving for Greece shortly afterward...To resume his duties at the Byzantines' monastery and hospital...And help his now powerless and amnesiac sister with her rehabilitation...
Rats...Dawn thought...Still Greece wasn't all that far away...And school trips abroad would be coming up next summer...
A yearly check-up by the physician who had handled her case might be a wise preventative step...
***
As the evening came to a close, Xander floated various party ideas to the
gentlemen...
Wesley and Cordelia would be able to come up in two days...With Angel now in to complete the guest list, festivities would therefore commence at that time...
The ladies had claimed the Bronze for their party turf...
So...how about...
"So...you're the Best Man..." Angel grinned at him...
Best Man?...Xander wondered...Spike's "Best Man"?...It hadn't even occurred to him...
Walthrop grinned at him...
"We wouldn't have it any other way..."
"I won't have to give you away?..." Angel grinned at Spike...He was beginning to enjoy this...
Seeing Buffy Rebecca so happy...Spike offering living proof that redemption could be achieved...
And especially if one Buffy would still be "unattached"...
Xander explained the "vampire family tree" to a confused Warren and Ben...
***
Later, after another quiet patrol Buffy and Buffy Rebecca decided to check in with Giles before heading home...
Who was by now at his apartment...Recovering from an exhausting if joyful evening...
They couldn't resist giving him a taste of their new and disconcerting twin
trick...
"Giles..." they called out...In stereo...
Giles...looking extremely sheepish...came to the door...
And, attached firmly to his head, a small boy...About five...
"Olivia's little boy?..." they asked...Still in stereo, but now
unconsciously...
Giles?...they nervously wondered...No...it couldn't be...They hadn't been
together that long...Then, again?...
He was close-mouthed about his past...
"No, no...This is Leroy...Leroy Granger...Ms. Granger's younger brother..." he detached the small boy from his head and set him down...
The new Slayer's little brother?...
"Ms. Granger's here?..." Buffy asked...
"BASEY!..." Leroy screamed at Giles's upper floor...Yes, it was reasonable to assume she was here...
"Umm...Yes, she came here first looking for me...She naturally thought it the best place to start..." Giles began...
"Hey!..." called a tall slender young woman from the top of the
stairs...Wearing Giles' bathrobe...
She was down in a second...And hugged the first Buffy in range, Buffy Rebecca fervently...While holding Buffy's hand...
"I knew you'd make it...I knew it...Those idiots on the Council couldn't
prophesize their way out of a paper bag..." she smiled at Giles...
"No offence, Rupert..."
Rupert?...the Buffies wondered...
"So...don't tell me...Ok, you'll have to tell me...Which one?..." she released
BR and looked at the two Buffies...
"Robot..." BR grinned...
"Human..." Buffy smiled...
"Well, I meant which one is the blushing bride..." she hugged BR again...
Then, asking for a moment with Buffy, she led her into Giles' den where she kissed the startled Buffy gently and held her hands, smiling...
"I guess we know what it's all about...don't we?..." she told her...And showed her the scar of the vampire's bite...
***
Home, sweet home...
Drusilla was on her home ground at last...Dear old England...London as bright and gay by night as ever...People looking prosperous...and fat...
She swept through long-forgotten streets and by-ways, hardly killing at all at first...So anxious was she to retrace the steps to old haunts and habitations...
But nostalgia aside, she had a purpose in familiarizing herself with the new London...Her boy, still bound to her by his own self-imposed obligation, would be coming...With his new wife, the Slayer...more powerful than ever...
She intended to be ready and waiting...With plenty of jolly surprises...
But...Willow's brief release of her Bad One had unnerved her...She intended to take precautions and above all, to have allies...
Therefore, for once...Dru was playing it safe and taking her time...Limiting
her kills to the absolutely necessary until she had made contacts...
Amazing the effect of fear on Dru's psychosis...Nearly as effective a treatment as Glory's electro-shock...
***
The Tie That Binds...Part IX
Basey told them the story...
Ms. Post had violated the Council's rules on Observation of a potential Slayer candidate and revealed herself to Basey when she was 14...Naturally with an ulterior motive...When Basey became suspicious of her interest in acquiring powerful items and sought to reach the Council on her own, Ms. Post had declared her unfit while secretly contacting the most powerful local vamp, one Sentenus, revealing Basey's identity...Who had been only too happy to have a potential Slayer in his grip...While she was still lacking the strength that came with the choice of Slayer, untrained, vulnerable...
He'd killed her parents and left her alive...in thrall and with her brother, though in the care of a grandparent, a potential hostage...Hoping to use her as a tool to learn more about the Council and the power they could access...
Max, Giles' old friend, had been sent to review her case after Ms. Post had been assigned elsewhere...Even then some were suspicious of her...
Wish they'd let us know...the Buffies thought...
He'd gradually realized she was under control and helped her free herself, and appeal for the Council's reinstatement...Which despite their misgivings over a potential Slayer who had prematurely learned of her possible destiny had allowed Max to Observe her...
But Sentinus had not been happy to lose his pet...And came after them... Killing Max even as she destroyed him...
Since then, learning that other Slayers had been chosen ahead of her, she'd waited, keeping in contact with the Council...And following the career of the Greatest Slayer of All Time...
Trust the Council to keep a line of Slayers in reserve...both Buffies thought...
***
Leto had found his "renegade"...One Theodore, an outspoken type, given to sneers at the "peaceniks" and vainglorious boasts of what he would do to the Slayer and her friends when he caught up with them...
It was quite easy to have comrades drop a few hints...The love the Slayer bore her dear and vulnerable friend...The gentle heart of that dear friend who would find it so difficult to harm even the most fiendish of vamps...Her routes to and from her dorm...And her daily schedule...
Information which Leto had acquired with the skill of a master of Sunnydale politics...
The same comrades were quite willing to offer to let Theodore know when the best time to strike would be...Encourage him in his hopes of winning glory against the Greatest Slayer of All Time...By taking her best friend...An act worthy of the great Angelis himself...
He had Theodore kept under careful watch...As well as Willow...
Now it was just a matter of timing and proper positioning...
***
With a little reluctance, Basey accepted Buffy's invitation to move in...until her plans were settled...Buffy Rebecca having deferred to her human sister...
After all, while neither sister had any intention of using their mother's room themselves...She'd have been the first to want to take the new Slayer in...
Neither sister liked the idea of the Grangers staying with Giles...Especially as Basey
seemed quite taken with their Watcher...
And discussed his merits all the way to the house...Such a charming accent...So gentle and yet distinguished...Just like her Max...
Giles was very popular with Slayers this week...
***
Normally, Drusilla did not care for thrall and hypnosis games...Oh, she was excellent at it and it served her well in certain kills...like Buffy's friend and replacement Slayer, Kendra...
But she did not go in for it for long-term actions...A little...well, creepy...Especially with female humans...
She'd always been pleased that neither Spike nor Angelis went in for that sort of thing...much...
Still she was alone now and the situation required that she have a safe home and 24/7 protection...So she bit the bullet and a couple of human females...Who lived in a building which catered to young single professional women...With rather quaint rules of conduct...Even for London...
Just the place for a shy young thing like Dru...
And it was rather nice to have attentive "friends" devoted to fulfilling her needs...
She would have to try this with the Slayer...At least for a jolly week or so...
If things worked out, she might even get her to properly punish her silly little boy...Permanently...
Maybe even send her back to America to carry Dru's greetings to her friends...
***
While a very pleased and mature Dawn took young Leroy on the grand tour of the Summers home...
The Buffies went over the peace agreement with their new partner...
She was pleasantly skeptical but no more so than they...And agreed it was worth a shot, if only for the breathing space it would allow them...
An "exhausted" Buffy Rebecca decided it was time for her glop tank...And retired...
"She gets tired?..." Basey asked Buffy...
"I get tired...so she gets tired...I can't explain it better than that..." Buffy smiled at her...
"I've got to talk to your Warren sometime...I'm kind of a tech-head myself..." Basey grinned...
Hmmn...My Warren...Buffy thought...I wonder how much cybernetics I could learn quick if I set my mind to it...
I may have some competition in fields other than Slaying...Still...
If Spike could become "Dr. Walthrop" in two weeks...
***
Warren and Xander were rather disappointed...They had ferried Angel and Spike to Spike's place after dropping Anya, Tara, and Willow...
They'd been half-expecting a rather interesting night...Hanging with the vamp boys...
But Angel was just in from a long flight home...And very glad not to have been called on to fight the forces of darkness in Sunnydale the first night back...At least not yet...
While Dr. Walthrop had homework to do...Family man here...
Both were quite content to head home and stay there...
Does not bode well for boys' party night thought Xander...Even the vamp members of the team are crushingly dull...As for the humans...
No, it did not bode well...
Maybe there was still time to beg the ladies to let them come along...
***
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