Family of Eternity
folder
BtVS AU/AR › Het - Male/Female › Buffy/Spike(William)
Rating:
Adult ++
Chapters:
24
Views:
10,329
Reviews:
35
Recommended:
0
Currently Reading:
0
Category:
BtVS AU/AR › Het - Male/Female › Buffy/Spike(William)
Rating:
Adult ++
Chapters:
24
Views:
10,329
Reviews:
35
Recommended:
0
Currently Reading:
0
Disclaimer:
I do not own Buffy the Vampire Slayer (BtVS), nor any of the characters from it. I do not make any money from the writing of this story.
Chapter 4
Chapter 4
“A magnificent sight, isn’t it?” Buffy flushed red, glancing at Dien who was leaning against the wall of the cabin and staring off into the night. On the floor, slayer and vampire were curled around each other under blankets and sleeping peacefully. She’d been silent witness to that part of herself, the slayer, tell him exactly who he belonged to. There hadn’t been actual sex, but the sights that she had caught left her wanting and eager to experience it for herself. She nodded silently, slightly forlorn, “If you’re not cautious, you’re going to lose him.” Dien moved her hand a little, a subtle gesture one might not notice.
Buffy closed her eyes, feeling herself needing to share. There was just something about this demoness that brought down her defenses, “I know. Just like everyone else.” She let her head fall, “But he’ll just leave so what’s the point?” Dien quirked an eyebrow at her in question, “Everyone leaves me. Dad, Angel, Riley...if Spike...when Spike leaves I’ll just be all alone.”
Dien shook her head, letting her gaze drop to her hands, “Such a child...William isn’t like the others. He doesn’t run from conflict or pain. From what I’ve seen he embraces it. It’s a part of life. You’ve had everyone you love leave you...and so has he. He will stay...he’s the one man or demon in the world who will stay through it all. Good or bad, breaking his trust is the only way you can break his faith in you.”
Buffy sighed and knelt down, her ghostly presence glancing through Spike’s hair. Her blond vampire
murmured in his sleep, something about shoes, before stilling once more. She felt herself smile. She loved this man, this demon. She truly did. It wasn’t a question of if he was strong enough to survive her love. She knew he was. But she was starting to wonder if she was strong enough for his.
“Love, give, forgive...I seem to have it all sideways...” She snickered to herself, “I forgave him first...then I gave him my home and a chance, now I love him...” She felt her eyes widen. She’d said it in her mind. She’d felt it all this time. But she’d never let herself say it out loud, “I love him...” She shook her head and flung herself away, “Now he’ll go...no, not yet...it’s too soon...I’m not ready-...”
The slap across her face startled her, broke her out of her fears and her past, “Pick and choose, girl.
You can’t have it both ways. Tell him, and face the consequences. Or stay silent, and you really will watch him leave. Those words that you heard weren’t about him...they were about you.” Buffy stared at the demoness in surprise, but she was silent, “Love him, allow it and embrace it. Give him everything that you are. Forgive yourself.”
The blond frowned, “For what?”
Dien smiled slightly, “For not doing your ‘sacred duty’. For moving on, and not with the normal guy everyone else wanted for you. For loving him without regret.”
Shaking her head, her mind refusing to take all of this in. This demon seemed to know about her than even she did. She felt like someone was showing her a movie one minute at a time, and the edited version at that, “Who are you?”
“For now, a friend of his. When you’re ready, you’ll learn more. Just know that for now my purpose is to ensure his happiness.”
***
“You need to stop Xander.” Xander whipped around to stare at Anya. She was sitting serenely in a large chair, perfectly in her element. Around them there was a void of nothingness. Just the chair and as far above or below nothing but white.
“Where are we?”
“Between worlds, where time has no meaning. And we’ll be here until you finally understand what you won’t listen to.”
Sighing, “Look, Ahn, if this is about Spike-...”
“This is about us, Alexander. You and I. If you cannot accept that my past effects my present and our future then we have no future.”
Eyes widening, fearing that the first decent relationship he’d ever had would be over before it had ever truly begun, “But-...”
“I have stayed by your side, staying out of the way. Letting you and your watcher continue to regurgitate those filthy lies the Council has told everyone for centuries about demons. No longer. Because I see now that as long as you believe it, you do not know me. At all.”
He licked his lips and carefully sat on the ‘ground’, watching her attentively, “I’m listening, Ahn, anything you have to say.”
Anya closed her eyes for a moment. Gone was lost, innocent Anya, experiencing human life after more than a thousand years. In her place was a careful fusion of the new human girl and the ancient vengeance demon. Pursing her lips a little to collect her thoughts before opening them, “You love Buffy unconditionally, yes?”
He frowned, “Ahn-...”
“Yes?”
Sighing, “Yes.”
Nodding, “So nothing about her would change your mind?”
His expression tightening in stubbornness, “No.”
“She’s demon.”
He blinked, his mouth about to open, but then he paused and shook his head, “What?!”
“Humans have been around for several thousand years, Xander. Even longer than your scholars believe. On
a very distant level it is possible most if not all of humanity has a common ancestor. What is factual is that all slayers do. When a slayer is ‘called’, what that really means is that the genes in her ancestry that are linked are activated. Her strength and speed, her very instincts increase to the high level that only a demon possesses. It’s why she’s so effective in the fight. How could a human compete with a demon as well as say...two demons fighting one another?” Xander licked his lips, eyes wide but still listening, “The watchers are well aware of this. They know that slayers are descendants of a nomadic race known as the Chiatoran...they have other names but that is the most widely known. The Council has long trained their watchers not just to inform their girls and keep them in line, but to closely monitor their demon spirit. If a watcher suspects that the demon has taken control they are to terminate the slayer immediately.”
Swallowing, “That’s why...the test...” Anya glanced at him, “On Buffy’s eighteenth birthday. They took away her strength and locked her up with a nutso vampire.”
“Yes. I’ve heard of that. It’s one way they guarantee the slayer doesn’t reach her peak at 24.”
“What’s that?”
“For some reason at that age everything happens. The demon takes over, the girl becoming impossibly strong and relatively ageless.”
“Buffy will stop aging?”
“I did say relatively. In fact, it will appear that way to a human but not to another immortal. For every five human years, she would age but a single day. But that will never happen. The council will kill her before she reaches that magical age.”
Leaping to his feet, “What? No!”
Nodding gravely, “There hasn’t been a slayer to reach her potential age in more than a thousand years thanks to those bastards.”
“I won’t let that happen.”
“By denying Buffy the protection of a powerful and aggressive mate, you are.” Xander’s expression sagged a little, “Instinct pulls her to a demon, and her own heart pulls her to Spike. By interfering and keeping them apart you are holding her back and making their job a whole lot easier.”
Shaking his head, “Giles would never do this.”
Anya’s eyes glinted just a little, “Then ask your precious Giles what the wet works teams are for. If he can answer that without a flinch I will be very surprised.” And with a flash they were suddenly not alone.
“A magnificent sight, isn’t it?” Buffy flushed red, glancing at Dien who was leaning against the wall of the cabin and staring off into the night. On the floor, slayer and vampire were curled around each other under blankets and sleeping peacefully. She’d been silent witness to that part of herself, the slayer, tell him exactly who he belonged to. There hadn’t been actual sex, but the sights that she had caught left her wanting and eager to experience it for herself. She nodded silently, slightly forlorn, “If you’re not cautious, you’re going to lose him.” Dien moved her hand a little, a subtle gesture one might not notice.
Buffy closed her eyes, feeling herself needing to share. There was just something about this demoness that brought down her defenses, “I know. Just like everyone else.” She let her head fall, “But he’ll just leave so what’s the point?” Dien quirked an eyebrow at her in question, “Everyone leaves me. Dad, Angel, Riley...if Spike...when Spike leaves I’ll just be all alone.”
Dien shook her head, letting her gaze drop to her hands, “Such a child...William isn’t like the others. He doesn’t run from conflict or pain. From what I’ve seen he embraces it. It’s a part of life. You’ve had everyone you love leave you...and so has he. He will stay...he’s the one man or demon in the world who will stay through it all. Good or bad, breaking his trust is the only way you can break his faith in you.”
Buffy sighed and knelt down, her ghostly presence glancing through Spike’s hair. Her blond vampire
murmured in his sleep, something about shoes, before stilling once more. She felt herself smile. She loved this man, this demon. She truly did. It wasn’t a question of if he was strong enough to survive her love. She knew he was. But she was starting to wonder if she was strong enough for his.
“Love, give, forgive...I seem to have it all sideways...” She snickered to herself, “I forgave him first...then I gave him my home and a chance, now I love him...” She felt her eyes widen. She’d said it in her mind. She’d felt it all this time. But she’d never let herself say it out loud, “I love him...” She shook her head and flung herself away, “Now he’ll go...no, not yet...it’s too soon...I’m not ready-...”
The slap across her face startled her, broke her out of her fears and her past, “Pick and choose, girl.
You can’t have it both ways. Tell him, and face the consequences. Or stay silent, and you really will watch him leave. Those words that you heard weren’t about him...they were about you.” Buffy stared at the demoness in surprise, but she was silent, “Love him, allow it and embrace it. Give him everything that you are. Forgive yourself.”
The blond frowned, “For what?”
Dien smiled slightly, “For not doing your ‘sacred duty’. For moving on, and not with the normal guy everyone else wanted for you. For loving him without regret.”
Shaking her head, her mind refusing to take all of this in. This demon seemed to know about her than even she did. She felt like someone was showing her a movie one minute at a time, and the edited version at that, “Who are you?”
“For now, a friend of his. When you’re ready, you’ll learn more. Just know that for now my purpose is to ensure his happiness.”
***
“You need to stop Xander.” Xander whipped around to stare at Anya. She was sitting serenely in a large chair, perfectly in her element. Around them there was a void of nothingness. Just the chair and as far above or below nothing but white.
“Where are we?”
“Between worlds, where time has no meaning. And we’ll be here until you finally understand what you won’t listen to.”
Sighing, “Look, Ahn, if this is about Spike-...”
“This is about us, Alexander. You and I. If you cannot accept that my past effects my present and our future then we have no future.”
Eyes widening, fearing that the first decent relationship he’d ever had would be over before it had ever truly begun, “But-...”
“I have stayed by your side, staying out of the way. Letting you and your watcher continue to regurgitate those filthy lies the Council has told everyone for centuries about demons. No longer. Because I see now that as long as you believe it, you do not know me. At all.”
He licked his lips and carefully sat on the ‘ground’, watching her attentively, “I’m listening, Ahn, anything you have to say.”
Anya closed her eyes for a moment. Gone was lost, innocent Anya, experiencing human life after more than a thousand years. In her place was a careful fusion of the new human girl and the ancient vengeance demon. Pursing her lips a little to collect her thoughts before opening them, “You love Buffy unconditionally, yes?”
He frowned, “Ahn-...”
“Yes?”
Sighing, “Yes.”
Nodding, “So nothing about her would change your mind?”
His expression tightening in stubbornness, “No.”
“She’s demon.”
He blinked, his mouth about to open, but then he paused and shook his head, “What?!”
“Humans have been around for several thousand years, Xander. Even longer than your scholars believe. On
a very distant level it is possible most if not all of humanity has a common ancestor. What is factual is that all slayers do. When a slayer is ‘called’, what that really means is that the genes in her ancestry that are linked are activated. Her strength and speed, her very instincts increase to the high level that only a demon possesses. It’s why she’s so effective in the fight. How could a human compete with a demon as well as say...two demons fighting one another?” Xander licked his lips, eyes wide but still listening, “The watchers are well aware of this. They know that slayers are descendants of a nomadic race known as the Chiatoran...they have other names but that is the most widely known. The Council has long trained their watchers not just to inform their girls and keep them in line, but to closely monitor their demon spirit. If a watcher suspects that the demon has taken control they are to terminate the slayer immediately.”
Swallowing, “That’s why...the test...” Anya glanced at him, “On Buffy’s eighteenth birthday. They took away her strength and locked her up with a nutso vampire.”
“Yes. I’ve heard of that. It’s one way they guarantee the slayer doesn’t reach her peak at 24.”
“What’s that?”
“For some reason at that age everything happens. The demon takes over, the girl becoming impossibly strong and relatively ageless.”
“Buffy will stop aging?”
“I did say relatively. In fact, it will appear that way to a human but not to another immortal. For every five human years, she would age but a single day. But that will never happen. The council will kill her before she reaches that magical age.”
Leaping to his feet, “What? No!”
Nodding gravely, “There hasn’t been a slayer to reach her potential age in more than a thousand years thanks to those bastards.”
“I won’t let that happen.”
“By denying Buffy the protection of a powerful and aggressive mate, you are.” Xander’s expression sagged a little, “Instinct pulls her to a demon, and her own heart pulls her to Spike. By interfering and keeping them apart you are holding her back and making their job a whole lot easier.”
Shaking his head, “Giles would never do this.”
Anya’s eyes glinted just a little, “Then ask your precious Giles what the wet works teams are for. If he can answer that without a flinch I will be very surprised.” And with a flash they were suddenly not alone.