TITLE: Resurgence - Chapter 1: Anniversary
AUTHOR: Sheri Steeves
FEEDBACK: Please! Post to list or send e-mail to [email protected]
ARCHIVE:
SPOILERS: Takes place after Season 5 - The Gift.
RATING: PG
DISCLAIMER: Joss Whedon, Mutant Enemy etc own all of this. I'm just borrowing to feed my addiction until season 6 starts.
SUMMARY: It has been a year. New prophecies turn up, strange events unfold. And maybe, just maybe, Buffy will be back. Depends on what my muse lets me do.
Dawn glanced out the window at the setting sun and sighed with relief as she stacked her schoolbooks and set them aside. Giles would be home from the magic shop soon. Taking a casserole and a bag of O-negative from the fridge, she put the casserole in the oven and set the timer. Grabbing a "I love Vampires" mug from the cupboard, she poured the thick, viscous liquid into it and put it into the microwave to heat. When the microwave dinged, she took the mug and started down the basement stairs.
"Spike? You up?" she called from the bottom of the stairs. From around the wall, in the basement apartment Xander had built for Spike, she heard movement, and then the groggy accented voice.
"Yeah, Lil' Bit, I'm up."
Dawn walked around the corner to see a just awakened Spike, slumped on the side of the bed. Handing him his mug, she sat down on the armchair set beside the bed.
"What? No Wheatabix?"
"Don't be baby, Spike! You finished them yesterday, remember? Tomorrow is grocery day. We'll get some more then."
"Crap, s' right. Forgot. Sorry. Finished the lessons for today?" Spike drained the mug quickly. His drinking blood had never bothered Dawn, but it still bothered him that it didn't. It should have, no matter how unusual her life was.
"Yeah, I've had my fill of geometry, the periodic table and the French Revolution. I'm all studied out. I need a workout now. "
"Sounds 'bout right. Want me show you some new stuff?"
"Sure. Giles showed me what I was doing wrong with that flip yesterday."
" Lets go then."
********************
Giles pulled into the drive of the house on Revello drive. Parking the car, he picked up the package from the front seat and entered the house. Setting the package on the coffee table in the living room, he walked into the kitchen. Seeing the oven light on, he was relieved that Dawn had remembered it was her turn to cook. As he was setting two places at the table, he could her grunts and shouts from the basement. Spike was up then. He and Dawn must be practicing.
Grabbing a water bottle from the fridge, Giles went downstairs, following the sounds of fighting and exertion. Spike's voice rang out.
"That all you got... come on! Ugh!!"
The sound of a body solidly hitting the mats made Giles wince. Entering the workout room on the other side of the basement, Giles watched as Dawn helped Spike up.
"Ok, I think you worked out the kinks in that move." Spike winced as he rotated his shoulder. That had been some throw. Almost as good as - NO, don't go there!
"Thanks, Spike. Giles is a good teacher, but when it comes to actual practice, he's a bit fragile."
Glancing behind Dawn, Spike saw the Watcher standing there. Looking back at Dawn, Spike grinned and said, "Well, humans tend to be a bit fragile... ain't that right, Watcher?"
"Most certainly is, Spike."
Dawn whirled around. "Giles! I didn't hear you come in!"
Giles handed Dawn the water bottle as he shared a wry grin with the platinum blonde vampire. "Us fragile types tend not to make much noise. Almost time for supper. See you upstairs."
********************
Dawn and Giles sat in silence. Giles mechanically ate while he leafed through another mouldy old book. Dawn mostly played with her food. Spike stared listlessly in front of him, a second mug of blood in his hands. The clatter of Dawn's fork as it hit her plate startled both the vampire and the watcher.
"Sorry." Dawn said, seeing them looking at her. There was another length of silence. Oh just say it, Dawn admonished herself. Get it over with. Taking a breath, she asked "So, you know what tomorrow is?"
Setting down his fork, Giles removed his glasses and pinched the bridge of his nose. Sliding his glasses back on, he reached into his pocket for a handkerchief. He removed his glasses again and started polishing them. He sighed and looked over at the vampire. Spike had stopped staring into space, and was now staring into his mug as if it held all the answers in the world. The hand gripping the handle of the mug was clenched; Spike's knuckles showing paler against his pale hands. Any tighter and he would break the handle. They all knew what tomorrow was. A year ago tomorrow, Buffy had died to save them all.
"Um, yes, er, we know what tomorrow is. Willow and Tara are going to the grave tomorrow after classes. I believe Xander is going with them as well. They would be delighted if you joined them. They asked me to tell you." Putting his glasses back on, Giles looked first at Spike, who still hadn't moved, and then at Dawn.
Looking back at the Watcher Dawn was surprised to suddenly realize how old Giles looked. There was more grey in his hair, and his eyes looked tired. He just didn't have the same energy has he used to. The taciturn ex-librarian would never admit it, but losing Buffy had been the hardest thing he had ever gone through. It had aged him. He had been to the graveyard once, for the funeral. To her knowledge, never again had he stepped foot in the cemetery. It simply hurt too much.
"Oh, okay. I'll tell Xander tonight that I'll meet them at the magic shop after school. We're meeting him at his apartment before we go patrolling." Dawn scraped most of her supper in the garbage, put her plate in the sink, and turned to Spike.
"Ready to go Spike?"
"Yeah. Lets go." The vampire got up from the table, rinsed his mug, grabbed the bag of weapons by the door, and followed Dawn out into the night. To anyone who did not know him, or had not known the old Spike, they would not notice the lack of enthusiasm, the woodeness of Spike's movements. Buffy's death had sucked most of the joy of his unlife right out of him. Now, the only thing he lived for was Dawn and patrolling.
Alone in the kitchen, Giles thought back. Had it really been a year already? It felt like hardly anytime at all had passed, and yet it also felt like forever. There had been a lot of changes. Since the death of Joyce, and then Buffy, Giles had become Dawn's legal guardian. Joyce had originally set that up just as a safety net, never wanting to think about her eldest daughter dying, but pragmatic enough to face the realities of Buffy's life as the Slayer. It was something Joyce, Buffy and Giles had talked about before the operation. Buffy's father was not an option. Especially with Dawn being the Key. Joyce had said that "father" or not, Dawn would be better off with Giles, with someone who knew exactly what she was. And after Hank's no-show at Joyce's death, leaving his eldest to deal with her mother's death alone, Giles was inclined to agree with Joyce. After Buffy's death Giles had sublet his condo and moved into the Summer's residence.
As part of his promise to Buffy, Spike had moved in as well. He couldn't stay in his crypt with every bad ass in town gunning for him after the fight with Glory. Xander had helped Spike build a partition in the basement, and move his stuff in. The two had come to an understanding. They would never be friends - they were too alike for that, although neither would admit it. They were however working together, fighting the good fight along with the rest of the Scoobies. They tried to carry on in Buffy's absence. It was hard. Crime and deaths were up, but they were able to do some good. Willow and Tara had finally figured out that sunlight spell, but had to watch when they used it. It wouldn't do to fry your main powerhouse. Spike was out patrolling every night with them. He was the only one who could take any amount of damage, and he had a lot of rage to work through. Seeing Buffy die would have killed him, if he hadn't already been dead. The only things that kept him alive were Dawn and his promise to Buffy.
Dawn had had a real tough time of it at first. She had blamed herself for a long time, and still did to some extent. They had wondered at times if she would make it, but she was stronger than they thought. A month after the battle, Dawn convinced them to start training her like Buffy had trained. She argued with them that not being able to defend herself had ultimately cost her the life of her sister. Next time, she said, she wanted to be able to help herself. Since it was the first interest she had showed in anything, Giles and Spike had agreed. A few months later, she was patrolling with the group as well. While she didn't have Buffy's Slayer strength and healing, she was determined to do her part. Giles had originally said that she was too young to go with the others, and would have to wait a year or two, that she could go with them when she was older. She has simply ignored him and slipped out her bedroom window. Much as Buffy had done at that age. Dawn was more like Buffy than she knew. In the end, Giles had relented, knowing she was safer if she went with the others than slipping out by herself.
Anya and Xander were married now. Xander was still working in construction and Anya was still working for him at The Magic Shop. Giles was glad he had bought the shop. Gave him something to do, a way to earn a living. The council had pulled him off of official Watcher duty. Couldn't really be a Watcher without a Slayer. Giles had also faced the fact that he could not train another Slayer. A part of his heart had died with Buffy. So now Giles had official citizen status and ran the Magic Shop. What with being on the Hellmouth, business was always good. He still kept in touch with the council. He had some good friends there that were willing to send information or a particular book his way when it seemed necessary. For his "research". Research that usually involved trying to determine how to kill whatever nasty demon had decided to visit the Hellmouth that week. Resident Slayer or no resident Slayer, the bad guys just kept coming.
Rising from the table, Giles put his dish in the sink, plugged in the kettle, and tidied the kitchen. Once the tea was made, Giles settled in the living room with the package from Angel. Opening it, he found three slim, leather bound volumes, and a letter from the last person he would have expected.
Rupert,
I thought you would be interested in the contents of these diaries. A watcher chum of mine that does research for them sent me these. They were found in a manor in Romania, when it was demolished.
Wesley Wyndam-Price.
Intrigued, Giles set the letter aside and picked up the first volume from the stack. The book was slightly larger than a paperback novel, but much thinner. The leather bound cover was faded but not cracked, and the pages looked intact. Opening the book, the musty smell of old books wafted out to greet him. The writing was thin and faded, but legible enough. The title caught his eye and he started to read.
tbc