Disclaimer: Joss owns the characters of BTVS. I am not making any money off of this fic. Please don't sue me. Beta'd by AtheneHahn

A/N: Written in answer to Redwolf50's Challenge 109. Challenge details at the end.

Paradox

by Jackofspikes


Chapter 32

At Spike's comment, pandemonium broke out.

"Whoa...twins?" Xander hesitantly offered, looking at Giles for guidance.

"Lucky Buffy!" Willow whispered to the young girl next to her.

"I'm WHOSE?!" Buffy spluttered indignantly.

"Tinkerbell!" Dawn collapsed in hysterical giggles.

"Bit," William growled in warning before turning to his younger self. "Look what you've bloody well started, you git."

"Is it my fault the girl finds that funny?" Spike snarked back, his expression innocent.

"ENOUGH!" the young slayer shouted as she brought her fist down on the coffee table turning it into kindling. "Ooops."

"Mum, don't worry about the table. Harris is bloody brilliant with carpentry. He'll make you a new one." William hurried to head off any more distractions.

Xander jumped in, positively glowing at the unexpected praise. "No problem, Mrs Summers. I'll make it stronger too. Just in case it has to face any other slayer related situations."

Joyce gratefully accepted his generous offer before turning back to young Buffy. "What were you going to say before the table so rudely interrupted you, dear?"

The younger Buffy gawked at her mother. Mom has a sense of humour? Who knew?

"She wants to know what's going on, that is, until she was distracted by Mom the Comedian," Buffy senior joked as she answered the question directed at her younger self.

"Can we start with the Wookie?" Xander asked, sending suspicious glances towards the giant redhead.

"Can do, Scoobie doo," Wolfie quipped.

"Hey! I'm nothing like Scoobie. I'm more Fred," Xander argued.

"You eat all the time and you scream like a girl, Harris. Sounds like Scoobie to me." William snarked.

"He's not wrong, Xan." Willow snickered at her friend.

Willow giggled, Xander pouted, and Buffy was distracted by the twin pools of blue that she kept getting lost in.

Senior Buffy made the executive decision to take the momentary silence as the perfect opportunity to grab control. "Xander wanted Wolfie explained," she said as she turned to Giles, encouraging him to continue. "You might as well tell them the whole story."

Taking a deep breath, Giles ensured everyone was comfortable before he began. He explained the presence of William and the older Buffy, Dawn and her Keyness, the monk, and Wulfie. He told the younger blond about the slayer abilities that they hadn't been aware of. When he got to the part of the story that involved the ritual, Xander interrupted him.

"Wait a minute." The young brunette stood, horrified and pointed at the two blond vampires as he pulled out a large cross from inside his jacket and brandished it wildly. "Are you telling me that they are vampires?"

William walked calmly over to the protesting youth, wrapped his pale hand around the religious icon and handed it to Spike as he placed his other hand on Xander's shoulder and physically encouraged him to retake his seat.

As William silently returned to his place next to his Buffy, Spike gallantly bowed to the other slayer and offered her the youth's cross. Young Buffy giggled in response.

Giles removed his glasses and cleaned them before continuing. "Pay attention Xander. There are things you may yet learn."

Giving the sulking youth a stern glance, Giles continued. The watcher explained the ritual and all that it had involved, including the results. Turning to Wolfie, Giles paused in his tale to ask the question he had been presented with the night before. "Perhaps you could tell us why Spike has also been affected by the ritual. He now has a reflection and apparently no problems with holy relics?"

"When William performed the ritual and Gaia expelled Spike from his body, Spike had already made his decision to work for Good. Gaia accepted this and rewarded his decision. The reflection was given back to him, so he could learn to face himself. He will be harder on himself than any of us can be. It is the corruption of evil that makes holy water and other relics react adversely to vampires, by whole-heartedly embracing Good, Spike will no longer be rejected. If he too chooses to go through the ritual, he will then be allowed in sunlight, his body will warm, his need for blood will reduce to a few mouthfuls that will be taken care of if he and the slayer mate; he will have a heartbeat and his demon a soul," Wolfie elaborated on what he had already told the first group.

"William doesn't have a heartbeat," elder Buffy stated.

"His body is still adjusting to the changes. It will come," The giant assured her.

"What do you mean by mate?" Willow asked curiously.

"If the young slayer and Spike fall in love, they can be mated. A mating is a serious and eternal commitment. It's a marriage without the possibility of divorce – which is why it is so serious," Wolfie explained.

Xander sat in stunned silence. When he spoke, it was without thinking, "No! Buffy is not going to get into yet another freaky relationship. It's bad enough that we have to put up with dead boy. I'm not putting up with another dead guy that can't make up his mind which side he is on."

"Xander, we apparently need your 'expertise' to get us out of this mess, but if you think you have the right to tell me – at any age – who I can and can't go out with, think again. If you're still under the delusion that I would date you, get over it. I wouldn't have dated you before the hyena incident, there is NO WAY I would date you after it." This wasn't her Xander, so Buffy had no trouble putting the mouthy brunette in his place.

"Hyena incident?" William questioned suspiciously.

"Mr. Harris, I think you and I need to have a little talk - Powers representative to Powers representative." Without giving the boy a chance to say yes or no, Wolfie led the embarrassed teen into the kitchen.

~*~*~

"Your destiny lays elsewhere. You're going to be blessed with a wonderful woman that adores you and a job that you love. You get to play the hero many times by saving your friends from getting blown to bits. How satisfied would you be if you were the one being saved all the time; to be the weaker of the couple? It's hard for even the most secure man to pull off," Wolfie earnestly told the unhappy youth, then watched as the boy puffed up with pride at being called a man.

"But you need to understand the importance of what is happening now. Buffy and William, or Buffy and Spike, are meant to be together, because he will ensure that she lives to see her twenty- fifth birthday." Wolfie tried desperately to get Xander to see the bigger picture.

"What happens when she turns twenty-five?" Xander asked fearfully.

"At that age, the slayer will be offered a gift from the Powers. She knows nothing of this, and we can't let her know about it, either. She has to make the choice on her own, just as you must decide if you will help them." Wolfie pleaded with the youth to hear him. "If you don't, the future I have just told you about may not come to pass."

"What's her name?" Xander whispered.

"Anya," Wolfie replied just as quietly.

~*~*~

"Right. So, what else do we need to know, G-Man?" Xander questioned easily as he returned to the living room. Denial was always a pleasant place to visit. Teasing the librarian was always a fun thing to do.

"Xander, if you call me by that infernal name one more time, I'll let the 'Wookie' eat you," Ripper smugly warned the playful boy.

Xander gave the chuckling sasquatch a sideways glance, saying, "He doesn't know you're a vegetarian, right?"

"You'd better hope so, whelp, or the librarian just made a comment that questioned the sexual orientation of both of you." William grinned in amusement.

Giles shrugged, unconcerned which way they took his comment. He knew what the next subject up for discussion was. He let them laugh while they still could.

Young Buffy stood. She looked directly at her older counterpart and snarled, "You and I are going to talk. Privately. And we're going to do it now."
~TBC~