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.

by Jackofspikes

Chapter 39

If anybody had been looking out their window as the group walked by, they would have seen an unusual sight– that is, unless they were a resident of Sunnydale– then they would have denied seeing anything at all. There were two tiny blond girls, obviously sisters. Actually they could have been twins had one clearly not been older. Another set of identical twins, male and apparently sharing a deep affinity for black. They were followed by a giant of a man with a wealth of body hair– probably a basketball player– holding the hand of an absolutely tiny redhead that appeared to have some sort of birth defect on her ears, an older gentleman who seemed out of place and wearing tweed, a pretty little redheaded teenage girl, a tall brunette youth and a large, rather lumbering man who appeared to be wearing an excessive amount of hair gel. An odd group who clearly had other places to be.

As they made their way to the factory, each member of the group seemed lost in their own thoughts.

Joan worried that William would react badly after the fact. She was terrified that her new found love would be in jeopardy because he undoubtedly still cared for Drusilla. Would he ultimately blame her for the loss? God, she hoped not. She loved him too much to want to see him go through any pain. She'd already given him enough of that over the years and she never wanted to hurt him again.

Buffy peeked over at the gorgeous blonde that had grabbed her hand as soon as they started walking. She was right on the cusp of falling madly, truly, and deeply in love. She felt these wonderful little goose bumps travelling up her arm as his thumb stroked the over-sensitized flesh between her thumb and forefinger. Her heart seemed to expand and shrink every time he glanced her way. His every action, gesture, his every word seemed to capture her attention. It wasn't enough, though. She wanted more.

William thought again of the changes he had gone through over the last couple of years. Every time he spoke to the younger version of himself, he was astounded at how immature he seemed. Bloody perfect for a sixteen year old, if you asked him. Mentally they were probably the same age. He was at a loss to understand why his slayer would think even for a moment that he could prefer the younger her. The girlish giggling alone was enough to make him want to invest in a set of industrial strength ear plugs. His slayer was a work of art, while the young one was still a work in progress as far as he was concerned. If he thought of Drusilla at all, it was only the fleeting thought that if Angelus thought what he'd done to her was artwork, he really was truly one sick fuck.

Spike surreptitiously peeked through half closed eyes at the gorgeous blond whose hand was safely captured in his. She was looking at her feet and nibbling at her bottom lip- the lip that seemed to call to him, asking him to nip at it every time he saw it. He wondered what she was thinking about, but then he was always wondering that. Always thinking about her and hoping she was sparing a thought for him. He was still a little thrown by her earlier lip lock. He certainly hadn't expected her to take the bull by the horns so to speak. And the way they'd just seemed to automatically fall into the whole boyfriend/girlfriend thing worried him. He didn't want to bollocks it up, but she was so bloody young. Were they moving a bit too fast? He realised that he wanted to take it slow. He wanted to get to know her, to revel in all those new moments and discoveries. He wanted all the first time things in a new romance that he'd never experienced before. He wanted what the human that he had once been had never been blessed with.

Wolfie let his eyes drift to the four warriors leading their little group. Joan was so scared of doing something to screw up her new relationship that she was missing the simple joy that true love can bring. Buffy was allowing her budding sexuality to rush something that should be taken slowly and thereby enjoyed more. William was finally realising his own growth and Spike...well, Spike the impulsive was finally growing up. William would help Joan, and Spike would slow Buffy down. They would get there in the end; their destinies were safe, but the giant had to chuckle at the thought of the trouble they would cause themselves on the way. His own life would become more complicated with his involvement with the Slayer's team, but his wife would be the last person to complain about that. She wanted to join the team, too.

Llwethyn focused all of her senses on the vampire behind her. She hated that he was back there. She was a creature of nature and of purity. Vampires didn't offend her, she recognised the need for balance, but that unnatural curse did. The façade of the fake soul could not hide the malevolence of the demon from her. His evil emanated from him like fumes of noxious gas. She wondered how someone as pure as the Chosen One could stand to be this close to him. The warrior elf was hard pressed to not follow her relative's example. The empty space above her mantle was just screaming out to be filled, and really, it wasn't that expensive to get things brassed.

Giles considered the wisdom of allowing the two teenagers to accompany them. An undertaking such as they were embarking on could have serious repercussions and both Willow and Xander seemed to attract danger. It was of course possible that in Xander's case this was because the boy had a remarkable knack for inflaming tempers with his often inappropriate and inane commentary. Actually from that point of view, it was perfectly understandable that the boy be attacked in the first place.

Willow watched Buffy peek at Spike and then Spike peek at Buffy. It was so cute. Why couldn't she have something like that? Taking her own quick little peek over at Xander, she inwardly sighed in frustration. What would it take to get him to notice her? Like really notice her? Maybe if she talked to the giant Wookie man? He was all-knowing guy. Or maybe Joan? She was from the future, so maybe she could share or something? There had to be something she could do. Maybe a spell?

Xander was surprisingly thinking about paradoxes. Ever since they'd asked him to be all helpful guy- Mr. Expert as chosen by the Powers That Be- the issue hadn't been far from his focus. The problem was; the more he thought about it, the more certain he was that his hypothesis wasn't going to make them happy. The two guys that he'd proposed the problem to were meeting with the group the next night. Xander really hoped that they could come up with a better theory than he had.

Angel didn't know what to do. He could feel his demon fighting to gain control. It was taking everything he had in him to keep it at bay. The thought of them dusting his precious work of art was sending the demon into a frenzy. Angelus screamed to get out, symbolically beating on his cage. Angel could feel the bars that held the demon in check bending under the weight of the attack. How long would the prison hold him? Angel feared it wouldn't hold him for very long at all, but he said nothing. He didn't want Buffy to think of him as weak.

~*~*~

Drusilla had moments of lucidity. She knew they were coming.

She welcomed them.