An
Unaccomplished Fate
Author: enigmaticblue
Rating: PG-15
Disclaimer: I don’t own most of these characters, and I’m not making any money off of the ones that are mine.
Summary: The sequel to Avocation and Under the Sun. Spike and Buffy’s relationship is on solid ground at last, but a new prophecy threatens everything they hold dear. The bonds of family and friendship will be tested, lives will be threatened, and the entire world will hang on the choice of one vampire.
A/N: Any resemblance to canon is pretty
much
accidental.
Chapter 20
Spike
crouched at the entrance to the reptile house. They had found it by
following
some sort of short demon in a robe, figuring that it was unlikely for
unidentified demons to be at the zoo without somehow being connected to
Glory.
Buffy
was trying to shift her weight silently, and he knew she was getting
cramped
from staying in one place for too long. “Ready?”
She
nodded. “What do you hear?”
“Nothing
much. I think she’s yelling at someone.”
“We’d
better get in there before we have bigger problems than Glory.”
“There
are bigger problems?”
“Point.”
With
that, they both headed inside the exhibit. The lock on the door had
been broken
when they’d arrived, so it was no trouble to get inside.
Sounds
became clearer once they’d passed the heavy doors. Glory could be heard
berating her minions. “This had better work. I want my key, like,
yesterday!”
“Of
course, your greatness.” The fawning voice of one of the demons caused
Spike to
raise his eyebrows. “It will be sure to work. The snake will track your
key,
and tell you where it is.”
That
made sense. Now they knew why Glory
wanted a snake demon, although that still left the problem of how they
were
going to prevent the Hellgod from raising the creature. “Me first,”
Buffy said.
“Luv…”
“It’s
my turn.”
“Fine.”
Buffy
grinned at him. “The demons are all yours, sweetie.”
“I
know you’re there.” Glory whirled to face their hiding spot. “Come out
so I can
kill you. Slowly.”
“Whatever,
bitch-face,” Buffy replied insolently, stepping out of her hiding spot.
“You’re
not going to manage that spell.”
“Why
is that?” Glory asked. “I am the great Glorificus! I can do
whatever the hell I want.”
“You’re
not going to be able to do the spell, because we’re going to stop you.”
Buffy
didn’t give her the chance to fire back after that comment. Her right
foot connected
with Glory’s temple, sending her back a step, but the hobbit-like
demons were
on top of her, immediately, protecting their mistress.
“Spike!
The spell!”
Torn
between helping Buffy and preventing the demon attempting the spell
from
completing it, Spike hesitated. “I’ll be fine,” she insisted, and the
expression on her face said what she couldn’t say out loud—that she
wasn’t the one at risk from the spell, that Dawn was the important one.
“Bugger.”
Spike leapt for the demon, knocking over the urn with the snake and
magic
implements, knowing that was usually the best way to interrupt a spell.
The urn
cracked, and the snake slithered out, rising up and hissing at him.
He
made a lightning-fast grab for the cobra, seizing it just behind the
hood and
snapping its neck with a flick of his wrist.
Glory
let out a scream of frustration, ceasing her attack on Buffy to come
after him.
“Why do you always have to ruin everything?”
“Because
you’re such a pain in the ass,” Spike snapped back. “And you’re ugly.”
He gave
her a toothy grin. “And because I enjoy it.”
She
flew at him in a rage, and it was all Spike could do to hold her off.
Even with
the added protection of the ring, he was greatly outmatched.
He
went through the glass on another display and came face to face with a
boa
constrictor. Glory advanced on him, then stopped abruptly, letting out
another
screech and putting her hands on her head. “Ow.”
She
turned to look at Buffy, and Spike scrambled out of the display,
bowling Glory
over with his shoulder. The little hobbit demons were scuttling around,
trying
to attend to the Hellgod’s needs, whatever they might be. Spike could
honestly
say that he didn’t care, but he definitely wanted to get out of there.
They
were outmanned, and they still had no way of killing Glory. “Let’s go,
Buffy.”
She
followed him out. “What just happened in there, Spike? Can we use it?”
“When
we figure out how, yeah. I want to have some idea of how to kill her,
though.”
~~~~~
Quinn
suspected that there was more going on that met the eye. They had been
sent to
provide backup for Xander and Anya, to ensure Dawn’s safety.
She
understood the need to protect family, but she thought it a little odd
that
Buffy was worried about her sister at the moment. Then again, she knew
what it
was like to have secrets, and maybe it had something to do with the
fact that Buffy
had just recently discovered that she had a sister.
When
Spike and Buffy arrived at Xander’s apartment, looking rather the worse
for
wear, Quinn knew that something big was going on. “How did it go?” Tara
asked
anxiously. Dawn had fallen asleep on the couch, so they were all
huddled around
the front door, trying to keep their voices down.
“We
didn’t have to deal with a demon, so that’s something,” Buffy said
wearily.
“Glory is going to be a huge problem, though.”
“What
exactly is Glory?” Quinn asked.
“She’s
a Hellgod.” Buffy’s flat voice indicated that she didn’t want to go
into the
details, and while Quinn understood her reticence, she was also
frustrated by
it.
“I
know Glory is a Hellgod, but I don’t know what that means.” Taking a
deep
breath, she decided to face the Slayer’s suspicion head-on; it was how
she’d
always faced things. “Look, I know you have every reason not to trust
me, and I
get it, but I’m not going to tell Travers anything you don’t want him
to know.
I want to help.”
“And
you have helped,” Spike assured her. “If we hadn’t arrived when we did
tonight,
I doubt things would have turned out quite so rosy, but the fact is
that you
work for the Council.”
Quinn
had to bite her tongue. She wanted to tell him that she’d had no
choice, that
she would have preferred to be in the Alps, tracking down problematic
yetis, or
in the wilds of Transylvania looking for unruly werewolves. She would
have
liked doing anything that didn’t involve spying; that just wasn’t her
strong
suit.
Buffy
met her eyes, and after a moment, her expression softened. “This isn’t
the time
or the place to discuss this, but if you really want to help, why don’t
you
come by Spike’s place tomorrow evening? We could use the extra muscle
out on
patrol.”
Quinn
knew when she was being thrown a bone, but she would take it at the
moment.
~~~~~
Orlando
was beginning to think that he was going to have to take drastic action
in
order to reveal the identity of the Key. The Council seemed to think
that it
was a person, which meant that they had to narrow it down from among
the Slayer
and Guardian’s friends and family.
He’d
given some thought to finding the weakest link among them, but the
Knights of
Byzantium tried not to kill innocents. And if the person they chose to
question
didn’t know who the Key was, there would be no choice but to kill them.
There
was time yet, he thought, before drastic measures must be taken, and a
decision
like that ought to be made by the General, not him.
He
turned from his post in front of the Guardian’s house. He and the
Slayer had
arrived an hour before, and now all was quiet. Orlando didn’t think
that he’d
get any more information, but he did have time to catch a few hours of
sleep.
Tomorrow
was soon enough to resume his search.
~~~~~
“You
wanted to see me?” Buffy asked, sitting down on the bed next to her
mother.
Joyce
wasn’t exactly nervous. She didn’t have any reason to believe that
Buffy would
react poorly to their announcement, but there was still some anxiety
there.
“Rupert and I wanted to talk to you first.”
“Me?
What—” Buffy stopped, catching sight of the ring on her mother’s hand.
“Giles asked you to marry him.”
“And I
said yes. You don’t mind, do you?” she asked anxiously.
Buffy
immediately shook her head. “No, not at all. I thought I might, but…
I’ve been
expecting it actually. I mean, once you got pregnant, I figured it was
only a
matter of time.” She winced. “Sorry.”
“No, I
think that’s probably true.” Joyce smiled. “I’m glad. I know that in
the past
when I’ve dated other men you haven’t been quite as accepting.”
“Ted
was a robot,” Buffy replied. “I knew there was something really wrong
with that
guy.”
Joyce
decided that it would be pointless to argue. She wasn’t so sure that
Buffy had
known there was something wrong—other than that Ted was dating
her—but that was water under the bridge.
“Have
you set a date?” Buffy asked, neatly changing the subject.
“Right
after the baby is born, most likely,” Joyce said. “We’d do it before,
but it’s
just not feasible.”
“No
big wedding?”
“I
don’t need one. We’re married in all the ways that count. At this
point, it’s
more a formality than anything else.”
Buffy
gave her a tight hug. “I’m really happy for you, Mom. Really.”
Joyce
returned her embrace. “You’ll tell the others?”
“We’ll
have a party after the baby is born.” Buffy pulled back to smile at her
mother.
“I guess there’s a lot to celebrate.”
Joyce
touched her cheek and said a little prayer, hoping that their joy would
be
untouched by sorrow.
~~~~~
Buffy
looked out the window, wondering when Quinn would show up. She wasn’t
sure how
to feel about the other woman. There was
a shared bond—they both had family members that they were trying to
protect—but Quinn worked for the Council. Maybe it was a good idea to
have someone on the inside, but Buffy didn’t know that she would feel
comfortable with the other woman until she had repudiated the Council
entirely.
“You’re
worried.”
“Yeah.”
She turned from the window to look at Spike. “Aren’t you?”
“We
decided to let her in,” Spike pointed out. “And she’s helped twice now.
I think
that earns her some slack.”
“Maybe.”
Buffy left the window to sit next to him on the couch. Spike was
reading a
book, something he seldom had time to do these days. “But if she knows
about
Glory, and she knows about the Key, how long until she figures out that
you
know where it is?”
“I’ve
thought about that,” Spike admitted. “I think we cross that bridge when
we come
to it.”
“And
when she tells the Council that the geas isn’t in place?”
“We
don’t know that she will.”
“We
don’t know that she won’t, and I want to be prepared for the worst.”
Spike
put his book aside, pulling her close. “We knew the Council was going
to figure
out that their little spell is no longer in place eventually, luv. It
was only
a matter of time. If we do this right, we might be able to manipulate
the
situation to our own ends.”
“How?”
“We
can still control what the Council finds out about the spell’s removal.
If they
think that we’re more powerful than we are, it’s to our benefit.”
“I
guess.” Buffy still wasn’t convinced. “Tara and Willow did the locator
spell,
didn’t they?”
“Yeah,
we’ll be able to find Quinn, wherever she might be. Tara said she was
meeting
with her again to give her ring back.”
Buffy
smiled wistfully. “Tara really likes her, I think.”
“I
think you’re right.”
She
was suddenly reminded of when Angelus had been unleashed. Buffy had
turned a
cold shoulder to Jenny Calendar for her role in the situation, and
Giles had
taken her lead. They had reconciled, but too late to enjoy it.
It was
something she would always regret.
“What
are you thinking of?”
Spike’s
voice interrupted the memories, and she shook her head to clear it.
“There was
a teacher at the school that Giles liked, before you came to Sunnydale.
She was
part of the tribe that cursed Angel, and I couldn’t forgive her for
betraying
our trust and not telling us.”
“You
blamed her for Angel losing his soul.”
“I
blamed myself, but yeah. I didn’t want to trust her again, and I didn’t
want
Giles to trust her.”
“And
she died before they got a chance to fully reconcile.” Spike’s blue
eyes were
wise. “Rupert told me when he was in his cups one night. If it’s any
consolation, he doesn’t hold it against you.”
Buffy
leaned her head against his shoulder. “What if I’m doing the same thing
now?”
“Think
it’s a little early to say that Tara’s in love, Buffy.” Spike stroked
her hair,
and she relaxed into his touch. For a moment, she could forget all her
worries.
It was
the best part of their relationship—his ability to help her forget, if
only for a moment, that she was the Slayer with the world on her
shoulders.
“But
what if by not trusting Quinn I make things worse?”
“We
do the best we can,” Spike replied.
“We can’t do more.”
The
doorbell rang, and Buffy rose from the couch to answer the door. “Come
in.”
Quinn
walked in, appearing ill-at-ease. “Thanks.” She looked around. “Nice
place.”
“We
like it.” She led the way into the living room and waved Quinn to a
seat on the
couch. “There’s something I want to know before we get into the
situation with
Glory,” Buffy said.
Quinn
nodded. “All right.”
“What
were you supposed to tell the Council, exactly?”
“Travers
wasn’t clear on that,” Quinn admitted. “He said something about a
prophecy, and
he was worried that Spike would bollocks it all up.” Her expression was
apologetic. “He said we couldn’t trust a vampire to make the right
decision.”
“And
what do you think?”
Quinn
shrugged. “I’m beginning to think that it wouldn’t matter whether it’s
a human
or a vampire that the prophecy might be talking about. Travers is a
control
freak, and he wants to be sure that the outcome is in his favor.”
“Have
you seen the prophecy?” Spike asked.
“Sure,
when I faxed Wesley’s copy to the Council.”
“Then
you know what all the fuss is about.”
“No, I
don’t, to be honest.”
Spike
raised an eyebrow. “Even though I may destroy the world.”
Quinn
frowned. “That’s not what the prophecy says. It says that you’ll have
to make a
decision. You have to live in the world, too. What reason would you
have to let
the world go to hell?”
Buffy
looked at Spike. “Can she be in charge of the Council? Because her
logic
actually resembles earth logic.”
Spike
grinned. “You’re alright, O’Mara.”
“Thanks.”
She looked from one to the other. “Look, Travers said something to me
that I
thought was a little suspect. He said that power like that shouldn’t be
left in
the hands of a vampire. I think he wants it for himself.”
“Good
guess,” Spike said. “What do you know about putting a geas on someone?”
Buffy
had known what he was going to say before the words left his mouth, and
she
understood it. Spike went with his instincts, and his instincts were
telling
him to trust this girl.
Right
now, Buffy was willing to go along with his instincts.
“A
geas?” Quinn frowned. “What the bloody hell do you want with one of
those?”
Buffy could feel her tension ratchet up several notches. “I can’t be
involved
in something like that. It’s dark magic, and it’s taking someone’s free
will.”
“I was
hoping you would say that,” Spike said quietly.
Quinn’s
eyes went huge. “The Council—fuck.” She rose from her seat and began
pacing. “Travers put a geas on you. That’s why he wanted me to watch
you. I
was…sodding, buggering—that bastard!”
Buffy
was a little surprised at the strength of Quinn’s reaction. “Are you
okay?”
“That’s
what Dracula did to me, and Travers is using the enemy’s tricks on
people who
are supposed to be on our side.”
The
Slayer realized what had caused the other woman to become so angry.
Dracula had
really done a number on her, and she was still feeling the effects.
Under the
circumstances, it could only help them.
“Fuck
him,” Quinn said in a low voice. “He tried to blackmail me by using my
little
sister—his Slayer. Well, fuck him. He can do his own sodding dirty
work.”
“If
it’s all the same to you, we’d rather you continue to pretend to work
for him
at least,” Buffy said. “Better a spy we know than one we don’t.”
Quinn
visibly calmed herself. “You’re right. I don’t think he can yank my
sister. It
would go against tradition, and there would be a huge outcry—but he
wouldn’t be above making sure I didn’t leave Sunnydale alive, and there
would
be more agents behind me.” She sat down again. “He wants the Key from
the
prophecy, doesn’t he?”
“He
does,” Spike confirmed.
Quinn
met his eyes, and Buffy saw her grim expression. “I don’t want to know
what or
who it is,” she said quietly. “If I don’t know, then I don’t have to
lie.”
Buffy’s
respect for her rose even more with that.
~~~~~
“Just
sit.”
“We’ve
got it taken care of.”
Wesley
knew when he was beaten. Neither Willow nor Tara was going to let him
help, and
he went to join Joyce in the living room, propping his crutches against
the
wall next to his chair.
“You
got benched too?”
“Willow
and Tara’s orders,” he admitted. “Congratulations, by the way. How are
you?”
“Thank
you, and I’m bored,” she admitted. “How is your ankle?”
“My
foot itches. I think it’s been itching for weeks now.” He winced. “I
realize that
I shouldn’t be complaining. It could be much worse.”
“It
could always be worse,” Joyce agreed. “But that doesn’t mean that it’s
not bad
enough.”
“I
suppose that’s true.”
Tara
stuck her head in. “I think we’re ready if you guys want to come to the
table.”
Wesley
rose from his seat clumsily, reaching for his crutches. “Joyce? Do you
need any
help?”
She
winced as she rose, one hand on her back. “No, I’ll be fine. My back is
just a
little sore.” Her smile was rueful. “This was a lot easier twenty years
ago.”
“I’m
sure it was,” Wesley agreed, thinking of how quickly he’d recovered
from
scrapes and falls just ten years before. It was getting a little
harder,
although he thought that being with Willow kept him young.
He
moved slightly ahead of Joyce, and glanced back over his shoulder. Her
expression was pained, and he frowned. “Joyce? Are you sure—”
“I’ll
be fine, Wesley.”
He
knew better than to press, but he couldn’t help but worry. He’d grown
quite
fond of Joyce, and the thought of something happening—