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 28
“My spirit is too weak;
mortality/weighs heavily on me like unwilling sleep,/And each imagined
pinnacle
and steep/of godlike hardship tells me I must die/Like a sick eagle
looking at
the sky./Yet ‘tis a gentle luxury to weep,/That I have not the cloudy
winds to
keep/Fresh for the opening of the morning’s eye./Such dim-conceived
glories of
the brain/ Bring round the heart an indescribable feud;/So do these
wonders a
most dizzy pain,/That mingles Grecian grandeur with the rude/Wasting of
old Time—with
a billowy main,/A sun, a shadow of a magnitude.” ~John Keats, “On
Seeing the
Elgin Marbles for the First Time”
Quinn rubbed her eyes sleepily
as she stumbled to her front
door. The knocking had woken her from a nap; she’d been out with Buffy
and Spike
late the night before, trying to find where the Knights were hiding out.
One glance through the
peephole had her flinging the door
open, however. “Dad?”
Oscar dropped his bag on the
floor and pulled her into his
arms for a tight hug. “Quinn.”
Quinn was beginning to get
worried. “Dad, what’s going on?”
“I got a call this morning.
Travers is putting an order out
for your death.”
She blinked, somehow
unsurprised. “You’d better come in.”
“One of our friends called.
Although most are uncomfortable
with the order, they’ve been persuaded that it’s for the best.”
Quinn shook her head. “Killing
one of your own is for the
best? Bloody hell.”
“This is why my friend called.
He understood how very wrong
this all is.” Oscar tossed his bag onto the couch. “And that’s why I’m
here.”
“What about Brynn and Mum?”
Quinn asked.
“There’s still a Hellmouth in
Cleveland,” Oscar replied.
“And your mother and sister are more than competent. I’m here to back
you up.”
“You’re signing your own death
warrant,” Quinn objected.
“You know they won’t hesitate to kill you as well if you get in the
way!”
Oscar seized her shoulders and
gave her a little shake.
“Stupid girl. Do you really think I’d allow them to threaten my
daughter while
I stand idly by?”
“Dad…”
“I must insist.”
Quinn knew better than to
argue with her father when he was
like that. “Fine. But you’re taking the couch.”
“Of course.”
She couldn’t resist flinging
her arms around him again,
feeling safe for the first time in weeks, even if she knew it was a
lie. Quinn
had learned a long time ago that her father couldn’t protect her from
everything, but she at least knew that he had her back.
~~~~~
“Wes, get some sleep.”
He glanced up to see Spike
standing in front of him. “I’m
fine.”
“You’re far from it. You’ve
been staring at those books so
long you’re likely to go blind.”
“I ordered some new texts that
might be helpful. One of them
refers to the Guardian’s reward.” Wesley was attempting to change the
subject,
although he was none too sure that he would be successful at it.
“What sort of reward?” From
the expression on Spike’s face,
Wesley knew he was being humored.
“To ‘live until you die,’ to shanshu,” Wesley replied.
Spike frowned. “To become
human?”
“I’m not sure that’s accurate;
‘mortal’ would be the better
term, I think. There’s no indication that you would lose your demon.”
Wesley
leaned back in his chair.
“So, you’re saying that if I
do my job right, I’ll become
mortal.” Spike sat down across from him, running a hand through his
hair,
mussing it further. It wasn’t often that the vampire looked tired, but
he was
clearly running on empty.
They all were, Wesley thought.
“That seems to be the
implication, although there’s no real
guarantee.” He rubbed his eyes. “I don’t know, Spike. I keep looking
for clues
regarding this flaming sword, and all I come up with are more
questions.”
“You’re trying, and that’s
enough.” Spike’s gaze went sharp.
“Go home, Wes. Leave the books here, and go home and see your girl.” He
raised
an eyebrow. “You’re not avoiding her, are you?”
“No!” Wesley responded too
quickly. He sighed. “We’ve both
been busy.”
“Wes…”
“What the hell am I supposed
to say to her, Spike?”
“What do you want to say to
her?” was Spike’s rejoinder.
“She knows now. She knows how
weak I am.”
That was his shame, but Spike
already knew. Spike had told
him the story of his own life.
The roll of the eyes wasn’t
unexpected. Spike had never been
one to mollycoddle him. “Wes, how old were you the first time your
father
locked you in the closet?”
“Six,” he said shortly, not
wanting to dredge this up yet
again.
“And how old were you the last
time it happened?”
“Thirteen.” Wesley took a deep
breath. “Just before I hit my
growth spurt. I was a bit of a runt before then.”
“And you aren’t now.” Spike
put a hand on his shoulder. “Go
home to your girl, Wes. Red loves you, and trust me. Now that she
knows? You
can milk this for all kinds of sympathy.”
Wesley thought about that as
he rode his bike home. Spike
was probably right, but he didn’t want her pity. The last thing he
wanted was
her pity.
Trudging up to his apartment,
Wesley opened the door to see
Willow sitting on the couch. “Hey. What’s up?” he asked, trying to
sound
nonchalant.
“Quinn’s dad is in town,” she
replied. “The Council put a
price on her head. It’s only a matter of time before they come after
her.”
“Where is she now?”
“She’s with Tara and her dad.
Mr. O’Mara wanted to meet
Tara, since she and Quinn are pretty much an item.”
“That’s good.” Wesley shoved
his hands in his pockets, at a
loss. “It’s good to see you. It’s been awhile.”
“Wesley.” Willow stood,
smoothing down her skirt. “Are you
angry? With me?”
“No!” he said quickly. “Not at
all. If anything, I’m angry
at myself.”
“For what?”
“For letting you down.”
“How did you let me down?”
“My father, I couldn’t—”
When he broke off, she burst
out, “You idiot!” Wesley was
too surprised to even attempt a response. “I love you!
I don’t care what he did to you, except to the extent
that I care about you. If it had been an option, I would have turned
him into a
toad and then shut him up somewhere.”
“Willow—”
“I love you.”
“I love you, too,” he finally
said.
“Then that’s all that
matters.” Willow rushed forward, pulling
him close and
planting a fierce kiss on his lips. “That’s all that matters.”
“Yes,” he agreed. When she
responded like that, he had no
choice but to believe her.
~~~~~
At this point, Xander knew
that they were just trying to buy
time, trying to stay out of the way of the Knights, trying not to come
into
contact with Glory, trying to keep an eye out for the Council goons…
There were
too many variables, too many enemies.
And Xander knew this because
he and Anya had been called in.
Every hand was needed, and he was one of them.
“Thanks for coming, Xan. I
know you’re busy.” Buffy looked
worried and run down, and Xander wished he could take some of the
weight off
her shoulders.
“I’m never too busy for you,
Buff.”
“You should say that you’re
never too busy for me,” Anya
muttered behind him.
Xander opened his mouth to
reply, but he was cut off by
Spike. “I doubt you want the world to end, ducks. Then where would all
that
lovely cash go?”
“Good point,” Anya said after
a moment’s consideration.
“You’re quite right.”
Xander shared a look with
Spike, the sort of look men share
when they’re trying to manage women. “Thanks,” he mouthed.
Spike shrugged, as though to
brush it off.
Xander glanced around the
bookstore. “So, what was so
urgent?”
“We need to find out
everything we can about the Knights and
a weapon that will kill Glory. We need all hands on deck for this one.
The more
eyes we have on the books, the faster we’ll find answers. Quinn is
supposed to
show up later with her father.”
“Her dad’s in town?” Xander
asked.
Spike raised his eyebrows. “If
you had a daughter who had a
death sentence on her head, what would you do?”
“Quinn?” Xander grimaced.
“That sucks.”
“That’s one way to put it.”
Spike sat down at the table and
shoved a stack of books towards them. “Start flipping pages.”
Xander would have preferred to
help some other way, but he
was happy to be included. “Where are Wesley and Willow?”
“Sleeping.” Spike shrugged.
“They’ve been researching
nonstop for nearly 48 hours. We needed a relief team.”
“Nice to know we’re the second
string,” Xander commented,
wondering if he could get a rise out of Spike.
Spike glared. “Second string
is still important.”
Xander held up his hands in
surrender, recognizing a short
temper when he saw one. “Absolutely. You always need a relief pitcher.”
“Just keep researching,” Spike
said, sounding cranky.
Buffy laid an arm on his
shoulder. “Spike, easy. Maybe you
should go home. Get some rest.”
“I’m fine.”
“Spike.”
Xander watched with interest
as their eyes met, and Spike
was the first to look away. “Yeah, but you, too.”
“Okay.” Buffy smiled at him.
“Thanks for giving us a hand,
Xander. I know research isn’t the most fun thing.”
“I’m happy to help.”
Xander watched Buffy and Spike
leave, wondering how long
they could keep this up. He just hoped they could evade the bad guys
for long
enough to do some good.
~~~~~
Joyce thought she might
finally get some breathing room.
Thomas was coming close to sleeping through the night, Dawn was doing
well in
school and staying out of trouble, and spring had finally arrived after
what
had seemed like an endless winter.
She picked up Thomas from
daycare and strapped him into his
car seat, enjoying the simple, homely routine of it. Joyce had done
this with
Buffy, too. When she turned, however, she saw the man standing next to
the car.
He was huge and intimidating, and Joyce thought of the mace she had in
her
purse, which was already sitting in the passenger seat.
“Where is the Key?” he asked,
taking a step closer.
Her heart in her throat, Joyce
choked her answer out through
her fear. “I don’t know what you’re talking about.”
“I don’t wish to harm the
babe, but I will kill him if you
do not tell me what I want to know. Where is the Key?”
Joyce stood between Thomas and
the stranger. In a split
second, she took in his ill-fitting street clothes, the tattoo on his
forehead,
and his narrowed eyes. She had no doubt that he was serious, and she
had no
idea how to respond. She couldn’t give Dawn up to this man, and yet she
couldn’t risk her son’s life.
“Mrs. Giles!”
Joyce looked around the man,
seeing the daycare manager
hurrying towards her. She glanced at the man and saw the indecision on
his
face. “Remember what I said,” he murmured, striding away.
She didn’t see how she could
forget it.
Courtney, the manager, hurried
to her side. “Are you okay,
Mrs. Giles? I wasn’t sure what he wanted, but—”
“Thank you, Courtney, I’m
fine. He was…” She trailed off,
not knowing how much to say. “I think he was disturbed.”
“Maybe I should call the
police?”
Joyce shook her head. “No,
that’s okay. I’ll let my husband
know what happened, and if necessary, we’ll make a police report.”
Courtney didn’t appear
convinced, but Joyce wasn’t inclined
to give more information, or to discuss the situation. Such a
discussion would
inevitably lead to gossip, and there was no need for that.
~~~~~
Spike could tell that Buffy
was absolutely livid, and he
couldn’t blame her. If there was one universal rule, it was that no one
messed
with those the Slayer cared about.
“I want them dead.” She
snarled the words, and Spike raised
an eyebrow, impressed with her ferocity. “I am going to hunt down every
single
Knight, and I’m going to kill them. Slowly.”
“Buffy—” Joyce began.
“No, she’s quite right,” Giles
interrupted with deceptive
mildness. “If the Knights of Byzantium are willing to terrorize women
and kill
infants, then we should show no mercy.”
Spike cleared his throat. “Do
we go to plan B?”
“What’s plan B?” Joyce asked.
When she was answered by
silence, her frown deepened. “I assume this refers to getting me out of
the
way.”
“It refers to keeping you
safe,” Giles said with pardonable
asperity.
“Rupert—”
“Joyce.” Spike sometimes felt
as though he was the only
adult around. “You can’t blame Rupert for wanting to protect you and
Thomas. If
you were in his position, you would do the same.”
She looked upset, but nodded.
“Fine. But I won’t be shuffled
around.”
“Of course not.” Spike glanced
at Buffy. “I don’t think it’s
going to be necessary to get anyone out of town.”
“What are we going to do?”
Joyce asked.
Buffy sighed. “I hate to say
it, Mom, but I think you’re
going to have to avoid going anywhere alone.”
Joyce echoed her sigh. “Fine.
I don’t really want that man
to catch me alone.”
“We’ll do what we can to make
sure they don’t catch you
alone.” Spike ran a hand through his hair. “What we need is a decoy.”
“And what kind of a decoy are
we going to get?” Buffy
demanded. “They know who I am, they know I have the Key, they’ve
identified my
family. It makes sense that they would have already identified my
friends.
There are too many of them.”
Spike knew that she was close
to breaking, and he
understood. Buffy could take a lot, and she could deal with all kinds
of
supernatural threats—as long as they were threats to her.
This was hitting too close to home.
“We need to start turning them
on each other,” Spike said.
“We need to get rid of them one by one.”
“The Knights and Glory are
going to be the toughest.” Buffy
continued her pacing across the living room. “We still don’t know how
to kill
Glory, and the Knights just keep coming.”
“And we’ll keep killing them,”
Spike said evenly. “We took
on the Initiative last year and won. This is no worse.”
When everyone looked at him in
patent disbelief, Spike
shrugged. “It’s true. Just because Glory is a Hellgod doesn’t mean she
can’t be
killed. That’s my job, innit?”
A slow smile formed on Buffy’s
face. “Okay. You’re right.
Mom—”
“I’ll avoid going out alone,”
Joyce promised. “I don’t want
to put Thomas or Dawn in danger.”
Buffy sighed. “I think it
might only be a matter of time
until they start figuring it out. Dawn and Tommy are the only new
additions.”