Fix You by Enigmaticblue

Summary: Desperate times call for desperate measures where the First is involved. In order to prevent the end of the world, Buffy asks Willow to do a spell that's supposed to fix everything, and Spike goes along for the ride.

Chapter 21: Planning for the Future

Buffy stood in front of her mirror, straightening the red dress she wore. She shifted the top of it, adjusting it to get just the right amount of cleavage. Spike’s jaw was going to hit the floor when he saw her, and she touched the pendant that hung around her neck.

She’d been honest when she’d said that no one had ever given her a gift like that. Angel had given her the necklace with a cross, and the claddagh ring, as had Scott Hope. Riley, oddly enough, had never given her any jewelry, not even for her birthday or Christmas.

Buffy tried in vain to remember any of Riley’s gifts, but couldn’t. She remembered that he had always given her items that she’d wanted or needed, but nothing that had knocked her socks off the way that Spike had. The whole night had been perfect.

Everything was perfect.

She stared at herself in the mirror, hardly able to believe that she was the same girl who had been so angry. Buffy could remember being depressed, wanting to strike out and hurt someone else as badly as she was hurting. She could certainly remember feeling like half a person, walking around in a numb sort of haze most of the time, with moments of intense pain and greatly subdued happiness.

Buffy remembered feeling that way, but it was almost like a dream. Just a bad dream that had faded with time.

“Buffy?” She heard her mother’s voice and a brief knock. “Oh.” Joyce stopped. “You look beautiful, honey.”

“Thanks, Mom.” Buffy looked in the mirror one last time to be sure she looked okay, then turned to the older woman. “Do you need any help?”

“I’ve got it,” Joyce assured her. “Mr. Giles just showed up with the cake, though. I thought you might want to come down.”

“Sure.” Buffy followed her mother down the stairs, feeling even more pleased when she saw the expression on her Watcher’s face as soon as he caught sight of her. “Hey, Giles.”

“You look lovely, Buffy.” He looked around. “Am I the first to arrive?”

She nodded. “Looks like it. Hopefully, this won’t be as crazy as my ‘welcome home’ party turned out to be.”

“I don’t have any strange masks hanging on my wall,” Joyce assured her. “And I don’t think that anyone else is coming over, other than your friends.”

Buffy frowned, suddenly concerned that no one had invited Tara. “Did you tell Willow to bring Tara?”

“Tara?” Giles asked.

“You met her at Christmas time,” Buffy reminded him. “She was pretty quiet, though.”

He frowned. “I thought—” Giles stopped. “Didn’t you say that she died?”

Buffy nodded grimly. “But she’s not going to this time.”

She couldn’t be sure of that, of course. Even when you knew the future, it turned out to be impossible to accurately predict what was going to happen. Buffy understood that even if she prevented Warren from shooting her, something else could happen that was equally senseless. Or someone else might die.

Buffy no longer knew how this worked, if some kind of balance had to be maintained, and so someone had to die. In her darkest moments, Buffy wondered if—by saving her mother or Tara—she was dooming another person she loved. Even if that was true, however, Buffy didn’t think she could do it any other way.

“She’s the new relationship?” Giles asked, breaking into Buffy’s rather morbid thoughts. “What will happen when Oz returns?”

“I have no idea,” Buffy admitted. “It might turn out differently this time.”

The ringing of the doorbell interrupted the rest of their conversation, and Buffy went to greet Xander and Anya. She was beginning to get a little concerned for Spike, since he wasn’t there yet. Normally, where she was involved, Spike tended to be early, rather than late, in meeting her.

Willow and Tara showed up together shortly after that, and Buffy felt her anxiety grow. Spike should have been there. “Where’s Spike?” Willow asked.

“I don’t know,” Buffy admitted. “He didn’t say anything about being late.”

“Spike can take care of himself,” Xander said. “And he’s got the ring.”

“Yeah, he does.” She mustered up a smile. “Do you guys want something to drink?”

“W-water w-w-would be good,” Tara said shyly.

Buffy nodded. “Willow?”

“Water for me, too.”

“Xander? Anya?”

“You got any soda?” Xander asked.

Buffy nodded. “I think so. I’ll check to see what Mom got.”

“I’ll help,” Xander replied, standing. “It’s your birthday, and you’re still one-handed.”

Buffy gave him a grateful smile. “Thanks, Xan.”

He followed her back to the kitchen, where her mother and Giles were chatting like old friends. It was odd to see them so friendly. Buffy didn’t remember them ever being so comfortable with one another, particularly after the incident with the band candy.

“Dinner is almost ready,” Joyce said.

Buffy shrugged. “I was just going to get some drinks. Do we have any soda, Mom?”

“In the fridge,” Joyce replied.

Xander stuck his head in the fridge as Buffy got the water ready. “Buffy? You want one?”

“Please.” Buffy turned to her mom. “You haven’t heard from Spike, have you?”

Joyce shook her head. “No. He didn’t say anything to you about being late?”

“No.” Buffy bit her lip. “Giles?”

Her Watcher gave her an apologetic look. “I haven’t heard from him, Buffy.”

A frantic rapping came from the kitchen door. Buffy waved the others back and went to open it, her muscles wire-tight. It was her birthday, after all; it only made sense that there would be a vampire at the back door.

Spike stood there, looking disheveled and more than a little pissed off. “Sorry I’m late.”

Buffy stepped aside. “What happened?”

“Soldiers caught sight of me, and they didn’t bother with a taser.” He gave her a wry smile. “Good thing we celebrated the other day.”

“What happened?” Giles asked. “Are you alright?”

“I will be as soon as you dig the tracer out of my back.” Spike shrugged out of his jacket. “Don’t think the ring will mask the signal.”

Buffy frowned. “Wait a second. Didn’t they try this the last time?”

“An’ your Watcher charged me for his help,” Spike confirmed.

Buffy knew that wasn’t exactly what had happened, and from the twinkle in Spike’s eye, she could see that he was giving Giles a hard time. Of course, Giles didn’t know that.

“I can’t believe—” Giles began.

Buffy rolled her eyes. “What Spike didn’t mention was that he charged you first.” She frowned. “Ethan hasn’t shown up yet, has he?”

“I haven’t seen him,” Giles said.

Spike finished unbuttoning his shirt, then pulled his t-shirt over his head. “Don’t think we can count on the timeline anymore, pet. Just have to take things as they come.” He turned his back to her. “Can you see it?”

The ring had caused the skin to heal over already, but Buffy could feel the lump as she probed the area with her fingers “I can’t see it, but I can feel it. We’re going to have to dig it out.”

“Why am I not surprised?” Spike muttered. “Better do it quick, before they track me here. Don’t want them knowing where you live.”

“Did they find you last time?” Joyce asked.

Spike shook his head. “The Watcher dug it out before they got here, an’ Red worked her mojo to ionize the atmosphere to interfere with the tracer’s signal. Dunno how close they were, though.”

“Well, let’s get to it, then,” Giles said. “Joyce, do you have a very sharp knife?”

Joyce and Spike both winced. “I’ll get one,” she said.

“If you have any alcohol, that would be nice,” Spike added.

“I’ll get it.”

“What’s going on?” Willow asked. She and Tara were standing in the doorway of the kitchen with Anya just behind them, craning her neck to get a better look at Spike’s naked chest.

Buffy was tempted to tell her to stop ogling her boyfriend, but she couldn’t really blame the other woman. “Spike got tagged by the Initiative. Willow, can you do some kind of spell to make it harder for them to trace the signal?”

Willow frowned. “Something to ionize the atmosphere maybe?” she suggested. “I don’t have the right book here.”

“There’s one at my apartment,” Giles said, pulling out his keys. “Xander? Would you mind driving her over to get it?”

“Sure thing, G-Man,” Xander responded.

Giles sighed at the nickname. “Willow, the book is on the third shelf down, on the wall next to the kitchen.”

“Okay,” Willow said. “Be back soon.”

Giles took the knife that Joyce held out to him silently. “Buffy, would you get a chair from the dining room? I think it might be best to do this in the kitchen.”

Buffy nodded, touching Spike’s bare shoulder in a comforting gesture before getting the chair. It looked as though the Initiative was interested in the both of them now, even though they had tried to fly under the radar.

They really needed to figure out how to close the base down, and soon.

~~~~~

Spike winced as Giles dug into his shoulder once again. The tracer was just as difficult to dig out this time, and although the Watcher was being as gentle as he could, there was still a certain amount of pain involved.

“Here.” Joyce held out the glass she’d refilled with bourbon, and Spike tossed it back. He’d been forced to take the ring off when it became apparent that the skin would heal over almost as quickly as Giles could cut.

The good news was that as soon as Spike put the ring back on, the wound would heal, and he’d be pain-free again. Until then, however—

“Bloody hell,” Spike yelped as Giles made a particularly deep cut.

“Sorry,” Giles murmured. “I’ve almost got it.”

“Glad to hear it,” Spike gritted out. Willow had already done her spell, and he knew that they probably didn’t have much time before the signal cleared and the Initiative found them.

While he hadn’t wanted to lead the soldiers back to Buffy’s house—and Spike had done everything in his power to throw them off his scent—there hadn’t been much of a choice. Everyone who could be of any assistance to him was at the Summers’ residence. He could only hope that they would be in time, and that the soldiers wouldn’t trace Buffy’s location, as well as her identity.

If only he could find out exactly what the Initiative wanted from them. Spike hadn’t quite given up on the idea of grabbing one of the soldiers and leaning on him.

“Got it,” Giles said triumphantly. “Xander?”

Xander grabbed the tweezers that Giles held out to him and ran for the bathroom. A moment later, they could all hear the toilet flush, and everyone let out a collective sigh of relief.

Buffy handed Spike his ring, and he slipped it on again, feeling the wound in his back close up as though it had never existed.

“It’s gone,” Joyce marveled, leaning in for a closer look.

“I wish I had one of those,” Xander announced, entering the room again. “Stubbed toes would be a thing of the past.”

Spike ignored the comment in favor of greeting his girlfriend properly, ignoring the others in the room. “You look amazing,” he said quietly, resting his forehead against hers.

She pulled him towards the stairs. “I think I have a spare shirt of yours upstairs.”

“I’ll finish getting dinner on the table,” Joyce said. “I just hope it isn’t ruined.”

“Sorry about that, Joyce,” Spike said.

She waved off his apology. “Don’t worry about it. Things like this come up.”

Once he and Buffy were alone in her bedroom, she gave him a deep, almost bruising kiss. “Are you okay?”

“Just fine,” he assured her.

“What happened?”

He shook his head. “They caught me about a block away from my apartment. Felt the dart hit my shoulder, an’ I knew exactly what had happened. Tried to shake them on my way back here. Should have driven, but the car needs some work done.”

“I don’t like this, Spike,” Buffy confessed. “They’ve gotten too close too many times now.”

“We need to figure out some way to shut them down,” Spike agreed. “Gotta talk to the others about that.” He smiled at her. “Sorry for ruinin’ your party.”

“You didn’t ruin it,” Buffy assured him. “It would have been a lot worse if you hadn’t shown up.”

“Did I tell you that you look incredible?”

Buffy smiled. “I think you might have mentioned something about that, but feel free to tell me again.”

“You look incredible.” Spike kissed her again, grateful that they’d been given a reprieve.

~~~~~

Tara was surprised to not only find herself the center of attention, but also to realize that Spike and Buffy were willing to put their complete faith in her words. She found herself torn between hiding and doing everything in her power to live up to their lofty expectations. In the end, she sat up a little straighter and forced the words out through her stuttering.

“What’s the catch to the scrying bowl you’re talking about?” Buffy asked. “Is it dangerous?”

Tara shook her head, swallowing. “I-it’s n-n-n-not d-dangerous.”

“You didn’t want to know the future before, pet,” Spike said gently. “In fact, you were pretty adamant that I not tell you anythin’. What’s changed your mind?”

“W-w-w—” She stopped, frustrated.

“I told her that you guys were worried because you couldn’t anticipate the future,” Willow said.

Tara took a deep breath, trying to compose herself. “The d-danger is in seeing something you d-d-don’t w-w-w-want to. It can be hard to control what you’re shown.”

“Is that what happened to you?” Spike asked.

She shook her head. “My mom.”

To Tara’s surprise, Buffy reached out and gave her hand a sympathetic squeeze, then met Spike’s eyes. They seemed to communicate silently. “Okay, guys. Full disclosure.” She looked at Xander. “You were right. We do need your help, but it’s hard for us to ask.”

“But why?” Willow asked. “You know we want to do anything we can to help.”

Buffy visibly hesitated. “That hasn’t always been true.”

“You’re not the only one who got a second chance, Buffy,” Xander reminded her.

Spike was quick to leap to her defense. “That’s easy for you to say. She’s gone through hell the last couple of years, an’—”

Buffy put her hand on his arm to calm him. “Spike. It’s okay.” She looked at her Watcher. “We came back to fix one event, and suddenly we’ve got more than a year of problems to deal with. It was supposed to be just Spike and me, making sure that I didn’t die, or that I didn’t get resurrected. Neither one of us know how much to change, or how much to tell you guys.”

“Why don’t we start with the Initiative?” Giles suggested. “With the soldiers interested in both of you now, that’s our most pressing problem.” When Xander opened his mouth to protest, he added, “I think we can all agree that none of us have been in this particular situation, and that we cannot criticize what we don’t fully understand.”

“Mr. Giles is right,” Joyce said firmly. “There’s no sense in pointing fingers now. We can start over from here, with the understanding that no one is an expert.”

Buffy nodded. “Okay.”

Tara might have had a hard time believing the story that followed. It was one thing to accept that vampires and demons existed—she’d always known about them—but a man-made demonic cyborg? That was a little harder to swallow. Not that she didn’t believe them, but it was hard to picture, and harder to understand.

“Without my involvement in the Initiative, though, Professor Walsh might never activate Adam, or maybe she’ll wait, and he’ll be under her control,” Buffy finished. “That doesn’t solve the problem. I thought we could wait it out, but—”

“I’m going to have to contact the Council,” Giles finally said, after a long, thoughtful pause. “I don’t have the necessary contacts to protect you, Buffy, and they can’t be allowed to continue operating as they are.”

“Is that really necessary?” Buffy asked plaintively. “Isn’t there some other way?”

Giles looked over at Tara. “Could you see the results of either decision? To wait it out, or to contact the Watcher’s Council?”

Tara considered the question. She didn’t have the experience that her mother had had, but she knew the basics, and this was certainly within her power. Someday, Willow would probably be able to move heaven and earth; she could merely nudge and coax.

“I can try,” she finally said. “I-I haven’t t-tried to scry in a long time.”

“Doesn’t matter,” Spike said firmly. “Anythin’ you can tell us will be more than we already know.”

“I need a few things,” Tara said.

“It’s late,” Joyce interrupted. “I’m sure that this can wait until tomorrow.”

Tara recognized that tone of voice. It was the same one her mother had used on her and Donny—before her brother had gotten old enough to defy her. That tone had worked, too, for the most part.

Everyone else began to rise automatically, responding to Joyce’s authority.

“Can I offer you and Willow a ride back to campus?” Giles offered.

Willow nodded. “Thanks, Giles.” She looked at Buffy. “Are you staying here tonight?”

The Slayer shrugged. “Until we get this thing with the soldiers figured out, it’s probably better for me to spend less time at school.”

“Spike?” Joyce asked. “Do you want to stay here tonight? The spare bed is available.”

He smiled gratefully. “Thanks, Joyce. That would be nice.”

There was a flurry of activity as everyone gathered up their things, and Buffy thanked everybody for her gifts. Tara was surprised when Buffy hugged her along with everyone else. “Thank you,” she said, sincerely. “I know this isn’t something that you have to do.”

“I want to,” Tara replied, realizing that she meant it. She wanted to help; she wanted to be the person that Spike and Buffy saw when they looked at her.

Tara thought that might be someone she could be proud of.

~~~~~

Joyce had appreciated being included in the planning session the night before, although it made it rather difficult to get out of bed the next morning. There was no doubt that Buffy had been more willing of late to let her in on the part of her life that she’d always kept hidden.

There were moments, of course, when Joyce wasn’t sure whether to be grateful for her daughter’s new honesty. Ignorance was bliss, as the proverb went, and she was less than blissful these days, now that she’d been given a glimpse of what a Slayer’s life was like.

Whatever fears and anxieties were stirred up, however, she couldn’t regret it.

Spike and Buffy were awake and lounging on the couch, watching a movie, when she got home that evening. “Are you guys hungry?” she called. “I brought chicken.”

“That sounds good,” Buffy replied, pausing the tape and following her into the kitchen. “How was work?”

“Good,” Joyce said. “What did you do today?”

“Not much,” Buffy admitted. “I probably should have gone back to campus to get some things, but—” She shrugged. “I’ll get over there tomorrow.”

“Need any help?” Spike asked.

“I’ve got it.”

Dinner was really rather pleasant, given that it included her daughter and her boyfriend. After Angel, Joyce hadn’t been sure that she’d ever like any of Buffy’s boyfriends, but Spike was a pleasant change.

And, even if he hadn’t been, it appeared that he was there on a permanent basis.

“What are you two going to do tonight?” she asked as they finished clearing the plates.

“Tara’s doin’ her magic at the Watcher’s place,” Spike replied. “Guess we’ll find out what the future holds.”

Joyce had to admit that she was a little nervous about that. She knew more than enough about the future—or possible future—at this point. She didn’t think she wanted to know more.

“We should go,” Buffy said, cramming the last of the paper plates into the garbage and glancing at the clock. “We’re going to be late.”

“Will you take the garbage out with you?” Joyce requested.

“I’ll take care of it,” Spike said. “See you soon, Joyce.”

“Bye, Mom. Don’t wait up.” Buffy gave her a quick peck on the cheek, then followed Spike out the door.

Joyce closed her eyes and said a silent prayer that what Buffy saw of the future would help—and not hurt.