Disclaimer: We all know the truth. None of these characters are mine, and if I were making money off of them, I could quit my job and go write on a beach somewhere.
Chapter 2
Author's Notes: Wherein Spike reveals hidden talents, and Tara gets in the game.
“Stitch in your knitted brow/And you don't know how/You're gonna get it out/Crushed under heavy chest/Trying to catch your breath/But it always beats you by a step, all right now/Making the best of it/Playing the hand you get/You're not alone in this/There's hope for the hopeless…” ~A Fine Frenzy, “Hope for the Hopeless”
Tara went about her nightly routine automatically, her mind occupied with her recent run-in with Willow. She knew the other girl wanted to get back together, but she still had the same concerns she’d had before. As far as she could tell, Willow still didn’t have much respect for the long term consequences of magic. She thought that anything she wanted could be obtained with a spell, and anything that went wrong could be fixed.
Unfortunately, she was finding out that wasn’t true of their relationship, not after Willow had used Lethe’s Bramble to make her forget about a fight they’d had.
What had hurt most was that her friends had withdrawn as well. Tara knew they had been Willow’s friends first, and she understood that it was difficult not to take sides, but it was still hard to find herself alone after two years of having a makeshift family.
Not that they had meant to hurt her; Tara was certain that it was simply an unfortunate result of her decision, not an intentional slight.
Tara snuggled down under the covers, grateful that she’d been able to find a dorm room on such short notice. She knew that it was a minor miracle that someone else had moved out, just as she’d needed to move in. She had thought it only fair for her to let Willow remain in their old room since she was the one who had left.
She’d had good reason to leave, but hadn’t had a leg to stand on when it came to asking her to go.
Sleep was hard to find these days, though, and that night was no exception. Tara tossed and turned, occasionally dozing off only to wake with a start. By the time the sun finally rose, she was more than ready to rise with it.
Tara made it to her first class and managed to get through it with sheer willpower. She had every intention of going back to her dorm and collapsing, but the phone began ringing as soon as she walked through the door.
For a moment, she thought about ignoring it, but decided against it. She would hate to find out later that she was needed and hadn’t answered the call. “Hello?” she responded breathlessly.
“Tara? It’s Buffy. Is everything okay?”
“Yeah, I just got back from class,” she explained. “What’s up?”
“I was just wondering if you could meet us at the Magic Box,” Buffy replied. “There’s a situation that we need your help with.”
Tara hesitated. She knew that meant that Willow would be there, and that Buffy was trying to give her a heads up without being obvious. “When do you need me there?”
“We’re heading over there now, but whenever you can get there is fine.”
She looked longingly at her bed. “I can be there in a couple of hours.”
“Great.” Buffy sounded relieved, which was flattering, since Tara didn’t know how much she’d be able to do. “Thanks, Tara.”
She hung up and sighed. Surely an hour or so of sleep would help her feel a little more alert.
~~~~~
Wesley hadn’t quite realized what he was getting himself into by coming to Sunnydale. In the past, Buffy and her friends had been a tight knit group, but it seemed that things had changed dramatically. The undercurrents could very easily swallow him up.
“Why are we helping Angel?” Xander asked, sounding slightly belligerent.
Buffy took a deep breath. “Forget about Angel, Xan. We’re not helping Angel, we’re helping Wesley.” When his expression made it clear that he didn’t think that was much of an improvement, Buffy rolled her eyes. “Fine. We’re helping an innocent baby. Please tell me that you care.”
At that, he flushed deeply. “Yeah. Sorry, Buffy.”
“For the record,” she loudly announced, “we’re talking about kidnapping an infant and taking him to a hell dimension. We want to get him back because this is what we do. We help people. If anyone has a problem with that, they don’t have to be here.”
Wesley watched as Xander concentrated on the grain of the wood table and Willow’s lips tightened.
“I’m ready to help, Buffy,” Anya said. “What do you need me to do?”
Buffy smiled at her. “Thank you, Anya. Right now, we need to find out how we’re going to get to this particular dimension. Once we do that, we’ll need to find Connor within that dimension.”
“You’ll want
Henrick’s Guide,” Anya said. “Giles left his copy here; it’s in the restricted section.”
Wesley perked up considerably. “Giles has a copy?”
“He left it here for us, but yes,” she said.
Buffy glanced at him. “Is that so strange?”
“It’s a very rare volume.” Wesley felt a smile form, and found that it felt foreign. “I didn’t think any were in existence.”
“Did you check e-Bay?” Anya asked. “You can find all kinds of things. Once I found—”
“Thanks, Anya,” Buffy said, interrupting her.
Willow stood. “I know where Giles put it. I think there might be a few other books that could help.”
The bell above the door rang and a blonde girl hurried in. “I’m sorry I’m late, Buffy. I—”
“Don’t worry about it,” Buffy said. “We haven’t gotten very far.” She waved Tara to a chair. “Tara, this is Wesley. Wes, this is Tara, our other resident witch.”
“It’s a pleasure,” Wesley said.
She flushed slightly and nodded. “What’s up?”
Buffy began to explain, giving the shortened version of the story. “So, we need to find Connor, and we need to find him fast. There’s no telling what’s happening to him in that hell dimension.”
“Here.” Willow dumped the books on the table with a crash. “I’ll check out
Henrick’s Guide.”
Wesley would have preferred to look through that book himself, but this wasn’t his turf, and he was aware of it. He reached for another volume, only to have his hand collide with Tara’s. “I’m sorry.”
“No, it was my fault.” She gave him a shy smile. “Go ahead.”
Wesley thought about insisting, but from the chilly look that Willow was giving him, he had a feeling that it wouldn’t be a good idea. “Thank you.”
They worked in silence for a while, although Anya spent most of her time behind the counter; there were enough customers that she wouldn’t have been able to accomplish much researching with them anyway.
Later in the afternoon, Dawn came strolling into the shop. “Oh, research,” she said. “It’s just like old times.”
“You’ve got homework,” Buffy said.
“Actually, I don’t.” Dawn smiled smugly. “I finished it during study hall, so I can help you look.”
“Dawn—”
“You promised.”
And there was another one of those undercurrents that Wesley didn’t understand. There appeared to be a battle of wills occurring between Buffy and her sister, but he didn’t know what the real reasons were.
“Sit down,” Buffy sighed.
Xander slammed his book shut and stood. “I’m hungry. What does everybody want?”
“What are we getting?” Willow asked.
He shrugged. “I thought I’d grab a couple of pizzas.”
Wesley was used to Chinese, but he didn’t have anything against pizza. There were several topping requests, including anchovies from Dawn, which everyone shot down. “Wes, what do you want?” Buffy asked.
He shrugged. “Whatever you’ve ordered will be fine.”
Buffy’s eyes were concerned, but she didn’t say anything.
Xander left the shop just as Spike emerged from the back room. “We get anywhere yet?”
“Not yet,” Buffy replied.
He slumped in one of the chairs. “Let me know what you find.”
“Why don’t you grab a book and help out?” Buffy prodded.
Willow raised an eyebrow. “Most of the books left over are in Latin,” she said. “Or some kind of demonic language.”
Spike sat upright, his eyes growing cold. “Hand me one, then.”
Willow snorted. “Come on, Spike. We all know—”
Wesley put one of the Latin books in Spike’s outstretched hand. While he didn’t want to get in the middle of things, he knew that if the vampire helped, things would go that much faster. Spike opened it and began reading—in Latin—from the first page, then immediately translated. In a slow, steady voice, he read, “This book is not to be used by amateur magicians, who know not their own power. The spells within will ruin those who do not use them wisely, for they will open doors to terrible worlds.”
Spike smirked. “Bloody hell. I think I might have found somethin’ here.”
Willow and Buffy were staring at him, open-mouthed, while Dawn was looking rather smug. Apparently, the younger girl was well aware of Spike’s hidden talents. “When did you learn to read Latin?” Buffy asked, sounding both impressed and highly interested in this development.
“Long time ago,” Spike muttered, turning surly. “I’ll see what this holds, yeah?”
Buffy gave him a measuring look, and Wesley went back to his own book, wishing he could get an insider’s view of all the undercurrents he sensed.
~~~~~
Dawn had been slightly mollified by Wesley’s insistence that he wasn’t interested in her sister, and as the afternoon passed, it seemed as though he hadn’t been lying. He was much too intent on the texts in front of him to be into her sister, and Buffy kept looking at Spike.
It looked as though her plan was working. It had taken long enough.
Anya had already flipped the sign to indicate that the store was closed, although they were still researching. Dawn knew that it wouldn’t be too long before Buffy declared that it was past her bedtime, even if it was a Friday night.
“We should get going,” Buffy announced, right on cue. “I need to patrol, and someone needs to take Dawn home.”
“I can do it,” Wesley said quietly. “It’s the least I can do.”
Buffy smiled. “If you would, I’d appreciate it. I know you probably want to keep going, but—”
“I’ll just take this one back with us, if that’s alright,” Wesley said, putting his hand on the text that Spike had picked up first. “It appears that there might be some useful information here.”
“I can keep looking for ways to locate Connor once we do figure out how to open a portal,” Willow said. “I think we’ll have a solution in a couple of days.”
Wesley’s eyes were shadowed. “The sooner the better.”
They all stood to leave, with Spike and Buffy leaving the shop first. Wesley had driven them over, so Dawn followed him back to his car. “Do you think this is going to work?” she asked.
“I don’t know.” He hesitated, then added, “It has to.”
She nodded, understanding a little of what he felt. She’d been desperate to get her mom back, too, although that hadn’t turned out all that well.
“Can I ask you a question?”
She was a little surprised at his request. “Sure.”
“What was going on in there today?” Wesley asked. “I feel as though I’m about to put my foot in it.”
Dawn knew exactly what he was referring to. “Well, Xander hates Spike, you know. Actually, he hates all vampires, and it doesn’t matter if they’re not evil. Willow doesn’t like Spike because he said that Tara was right and she was using too much magic.”
“When was this?” Wesley asked.
Dawn shrugged. “She did a spell that was supposed to stop the nerds, and it backfired. Big time. Spike yelled at her because Buffy almost got killed, then she did a sunlight spell while they were out on patrol, and Spike almost got incinerated, so Buffy yelled at her.”
Wesley blinked. “I see. What about Tara?”
“Tara broke up with Willow over the spell she did to catch the nerds, and because Willow tried to make her forget about a fight they’d had.” Dawn was quiet, remembering. “The only reason she didn’t get someone killed is because the spell caught Buffy, instead of the nerds. Anybody else would have died. It was some kind of snare, but it was set up so that it would choke someone to death. Buffy hung on long enough so that Willow could release her.”
“Anything else I should know?” Wesley asked, sounding a little stunned.
“Giles left town because he said that Buffy didn’t need him anymore, so she isn’t very happy with him over that. Other than that, I think you’re caught up.” Dawn frowned, remembering one key bit of information that Wesley didn’t know, unless Buffy had told him at some point. “Oh, and I used to be a Key that would break down the walls between dimensions. We haven’t figured out if that’s still true.”
Wesley slammed the brakes on. “What did you say?”
“I’m not a real girl,” Dawn said. “Look, can we have this conversation at my house? I think it requires ice cream, and I’m hungry again.”
“Of course.”
Dawn smiled. Usually, everyone wanted to know about Buffy, not her little sister. It would be nice to be the “interesting Summers” for once.
~~~~~
“When did you learn to speak Latin?” Buffy demanded as soon as they were away from the shop.
Spike shrugged. “I told you. It was a long time ago.”
“When you were human?” she pressed.
He didn’t reply.
“Come on, Spike. You never said anything before.”
“I didn’t want to be roped into researching.” He offered her a wry smile. “Think you might know how that goes, luv.”
She nodded, knowing exactly how that went; Buffy wished it had been that easy for her to avoid looking through the heavy books, but it seemed to be part of a Slayer’s job description. Giles had done a lot of that—more than she’d realized until he’d left town. He’d said that she didn’t need him anymore, and maybe that was true insofar as she hadn’t needed a Watcher as much.
Buffy missed him, though, and she’d realized that she needed her mentor, if nothing else.
“I wonder if Wesley would stay,” she mused.
“Stay where?” Spike asked suspiciously.
Buffy gave him a look to indicate that he was being dense. “Stay here, you know, as a Watcher. I mean, if Angel doesn’t want him back.”
Spike relaxed slightly. “Yeah. He might be some help.”
“Unless you want the job,” Buffy suggested sweetly, knowing exactly where his jealousy was coming from. “Since you
can speak more than one language—”
“Don’t even say it,” he warned her.
She grinned at him. “What? You hate books that much? I know I’ve seen you reading before, when it’s not for research.”
Spike looked very uncomfortable. “Yeah, sometimes I pick up a book when I’m bored. When the telly’s broken.”
Buffy wasn’t sure she bought that explanation, but she was willing to let it go. “So, what kind of book do you pick up when you’re bored?”
Spike froze. “Did you hear that?”
“No, and I’m pretty sure you didn’t either,” she shot back. “Spike—”
He took off running, and Buffy realized that his acute hearing had picked up what she couldn’t. Not that he wasn’t trying to hide something from her; clearly he didn’t want her to know what he read, which made her think that it was something very not-scary.
Buffy smiled as she saw the demon; it was big and ugly—just like she liked them. She would have to discover Spike’s secrets later.
~~~~~
“I don’t see why Buffy has to keep him around,” Xander complained.
Anya frowned. She knew that Xander needed a recovery period before starting the next round of sex, but she didn’t see what Buffy or Spike had to do with that. “Why are we talking about Buffy, Xander? I thought we agreed we wouldn’t do that while we’re in bed.”
“We did,” Xander agreed quickly. “I’m sorry, An. It’s just that I can’t stand Spike being around, and he’s always there.”
Anya raised herself up on her elbow to stare at her husband. “You know it’s just a matter of time before the unresolved sexual tension gets resolved, right?”
Xander looked horrified. “Please don’t say things like that.”
“Why?” Anya pulled the sheet up to cover herself. “Buffy can do whatever she wants to, right? She’s got her life, and we’ve got ours.”
He finally seemed to recognize that their nice evening was in jeopardy. “I worry about her, that’s all. She deserves someone better.”
“Better than Spike?” Anya had no idea what Xander’s problem was. Sure, Spike was a vampire, but he’d always been nice to her, and he had certainly helped them out with Glory and the nerds. He hadn’t tried to kill anybody in a long time. “Is it because he’s a demon?”
“Well—” Whatever Xander was going to say died on his lips as he realized how close he was to a night on the couch. “No, of course not. It’s just that he’s Spike.”
Anya was trying to understand, she really was. Xander’s obsession with Buffy’s love life was getting old, however. He’d insisted on bringing a blind date for Buffy to her birthday party, even though he knew how the Slayer’s birthdays always turned out.
Enough was enough, however, and she was ready to put her foot down.
“No more, Xander,” Anya said firmly. “You are not allowed to talk about Buffy or Spike in our bedroom. Ever.”
“An—”
“If you do, you will be sleeping on the couch, and I will take care of myself.” She gave him a hard look. “Do you understand?”
Xander must have sensed that she meant business, because he swallowed hard. “Yeah.”
“And if you don’t want me to get the wrong idea about our relationship, you’d better start convincing me that I’m the most important woman in your life,” she continued.
“What wrong idea?” he asked, bewildered.
There were times when Anya wished she was still a demon. This was one of them; she could have used her true face to hammer her point home. Xander could be so dense sometimes. “That you’re in love with Buffy, and I’m second best.”
His eyes went wide, and he looked stunned enough that Anya believed him when he said, “That’s not true! You’re the only woman I love.”
“Prove it,” she challenged him.
Xander set about doing just that.
Anya would give him points on one thing, at least; he was very determined when he wanted to be.