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 Domestic Shadows By Heather
Martin Summary- AU
Set in the future after season 7. When Spike saves a little girl’s life, Buffy
and his life are turned upside-down. But who could resist a five-year-old’s sweet smile and innocent eyes? They just couldn’t
help but bring the little girl into their hearts. But when she turns out to be
more than a regular little girl, how far will they go to protect the child from
evil? Spoilers-
Anything from Buffy might come up Chapter 10 As soon as
Buffy woke up she knew what she had to do. Seek again what is behind. She crept out
of bed, careful not to disturb the vampire sprawled on the other end. The room
was darkened by the covered window. She fumbled, searching for clothing. After dressing
in a sweatshirt and jeans, Buffy gave Spike a tender kiss on the cheek. Then
she exited the room. She went down the stairs and to the door. The sky was
lightening, dawn close. The air was slightly chilly, but not biting. She should
have grabbed a jacket, but she wasn’t going back just for that. Time was an
issue. The town was
vacant, citizens still slumbering in the early hours. The Magic Box came into
view. She hurried her pace. As she approached, it occurred to her that she had
no key. Using slayer
strength, Buffy raised a foot and slammed it against the door. The kick caused
the door to open with a crash. If Anya were around
she would have had a fit. Buffy flipped
the light on and rushed to the ladder that led up to the loft. She climbed, and
then knelt before the books. She scanned titles until she found what she was
looking for. She furiously paged the volume until she came across the passage
about Ethan. The words
filtered into Buffy’s head. Ethan was a normal vampire, turned by the vampiress Clorinda. Mated, they
traveled the world, causing destruction wherever they turned. Then one day, in
1984, a mob attacked the two. Clorinda got away, but
Ethan wasn’t so lucky. He died that night. Xander must not have read on. The text went on to talk about Clorinda. She ventured the land, searching for a way to
bring her lover back. Buffy’s eyes
widened. What if she had succeeded? The passage
said that Clorinda searched out voodoo witch doctors,
enchantresses, wizards, mad scientists . . . everyone. Then it went into detail
about her journey to find a sphere called The Dark Radion.
Someone in seek of it would have to travel into another dimension and go
through trials of unspeakable horror. Sounds like
Spike’s tests for the soul, Buffy thought. The book said
that there was no evidence that Clorinda had failed
or lost in her attempt. There had been no more sightings of her or her lover. Buffy closed
the book after making a mental note of the page number. She turned to the rest
of their collection. The Dark Radion,
huh? She had never been much for research, usually passing the task onto
someone else, but then again she had never been this determined to find
answers. She made herself as comfortable as possible before starting on the
index of each volume. *********************** Spike awoke to
find himself cold. Not room temperature cold, but
chilling cold. His eyes fluttered open to see an empty pillow next to him. He
sat up. Where was Buffy? Things were
very much not all right. He shouldn’t be waking up all by himself. The warm
bodies of his beautiful slayer and tiny Rebecca were supposed to be pressed
against him. There was too much hollow space. Spike got to
his feet. He had slept in his jeans and so slipping on his t-shirt was the only
step needed in clothing himself. He ventured out into hall. The house was
quiet. An eerie feeling crept over him. The vampire
went down the stairs and headed to the kitchen. He found “Yeah. I’m pretty achy still,” Dawn said. Spike nodded.
“Where’s Buffy?” Worry came
over Spike hurried
toward the front door. He grabbed his duster, that was
draped over the banister, on the way. “I’m going to
go find her,” he announced. He clenched
his jaw. “Can’t just sit around. She’s in no state to
be out by herself. I’ll use the sewers.” He put his
coat over his bleached head. “I’ll give you an update in an hour.” ************************ Forty minutes
later Spike ended up at the Magic Box without a sign of Buffy. As soon as he
hit the cellar he knew she was there. He could smell her. He came up
into the main part of the store to hear talking. Sounds like her and the whelp,
Spike thought. “The sphere
was originally one large sphere, but then it got split up into two pieces,”
Buffy said. Buffy and Xander were sitting at the round table. Spike had to do a
double-take. There were mountains of books piled up around Buffy. Three of them
were open and she kept referring to them as she spoke. “To obtain one
of the Radions a person has to -” The slayer
stopped. Her head came around to face Spike. She had sensed his entrance. Her
slayer shell melted at his presence. “Spike.” His name was a whisper, but he detected it with little
effort. “Been looking
for you,” Spike said. “I’ve been
here.” “Looks like.
For hours it seems.” He swept a hand to indicate the books. “You know, breaking
and entering is a felony, slayer.” She ignored
his quip. Instead she jumped to her feet and came to stand in front of him.
Tears had sprung in her green eyes. The sight broke his heart. He took his left
thumb and brushed them away. Spike wanted
to lean forward and kiss her pain away. He was just about to do so when he
remembered Xander. He shot the boy a look. The
construction worker was watching on, his expression hard to read. Buffy caught
his hand. “Happy tears, Spike.” He gave her a
curious look, tilting his head to the side. A wobbly smile
touched her lips. “I found it! I know how to bring her back to us!” Those words
made his legs feel weak. “We’re going
to get our little girl back.” And that was
when Buffy kissed him. She pulled away, the wetness on her face gone, and her
smile no longer wobbling. Spike’s eyes traveled back to Xander.
The expression he saw was readable now. Disapproval.
Spike just smiled, gazing back at his shining Buffy. His heart soared. _________________________________________________ More soon. Very soon. Like hopefully
tomorrow. |
