October 6, 2007 2:11 PM

The warm water flowed over her hands soothing her as she rinsed the dishes from lunch. The simple chore gave Buffy reassurance that maybe everything was going to be all right after all. The house was relatively quiet for a Sunday afternoon. Raven and Sean were both with Dawn getting ready for the protest and Elijah had fallen asleep a few minutes ago. Spike was in his study going over the personal appearances that Barney wanted him to make and avoiding her. He had been since yesterday morning and last night he had pulled away from her and had slept as far away from her as possible. Not that she really blamed him after her stunt the other night.

She sighed as she tried to tell herself that it wasn’t her fault. Yesterday morning when she had calmed down she had called Sara to tell her what had happened and had ended up going into her office with an emergency appointment. After talking everything out Buffy had finally admitted that she was concerned about losing Spike especially in light of what he had given up for her. All that love made her feel inadequate and she had suppressed it. This was supposed to be the happiest time in her life and she had made herself feel guilty for any hint of anything that might tarnish it. In the end her suppressed feelings, the stalker, and her new knowledge of how people in Spike’s past had ‘kept him in line’ had come through in her sleep provoking the attack on him.

Once again she was assured that she wasn’t crazy just going through things. Sara had talked to Spike and he understood what had happened but it only made him feel guilty for being angry with her. The anger had only been revived when Buffy had insisted they have Kate look at his wound. Kate had confirmed Buffy’s worries by cleaning it out and giving him a tetanus shot that had only made her realize Spike had never had any immunizations. He had never needed them so now he had to get all those shots on top of this one. And he was livid at her for all of it. Not that she blamed him. Not lately. His love for her was making his life hell.

Sighing she put the last plate in the drainer and turned to wipe her hands on a kitchen towel. It was time to make up. She knelt down and took a bag from the back of the cabinet with all the handcuffs and restraints in it that he had been throwing away and made her way to his study. Knocking softly she called out his name.

“Yeah,” he called.

“May I come in?”

“Buffy?”

She opened the door and slipped inside. He was making some notes and didn’t look back at her so she quietly put the bag on the desk next to him and waited. It didn’t take long. His brows furrowed as he looked at it and she could see the exasperation on his face. He leaned back in his chair to look up at her and waited.

“Did I tell you I’m sorry?”

“Yeah, about a thousand times. What are those for?”

“If it makes you feel safer at night I want you to tie me down. If I had known I would never have hurt you. Do you believe me?”

His hand encircled her wrist pulling her down onto his lap. Buffy stroked his face with her fingers as he watched her then she could see the release of emotions on his face.

“I believe you.”

She kissed him gently as his hand moved across her waist to settle on the roundness of her bottom and as she deepened the kiss he pulled her closer to him.

“I love you, Spike, so much.”

“Don’t. I know. It took a long time but I know. And I’m not going anywhere.”

Buffy nodded relieved at his words. Maybe if she kept telling him she was sorry and he kept telling her that he wasn’t going anywhere eventually they would believe it. But for right now here in the circle of his arms they were as they should be and no more words were needed.

October 6, 2007 4:15 PM

So, far everything was going great. The club outnumbered them by about twenty-five people but it was okay because they getting more attention. They had an assortment of people and demons walking their line. Clem, Josh, Janice, Connor, all six of the Chickies, and some other demons and students had shown to support their humble beginnings. In all there was almost twenty for their side. Raven and Dawn were handing out leaflets outlining what the human club wanted to do about keeping demons and other undesirables from the university. Sean was in charge of making sure that everyone kept in line and keeping an eye on the other side.

“Hey, girl, what’s up?”

Raven whirled around to find Sam there.

“Hey, you here to help?”

“Sure, why not?”

Raven showed him where some extra signs were and set him in line next to Connor. It was turning out to be a beautiful day after all. Connor and Janice had shown up separately and were barely speaking. She didn’t ask. Just decided just to be happy for whatever blessings she could get. As she grabbed some more leaflets to hand out to passersby she noticed some people she didn’t recognize coming closer to them from behind but shrugged as they took seats on a wall. As long as they were watching what difference did it make?

October 6, 2007 5:12 PM

Spike couldn’t remember the last time he had felt such peacefulness. After making love to his wife he was wrapped around her watching television in their living room. Such a simple thing to have his head nestled on her stomach with her arm around him but it meant so much to him. It was times like this that he had dreamed about when he had first realized he loved her and now it was his. This was one of the better things in their lives in his opinion. Just because there was no effort or pretense in moments like this only the total comfort of each other’s company.

“Mummy, Daddy?” Elijah called.

“In here,” Buffy said and smiled as she listened to him thunder down the stairs toward them. It was only as he rounded the corner of the couch ready to jump that she hollered, “Whoa, don’t jump.”

But it was too late and he was in mid-air as Spike grabbed and kept him from hitting his target. Buffy’s stomach.

“Careful, son, can’t jump on the baby.”

“Torry,” Elijah said as Spike gently lowered him onto his wife where Eli instantly kissed Buffy on the cheek. “Love the baby.”

“I know,” Buffy cooed as she cuddled her son against her.

Spike wrapped his arm around the both of them and they settled in to watch more television. Spike flipped through the channels until he found something that was more appropriate for Eli than the movie they had been watching. Neither Buffy nor Spike wanted this quiet interlude to end so they resigned themselves to watching ‘Aladdin’ for the thousandth time.

A sleepy haze had begun to take hold of all three of them when the news bulletin broke through. Spike and Buffy were instantly on alert when the university was mentioned as they announced a riot that had broken out over the two protests in the quad.

Spike was up and pulling his shoes on as Buffy struggled to stand still holding Eli to her.

“Find them,” she pleaded knowing this was one fight she couldn’t be involved in.

He cradled her face in his hands. “Lock the doors and turn the alarms on. This smells of the Soldiers. Just do it.” He snapped when she started to protest. “I’ll be back with all of them. Okay?”

She followed Spike as he ran out of the house, locking the door behind him and setting the alarms. Their family was in the middle of the riots and she was terrified for them. She headed for the phone to call Kate and Giles to make sure that they knew what was going on. While they waited for news the telephones between the family members constantly rang as news was heard.

October 6, 2007 5:45 PM

Everything was chaos. Her father had told her to always follow her instincts that they wouldn’t lie to her. But that’s exactly what she had done. She had ignored the niggling feeling about the strangers sitting so close to them and now they were under attack. The strangers had slipped into their ranks and had instigated an argument with the club. Now she knew that it had been a ploy to put them at fault. So the demons could be blamed for causing problems and use it as an example that they could never integrate with humans.

People were being hurt as rocks and whatever was handy was thrown at them. She could see the Chickies struggling to get away and Josh’s forehead was bleeding. Panic rose in her as she saw the police coming their way and the first tear gas bomb was thrown into their midst. Tears started to flow as she froze and then arms encircled her from behind and a shirt was tied over her face.

“I’m here for you. I will always be here for you,” a masculine voice told her. “Now move your ass we need to get these people out of here.”

Confidence instantly filled her and she started to search the ranks for the able bodied and yelled instructions for them to get the older women and the injured out of there. Connor picked Delores up and took her toward a building when Spike ran toward her. He took only a second to assure himself that she was okay before his eyes searched for the others.

“Dad, we need to get these people out of here.”

“Sewer entrance there,” he pointed.

Without waiting Raven started to instruct people where to go. She heard her father tell Dawn to go into the tunnels and lead the injured back to the house. With direction and renewed faith everyone started to withdraw heading toward the tunnel entrance while Raven, Spike and Connor held off the attackers and avoided the police at the same time.

With one quick glance around to ensure that everyone on their side had retreated to safety, Raven jumped into the tunnel followed by her father. No one came after them and they could hear the ‘club’ shouting their victory that they had made the filthy demons run. Spike hugged her quickly before they headed home.

Their living room was filled with the protestors some injured and some not. Raven quickly scanned the room to see who was there. Kate had apparently been called because she and Buffy were sorting out the injured into seriousness while Sean followed behind cleaning and bandaging wounds. Some of the injured humans like Mrs. Davis with a twisted ankle were being driven to the hospital by the Scoobies that had shown up to help. Even Sam was there staring in stupefaction at the assortment of creatures around him.

Everything was finally calming down in the wake of her first ruinous attempt at changing the world. She had thought it was going to be so easy. Tears filled her eyes and she turned to find her father still standing there and she threw herself into his arms.

“This is my fault, Daddy. I led them there and it wasn’t anything like I thought.”

“It rarely is, Princess, but this is what you wanted to be a Slayer for.”

“Buffy does it so easily. I don’t know how to lead or any of it.”

He laughed softly as he hugged her tighter for a moment then pushed her away. With his hands still on her shoulders he looked down at her, “She’s been doing it for almost eleven years. It took her a long time to get that comfortable in it. Understand? Don’t underestimate yourself or your mission.” Then he kissed her softly on the forehead.

“Excuse me.”

Raven and Spike turned to find a Brachen demon waiting for their attention.

“Do you need something?” Spike asked.

“The people are getting restless,” he said with a gesture toward the living room. “We are waiting for Raven to tell us where we are going from here.”

Raven’s eyes opened wide as she stared at the demon then slowly turned to look at Spike.

“Give her just a second.” Spike said dismissing him. When he was gone he pulled Raven a little further into the hall. “This is it, Raven. They have accepted you as their leader and it’s time for you to act like it. You are the Slayer.”

“I don’t know what to say,” Raven squealed in teenage dramatics. “What am I supposed to do?”

“Lead,” Buffy said behind her. She waited until Raven turned to look at her. “You started this and you will have to see it through. Tell them that you are proud of them and you appreciate their sacrifice and tell them it will continue. But they are looking to you to for assurance that they haven’t put their asses on the line for nothing.”

“Will you two go with me?”

“No, it’s time for you to pick your lieutenants and take them with you.”

“Like Dad and Xander and Willow are yours?”

Buffy only nodded at Raven and then opened her arms. Raven flew into them for a hug and Spike enveloped both in his arms. They both knew that this was the last time she would truly be their little girl and they engraved this moment forever in their hearts. When Raven stepped away from them they clasped hands as she walked to the edge of the living room.

Raven looked around the room until she found Conner and nodded at him. He smiled slightly and came to join her then her eyes found Dawn, Josh, Clem and Sean. After they had gathered by her side she stepped a little further into the room, took a deep breath and stepped into her role as their leader.

October 6, 2007 11:45 PM
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It was finally quiet in the Blood house. The injured demons that were staying the night were scattered about the house in an attempt to give them some privacy. Kate and Buffy were in the kitchen drinking tea and trying to unwind. Everyone else had gone home and Raven was tired. Her bones ached with the physical and emotional toll of the day and with resignation she stepped out onto the front porch. She took a seat next to Connor on the steps and just let out a long slow breath as she tried to will her body to relax.

“Thank you for earlier. I needed to get my ass in gear.” She said as she turned to look at him. It felt good when he smiled at her gratitude.

“First time out, it’s forgivable.”

She laughed softly. “Glad you understand. I’m sorry about the cold shoulder this afternoon.”

When he looked away she could have kicked herself. Things were going just fine and she had to kill it by bringing up her childish reaction to him being with Janice.

“I meant what I said when I said I would always be there for you…”

“Leave it there, please,” she whispered. Her eyes locked with his and she knew that they were glowing from her emotions and she liked the look of entrancement on his face as they took in the full effect of her fairy background. “I understand.”

He nodded and when she half lay across his lap he didn’t protest. His hands slowly stroked her back as they contemplated the step they had taken tonight. Both steps and as she enjoyed the first touches of his hand on her body she relaxed in the knowledge that one day he would be hers. Until their time came he would be there to fight by her side, protect and guide her like he had that afternoon and be there with quiet comforting at the end of the day. And it was enough for now.

TBC