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The pounding on the door was loud enough to wake the dead, or at least the undead. Angel stumbled down the hall toward the sound, grumbling the whole way. As he got closer he could hear a man calling out "For the love of mercy please! Open the door." Angel picked up the pace. "I'm
coming!" He called out as he approached the door. He pulled open
the front door to the defunct hotel and had to jump forward to catch
the man who had been leaning against it.
"Pleaseyou must take her." The man gasped out as he pushed
something towards Angel. "You are her only hope now. Take
her to Giles" One last gasp and the man was dead. Angel
gently laid him down on the floor and then turned to unwrap the bundle
that the man had pushed at him. A high thin wail pierced the silence
in the foyer of the grand hotel as Angel pulled back the blanket to
reveal an infant.
"What
the" Angel was baffled as he gazed at the tiny girl he held in
his hands. "Just who are you? And how did you wind up here?"
He asked her as he looked around for a safe place to put her while he
searched her deliverer. He spied two armchairs and quickly pushed
them together to make a makeshift crib. He gently laid her down
and then turned back to the man still lying in the open doorway.
Upon
examination, the cause of the man's death turned out to be a knife in
the back. There was no identification in his clothing, and there
was nothing about him to speak of his origin. It was possible
he was British, his last, gasping words had a faint accent, and his
mention of Rupert Giles could mean they were old friendsor enemies.
The baby began wailing in earnest and Angel finished up with the man
quickly and made a mental note to dispose of the body. He went
back over to the baby and gingerly picked her up. Her blue eyes
stared at him trustingly and his heart, if it had still been beating,
would have seized at the emotions that sweet gaze evoked. This
is what Buffy's baby would look like, ifwhen she had one. All
blonde hair and blue eyes and sweet scent.
Angel
realized that he was going to have to go shopping for supplies for the
baby, and with that realization came another one, other than a general
recollection of diapers and milk, he had no clue what babies needed.
He gazed at the baby in his arms and she smiled up at him. Maybe
he should call Giles first and tell him what had happened. Just
then the baby screwed up her face like she was concentrating really
hard, and then an astounding aroma filled the air around her.
Diapers first then.
The
baby aisle of a supermarket is a truly bewildering place, Angel thought.
Here I am, well over 200 years old, and I can't figure out if I need
formula, and if I need formula which one is the best. What size
diapers does she wear, is there really a difference between girls and
boys diapers and which bottle is the best one?
"You
look a little lost" A woman's voice broke into Angel's panicked thoughts.
"Thank
God!" He thought perhaps that sounded a little desperate, but he was
desperate. The little one had been crying non-stop since he got
here, and he was afraid she was drawing attention to him. "My
sister asked me to baby-sit for her, her husband was in an accident
and she was so upset that she forgot to leave me with any supplies"
That sounded good, he thought.
"Oh,
you poor thing!" The woman smiled sympathetically. "How
old is she?"
"My
sister?" Angel was frazzled.
"No,
the baby!" The woman reached out and took the baby from his arms.
She immediately stopped crying, the little traitor.
"Oh,
three months" The answer just popped out without him thinking about
it. He waited for the woman to contradict him and tell him she
was too big/little to be three months old. She just smiled and
spoke softly to the baby, little nonsense words that seemed to soothe
her.
"I guess
you need the works then, if she forgot to give you anything."
The woman had somehow managed to soothe the baby so much she was falling
asleep.
"Yeah,
I was just trying to figure out what kind of formula to feed her and
what the best type of diapers would be. How did you do that?"
Angel was fascinated by how quickly the baby had settled down.
"She
could sense how unsettled you were, and it was upsetting her.
That's why you couldn't get her to calm down. The more upset she
got the more she upset you, which just upset her more. It happens.
Are you ready to take her back?" The woman was intrigued by this
big strong guy and the little baby.
"I suppose
I should try it now while you're here to smooth over any difficulties
we might have. It's very kind of you to take the time to help
me by the way." Angel flashed one of his rare grins at her and
she thought she might melt to the floor. "Here lets see if we
can do better at this Sunshine." Angel reached out for her and
was rewarded with a sleepy smile as she was transferred back into his
arms.
"Is
that her name? Sunshine?" The woman asked as she gathered
up the necessary supplies for Angel.
"Oh
I'm sorry, how rude of me! Yes, her name is Sunshine and I'm Angel"
Angel extended his free hand and shook hers.
"Unusual names run in your family then. I'm Tess."
She handed Angel the shopping basket full of supplies. "It was
nice meeting you, and I hope your brother in law is okay."
"Thanks, nice meeting you too." Angel turned and walked
over to the check out counter. Tess continued to watch him until
he walked out of the store. It was so rare to meet a nice guy
these days. Too bad she'd have to kill him.
Angel
made one more stop on his way back to the hotel to get one of those
infant car seats, because he'd seen the commercials that showed what
could happen to a baby in a collision and he didn't want anything like
that to happen to Sunshine. Once she was safely strapped into
the seat he drove back to the hotel more carefully than he ever had
in the past. Once he arrived and had changed the baby's diaper
and made her comfortable in her makeshift crib he called Giles.
"Hello?" Giles always sounded slightly bewildered when
he answered the phone.
"Giles, its Angel. I need to talk to you, do you have
a minute?" He kept his voice pitched low to avoid waking Sunshine.
"Of
course Angel what seems to be the problem" Giles immediately went into
Watcher mode.
"Earlier tonight a man came to my place. He had been
stabbed in the back. He gave me a baby girl, and told me to bring
her to you, and then he died without saying anything else. Do
you know anything about this?" Angel asked Giles.
"Well,
no, I can't say I do. How old is the child? Are there any
distinguishing marks on her?" Giles seemed puzzled.
"She's
about three months old, give or take and I hadn't noticed any marks,
but I wasn't really looking either." Angel glanced over at Sunshine
and realized that she was awake again. "Hold on Giles, she's awake,
let me get her." Angel walked over and scooped Sunshine off the
chairs. "What kind of marks would I be looking for?"
"Anything unusual, including a mole on her right shoulder."
Giles informed him.
"Okay,
I'm looking, she's wearing this one piece number that has an inordinate
number of snaps so it will take me a minute or two to get it off of
her." Angel fumbled with the one-piece sleeper the baby was wearing.
"Okay, she has a large mole on her right shoulderwhat does that mean?"
"Dear
god! I honestly didn't expect you to findAngel, you must get that
baby here as soon as possible." Giles exclaimed.
"Why,
what is it Giles?" Angel was wary.
"She's
a potential Slayer, Angel. The man who brought her to you was
most likely her Watcher." Giles explained.
"A potential?
Giles, she's three months old! How early do you people usually
take the slayers for training?" Angel sounded outraged now.
"The
Watchers Council usually waits until the child is a few years old, although
the Watcher is assigned as soon as she is born. He would normally watch
her and intervene only if necessary. I have a feeling though,
that they are desperate to make sure that the next Slayer is loyal to
them since they have lost both of their slayers in this generation."
Giles replied to Angel's outraged comment in a calm tone.
"Alright. I'll bring her to you, but I wonder who killed
her Watcher?" Angel pondered aloud as he hung up the phone.
"Who would want a precious thing like you dead?" Angel asked the
baby.
Angel
scribbled out a note for Cordelia and Wesley, in case they returned
from vacation before he got back. He could just imagine the two
of them laughing when they read that he was caring for a baby.
Oh well, there wasn't much that could be done about it now.
He loaded
Sunshine into her car seat and packed up her formula, bottles and diapers.
"It's incredible how much luggage you have sweetheart." He murmured
as he stowed her gear in the back seat beside her. He cranked
up the top on the convertible and started the engine.
Tess
watched as Angel packed up the baby and the car. "Damn.
He knows something. He's not just some fool that got stuck with
the baby." She hissed into her cell phone. "I want you to find
out who he is and I want the information yesterday!" She spit,
suddenly furious that things had spiraled out of her control.
As Angel pulled out of the garage she started her engine and followed
him at a discreet distance.
Angel
had a sense that he was being followed. He couldn't pin it down,
but he definitely felt like there was someone back there. He kept
one eye in the rearview mirror, but there were so many cars on the road
that it was hard to determine if one was following him specifically.
Once he was out of the city and traffic thinned out he
would be able to tell, but for now he could only hope that they stayed
back and didn't try anything with so many witnesses around.
The
hum of the engine and the movement of the car lulled the baby and she
had fallen asleep almost as soon as they got moving. Angel wished
he could escape this situation as easily. As it was his mind kept
bouncing back and forth between the fact that he would be seeing Buffy
again, and the idea that the Watcher's Council was running amok.
As he left the city the traffic began to thin and he noticed a light
colored sedan following him. He began some evasive maneuvers but
whoever was driving that car was pretty good at what they were doing.
"Hang
on Sunshine" He said as he abruptly swung into the exit ramp.
Tess
cursed as he crossed two lanes and disappeared down the exit ramp.
She was boxed in by two cars and couldn't follow him. She'd have
to go on to Sunnydale and try to catch him before he made it to Giles'
house. Damn these Americans could make things complicated!
Angel
pulled over at the side of the road once he was sure he had lost his
follower to make sure that Sunshine was still firmly strapped in.
"Lot of interest in such a little thing." He murmured to the sleeping
baby. Then, assured that she was still safe, he pulled back out
into the road. He drove all night, stopping only when Sunshine
declared in no uncertain terms that she was hungry or wet.
At dawn he found a run down motel and paid to spend the daylight hours.
The guy behind the counter gave him a suspicious look when he saw the
baby, but at Angel's threatening look he lost all curiosity.
Angel
dropped the diapers, formula and bottles on the floor of the hotel room
and laid the baby on the bed. The back of her sleeper was all
wet with sweat and he thought maybe he should bathe her. He started
to leave her on the bed so he could run a shallow bath for her, but
she chose that moment to display her talent in rolling over. He
caught her as she was about to roll off the bed.
"Whoa,
where are you going?" He asked her as he cradled her close to
his chest. He carried her into the bathroom with him and settled
her on the floor while he ran her bath. Once there was about 2
inches of water in the tub, he picked Sunshine up and took her out of
her sleeper and diapers. She giggled and kicked her legs and he
smiled at her antics. She was so cute, right up until she peed
on him!
"Whoops!" Angel swung the baby around so she was over the sink.
"You're supposed to do that before I take your diaper off!" He
told her. She just giggled in response.
Finally he got the baby into the bathtub and bathed and into
a clean diaper. "I wish I didn't have to put you back into your
dirty sleeper honey." He told her as she blinked sleepily at him
from his arms. He decided to let her sleep in the diaper and wash
the sleeper in the sink. Once it was clean he hung it on the windowsill
to dry. He lay down on the bed beside the baby and rested his
hand on her little belly, watching her breathe was like watching a miracle.
When
Angel woke up it was nearly sunset and something had a painful grip
on his face. He growled before he realized it was just the baby.
She was a slayer to be all right, with a grip like that she could probably
start training tomorrow! He gently pried her fingers from his
flesh and massaged the spot where she had been gripping.
She was staring up at him with those trusting blue eyes and a little
smile on her face that could melt glaciers. "Okay, give me a minute
and I'll fix some dinner for you." He told her as he rolled off
the bed. She rolled onto her belly and lifted her head up to watch
him. "I wonder what you're thinking?" He said to her as
he poured warm water into the bottle with the formula mixture and shook
it vigorously. He was becoming quite adept at preparing bottles.
Angel
fed the baby and dressed her in her sleeper as the sun set over the
motel. Once darkness had fallen he packed everything back into
the car (another job he was becoming good at) and set out on the final
leg of his trip to Sunnydale.
Tess
waited outside Sunnydale in the most likely spot for Angel to enter.
She was prepared to ram his car if necessary, but she was hoping it
wouldn't come to that. The Watchers Council was breathing down
her neck because she hadn't obtained the baby yet and she was willing
to bet they wouldn't be happy about a high profile auto crash involving
one of their agents. Tess was lost in her thoughts and didn't
notice the thing running toward her car at first.
When
she did it was too late to do anything but crouch down against the seat
and hope that it wasn't really interested in her. What she didn't
expect to see was the small blonde woman running after the big ugly.
She watched in amazement as the slayer took down a creature that must
have been three times her size and weight without seeming to break a
sweat. Before she knew what she was doing she had gotten out of
her car and approached the girl.
"That
was amazing! I mean, I've heard about your prowess, but I've never
had the chance to watch a slayer in action." Tess said without
thinking. Then, when she noticed Buffy's surprised look she regretted
having gotten out of the car at all. "Uh"
"Who
are you? And how do you know about slayers, and what makes you
think I'm one?" Buffy demanded as she stalked closer to Tess.
"You're from the Council aren't you?" She made an intuitive leap
that made Tess flinch.
"I,
uhwell" There was a reason Tess had been assigned to assassinations
and baby snatchings. She wasn't very good with verbal confrontations.
By the time she thought of an excuse for what she knew, Buffy had already
tied her hands behind her back with a silk scarf.
"You
can tell your tales to Giles." Buffy told her. A half hour
later they arrived at Giles' house, Buffy looking fresh as a daisy and
Tess looking rather bedraggled. Buffy shoved her in the door and
followed after. "Giles, I caught this Council goon snooping around
the town limits. Do you think it could have something to do with
Angel's package?" Buffy quickly got to the point.
"Tess
Angharad. You were fresh out of training when I left. I
see you're still bollixing up your orders." Giles said as he approached
Tess. "What brings you to Sunnydale? The council has been
informed that they are not welcome here."
"Giles, you have no business interfering in our business.
Just because you and your slayer have abjured your duties, doesn't give
you the right to tell us how to run ours." Tess spat at him.
She had always despised Rupert Giles for trying to escape his destiny
as a watcher, for throwing it all away for this rebellious girl.
"Still
the angry, jealous school girl as well." Giles noted to Buffy.
"You can go back out on patrol Buffy, I can handle Tess." Buffy
nodded and left. "Have a seat Tess." Giles gestured to his
couch. "You're going to be here for a while I think."
"So
Tess, the Watcher's Council has taken to murdering its own?" Giles
asked in a deceptively quiet voice. "Why doesn't that surprise
me?" He mused aloud.
"Greeley got some maggot in his head about our methodshe ran
off with the child, said he was going to let her have as normal a life
as possible before she was called. Like your slayer." She
spat at him. "That child is the property of the council!"
"Listen to yourself! 'That child is the property of the
council' can't you hear how wrong that is?" Giles' voice was heavy
with disgust. "She is no one's property! Our role, if you
study the histories, is to protect, guide, and teach the slayer.
There is nothing written about forcing her to isolation, testing, possibly
murdering her because she doesn't fit what we want her to be!"
Giles stared hard at Tess.
"Get
off your high horse Giles! Just because your slayer is still alive
despite her rebellious nature, doesn't mean that your way is best."
Tess shot back at him.
"Whoa,
what am I interrupting here?" Xander started to back through the
front door, obviously attempting a quick escape.
"Xander! Good timing. I'd like you to stay here
and watch Ms. Angharad while I run to the shop. Thank you."
Giles left a speechless Xander staring at the woman sitting on the couch
with her hands tied behind her back.
"Um,
hi. I'm guessing from the bondage that you're either a demon or
a Watchers Council lackey. Judging by the fact that Giles left
you alone with me, you're not a demon. I'm Xander." He babbled
to fill the awkward silence.
"Shut
up." Tess snarled at him.
"Hello
to the rudeness. Okay, I'm just going to watch TV then." Xander
deliberately picked one of the most annoying talk shows on TV and proceeded
to watch her face as the women on the show talked about how they had
found love in the arms of various members of their twisted family trees.
Judging by the look of pain on her face this could be construed as torture
under the terms of the Geneva Convention. In other words, it was
really fun!
Giles
sped toward the Magic Box in is little red car. He needed to find
something to bind Tess from harming the child, and perhaps a spell to
make the Council forget she had ever existed. He was hoping Anya
would be able to help him with that one. One didn't live as long
as she had without picking up a few things. He'd call in some
favors if he had to. This was too important to mess around with.
"Anya?" Giles called as he dashed into the magic shop.
"I need your help!"
"What? I'm busy taking people's money." Anya shouted
back at him.
"Anya
this is more important. Please, I need you to help me find a couple
of spells." Giles said distractedly as he started rifling through
the books on his shelves. "Close the store for the afternoon."
"Close
the? Giles! If I close the store we won't make any money!" Anya
argued. Giles turned and gave her a meaningful look. "Don't
glare at me. Store's closed everyone. Go home." Anya
began shooshing people out.
"Now
what is so important that we had to send all those people home without
taking their money?" Anya stood with her hands on her hips.
"I need
a spell to make the Council forget about the baby that Angel is bringing
to me, and another to bind a particular Council member from ever harming
her." Giles replied.
"Why
two spells? Wouldn't the forgetting one do the trick?" Anya
asked.
"Um,
probably." Giles looked astounded. "I hadn't thought. I
just knew I had to stop Tess from hurtingDo you know a spell like that?"
"Well,
the Celtic Druids used an obfuscating spell to hide themselves from
the Christians for years at a time." Anya mused. "And there
was the forgetfulness, no too bloody, you don't have the stomach for
that one. Oh! That's it. The Sleeping Beauty spell."
"Sleeping Beauty? I don't want to put her to sleep, or
them either. I just want them to forget she exists." Giles
looked irritated.
"No,
see that's the beauty of this spell, oh, that's kind of funny, see Sleeping
Beauty, and the beauty of...okay, okay. In the original story,
a spell was used to make everyone forget that Sleeping Beauty's castle
was there. People lived and worked around it and never even noticed
this big castle outside of town." Anya explained. "As I'm
sure you know, most fairy tales have a grain of truth, and that spell
is one of the grains behind the story."
"Do
you know the spell? Or do you know where I can find it?"
Giles was impressed once again by Anya's ability to surprise him.
"Oh,
it's a simple spell, we have all the ingredients here. I'll start
putting it together, and meet you back at your place." Anya told
him.
"It
never fails to amaze me how we can have all the ingredients no matter
how obscure the spell." Giles mused as he left the store.
When
he arrived back at his place he found Xander and Angel arguing over
Tess.
"I'm
telling you, Giles says she's Council. That would be why she's
all tied up." Xander was shouting.
"Well,
I'm telling you that I met her in LA and she was perfectly nice."
Angel shouted back.
"Excuse me, but doesn't the fact that you met her in LA and
she's here in Sunnydale suggest anything to you?" Xander remarked
snidely.
"You've never traveled to another town and met someone coincidently
in the course of a couple of days?" Angel obviously knew he was
wrong, but refused to back down from Xander.
"Angel! Good to see you. Is that the child?" Giles
stepped in to defuse the situation.
"Giles. Yes, this is Sunshine. Why do you have
that woman tied up on your couch?" Angel replied.
"Her
name is Tess Angharad, and she's one of the Council's lackeys."
Giles replied.
"Told
you so" Xander needled.
Giles
took Sunshine from Angel and examined her. "Yes, she's definitely
a potential slayer. Don't worry Angel. We'll take care of
her."
"She
might need her diaper changed. I'll take her for now." Angel
reached out and took Sunshine back into his arms and grabbed her diapers
and wipes from where he had dropped them on his way in. Xander
was amazed to see Angel brush his lips across the baby's hair before
he took her into the bathroom to change her diaper.
"Wow,
I never thought I'd see the day when he went soft over a baby."
Xander commented.
"I just
hope it doesn't become a problem." Giles replied.
"What
do you mean? A problem?" Xander was perplexed by Giles comment.
"He
can't be allowed to keep her. She will need training when she
gets older, not to mention the fact that he can't exactly provide her
with a stable home life. And what if he should turn evil again?
No, I'm afraid he will not be keeping her." Giles said, almost
to himself.
Anya
and Buffy arrived at Giles' house at the same time. Anya's arms
were laden with bags of candles and herbs from the magic shop.
"Here
Anya, let me help you with that." Buffy said as she took one of the
bags from Anya's arms. "What is all this stuff anyway?"
She asked as they entered the door.
"Ingredients for a spell for Giles." Anya explained shortly
obviously feeling that it was a stupid question.
"Ah,
Anya, Buffy. Come in. I need your help. Buffy, I need
you to take Tess here back to her car. Xander, you can borrow
my car to take them. Once you have Tess in her car, please drive
her to the next town and leave her there. Xander you can pick
up Buffy and bring her back." Giles had obviously been thinking
a lot about this.
"Giles
are you serious. You want me to drive a car? I thought we
all agreed that was a bad thing." Buffy protested.
"You
and Xander are the only ones I can spare right now. I'm going
to need Willow and Tara to help Anya and I with the spell." Giles
explained.
"Will
somebody clue me in here? I seem to be missing a few pages."
It was obvious that Buffy was getting annoyed.
"Buffy!" Angel emerged from the bathroom holding Sunshine
cradled against his shoulder.
"Okay. What is Angel doing here? Where did you
get the baby? Why is the watchers council girl here? And
What. Spell. Are. You. Doing?" Buffy was advancing on Giles as
she spoke.
"Buffy, calm down. Angel is here because I requested
that he bring the child to me. The baby is a potential slayer
whose watcher has been murdered. Tess is here because she murdered
that watcher and would kill the baby too if she could get her hands
on her. And finally we are doing a spell to protect the child
from the council. Now will you take Tess and get going?" Giles
explained as he started setting out the ingredients Anya had brought
in with her.
"Alright. But don't think you're going to get away with
this without giving me a full length report later." Buffy pouted
as she grabbed Tess' arm and hauled her up off the couch. "Come
on Xander."
Giles
threw the keys to his car to Xander and they went out the door with
Tess in tow. When the door slammed behind them it seemed like
everyone suddenly went into motion. Giles mused that he hadn't
been aware of how much trepidation he had about the meeting of Buffy
and Angel face to face again after their last confrontation.
"Anya,
what kind of set up do we need for this spell?" Giles asked as
he dialed Willow's dorm room.
"A circle
of candles with a smudge pot in the middle to burn the herbs.
Red candles at each of the compass points and white for the rest of
the circle. Oh, and I need a piece of the child so we can focus
the spell." Anya replied.
"A piece
of the child? Wait a minute" Angel began.
"Yes. A strand of hair or a fingernail or something."
Anya replied as she set out the candles.
"Oh. Right. Hair." Angel sounded relieved.
"Willow, I need you and Tara to come to my house immediately.
Yes, it's urgent. Yes. Alright we'll see you in a few minutes."
Giles hung up the phone and went over to help Anya with the setup.
"Now, exactly what do we need to do?"
"Okay
I'm going to need you to stand at the middle of the circle holding the
baby. We'll need some hair or something to add to the herbs in
the smudge pot. Willow, Tara, Angel and I will take the compass
points and then there's an incantation to recite." Anya finished
setting up the candles and placed the smudge pot in the center of the
circle.
Giles
went to fetch a pair of scissors to cut a lock of Sunshine's hair.
While he was looking for the scissors Willow and Tara arrived.
"Giles, what's the emergency?" Willow sounded breathless
and Tara was panting as if they had run all the way from campus.
"We
have to do a spell to protect a potential slayer whom the Watchers Council
wants to kill or imprison and raise like a trained monkey." Anya
explained.
"Perhaps that's a bit simplistic, but we haven't the time to
go into it now. I'll explain after we do the spell." Giles
stated as he found the scissors and approached Angel and the baby.
"Don't
cut it too close Giles." Angel warned as Giles approached him
with the scissors.
"Don't
worry, I'll just take a few strands of hair, not her scalp!" Giles
said.
"I know,
but she's just so little." Angel said watching intently as Giles
snipped a few strands of hair.
"Here's the hair Anya. Do you need me to do anything
else to help set up for this spell?" Giles asked.
"No,
I've got it. The measurements are fairly precise and it's best
if one person does them. I wrote down the incantation though.
Maybe you should look it over." Anya told him.
Giles
studied the incantation and then explained to Willow and Tara what their
roles would be in the spell.
"So
we're directional anchors for the spell?" Tara asked just to confirm
it in her mind.
"Yes."
Giles said "Anya, are you almost ready?"
"The
measurements are complete. Could someone start lighting the candles
while I get the herbs to start smoldering?" Anya replied.
"Lumos
incendiere!" Willow said and suddenly all the candles blazed alight.
"I've been working on that one." She grinned.
Anya
lit the herbs and set them to smoking. "Okay, places everyone.
Giles take the child to the center of the circle and face north."
Anya instructed. "Now begin the incantation and repeat it facing each
compass point."
"I beg
the indulgence of the gods of the North, hear my plea. Send your
spirits to hid this child from the sight of all who wish her harm.
Cloud the minds of those who would twist her to serve their own ends.
Erase her existence from the minds of the Watchers Council I implore
you." Giles spoke out in a confident voice. "I beg the indulgence
of the gods of the East, hear my plea." He continued until he
had turned in a full circle holding the child in his arms. "Grant
my prayer to guard this child."
As he
finished the incantation a gust of wind filled the room and the flames
on the candles leapt high. A voice that sounded like the wind
itself spoke saying, "We have heard your prayer and as your ends are
just we will grant you the means. So mote it be"
The
wind stopped as suddenly as it started and the candles went out.
Sunshine whimpered and reached for Angel. Willow and Tara were
looking at each other and everyone else as though to say "Did you hear
that too?"
"Ehem. Well, I would guess that means that the incantation
worked." Giles said as he awkwardly adjusted Sunshine on his shoulder.
"Here,
let me take her. She's used to me and she's probably tired."
Angel reached out for the baby.
"Angel, I'm not sure it's a good idea for her to grow attached
to you." Giles looked uncomfortable having to make that statement
but resolved to make it anyway.
"I know.
It's just that, well, I've gotten quite attached to her myself."
Angel looked sheepish.
"It's
alright, but you know she will have to stay here with Buffy and I.
We'll need to protect her and train her for the day she's called."
Giles told him.
"Train
her, but you said" Angel protested.
"I said
I'd allow her to have as normal a life as possible. That does
not mean I will allow her to be called to fight vampires without the
slightest bit of training!" Giles snapped.
"Alright. I justmaybe I should leave before it gets any
harder." Angel was already moving toward the door.
"Angel, you will always be welcome to visit her, but I simply
cannot allow you to become too large a part of her life. Your
future is too uncertain." Giles juggled the now sobbing baby against
his shoulder.
"I understand.
Tell Buffy I'm sorry I missed the chance to say goodbye." Angel
swept out the door and was gone.
"Giles, what are we going to do with her? I mean, who's
going to raise her? How do we explain her?" Willow asked
as she took Sunshine from Giles and rocked her gently, soothing her.
"I hadn't
thought about that yet. I suppose I'll have to raise her, Joyce
has enough on her hands with one Slayer for a daughter. I can
always say she's my sister's child. She died in a tragic auto
accident in England and I'm the next of kin." Giles said thoughtfully.
"That
should work. People in this town believe what they want to believe
anyway." Anya stated baldly.
"Too
true." Tara agreed.
Fifty
miles away Buffy and Tess were just arriving in Dempsyville. Halfway
through the ride there, Tess had stopped shouting threats at Buffy and
looked puzzled. She then proceeded to ask Buffy who she was and
why she was driving and where was she. Buffy assumed that it was
the spell taking effect and made up some convincing lies about coming
across her being attacked by someone at the side of the road and rescuing
her. She explained away the binding by saying that Tess was unconscious
when she put her back in the car and that she hadn't wanted to wait
around for the guy to wake up.
When
they arrived in Dempsyville Tess thanked Buffy for helping her and Buffy
climbed into the car with Xander and they took off.
Buffy
told Xander about what had happened on the way back to Sunnydale.
"That's so weird! I wonder what they did to her."
Xander marveled at the story.
Later
that evening, after a shopping trip to the local baby store and a longwinded
explanation to Buffy and the rest of the Scooby Gang, they sat around
Giles apartment watching little Sunshine play with the new baby gym
Giles had bought her.
"So,
she'll be a slayer someday." Buffy stated.
"Yes, and with you to learn from she'll be one of the best." Giles assured her.
VISIT Jessica Atchisons Vebsite here
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