![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
Entry tags:
Maybe Someday. Chapter 17.
OK, here goes. What with the parental invasion tomorrow and all, I thought it would be good to post a bit of fic before I turn back into a lurker. I think this is mostly alright, at least that's what ![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
kathyh and lillianmorgan have told me. So I'll cross my fingers and hope you like!
Previouslies here.
Oh - and feedback makes my world go round! ;)
Chapter 17
Buffy didn’t sleep well. She woke up in the middle of the night, her nightmare so vivid that it took Spike a good while to calm her down. As it slowly faded from her mind, she tried to explain it - Glory had taken Dawn again, but instead of changing into Ben she morphed into Illyria - her weakness suddenly her strongest point. And Buffy had been trapped in a coffin as the blue god with chilling detachment killed her sister, leaving Buffy all alone.
When she was finally breathing calmly again, Spike looked at her searchingly: “Have you ever discussed this with Dawn?”
“My dream? I only just had it... and here I thought I was all done with nightmares!”
“No, I meant the Key thing.”
Buffy mutely shook her head.
“You probably should. She seems to be dealing with it OK, but still... if nothing else it might give you some peace of mind.”
She nodded again and swallowed, trying not to give in to the sobs that were welling up in her throat. The worst part had been the helplessness and loneliness. It hadn’t been a Slayer-dream, she was sure of that, but it had still felt almost prophetic, because this was how her life was... she always ended up alone. She wasn’t very good with words, wasn’t good at forming bonds with new people. She hugged Spike more tightly, wishing that she could stop time for a little bit... Sunday was looming large on the horizon and then he’d be gone. When would she see him again? He didn’t even know where he was going!
As if reading her thoughts, Spike put a finger under her chin and lifted her face. “Now the good thing about all this is, that if it works I can come see you anytime! How about that?”
She stared at him and then laughed. How come she hadn’t thought of that? With a smile on her lips she dozed off again, no more nightmares troubling her sleep.
The next morning she sat Dawn down and broached the subject of Keyness. Dawn smiled serenely as she answered, and Buffy wondered when she had matured so much.
“Y’know I used to wonder about it... the whole Key-thing. Did I have any powers? Were there any other prophecies about me and all that. I even thought about asking Giles to look stuff up, but then...”
She frowned slightly. “You know when it was my 18th birthday? And I invited my new friends out for dinner and got pretty drunk and you were really pissed off because I came home late and I’d been drinking?”
Buffy nodded, wondering where Dawn was going with this.
“And it just struck me one day, that when it was your 18th birthday your powers were taken away and you had to fight a psychotic vampire who’d kidnapped mom. So - I think I’m happy being normal. I’ll probably end up as a Watcher because I really enjoy all the studying, but I’m not sure I’d want to look after a Slayer. It’s hard enough having to worry about you, I don’t think I’d want to be actually responsible for someone. Sometimes it’s boring not being special, it’s true, but I like just being me now.”
Buffy didn’t know what to say, but she felt very relieved. Also Dawn wasn’t likely to get any supernatural boyfriends... then Xander had turned up bearing breakfast and all there was time for was to give Dawn a hug.
********
The spell itself was over surprisingly quickly. Willow had come round shortly after Xander, watchers trailing in her wake. Illyria and Angel arrived not long afterwards, the Hell God looking almost excited.
Willow then spent more than an hour with Dawn and Illyria, going over her notes and a couple of musty old tomes, until she was sure that they knew exactly what to do. Buffy was watching them, trying to work out just when Dawn had become so adept at demon languages... when she ventured a question Dawn rolled her eyes, replying that she’d taught herself Ancient Sumerian when she was only 16... she liked learning, remember? And Johnson had been very helpful in getting hold of stuff for her.
Funnily enough the biggest problem turned out to be getting Illyria to sit down on the floor to hold hands with the other two. She considered this beneath her and degrading. But Willow knew the spell would be very draining, so standing up was out of the question. Illyria finally agreed to sit on a kitchen chair and the spell could begin.
Buffy was standing leaning against Spike, taking comfort from the tight grip of his arms around her. But the spell was over before she had worked up an appropriate amount of worry... there was glowing and a little chanting and something that looked like electricity running up Dawn’s and Illyria’s arms, and then WIllow sat back with a tired and satisfied air and said: “Done!”
Buffy swiftly went to Dawn, who told her that she felt fine and to stop fussing! Buffy sighed and then her attention was caught by Illyria. The blue God stood up, slowly stretched out her hand and - as a wide grin spread across her face - created a portal. Before anyone could stop her she stepped through and the portal winked out of existence...
There was a moments silence as they all watched the now empty air, before Xander spoke: “Well, I think we can say that the spell worked!”
“Indeed!” Giles answered, before he and Johnson buried themselves in some of the books they had brought, their excitement palpable.
Spike let go of Buffy, after making sure that she was OK, and turned to Angel: “She’ll be back?”
“She better!” Angel replied as he sat himself down on the sofa. “We’re going to the desert by the Dead Sea next!”
“Are we now? What’s in the desert?” Spike asked and sat himself down on the sofa next to Angel.
“Some ancient sorcerer. Used to be a friend of the Senior Partners.” Angel answered.
“A-ha! Nice sunny location he chose to settle down in!” Spike said lightly, as he casually studied his fingernails.
”Spike...” Angel said warningly, and Buffy could sense an old argument raising its head. She just didn’t know what they could be talking about.
“I’m just saying...”
“Don’t!”
She crossed her arms and sent them a ‘look’. “What are you talking about - or not talking about?”
Angel eyed her glumly: “The Gem of Amara!”
Spike shot him a dirty look, but addressed himself to Buffy: “Well I might have mentioned that having it would have made our lives a bit easier the last few months!” He turned to Angel. “And yes I know why you destroyed it and all that, but I still think you could have just stuck it in a bank vault somewhere. But no - it’s all or nothing with you, every time! And to think all the trouble I went through to find it!”
“Does that trouble include torturing me?” Angel asked frostily.
“Torture?” Buffy asked, appalled and fascinated.
Spike suddenly looked a bit subdued, but still defiant. “Well I wanted it back and he wouldn’t tell me where it was! So, um, I hired this guy to torture him for me. But it was only a few hot pokers... I’ve had far worse!”
“Really?” Angel said drily.
“Yes really! I’ve been tortured by a Hell God and the First Evil. Not to mention burning to death. Oh - and I’ve been staked! Twice!”
Buffy realised that everyone was now watching the argument. Xander - as usual unable to keep his mouth shut - asked: “Well if you were staked, how come you’re not all dusty?”
Spike sighed. “Well, the first time was when I had the Gem - it was kinda fun actually! The other time -” he stopped, suddenly unwilling to continue.
“Go on!” Buffy said. If he was going to be bragging-boy he’d better follow through.
“Riley.” he muttered.
“Huh?” Buffy knew that this wasn’t the most eloquent of responses, but she was completely thrown. Riley had staked him? How? Why?
This time it was Willow who managed to get the question in first: “Sorry - but why did Riley stake you? Um... and how come you didn’t die?”
“Plastic stake.” Spike answered. “He wanted revenge after... you know!” he shot Buffy a look.
“Oh!” she said, suddenly seeing past event in a new light. “Oh... he staked you?”
“He was pretty pissed off... and he couldn’t really take it out on you, could he now?”
She shook her head slowly, not knowing what to say, but beginning to feel rather pissed off herself. Yes Spike had obviously acted in his own interest, but still - compared to what Riley had been doing...
She looked up and saw the questions on her friends faces.
“What’s this about Riley?” Xander asked.
“It’s private!” she muttered, and hoped to the Powers That Be that they’d all back off. And if she ever saw Riley again... well, thankfully that was very unlikely!
Xander obviously noticed something, because he swiftly changed the subject: “Well, what do we do now?”
Giles tore himself away from a book and replied: “I’m afraid I’ll need to head back to England today - remember there is the small matter of the conference to organise. To be perfectly honest I wouldn’t mind some help.” And he looked round in a meaningful manner.
Willow frowned. “I’d love to help, but I think I need to recuperate a bit first.”
“How about we come tomorrow?” Xander suggested. “Then we can have one last night in Rome, and maybe do something fun for a change! Get our dance thing on maybe?”
Willow was obviously a bit stung by his comment and nodded enthusiastically. “Oh it’s been ages since I’ve been clubbing! I think it might be just what I need. Dawn are you coming?”
Dawn shook her head. “Not me - I’m going to stay overnight at Julia’s. A sort of post-study trip sleep over.”
Buffy tried to say something, but Dawn shot her the ‘I’m fine’ stare that she had by now perfected. So instead Buffy turned to Spike. “What do you think?”
He shrugged. “Could be fun I suppose... like the good old times at the Bronze, eh?” And he winked at her as she felt her cheeks redden.
Xander, looking at Willow and not seeing Buffy’s changing colour, was suddenly getting excited. “This could be really good! Maybe we could even find a place with balconies and pool tables?”
Buffy closed her eyes. This could turn out to be a really, really bad idea...
Chapter 18.
kathyh and lillianmorgan have told me. So I'll cross my fingers and hope you like!Previouslies here.
Oh - and feedback makes my world go round! ;)
Chapter 17
Buffy didn’t sleep well. She woke up in the middle of the night, her nightmare so vivid that it took Spike a good while to calm her down. As it slowly faded from her mind, she tried to explain it - Glory had taken Dawn again, but instead of changing into Ben she morphed into Illyria - her weakness suddenly her strongest point. And Buffy had been trapped in a coffin as the blue god with chilling detachment killed her sister, leaving Buffy all alone.
When she was finally breathing calmly again, Spike looked at her searchingly: “Have you ever discussed this with Dawn?”
“My dream? I only just had it... and here I thought I was all done with nightmares!”
“No, I meant the Key thing.”
Buffy mutely shook her head.
“You probably should. She seems to be dealing with it OK, but still... if nothing else it might give you some peace of mind.”
She nodded again and swallowed, trying not to give in to the sobs that were welling up in her throat. The worst part had been the helplessness and loneliness. It hadn’t been a Slayer-dream, she was sure of that, but it had still felt almost prophetic, because this was how her life was... she always ended up alone. She wasn’t very good with words, wasn’t good at forming bonds with new people. She hugged Spike more tightly, wishing that she could stop time for a little bit... Sunday was looming large on the horizon and then he’d be gone. When would she see him again? He didn’t even know where he was going!
As if reading her thoughts, Spike put a finger under her chin and lifted her face. “Now the good thing about all this is, that if it works I can come see you anytime! How about that?”
She stared at him and then laughed. How come she hadn’t thought of that? With a smile on her lips she dozed off again, no more nightmares troubling her sleep.
The next morning she sat Dawn down and broached the subject of Keyness. Dawn smiled serenely as she answered, and Buffy wondered when she had matured so much.
“Y’know I used to wonder about it... the whole Key-thing. Did I have any powers? Were there any other prophecies about me and all that. I even thought about asking Giles to look stuff up, but then...”
She frowned slightly. “You know when it was my 18th birthday? And I invited my new friends out for dinner and got pretty drunk and you were really pissed off because I came home late and I’d been drinking?”
Buffy nodded, wondering where Dawn was going with this.
“And it just struck me one day, that when it was your 18th birthday your powers were taken away and you had to fight a psychotic vampire who’d kidnapped mom. So - I think I’m happy being normal. I’ll probably end up as a Watcher because I really enjoy all the studying, but I’m not sure I’d want to look after a Slayer. It’s hard enough having to worry about you, I don’t think I’d want to be actually responsible for someone. Sometimes it’s boring not being special, it’s true, but I like just being me now.”
Buffy didn’t know what to say, but she felt very relieved. Also Dawn wasn’t likely to get any supernatural boyfriends... then Xander had turned up bearing breakfast and all there was time for was to give Dawn a hug.
********
The spell itself was over surprisingly quickly. Willow had come round shortly after Xander, watchers trailing in her wake. Illyria and Angel arrived not long afterwards, the Hell God looking almost excited.
Willow then spent more than an hour with Dawn and Illyria, going over her notes and a couple of musty old tomes, until she was sure that they knew exactly what to do. Buffy was watching them, trying to work out just when Dawn had become so adept at demon languages... when she ventured a question Dawn rolled her eyes, replying that she’d taught herself Ancient Sumerian when she was only 16... she liked learning, remember? And Johnson had been very helpful in getting hold of stuff for her.
Funnily enough the biggest problem turned out to be getting Illyria to sit down on the floor to hold hands with the other two. She considered this beneath her and degrading. But Willow knew the spell would be very draining, so standing up was out of the question. Illyria finally agreed to sit on a kitchen chair and the spell could begin.
Buffy was standing leaning against Spike, taking comfort from the tight grip of his arms around her. But the spell was over before she had worked up an appropriate amount of worry... there was glowing and a little chanting and something that looked like electricity running up Dawn’s and Illyria’s arms, and then WIllow sat back with a tired and satisfied air and said: “Done!”
Buffy swiftly went to Dawn, who told her that she felt fine and to stop fussing! Buffy sighed and then her attention was caught by Illyria. The blue God stood up, slowly stretched out her hand and - as a wide grin spread across her face - created a portal. Before anyone could stop her she stepped through and the portal winked out of existence...
There was a moments silence as they all watched the now empty air, before Xander spoke: “Well, I think we can say that the spell worked!”
“Indeed!” Giles answered, before he and Johnson buried themselves in some of the books they had brought, their excitement palpable.
Spike let go of Buffy, after making sure that she was OK, and turned to Angel: “She’ll be back?”
“She better!” Angel replied as he sat himself down on the sofa. “We’re going to the desert by the Dead Sea next!”
“Are we now? What’s in the desert?” Spike asked and sat himself down on the sofa next to Angel.
“Some ancient sorcerer. Used to be a friend of the Senior Partners.” Angel answered.
“A-ha! Nice sunny location he chose to settle down in!” Spike said lightly, as he casually studied his fingernails.
”Spike...” Angel said warningly, and Buffy could sense an old argument raising its head. She just didn’t know what they could be talking about.
“I’m just saying...”
“Don’t!”
She crossed her arms and sent them a ‘look’. “What are you talking about - or not talking about?”
Angel eyed her glumly: “The Gem of Amara!”
Spike shot him a dirty look, but addressed himself to Buffy: “Well I might have mentioned that having it would have made our lives a bit easier the last few months!” He turned to Angel. “And yes I know why you destroyed it and all that, but I still think you could have just stuck it in a bank vault somewhere. But no - it’s all or nothing with you, every time! And to think all the trouble I went through to find it!”
“Does that trouble include torturing me?” Angel asked frostily.
“Torture?” Buffy asked, appalled and fascinated.
Spike suddenly looked a bit subdued, but still defiant. “Well I wanted it back and he wouldn’t tell me where it was! So, um, I hired this guy to torture him for me. But it was only a few hot pokers... I’ve had far worse!”
“Really?” Angel said drily.
“Yes really! I’ve been tortured by a Hell God and the First Evil. Not to mention burning to death. Oh - and I’ve been staked! Twice!”
Buffy realised that everyone was now watching the argument. Xander - as usual unable to keep his mouth shut - asked: “Well if you were staked, how come you’re not all dusty?”
Spike sighed. “Well, the first time was when I had the Gem - it was kinda fun actually! The other time -” he stopped, suddenly unwilling to continue.
“Go on!” Buffy said. If he was going to be bragging-boy he’d better follow through.
“Riley.” he muttered.
“Huh?” Buffy knew that this wasn’t the most eloquent of responses, but she was completely thrown. Riley had staked him? How? Why?
This time it was Willow who managed to get the question in first: “Sorry - but why did Riley stake you? Um... and how come you didn’t die?”
“Plastic stake.” Spike answered. “He wanted revenge after... you know!” he shot Buffy a look.
“Oh!” she said, suddenly seeing past event in a new light. “Oh... he staked you?”
“He was pretty pissed off... and he couldn’t really take it out on you, could he now?”
She shook her head slowly, not knowing what to say, but beginning to feel rather pissed off herself. Yes Spike had obviously acted in his own interest, but still - compared to what Riley had been doing...
She looked up and saw the questions on her friends faces.
“What’s this about Riley?” Xander asked.
“It’s private!” she muttered, and hoped to the Powers That Be that they’d all back off. And if she ever saw Riley again... well, thankfully that was very unlikely!
Xander obviously noticed something, because he swiftly changed the subject: “Well, what do we do now?”
Giles tore himself away from a book and replied: “I’m afraid I’ll need to head back to England today - remember there is the small matter of the conference to organise. To be perfectly honest I wouldn’t mind some help.” And he looked round in a meaningful manner.
Willow frowned. “I’d love to help, but I think I need to recuperate a bit first.”
“How about we come tomorrow?” Xander suggested. “Then we can have one last night in Rome, and maybe do something fun for a change! Get our dance thing on maybe?”
Willow was obviously a bit stung by his comment and nodded enthusiastically. “Oh it’s been ages since I’ve been clubbing! I think it might be just what I need. Dawn are you coming?”
Dawn shook her head. “Not me - I’m going to stay overnight at Julia’s. A sort of post-study trip sleep over.”
Buffy tried to say something, but Dawn shot her the ‘I’m fine’ stare that she had by now perfected. So instead Buffy turned to Spike. “What do you think?”
He shrugged. “Could be fun I suppose... like the good old times at the Bronze, eh?” And he winked at her as she felt her cheeks redden.
Xander, looking at Willow and not seeing Buffy’s changing colour, was suddenly getting excited. “This could be really good! Maybe we could even find a place with balconies and pool tables?”
Buffy closed her eyes. This could turn out to be a really, really bad idea...
Chapter 18.
no subject
Except - teensy whine here as I put English Teacher hat on: Buffy could sense an old argument raising it’s head. "Its" does not have an apostrophe unless it's short for "it is". [/English Teacher mode] Slinks away embarrassedly
I like Tactful!Xander - where did he come from? And I want to know more about where Illyria went.
We have visitors over the weekend too - but don't get any ideas that you're off the hook! ::grins::
no subject
Squee!
Slinks away embarrassedly
Don't be embarrassed! I'm currently banging my head against the desk... it's probably the easiest rule in the whole world and STILL I manage to overlook it when I get it wrong! Grrrr!
Tactful!Xander is a random visitor - he can appear at any moment, but he usually doesn't stay for long...
I want to know more about where Illyria went.
Don't we all? ::grin::
Ah, but *my* visitors are staying for a whole week!
no subject
Now I'm all nervous cos I spotted it in the word file....grrrr!
no subject
no subject
I too am very interested to know about Illyria.
And hey, great changes. A lot more Scooby like now :)
Great opening too, forgot to mention, very vivid.
Yay! New skool Bronzin' *g*
no subject
no subject
no subject
Oh, thank you! It's one of those tricky things - especially since I've so little experience of writing the Scoobies.
And Illyria... heh, not saying a word! ;)
Glad you liked the changes - all down to your suggestions you know.
Great opening too
Would you know it, but that was written last!
And I might just send some New Skool Bronzin' your way...
Oh - and your icon is excellent!
no subject
Absolutely! It's just that I can never quite take off my teacherhat. :sighs:
I loved all the implied backstory - show not tell. It works beautifully.
no subject
I loved all the implied backstory - show not tell. It works beautifully.
Oh thank you! It's probably one of my favourite things about fanfiction.
no subject
no subject
no subject
no subject
no subject
no subject
no subject
no subject
no subject
Glad you like my Dawn, what with you being a bit of an expert...
Illyria being able to have the Keyness is an excellent idea.
I don't *think* that anyone else has thought of it, which makes me rather pleased.
no subject
I did? Really? I hate writing group scenes - I invariably leave someone out (thank goodness for beta-readers!) and then have to rework them. I'm *so* glad that it worked though! :)
no subject
It is a good feeling isn't it? I felt like that when I realised my 'how they got out of the alley' idea was totally new as well!
no subject
no subject
Kathleen
no subject
Oh yes! I can almost pinpoint the exact bit of road where I first thought of it.
no subject
And I'm glad that people use my webcam link. Especially since I usually forget about it! *g*
no subject
so glad the Riley bully moment came out BTW
Well, that's the joy of fanfic. And also it's fun to let Spike talk himself into situations like that! ;)
no subject
Thank you for this!
no subject
Oh I'm so glad! I'm afraid he's been rather in the background these last few chapters, but I promise you'll see more of him before the end of the fic! :)
I'm also blushing profusely from your compliments - I always worry about my multi-character scenes, although I did enjoy writing the Spike & Angel snark. I love it when they do that brotherly competing thing. ;)
Thank you for this!
Thank you for the feedback! (And good luck with your essays these last few days!)
no subject
Also like the way you write the scoobie interactions. I know xander gets a bad reputation with Spike lovers, and can certainly be an ass! But I love him, and it's nice to see a sympathetic picture.
And if she ever saw Riley again... well, thankfully that was very unlikely! Does this comment mean Riley is going to turn up in Rome? I don't hate Riley, but honestly that's not necessary!
no subject
Thank you! Once I'd thought of it, it seemed like such an obvious solution.
Also like the way you write the scoobie interactions.
I understand why people dislike Xander, but I never really had any problems with him myself. And I think he matured nicely over the course of S7 so I kept him on that path.
Does this comment mean Riley is going to turn up in Rome?
Well certainly not in this story - as if I haven't enough stuff to sort out in 2-3 chapters! There might be a sequel at some point - say Christmas? (::wishes for more time::)
no subject
no subject
no subject
Hope the parental visit is going well.
no subject
Oh good - I tried to add a bit more 'oomph' as you suggested. Oh - and thank you so much for mentioning Giles. I always forget *someone* when doing group scenes! *g*
Parental visit going very well, only I feel awfully deprived, having only about 10 min a day for LJ! *sigh*
no subject
Like everyone else I love your Dawn and the way you resolved her key-nature.
But I especially love your Angel . Whereas I often have mixed feelings about him in some fictions , you manage to capture his conflicted being in a believable , appealing manner. -I enjoyed him so much in "Lost soul" -
You write nicely all the dynamics between the different characters , and that's very interesting. I know by experience that writing group scenes is a difficult task..!
This is truly a beautiful tale.
(Needless to say that outside of Dawn and Angel , I adore positively your Spike and Buffy.;)
no subject
I love your Dawn and the way you resolved her key-nature.
She was maturing nicely by the end of the show, so I quite simply built on that - I found her very easy to write. And one day it occurred to me that it would be so very handy if Illyria could still open portals... it's fun having good ideas! ;)
I especially love your Angel
::beams:: I love Angel so much, and I'm so glad that I can put that across in a believable way. He's going to be absent in the next chapter, but I promise that he'll be back for the 'finale'!
I know by experience that writing group scenes is a difficult task..!
In which case the praise is even more appreciated! (And thank goodness for beta-readers! Originally I managed to forget Giles...)
This is truly a beautiful tale.
Thank you *so much*! ::hugs you::
And the next chapter is Spuffy extraordinaire (also known as pure self-indulgence!) I hope you'll enjoy!
no subject
I'm suddenly afraid for all of them...
no subject
no subject
Dawn is so together and lovely in this story. I like that she keeps having to reassure Buffy, and her I'm fine looks are really getting a workout.
Hee, I can see why balconies and pool tables would make Buffy blush.
no subject
no subject
I can not believe that no one's ever noticed that before (myself included). Will go and fix it, as soon as I've stopped banging my head on the desk!
no subject
Well, she still has her dignity!
The image of her with a huge grin on her unearthly face was kind of creepy. I certainly hope Angel's right and she deigns to return to help these lowly creatures!
Well, the sequel won't work without her...
Dawn is so together and lovely in this story. I like that she keeps having to reassure Buffy, and her I'm fine looks are really getting a workout.
I love Dawn, and - considering how much trauma she went through - she ended up incredibly together by the end of S7. I think she'll turn into a fabulous young woman. :)
Hee, I can see why balconies and pool tables would make Buffy blush.
*grins*