(no subject)
Title: The Draco and the Scoobies chapter 14: Be careful what you ask for
Pairing: Buffy/Spike; Zamolxis/Bendis; Xander/Anya; Willow/Tara; and so on... ;)
Rating: Adult
Summary: Something insidious is brewing in the Universe. And that something is boredom. Gods, supernatural beings and mortals will find themselves forever changed by the consequences of one bored Being.
Here: Final part of the second session.
Spoilers/Warnings: BtVS:S5; Adult language; Sexual situations
Disclaimer: Not mine, really! So please don't sue. Joss, Fox, Mutant enemy and all the others are the ones!
Beta: dusty273
AN: Yup... we're slowly closing in on the Spuffiness. Many thanks to my darling Sotia for test-reading and to Mari for being a darling and beta-ing this.
Xander was doubled over with uncontrollable laughter. Giles was laughing so hard he had tears streaming down his face and Spike was leaning backwards in his chair in such a manner he was dangerously close to toppling as his entire body shook with the force of his mirth. Even the sterner Joyce and the more subdued Willow snickered in derision, while all Buffy could do was blink.
“Cordy? The Cordy we all loved to hate back in high-school? The same Cordy who thought I was deranged for getting involved with a vampire and then moved away as fast as she could to escape Sunnydale? That Cordy?” Her mind refused to process the information at hand.
“She was very inventive with her wish-making, even though it cost me my powers. I can see how someone as ruthless as her could control one of the most sadistic vampires to ever walk the earth.” Anya appeared pensive for a second before continuing with her usual matter-of-fact tone, “I think their coupling would produce many orgasms, so the ‘soul’ issue will have to be dealt with, though.” Happy that she’d relayed the important information, she went back to counting the money in the cash register for the fifth time that evening.
“Who said sex with Cordy would make Dead Boy’s ‘soul’ fly away?” Xander said in between bouts of laughter. “I mean, she will just, you know, tie him up and call him a fashion victim or something and he’ll brood so much that happiness will be the last thing on his forehead-shaped brain.”
“Oi, Harris, you forgot about the fact that she actually has a bloody clue as to how a woman should be treated, I’d wager.” Spike found himself talking to Xander as if to a pal over a pint, much to his chagrin. “Sorry, Slayer, but you know he’s got a soft spot for impressionable virgins. I’m betting the Cheerleader will wipe the floor with him if he tries his rot with her.” And with that said, the chair actually gave way and the Master Vampire found himself on his back, his legs and hands sticking in the air, like some giant turtle overturned. This prompted new gales of laughter from the males in the shop, himself included, and undelicate snorts from the Summers women.
Pandemonium reigned inside the once-silent Magic Box for a few more minutes, each time the silliness tampered down, someone making another rude comment about the newly-revealed “soul mates” and the howls of laughter would start anew, the men being the worst of the bunch, but slowly the others joining in the good humor.
Finally the two gods, after having chuckled silently on their own, managed to get the others’ attention back and tried to steer them towards more pressing matters. “As for Angel’s, ahem, soul… it’s all a matter of intent, really. If he ever truly embraced the right path for the right reasons, he’d be home free.” Bendis had a slightly disapproving frown on her face as she spoke of this, something seemingly bothering her, but refusing to bring it to the fore.
“What do you mean?” Buffy had gone past her shocked state and now was in ‘Slayer trying to find answers mode’. “Tell me everything and it better be good.”
“Look, Slayer, most of this is going to happen no matter what you or anybody tries to do about it. There were some things put into motion a long time ago, the current events being plans from eons ago finally coming to fruition. Whose plans - now there’s the question.” Zamolxis looked almost like an old man telling stories to his grandchildren.
“As with turning a Slayer, using Angel or any other vampire with his peculiar condition to sway people to one side or the other has been a pet project of the major players since the days of the Corruption.” He shook his head at their disbelieving stares. “Did you think that it happened only once?” After a hollow and mirthless laugh he continued, “It’s something that happens every thousand years or so: a vamp gets cursed, a Slayer gets turned and everyone holds their breath asking the same question ‘will they be the ones?’ Meaning will they be the ones to bring everything down or purge it?”
Taking in Spike’s dejected look, Zamolxis decided to elaborate further, “Having one of these on one side or the other gives that one side the edge. Having both would spell trouble for the opposing side. Having more of them fight on the same side? Priceless!” He smiled at his own pun. “Look, if things continued as they were, there would have been an army of turned Slayers, two ‘souled’ vampires and a plethora of half-breeds and mates of the two types running around creating havoc.”
Joyce picked up on this and just had to ask, “Two vampires? Angel and who else?” Of course, she had her eyes firmly set on Spike as she inquired about this.
“One who would have sought the ‘affliction’ of his own volition, truly the first one to do so. And for the same reasons he put a leash on his demon, he would unleash the armies of Hell,” Bendis answered in half-veiled references to the one Joyce was already suspecting, without most of the others catching on.
“So, who is it?” Buffy asked, her mind tearing through the information she already had at astonishing speed for whomever thought she was slow. The only likely conclusion was clear, as were the reasons. The warmth and dread this brought on was sobering as she raised her eyes to meet Spike’s clear blue orbs which were practically screaming he would do it. For her.
“I’ll let you all guess that one, but the point is moot anyway,” Bendis decided to steer them away from the subject. “The important thing is that changes will have to be made and soon.” Raising a hand to prevent the protests the others had for her cutting short the explanations, she started giving orders in the same tone a mother uses on her wayward children. “Tomorrow afternoon, Joyce and I will have to have a chat about her future participation on all this.”
“Why mom? She’s not feeling well, so you don’t get her involved in this, or you’ll have a pissed off Slayer on your hands.”
“Really simple, Buffy. Since we plan on enlarging your power base exponentially, we shall require the services of as many as possible in this endeavor to strengthen the forces of righteousness.” Zamolxis smirked at the blank look his statement garnered on the Slayer’s face. “In terms less like the ones your Watcher would use, we’ll get you lots of allies and making them all work together will be a team effort. So we’re enlarging your team to fight the good fight.”
“Why couldn’t you say that in the first place?” Buffy rolled her eyes as she spoke. “You old and powerful guys always have to sound like some documentary nobody cares about and make my brain fry with boredom even when you’re making sense.” She frowned at herself a little. “And now you’ve got me speaking in tomes.”
“Your mom is just part of the issue.” With that said, Zamolxis changed his countenance again, a gloomy disposition darkening his features. “Amara and the rest were in possession of a great power, being the wardens of this world. They had within them the powers to lock or unlock the doors to other places.”
Seeing that Buffy was catching on to his next revelation, he continued before she could interrupt him. “They had the Key within them, the same Key that Glorificus now seeks in order to return home.”
“So what happened to that key, and why does Glory think we have it?” Willow got back into the discussion, still stinging from the things that had been said about her, but eager to find out more.
“Because after the spell that the last of the Vampiri performed to weaken their former brethren, some of the powers went into a few artifacts: the ring, a couple of weapons and a few other trinkets. The main part of it was kept in its energy form, every time one of the other items was destroyed, the energy returned to the source.”
“So when the Poofter broke the Gem, it just went on its merry way back to mummy?” Spike asked with a smirk, thinking about another thing his grandsire had bollixed up.
“In essence, yes. The energy is impossible to destroy, you see, simply changing its form, but never ceasing to exist.” He took a deep breath and finally broached the subject fully at hand. “The latest shape that energy has taken is that of a young and impressionable girl, a last ditch effort by some monks of an ancient and now extinct Order to keep the Key from falling into the wrong hands.”
Joyce felt a hot knife slash through her heart, but decided to ask the question on everyone’s mind anyway, “Who’s the girl?”
Bendis’ simple answer was received like a thunderbolt, “Dawn.”
“What do you mean ‘Dawn’? You mean some other Dawn, don’t you? It has to be another Dawn! I’m real!” Dawn now broke down in tears looking wildly at the people in the room for some support or for someone to refute what had just been said. Most of them seemed bewildered, while Buffy, Giles and Spike were suspiciously composed.
“Dawnie, it’s OK -”
“You knew! You knew and you didn’t say anything.” Dawn turned accusing eyes on her sister. “How long have you known? Did everybody know before me?”
“Dawn!” Bendis managed to break through the clamor made by the others, leaving an eerie silence in the shop. “You are real, as real as Buffy is the Slayer and as real as the witchcraft done by Tara and Willow. You are, for all intents and purposes, a Summers girl, sharing your sister’s blood. The fact that the monks created you just a few months ago and then altered everyone’s memories to include you does nothing to diminish who and what you are.”
“So I didn’t even exist before then?” Dawn wailed, collapsing on the floor and sobbing her heart out. Joyce and Buffy quickly moved to her side, hugging her from both sides and trying their best to comfort the distraught teen.
“As my companion stated earlier, the Key cannot be destroyed. For all intents and purposes, you are Dawn Summers now, as part of you was once the Gem of Amara, as you were once an integral part of the Vampiri Council and so on and so forth.” Smiling kindly, Bendis kneeled beside the young girl and placed a hand on hers. “You are human now, just as you were energy before. The laws that apply to humans apply to you now as well. You can be hurt, you can feel joy and sadness, you can love and be loved…” she trailed off, directing eyes to those surrounding them, their faces open and loving. “You are loved very much, Dawn. Remember that before all else.”
“You’ve got Summers blood, Dawnie, that’s what the monks told me. They made you from me. And I love you,” Buffy told the somewhat calmer teen.
“Whatever happens, you are my baby girl and nothing’s going to change that, you hear me, Pumpkin-belly?” Joyce also tried to soothe her youngest.
As the others hastened to offer their reassurances, Xander felt fit to add his two cents. “Great, now I’m the only freak again.”
“How’s that, Whe… ahem, Harris?” Can’t bloody hurt bein’ more civil to the bloke. We could share Angel anecdotes later on. As long as he doesn’t even look at the Slayer the wrong way, but even then, he’s got the Demon Bird to give him the what for.
Startled by Spike’s unusual care to say his name, Xander clarified, “Well, look at us: two representatives from powerful godlike thingies, a Watcher and ex-rogue Merlin, two witches, a Slayer and her mom, a mystical Key, a lovely ex-demon… expat… whatever, and… well… me.” He grinned as he went on, “I guess I’ll never fit in anywhere.”
Even Dawn laughed at Xander’s assessment of his status and Spike patted him on the back in a friendly manner for lightening the mood.
“With your dating history, you fit in just fine.” Buffy snorted. “I mean, come on: Inca mummy, Mantis lady, Cordelia and now Anya.” She turned her eyes briefly to the girl in question. “Sorry, but you’re not exactly what is usually considered normal either.” Again frowning a bit to herself, she corrected herself, “Although I guess for us that is normal.”
“No problem. It’s good to see that you are starting to accept that and I’m sure once Spike starts giving you orgasms we’ll trade many stories together.” Anya stated in her usual blunt manner. As an afterthought, she also turned toward Dawn and told her, “Maybe you can learn how to open doors so I can go to Arashmahar and kick D’Hoffryn for lying to me.” And with that, she returned to her counter and her usual stack of bills.
Buffy was scarlet thinking about Spike and the possibility of… Oh, my God, this is just like Willow’s spell, only for real. Spike. Lips of Spike. She looked at the smirking vampire while he gave a suggestive thrust with his hips jutting forward. Spike of Spike. Oh, my God. And her blush deepened.
Joyce caught on to the interplay between the two and smiled to herself, guessing that her daughter was more attracted to the blonde vampire than she’d previously let on. Xander was a bit flustered by his love’s words, but refrained from speaking up due to his recent epiphanies, so he let it slide. Giles was too busy admiring the way Joyce’s ass was sticking out in the pants she was wearing as she was crouched on the floor to bother with other couples’ orgasms. Anya stopped and turned around, startled that nobody had attempted to correct her. Seeing no disapproving stares, she shrugged and went back to work.
“Listen,” Zamolxis cut through the uncomfortable silence that had descended, “why don’t we all just call it a night, as it’s getting rather late, and reconvene tomorrow evening, say around seven?” As everyone nodded their assent, he rubbed his palms together and extended his hand, palm up toward Bendis. As she took his hand, their fingers entwining, they bid everyone farewell and exited via the front door.
Behind them, the mentally exhausted Scoobies picked themselves up and went home, one by one.
Pairing: Buffy/Spike; Zamolxis/Bendis; Xander/Anya; Willow/Tara; and so on... ;)
Rating: Adult
Summary: Something insidious is brewing in the Universe. And that something is boredom. Gods, supernatural beings and mortals will find themselves forever changed by the consequences of one bored Being.
Here: Final part of the second session.
Spoilers/Warnings: BtVS:S5; Adult language; Sexual situations
Disclaimer: Not mine, really! So please don't sue. Joss, Fox, Mutant enemy and all the others are the ones!
Beta: dusty273
AN: Yup... we're slowly closing in on the Spuffiness. Many thanks to my darling Sotia for test-reading and to Mari for being a darling and beta-ing this.
Xander was doubled over with uncontrollable laughter. Giles was laughing so hard he had tears streaming down his face and Spike was leaning backwards in his chair in such a manner he was dangerously close to toppling as his entire body shook with the force of his mirth. Even the sterner Joyce and the more subdued Willow snickered in derision, while all Buffy could do was blink.
“Cordy? The Cordy we all loved to hate back in high-school? The same Cordy who thought I was deranged for getting involved with a vampire and then moved away as fast as she could to escape Sunnydale? That Cordy?” Her mind refused to process the information at hand.
“She was very inventive with her wish-making, even though it cost me my powers. I can see how someone as ruthless as her could control one of the most sadistic vampires to ever walk the earth.” Anya appeared pensive for a second before continuing with her usual matter-of-fact tone, “I think their coupling would produce many orgasms, so the ‘soul’ issue will have to be dealt with, though.” Happy that she’d relayed the important information, she went back to counting the money in the cash register for the fifth time that evening.
“Who said sex with Cordy would make Dead Boy’s ‘soul’ fly away?” Xander said in between bouts of laughter. “I mean, she will just, you know, tie him up and call him a fashion victim or something and he’ll brood so much that happiness will be the last thing on his forehead-shaped brain.”
“Oi, Harris, you forgot about the fact that she actually has a bloody clue as to how a woman should be treated, I’d wager.” Spike found himself talking to Xander as if to a pal over a pint, much to his chagrin. “Sorry, Slayer, but you know he’s got a soft spot for impressionable virgins. I’m betting the Cheerleader will wipe the floor with him if he tries his rot with her.” And with that said, the chair actually gave way and the Master Vampire found himself on his back, his legs and hands sticking in the air, like some giant turtle overturned. This prompted new gales of laughter from the males in the shop, himself included, and undelicate snorts from the Summers women.
Pandemonium reigned inside the once-silent Magic Box for a few more minutes, each time the silliness tampered down, someone making another rude comment about the newly-revealed “soul mates” and the howls of laughter would start anew, the men being the worst of the bunch, but slowly the others joining in the good humor.
Finally the two gods, after having chuckled silently on their own, managed to get the others’ attention back and tried to steer them towards more pressing matters. “As for Angel’s, ahem, soul… it’s all a matter of intent, really. If he ever truly embraced the right path for the right reasons, he’d be home free.” Bendis had a slightly disapproving frown on her face as she spoke of this, something seemingly bothering her, but refusing to bring it to the fore.
“What do you mean?” Buffy had gone past her shocked state and now was in ‘Slayer trying to find answers mode’. “Tell me everything and it better be good.”
“Look, Slayer, most of this is going to happen no matter what you or anybody tries to do about it. There were some things put into motion a long time ago, the current events being plans from eons ago finally coming to fruition. Whose plans - now there’s the question.” Zamolxis looked almost like an old man telling stories to his grandchildren.
“As with turning a Slayer, using Angel or any other vampire with his peculiar condition to sway people to one side or the other has been a pet project of the major players since the days of the Corruption.” He shook his head at their disbelieving stares. “Did you think that it happened only once?” After a hollow and mirthless laugh he continued, “It’s something that happens every thousand years or so: a vamp gets cursed, a Slayer gets turned and everyone holds their breath asking the same question ‘will they be the ones?’ Meaning will they be the ones to bring everything down or purge it?”
Taking in Spike’s dejected look, Zamolxis decided to elaborate further, “Having one of these on one side or the other gives that one side the edge. Having both would spell trouble for the opposing side. Having more of them fight on the same side? Priceless!” He smiled at his own pun. “Look, if things continued as they were, there would have been an army of turned Slayers, two ‘souled’ vampires and a plethora of half-breeds and mates of the two types running around creating havoc.”
Joyce picked up on this and just had to ask, “Two vampires? Angel and who else?” Of course, she had her eyes firmly set on Spike as she inquired about this.
“One who would have sought the ‘affliction’ of his own volition, truly the first one to do so. And for the same reasons he put a leash on his demon, he would unleash the armies of Hell,” Bendis answered in half-veiled references to the one Joyce was already suspecting, without most of the others catching on.
“So, who is it?” Buffy asked, her mind tearing through the information she already had at astonishing speed for whomever thought she was slow. The only likely conclusion was clear, as were the reasons. The warmth and dread this brought on was sobering as she raised her eyes to meet Spike’s clear blue orbs which were practically screaming he would do it. For her.
“I’ll let you all guess that one, but the point is moot anyway,” Bendis decided to steer them away from the subject. “The important thing is that changes will have to be made and soon.” Raising a hand to prevent the protests the others had for her cutting short the explanations, she started giving orders in the same tone a mother uses on her wayward children. “Tomorrow afternoon, Joyce and I will have to have a chat about her future participation on all this.”
“Why mom? She’s not feeling well, so you don’t get her involved in this, or you’ll have a pissed off Slayer on your hands.”
“Really simple, Buffy. Since we plan on enlarging your power base exponentially, we shall require the services of as many as possible in this endeavor to strengthen the forces of righteousness.” Zamolxis smirked at the blank look his statement garnered on the Slayer’s face. “In terms less like the ones your Watcher would use, we’ll get you lots of allies and making them all work together will be a team effort. So we’re enlarging your team to fight the good fight.”
“Why couldn’t you say that in the first place?” Buffy rolled her eyes as she spoke. “You old and powerful guys always have to sound like some documentary nobody cares about and make my brain fry with boredom even when you’re making sense.” She frowned at herself a little. “And now you’ve got me speaking in tomes.”
“Your mom is just part of the issue.” With that said, Zamolxis changed his countenance again, a gloomy disposition darkening his features. “Amara and the rest were in possession of a great power, being the wardens of this world. They had within them the powers to lock or unlock the doors to other places.”
Seeing that Buffy was catching on to his next revelation, he continued before she could interrupt him. “They had the Key within them, the same Key that Glorificus now seeks in order to return home.”
“So what happened to that key, and why does Glory think we have it?” Willow got back into the discussion, still stinging from the things that had been said about her, but eager to find out more.
“Because after the spell that the last of the Vampiri performed to weaken their former brethren, some of the powers went into a few artifacts: the ring, a couple of weapons and a few other trinkets. The main part of it was kept in its energy form, every time one of the other items was destroyed, the energy returned to the source.”
“So when the Poofter broke the Gem, it just went on its merry way back to mummy?” Spike asked with a smirk, thinking about another thing his grandsire had bollixed up.
“In essence, yes. The energy is impossible to destroy, you see, simply changing its form, but never ceasing to exist.” He took a deep breath and finally broached the subject fully at hand. “The latest shape that energy has taken is that of a young and impressionable girl, a last ditch effort by some monks of an ancient and now extinct Order to keep the Key from falling into the wrong hands.”
Joyce felt a hot knife slash through her heart, but decided to ask the question on everyone’s mind anyway, “Who’s the girl?”
Bendis’ simple answer was received like a thunderbolt, “Dawn.”
“What do you mean ‘Dawn’? You mean some other Dawn, don’t you? It has to be another Dawn! I’m real!” Dawn now broke down in tears looking wildly at the people in the room for some support or for someone to refute what had just been said. Most of them seemed bewildered, while Buffy, Giles and Spike were suspiciously composed.
“Dawnie, it’s OK -”
“You knew! You knew and you didn’t say anything.” Dawn turned accusing eyes on her sister. “How long have you known? Did everybody know before me?”
“Dawn!” Bendis managed to break through the clamor made by the others, leaving an eerie silence in the shop. “You are real, as real as Buffy is the Slayer and as real as the witchcraft done by Tara and Willow. You are, for all intents and purposes, a Summers girl, sharing your sister’s blood. The fact that the monks created you just a few months ago and then altered everyone’s memories to include you does nothing to diminish who and what you are.”
“So I didn’t even exist before then?” Dawn wailed, collapsing on the floor and sobbing her heart out. Joyce and Buffy quickly moved to her side, hugging her from both sides and trying their best to comfort the distraught teen.
“As my companion stated earlier, the Key cannot be destroyed. For all intents and purposes, you are Dawn Summers now, as part of you was once the Gem of Amara, as you were once an integral part of the Vampiri Council and so on and so forth.” Smiling kindly, Bendis kneeled beside the young girl and placed a hand on hers. “You are human now, just as you were energy before. The laws that apply to humans apply to you now as well. You can be hurt, you can feel joy and sadness, you can love and be loved…” she trailed off, directing eyes to those surrounding them, their faces open and loving. “You are loved very much, Dawn. Remember that before all else.”
“You’ve got Summers blood, Dawnie, that’s what the monks told me. They made you from me. And I love you,” Buffy told the somewhat calmer teen.
“Whatever happens, you are my baby girl and nothing’s going to change that, you hear me, Pumpkin-belly?” Joyce also tried to soothe her youngest.
As the others hastened to offer their reassurances, Xander felt fit to add his two cents. “Great, now I’m the only freak again.”
“How’s that, Whe… ahem, Harris?” Can’t bloody hurt bein’ more civil to the bloke. We could share Angel anecdotes later on. As long as he doesn’t even look at the Slayer the wrong way, but even then, he’s got the Demon Bird to give him the what for.
Startled by Spike’s unusual care to say his name, Xander clarified, “Well, look at us: two representatives from powerful godlike thingies, a Watcher and ex-rogue Merlin, two witches, a Slayer and her mom, a mystical Key, a lovely ex-demon… expat… whatever, and… well… me.” He grinned as he went on, “I guess I’ll never fit in anywhere.”
Even Dawn laughed at Xander’s assessment of his status and Spike patted him on the back in a friendly manner for lightening the mood.
“With your dating history, you fit in just fine.” Buffy snorted. “I mean, come on: Inca mummy, Mantis lady, Cordelia and now Anya.” She turned her eyes briefly to the girl in question. “Sorry, but you’re not exactly what is usually considered normal either.” Again frowning a bit to herself, she corrected herself, “Although I guess for us that is normal.”
“No problem. It’s good to see that you are starting to accept that and I’m sure once Spike starts giving you orgasms we’ll trade many stories together.” Anya stated in her usual blunt manner. As an afterthought, she also turned toward Dawn and told her, “Maybe you can learn how to open doors so I can go to Arashmahar and kick D’Hoffryn for lying to me.” And with that, she returned to her counter and her usual stack of bills.
Buffy was scarlet thinking about Spike and the possibility of… Oh, my God, this is just like Willow’s spell, only for real. Spike. Lips of Spike. She looked at the smirking vampire while he gave a suggestive thrust with his hips jutting forward. Spike of Spike. Oh, my God. And her blush deepened.
Joyce caught on to the interplay between the two and smiled to herself, guessing that her daughter was more attracted to the blonde vampire than she’d previously let on. Xander was a bit flustered by his love’s words, but refrained from speaking up due to his recent epiphanies, so he let it slide. Giles was too busy admiring the way Joyce’s ass was sticking out in the pants she was wearing as she was crouched on the floor to bother with other couples’ orgasms. Anya stopped and turned around, startled that nobody had attempted to correct her. Seeing no disapproving stares, she shrugged and went back to work.
“Listen,” Zamolxis cut through the uncomfortable silence that had descended, “why don’t we all just call it a night, as it’s getting rather late, and reconvene tomorrow evening, say around seven?” As everyone nodded their assent, he rubbed his palms together and extended his hand, palm up toward Bendis. As she took his hand, their fingers entwining, they bid everyone farewell and exited via the front door.
Behind them, the mentally exhausted Scoobies picked themselves up and went home, one by one.