Living For Love - (8) Meetings - Part 3

Tasha

Previous Chapter Summary: Giles and Joyce met up with Wesley and Faith at the Sunnydale Park. All four of them arrived a half an hour earlier to the meeting place. Buffy, Spike, Willow, and Xander quickened their pace along Sunnydale's streets from Spike's house to get to the park. Buffy was worried about no one being there to help protect their family. Dalton assured Buffy, through their link that he was already at the park in the tunnels.

Current Chapter Summary: Wesley and Faith get a look at true daywalkers for the first time. Spike and Buffy will be in full view in the sunlight. Will that clinch things in Wesley and Faith's minds that Spike and Buffy are more than "evil demons"? It's time for Wesley and Faith to truly meet Spike and Buffy. Will Wesley and Faith accept the daywalkers? Will Travers make good on his promise to Roger Wyndham-Pryce to kill Wesley?

Disclaimer and Distribution notes are listed on the Index page of this story.

Faith moved her hand out of her pocket and into her waistband. A strong supernatural presence was coming closer to them. Her Slayer side was pacing around inside her like a caged animal. She wasn't sure if that was a good thing or a bad thing for it to do.

Giles noticed Faith's change in posture and demeanor. He was pretty positive that Spike and Buffy were getting closer to their position. The tendrils of the protective blood link they all shared usually tingled when one of the two "heads" of the "family" were near. A sideways glance at Joyce's smiling face confirmed that she felt Buffy and Spike as well.

"We have one more very important book to show you, but I think that you need to meet a few people first." Joyce grinned. She didn't bother to turn around. She felt Spike and Buffy's presence near, and she assumed they had made it to the edges of the park.

"No tricks," Wesley stiffened beside Faith. Although vampires were not able to stroll through the sunlight, any other number of demons had no sunlight afflictions. He started to get nervous again. Things were going so well with Mr. Giles. He hoped his curious nature hadn't allowed him to put Faith and himself in harm's direct path.

"You wanted this meeting in the middle of the day, Wesley." Giles used a more familiar tone and salutation for the young Watcher. "We agreed to your terms, but you are about to find out that the sunlight does not bother …" He paused until he heard Wesley and Faith both gasp, " … Daywalkers."

"Dear Lord in Heaven." Wesley stood up so fast that he tripped over the picnic bench and fell on his backside. He made the sign of the cross and sent up a prayer to the heavens quickly. Then, he repeated it again for good measure, in case God was occupied the first time. "How … How …"

Faith stood up much more slowly. Her entire body was coiled tightly, every muscle ready to spring into action if needed. Her grip tightened on the stake in her waistband, but she made no move to bring it out of its hiding place.

"You weren't expecting us?" Spike chuckled behind a fangy grin. "Too bad. I'd never miss a party."

Buffy playfully slapped Spike on the arm. "How many times do I have to tell you to play nice with the other kiddies?" She grinned.

"But you like it when I'm all big and bad, pet." Spike playfully nipped the air in front of Buffy. His demon face receded behind his human mask.

Willow and Xander rolled their eyes jointly. They had walked up behind Spike and Buffy. They moved around the vampire couple slowly and sat down at the table on either side of Giles and Joyce.

Xander extended his hand out to Faith. "Xander Harris." He didn't expect the Slayer to take it, but he wanted to be polite. "Not a vampire or daywalker. Just a human part of the Scoobies." He dropped his hand onto the top of the table when Faith remained rigid.

"I'm Willow Rosenberg. Resident Wicca in training." Willow waved slowly. She felt bad for the sputtering man on the ground. "I think that you'd better take some deep breaths, or you are going to pass out." She pointed at Wesley.

"If you are done mocking me, I demand an explanation!" Wesley jumped to his feet. His anger over looking like a fool, over rode his fears. "I specifically said …"

"Open your eyes! The sun is high overhead, you prat." Giles slammed his fist on the table. "I did exactly as you wanted. You are the one being a narrow minded git."

Joyce wrapped her hand around Giles' arm and rested her head on his shoulder. Buffy was like a daughter to him, and the months since her turning had been hard on them all. He was as much of a Papa Bear about her safety as Joyce was a Mama Bear.

Giles forced himself to calm down. He inhaled several deep gulps of air in and let them out. "If Buffy was all that the Council keeps accusing her of, do you honestly think that she could walk in the sun?"

"No, but … but …" Wesley tried to regain his wits about him, but he was at a loss as to how to act or what to say.

"This is what I've been trying to tell you about." Giles scooted the book across the table that Athena gave to them several months ago. "Athena, the head of the Coven in England, gave this book to us when she came to Sunnydale after Buffy was turned. She specifically gave Spike and Buffy her blessings before she left as well."

"Athena?" Wesley cautiously sat back down at the table. He kept his eyes on Buffy and Spike, but his hand tugged the book closer to him. He scooted closer to Faith. He wasn't looking for her protection. He merely needed to know that she was safe.

Faith calmed down a lot more when Wesley sat closer to her. She slowly let go of her stake and sat back down completely. She inched a little closer to him too for comfort.

Buffy and Spike stepped up to the table and stood behind Joyce Summers and Rupert Giles. Both of them scanned the horizon in all directions to be sure they were alone in the park. A mental check with Dalton below, confirmed that no one else was in the vicinity. They both relaxed a little bit.

Spike glanced at the new Watcher and then the new Slayer. Something seemed different to him from the night before. There seemed to be a bit more tension between them, but they were sitting awfully close to each other. Was there a fight after Spike and Buffy went home? Was it something more?

Wesley noticed Spike's switching stares between him and Faith. He scooted a little further away from Faith nervously.

Faith fingered the edges of the envelope in her pocket again. "Do you think I could talk to you for a minute, B?" She motioned her head away from the table and the rest of the group. "It's kind of private."

Spike tensed up next to his Mate. He shook his head back and forth even as Buffy squeezed his arm and nodded her head. He looked down into her eyes. 'I don't like it.'

'Trust me, Spike.' Buffy smiled up at Spike warmly. 'I think I know what she wants to talk to me about.'

'Please be careful.'

"Always," Buffy said out loud. She turned to Faith, stepped away from Spike and motioned for Faith to lead the way.

"Amazing," Wesley spoke in awe. "They really share a telepathic communication between them."

"I believe Rupert told you that already," Spike growled out in annoyance. "Did the Council take away your eardrums as well as brain cells when they brainwashed you?"

"William!" Joyce chastised and cuffed Spike in the back of the head. "That was rude."

Spike, duly chastised, sighed. "Sorry, Mum." His nerves were strung so tightly that he almost snapped back at Joyce before her words permeated his stressed out brain. Thankfully his anger receded in time for him to hold his tongue from releasing further insults.

"It isn't me that you should be apologizing to. How are we ever going to convince him that we know what we're doing, if you keep being such a hard ass?"

The rest of the Scoobies blinked. Joyce Summers hardly ever swore. They were glad her chastisement was directed at Spike and not them.

"Sorry," Spike ground out the word past his lips in Wes' direction. "Sometimes my mouth gets away with me when I'm worried about those I love." He looked back at Joyce. "That sufficient, Mum?"

Wesley would have fallen to the ground again if he wasn't already sitting back down. A 150+ year old Master vampire, the killer of more than one Slayer, was bowing to the wishes of a human female … one not even his Mate.

"It will do for now. Now behave, William." Joyce waggled her finger at Spike in reprisal.

"Yes, Mum."

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

"I'm sure you have a lot of questions, Faith. Lay em on me." Buffy sat down on one of the swings.

"I do have a lot of questions, but I have something to deliver first." Faith stood in front of Buffy's swing. She pulled the ragged envelope from her back pocket. "It didn't travel as well as I did, but I never opened it." She extended her hand out to Buffy to give her the envelope.

"Thank you very much!" Buffy beamed with pride at Faith. She accepted the envelope and tucked it into the front pocket of her leather pants. The first part of Faith's test was over, and the brunette Slayer had passed. Buffy was very happy about that.

"You aren't going to read it?"

"Nope. I can wait until we're done to get the message." Buffy smiled. She could see Faith's curiosity about ready to bubble over. "It's just the answer to a question I sent to England."

"Come on, B." Faith was trying not to pout, but she was dying to know what she carried around and kept away from Wesley and the Council. "She told me it was important, and it would help out." She plopped down on a swing next to Buffy. "Please don't leave me hanging here."

Buffy chuckled good naturedly. "All right, Faith."

Faith sat on the edge of her swing and twisted the chain around as she twirled herself.

Buffy opened the envelope and unfolded the piece of parchment inside. She read it silently. "I asked Athena to check something for me to help you and Wes with your decision."

"And? You're killing me here, B." Faith felt the kinship towards her "Slayer" sister strengthen. For the first time in a great long time, she really felt like someone could truly understand her.

Buffy handed the paper to Faith. "I think we should take that back over to ..." Buffy puffed up her chest and straightened her back. She looked like she had a pole up her butt. In a prim but mangled British accent she spoke, "… Mr. Wesley Wyndham-Pryce for his analysis."

Faith clutched one hand to her stomach and laughed hard. "Oh B, that was priceless. I might not be able to look at him with a straight face ever again."

Buffy mockingly mimicked the young Watcher, straightening invisible glasses. "Really, Miss Lehane. Is that a proper way to act?" She continued her impersonation.

Faith practically fell off the swing. She hooted her mirth out more loudly. The sound reached the others at the picnic table several yards away.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

The Scoobies and Wesley looked over the park in the direction of the two women on the swings. "I don't believe I've seen Miss Lehane share in such mirth the entire week I've known her," Wesley commented first.

"You haven't made her smile in a whole week?" Spike tutted. "Not quite the ladies man are you, Watcher? I'd have gotten more than a smile out of her in a week. Slayers are very passionate."

Wesley splutted, "Miss Lehane is my charge. I would never … It would be unseemly." His face turned beet red, not in anger but in embarrassment.

Giles tried to hide his own mirth behind a hand over his mouth. He could see that Joyce was ready to cuff Spike in the back of the head again, and he didn't want her smacking him too.

'Hmmm, seems I hit a nerve. Very interesting,' Spike thought. "Don't have a coronary, Watcher. I'm just teasing."

'What's interesting?' Buffy stood at the head of the picnic table with a softly chuckling Faith beside her. "Did we miss anything?"

"Not really Miss Summers," Wesley quickly answered Buffy before Spike could tease him any further. He was mortified with himself enough without having Faith being party to his embarrassment too. "Did the two of you get anything settled?"

Faith handed the piece of parchment to Wesley. "We'll have time to talk later, but I think you should see this now."

"Where did this come from?" Wesley scanned the paper's contents quickly. He reread it a couple times to be sure.

"A woman named Athena gave it to me before we left England.

"Athena? From the Coven?" Wesley questioned. "Are you sure?"

"Yep, pretty positive." Faith nodded her head. "She told me to bring it with me to Sunnydale and give it to the Slayer. I thought she was a bit strange to trust me with it, but I figured I had nothing to lose."

"That was a dangerous thing to do, Faith." Wesley reread the note again. "You could have been wrong about her identity and put yourself in grave danger."

"I made a Slayer decision, and it looks like it was the right one." Faith pointed at the paper. "This proves that Buffy Summers still has her soul. She isn't an evil demon like the Council said."

"It would seem so. Athena is well respected as the leader of one of the largest Covens in existence, certainly the largest in England." Wesley set the paper on the table and pushed it towards Giles. "I know her magical signature. It can not be reproduced." He looked up at Giles. "This only adds to the evidence that your cause is just."

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

Dalton paced back and forth in the sewers below the park. He knew that his Master and Mistress were safe at the moment, but he wished that he could be up there with them. He envied them for being able to live in the light as well as the darkness.

Knowing that Buffy and Spike were able to walk into the sun reinforced his own damnation in his mind. No matter how many times they tried to reassure him of his due, he felt like a lesser being in the scheme of things.

Dalton was grateful for their love and the sense of belonging that they shared with him. He supposed that he was foolish to want more than he'd already been given, but he did envy them. He wished that he could have one more day in the sun, but he knew one day would never be enough.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

Spike peered over Giles shoulder to read the note. He read it, and he was confused about the contents. He turned to Buffy to question her about it. "Why did you ask Athena to check on your soul, love? Was something wrong that you weren't telling me about?"

"No, but I thought it would help to make things easier for the new Watcher and Slayer to accept." Buffy looked up into the worried eyes of her Mate and Sire. "You know I didn't want them here, but you all outvoted me. I thought this could be my way of helping out. I didn't want to have to hurt anyone because we couldn't convince them."

Spike drew Buffy into his arms. He knew how much each death weighed on her soul. The truth be told, it was starting to bother him as well, but he tried not to show it to spare Buffy any further pain. "We do what we have to do, pet. Evil is evil, no matter if they are human or demon."

"I know, but sometimes I really wish we didn't have to." Buffy nestled her face in Spike's chest. She took comfort in his warm embrace, the suns rays having heated up his skin.

Wesley watched the two vampires interact. He shook his head back and forth.

"Something wrong, Wesley?" Giles asked. He'd been watching the young Watcher's every moment and action for the entire meeting.

"Anyone who sees them like this would be blind not to see the love and tenderness they share." Wesley sighed. "It could all be an act, but somehow I seriously doubt that." He pushed the book that he had been looking through back over to Giles. "I don't need to read any more about the prophecy or daywalkers right now. You have my support."

"And you, Faith?" Joyce asked the brunette woman. "What do you think?"

"I'm willing to give it a shot." Faith shrugged her shoulders. She tried to feign nonchalance, but she was glad that things were working out so far. "Worst that could happen is B tries to kill me. It's not like that hasn't happened to me since I've been called." She chuckled.

Buffy looked up at Faith, and she untwisted herself from Spike's arms to hug the other Slayer. "I'm glad that you're with us, Faith."

"It's cool, B. You don't bite me, and I won't stake you." Faith teased her "sister" Slayer.

"There might come a time that you'll …" Buffy's sentence was never finished as Dalton's thoughts broke into her mind and Spike's.

'Master I think that …' Dalton's thoughts entered Spike's mind at the same moment that Spike picked up a nearby scent. "Everybody down!" Spike yelled, and his eyes located the unwanted guest at the same time that a bullet was shot in Wesley Wyndham-Pryce's direction.

Wesley hit the ground hard, breaking his glasses under the pressure of the fall. Spike's body covered Wesley's, and two screams of pain rent through the air right before they both impacted with the dirt.

"Spike!" Buffy called out at the same moment that Faith yelled out, "Wes!" Both girls scrambled along the ground to the two men to asses them both for wounds.

'Dalton!' Buffy's thoughts called out to her son.

'I'm on it Mistress. They won't get far.' Dalton was already running through the tunnels that traversed all of Sunnydale underground. He followed the scent, pounding feet, and beating heart of his enemy. He had no idea how the enemy got that close without them noticing it, but he would find out. He was his family's arm of vengeance.

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