Banner by Selene

Chapter 9

Rome

They lay together, wrapped in each other’s arms, until they could hear Dawn getting ready for school. Sighing, Buffy disentangled herself from Spike and got out of bed. She threw on a t-shirt and a pair of shorts. Giles was due to call soon and she needed to get to the study. Spike sat up in bed as well, the sheet falling down his naked chest to pool in his lap. He didn’t want Buffy to have to explain things on her own, so he swung his legs over the side of the bed and stood up. He grabbed a pair of his jeans from the bottom drawer, still surprised that she had kept his things. He padded barefoot to the door, a few steps behind her.

“You don’t have to come with me,” Buffy told him over her shoulder.

“Buffy. I’m here. I’m not gonna let you go through this alone. Besides, I need to speak with Giles as well.”

Buffy cocked her head to the side, giving him a questioning look. He just shook his head at her. “Not here.” Quietly, they made their way downstairs.

~*~*~*~*~

If nothing else, Giles’ phone call was like clockwork. Promptly at eight, the phone began to ring. Buffy picked up the extension before the second ring could finish.

“Hi, Giles,” Buffy said into the phone.

“Er...Buffy. Hello. My, that was fast.”

“I was waiting for you. I’ve got something bad to tell you. I think I’ve had another slayer dream,” she rushed out, a catch in her voice. Hearing this, Spike came around the desk, displaced her so he could sit, then settled her on his lap.

Buffy was grateful for his support. She didn’t know how she would get through the story without his presence. Every time she relived the dream, tears welled in her eyes. Spike, for his part, just continued to soothe her with his touch. Soon, Buffy was finished with her story. He took the phone from her and spoke to Giles.

“Giles, Angel is going to be couriering something to you.” (Silence.) “I’m not sure. Something that showed up at their place before I left. It may not even have anything to do with Buffy’s dream.” (Silence.) “Right. Well, I’m here. I’ll look out for her.” Spike rattled off Angel’s number in Los Angeles. “Wesley deals with most of the translation stuff, so he’d be your point of contact. Let us know what you come up with. I’ve got a bad feeling, and Buffy’s dreams aren’t helping matters.”

Moments later, Spike replaced the phone on the hook. Waiting for the backlash from Buffy, he was surprised when none was forthcoming. Guiltily, he looked up at her. Whereas before she would have been all over him for withholding information, now she waited patiently for him to explain.

“Sorry, luv. I didn’t want to worry you. Besides, I’m not sure it has anything to do with us. Probably doesn’t, even. I just don’t trust the wanker not to mess it up, so I told the pooft...uh, Angel, to send what he had to Giles. If anyone can suss this out, it would be Giles.”

Buffy smiled. She gave Spike a quick hug and a peck on the cheek. Growling, Spike grabbed the back of her head to give her a real kiss.

“Hey, none of that. Dawnie will be coming down those stairs in just a moment.” Looking towards the door, the person under discussion peeped her head in.

“Hey, guys!”

“Hey, Dawnie. Ready for school?” Buffy asked as she pushed herself off Spike’s lap. She gave Spike a “you couldn’t tell she was there?” exasperated look. If she thought he could blush, she figured he’d be bright red right about now.

“Hey, ‘Bit,” Spike got out, a little strained. Quietly he said to Buffy, “You go ahead. I’ll be along in a few.” Buffy blushed as she headed for the door to join Dawn. There was no mistaking the bulge she felt when she slipped off Spike’s lap.

Spike closed his eyes and tried to will away his hard-on.

~*~*~*~*~

England

Giles stood up from behind his desk when he heard his fax machine click on. Walking over to the machine, he looked at the cover sheet. True to Spike’s word, the gang from Wolfram & Hart was sending what they had on the mysterious prophecy they had received. Putting down the cover sheet, he walked out of his office to get a cup of tea.

On his way back into his office, he saw that the fax machine had clicked off. Taking the papers, he went back behind the desk to look them over. Briefly scanning the pages, he saw that Wesley had included the text in its original form as well as a translated copy. The translated copy he put aside for now. He didn’t want to be biased as he attempted to translate the document himself.

An extensive library of books lining one whole wall of his office, and he quickly scanned through several rows, randomly selecting several texts as he went. Walking back to his desk, he placed the books for easy reach during his research and soon got to work.

~*~*~*~*~

Rome

“What’s taking him so long?”

“’Luv, he just got the stuff from Wesley a few days ago,” Spike said. “It’s not like he’s got the Scoobies to help ‘im like before. Besides, I’m sure he wants to take his time to make sure he gets it right. He’s been callin’ you every day with an update. Just be patient, pet.”

Buffy looked up from her journal to look at Spike. She had taken to writing her thoughts down in the aftermath of Sunnydale. Well, more like forced to; but that was another story. She had never been good at voicing her feelings, but by writing them down, she had eventually been able to cope after Spike had died. In the first months after she left behind the crater that was once Sunnydale, her journal had kept her sane. Her journal allowed her to talk to Spike, allowed her to still be close to him, maintain some form of connection. Even though she had him back with her now, she still wrote in her journal every day. Maybe one day she would get up the courage to show it to him. Then, he would understand the depths of her feelings for him. Her journal housed all the feelings, desires, and words that she had been unable to voice. And that she still had some trouble with saying. But, she was getting better at that. Slowly.

Spike never asked her about what she was writing in her journal. He just assumed it was slayer-related. A sort of progress report done for her trainees. He respected her privacy, and just watched quietly each day as she wrote away. Usually, he had a book out and read while she was writing. He enjoyed the almost-normalcy of their special quiet time. It was something they never really had before, this companionable silence.

“I’m trying.”

Spike glanced up from the book he was reading to look at the Slayer. In the week he had been there, he had noticed a change in her appearance. Gone were the dark circles under her eyes. Gone, too, was the sallow, washed-out complexion. Her eyes sparkled with life now and she had a healthy glow to her skin. She had started to put on a few pounds now that she was eating properly and not training until she dropped from sheer exhaustion.

“I know you are, pet. I told you, it prob’ly has nothin’ to do with us anyway. C’mere, luv.”

Sighing, Buffy closed her journal. She unfolding her feet from beneath her and stood up, put away her journal in the hope chest that housed all her personal possessions before joining Spike on the bed. His arms wrapped around her and she laid her head on his chest, sighing when Spike ran his fingers through her hair. She’d had it cut a few days ago so it only fell midway down her back and now it gleamed with renewed vitality.

“No sense borrowin’ trouble before it’s here. Giles will suss it all out, Wesley too. In the meantime, you’ve got me here and I’m not gonna let anything happen to ya.”

Buffy closed her eyes and let his soothing words and tender touch calm her.

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