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The Demon in Me by Spikeschilde
 
Epilogue
 
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Epilogue



The house on Revello Drive and its occupants seemed to deflate with the rapid approach of night. The adrenaline that they had been running on for days seemed to have suddenly run short and the claws of fatigue had begun to sink in and pull on them. Almost everyone had crawled their way into bed for some much needed rest, leaving only Giles, Joyce, Spike and Buffy among those awake.

Together they performed the required spell on Hank to permanently strip him of any ability to use magick.

The sight was horrific to say the least. Hank cursed at them and screamed pathetically as they forcibly ripped the magicks from within him. His eyes turned pure black as he used the last vestiges of his strength to try and hold on to the magicks and conjure a spell to block the one that was trying to rid him of his powers. His attempt was pitiful to the point where he abandoned that tactic to crawl his way across the floor to his ex-wife to beg that she do something to help him.

Joyce’s response was a swift, forceful fist to the face causing the man to fall back in shock and her to yelp in pain as she shook out her hand. Spike, Buffy and Giles looked at her with identical stunned expressions that were not without some measure of pride.

“What, you think I can’t throw a punch too? Please, not all Buffy’s spark is because she is the Slayer,” Joyce said, grinning at their shocked faces. Spike just smirked at her in appreciation.

Hank lain withering on the floor for the next hour and a half as he recovered from the effects of having his magicks ripped from within him. They waited patiently until he gained some measure of self before they unceremoniously picked him up and threw him out the front door with orders not to show his face around them again and to make sure he kept up the child support payments each month. With that they had slammed the door in his face and on another chapter of their lives that none of them was willing to revisit any time in the near or distant future.

The rest of the day was spent completing little tasks, such as cleaning up the remains of the ritual that had taken place in the living room. Both the glyphs and the ring of dried blood had disappeared along with the blinding flash of light that had occurred on the completion of the ritual, so little more needed to be done than tidying up the petals, candles and apple tree twigs that still remained.

Spike and Buffy had stayed close to one another with their hands brushing as they worked, resulting in them sharing secretive smiles at the contact. The pull to touch one another proved too strong to resist, and they continued to work each other into a frenzy as they went about cleaning the room. If anyone had noticed the game they were playing, nothing was said. Instead, the others chose to work quietly and ignore the growing sexual tension within the room.

“So, how’s it going?” Buffy asked finally as she let herself drop ungracefully into the chair across that of her Watcher’s. He had been working on translating the brandings on the inside of Spike’s and her own wrist for what seemed like hours.

“I believe I have translated the scripture.” Giles passed the notepad he had been working on across the table to her. Buffy took it and looked down at his workings.



Together as one

One heart, one mind



Buffy looked up at him again.

“The top one is what is branded on the inside of Spike’s wrist, and the bottom one is what yours reads,” Giles explained.

He watched her with a fatherly affection as a warm smile full of happiness spread across her face and her fingers dropped to gently trace the words on her wrist. “Thank you.”

Giles gave her a small smile as he leaned back in his seat and looked up at her over the top of his glasses before he removed them from his face altogether. “Think nothing of it. How are you feeling?”

Buffy gave him the bright smile that only she could as she let the notepad rest back against the table. “Honestly? Considering everything that’s happened, I’m okay. Better than okay, even.”

“I’m glad to hear it.” His eyes were kind as he studied her, his hand absently cleaning the lens of his glasses.

“I was pretty out of it for a while there… I don’t ever want to be that helpless again.” Her gaze dropped to the notepad before her and her fingers began to absently trace over the writing on it as she spoke.

“No one likes to be helpless, Buffy, and I dare say that the circumstances with which you were dealing—especially Hank’s involvement—were outside what one might expect as a Slayer. You were attacked by those who were meant to support you and you did well to come through as you have.”

Buffy merely nodded, not lifting her gaze from the notepad. “Hmm,” she murmured in agreement as something on the page caught her eye. There was a large bit of text written at the top of the page which had been half heartedly crossed out before Giles had begun the translation on Spike’s and her own brandings. “What’s this?”

Buffy picked up the notepad and looked at it before handing it back to him.

Giles took the notepad from her and looked at the chunk of text to which she was referring. “Oh, this? I had thought it to be part of the original prophecy foretelling your hand fasting to Spike. However, after translating it, I found that it belongs to another.”

Buffy frowned in confusion. “How come?”

“It speaks of the birth of a child, but vampires are infertile. Therefore the text is irrelevant to either of you since you are now mated.”

“Oh.” A moment of silence seemed to pass between them as they each became lost in their own thoughts. “Do you think this is the end of it?”

Giles looked at her for a moment before answering. “For now. I believe Drusilla is still out there somewhere doing heavens knows what. By all rights I should be sending you after her—she is a danger to both us and to the general public—but I feel for the moment, Buffy, that you have been through enough. We will no doubt see more of her in the future, and when that time comes I trust that you will do your best to stake her, but for now Buffy? Yes, this is the end of it.”

Buffy looked up at him again with a bright smile. “So, I was thinking pizza for dinner? I don’t know about you but I feel like I haven’t eaten in a week!”

Giles smiled laughingly at his Slayer as they both got up from the table, all talk of prophecies, children and Drusilla behind them as they made their way into the kitchen.

“Sounds divine.”


***




A heart which once was black,
No longer is forced to seek love amid death;
A union wrought between sun and moon,
Creates balance between the worlds;
A legacy gifted to the race of mankind,
Shall bring an end to those born to watch;
An era of corruption and treachery will fall;
A child destined to lead will rise;
As a family they will be,
Together a bridge between worlds.



***




The End




AN:
The End! *does happy dance* This has been so much fun to write, and I am sad to see it come to an end, but I think that it has run its course as far as plot goes. I realise that I have left some things unanswered (the prophecy at the end, Drusilla and her new childe), but I think that carrying this fic on any further would have only been dragging it out. Plus, leaving it open allows room for a possible sequel should my muse prove willing in the future (although there are currently no plans to write one).

I’d like to say a HUGE thank you to my beta Andrea for her amazing work beta’ing this fic and making it readable, lol! And also to everyone who has reviewed this story! Your feedback has been fantastic and it inspired me to keep writing even when chapters proved difficult to write. Thank you!

~Spikeschilde

 
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