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Second Youth by Ariel Dawn
 
Squish
 
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Disclaimer: Joss he is god, not God god but a lesser benevolent god.
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Chapter 30: Squish

Buffy helped Tara and Willow pack. Their flight to England left the next day, the day after Tara helped to perform the spell, and they were going to spend their summer vacation at a Coven in Cornwall. It had been suggested by Giles and Buffy had been ever so grateful that she hadn’t been the one to say it.

This had been the compromise. Willow and Tara would stay together if they went to England. Buffy just hoped that they made it to England. Buffy had a horrible feeling that despite Warren being safely in jail, and no matter what she did, Tara was still in danger from the bot maker.

Willow was slipping away. Even with all her added memories of Dark Willow round one, Buffy didn’t recognize what was happening to her friend. Willow didn’t care anymore. The magic was controlling her. She had expressed no remorse for casting the spell on Dawn. That in itself was unlike Willow. There should be guilt cookies by now or something.

The whole house was sad. Dawn didn’t like the fact that Tara was leaving, if only for the summer. It didn’t help that Dawn was just a tad bit afraid to open doors now, thanks to Willow. This time Dawn wasn’t hurt by Willow’s over use of magic, but Dawn seemed just a little bit more afraid of what Willow would do next. Buffy drew her attention away from the packing going on in Tara and Willow’s room, to the portal opening lesson, Anya was having with Dawn in the down stairs hallway.

“Of course, Vengeance Demons can only open portals to their own dimension, Arashamahar, but that’s a place to start. I know that nothing scary is going to pop out at you,” said Anya.

Dawn and Anya were standing in front of the hall closet, Spike hanging back in the living room, just in case his nibblet got into anything that needed fists and fangs.

“So, I think, Arashamahar and open the door?” asked Dawn hesitantly.

“Yep,” said a happy Anya.

Dawn gulped and nodded. Her hand reached out for the door knob and she flung open the door, closing her eyes. Anya clapped. Dawn opened an eye. Before her lay a dark misty place.

“You did it!” exclaimed Anya.

“That’s Arashamahar?” asked Dawn, peering into the closet.

“Yep,” said Anya. “And look there’s Krevlin! Krevlin! Hi!” Anya greeted one of her friends through the closet door.

“Anyanka! I haven’t seen you since, well your wedding. How’s everything?” asked the demon from the misty darkness.

“Oh just great! I’m teaching the key here to open portals!”

Krevlin nodded. “When you are free, you have to talk to Halfrek, she’s been doing some vengeance spells that are so revolutionary, soon everything else you’ve been doing are going to be mundane.”

Anya nodded. “I’ll do that! Talk to you later Krevlin!” Anya turned to Dawn. “You can close the door now.”

Dawn closed the door.

“You lived there? With all the mist and the darkness?” asked the teen.

“Oh yes, it’s quite pretty actually. You only saw it when it’s dark. Ok, you are going to open the door again, this time think, closet.”

“Closet?”

“So that it’s just the closet. There aren’t any dimensions I know of that are named ‘Closet’ I think you are safe.”

Dawn nodded and opened the door again, to reveal a bunch of coats.

“I did it!” said a gleeful Dawn. “So when I go to school and have to open a door, I just have to think, ‘Mrs Morgan’s class‘ or ’Cafeteria’?”

Anya nodded. “As long as what you think isn’t the name of another dimension...”

“How many other dimensions are there?” asked Dawn.

“Oh thousands.”
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“Buffy?” asked Tara. “I wanna say I’m sorry for what Willow has done. I know she’s got problems, I just hope that Dawn’s not hurt by the spell.

Tara and Buffy had been bringing some of Willow and Tara’s old stuff out to the garbage in the back yard.

“You don’t have to apologise for her Tara. I know she’s going through some stuff. What she did to Dawn, it happens eventually on it’s own anyway. In some twisted way I think Willow believed she was doing us a favour. I’m the one that should apologise, I’m the one that knew this was going to happen and I didn’t stop it.”

“It’s not up to you to fix the past Buffy, there is nothing wrong with living your life. I’m sure no one expects you to single handedly fix the world.”

Buffy laughed. “You know, sometimes I wonder about that.”

“She’s been good, since our last talk. She hasn’t done a single spell. I just hope that she can last long enough to get to the coven.”

Buffy leaned in to give Tara a hug. “I know everything will work out ok, Tara. It will be all rainbows and puppies before you know it.”

“Hey guys! I’ve made Chocolate chip cookies and Portanus!” came a cheery Willow voice from the back porch. “Oh my goddess, Warren!”

Buffy and Tara turned to see Warren, toting a gun. Buffy flicked her wrist.

“You think you can just do that to me? That I'd let you get away with it? Think again...” shouted Warren, raising the gun on opening fire.

Tara and Willow hit the ground, hoping to be unharmed by the bullets.

“What the...” said the startled gun man. Willow and Tara looked up to see that Warren was encased in a bubble, the bullets he had shot, floating harmlessly inside with him.

“But I can do it to you Warren. You've hurt my friends, you’ve tried to screw up my life. You belong just where I put you. It’s not really my fault that the police just can’t keep you there. Maybe it’s time to take more drastic measures,” said Buffy, her voice harsh.

“Buffy? What’s going on?” asked Willow, standing up on the porch.

Buffy turned and smiled at her friend. “Something I should have done a long time ago.”

Buffy reached into the bubble and took Warren’s gun from him. Stepping back from the bubble, Buffy held the gun flat in her hand. Suddenly, the gun started to float and spin in place, faster and faster, until there was a popping sound and the gun disappeared.

“Oh my goddess!” observed Willow. “Buffy! When did you get all witchy?”

“A couple of decades from now,” said Buffy. “It’s not something I like to brag about. Now what to do about Mr Meers.” Buffy thought for a moment. “You are going back to jail, you realise that, right? But I think that I’ll add something to the fun prison experience.”

With a smile and a giggle, Buffy clapped her hands once, very hard. Warren fell to the bottom of the bubble and clutched his head.

“What did you do to me?” asked the wretched man.

“I know that not long ago, Spike asked you to check out his chip for him, make sure it was still working. You must know exactly what it does. That’s good, cause now it’s all yours.”

“You put Spike’s chip in his head?” asked Tara.

Buffy nodded. “I think Warren needs it much more than my Big Bad, don’t you agree?”

“Spike’s chipless?” asked Willow.

Buffy nodded. “It’s his birthday present.”
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If Buffy hadn’t known better she would have thought that the Magic Box had never looked more romantic. Red pillar candles were decorating the floor and the walls. Special black sand had been poured in an intricate pentagram on the floor.

“Are you sure you want to do this love?” asked her mate, coming up from behind her, his arms wrapping themselves around her waist.

“I have to do this Spike, to keep you safe,” she said with certainty.

Spike exhaled near her ear. “Seems like a right bother for someone who’s dead already...” he said softly.

Buffy turned to face him.

“You aren’t dead to me Spike! If it makes you feel better I’m doing this more for me than you...So I don’t have to be a lonely old crone and marry men I don’t love. I’ll have you all undead and snarky, just how I like you.”

Spike captured her lips with his own.

Giles cleared his throat from across the room. Beside him Xander looked like he was going to throw up.

“I guess this means the G Man isn’t in the mood for Vampire/Slayer smoochies today,” said Xander. “Tragic.”

Buffy rolled her eyes. “Just cause you aren’t getting any Xander doesn’t mean you have to be all blah about the rest of us making with the smoochies,” said Buffy defensively.

“Would it be possible to get on with the highly dangerous spell that could effect the very nature of Slayers sometime before the sun sets?” asked Giles.

Distributed around the room were all the Scoobies, even Amy was present for the event. Buffy felt that perhaps if something went wrong, another witch would be helpful. They hadn’t been thrilled to find out that Buffy had put Spike’s chip into Warren’s head, but then they were glad that Warren could no longer hurt any of them. Spike himself didn’t know what to think about it. Buffy had been relieved that the fallout was minimal.

“Does everyone know what they have to do?” asked Buffy.

The group nodded. Planting a kiss on Spike’s cheek, Buffy stepped into the middle of the circle and sat down in front of the scythe, recently placed there by Giles. Tara stepped into the circle too, and sat across from Buffy on the other side of the scythe, carrying a pot of already mixed potion. Next Anya, Giles and Amy stood out side the circle, their arms extended.

The chanting began. Buffy cast a look at her mate, standing in a corner of the shop, his arm around his precious nibblet. They were her family and this spell would make certain that her family stayed in one piece.

“We are ready for the last ingredients, Buffy,” said Tara softly over the chanting the others were intoning.

Buffy nodded and motioned for Spike to come closer. She extended her arm out of the circle and Spike thrust her wrist at Spike. With only momentary hesitation, Spike bit down on her wrist.

“Blood of a Slayer bitten by a Vampire,” said Buffy, as she let her wrist drip blood into the pot.

Then taking a small knife, Buffy reached out of the circle once more and cut into Spike’s arm, catching the drops of blood that leaked out of the cut in her hand.

“Blood of a Slayer of Slayers,” continued the Slayer, continuing with the spell.

Spike returned to his position on the wall to be fussed over by Dawn. There was a collective gasp from the onlookers when the circle began to glow a peachy pink colour.

“Is it supposed to do that?” asked Dawn cautiously.

“I don’t know,” said Willow. “It’s pretty though.”

The three out side the circle stopped chanting and stepped back from the two women in the circle of sand. Inside the circle Tara pulled a paint brush out of her pocket and started to paint the Scythe with the potion. It looked like an ordinary paintbrush, but Buffy knew better; it had taken Anya a week just to find this particular paint brush, made from the hairs of a unicorn.

At last the scythe’s blade was covered in the brown goopy stuff and Tara handed the weapon to Buffy. Standing the Slayer stepped out of the circle, breaking the spell and ending the glowy pink weirdness.

“Is that it?” asked Dawn.

“You should never say those words in Sunnydale, Dawn, you know that,” said Giles, as the ground started to shake.

Buffy turned to look out the shop’s window. The people walking in the street outside were completely oblivious to the earthquake happening inside the Magic Box. Suddenly there was a flash of light, from the scythe, and Buffy felt a burning sensation in her tummy.

“Oooh, head rush!” she said just before she blacked out.
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When Buffy woke up she had the added bonus of finding her naked vampire lover sleeping beside her. She looked at her bedroom clock to see that it was six am, of course she had no idea what day it was. She really hoped that it was the next day, and that weeks hadn’t passed while she was unconscious.

Buffy lifted the covers of her bed to find that she wasn’t naked. So Spike hadn’t decided on defiling her whilst she was unconscious, good for him. With a smile, Buffy rolled over top of him, the covers covering up his vampire goodness.

“Wakey wakey Spikey,” she purred licking his neck and her marks that she had put there.

Spike smiled and wrapped his arms around her. “You are awake.”

Buffy nodded. “Awake Buffy! Here and ready for action. How long was I out?” she asked.

“Little over 12 hours. What kind of action are you proposing, love?”

Buffy giggled. “What kind of action were you thinking of on your birthday?”

Spike growled pleasantly and started to lick the marks on her neck. Bringing his game face out, Spike sensuously slid his fangs into her neck and drank.

“Happy birthday,” she murmured, stroking the back of his head.
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Buffy refused to answer any Slayer related questions until she got back to the magic shop that afternoon. She had to talk to Faith.

She suspected that Faith didn’t get a lot of phone calls in Prison.

“Are you calling to tell me that I’m not the Slayer anymore?” asked the jailbird.

Buffy laughed. “You felt it too?”

“Oh yeah, it was like, whoosh, power being sucked out of me. Then I felt all tingly, like I was burning from the inside out.”

Buffy nodded even though Faith couldn’t see her. “I felt it too, the whoosh and the burning.”

“What were you trying to do? Take my powers away from me? Well it worked! Happy now?”

“Not exactly. I wanted to make it so that there is only one Slayer, I didn’t care which of us it picked. It seemed that it didn’t pick either of us. I guess we are too old.”

“Maybe you are feeling old and decrepit B but I’m right spry.”

“Sure you are Faith.”

“So who’s the Slayer now?”

“I wish I knew.”
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The truth was that Buffy didn’t really feel much different anymore. She knew that she didn’t have vamp sense anymore, but the only vampire she really wanted to have tinglies for had his own Mate signature going for him. Spike forbade her to patrol.

“I’m fine Spike. I don’t know how this has effected me, shouldn’t we test it out?” she begged.

“Fine, in the bloody training room with the Watcher, not with a bunch of Vamps that want to munch on your neck.”

“Like you do?” she asked coyly.

They headed to the Magic Box without much more banter, Spike wanting to know how Buffy had changed. Once they entered though, they came face to face with a dire Giles.

“There’s been a new Slayer called Buffy.”

“What’s her name?” asked Buffy.

“Why is it important what her name is?” asked the Watcher.

“Cause I’ve met pretty much all the potentials, I want to know which one got chosen,” said Buffy her calm exterior belying the butterfly convention that was happening in her tummy.

“I believe they said her name was Molly...” said Giles.

Relief washed over Buffy’s face and a smile appeared. And much to the surprise of Giles and Spike, she did a little happy dance.

“What’s the party for pet?” asked Spike, his eye brow raised.

“Kennedy didn’t get called! Wooo Hooo!”

“Who?”

Buffy calmed down. “A potential. A bitch, no one liked her. And now we never have to meet her! I think this calls for a party!”

Spike reached out and grabbed her arm.

“No, pet, no parties before we test you out, make sure that you are all there.”

Buffy glared at her mate. “All there?”

“Poor choice of words,” he said.

“Very,” agreed Giles.
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Three hours later, Spike came to the conclusion that she was still the Slayer, or as strong as one. Buffy freely admitted that she didn’t have vamp sense anymore, but then she had never been spectacularly good at that anyway. Giles was lying on the mats in the training room, panting from exertion, Spike was lighting up in the alley doorway.

“I told you I was fine Spike, Giles,” said Buffy, as she pounded the heavy bag without a care.

The phone rang.

“Phone!” squealed Buffy, running to get it. There was no competition from either of the men in the room for it, Giles was still prostrate on the ground, and Spike didn’t care.

“Hello! Mr Travers, how lovely to talk to you! Yes, of course I knew what I was doing when I did the spell....Who am I to decide? I was the Slayer, Mr Travers. Don’t you get uppity with me, you whippersnapper! I know exactly how old I am, I also know all your dirty little secrets. Well I hope you don’t kiss your wife with that mouth! No, Giles is unavailable, he’s all tired from our workout. Oh, well maybe you could tell me what you are going to tell him... Well isn’t that interesting now. Faith and I are Honoured Slayers, and you want to send your Slayer to be trained by me? Imagine that. Of course I’m up to the challenge, not that it’s a challenge, I’ve been doing this now, for god knows how long. Well I look forward to meeting Molly, again. Yes I said again. Oh Mr Travers, I’m from the future and in 50 years I’ll be the head of the Watcher’s Council. Good day.”

Buffy hung up the phone and turned to her lover and Watcher looking a little shocked.

“Guess what guys, Molly’s coming here. I think you will like her. I just have to warn you, she’s not good with squishy.”
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The end.


 
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