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The Undiscovered Country Chapter 1/?
Author; Phoenixheart79 aka Carl/theblondiebear
Rating; PG, but may get higher (Features m/m relationship)
Disclaimer; I do not own BtVS, that privilige goesto Joss Whedon and M.E. I guess I own Sebastian, but
the rest I'm just borrowing. I promise to put them back in the toy box when I'm done!
Continuity; Starts ten days after the events of "Chosen"
Distribution; Please ask unless I post it somewhere where you archive it (like some of the yahoo groups I'm on), in which case I bow to that authority.
Feedback; Please! I write for me, but it's a boost to know what people think of my work.
Authors Note; This fic is the sequel to my last story, "A Childe
Awakens". If you haven't read that, you should, as portions of this story just won't make sense.
Chapter 1
"So, this is the United Kingdom, eh? Highly overrated, it’s just like back home." Xander quipped.
"Yeah, except it’s minus the whole gaping crater in the ground look." Dawn commented.
"Maybe we should make one?" Kennedy joined in as they walked towards the luggage collection area. As normal, they
arrived long before their cases.
Buffy looked around, taking in their surroundings, "So far, I have to say I’m disappointed in the mother land Giles." Beside her, the ex-watcher sighed, removing his glasses and giving them a quick clean.
"Buffy. It’s an international airport. I get the impression that if you flew to Beijing it would look pretty much the same." The little plastic curtains parted and bags started appearing on the conveyor belt. "Ah, here’s the luggage now." They didn’t have to wait very long, they had very few bags, only the few bits and pieces they had picked up on the drive to Los Angeles.
They entered the airport terminal proper and Xander started looking every which way. Willow and Kennedy let out a little laugh. "Relax Xand, he’ll be around somewhere, it’s a big place." Kennedy chipped in.
As if on cue, a tall dark haired figure appeared amongst the crowd, worming his way towards their little group. "Guys!" he waved.
"Like we could miss someone that tall." Dawn commented.
"Bastian!" Willow shouted waving back, and letting go of Kennedy’s hand. She pushed forwards and hugged the younger man, "How are you?"
"Good, good. You?"
"Excellent. I did this most amazing spell, with the scythe that Buffy found."
Bastian nodded, "Yeah, I know, I felt it. Very cool." He let Willow go and gave Buffy a brief hug, then Dawn. "Giles, welcome home." He said, shaking the older mans hand, "Kennedy," He smiled and waved around them "Welcome to England." Finally he turned to Xander, "Hi Xand, good flight?"
Xander smiled, "Bastian." The two men gave each other a quick hug, "God I’ve missed you."
"Same here, same here." He looked deep into Xanders’ eye "I am so glad you’re alive." He broke the hug and looked to Giles, "Your cars’ in the car park, I’ll show you the way. Do you feel up to driving? If not, I’ll drive."
Giles sighed, "Yes, that might be helpful, I’m exhausted. Do you know the way?"
Bastian nodded, "Sure. After you gave me the directions I took a quick run out there. I didn’t enter the grounds like, but I found my way."
Xander looked at Giles, "You have grounds?"
"Oh, um, yes. Just a few acres, for the horses."
"You have horses?"
Giles sighed, "Yes, I do. Now lets get going, shall we? It’s been a long journey." Together they headed for the car park.
"Woah Giles, what is that, a tank?" Dawn asked.
"It’s a Land Rover Dawn, although tank may not be overstating it by much." Giles answered, "It’ll be a squeeze, but we should all be able to fit in." Giles, Xander and Bastian clambered in the front while Buffy, Dawn, Willow and Kennedy clambered in the back, sitting on bench seats that ran sideways down the length of the vehicle. What baggage they had was between the two groups.
Silently they set off and within minutes Dawn was sleeping lightly, her head resting on Buffy’s shoulder. Opposite them, Willow and Kennedy were cuddled up close together, their heads resting together in contentment. Buffy sat in silence, her mind playing over what had happened a mere ten days earlier.
‘I love you.’ She said, her voice soft.
A flicker of a smile flashed across Spike’s features, ‘No you don’t. But thanks for saying it.’
An eternity passed between them in seconds, things that hadn’t been said that should have, touches that were never felt but pressed on her skin.
‘Now go!’ As she disappeared up the stairs, she heard the last words he uttered and she smiled to herself, even at the end, he looked to the best of things, the challenge, ‘I wanna see how it ends.’ She was jolted from her memories as the car rocked up and down suddenly. Her head whipped around, looking for some attack.
"Relax Buffy," Bastian said, looking at her in the mirror, "Only a speed bump. We’ll be on the motorway soon, then a few country lanes. About fifty minutes and we’ll be there."
"Speed bump? We’re not in a trailer park, are we?"
Bastian laughed, "No, these things are bloody everywhere right now. They’re meant to be a ‘traffic calming’ measure. Reality check, they piss everyone off and make for a LOT of cranky drivers."
"Oh." Buffy slipped into silence again, hearing the hushed voices of Xander and Bastian. She watched idly as the scenery flashed by. Office buildings and warehouses faded into brick houses then more and more greenery. Then they raised up above it and accelerated as they moved along the freeway. ‘Motorway’ she corrected herself. After all, when in Rome. Slowly her thoughts drifted away again, her mind barely taking in her surroundings.
‘I don’t understand, what did this?’
‘Spike.’
She stared out at the crater. He had done it. He said he’d done it for her, to be the man she deserved. And he was. Oh, what she’d told Angel was true, she couldn’t see a white picket fence and grand children with Spike, but still, he was there. They’d transcended sex, gone beyond that. Together, just comfortable in each others presence, they were stronger than they had been. A soft sigh escaped her mouth, she would have to deal. That’s what she did, dealt with things. It was her gift. Forget the Slayer, her true strength was that she could deal.
She shook her head, clearing the thoughts from her mind. She couldn’t dwell on it. Spike was gone. What he’d done had been noble. When they’d arrived in Los Angeles and she’d told Angel, she could see the jealousy, the twelve-year-old raising his little green head once again. And she’d known. She couldn’t stay there, she had to get away. And here they were. Great Britain. Once an empire to challenge the glory that had been Rome, now little more than a memory. There were a lot of those at the minute, she thought.
The scenery slowed down as they left the ‘motorway’. Trees surrounded them now. Through gaps, she could see a small town growing smaller as they drove out into the country. The Land Rover bucked a couple of times as they headed along narrow country lanes, green fields stretching off in all directions, broken only by some woods to the left of the road.
"Almost there." Bastian said.
Buffy gently shook Dawn’s shoulder, "Dawn honey, wake up. We’re almost there." Dawn stirred and looked around her.
"Wow. Green."
"Yeah, kinda a running theme in the countryside." Xander quipped from the front seat. Trees and hedgerows pass by, wooden fences, a pair of horses grazing in a field. Buffy saw none of it. No green fields. No horses. She’s in an immense cavern, blinding light pulsing throughout, the First Evil’s army crumbling to ashes. In the distance, the immense mystical cavern that is the hellmouth begins to collapse, rock and dust falling inwards.
‘Buffy, come on!’
"Buffy, come on!" She came back to reality with a snap, Dawn tugging at her sleeve. She clambered out of the Land Rover and looked around. They were on a gravel driveway, a large stone house stood before them. Ivy stretched up one corner, arcing over a window and trailing round the doorframe. A large oak door with a brass door knocker awaited them. Smoke curled from a chimney.
Xander whistled, "Nice pad, Giles."
"Yes, well, when Buffy had the council reinstate me with full back pay, plus interest, it turned out to be quite a substantial sum. With three quarters of it put away, in a year I had enough to afford this little place." He spotted a blue BMW, "Oh good, Olivia’s here. Come on."
"Olivia?" Buffy asked, "I thought you two were separated?"
"We were, but when I returned last year I tried to woo her back." He smiled, "I won."
Buffy made a face, "Okay, not wanting any more details."
Giles led the way. They crunched across the gravel and the door opened, Olivia standing there beaming at him. "Rupert!" She ran forward and gave him a hug, which he readily returned. After a while, they broke apart and Olivia turned to the others, "Hi guys, come on in, I just put the kettle on."
They entered the house and were greeted by the smell of cooking food. Giles beamed at Olivia, "You didn’t have to cook, but thank you." She wrapped an arm around his waist and smiled up at him, comfort and love in her eyes.
"Of course I didn’t have to, I wanted to. After everything you went through, I was scared I’d never see you again. I don’t know why you go looking for those things."
A soft sigh escaped Giles, "I don’t go searching for it, it finds me. And I couldn’t live with myself if I did nothing."
She squeezed his waist and smiled, "I know. It’s why I love you."
The group entered the kitchen and sat around a large table while Olivia poured them drinks after asking what each of them wanted. She smiled as all the Americans simply said "Coffee". Soon they were warming their hands around steaming cups, talking about the flight, the film, about exploring the country.
"You know," Willow said, "It’s not just a new country we’ve got to explore here. It’s a new world Buffy. One we created."
"Just so." Giles said, "But for now, I say we head to bed." The others nodded their agreement, suddenly very weary. "Come on, I’ll show you to your rooms." He stood and led them from the kitchen.
They reentered the hallway and clambered the stairs. As they reached the landing, a hallway stretched off to their left and right. Giles led them down the left. "The guest rooms are down here, down to the right is my library, another guest room and mine and Olivia’s room." They passed a door on the left, "That’s the bathroom." He crossed to a door on the right, opening it, "This room is for you, Buffy." He pointed to the next door down as they continued along the hallway, on the left this time. "Xander, Sebastian, that is your room." Finally he opened the last door on the right. "Willow and Kennedy, you will be staying in here."
He turned around and carried on talking, "Dawn, you’ll be down here I’m afraid, next to Olivia and me."
Dawn smiled, "That’s okay."
The group split up, heading for their respective rooms, wishing each other "Good night." and "Sweet dreams.".
Gently Bastian shut the door behind them and smiled, "Look at this place, it’s fantastic."
"You didn’t have a place like this?" Xander asked, kicking his shoes off and dropping his trousers, draping them over a chair at the desk.
Bastian shook his head, "Hardly. Me and Liz shared a flat in Nottingham. Roughly twenty minutes from the city centre." He started to strip too, clambering into the bed.
"Oh," Xander said, joining him, "Say, how’s the case going."
Bastian rolled onto his side to look Xander in the face, "I don’t know yet. They held the pre-trial hearing, as you know, and the case is due to be heard in a couple of months. I just hope the bastard gets life." He propped himself up on an elbow and leaned a little closer, "Say, do we have to talk? It’s been nearly two months since we were together." He leaned in and kissed Xander deep and passionately, exploring the young man’s mouth with great relish. God, he’d missed this.
After a while he broke the kiss and whispered softly, "I’ll take you shopping in the morning, we need to get you guys some new clothes. But that’s tomorrow." They leaned together again. Losing themselves in each others arms and ministrations. Xander trailed his hand across Bastians’ bare chest, teasing his boyfriend. For a moment, his mind paused. ‘I have a boyfriend?’ he thought. No matter how much he cared for Bastian, it was still kind of strange.
In the next room Willow and Kennedy lay in each others arms. Kennedy ran her fingers through Willow’s hair. Willow reached up and ran her hand along her girlfriends arm. "They seemed happy." Kennedy said.
Willow nodded softly, "It has been almost two months. I thought they were very restrained."
Kennedy smiled, "I wouldn’t have been. I’d have eaten you alive in that airport."
Willow turned in her arms so that she could look into Kennedy’s face, her eyes glinting mischievously, "Feel like a meal before bed?" Kennedy didn’t reply, she just smiled and kissed her girlfriend, her hands exploring Willow’s body.
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