TITLE: Story Time

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PART 1
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"Spike!"

I look up at the sound of my name. "Yeah mate?"

"Will and Anne are playing outside. If I bring them in, can you watch them while I go to the office?"

I look at Oz and nod. "It's sunny outside, and you know they'll want to go out and play. And I'm a vampire."

Oz smiled. "Tell them a story. They like your stories."

"That's because they don't know it's true." Shaking my head, I get up from bed. When Buffy died almost eight years ago, I agreed to help Oz with the two kids. Since Oz's family ignores them, I'm considered their uncle.

Which is perfectly fine with me, because I love those two very much.

"Uncle William! Tell us a story!"

I smile at the two bundles of energy in front of me. Both have light brown hair, and gorgeous green eyes. Reminds me of their mum. Neither of them are werewolves, and the girl isn't a Slayer. We think. So Oz is happy. I am too, surprisingly.

They don't call me Spike. Will says he loves being named after me, so I let them call me William. Makes me proud.

"Sure, Anne. What do you want to hear?"

"Tell us about Dru!" Anne said, a huge smile on her face that could melt the coldest heart.

Will piped up. "Or when you were in Ro...Ro..."

I smiled. "Romania?" He nodded, his brown hair falling into his face. "How about I tell you about your mum?"

These two loved hearing stories about Buffy. It was great in a way. I think back to the funeral, and Oz's statement.

"And I hope all of you will show them how special their mother is as they grow up."

So I'm doing my part. I tell them about how dedicated a Slayer she was, the insults we used to tell each other. I even got them to have a mild dislike of Angel. My greatest achievement yet.

They sat down on the couch next to me, one on each side. All the curtains were drawn. They know I'm a vampire, and what all that means. They're frightfully smart, the little buggers. And I mean that affectionately.

"Okay, Uncle William!" Will says, and Anne nods before crawling into my lap.

"Let's see...I don't think I ever told you how me and your mum and dad ended up working together, did I?" I got two head shakes in response. Okay, I'll tell you that, then."

"Well, a long time ago almost sixteen years ago, your mum was a junior in high school. And she was an active Slayer right here in Sunnydale. Well, I'm a vampire, and she kills demons like me. All except angel because he has a soul."

"Do you have a soul?" Anne asked, and I nodded.

"Just like you two. Anyway, I brought Dru here because Angel was here and he could help make her better. Remember I told you about Prague? Well, they way she was sick, she needed our sire's blood. And Angel, our sire, was here and in love with your mum."

"I thought you said he left?" Will asked.

"No, this was before he left. He was here, and a real pain. I told you about when he lost his soul, right? Well, after that, your mum and I agreed on a plan. I would take Dru, leave Sunnydale and never come back. But...she dumped me."

"Then she's a meaniehead," Anne said, curled up in my lap. I smiled and kissed the top of her head.

"Was a meaniehead. Actually, she was crazy, so I don't really hold it against her. Well, after she dumped me, I came back, really drunk. Which reminds me...it's not good to drink. Hangovers are bloody awful. Now, when I came back, I gave your mum and Angel a big speech about how they couldn't be just friends. And for once, Angel listened to me."

"Was that when he left?" Anne asked.

"No, love. He left at the end of that school year, though. Cordelia went with him."

"She's pretty," Will said.

"But she was mean back then. She has changed a lot," I said. "Well, when Angel left, that was when me and Dru came back. But Dru left me again to go find Angel. So I stayed and got blackmailed into helping the Scooby Gang. That was your mum and dad, Xander, Willow and your grandpa."

"I like Grandma and Grandpa," Anne said quietly.

"At first I couldn't stand Giles, but I always liked your grandmum. Even if she hit me with an ax one time. So, while I was doing that, I lived alone. And it was, for a time, Willow and your dad who were dating. But Willow decided she liked Xander more, and they broke up."

"Then what happened?" Will asked, an intent look on his face.

"Well, your dad was upset, but not too much. He hid it well. We became friends, actually, during that time. I saved him from...a water demon. He was careless, and almost got killed. We talked a lot, and found out we had things in common. I still missed Dru at the time, so we'd talk about our ex-girlfriends." I paused for a moment, trying to remember what had happened next.

"Well, Buffy got worried about us. So she talked me into talking to her mum more often, which helped, and your dad into taking up photography. He took all the pictures of your mum around here."

"She's prettier than Cordelia," Anne said.

"Yes, and you look a lot like her, too. Same small nose, and eyes. Both of you have her eyes." I close my eyes and smile as I see a mental image of Buffy.

"She and your dad started to date, and she slowly got to the point she considered me as close as family. Took a few years. In fact, she was preggers with you two when she and your dad got married. That was...nine years ago."

"What happened next?" Will asked, and I stopped. Did I really want them to know how their mum had died?

"Tell us? Please?" both Anne and Will asked. I sighed.

"All right. Let's see...she took nine months off while she was pregnant with you two. And by then, Willow and Xander had left for graduate school in the East. So it was down to your dad, me and the other Slayer, Jeri."

"Was Jeri pretty?" Will asked, and I flinched.

"Jeri was...beautiful. As pretty as your mum. Long red hair and blue eyes. She was also tall and graceful. And funny too. Very funny. She cared about others more than herself."

"You liked her?" Anne asked, reaching up to touch my face.

"Yeah, love. I liked her a lot. In fact, I loved her. I'd had a soul by then, it was Willow's going away present. So she relented on the 'kill all demons' rule. Wesley had a harder time dealing with it. He got all the new Slayers while your grandpa dealt with Buffy."

I cough a little. It's a reflex when I talk about a hard subject. "Wesley really didn't like the fact that she would listen to me more than him. But I kept her alive longer, and he knew it. I also think he had a small crush on her."

"Is he still here?" Will asked.

"No, mate. He's back in England. Head of the Council now, I think. Treats Giles better now, though, which is good."

"Where's Jeri, Uncle William?" Anne asked.

I choke back a sob. "She...she's dead, love. She died before you were born. In fact almost a month to the day before you were born was when she died."

"Do you miss her?" I nod slowly.

"Very much. But she saved my...she saved me. And she died doing that. Like a good Slayer. She died in my arms, and I never wanted that to happen again. Never wanted to have to hold a Slayer I was close to as her life left her. But I had to one more time with your mum."

"How'd she die?" Will asked.

I shut my eyes and the memories flood back. "Well, before I came to Sunnydale, she killed someone known as the Master. He was a very old vampire, older than me, or Angel for that matter. And she destroyed his bones. Pounded them into dust, or so I've heard."

"And it changed her, a little. See, she'd died while she fought him. And Xander brought her back from the brink of death. And so it changed her. It also brought about a second Slayer. Kendra was the first of those second slayers, and Dru killed her. Faith was next, and she met her death at the hands of the old Mayor during the Ascension."

I pause. "There were about five or six slayers before Jeri. When...when she died, there was two more. Wanda was nice, and very talented. But she killed herself to save you two. You'd been only three months old when that happened."

"Why'd she have to do that?" Will asked.

"You were kidnapped, and the demon wanted the blood of a virgin Slayer for your release. But he had to kill the Slayer. So he was torturing her and she killed herself as me and your dad got you out of there."

"Cool!" he said, and I smiled a little at that. He was the one who loved listening to my recollections of torture.

"Well, yeah. Your mum went sick with worry until she held you in her arms again. She was always like that. So Wanda was replaced by a Slayer named Samia. Well, a few months later, your grandpa had been trying to get Buffy retired, but the Council wouldn't hear of it."

"Samia wanted to be the best Slayer ever and went after a demon who was as old and as powerful as the Master had been. Turns out he was the reincarnation of the Master. When this vampire had been sired, it was on the day of your birth. It was foretold by Prophecy, but we couldn't stop it."

"The night your mum died, Samia, your mum and I went out to patrol. Samia went towards the Bronze, and your mum and I wen towards the cemeteries. The demon followed Samia, and massacred quite a few people who had been at the Bronze that night, but missed Samia."

"She ran to the cemetery to warn us but it was too late. And the demon killed her first, then went after your mum. She was fast as ever and still as agile, but no match for the demon. I got it's attention away and it aimed a crossbow at my heart. Right before it hit, your mum jumped in the way."

"Why?" Anne asked.

"Because...I don't know why. I think she thought if I died than another prophecy that was supposed to happen wouldn't. And if that was what she was thinking, then she was right...you two are turning out well."

"See, I'm supposed to protect your family until the end of time. It's not a bad job, really. See...in the future, someone will have a baby boy. And he will be the first male Slayer. And he will destroy all the worst demons in the world."

"Cool," Will said. Anne looked up at me.

"So...you'll protect us?"

"Always," I say. "Always."

The three of us must have fallen asleep soon after, because the next thing I know I feel Anne being lifted off my lap.

"Oz?"

"Yeah?"

"When did you get back? And what bloody time is it?"

"Just got back, and it's nine in the evening."

"Oh." I pick Will up and follow Oz back upstairs to their rooms.

"What did you tell them a story about?"

"Buffy and how she died, and things like that."

"Was it hard?"

The question catches me off guard as I lay Will in his bed. "Yes, it was hard."

"You still miss both of them, don't you?"

"Yeah."

Oz nodded, then yawned. "I need to get some sleep. Thanks for watching them."

"No problem, mate. Really. Um...see you tomorrow, then."

I watch as he turns around and heads to his room. I have my own small part of the house in the basement, which I head to quietly. It's a weird feeling, living a domestic life. But it really does beat anything else I've lived before.

Laying down on the bed, I pick up the book on my night stand. No one makes fun of it; it was a gift from Jeri. Settling down, I read from it.

"Once upon a time..."