Okay, as promised I have a new Rulesverse fic - not admin!fic, not kidfic and not really F/G. This is Spike's story. Technically a WIP, but close to complete, and with any luck posting will encourage me to finish the ending.
Title: Home is the Hunter (1/5)
Characters: Spike, Giles and ensemble, with cameos from Wesley, Dawn, Illyria and Faith
Rating: PG13 to be safe
Summary: The Outset: in which our hero listens to quite a lot of exposition and accepts his quest for the McGuffin... Grail... Codex
November 2004
“Wesley, perhaps you could say a few words before we begin. You have had the opportunity to explore Delenteria more than any other, or at least any other we're prepared to do business with.”
Wesley leant forward into the mike, trying his best to convince three dozen scattered Council reps online, as well as all those in the room whose sceptical expressions he could see first-hand. “I know you're probably already tired of mystical prophecies that do or don't come true. But Delenteria isn't just another Codex. It's a recipe for ending the world, and we've no reason to believe it cannot be done successfully by whomever holds the Codex.” His audience raised eyebrows, rolled eyes, and otherwise variously indicated that they’d heard this Apocalypse story before
“It has been attempted several times, and several times the Council or other bodies have arrested the process. Most recently, in 1876, Wolfram and Hart stopped a Delenteria effort in China. (Unfortunately, the process was so advanced that the region suffered crippling droughts for the next three years). Wolfram and Hart then retained the Codex, because that Apocalypse would have clashed with their Apocalypse. They've been very careful guardians of the Codex, in fact, and the council was content to leave it with them accordingly.”
“But after the recent events in Los Angeles...” Wesley paused to let the cheers and whoops subside. Even he, fully aware of the crisis they were facing, couldn’t repress a small grin. The withdrawal of Wolfram and Hart from the west coast was a tiny victory, but symbolic as hell. “... when their library was ransacked by the unleashed hordes during the battle, Wolfram and Hart have become aware that the Delenteria Codex was removed. One of the attackers must have breached the dimensional walls to do so, which hardly sounds random. We believe the Codex was stolen to order. This is troubling news: so troubling they have not attempted to conceal the loss. They want it safely out of the hands of whoever wanted it so badly.
“On our side is the fact that there is only one Codex. It cannot be copied. And the Delenteria process is so extreme that signs will emerge well before it is complete. The sequence sometimes varies, but we can expect unusual weather patterns, mass events often called hysteria, and the appearance of particular demonic forms not otherwise found in this dimension: the Gombril, the Hand of Artemis, and the Singing Seas will all be seen before the process is complete. We must be alert for the slightest hint of any of these, and an agent dispatched immediately.”
Wesley coughed slightly, and dropped his oratorical tone. “Which does rather beg the question, who’s going to take primary responsibility for Delenteria? This will probably be a lengthy quest. It could take years, perhaps decades, and will involve travel across the world to places of extreme danger.”
No one seemed wildly eager to volunteer.
*
Spike and Giles were grabbing a cup of tea after the meeting. Rather more grim in mood than usual, on Giles’s part. It was Spike who broke the silence.
“Lost Codex, huh? End of the world-potential? Major mission, could take years?” Spike looked grim. Also, resigned.
His job was pretty much done already, so Giles didn’t gloat. “Yes. I’m afraid so. Though activity is likely to be sporadic. Unless we strike lucky, it will be a matter of following endless leads; most of them rubbish and some outright deadly.”
“Sounds like a job for a special agent. Someone who’s not too entangled in the training effort, and independent enough to go it alone.” Spike was spinning out the inevitable. “Maybe someone that’s tracked down lost spellbooks before?”
“That’s an adequate summary. We had hoped Gunn might take it on, but he feels unable to leave the Slayer Support programme at this point. Also, I think he has some qualms about such extensive travel for his first mission. You’ve the experience and the-”
Sigh from Spike. “Yep. Thought so.” He pondered, fidgeting for a cigarette he wasn’t supposed to smoke in the Slayer Support suite.
“Look, if I go... you’ll be my control, right? Not some baby Slayerette? And not bloody well Buffy.”
Giles blinked. “Whyever not? I’d have thought you’d welcome the chance to talk to her regularly.”
“Nah. We’ll talk. But I need someone I can bitch at, and tell all the crap that happens on the mission. Near-death experiences that are actually near-death, not just good stories. Slayer won’t want all that work stuff. Or not to take notes to, anyway.” Spike didn’t try very hard to conceal a leer.
Giles caved in. He would run Spike’s mission. Delenteria had to be found. Even if it took the rest of their lives.
“We have a lead. It suggests that the Codex originated in Mesopotamia, and to there it will return.”
“Mesopotamia? Meaning Iraq? Fuck. This should be fun.”
*
Part Two is here - in which the quest begins...