Home is the Hunter (3/5)
Title: Home is the Hunter (3/5)
Characters: Spike, Giles and ensemble, with cameos from Wesley, Dawn, Illyria and Faith
Rating: PG13 to be safe
Summary: The Third Quest: in which our hero misses some connections and travels east of the Elbe, with strength of purpose lacking.
Part two was here
April 2007
“H-hello?” Cheerfully rushed female voice: unexpected.
“Giles?” It clearly wasn’t, but Spike was feeling irritating.
“Hold on, I can get him for you.”
“Hey Faith, didn’t know you were back. What are you doing in Watcher Central? ” Usually not Faith’s preferred playground. Spike checked that he’d not accidentally dialled Giles’s personal quarters, but no. Faith was in the holy of holies. At 3am UK time. Hum.
She was also trying to sound very casual about it. “Yeah, arrived just yesterday, coupla weeks R&R. (Stop that!)”
Ah. Not alone on duty then, naughty old Rupert. Spike settled in to have some fun with pretend ignorance. “Stop what?”
“Not you, Spike. You wanna talk to Giles, right? He’s right here.” Faith was equal to the game. Spike could hear a muffled sound of disagreement as Giles, presumably, made it clear he didn’t want to stop whatever-it-was to do his duty.
Spike laughed. Pretend ignorance had its limits when dealing with Faith. “Bad moment?”
The grin in Faith’s voice reached across the world. “Not bad. Not even a little bad. Just... not Watcherly. All ok with you?”
She sounded a little breathless, which was impressive for Faith. Go Giles, apparently. But it was time to stop teasing the pair. “Nothing that can’t wait, just checking in. Have a good night.”
“We will.”
Spike slung the phone into his glove compartment, and got back on the road.
*
That wasn’t the only time Spike missed Giles, inevitably, though the only time he caught Faith.
June 2007
“It’s Spike, checking in.”
“Hey Spike!”
“Who’s that? You’re not the Watcher. Dawn? That you kid?”
“Yep, it’s me. But enough with the nicknames. Slayer Support Officer Summers at your service.”
“You passed? Good on you, Bit!”
He could hear Dawn’s shrug down the phone. Also, her shining pride once she spoke. “Yeah; it was simple stuff. Sunnydale was a pretty good grounding in the mystical and violent, you know.”
“You’re still off to college though? Don’t wanna stick at SSO your whole life, I hope.” Then Spike realised he’d started to sound like a nagging uncle, coughed sharply, and went back to report-mode. “Take it Giles changed his duties? Not to worry, it’s not a crisis.”
He was in Chennai this month. It was bloody hot.
*
Closing in on the end of the third year of searching, Spike began to feel the pressure. Sightings had flooded in that year, and things became ragged.
September 2007
“Checking in as promised, mein Fuehrer. Ragusa all clear-”
“Spike-”
“Not a sign in Konigsberg or Danzig-”
“Spike-”
“And actually yes I do know these are the old names and I don’t care. I learnt my geography before all this buggering about with perfectly good words-”
“SPIKE!”
“What?”
“You sound absolutely at the end of your tether. How long is it since you were home?”
“Seven months, I make it. Two hundred and sixteen days, to be more precise.”
“And you haven’t seen Buffy since...?”
“Kyoto, in May. We got a coupla days in the airport hotel.”
“Right. That’s it. I know the trail is continuing, but we’ve had no signs of any imminently disastrous events. We’ll keep an SSO on the lookout - perhaps Mr Silking would take it on. But it’s past time you had a break.”
“Seriously? Cheers, Rupert.”
Giles hung up, reasonably content with his decision. At least it would perk Buffy up; she’d been unbearable over breakfast meetings lately.
*
Part four is here.
Characters: Spike, Giles and ensemble, with cameos from Wesley, Dawn, Illyria and Faith
Rating: PG13 to be safe
Summary: The Third Quest: in which our hero misses some connections and travels east of the Elbe, with strength of purpose lacking.
Part two was here
April 2007
“H-hello?” Cheerfully rushed female voice: unexpected.
“Giles?” It clearly wasn’t, but Spike was feeling irritating.
“Hold on, I can get him for you.”
“Hey Faith, didn’t know you were back. What are you doing in Watcher Central? ” Usually not Faith’s preferred playground. Spike checked that he’d not accidentally dialled Giles’s personal quarters, but no. Faith was in the holy of holies. At 3am UK time. Hum.
She was also trying to sound very casual about it. “Yeah, arrived just yesterday, coupla weeks R&R. (Stop that!)”
Ah. Not alone on duty then, naughty old Rupert. Spike settled in to have some fun with pretend ignorance. “Stop what?”
“Not you, Spike. You wanna talk to Giles, right? He’s right here.” Faith was equal to the game. Spike could hear a muffled sound of disagreement as Giles, presumably, made it clear he didn’t want to stop whatever-it-was to do his duty.
Spike laughed. Pretend ignorance had its limits when dealing with Faith. “Bad moment?”
The grin in Faith’s voice reached across the world. “Not bad. Not even a little bad. Just... not Watcherly. All ok with you?”
She sounded a little breathless, which was impressive for Faith. Go Giles, apparently. But it was time to stop teasing the pair. “Nothing that can’t wait, just checking in. Have a good night.”
“We will.”
Spike slung the phone into his glove compartment, and got back on the road.
*
That wasn’t the only time Spike missed Giles, inevitably, though the only time he caught Faith.
June 2007
“It’s Spike, checking in.”
“Hey Spike!”
“Who’s that? You’re not the Watcher. Dawn? That you kid?”
“Yep, it’s me. But enough with the nicknames. Slayer Support Officer Summers at your service.”
“You passed? Good on you, Bit!”
He could hear Dawn’s shrug down the phone. Also, her shining pride once she spoke. “Yeah; it was simple stuff. Sunnydale was a pretty good grounding in the mystical and violent, you know.”
“You’re still off to college though? Don’t wanna stick at SSO your whole life, I hope.” Then Spike realised he’d started to sound like a nagging uncle, coughed sharply, and went back to report-mode. “Take it Giles changed his duties? Not to worry, it’s not a crisis.”
He was in Chennai this month. It was bloody hot.
*
Closing in on the end of the third year of searching, Spike began to feel the pressure. Sightings had flooded in that year, and things became ragged.
September 2007
“Checking in as promised, mein Fuehrer. Ragusa all clear-”
“Spike-”
“Not a sign in Konigsberg or Danzig-”
“Spike-”
“And actually yes I do know these are the old names and I don’t care. I learnt my geography before all this buggering about with perfectly good words-”
“SPIKE!”
“What?”
“You sound absolutely at the end of your tether. How long is it since you were home?”
“Seven months, I make it. Two hundred and sixteen days, to be more precise.”
“And you haven’t seen Buffy since...?”
“Kyoto, in May. We got a coupla days in the airport hotel.”
“Right. That’s it. I know the trail is continuing, but we’ve had no signs of any imminently disastrous events. We’ll keep an SSO on the lookout - perhaps Mr Silking would take it on. But it’s past time you had a break.”
“Seriously? Cheers, Rupert.”
Giles hung up, reasonably content with his decision. At least it would perk Buffy up; she’d been unbearable over breakfast meetings lately.
*
Part four is here.