It May Be Late, But It's Still Friday - and the Penultimate Chapter of The Devil's Gift
It's really true what they say - I'd forget my head if it wasn't attached.
Anyway, as the subject line says - this is the next to last chapter of
my little story.
Hope you enjoy as you head into the weekend. Once again, as always comments
are always welcome.
For the first time in several weeks, Buffy held hope in her heart. After their heart-to-heart talk, Lucifer seemed determined to find the way to send her back to her own time and place.
Of her new friends, Maze was the most blasé about sending her ‘super hero’ back. Trixie wasn’t happy to be losing her newest friend, but wanted her to be happy. Chloe seemed to find the whole scenario the equivalent of a sci-fi movie, but wished her well, nevertheless.
Amenadiel was pleased - he said that both she and the world would be better off if she went back to where she belonged. Linda gave her a hug and told her to be strong; Buffy’s world would be a better place for her being in it.
Lucifer was finally convinced that Buffy had played no part in his abduction, and seemed hell-bent (should pardon the expression) on giving Buffy her truest desire - her proper place and time in the scheme of things.
Everyone - except for Trixie, who was in school - gathered in Ella’s office at the police station.
“I’ve examined this literally bloody knife six ways to Sunday,” Ella stated, brandishing the blade back and forth, causing everyone to take a step back. “It doesn’t sing, it doesn’t flame… it doesn’t seem to do anything out of the ordinary.
“And yet it seems to carry the blood of Buffy’s daughter,” she mused, stroking her gloved finger along the edge of the blade. “And if Buffy’s not from here, then obviously her child isn’t, either.”
Buffy gasped. My daughter! she practically shrieked. “I-I don’t have a daughter. No children whatsoever,” she insisted, looking at Ella as if she’d grown another head.
“But the blood here says differently,” Ella pushed. “We matched the blood type against your hospital records, and she’s definitely genetically yours.”
“I do have a younger sister. I’ve said that, before. She’s the main reason I need to get home. For her. And for me,” she added.
Buffy needed to sit, and fast. Her head spun with the revelation. Dawn! Her daughter? How could this be so? She took a breath to calm her scattered thoughts and tried to dissect them, logically. Dawn was created, the monks had said.
Suddenly, the discussion she had about her pseudo-sister with Giles filled her brain.
“Come on. Say it. We’re bloody well talking about this. Tell me to kill my sister.”
“She’s not your sister.”
“No, she’s not. She’s more than that. She’s me. The monks made her out of me. I hold her… and I feel closer to her than… it’s not just the memories they build. It’s physical. Dawn… is a part of me. The only part that I-”
Her daughter! No wonder she felt so close to Dawn. Of course, that only opened the door to another room full of crazy - who was the father? But that wasn’t the issue at hand right now, was it? More importantly…
“This has got to be part of getting me home,” Buffy contended. “I’m here, and this knife is here, and even if it says it’s from my child, which it so isn’t… it’s definitely from where I’m from.”
“Okay, I’ll give you that,” said Ella. “It’s definitely familial blood, no matter how closely related.”
“And if it’s got Dawn’s blood on it, that happened just before I jump - fell - from the tower. It has to be linked.”
Lucifer picked up the knife, examining it closely.” The edge is unbroken; it’s quite sharp, as if it’s purpose was to let blood.”
“Oh god,” Buffy groaned. “This has to be Doc’s knife.”
“Who’s Doc?” asked Chloe, breaking her silence for the first time since they all entered the room.
“Doc was a… was the one who cut my sister,” Buffy said. “Made some big deal about starting the blood flowing, and the portal wouldn’t close until it stopped. It must have fallen to the ground when I pushed him off the tower.”
“But he didn’t land here, with you, did he?” Lucifer asked.
“N-no, I think he died. It was a long way from the top of the tower to the ground.”
“Yet you survived,” Lucifer prodded.
“I jumped through a portal,” Buffy said, her voice small and quiet. “I guess I never said that before.”
“No, no you didn’t, sweetie. And it really would have helped,” Lucifer insisted. “To know you passed through a portal between worlds… of course that’s how you got here. And that’s going to be how you get back, somehow.”
“I don’t suppose anyone has a spare Hell God in their pocket,” Buffy asked meekly, looking around the room.
“Oh, come on now,” Chloe exploded, obviously at the end of her tether. “Since when have you all become Satanists, what with all the talk about Hell, demons, gods and the devil that has been going on around here lately?”
Lucifer turned his beautiful brown eyes on his partner with such a look of adoration and sympathy that Buffy nearly stopped breathing. She’d seen that look before - directed at her - from Spike, though of course, his eyes were a gorgeous shade of blue.
“Never you mind about that, Detective,” Lucifer said, heading off yet again a discussion that was past due.
“Let me have the knife for a moment,” Buffy asked Lucifer, holding out her hand. When he complied without quarrel, she turned the blade over and over, inspecting the haft… running her fingers over the black, onyx-like material, and then shadowing over the blade, itself.
The sharp sound of a slammed drawer made Buffy flinch, skidding her fingers directly on the blade’s edge, drawing blood. Blue sparks flew from the knife, causing Buffy to drop it.
“Oh, ho!” Lucifer exclaimed. “I’d say we’re finally on to something interesting here.”
Maze retrieved the knife from the ground, looking at it with interest. “If anyone is interested in my opinion, I’d say we go back to where you found Buffy and see if you can activate this pretty thing again.”
Buffy’s heart skipped a beat or two. Finally! This could be the way back to all she knew and loved (and hated and despised, but everything was better than nothing, right?).
Ella was practically hopping up and down with excitement. “Oh my god!” she exclaimed. “Is this magic? Is it something divine? Are we gonna witness a true miracle?”
“Slow down, Miss Lopez,” Chloe said, putting a calming hand on Ella’s shoulder. “It was probably no more than a common chemical reaction.”
“That was more than just a chemical reaction,” Maze snorted. Looking longingly at the blade. “That was world altering magic, for sure.”
“So what do we do?” Buffy asked. “Do we go out into the desert, I slice my fingers open, click my heels together and chant there’s no place like home three times?”
Lucifer laughed, looking at Buffy with admiration. “I don’t know what the chanting will do, Ms. Summers, but it certainly couldn’t hurt. Movie magic is powerful in its own right, you know.”
“Then what are we waiting for?”
Chloe said nothing, just rolled her eyes and followed everyone out of Ella’s office.
*****
With a sigh, Buffy took in the little room she’d called home for the past couple of weeks. A bed, a dresser… some of Trixie’s superhero drawings on the walls… all in all, a rather non-descript room. And yet here, she felt comfortable. At ease in a way she hadn’t felt since she was a bubble-headed, self-centered fifteen year old cheerleader - before she was called.
But for all that, her entire body thrummed with excitement. And hope. With any luck at all, in a couple of hours, she’d be back home.
She closed her eyes and pictured those she’d left behind. A quick flash of Angel - tall and thick, brown hair that did actually stick straight up like a porcupine’s quills, soulful brown eyes. Her sister (daughter?), long, silky brunette hair flowing past her gangly shoulders, bright blue eyes looking back at her with a combination of love and disdain. Xander and Anya, and Willow and Tara… all couply and worried.
And Spike.
Platinum blond hair slicked back into an impenetrable helmet. Bright blue eyes dancing with mischief and full of life - always challenging her. A sneer, a cocked eyebrow… another challenge. The graceful moves of his body as he fought. The…
“Oh, for crying out loud,” Buffy muttered. “Why am I spending so much time thinking about Spike?”
You know why, a little voice oddly like Anya’s sounded in her ear. “That vamp is freakin’ sex-on-a-stick! Think of all the delicious orgasms he could provide.”
“Ack! Shut up, Anya,” she shouted to the empty room.
But she’s right, and you know it! This time the voice belonged to her sister. Her baby sister.
“And just what do you know about sex - on a stick or otherwise, missy,” she muttered under her breath.
And of course, Xander had to stick his two cents in. No one is judging you. It's understandable. Spike is strong and mysterious and sorta compact but well-muscled.
“Not quite sure why your opinion on Spike’s hotness was necessary, but I can’t fault it,” Buffy agreed, shaking her head in disbelief. “Maybe I should have a little talk with Spike when I get back - see if he’s really as bad as I’ve led myself to believe. He’d tried so hard to prove he could be good - or even less bad - and with absolutely no encouragement of any kind from anyone.”
Buffy startled as the front door slammed shut - heralding the arrival of Trixie and Chloe.
“Hey, Buffy,” the little girl called out as she barreled into the guest room. “Mom told me you might be going home today. She wanted me to stay home and have Dad stay with me, but I told her you were my friend too, and I wanted to be able to say goodbye in person.”
With a smile, Buffy tousled Trixie’s hair. Such a sweet little girl. She would definitely miss her. “I’m glad you’re coming with me, sweetheart,” she said, accepting a warm hug from the girl. “It’s been a real pleasure meeting you.”
Pulling a picture off the wall, Trixie said, “I don’t want you to forget me. If you take this with you, you can hang it up on your wall at home.”
Buffy looked at the picture and couldn’t help but grin. It was of a blonde-haired woman in a one-piece outfit with a large “B” on the chest, and a cape emblazoned with a bright yellow sun.
“I’ll have to think about getting myself a cape,” she said, laughing. “You made me look good with one.”
Trixie hugged her yet again.
Chloe stood at the door, knocking gently to announce herself. “If you’re ready, we can head out now. Lucifer’s waiting downstairs with a large all-terrain vehicle to take us all to the desert.”
Buffy could almost hear the eye-rolling that followed Chloe’s statement. It was obvious she didn’t believe in this little adventure, but was willing to see it through for both her sake and Lucifer’s.
Tucking Trixie’s picture into a pocket, Buffy left the guestroom for hopefully the very last time.
Anyway, as the subject line says - this is the next to last chapter of
my little story.
Hope you enjoy as you head into the weekend. Once again, as always comments
are always welcome.
For the first time in several weeks, Buffy held hope in her heart. After their heart-to-heart talk, Lucifer seemed determined to find the way to send her back to her own time and place.
Of her new friends, Maze was the most blasé about sending her ‘super hero’ back. Trixie wasn’t happy to be losing her newest friend, but wanted her to be happy. Chloe seemed to find the whole scenario the equivalent of a sci-fi movie, but wished her well, nevertheless.
Amenadiel was pleased - he said that both she and the world would be better off if she went back to where she belonged. Linda gave her a hug and told her to be strong; Buffy’s world would be a better place for her being in it.
Lucifer was finally convinced that Buffy had played no part in his abduction, and seemed hell-bent (should pardon the expression) on giving Buffy her truest desire - her proper place and time in the scheme of things.
Everyone - except for Trixie, who was in school - gathered in Ella’s office at the police station.
“I’ve examined this literally bloody knife six ways to Sunday,” Ella stated, brandishing the blade back and forth, causing everyone to take a step back. “It doesn’t sing, it doesn’t flame… it doesn’t seem to do anything out of the ordinary.
“And yet it seems to carry the blood of Buffy’s daughter,” she mused, stroking her gloved finger along the edge of the blade. “And if Buffy’s not from here, then obviously her child isn’t, either.”
Buffy gasped. My daughter! she practically shrieked. “I-I don’t have a daughter. No children whatsoever,” she insisted, looking at Ella as if she’d grown another head.
“But the blood here says differently,” Ella pushed. “We matched the blood type against your hospital records, and she’s definitely genetically yours.”
“I do have a younger sister. I’ve said that, before. She’s the main reason I need to get home. For her. And for me,” she added.
Buffy needed to sit, and fast. Her head spun with the revelation. Dawn! Her daughter? How could this be so? She took a breath to calm her scattered thoughts and tried to dissect them, logically. Dawn was created, the monks had said.
Suddenly, the discussion she had about her pseudo-sister with Giles filled her brain.
“Come on. Say it. We’re bloody well talking about this. Tell me to kill my sister.”
“She’s not your sister.”
“No, she’s not. She’s more than that. She’s me. The monks made her out of me. I hold her… and I feel closer to her than… it’s not just the memories they build. It’s physical. Dawn… is a part of me. The only part that I-”
Her daughter! No wonder she felt so close to Dawn. Of course, that only opened the door to another room full of crazy - who was the father? But that wasn’t the issue at hand right now, was it? More importantly…
“This has got to be part of getting me home,” Buffy contended. “I’m here, and this knife is here, and even if it says it’s from my child, which it so isn’t… it’s definitely from where I’m from.”
“Okay, I’ll give you that,” said Ella. “It’s definitely familial blood, no matter how closely related.”
“And if it’s got Dawn’s blood on it, that happened just before I jump - fell - from the tower. It has to be linked.”
Lucifer picked up the knife, examining it closely.” The edge is unbroken; it’s quite sharp, as if it’s purpose was to let blood.”
“Oh god,” Buffy groaned. “This has to be Doc’s knife.”
“Who’s Doc?” asked Chloe, breaking her silence for the first time since they all entered the room.
“Doc was a… was the one who cut my sister,” Buffy said. “Made some big deal about starting the blood flowing, and the portal wouldn’t close until it stopped. It must have fallen to the ground when I pushed him off the tower.”
“But he didn’t land here, with you, did he?” Lucifer asked.
“N-no, I think he died. It was a long way from the top of the tower to the ground.”
“Yet you survived,” Lucifer prodded.
“I jumped through a portal,” Buffy said, her voice small and quiet. “I guess I never said that before.”
“No, no you didn’t, sweetie. And it really would have helped,” Lucifer insisted. “To know you passed through a portal between worlds… of course that’s how you got here. And that’s going to be how you get back, somehow.”
“I don’t suppose anyone has a spare Hell God in their pocket,” Buffy asked meekly, looking around the room.
“Oh, come on now,” Chloe exploded, obviously at the end of her tether. “Since when have you all become Satanists, what with all the talk about Hell, demons, gods and the devil that has been going on around here lately?”
Lucifer turned his beautiful brown eyes on his partner with such a look of adoration and sympathy that Buffy nearly stopped breathing. She’d seen that look before - directed at her - from Spike, though of course, his eyes were a gorgeous shade of blue.
“Never you mind about that, Detective,” Lucifer said, heading off yet again a discussion that was past due.
“Let me have the knife for a moment,” Buffy asked Lucifer, holding out her hand. When he complied without quarrel, she turned the blade over and over, inspecting the haft… running her fingers over the black, onyx-like material, and then shadowing over the blade, itself.
The sharp sound of a slammed drawer made Buffy flinch, skidding her fingers directly on the blade’s edge, drawing blood. Blue sparks flew from the knife, causing Buffy to drop it.
“Oh, ho!” Lucifer exclaimed. “I’d say we’re finally on to something interesting here.”
Maze retrieved the knife from the ground, looking at it with interest. “If anyone is interested in my opinion, I’d say we go back to where you found Buffy and see if you can activate this pretty thing again.”
Buffy’s heart skipped a beat or two. Finally! This could be the way back to all she knew and loved (and hated and despised, but everything was better than nothing, right?).
Ella was practically hopping up and down with excitement. “Oh my god!” she exclaimed. “Is this magic? Is it something divine? Are we gonna witness a true miracle?”
“Slow down, Miss Lopez,” Chloe said, putting a calming hand on Ella’s shoulder. “It was probably no more than a common chemical reaction.”
“That was more than just a chemical reaction,” Maze snorted. Looking longingly at the blade. “That was world altering magic, for sure.”
“So what do we do?” Buffy asked. “Do we go out into the desert, I slice my fingers open, click my heels together and chant there’s no place like home three times?”
Lucifer laughed, looking at Buffy with admiration. “I don’t know what the chanting will do, Ms. Summers, but it certainly couldn’t hurt. Movie magic is powerful in its own right, you know.”
“Then what are we waiting for?”
Chloe said nothing, just rolled her eyes and followed everyone out of Ella’s office.
*****
With a sigh, Buffy took in the little room she’d called home for the past couple of weeks. A bed, a dresser… some of Trixie’s superhero drawings on the walls… all in all, a rather non-descript room. And yet here, she felt comfortable. At ease in a way she hadn’t felt since she was a bubble-headed, self-centered fifteen year old cheerleader - before she was called.
But for all that, her entire body thrummed with excitement. And hope. With any luck at all, in a couple of hours, she’d be back home.
She closed her eyes and pictured those she’d left behind. A quick flash of Angel - tall and thick, brown hair that did actually stick straight up like a porcupine’s quills, soulful brown eyes. Her sister (daughter?), long, silky brunette hair flowing past her gangly shoulders, bright blue eyes looking back at her with a combination of love and disdain. Xander and Anya, and Willow and Tara… all couply and worried.
And Spike.
Platinum blond hair slicked back into an impenetrable helmet. Bright blue eyes dancing with mischief and full of life - always challenging her. A sneer, a cocked eyebrow… another challenge. The graceful moves of his body as he fought. The…
“Oh, for crying out loud,” Buffy muttered. “Why am I spending so much time thinking about Spike?”
You know why, a little voice oddly like Anya’s sounded in her ear. “That vamp is freakin’ sex-on-a-stick! Think of all the delicious orgasms he could provide.”
“Ack! Shut up, Anya,” she shouted to the empty room.
But she’s right, and you know it! This time the voice belonged to her sister. Her baby sister.
“And just what do you know about sex - on a stick or otherwise, missy,” she muttered under her breath.
And of course, Xander had to stick his two cents in. No one is judging you. It's understandable. Spike is strong and mysterious and sorta compact but well-muscled.
“Not quite sure why your opinion on Spike’s hotness was necessary, but I can’t fault it,” Buffy agreed, shaking her head in disbelief. “Maybe I should have a little talk with Spike when I get back - see if he’s really as bad as I’ve led myself to believe. He’d tried so hard to prove he could be good - or even less bad - and with absolutely no encouragement of any kind from anyone.”
Buffy startled as the front door slammed shut - heralding the arrival of Trixie and Chloe.
“Hey, Buffy,” the little girl called out as she barreled into the guest room. “Mom told me you might be going home today. She wanted me to stay home and have Dad stay with me, but I told her you were my friend too, and I wanted to be able to say goodbye in person.”
With a smile, Buffy tousled Trixie’s hair. Such a sweet little girl. She would definitely miss her. “I’m glad you’re coming with me, sweetheart,” she said, accepting a warm hug from the girl. “It’s been a real pleasure meeting you.”
Pulling a picture off the wall, Trixie said, “I don’t want you to forget me. If you take this with you, you can hang it up on your wall at home.”
Buffy looked at the picture and couldn’t help but grin. It was of a blonde-haired woman in a one-piece outfit with a large “B” on the chest, and a cape emblazoned with a bright yellow sun.
“I’ll have to think about getting myself a cape,” she said, laughing. “You made me look good with one.”
Trixie hugged her yet again.
Chloe stood at the door, knocking gently to announce herself. “If you’re ready, we can head out now. Lucifer’s waiting downstairs with a large all-terrain vehicle to take us all to the desert.”
Buffy could almost hear the eye-rolling that followed Chloe’s statement. It was obvious she didn’t believe in this little adventure, but was willing to see it through for both her sake and Lucifer’s.
Tucking Trixie’s picture into a pocket, Buffy left the guestroom for hopefully the very last time.