Days in the Sun

Leaving his Slayer and her Watcher downstairs, Spike sauntered to the second floor to check on their children before they left. He couldn’t wait to be out and fight this battle, they had been waiting for it for too long already, and he had never been the patient type. Plus, all his plans usually went very wrong, so he could only hope that his curse wouldn’t affect the planning done by the Scoobies.

Quietly, he walked first in Jay’s room, finding his youngest child already asleep. He brushed a kiss to her forehead and dimmed the light before closing the door. Next, he checked on William, discovering that the ten-year-old was hiding under his sheets with a book and a flashlight. Since Buffy had already checked on him, he certainly didn’t expect another visit, and Spike suppressed a chuckle at the boy’s sneakiness before deciding not to let his presence known. Finally, he pushed Lisa’s door open, and found his eldest sitting on her bed, her arms around her PJ clad legs. Turning on the light, he frowned and came to sit by her.

“You OK, luv?” he asked softly when she turned too wide eyes at him.

“Where are you going?”

“You know where,” he replied with a smile. “We’re just going on patrol. We’ll be back soon.”

Her gaze seemed to weight him for a second. “It’s not a real patrol. Aunt Willow and Aunt Tara and Uncle Xander don’t go on patrol with you and I heard mom say they would be there tonight.”

Caressing his child’s hair, Spike pondered what to tell her. He didn’t like the idea of lying to his children, and had actually never done so. He wasn’t about to start now.

“You’re right, baby,” he finally admitted. “It’s a bit different tonight. We’re going to try to make all the bad people go away at once.”

“They won’t hurt you and mom, right?”

There was too much worry in the soft voice, and Spike felt sorry about causing distress to his little girl. After this fight, however, they would probably be able to cut on patrols, so in the end she would worry less about them.

“Mom and me will be very careful,” he tried to reassure her. “Don’t worry, honey. We will be back before you know it.”

She nodded and lay back in the bed. As Spike was about to walk away, a small hand gripped the edge of his duster and he turned back to look at Lisa.

“Love you,” she whispered.

“Love you more,” he replied with a grin before walking out.



Just by looking at him, Buffy could tell that there was something wrong with her Watcher. He had been polishing his glasses ever since Spike had climbed up the steps to check on the kids a last time, even though she had just done this exact same thing and announced that everything was clear on the kiddies’ front. Giles looked like he wanted to say something, but at his current pace they would be long gone before he managed to get it out.

“Come on, Giles,” she said teasingly. “I’m sure you remember how to talk. Just say whatever it is, already. You haven’t forgotten to tell us about a part of the prophecy, have you?”

With an annoyed sigh, he perched his glasses back on his nose, and stuck his hands deep in his pockets.

“Of course, I haven’t forgotten anything. I very deliberately omitted a few details, including how exactly you will win this time. What’s the fun if you know everything?”

Buffy stared at him, slightly baffled. “Wow, Giles, you do realize you made a joke, right?”

“No, dear, that was sarcasm,” he retorted. “I don’t joke about apocalypses.”

She gave him a lopsided grin. “Near-apocalypses. It’s only one if we fail. And we won’t fail.”

He nodded, and once more picked his glasses off his nose. “As you say, it’s ‘we’. As your Watcher, I should be right there with you, especially tonight, and not…”

“And you think either me or Spike could fight,” she interrupted him, “if we weren’t sure that our children are safe?”

“Someone else could stay with them,” he insisted. “Bring them to Anya, since…”

Buffy shook her head, and Giles’ voice trailed off.

“If we do that, they will know something is up and they will worry,” Buffy explained once more hers and Spike’s reasoning. “They’re used to you babysitting them. And we trust you.”

And there was also the added bonus of keeping the aging Watcher out of direct combat, although Buffy knew better than to say that out loud.

Giles let out a reluctant sigh. “I am honored by your trust, really. But I can’t help thinking my place is right by my Slayer’s side.”

“Except that she’s my Slayer, mate,” Spike announced with a smirk as he strode in the living room and came to stand by Buffy.

Quite startlingly, Giles rolled his eyes at the vampire, and gave him a somewhat annoyed look.

“You know what I mean,” he pointed out. “Both of you. And…”

“And we appreciate the feeling,” Spike cut in, “but we appreciate even more to know that the kids will be fine when we come back. Because we will come back, so stop worrying over nothing. Can we go, now, luv? I feel like killing something.”

Shaking her head at her lover’s antics, Buffy gave Giles a hug.

“We’ll be fine,” she promised. “And we all will give you detailed reports so you can fill out your journal, don’t worry.”

He smiled at that, and mumbled a good luck wish of some sorts as Buffy and her leather-clad husband walked out, hand in hand, to meet the few friends with whom they intended to close the Hellmouth once and for all.


Lisa couldn’t have said why she was crouching behind the banister at the top of the steps with her camera. It was just a sudden idea that had come to her and she had just done it without thinking about it. She had the camera for a school project, and she was supposed to use it only for the project, but at that moment she didn’t care. She heard the steps coming out of the living room and toward the front door, and took a couple of shots before her parents had disappeared. She hated when they went out at night when they were clothed like this, all in black and wearing their long coats. She hated it, because sometimes, the next days, one of them, or even both, would have bruises, or bandages, or limp, or try to hide that they hurt in some way. She wasn’t too sure what ‘patrol’ was. Her mom had explained that it was like being the police, except that the bad people were vampires, like her dad, but mean, ugly ones. Also tonight she wasn’t feeling so well, she was very afraid for them, more than ever before. And she knew already that she wouldn’t fall asleep before she could hear them coming back.