ALL HALLOWED MATING: AFTER THE SPELL
by CaliaDragon
Notes

Xander and Dawn paused outside Giles’ house with a look of unease. Both of them were nervous about how Buffy and the others would take the addition of their vampires. Hopefully they wouldn’t try to stake them before Xander and Dawn could explain what was going on. “Xander, Dawn?” Giles and Willow called from behind them.

Both children turned to look at them and quickly stepped in front of the two vampires when both Willow and Giles pulled stakes out. “Wait, they're on our side now!” Xander cried anxiously.

The door opened behind them and all of the humans gulped in fear as Angel growled. No one was sure why he was growling, but it couldn’t be a good thing. Could it? “Spike, why do you and Harris smell like one another?” Angel asked with a snarl.

“We’re mated, he’s my husband,” Spike told him meekly. Somehow he knew he was no longer dealing with the gelled ponce.

“Husband?!” everyone else shouted. Dru, Dawn and Xander giggled at the looks on their faces.

“How did you end up married to Xander?” Cordy asked on a roar as she lunged forward. Only Angel grabbing her kept her from staking Spike.

“That would be from the spell,” Xander told her softly.

Now they were looking at Giles nervously as he growled. “That’s a nice growl you have there, Giles, but why are you growling? You're not gonna go all evil and kill the world are you? That would be bad and I’m going over here,” Willow babbled and ran to hide behind Xander and Dawn, who were by now giggling again. Willow stuck her tongue out at them, but nevertheless stayed hidden behind the pair.

Giles sighed and shook his head, “I’m not going all evil, I am merely regretting not tying Ethan up so that I could deal with him should something like this occur,” Giles said in frustration.

“Ooo…..The pretty mage misses his heart, spells and magic he uses to call. Give him your love and chaos shall no longer call,” Dru said with a beautiful smile. Giles blinked and looked at her in surprise.

“She’s right you know, if you just showed Ethan that you still loved him, then the Chaos magic wouldn’t have such a powerful hold on him. Besides, that Eyghon thing I can so get rid of.” They all turned to look at the stunning blonde woman that had appeared out of thin air.

“Grr, pretty light,” Dru purred out. Aphrodite giggled and bounced, causing most of those watching her to gape and drool.

“Aphrodite, Goddess of Love and Commitment,” Giles whispered in awe.

“That’s me. Hey, toots, you’re looking good, those clothes you normally wear are so not right for you. Don’t sweat it though, there’s this cute little stud muffin that caught sight of you tonight. I promise you’re gonna love him,” Dite said to Willow as she pulled her out from behind Dawn and Xander.

“……”

Dite giggled at the looks of confusion and lust on the faces of those around her. She then turned to look at Giles and snapped her fingers. As the flash ended Ethan appeared. The bruises and wounds that Giles had inflicted earlier were gone. In their place was healed skin. Giles growled again and frowned at having done so. “That is so wrong!” Dite growled and snapped her fingers. A second later Giles was looking around him in confusion.

“Bloody hell! I’m wearing tweed!” Giles bellowed. The kids all giggled. He turned his attention to them and glared. “Ha ha, you lot are a laugh riot.” He then turned his attention back to Ethan. Instead of growling he purred and pulled Ethan into a deep kiss.

“And on that note, we’re outta here!” Xander declared as he grabbed Willow, who grabbed Cordy, who grabbed Buffy, who grabbed Angel, who grabbed Dru as Spike was already following his honey down the road. Dite giggled and walked away with them. After flexing a little power and sending the two men to Giles’ bedroom.

“So, Lady Aphrodite, what’s the what?” Xander asked with a grin.

“Well, I just thought that, since my baby, his cute little leather honey and my sweet Discord got to do something for their chosen I should get to as well. So here I am. My Ripper has his lover back and Janus is now totally out of their lives,“ Dite said with a bounce and a giggle.

“Wow,” Spike and Xander breathed together. Buffy snickered, until she noticed that Angel was wearing the same look. Then she poked him in the side. He looked at her and smiled sheepishly. This time it was Spike and Xander that snickered. Xander really couldn’t say anything about Angel and Buffy now that he had Spike as a husband, so he decided it was time to find out who it was that the Goddess had in mind for his Wills, just to make sure he was worthy of her.

Dite giggled as she picked up Xander's thoughts and showed him a picture of the boy in question. A soft smile lit Xander’s face and he grinned at Willow. “You are so gonna love the guy she picked for you,” Xander told her with a grin. Willow blushed at the look on her friend's face, but felt a stirring of excitement. It would be nice to have someone love her for who she was.

“Blondie, you done screwed things up,” a drawled voice said from nearby as Whistler came into view.

“Whistler?” Angel asked, confused.

“We didn’t screw anything up, you little freak. If anything we fixed it. Your stupid wanna be gods have been playing with OUR chosen. You are not going to get away with it any longer. We have righted the wrongs that you created by cursing Angelus in the first place. If you had not corrupted Darla with your stupidity she would still be around and Angelus would be Angelus. As it is, he is now Liam, the warrior of Discord and protected of the House of War. By the way, if I were you I’d run back to the wannabes and tell them Ares is pissed and looking for action,” the God of War said as he appeared beside his sister. Whistler paled, things had gone screwy. The God of War usually stayed out of mortal battles these days, preferring to deal strictly with the demon-human wars.

Now, however, War had claimed the future champion of the Powers, which meant that the destroyer would never be reborn. “By the way, little man, you will be sending my seer here. If you don’t, I will crush you,” Apollo said calmly as he appeared on the other side of the children. All of the young ones made a sound of appreciation when they saw Apollo.

The god of healing merely grinned.

Whistler, however, nodded rapidly and disappeared. In his place was a green eyed young man with as messy a clothing style as Xander and a confused look on his face. “Um, hello?” Doyle asked, confused as to why he was there.

“Doyle, this is the Scooby Gang, they are your new charges. You will receive visions for them; however, you will not have the pain that is normally involved with the visions. You no longer answer to the Powers. You answer to me,” Apollo told him gently. “You will be Alexander and Elizabeth’s tutors as well. They are smart children, but they need the guidance they are not getting from the teachers at their school.” Apollo then stepped forward and placed a conjured necklace around Doyle’s neck.

Doyle gasped as he felt the power of the talisman take affect. He shivered as the pain he had become used to eased away. Looking up at Apollo he smiled shyly. “Thank you, my lord.”

“You are welcome. Now, I think that you children should be getting home. I also think you need to sit your mother down and explain to her what is really going on in this town, Buffy. She will understand and she will be the greatest power at your disposal. She loves all of you children and, given the chance, she will love those close to you. Trust her, Buffy,” Ares told her gently, before taking his brother and sister by the hand and disappearing.

When the gods were gone, everyone slowly turned in the direction of Buffy’s house. Xander was still carrying Dawn, while Cordy and Willow walked side by side. Angel was holding Buffy’s hand and looking over at his Childer in confusion and joy. Doyle was at Xander’s side and going over the knowledge that he had been given by the talisman of Apollo. This was seriously strange, but good at the same time.

When they walked into Buffy’s house, her mother rushed forward to check on her children. She was glad to see that they were all right. “Mom, you need to sit down, we have a lot to tell you,” Buffy told her nervously. Angel took her hand and they shared a look with their friends.

It was surprisingly easy to get Joyce to believe, especially about vampires and demons. Finding out about the gods and that her daughter had been fighting the evils of the world with just Angel, Giles and the two children she had come to love so deeply was not, however, easy. She accepted that it was necessary, but that didn’t change the fact her daughter had had to keep this secret from her all these years.

“I am so sorry for lying to you, Mom, but-“

“Don’t, Buffy, you have nothing to apologize for. I’m the one that should be sorry. I have ignored too many things over the years, especially you and your sister. It took divorcing your father for me to wake up even a little. Now things will change. No more sneaking around. You can patrol and fight demons when you need to, but you will tell me. Dawn and I will get training to take care of ourselves. I hope that William and Angel will be willing to do that for us?” Joyce asked, looking at the two male vampires. Both men nodded.

“I also want you to get my son away from those two monsters that call themselves his parents. I may not have been able to do anything before, but you can, William. Xander should not have to stay with those people. As for you, Willow, I will be talking to your parents. Since they have decided that staying in Sunnydale with you is not their place, I will see if they won’t allow you to come and live with the girls and me. We may need to get a bigger place, but we’ll work something out,” Joyce said calmly. Xander and Willow looked surprised, while Buffy looked relieved. It always worried her that her friends lived the way that they did.

Buffy should have told her Mother the truth a long time ago, but somehow she thought things were going to get better and maybe just a little bit easier for all of them.


L.A.

Lindsey McDonald looked down at the file in front of him and smiled; so things had changed. All the better for him. Looking around his office, he wondered if maybe a move to the smaller section of the firm was in the plans. After all, someone needed to keep an eye on their accounts in Sunnydale.


London….The Watchers' Council

Wesley Wyndam-Price looked around the small office that had been his for the last year and wondered why the Council had suddenly decided that he was to be sent to America to assist the current Watcher assigned to Slayer Summers. He was excited by the chance to learn from a field Watcher and hoped that he would finally find a place where he belonged.


Somewhere in the world

A beautiful girl with caramel colored skin fell to a demon. Her Watcher killed the beast and rushed to her side, reviving her with CPR. The Watcher thanked the fates for the return of the child he had raised, while a sudden compulsion urged him to take the girl to the hellmouth and Rupert Giles.


Boston

Faith looked at the drunken slob that called itself her father and braced for another blow. At the same time a strange feeling came over her and suddenly she stopped the handlob that called itself her father and braced for another blow. At the same time a strange feeling came over her and suddenly she stopped the hand about to land. A cold smirk crossed her face and she lashed out with a powerful punch to the gut. Her father struck the wall and Faith laughed. She spun on her heel and went to her room. Packing up everything she owned, Faith walked back into the living room, spat on her father and walked out of the apartment where she had spent most of her life as a prisoner.

She had a sudden urge to travel and a destination in mind. In her heart and in her mind's eye the faces of the people who could help her and maybe, just maybe, give her a life beyond the one she had always known.