FIC: Trinity's Child 17/?

[CDRERamius@xxxxxxx]

TITLE: Trinity's Child 17/?
AUTHOR: Tony McD
DISCLAIMER: All characters belong to Joss Whendon, Mutant Enemy, WB and 
others. This is for fun, not profit.
SUMMARY: Sequel to Terra Australis Incognito. 17 years on Buffy, Xander, 
Willow, and their child must face very different evils to save the world 
(again).
SPOILERS: None really. AU.
RATING: MA 15+ (Australian system)

Trinity's Child 17/?

It was an exuberant Spike that entered Li and Tran's place later that 
night.
"That was the most fun that I've had since the '41 London Blitz." 
Spike said, referring to the German bombing of London during WW2. Violence, 
death, blackouts and plenty of opportunities for a kill without arousing 
suspicion. Spike could remember he and Dru dancing a waltz to the sound of 
the air raid sirens. To Dru they were the songs of angels, to Spike they were 
the song of dinner being served.
Spike missed the good old fashioned wars. These days people used nukes 
and killed by the million. Worst yet, Spike could almost guarantee that the 
radiation would make the blood undrinkable. Sodding bastards.
All the fighting and thoughts of death were making him hungry and 
Spike headed for the refrigerator for a snack. The rest followed Spike, 
including a slightly annoyed Jenny.
"You might have had fun, but I didn't get a chance." Jenny grumbled. 
"Every time a vamp appeared, you all jumped between me and it. How am I 
supposed to fight vamps if you all jump in and dust 'em before I get a 
chance?"
"We don't want to risk you getting hurt." Paul said putting a 
comforting arm around Jenny.
"For God's sake! When my parents were my age they were out every night 
kicking evil's ass and saving the world."
"True. But you're not a Slayer or a powerful witch. You're just a 
normal person." Paul reminded her.
"But what about Dad? He's just a normal person but he went out and 
kicked evil's ass." Spike smirked into his drink.
"It was more like evil kicked his ass." Spike said to a withering 
glance from Jenny.
"Luv, it's true. When your parents were your age they fought evil. But 
if their parents had any idea of what they were up to, I'd bet they would 
have locked them up. If your parents found out that you were patrolling when 
you should be hiding, well, you could imagine. If anything bad happened to 
you then I don't want to imagine what they would do to me. So for your sake, 
but mostly mine, big bads have to come through us to get a crack at you." 
That said, Spike took his blood and went to bed.
Jenny watched the vampire go. Without a doubt he was strange and 
confusing at times. He was evil by nature, but sometimes Jenny could see some 
good hidden in there. He treated others in a way that he wouldn't dare treat 
her. He would do something good and hate himself for it.
With a huge yawn, Jenny took her leave and went to bed.

The sky was clear and without a breath of wind. In the morning light 
the grass looked unnaturally green.
They had buried Tina at dawn in the manner of other Slayers. Dawn 
signalled the end of a Slayers patrol. Now, just a few hour later they were 
here to bury Joyce.
In accordance with her will, Joyce was being buried in a graveyard in 
the Blue Mountains just west of Sydney. When Joyce saw this area for the 
first time, she fell in love with the raw beauty she saw. Often she and Giles 
would come here for breaks, just the two of them, and wonder around the quiet 
little towns. Sometimes she would sit at a lookout and paint the undulating 
blue green valleys and sheer sandstone cliffs. Joyce was the first to admit 
that she couldn't paint, but it seemed to her the thing to do when presented 
with such peace and tranquillity.
Buffy leaned against Willow, her grief overwhelming the Wicca. Behind 
them, Xander stood holding them both, his face locked in stone as he tried 
not to let his grief flow. They watched as the polished coffin was lowered 
into the ground.
Ashes to ashes. Dust to dust.
Willow took a moment to look around. Security was tight, but low key. 
All those involved with the Trinity were here. With two notable exceptions. 
Giles was undergoing one of several operations and in any case would have 
been unable to come.
The second was Tony. Willow regarded Q as a close family friend. He 
had taken the attack badly; Willow reasoned that he blamed himself. As an 
intelligence officer he probably thought that he should have seen this 
coming. Willow thought that this was nonsense. Only Buffy had any kind of 
warning, and even then it was too vague to figure out. But regardless, Willow 
felt that he should have been there, and it made her angry.
As the funeral ended, people came up to them to offer their 
condolences. The last person to come up to them was Billy.
"Thanks. Thank you for organising this for us." Xander said as he gave 
his friend a brotherly hug.
"Least I could do." Billy told his friends. Buffy hugged Billy too.
"You're a real friend Billy." Buffy said.
"You guys need anything more, just tell me." Billy insisted. Buffy 
nodded in agreement.
"Billy, where's Tony?" Willow asked. Billy looked a little 
uncomfortable at the question.
"He's got the day off. He's got some things he needs to do." Billy 
told her. Willow exploded in anger.
"A day off? He decides that staying home and watching TV is more 
important than being here! I thought he was our friend!" Willow yelled. 
Xander tried to calm her down as her outburst was upsetting Buffy further. 
Billy's own anger flared but he didn't loose his temper.
"Let's go and see what your terrible friend is up to." Billy said with 
a touch of venom in his voice.

They stood at the wharf, a sleek grey warship moored to it. There a 
form of parade going on and a roll call was being held. The captain called 
out sailors names and they would reply "Ma'am". Occasionally a sailor would 
reply "On watch". The sailors that did this held a folded uniform with a cap 
sitting on top. Behind the captain were a number of civilians and Tony. Buffy 
asked what was going on.
"This is the crew of the SYDNEY. They returned this morning after 
helping with the investigation of the attack. The sailors holding the 
uniforms are representing the ones that were killed by the Watchers Council. 
As there are no bodies to bury, they hold uniforms to give to the families of 
those who died.
"The only excuse for not turning up to parade is if you're on watch. 
Those that died are said to be on watch. Eternal watch." The four of them 
watched the proceedings.
"Do you want to here a story?" Billy asked. There was no reply.
"There once was a young man, a kid really. About Jenny's age I guess. 
Anyway one day he found out that his girlfriend was pregnant. This was too 
much for the lad, he wasn't ready to become a father. So he ran away and 
became a sailor. His old girlfriend gave birth to a baby girl, but the lad 
was still too scared of the responsibility and refused to have any thing to 
do with her.
"The lad grew up, he learned to become a responsible man. He met a 
wonderful woman and they married. They were unable to have children together. 
But he still refused to see his little daughter. But it wasn't because he was 
afraid of the responsibility. He was ashamed of how he had treated her and 
her mother. He was afraid of her hating him the way he felt he rightly 
deserved.
"The years passed and the little girl grew up, as little girls tend to 
do. But despite all the years, all the things that had happened, she decided 
to become a sailor. Just like her Dad."
The four of them looked on in horror as Tony received a folded 
uniform. He fell to the ground weeping uncontrollably. A father clutching the 
last reminder of his only child.

Buffy, Willow and Xander sat in the back as the car took them back to 
the hospital where Giles was being kept.
"The time for grieving is over. They pulled a Pearl Harbour on us and 
we need to remind the Watchers Council of where that ended up. We have to 
start to do something about it." Buffy said with a hard edge to her voice.
"What do we do?" asked Willow.
"We train. We get ourselves ready for when we find them. We find them, 
we kill them." Xander said coldly.
Willow sat in silent fear. What Buffy and Xander were saying didn't 
frighten her. It was the cold hard fires of hatred and death that burned out 
from deep inside them. Her fear was that they would be consumed by their 
feelings. In seeking to destroy the Watchers Council, they could destroy 
themselves.