Chapter 17: Divine Prediction
Flashback...
"No!" the woman screamed, struggling to break away from the tight straps that held her in place on top of the pregnancy table. Doctors rambled around the laboratory, shouting out orders to nurses who came in and out of the room. One of the doctors stopped in front of the woman, staring at her, her face expressionless. She held a syringe, spouting with drugs in one hand while holding a small glass beaker filled with chemicals on the other.
"You'll never take my baby!" the woman yelled, angry tears spilling down her pale cheeks as her body squirmed helplessly under the cutting straps that remained firm.
"Don't worry, we'll take good care of her." the doctor said, a smile materializing on her face. The kind of smile that meant nothing, the kind of smile that didn't quite reach the eyes.
"You bitch!" the brunette shrieked, her eyes once again filling with tears when she saw her baby being carried by a platinum blonde woman, a sardonic smile on her face.
"Watch the language Ms. Wilkins," the blonde said shaking her head in disapproval. "You don't want your child to hear such sadistic words." And before the young brunette could say anything more, the doctor plunged the syringe deep into her arm. And the last she heard was her baby crying for her mother...
End Flashback
Max raised her eyes from the floor where she had been staring at for the past three minutes to see every other occupant in the living room waiting for her reaction in intense anticipation. She glanced at Alec and saw his mouth half-open, apparently at loss for words. Her gaze switched to Spike who had a mixture of expression fleeting across his face. Being a vampire and all, he probably didn't want her child to end all evil. Buffy on the other hand had her brow furrowed both in curiosity and concern.
The flashback was still fresh in her mind. It wasn't exactly clear since she was still a baby back then, but the screams, the conversations...she had it all memorized in her mind. That was the only scene in which she had remembered her mother, and every time the flashback hit her, she would search every part of it, trying to catch even a glimpse of her mother's face. But she wasn't able to see it...not until now. Maybe it was because she had already seen her picture,...or did have something to do with the Runes?
Max had no idea what to feel right then. The baby,...her child...was a slayer. A future slayer. And to what Buffy had just explained...the slayer, the one girl to stop all vampires, to stop all demons,...to stop all evil. Before Buffy had told her all about the prophecy thing, the one thing Max had feared for the baby was if it was going to become a transgenic. It had happened with her sister Tinga, her child had been a transgenic and that had put their lives at great risk.
Her baby being a slayer was both good news and bad news. The good news was that baby wouldn't surely be a transgenic. But the bad news was... she still won't be able to have a normal life. She'll have to fight supernatural occurrences like Buffy,...with her life on the line.
"This is not happening," Max said, her tone soft but firm. She could not let her child go around fighting and killing vampires. She didn't care if she was the 'one'. All that mattered was for her child to be safe. Max didn't want her to have a life like she had before. Full of pain, full of sadness,...full of struggle.
Buffy smiled sadly. "That's what I said when I first found out that I was the Chosen One."
"There is no possible way that she is going to be the slayer," Max said, her tone rising.
Buffy shook her head in sympathy. "I'm sorry, but there's nothing you can do about it. The Powers that Be had already planned this out..."
"It is done."
A bolt of lightning flashed across the sky illuminating the dark night. The bolt reflected against the mirror that was attached to one of the walls at the far end of the room, creating a soft glow around its silver edges. A deafening clap of thunder followed. The fluorescent lights on the living room ceiling flickered dimly before completely going out leaving the four occupants in room bathed in pure darkness.
"Blackout," Spike's voice rang out, piercing the silence that hung among them after the current slayer said the foreboding words: 'It is done'. Alec, despite his oversized ego felt uneasiness tug at his gut, making him realize once again that the paranormal really did exist.
"I'll get the candles," Max spoke from beside him.
"Why?" Alec asked. It wasn't like the people in the room were ordinary people. "We all have night vision here." The male transgenic glanced at Buffy, she nodded in agreement. Spike's icy blue eyes danced in the darkness, a predatory glint glowing eerily behind his dark irises. One of the things that made vampires stand out among all other mortals.
"Because I feel like it," Max snapped moving over to the kitchen countertop and rummaging around in the drawer above her.
"Because it makes you feel normal," Alec muttered. Unfortunately the female X5 heard it. Max's head peeked out from behind the open cabinet door, a frown was on her face. The kind she usually got when Alec called 'ordinaries' inferior.
"What's so wrong about trying to be normal?" Max asked flatly, finally emerging from the carrying three candlesticks. She set them neatly on top of the coffee table and searched her pockets for a lighter. Spike tossed one at her, and she lit them in a hurry.
"Nothing!" Alec said defensively. He wasn't in the mood to have an argument with Max, especially when the situation was already so delicate. "But you have to face the facts Maxie, were not normal. And you have to learn to accept it. And not only that, you also have to accept the fact that our baby isn't normal. She's special. Like us."
Max's gaze lowered to the floor where it locked with the fissured marble tiles. She kept silent, obviously thinking it out. "But there are risks to being special." She said softly, still refusing to meet anyone's gaze.
Alec blinked. "Life's too short to be playing it safe Maxie," he said. "And besides, I'm sure that there are bonuses to being a slayer." At this last statement, Alec looked straight at Buffy who grinned.
Max sighed, rather exasperatedly, as if giving up on the subject. "So when'll she be the 'slayer'?" she asked making big air quotes.
"When she turns sixteen," Buffy said promptly. "Until then, I'll be the one to keep Seattle clean from vamps."
"Oh joy," Spike drawled, sarcasm dripping from his voice. "Always the hostile one aren't we?"
"Oh come on Spike, you know that you're exempted from the rest of the baddies," Buffy said rolling her eyes. "Though if you keep on saying that, I'll just be tempted to kill you."
"Kill me once, kill me twice." Spike said lazily. "At least its you who gets to kill me, much better than some other demon."
Buffy made a loud harrumphing sound before shushing him up and asking the two X5s if they had anymore questions. They shook their heads, though Max, a little weakly. Alec didn't know if it was from the seizures or from the breathtaking news. He figured that it was the latter part.
"Well we'd better get going then," Buffy said with a smile. "Even slayers need their beauty sleep."
"You look like you could really use one," Spike commented from behind her as they filed out of the front door with Alec as their escort. Buffy smacked him around the head, causing the blonde vamp to wince in pain, and letting out a string of British swear words right after.
"See you at work Buffy," Alec said with a smile and shut the door behind them. He headed back to the living room where Max sat unmoving on the couch, her beautiful face expressionless. It was the kind of expression she got when she was thinking hard about something, and that something was usually something bad.
"You okay Maxie?" he asked sitting down beside her and wrapping an arm around her shoulders. Her lips formed a weak but genuine smile as she turned to look at him.
"I just can't believe this is actually happening." Max said, her eyebrows knitting together in absorption. "Everything's going so fast...too fast."
"I know what you mean," Alec said comfortingly, planting a kiss on her forehead as she leaned closer to him. "But there's nothing we can do about it. Guess its what everyone calls as 'fate'."
"Fate," Max whispered, almost inaudibly. "No one can change destiny." She said. "And yet many had..."
Alec stared at her strangely. "What do you mean?"
"What do you think I mean?" she asked, her voice tinted lightly with sarcasm. "I myself have cheated death, the same with Buffy. What if it is our fate to die?"
"Then you'd be dead by now." Alec said in a matter-of-fact tone. "If death is your fate, it'll keep following you. Going wherever you go, like a shadow."
"I guess your right," Max replied, her voice laced with uncertainty and skepticism. "Can I ask you something?"
"Sure."
"Are you comfortable with all of this?" she asked just as the electricity came back on. She blinked once or twice at the brightness of the lights before blowing out all the candles. Alec watched as the burning flame went out, releasing a mist of gray smoke which slowly drifted upward.
"Yes and no." he answered. "Yes because this is for the lives of many, and no because it'll put her own life at risk...but like I said before, what's life without risks?" he shrugged casually, like it was no big deal. But in the inside, he was more than just a little worried. But since his pride was as tall as he was, he wouldn't let it show. Unless when it was already happening.
"Guess we'll just have to wait," Max said her eyes drifting above, almost misty like the smoke but for different reasons.
"Then we'll see what happens."
A/N: Yep, we'll see what happens!!! Bwahahaha!!! Review please!!!
Flashback...
"No!" the woman screamed, struggling to break away from the tight straps that held her in place on top of the pregnancy table. Doctors rambled around the laboratory, shouting out orders to nurses who came in and out of the room. One of the doctors stopped in front of the woman, staring at her, her face expressionless. She held a syringe, spouting with drugs in one hand while holding a small glass beaker filled with chemicals on the other.
"You'll never take my baby!" the woman yelled, angry tears spilling down her pale cheeks as her body squirmed helplessly under the cutting straps that remained firm.
"Don't worry, we'll take good care of her." the doctor said, a smile materializing on her face. The kind of smile that meant nothing, the kind of smile that didn't quite reach the eyes.
"You bitch!" the brunette shrieked, her eyes once again filling with tears when she saw her baby being carried by a platinum blonde woman, a sardonic smile on her face.
"Watch the language Ms. Wilkins," the blonde said shaking her head in disapproval. "You don't want your child to hear such sadistic words." And before the young brunette could say anything more, the doctor plunged the syringe deep into her arm. And the last she heard was her baby crying for her mother...
End Flashback
Max raised her eyes from the floor where she had been staring at for the past three minutes to see every other occupant in the living room waiting for her reaction in intense anticipation. She glanced at Alec and saw his mouth half-open, apparently at loss for words. Her gaze switched to Spike who had a mixture of expression fleeting across his face. Being a vampire and all, he probably didn't want her child to end all evil. Buffy on the other hand had her brow furrowed both in curiosity and concern.
The flashback was still fresh in her mind. It wasn't exactly clear since she was still a baby back then, but the screams, the conversations...she had it all memorized in her mind. That was the only scene in which she had remembered her mother, and every time the flashback hit her, she would search every part of it, trying to catch even a glimpse of her mother's face. But she wasn't able to see it...not until now. Maybe it was because she had already seen her picture,...or did have something to do with the Runes?
Max had no idea what to feel right then. The baby,...her child...was a slayer. A future slayer. And to what Buffy had just explained...the slayer, the one girl to stop all vampires, to stop all demons,...to stop all evil. Before Buffy had told her all about the prophecy thing, the one thing Max had feared for the baby was if it was going to become a transgenic. It had happened with her sister Tinga, her child had been a transgenic and that had put their lives at great risk.
Her baby being a slayer was both good news and bad news. The good news was that baby wouldn't surely be a transgenic. But the bad news was... she still won't be able to have a normal life. She'll have to fight supernatural occurrences like Buffy,...with her life on the line.
"This is not happening," Max said, her tone soft but firm. She could not let her child go around fighting and killing vampires. She didn't care if she was the 'one'. All that mattered was for her child to be safe. Max didn't want her to have a life like she had before. Full of pain, full of sadness,...full of struggle.
Buffy smiled sadly. "That's what I said when I first found out that I was the Chosen One."
"There is no possible way that she is going to be the slayer," Max said, her tone rising.
Buffy shook her head in sympathy. "I'm sorry, but there's nothing you can do about it. The Powers that Be had already planned this out..."
"It is done."
A bolt of lightning flashed across the sky illuminating the dark night. The bolt reflected against the mirror that was attached to one of the walls at the far end of the room, creating a soft glow around its silver edges. A deafening clap of thunder followed. The fluorescent lights on the living room ceiling flickered dimly before completely going out leaving the four occupants in room bathed in pure darkness.
"Blackout," Spike's voice rang out, piercing the silence that hung among them after the current slayer said the foreboding words: 'It is done'. Alec, despite his oversized ego felt uneasiness tug at his gut, making him realize once again that the paranormal really did exist.
"I'll get the candles," Max spoke from beside him.
"Why?" Alec asked. It wasn't like the people in the room were ordinary people. "We all have night vision here." The male transgenic glanced at Buffy, she nodded in agreement. Spike's icy blue eyes danced in the darkness, a predatory glint glowing eerily behind his dark irises. One of the things that made vampires stand out among all other mortals.
"Because I feel like it," Max snapped moving over to the kitchen countertop and rummaging around in the drawer above her.
"Because it makes you feel normal," Alec muttered. Unfortunately the female X5 heard it. Max's head peeked out from behind the open cabinet door, a frown was on her face. The kind she usually got when Alec called 'ordinaries' inferior.
"What's so wrong about trying to be normal?" Max asked flatly, finally emerging from the carrying three candlesticks. She set them neatly on top of the coffee table and searched her pockets for a lighter. Spike tossed one at her, and she lit them in a hurry.
"Nothing!" Alec said defensively. He wasn't in the mood to have an argument with Max, especially when the situation was already so delicate. "But you have to face the facts Maxie, were not normal. And you have to learn to accept it. And not only that, you also have to accept the fact that our baby isn't normal. She's special. Like us."
Max's gaze lowered to the floor where it locked with the fissured marble tiles. She kept silent, obviously thinking it out. "But there are risks to being special." She said softly, still refusing to meet anyone's gaze.
Alec blinked. "Life's too short to be playing it safe Maxie," he said. "And besides, I'm sure that there are bonuses to being a slayer." At this last statement, Alec looked straight at Buffy who grinned.
Max sighed, rather exasperatedly, as if giving up on the subject. "So when'll she be the 'slayer'?" she asked making big air quotes.
"When she turns sixteen," Buffy said promptly. "Until then, I'll be the one to keep Seattle clean from vamps."
"Oh joy," Spike drawled, sarcasm dripping from his voice. "Always the hostile one aren't we?"
"Oh come on Spike, you know that you're exempted from the rest of the baddies," Buffy said rolling her eyes. "Though if you keep on saying that, I'll just be tempted to kill you."
"Kill me once, kill me twice." Spike said lazily. "At least its you who gets to kill me, much better than some other demon."
Buffy made a loud harrumphing sound before shushing him up and asking the two X5s if they had anymore questions. They shook their heads, though Max, a little weakly. Alec didn't know if it was from the seizures or from the breathtaking news. He figured that it was the latter part.
"Well we'd better get going then," Buffy said with a smile. "Even slayers need their beauty sleep."
"You look like you could really use one," Spike commented from behind her as they filed out of the front door with Alec as their escort. Buffy smacked him around the head, causing the blonde vamp to wince in pain, and letting out a string of British swear words right after.
"See you at work Buffy," Alec said with a smile and shut the door behind them. He headed back to the living room where Max sat unmoving on the couch, her beautiful face expressionless. It was the kind of expression she got when she was thinking hard about something, and that something was usually something bad.
"You okay Maxie?" he asked sitting down beside her and wrapping an arm around her shoulders. Her lips formed a weak but genuine smile as she turned to look at him.
"I just can't believe this is actually happening." Max said, her eyebrows knitting together in absorption. "Everything's going so fast...too fast."
"I know what you mean," Alec said comfortingly, planting a kiss on her forehead as she leaned closer to him. "But there's nothing we can do about it. Guess its what everyone calls as 'fate'."
"Fate," Max whispered, almost inaudibly. "No one can change destiny." She said. "And yet many had..."
Alec stared at her strangely. "What do you mean?"
"What do you think I mean?" she asked, her voice tinted lightly with sarcasm. "I myself have cheated death, the same with Buffy. What if it is our fate to die?"
"Then you'd be dead by now." Alec said in a matter-of-fact tone. "If death is your fate, it'll keep following you. Going wherever you go, like a shadow."
"I guess your right," Max replied, her voice laced with uncertainty and skepticism. "Can I ask you something?"
"Sure."
"Are you comfortable with all of this?" she asked just as the electricity came back on. She blinked once or twice at the brightness of the lights before blowing out all the candles. Alec watched as the burning flame went out, releasing a mist of gray smoke which slowly drifted upward.
"Yes and no." he answered. "Yes because this is for the lives of many, and no because it'll put her own life at risk...but like I said before, what's life without risks?" he shrugged casually, like it was no big deal. But in the inside, he was more than just a little worried. But since his pride was as tall as he was, he wouldn't let it show. Unless when it was already happening.
"Guess we'll just have to wait," Max said her eyes drifting above, almost misty like the smoke but for different reasons.
"Then we'll see what happens."
A/N: Yep, we'll see what happens!!! Bwahahaha!!! Review please!!!