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| de evolution - Chapter 1 | | | | - abc + + | | | De-Evolution
A/N: I never intended to write a sequel to Evolution, but I got so many people asking for one that the Muse decided to oblige. I have never had a story write itself so fast in my life, so this story is dedicated to all the people who kick started the Muse into a writing frenzy. You guys rule!
This story takes place 200 years after Evolution. Much of the story will be told in various flashbacks, but the time line will skip around. Clues will be given as to what year it is and such, but please assume nothing just because you haven’t been told it yet.
XXX
Chapter 1
It’s all over but the crying
Fade to black I’m sick of trying
-Garbage
Attempt number twenty four was a knife dipped in battery acid that she’d siphoned from their transport. She slashed her way vertically down both her arms. Then she worked her way down her legs. She hit the veins dead on. The knife had melted into mush by the time she finished. The spilling blood bubbled and burned its way out of her flesh. It took a moment for her to realize that the echoing sounds bouncing off the walls were her own screams. She blacked out.
XXX
“Close yer eyes, luv.”
Buffy giggled and leaned closer to where she sensed Spike was.
“Hey, now. It’s not a surprise if you keep trying to suss it out.”
She pouted behind the hands that lay pressed over her face.
“And no pouting. I can sense when you do that you know.”
She couldn’t help but smile at that.
Spike moved to stand behind her. He wrapped his hands around her wrists and pulled them away from her face. “Happy anniversary, luv.”
Buffy gasped at the scene before her. He had recreated their wedding day…well, as best he could. Most of the guest list was long gone.
The grassy hill held two rows of plain, white folding chairs separated by a pathway of smooth stones. At the end of the path was a white wooden chupa interlaced with pink and white roses. Behind the chupa was a small pond, although there was no Willow to help the lit candles hover just above the water.
“Oh, Spike...It’s,” She turned to throw her arms around him only to find him kneeling if front of her.
“Buffy, will you do me the honors of giving me your hand in marriage a second time?” He held up a small emerald ring that made Buffy’s eyes tear up. It was Dawn’s engagement ring. She had thought Dawn had been buried with it. “Nibblet…she gave it to me just before…she wanted you to have it someday and I thought this would be a good,” Spike swallowed hard and didn’t finish his sentence. .
“Sssh, I love it…I love you. I love you and I’d marry you a million times over.” Buffy dropped to her knees in front of him and threw her arms around his neck.
“Well, we could do that, you know,” Spike murmured between kisses. “Got eternity to spend marrying you over and over again. Could do it once a year if you like.”
“No. Not every year. Just like this,” she said. “Once a century, you and me and this grassy hill.”
“Happy one hundred, pet.”
XXX
It was dark when she opened her eyes. Time didn’t matter anymore. It was light. It was dark. She was here, he wasn’t, and she couldn’t join him.
Buffy looked down at her arms. Completely healed. Not ever a raised line to show where she ripped her veins apart.
She stood up and surveyed her kitchen. Not her kitchen, their kitchen. The battery acid had eaten a hole through the island. Tears sprang to her eyes. Spike loved that island. He said it reminded him of the island in her house back in Sunnydale when he used to sit with her mom and drink hot chocolate. It was the one thing he had asked they install in every place they’d ever lived, and she had ruined it.
“’M sorry, ‘m sorry,” she sobbed as she began filling cups of water to pour on the smoldering hole. “I’ll fix it, and it will be right as-as rain, you’ll see, and when you come back you won’t even know the hole was there…” Buffy dropped the glass and covered her face with her hands. Her knees hit the floor as she collapsed. “Please give him back to me. Please,” she begged to the empty air. “I’ve been a good Slayer. I fought the good fight. I killed your demons and stopped your apocalypses. Please let me have him back. He’s my everything.”
XXX
“Hey, Buffy?”
“Yeah?”
“Have you seen my duster? I can’t find it,” Spike called out from the bedroom.
“Which one?”
“The one you got me last Christmas. I want to wear it when we go out tonight.”
Buffy walked into the room and leaned against the door frame. She watched in amusement as Spike crawled under the bed, then peered behind the dresser before looking under the bed again.
“Where did you see it last,” she asked, trying to maintain a straight face.
“Night before last. I came home, took it off, and draped it on the dresser. Now it’s not there. I can’t understand it.”
Shaking her head, Buffy walked over to the closet, opened the door and pulled out the jacket. “Oh,” she said in a mocking tone. “Look what I found in the closet…right where it belongs. I wonder how it could have gotten there.”
Spike sat back on his haunches, a sheepish grin on his face. “Er, sorry ‘bout that, luv. Meant to hang it up and all that.”
“Uh-huh,” Buffy replied. “You know that might have worked in the beginning, but after almost two hundred years, I’ve given up on hoping that you’ll ever, ever, ever learn to hang your damn duster in the closet.”
Spike looked up at her through his lashes. “I guess I’ve been a naughty man and you’ll have to punish me.” He crawled toward her, and ran his hands slowly up the backs of her legs and under her skirt.
Buffy moaned when he began to pepper her lower regions with kisses, and she felt her knees begin to weaken.
“I must always, always remember to hang up my clothes when I’m not wearing them,” Spike murmured between kisses.
“Oh,” Buffy closed her eyes. “Mmmm, not that I don’t, oh, love where this is, ooh, going…” She fisted her hands in his hair as his tongue entered her. “Oh, Spike…We’ve got to…go…made…oh, right there…plans.”
Spike growled into her thigh and ignored her, sinking his teeth into the tender skin before lathing it with his tongue.
“Yes! I mean…oh, God. Spike…promised…”
He pressed his tongue flat against her clit and she came, screaming his name and shifting into game face. He stood up quickly and sank his fangs into her neck. She came again, sinking her own fangs into him.
“Mine,” he growled.
“As you are mine,” she whispered back.
They stayed frozen in each other’s arms for a moment before Spike spoke again. “Do we really have to go see Angel?”
XXX
Angel stood outside the door to Buffy and Spike’s accommodations and ran his fingers through his hair. He wanted to go in. He wanted to help her the way she had helped him after Cordelia’s passing, and then Connor’s passing after that.
For the first day she had been in shock. She didn’t move, didn’t blink, barely seemed to breathe. He’d tried to feed her, both food and blood, but she wouldn’t open her mouth. Just sat still as stone and stared off into space.
The second day, she’d began screaming. Long, angst filled screams that shook his entire being until he thought that his soul would break under her sadness. He’d tried to hold her, but she knocked him across the room. She pulled at her hair and scratched welts into her arms as she shredded her clothes with her nails. He’d sat in the corner of the room and watched her, unsure of how to help.
Her first suicide attempt had been on day three. He should have known better then to fall asleep. To sleep meant there had been quiet, quiet meant Buffy had stopped screaming, no screaming meant badness all around.
The first attempt was a simple slitting of the wrists. He’d found her lying in the bathtub, her hair floating in the blood red water around her like a golden halo. She sat straight up, sputtering on the water as he entered the bathroom.
“Not dead,” she mumbled. “Didn’t work, not dead.”
She stepped out of the tub letting the blood drip down her body in small rivers as she walked toward the door.
“Don’t get blood on the carpet, Spike,” she mumbled. “It’s my bloody carpet too, and if I want to drip blood all over my bloody carpet I will,” she answered herself, lowering her voice and giving it a British accent. “No ‘cause I always have to clean it up.”
Angel watched in morbid fascination as Buffy held the two sided conversation with herself.
“Buffy?” he said softly.
For a moment she acted like she hadn’t heard him, but the she’d pivoted slightly to face him.
“Your fault,” she said. “Your fault! Your FAULT! YOURFAULTYOURFAULTYOURFAULTYOURFAULT!” She’d catapulted herself at him, clawing at his face and shrieking. “Went out to meet YOU! Still be here if you hadn’t wanted to go to dinner.”
Angel fended her off the best he could without hurting her. “Buffy! Think about what you’re saying. We always meet for dinner at this time of year. The first-OW-Friday of –OW- June to do the memorandum for the gang. It was your idea. We’ve been doing it for a hundred and fifty years.”
She’d thrown him out of the house, literally. The moment he was out the door, she began muttering the dis-invite spell. A beating heart meant demons needed an invitation to her home. The invisible field had been up before he could get his bearings, and he’d been forced to spend the past two weeks with his face pressed against her windows as he watched Buffy try to kill herself again and again.
“The dolly is all broken.”
Angel jerked out of his thoughts at the sound of the voice.
“Poor dolly,” Drusilla said, stepping out of the shadows to stand beside him. “But don’t worry, Mummy’s come to make it all better again.
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| de evolution - Chapter 2 | | | | - abc + + | | | Chapter 2
It’s a cold man’s nightmare to be warm where she lays
And he’s to go through fire to be sure that’s where he stays
-Cathy Davy
Xander threw the cards on the table with a sigh and looked at the clock again. “So did Spike tell anyone that he was going to be late to the game tonight?” he asked the other two demons at the table.
“Naw, he didn’t talk to me,” Mike said, scratching one claw against his spiked face.
“Wait, is this da week he was takin’ da Slayer on vacation for their anniversary?” Sid asked. “’Cause ‘member, he told us that we had to call in Bob to take his spot that week.”
Xander shook his head. “No, their anniversary’s not for another two weeks. Are there any apocalypses scheduled this week that you know of?”
Sid shook his head.
“There was one like a week ago, but I think some monks in Prague took care of it,” Mike said.
Xander leaned forward, resting his arms on the table. “Monks…in Prague…took care of an apocalypse. What world are you living in? There hasn’t been any form of religion since the religious wars of 2139, so how did monks stop an apocalypse?”
Mike looked down at the table and became very interested in a mole on his hand.
“Sid, didn’t you talk to Spike last week when you called to cancel the game?” Xander asked.
“No, no one picked up da phone so I leave a message after the beep, but no one call me back.”
“Why don’t we call now?” Mike asked.
Xander shot him a look of exasperation. “And how would you like to do that Mike? There’s no phone here, remember? Hello! Demon library.”
“We could go visit him,” Sid suggested.
“And this is why Spike and I kick your asses in cards every week. I.Can’t.Leave.The.Library. Remember that part? It’s part of my contract. I live here twenty four/seven except on my two weeks allotted vacation every year.”
Sid laughed, “Oh yeah, I remember the pictures that Anya showed us from your vacation last year. They were funny.”
Xander sighed and leaned back in his chair with his eyes closed. He was muttering to himself under his breath. There was a slight poof of smoke and Anya appeared next to him.
“Xander, honey, this better be important because I was in the middle of eviscerating a man,” she said impatiently.
“Ahn, would you mind swinging by Spike and Buffy’s later tonight before you come home. Spike didn’t show up for the card game tonight, and no one’s heard from him in two weeks.”
Anya frowned, “You know, Buffy was supposed to meet me for lunch on Saturday but she didn’t show up. I was quite mad about it at the time, but luckily I was called away on some wish and I guess I forgot about it.”
Xander chewed his lower lip. “Something’s not right here. Buffy missing lunch? Spike missing cards? Spike never misses cards.”
Anya patted him on the head affectionately, “I’ll swing by after work, okay?” She kissed him on the cheek.
“Have fun doing vengeance, Miss Anya,” Sid said respectfully. Anya had granted the wish that had given Sid his speech issues. She also gave him webbed toes, but he was able to hide that part.
Anya nodded at him and disappeared from the room.
XXX
“Unca Ike! Unca Ike!”
“Oof!” Spike’s legs were knocked out from under him by the toddler that slammed into him at full ramming speed.
“Marry Krismas, Unca Ike!” Taylor yelled as he scooted up Spike’s body to wrap his arms around the vampire’s neck.
“Merry Christmas Taylor,” Spike replied. “My you’re getting awfully strong there.”
“Yep, almos as strong as you and Aunt Uffy. That’s what mommy says.”
“Oh she does, eh? Well, Mr. Strongman, why don’t you go help your Aunt Buffy with the goodies from the car while I put the prezzies under the tree.”
“’Kay!” Taylor stood up and raced out the door to where Buffy was trying to balance several grocery bags of food.
“Hi Spike,” Dawn said, wiping her hand on a dish towel as she came into the room. “Sorry about that, but he’s been so excited about you coming to visit. He’s hoping to do flying man in front of the mirror again.”
Spike grinned, “Oh, is he now?”
“Buffy, do you need help?” Dawn asked as her sister came through the door.
“No, Taylor and I got it all, don’t we Taylor? You are getting so strong,” Buffy said, smiling at the child carrying the salad bowl.
“Yes, just like you and Unca Ike. When I grow up, I’m gonna be a super hero just like you.”
Spike watched the glow that radiated from Buffy’s eye as she talked to Taylor. God he wished they could have children. He knew that Buffy wanted that too. It was hard for her watching Dawn give birth to Taylor and knowing that a child was something she could never have. There had to be something he could do about that.
XXX
Buffy dragged herself from the kitchen to the bedroom on her knees. The bedroom floor was littered with Spike’s t-shirts. She picked up the first one that she came across and held it to her nose, inhaling deeply. The scent was too faint. She dropped it and picked up a different shirt. The scent was faint on that one too. Panicked, she made her way through most of the clothes on the floor.
“No, no, no, no, no, no, no,” she cried frantically.
She stood up and yanked the closet doors open. Quickly, she shuffled through her own clothes, knocking them on the floor in her haste.
“Gotta be one in here, gotta, gotta, gotta.”
Buffy stood on her toes trying to reach the top shelf of the closet. She pulled down all the neatly folded sweaters, knocked over the storage bins so that they fell just past her head, opening and spilling their contents. There in the far corner was a single black shirt. She shrieked and stretched her hand toward it, but she couldn’t reach. Buffy stood on her tiptoes and still couldn’t reach. She jumped and missed. She grabbed the shelf and tried to pull herself up. The entire shelf came loose, hitting her in the head and knocking her out.
XXX
Buffy hopped up and down on her feet.
“Buffy, luv, calm down.” Spike smiled at his beaming wife as she grinned and danced about like a five year old.
“Calm? How can we be calm,” she asked, standing on her toes and pulling him toward her by the lapels of his duster. “Spike, we’re about to meet our daughter.” She giggled. “Spike…we have a daughter!”
“I know we do, pet,” Spike pressed a kiss against her forehead. “And you’re going to make a bloody marvelous mum.”
Buffy bit her lip and grew suddenly quiet.
“Wot’s wrong?” he asked, worriedly.
“Spike,” she whispered. “What-what if she changes her mind? What if she doesn’t sign the papers?”
“Not gonna happen, luv.”
“But-but it could. Things like that happen all the time.”
Spike brushed a lock of hair out of her face, then kissed her tearing eyes. “Then I’ll eat her,” he murmured.
“Mr. and Mrs. Summers?” The doctor waited until he had their attention. “Come with me please.”
Buffy locked her fingers with Spike’s and put on her resolve face before following the doctor into his office. They sat in the chairs the doctor provided, hands still clasped. The doctor sat across from them, behind his desk. He pushed a stack of papers at them.
“I’m pleased to say that after you sign these papers, you are the proud parents of a healthy baby girl.”
Buffy let out a squeal, jumped up and threw her arms around the doctor’s neck. He let out a surprised choke at the strength of her grip.
“Sorry, doc. She’s a bit excited. You know how women get,” Spike said as he pried Buffy off the man. She transferred her arms from the doctor’s neck to Spike’s.
“We have a daughter! We have a daughter! I’m a mom!” she half screamed, half cried. “I wanna see her. Can we see her?” she pleaded, turning back to face the doctor.
He laughed. “Of course, Mrs. Summers, but, please, the papers first?”
Spike chuckled as Buffy grabbed the stack and began signing her name left and right, passing each page to him when he was done.
“Sign faster, Spike,” she whispered low enough that only he could hear. “Don’t make me stake you for being slow. I’ll never forgive you if I have to be a single mom.”
The door opened and a nurse stepped in holding a baby wrapped in a pink blanket. She handed the child to Buffy.
“Oh, oh, Spike look,” Buffy whispered leaning so that Spike could see. “She has ten little fingers…and ten little toes…” she gasped when the baby opened her eyes. They were bright blue. “Hello, little one. I’m your mommy. And this man, that’s your daddy.”
Spike wrapped his arm around Buffy’s waist as she bounced the baby in her arms. “Hello, Madison Joyce,” he whispered.
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| de evolution - Chapter 3 | | | | - abc + + | | | Chapter 3
If the silence takes you
Then I hope it takes me too
-Death Cab for Cutie
Anya surveyed the scene before her. The entire living room was in shambles and the kitchen looked like a war zone.
“Buffy! Spike!” she called, picking her way carefully through the mess. “Are you home? I would have knocked but Angel’s out there with some strange vampiress and she looked a little off her sanity if you get my meaning.”
Anya stood up the bottom of the stairs and chewed her lip. “I’m coming up. Just so you know, okay. I hope that you’re not having boisterous sex or anything. Although I’m sure I would have heard you by now, so I’m thinking you’re not home…or maybe you were robbed. Were you robbed?”
She continued talking as she made her way up the stairs and down the hallway. She paused to look into each room noting that the guest rooms still looked in proper order as did the guest bathroom. The hallway, however, had a trail of Spike’s clothes that lead straight toward the master bedroom.
“Buffy, did you and Spike have a fight? Did you throw him out of the house or something?” It made her feel better to hear her own voice in the silence. The house was never silent, if Buffy and Spike were home there was always some sort of noise, music or laughing or talking or the vidscreen. Hmm, that reminded her. She promised Xander she would see if Spike would let them borrow his copy of Super Beyond Man. The thought made her smile, Xander still loved his comic books and was always trying to get her to bring home the latest from comic to big screen copies of them.
Finally Anya made it to the doorway of the master bedroom, and a gasp escaped her lips. Of all the rooms in the house, this one had seen the most devastation. There was dried blood covering the bed sheets, and the floor was covered in piles of clothing. The closet had been ripped apart, the shelves lying on the floor. Storage tubs lay on their sides, the contents strewn across the floor.
There was a moan from underneath one of the piles and Anya flew into the room, pulling at clothes and pictures and such and throwing them over her shoulder. Blonde hair started to emerge from underneath the rubble and finally she revealed Buff’s face.
“Buffy! Buffy! Open your eyes and look at me!” Anya demanded. “Pulse, pulse, pulse, gotta check for a pulse….wait a minute, you’re immortal. Wake up, Buffy! You have to tell me what happened.”
Anya grasped Buffy underneath her arms and pulled her out from the pile before kneeling next to her and slapping her across the face.
“I said, wake up! Buffy, you need to tell me what happened. Where’s Spike? How long have you been trapped here? Who did this?”
Buffy opened her eyes slowly and looked at Anya. “Anya?” she asked.
“Where’s Spike? What happened?” Anya repeated.
Buffy’s eyes filled with tears and she threw herself at Anya, buring her face in the girl’s lap. “He’s gone! Oh, Anya he’s gone and I can’t go with him. Gone, gone, gone, gone, left me alone. He’s left me all-all alone and they won’t let me go with him,” she sobbed.
Anya froze, “What do you mean, he’s gone?”
“Ashes to ashes, dust to dust,” Buffy sobbed. “Dust to dust, dust to dust, dust to dust, dust, dust, dust, dust, dust, dust in the jar.”
Anya wrapped her arms around the sobbing girl. “Sssh, it’s okay Buffy. It’ll be okay. I’m gonna take you home with me.”
“NO! No, no, no, no, no. This is all I have left. Can’t leave here. If I leave here, alone, then he’s really gone. See, if I stay here he might come back.” Buffy pushed away from Anya in fear.
“Buffy, honey, Spike’s not coming back.”
“Don’t you say that! Don’t s-say that! I’m a good Slayer and the Powers will give him back. They have to. Okay? They have to. See, I kept him so that he can come back.” Buffy stood on wobbling legs and walked over to the nightstand by the bed. She opened the cabinet drawer to reveal an urn and a box.
“Oh, Buffy. Those are just his ashes.”
“Look Anya, I found his present to me.” She pulled out the box and opened it, revealing a red ring.
Anya’s eyes widened. “Buffy, don’t you remember what that is? That’s the red ring of power you gave to Dawn after you first became immortal. It’s powerful, you don’t want to be messing around with that. Buffy, you need to come with me. Xander and I will take care of you.”
“NO!” Buffy stood up and shoved Anya backwards.
“Buffy! What are you doing? I’m trying to help you. I’m your friend.”
“Not my friend. Want me to leave here, leave Spike. I’m not going!”
“Buffy, Spikes d-“ her words were cut off by Buffy’s fist hitting her chin.
“OW! What the hell did you do that for? Fine. Fine, you don’t want me here then I’m leaving.” Anya yelled, rubbing her cheek. She was gone in a puff of smoke leaving Buffy in the room alone.
XXX
Buffy ducked under the punch from the demon, and managed to get a hit of her own directly in his fleshy stomach. The demon winced and took a few steps backwards.
“You doin’ okay, luv?” Spike called from where he was engaged in his own battle.
“Just fine. Me and ugly here are just finishing up,” she responded as she cut off the demon’s head. “See, finished.”
“Same here,” Spike said, stepping beside her. “Where’d the other one go though?”
They both turned to see demon number three trying to make his way over to the alter of the temple. He held a ceremonial knife above his head. The young girl tied to the table began to double her efforts in an attempt to get free.
Without speaking, both began to run after the demon.
“Spike, get the girl. I’ll get the knife,” Buffy yelled.
“I’ve already got a girl, so I’ll just rescue this one if that’s all right with you, pet.”
Buffy tried not to roll her eyes at him, but a small smile did creep onto her face. She tackled the demon from behind and they rolled on the floor, each trying to get the upper hand. The knife slid into her should and she let out a scream.
“Buffy!”
She heard Spike yelling, but couldn’t answer. The poison from the knife burned into her blood, making her eyes water.
“I guess you’ll make a fine sacrifice as well. Not a virgin, but the Slayer has to count for something,” the demon hissed at her.
“You dumbass, I can’t die,” she retorted.
“Don’t need death,” the demon answered. “Just blood.” He pushed down on her injured should squeezing the blood from the wound. “Thanks, Slayer.”
Buffy couldn’t move. The poison was making her way through her bloodstream and paralyzing her. The demon grabbed her by her hair and began dragging her toward the new free alter. She was dropped suddenly, and she could hear the sounds of a fight directly behind her.
“Come on, Buffy. Shake off the poison now. You can do it,” Spike was yelling.
She concentrated on moving her fingers. “Work with me body.” She thought to herself. “Move your finger. Move your finger.”
There was a squishing sound behind her, and then Spike was kneeling at her side.
“Come on, luv. Need you to start moving for me, kay? Grasp my hand.”
Time seemed to stand still as Buffy struggled to make her hand do her bidding. Finally she was able to wrap her hand around Spike’s.
“There you go. That’s my girl. Gonna get you home now, get you fixed up.”
She felt him slid his arm under her knees, the other around her shoulders, as he lifted her off the ground. He nuzzled her neck affectionately. “Gonna be a long night, luv. Gotta get you movin’. Don’t recon you like the idea of being paralyzed for the rest of eternity. But don’t you worry, we won. Stopped the bitty bad in his tracks, and now ‘m gonna fix you all up.”
Buffy felt the corners of her lips start to twitch in an effort to smile. Yeah, everything would always be alright as long as she had Spike by her side.
XXX
“Drusilla, when did you get here? How did you get here?” Angel backed away from her slightly.
She pouted, “Daddy isn’t happy to see his princess?”
“Just wondering why you’re here.”
Drusilla smiled and sashayed her way closer to him. “Mummy’s here to fix the baby. Her sadness called to me, the grief stripping away my flesh bit by bit until it lay all red and dripping. She calls for her knight to save her, but he’s flown away beyond where her light can reach him.”
“And how are you going to help her?” Angel asked, ignoring the hand that was exploring his chest.
“Shhh, it’s a secret,” she whispered in his ear. “The stars told me how. Lots of red, lots of pain…a little soul for a Champion.”
“What do you mean?” his voice hardened.
“Sssh, can’t tell you. Told too much already. Shhh, secrets, secrets, secrets housed inside my head for too many years, longing to be let out into the world. Open the box let it all out. Poor Pandora didn’t know.”
“What didn’t Pandora know, Dru? What are you going to do to Buffy?”
“Mummy’s don’t hurt babies, not their own at least. Never hurt baby. Bring back the knight, bring back the…night,” she replied and smiled. “Come, let us inside to help her.”
Angel shook his head. “We’re not invited.”
Drusilla opened the door to the house and stepped in. “Maybe you’re not, but she’s calling to me. I must see her.”
A/N: The two different spellings of knight and night were done intentionally.
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| de evolution - Chapter 4 | | | | - abc + + | | | Chapter 4
Author’s note: I’m getting a lot of “you killed Spike, bring him back” reviews. Hello people, like I’d leave him dead. Thanks for the trust. Please review. I’ve been having a hard time and I need some cheering up. Okay, now back to your regularly scheduled story.
XXX
“Can you stand the wait? Cause you know that I’ll be gone so long
And I’ve been living with your devil too long and I’ve been living with these arms closed”
-Three Mile Pilot
Anya slammed the door to the library shut. “Xander, get your bags, we need to go,” she demanded as she headed back to their living quarters.
“Whoa, Ahn, wait a minute. I can’t go anywhere, you know that. Did you stop by Spike and Buffy’s?”
“Yes, and we need to go. Hoffy is letting you take an emergency leave.”
“I have emergency leaves? How come I didn’t know this?”
“You didn’t, now you do.”
“Wait, what’s going on? What happened at Spike and Buffy’s?”
Anya threw the suitcase down on their bed and began shoving clothes into it. “Look, one of the higher powers, you know the Powers, came down and requested that Hoffy give you an emergency leave.” Anya zipped her suitcase shut and began working on Xander’s.
He grabbed her arms and turned her to face him. “You need to tell me what’s going on.”
Anya threw her arms around his neck. “I love you. I do, you know. There isn’t a day that goes by that I don’t wake up and think how glad I am that we made up after the wedding fiasco, and that I’ve gotten to spend the last two hundred years by your side.”
Xander wrapped his arms around her waist. “I love you too. I can’t imagine my life without you. If something ever happened to you…I-I’d go crazy, I don’t know what I’d do.”
“Spike…he dusted.”
Xander pulled back to look at her face. “What? Oh my god. When?”
“I-I don’t know. Buffy…she’s not well. She destroyed their house. I found her unconscious and there was blood all over. I tried to make her come home with me. I said that we’d take care of her, but she-she hit me, Xander and it hurt. I was only trying to help, why did she hit me?”
“Oh, Ahn, I’m sure that she didn’t mean it.”
“Then why’d she do it Xander? Why? She has his dust in an urn by her bed, and…she’s got back the red power ring.”
Xander paled, “I thought Dawn got rid of that right before…”
“She must have given it to Spike for safe keeping. I mean, he hates-hated magic. Buffy must have found it…She thinks it was Spike’s gift to her. You know how much he loved to give her jewelry on their big anniversary dates.”
“I know. Man, this would have been their two hundre…” he trailed off.
“What? What is it?”
Xander didn’t answer. He walked out of their living quarters and back into the library. In the middle of the library, a large book lay open on a wooden podium. Xander walked up to the book and began flipping through it.
“You’re looking through a book at a time like this?” Anya asked.
“Not just any book, Ahn. This is Sedina, the book of prophecies. Anytime, anywhere that a prophecy is said, it is automatically written in this book. When I first came here, I read through the parts that happened while Buffy was missing, and if I remember correctly-and demon librarian so I know I do-there was a passage from Drusilla…Oh here it is ‘When the years have passed by, the numbers reaching three digits, when redemption has come and gone and the mortals we know have faded, when the baby that couldn’t be has grown and defeated the evil men with briefcases, then daddy will return to me and he will bring back my Spike and his bride, and family will rule again.’ Um, sorry, it writes the prophecies as the seers say them,” Xander said.
“Oh my god, Xander, it was going to be their two hundredth anniversary…that’s three digits,” Anya said.
“And the baby that couldn’t be, that’s Connor. It’s talking about when Connor defeated the Wolf, the Ram, and the Hart,” Xander added.
“And-and every mortal we know is dead. It’s just you, me, Spike, Buffy, and Angel and we’re all demons of some sort.”
“Hey, not a demon. Demon librarian, just immortal…so long as I follow my contract,” Xander said before looking back into the book. “Daddy will return to me and he will bring back my Spike,” he muttered.
“Daddy? What does that mean?”
“Angelus. Drusilla called Angelus her daddy. He was her sire…Oh, my god she’s gonna unleash Angelus. She’s going to use Angel’s soul to-“
“Resurrect Spike,” Anya finished. “What does Drusilla look like?”
“Um, kinda gothic. Long black hair, always in a white dress kind of a thing. Why?”
“There was a weird vampiress hanging outside Spike and Buffy’s house when I got there. She was talking to Angel.”
Xander snapped the book shut. “We gotta go. Now!”
XXX
Spike wrapped his arms around Buffy’s waist tighter and buried his face in the back of her head, letting his tears soak her hair.
“Ashes to ashes, dust to dust,” the Priest finished as the three coffins began to lower into the ground.
Buffy’s knees gave out and Spike had to haul her back against his chest to keep her from collapsing.
“NO! NO, you can’t do this. You can’t take them. Not my baby! Not my sister! NNOOOOOOOOO!” She broke loose from Spike’s grip and threw herself forward.
“Buffy! No!” Spike screamed, pulling her off the ground and into his arms.
She buried her face in his chest, her sobs shaking her entire body. “Not fair Spike. It’s not fair. Dawnie, she…and Taylor and…Oh, god Maddy! Maddy, our baby. They took our baby! Why? Why? Why?”
“I don’t know, luv. I don’t know,” Spike leaned his forehead against hers, his own tears falling off his face.
Buffy pulled away to look in his eyes. “Are we bad, Spike? Are we being punished? Is that why everyone we love dies?”
“No, no we’re not bad, pet. You are a good person, a good Slayer. Maybe it’s me, maybe it’s MY punishment for all the bad I did before.”
“You’ve paid your time for that. You’ve been on the side of good for over thirty years.” Buffy framed his face with her hands.
“Yeah, but our daughter isn’t going to see her fifteenth birthday next week so what did that get us.” He leaned his forehead back against Buffy’s. “’M sorry, Buffy. If I’d been driving ‘stead of Nibblet…”Spike let out a sob.
Buffy buried her face back in his neck as Spike stroked her hair. A movement near a tree caught his eye and he locked glances with the man that stood half hidden in the shadows.
“Hey,” Willow said as she and Tara joined them.
Spike let go of Buffy so that they could accept the hugs from the two witches.
“I-if you n-need anything, let us know,” Tara said.
“Red, need you to watch Buffy for a moment. Got something I need to take care of,” Spike whispered in Willow’s ear as he hugged her.
“S-sure, anything you need,” Willow said.
“Buffy, luv, need you to stay with Red and Glinda a moment, okay?”
“Where-where are you going? You aren’t leaving me, are you?” Buffy’s eyes grew wide.
Spike pulled her into his arms. “No, no, never gonna leave you. Just need to talk to someone real quick, kay?”
“But you’ll be back, right?”
“Always come back for you, you know that.”
Buffy nodded and let her best friend pull her away from Spike’s retreating back. Willow had seen the man too, and for once in her life, she thought that turning a blind eye was a good idea.
The man watched as Spike approached him and nervously ran his fingers through his hair.
“What.Are.You.Doing.Here?” Spike ground out.
“I’m-I just…I know it doesn’t mean much, but I’m sorry, okay? I’ve-I’ve ruined your life and the life of your whole family. I’ve done…I’ve done a terrible, terrible thing, and I’ll never stop being sorry. I know you don’t care, but I’ve…I’m getting help now. I, um, I joined AA, you know with the twelve steps and all, and well, I’m supposed to apologize to all the people that my drinking has…hurt, and, well, I’m sorry,” the man finished quickly.
Spike starred at him, his eyes shifting from blue to yellow to blue again. “You’re sorry! Lemme get this right. You kill my daughter, my nephew, and my sister-in-law and you’re SORRY? You’ve crushed my brother-in-law and you’re SORRY! You’ve devastated MY WIFE and you’re SORRY? You have no idea how sorry you’re going to be,” Spike yelled, slamming the man into the tree.
“I-I-I-I-I-I a-a-am,” the man stuttered. “T-truly.”
“And you have the nerve to show up here AT THEIR FUNERAL AND TELL ME YOU’RE SORRY!” Spike’s face shifted to reveal his fangs.
“Oh my g-g-god, what are you?” the man cried out.
“I’m your judge, jury and executioner,” Spike answered sinking his fangs into the man’s neck. He hadn’t had human blood in decades, and to be honest, he didn’t enjoy what he was drinking now. He would have gladly forgone human blood until the end of time to have his family back.
When the man was drained, Spike dumped his body in a nearby crypt. It probably wouldn’t ever be found. He walked back over to where Buffy was still being comforted by Willow and Tara.
“I take it your talk had a good ending?” Willow asked.
Spike didn’t reply. He wrapped his arms around Buffy instead. “Let’s go home, luv.”
XXX
| | | | |
| de evolution - Chapter 5 | | | | - abc + + | | | Chapter 5
“There used to be a hundred ways to put my arms around you
Everyone seemed new, natural and true”
-Jets to Brazil
D’Hoffryn was pacing in the front room waiting for Anya and Xander. He could count the number of times that one of the Powers That Be had visited him on one hand, and it always meant that something bad was about to happen. The last time had been right before that stupid flood. What a great idea that had been. Oh, we’re going to flood the world to get rid of all the evilness, and we’ll pick one person to build a giant boat and everyone in the boat will live. Well, gee, wasn’t the world a better place now?
“There you are, what took so long?” he demanded as Anya flew into the room with Xander lugging their suitcases behind her.
“We were checking something in Sedina,” Xander said, slightly out of breath.
“And?” D’Hoffryn demanded.
“Drusilla, Spike’s sire, prophesized something that would happen around this time. We’re not sure but we think she means to bring back Angelus and resurrect Spike,” he continued.
“My horns! Are you sure?”
“As sure as we can be with a prophecy,” Anya replied.
“This isn’t good, not good at all. How is the Slayer taking the death of her mate?”
“Oh, she’s gone crazy,” Anya said. “I mean, we are talking completely loony, off the deep end type of crazy. She hit me.”
“Well, you must go help her. In two weeks time all the planets will be in complete alignment, an event that doesn’t happen very often. It is the perfect moment for an apocalypse. Most likely it will be the apocalypse if you can’t pull the Slayer together. You are her oldest friends, the fate of the world lies in your hands.”
“Wow,” Xander muttered. “Talk about no pressure or anything.”
“Well don’t just stand there,” D’Hoffryn yelled. “GO!GO!GO!”
“Alright, we’re gone. Give me your hand, Xander.”
“Aw, man,” Xander moaned as he stuck his hand out. “I hate teleporting.”
XXX
“Well, let’s see,” Anya demanded as she viewed herself in the dressing room mirror.
“I’m not sure if I like it,” Buffy called from behind the door.
“So, let me see and I’ll tell you,” Anya replied. “I think I’m gonna go with the blue one I tried on before this one. This color makes my skin look yellow.”
Buffy opened the door and stepped out of her dressing room. “Well,” she asked.
“Oh, Buffy, it’s gorgeous. I doubt Spike will even let you out of the hotel room. He’ll probably ravish you on the spot,” Anya gushed.
Buffy stepped in front of the mirror and surveyed the emerald green dress she was wearing. It was floor length satin with slit that went up the side of her leg topped with spaghetti straps and a square neck line. “You think?” she asked.
Anya nodded, “Oh, yeah. Leave your hair down though, just curl it into those fat, ringlet thingies, and wear some pearls. Do you have any pearls?”
“Yeah, Spike gave me a pair for our last big anniversary and I think I brought them with.”
“Do you count your anniversary as the day you were claimed or the day you were married?” Anya asked as she held her hair up in a bun and checked her reflection.
“Um, the day we were married.”
“I’m never sure how to answer people when they ask how long Xander and I have been together. I mean, we’ve been married a hundred and twenty seven because we got married almost a year after you and Spike, but we’ve been together for a hundred and thirty two.”
“Hmm,” Buffy replied. “So, where do you think they’re taking us tonight?” she asked, changing the subject.
“I’m not sure. It must be somewhere nice since they told us to buy new dresses and have our nails done,” Anya said. “What a great business idea to have a shopping mall attached to the resort. The owners must make so much money.” She sighed. “Sometimes I miss owning my own business…Yeah, I think I’ll take the blue one.”
Buffy walked back into her own dressing room to change back into her regular clothes before taking the dress to the auto teller at the register.
“Hell-o, did you find everything you needed today?” It asked her in its auto tone voice.
“Yes, thank you.”
”Would you like matching shoes, purse, or undergarments with your purchase?”
“Oh, yeah that would be great.”
“Taking your measurements, please hold still.”
Buffy tried not to flinch as the teller ran a red beam over her body. Behind the teller, the replicating machine began to whirl. A neatly tied bundled lay on it’s shelf a moment later.
“You have added one pair of shoes, one purse, one pair panty hose, one pair under panties, and one brassiere to your purchase. Do you have a club card?”
“No, I don’t,” Buffy replied, tapping her purchase card on the counter. “I don’t need one either, thank you.”
“You could save up to ten percent today for signing up,” the teller told her.
“Oh, save ten percent?” Anya appeared next to her. “You should do it. You would save at least a hundred dollars.”
“No, Spike would kill me if I got another club card. He says I have too many already.”
“Well, I’m going to get it,” Anya announced as she handed her purchases to the next auto teller at the counter.
“No,” Buffy said firmly.
“You’re loss of money, I suppose. Come on, let’s go get our nails done. I can’t wait to see their faces when they see us all dolled up. God, I love vacations. It’s like an excuse to shop until you drop with no repercussions.”
XXX
Drusilla made her way through the house, stopping now and then to study various pictures that hung on the walls. She made it to the master bedroom just as Buffy was making another suicide attempt.
“No, no, no,” Drusilla cooed as she sauntered over to take the axe from Buffy’s hands. Attempt number twenty five was going to be decapitation. “Bad baby. Silly to waste time on something that won’t work anyway.”
“Drusilla?” Buffy whispered.
“Yes, mummy is here to make it all better.” Drusilla opened her arms and Buffy found herself drawn forward. “There, there, baby,” Dru whispered as she closed her arms around Buffy’s small form and began stroking her hair. “You go ahead and cry. Mummy’s here now. Your fair knight has been taken away from you, hasn’t he?”
Buffy began sobbing again at the mention of Spike. “He-he promised to ne-never leave me, but he did. He lied, and now he’s gone away and I can’t go with him. I’m-I’m all a-alone.”
“Sshhh, I can give him back to you, I can.”
Buffy pulled back a little, hope in her eyes for the first time. “You-you can?”
“Of course I can. The stars, they whispered their secrets to me, told me how to give him back to you. Give him to you so that he can never go away again.” Drusilla wiped the tears of off Buffy’s face. “But you have to want it to work. You have to be willing to sacrifice something to have him back.”
“Anything. I’ll give up anything I have to if it will bring him back.”
Drusilla smiled. “I knew you would, but first you need to eat something. Spike won’t like it if he thinks I let his Sunshine get all thin and wasteful. Now drink.”
Buffy did as her sire asked and sank her fangs into Drusilla’s arm. It had been a long time since she’d had blood from anyone but Spike and Drusilla’s blood began to make her dizzy. She sank to the floor with Dru in tow.
“That’s enough now,” Drusilla commanded. “But just outside the door is more blood for you. Your Angel is waiting for you.”
“My…Angel?” Buffy muttered. She felt funny, almost like she was drunk. “Spike…You said you could give me Spike…Is Spike an Angel?”
“Yes, Spike is an Angel and you must call to him. Say ‘Come in my Angel’.” Drusilla said.
“If I say that then Spike will come back to me?” Buffy swayed a bit as the room started to tilt.
“Not at first, but you must believe. I’m starting to think you don’t want him as badly as you say you do. If you did, you would be calling out to him already.” Drusilla stood up as though to walk away.
“NO! Don’t go. I want my S-Spike back. Come in! Come in, my Angel. Come back to me,” she screamed.
XXX
Outside on the front porch Angel heard Buffy screaming out her invite. He rushed through the front door and up the stairs to where the voices were coming from.
“What have you done?” Angel demanded as he took in the scene. Buffy was sitting on the floor, her eyes had a glassy tone to them, and Drusilla was crouched over her.
“It will wear off in a few minutes. Just a little thrall though the blood. Needed her to invite you in, didn’t I?” Drusilla said, gliding over to him. “She’s so hungry, so needy. She needs your blood. Will you feed her, help her? Isn’t that what you do, help the helpless?”
“I’d give her every drop of blood in my body if she’d take it, but she won’t,” Angel replied.
“Oh, but she will. Try, try to feed baby for princess,” Drusilla insisted.
“Fine…fine,” Angel muttered, squatting down next to Buffy and holding out his arm.
“Drink,” Drusilla commanded and Buffy immediately latched onto his arm. “Good girl,” she murmured walking over to the nightstand to collect the urn and slide the ring on her finger. “Almost time,” she whispered to the urn. “Almost time.”
| | | | |
| de evolution - Chapter 6 | | | | - abc + + | | | XXX
Chapter 6
“We danced in graveyards with vampires till dawn
We laughed in the faces of kings, never afraid to burn”
-Tori Amos
“Are you sure about this?” Spike asked, looking up at Buffy from his position on the table.
She reached out and clasped his hand tightly. “I’m sure,” she replied as another seizure came over Spike. His body shook so hard that the table began to vibrate, and he arched his back off the metal. Buffy tried to pry his hand off hers so that she could hold him down, but his grip was locked, his nails digging into her skin. His screams bounced off the walls of the room sending waves of agony into Buffy’s heart.
Spike finally collapsed back against the table, his eyes rolled back, a line of drool hanging out of his mouth.
“Spike?” Buffy asked, softly as she wiped his face clean with a towel. “Are you with me?”
“’tsch gonna take morsh then that…to get ride of the…big…bad,” he mumbled, his eyes still closed. “Getting worse…can’t…focus.”
“Sssh, it’ll be okay. The doctor is on his way.”
“You…sure, luv? Can’t…fathom Captain Cardboard wanting to…to help…m-me.” Spike turned his head to where her voice was coming from.
Buffy stroked the top of his head. “I talked to Riley, and he…he doesn’t like it-you and me, I mean-but he accepts it. He said ‘if it makes you happy being with the moron, then who am I to interfere.’ So, see it will all be okay.”
“Believe that when IIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHH!”
Buffy grabbed Spike’s shoulders and held the top part of his body down. She heard his boots squeaking against the metal as his legs flailed against the table. She bit her lip. The seizures were getting longer. Where was that doctor?
“B-Buffy? Buffy!”
“I’m here. Sshhh, I’m here,” Buffy choked back the tears that were struggling to run down her face.
“T-tell me-tell me a-about o-our w-wedding plans ‘cause we’re getting m-married, right?”
“Yeah Spike, we’re getting married a month from now, remember?” The tears were making their way down her face.
“A r-real wedding, right? With you in a w-white dress and me in a tux…” his eyes were unfocused as they sought hers.
“That’s right, and Giles is gonna give me away. Oh, and Dawn is going to be my maid of honor and Clem is gonna be your best man. Xander is going to build us a wooden archway thing and then Tara and Willow are going to cover everything in roses…it’s going to be beautiful,” she whispered.
“We have to l-leave for S-sunnydale soon.”
“Yep, we’re going back to Sunnydale as soon as you recover. We’ll get married and then we’ll head off back to Europe where we’ll return to our lives of sitting in cafes drinking cocoa and stopping mini-apocalypses.”
“Ms. Summers?” The door opened and a doctor entered, reading a file as he walked in.
“Yes, that’s me,” Buffy answered.
“I’m Doctor Furter, I was sent here by Officer Finn. I understand you are having difficulties with a government regulated modification chip?” The doctor looked over at Spike.
“Yes, the chip-it keeps firing electricity into his brain.”
“Are you sure that it’s a random firing and that the subject is not thinking of harming people? You perhaps?”
“What? NO!” Buffy walked up to Doctor Furter. “Listen here,” she paused to look at the first name on his badge. “Frank. Spike would never, ever hurt me or anyone else. So don’t you suggest that again.”
“And you’re sure you wouldn’t like a replacement chip instead?” he asked, trying not to flinch as Buffy poked him in the chest.
“I.Want.That.Chip.Out.Of.My.Fiance. Do you understand me?” she asked.
“Yes ma’am. Officer Finn requested that I ask those questions before performing the surgery.”
“I’m sure he did,” Buffy answered dryly.
“We’ll begin prepping the su-er,patient for surgery,” the doctor nodded to several other medical personal that were waiting behind the door. “You can wait in the lobby, Miss. We’ll let you know when the surgery is done.”
“No, I’ll wait right here,” Buffy said crossing her arms over her chest.
“But, Miss, you can’t be in an operating-“the doctor started.
“I said, I’ll.Wait.Right.Here.”
“Best…let her do it, doc. Right stubborn bint when she…wants to be. ‘Ts why…I love her,” Spike mumbled.
“Fine, fine, you can stay, but stay out of the way while we work,” Dr. Furter conceded.
XXX
“OW! What the-“
“Xander, your elbow is in my side.”
“Where are we? Why aren’t we in the house?” Xander asked, helping Anya to a standing position. The two of them were in the middle of Spike and Buffy’s yard.
“I don’t know. Right when I went to put us in the living room, something forced us out,” Anya answered. “Look the front door is open, let’s just go in.”
The two walked up to the front door, and Anya started to walk in.
“Ow!” She cried as she bounced off an invisible barrier and back into Xander. She put her hand against the barrier, testing it. “Oh, this isn’t good.”
“What? What isn’t good?” Xander asked.
“There’s a barrier here. We can’t get in.”
“And that means, what?”
“It means that we may already be too late. We’re going to need a witch…a powerful witch. Come on, we need to go see the coven,” Anya said, grabbing Xander’s hand again.
XXX
“Do the bumpies, Daddy!” Madison giggled from her position on Spike’s lap.
Spike complied, shifting into vampire face and making grr noises at his daughter as she clapped and squealed her delight.
“Spike, you are not winding her up before bedtime, are you?” Buffy asked, poking her head into the living room.
“’Course not, luv. Just gonna tell her a bed time story,” Spike answered as he winked at Madison.
“Act it out, Daddy. Act it out!” she demanded.
“Right, you got it. One bedtime story acted out for Princess Madison,” Spike announced as he stood up and sat his daughter down on the couch. He cleared his throat dramatically. “This is the story of how I saved your mum from imminent danger and all that rot.”
Madison giggled. “Daddy, all your stories are how you saved mommy from immme-imme-danger.”
“That’s ‘cause your mum has a tendency to get herself in trouble,” Spike leaned forward to whisper conspiratorially.
“I heard that,” Buffy said, coming into the living room to sit on the couch with her daughter.
“Hey, my story here. You want to be the hero, then you tell the story,” Spike answered.
“What? And steal all your glory? Wouldn’t dream of it,” Buffy said dryly.
“Okay, this is the story of how I saved your mum and your Auntie Dawn from the evil clutches of the shoe demons…oh, and Poof and Aunt Cordy were there too,” Spike said dramatically as Buffy rolled her eyes. “See this one day mum gets a call that says she must rush to Los Angeles immediately,” he paused to imitate a phone conversation featuring a high pitched Buffy and Cordelia. “See there was a great battle happening. A store with normally high priced shoes that no one could afford was having a one day sale, but there was an evil spell on the store and all the ladies who tried on the shoes turned into monsters that were fighting and reeking havoc on the peaceful shoppers. Well, mum and Auntie Dawn jumped into the car and raced to the scene.” Spike did an imitation of a car swerving all over the road.
Buffy rolled her eyes at him again, and Spike gave her a smirk.
“Anyway, so mum and Auntie Dawn pick up Aunt Cordy and rush over to the store. At first, they were holding their own, doing battle against the evil monsters, but then some demon tried to take a pair of expensive shoes from Auntie Dawn and Aunt Cordy went crazy. She and mum started losing the fight.”
“Hey, those were Jimmy Choos at eighty percent off,” Buffy protested.
Spike ignored her. “Luckily, Poof and I knew that the ladies would be in trouble.” He made a trumpet noise and grabbed a sword from behind him as he imitated himself riding into battle. “Soon as we could, we ran into the store and fought the demons off of our girls.” He did an imitation of a battle. “It was tough, losses on both sides, but in the end we were able to save the day. Then I swept your mum off her feet,” he grabbed Buffy off the couch in a newlywed pose and spun her around. “And stole a kiss as we rode off into the night. The end.”
Buffy laughed and kissed her knight on the lips. “My hero,” she said. “Now, it’s bed time for bonzos.”
“Aw, mom. One more story, please,” Madison pleaded.
“No, bed now.”
Madison stomped up the stairs, grumbling half-heartedly leaving her parents alone in the living room.
“We did save the day, you know,” Spike answered.
“Yeah, who could forget you flashing fang at the fifty- five year old trying to snag those black Gucci pumps from me,” Buffy laughed.
“Hey, you wanted those shoes, and nobody messes with my girl,” Spike said as he pressed a kiss to her lips.
“Mmm, come on, put me down. I need to go tuck Madison in.”
“You do that…then I’m gonna come and tuck mummy in,” he arched his eyebrow and curled his tongue behind his teeth.
“Oooh, can’t wait,” Buffy murmured pulling his lips back to hers.
XXX
Angel didn’t remember passing out, but when he opened his eyes he was no longer in the bedroom. Dru had moved both him and Buffy into the living room and cleared all the furniture out of the way. There was a large white circle that took up most of the room, and in the center of the circle was a pile of ashes. Buffy sat across from him, her eyes still glazed as she stared at the ashes.
“Buffy?” His tongue felt like sand. “What’s going on?”
“We have to sacrifice something. Drusilla said so. I told her that I would sacrifice anything to have him back-anything…but you have to sacrifice something too…” Buffy’s eyes locked with his. “Will you? Please? I’ve never asked you for anything, please help me get him back.” Tears spilled down her cheeks as she made her plea.
Angel opened his mouth and closed it again. His brain felt fuzzy. He blinked a couple of times before nodding. “Sure, Buffy, anything you need,” it was his voice but not him answering. Something was very wrong here.
XXX
| | | | |
| de evolution - Chapter 7 | | | | - abc + + | | | A/N: I’m on vacation next week, so no update. I am having the a terrible, horrible, no good, very bad week so please, please, review and make me smile.
Chapter 7
“When water tastes like blood & love it feels like love
Soft things they feel rough, but its love & it feels like love”
-Auntie Christ
Anya and Xander found themselves standing in a large field.
“Are we in the wrong place again?” Xander asked.
“No, but you can’t just teleport into a coven,” Anya responded. “Come on, it’s half a mile from here.” She started to walk toward the forest.
“What? We’re walking? I knew I should have joined that stupid gym,” Xander muttered.
They walked in silence until they reached a clearing in the woods. There were several cottages built in a semi-circle and men and woman wandered about. Anya headed straight back to the middle cottage and knocked on the door.
“Yes?” A young girl with long red hair opened the door.
“We need to see Lenore. Is she around?” Anya said.
“Whom shall I say is calling?”
“Anyanka.”
“One moment please.” The girl shut the door, but returned a minute later. “Please come in.”
Anya and Xander followed the girl into the sitting room where a tea set had been laid out. A tall woman with long, raven hair gestured for them to sit on the couch across from her.
“Hello, Anyanka. To what do I owe this pleasure?” Lenore said when they had all accepted tea from the redhead.
“We have a problem and we need your help.” Quickly Anya filled in all that had happened in the last two weeks.
“Hmm, now the cards make sense,” Lenore look thoughtful for a moment before continuing. “Great things are coming and they have the option of being good or bad. The cards have shown me death and rebirth but of what I cannot say. Great power is coming through the alignment next week.”
“Two weeks,” Xander interrupted. “D’Hoffryn said two weeks.”
Lenore shook her head. “No, the alignment is not following the calendar of mortals. If it continues at this rate, the alignment could happen as soon as two days or it could not happen at all. The stars keep their own time.”
“Lenore, we fear that the red ring of power has fallen into the hands of a crazy vampiress,” Anya said. “She has placed a force field around the Slayer’s house.”
Lenore closed her eyes. “The red ring of Vendia has found its way back into the world. This is bad. That ring was forged in evilness deep in the pits of hell. It holds great power and the ability to sway the owner to evil, but rarely does as the owner requests.”
“Wow, how Lord of the Rings,” Xander muttered.
“It is the ring that the story is based on,” Lenore said with a straight face. “It somehow came into the possession of the author at one point.”
“Wait, you remember Lord of the Rings? That was like way before you were born,” Xander said in awe. “I mean, we’re talking centuries here.”
Lenore looked at him. “It is based on real power and as head of the coven it is my duty to know and study all means of magic.”
“What do we do?” Anya asked.
“I cannot help you bring down the field. That is beyond my powers. But I can help you prepare for what is coming.”
“Xander, get the suitcases,” Anya said. “I think we’re going to be here for a bit.”
XXX
“To our friends and family,” Angel said.
“To our loved ones who fought by our side,” Buffy added.
“They helped us save the world…a lot,” Spike finished.
The three toasted each other and drank from the wine glasses they each held.
Buffy put her glass down and picked up her fork, pushing her grilled salmon around her plate.
“Something wrong, luv?” Spike asked her.
Buffy set her fork down. “It’s just…I mean, they’re all really gone now. I guess, I don’t know, I mean, I know that we buried Tara a year ago but now that she’s been added to our memorial thing…it just makes it real.”
“Buffy, Tara was in her nineties,” Angel said. “Besides, you still have us and Anya and Xander.”
“I know. Although we only see you, what, once maybe twice a year. Spike sees Xander every week at cards, but I only see him and Anya once a month or so. I guess, I just haven’t gotten used to the thought that I can’t just call up Willow to talk,” she finished.
Spike place his hand over hers and linked their fingers. “I know it’s hard, to lose your loved ones, and it never gets easier.”
“Part of me wants to say that I’ll never have friends like them again, and I know that I won’t, but I also know that I will have different friends someday and I’ll have to lose them too. It’s like how I thought I’d never be happy again after,” Buffy paused to swallow hard and both Angel and Spike knew she was thinking of Madison. “But, after awhile I did start to laugh again and-and be happy.”
The waitress came over and interrupted them. “Can I interest you in dessert?”
“No,” Angel answered. “Just the check please.”
“Is it our turn for dinner this time?” Buffy asked.
“No, my turn for dinner, your turn for flowers,” Angel answered.
“What are you thinking this year, pet?” Spike asked, rubbing his thumb along the side of Buffy’s hand. “You want irises again?”
Buffy shook her head. “No, I want sunflowers. They had enough darkness in their lives. Let’s give them some sunlight.”
Spike stood up and helped Buffy into her coat. She took his hand and they followed Angel out of the restaurant. Sometimes it shocked her how no matter how much time passed, Sunnydale refused to change. They stopped at the floral shop to pick out several bouquets of sunflowers before heading off to Restfield cemetery. Spike led the way, although they had all memorized the path over the years. He stopped in front of the first gravestone. It was Joyce’s. They went down the line: Dawn, Taylor, Madison, Cordelia, Giles, Fred, Gunn, Wesley, Willow, Tara, Oz, and Connor. All in a row. It had taken a lot of maneuvering to get the whole gang in one cemetery. Especially Giles since he had died in London, and Oz they had to track down, but in the end, they were all back to the beginning. Dawn’s husband was buried next to her, and even though he didn’t really accept the world that his wife walked in, he had asked permission to be buried next to her.
Buffy and Spike stood in front of Madison’s grave the longest. Buffy leaned into Spike, their hands firmly clasped together. Sometimes Spike wondered what Buffy was thinking as she stared at the grave, her eyes never blinking, and it was times like that when Spike wondered what would become of his Slayer should he ever dust. She was a true immortal and would never die no matter what happened while he was only immortal so long as he didn’t lose his head, catch on fire, or take a piece of wood through the heart. He was still looking for another Gem of Amara, but it seemed that Angel had destroyed the only one. Willow and Tara had even helped in his quest. At one point they tried to create a new one, but it had failed. Without meaning to, he squeezed Buffy’s hand tightly as he thought about her trying to live without him.
“What are you thinking?” Buffy asked softly.
“Just thinking about the past,” Spike murmured. “Nothing more.”
XXX
Drusilla walked around the circle like a tight rope walker. “Are we ready to bring the prince back?” she asked.
“Yes!” Buffy exclaimed. “Yes, yes, yes, yes, a million yeses.”
Angel looked at the girl sitting across from him. Her eyes were haunted and…broken. Had he ever seen Buffy so broken? So lost? He didn’t think he ever had, not even when they’d first found her hiding after she’d escaped from that zoo. Where had the strong woman that he’d once admired gone? Even after all these years, he’d accepted the relationship that she had with Spike, but he didn’t imagine it ran so deep. Not so deep as to have her shatter at his passing. He’d always figured that at some point they’d get bored with each other, not that she would turn to him. No, Angel knew that he and Buffy would never work, but he’d assumed she would just take another lover, claim be damned. Besides, claims were merely superstition. They didn’t link one mate to the other, it was just a scar, a way to mark territory. Nothing more.
Drusilla was staring at Angel, and he realized that he must have spaced out. “Are you prepared to make your sacrifice?” she asked.
“Yes,” he answered in the voice that wasn’t his.
“Then we begin,” Drusilla said as she started to sway and chant in a language that Angel didn’t know.
Buffy seemed to know what was expected of her because a few minutes after Drusilla began, she entered the circle with a dagger in her hand. With a flick of her wrist, she opened a vein on her arm and allowed the blood to run onto the pile of ashes. After a few minutes, she collapsed to her knees from the blood loss, but she still held her arm out. Finally she passed out.
Angel tried to call out to her but he was enveloped in a strange blue light. It ran through his body, burning him from the inside. The pain made him double over and he opened his mouth to scream, but no sound came out. He felt like something was being ripped out of him as he watched the blue light pull a white essence from his body. The two lights circled around the pile of ashes faster and faster until the light overwhelmed the room, bursting out the windows.
When the light faded, Buffy opened her eyes to find two blue eyes peering at her with a mix of wonder and horror.
“Spike?” she whispered.
“Buffy, what have you done?” he asked, his voice breaking.
She threw herself into his arms, ignoring the fact that he was naked as she pressed fevered kisses over his face.
“My Spike, you came back. You came back to me. My Spike, my William,” she muttered in between kisses barely noticing that he wasn’t kissing her back.
His hands caught her arms and he pulled her away from him. “Buffy.”
“They gave you back to me, the Powers. They gave you back to me,” she continued.
“Buffy!” He shook her until he had her attention.
“What-what’s wrong? Are-aren’t you happy to be back with me?” she asked, tears rolling down her face.
“Buffy…I…I was in Heaven.”
XXX
| | | | |
| de evolution - Chapter 8 | | | | - abc + + | | | Chapter 8
“I heard everybody’s voice cut out when you spoke
And I watched all the lights go dim as your eyes opened.”
-Alkaline Trio
“Xander, do you ever find that you’re forgetting things?” Buffy asked, resting her chin on her hands.
“No, I remember everything, part of the job, remember?” he answered sitting across from her at the table.
“No, not about demons and stuff, like personal stuff. The other day I spent an hour trying to remember if my mom liked sugar in her coffee. And it’s stupid, I know, but I used to make her coffee every Saturday morning so how could I forget that?” she asked.
Xander shrugged, “Don’t sweat it, Buffster. You’ll always remember the important things, but as time goes by our lives change and the past just sorta blends into the background.”
Buffy sighed, “When did you get to be all wise?”
“When I became a demon librarian, came with the job.” He poured her another cup of tea.
“Do you ever wonder what your life would be like if you had never met me or if I had never been Called?” she asked, dumping three cubes of sugar into the tea.
“Um, well, first off I’d be long dead probably from a vampire or something…ew maybe I’d be a vampire…er, no offense to your significant other,” he said quickly. “And I wouldn’t have met Ahn…I’d probably have become my father and spent my life with a wife that hated me and an alcohol problem.”
“Hmm,” Buffy said thoughtfully. “I guess I never thought about it like that.”
“Why? Something going on with you and Spike?”
Buffy shook her head, “No, things are great. I mean, don’t get me wrong, we get on each other’s nerves every so often, but I just…sometimes I just wonder.”
Xander picked up her hands off the table and looked her in the eyes. “Buffy, she died from a drunk driver. That had nothing to do with you being the Slayer.”
“How did you know what I was thinking about?” she asked.
“Buffy, I do own a calendar and you always get like this at this time of the year.”
“But maybe the Powers were mad at me that day. Maybe I was being punished,” she insisted.
“Buffy, did you ever stop to think that if you had never been called, then Dawn would have been placed in your care-“
“But then she couldn’t have died in the accident,” Buffy interrupted.
“You’re missing the point. If you weren’t the Slayer, you probably wouldn’t have met Spike. You would be with someone else, and Madison wouldn’t have been in your life. Dawn wouldn’t have been in your life…Taylor wouldn’t have existed…none of us would have been in your life.”
“I know,” she whispered. “I wouldn’t really change anything, I just…“
“Think about it sometimes,” Xander finished.
“Yeah.”
“I know what you mean.”
XXX
Spike watched the range of emotions play through Buffy’s eyes.
“I…I didn…I jus…” She looked down and tried to find a spot on the floor to rest her eyes.
“Buffy, look at me,” his grip tightened on her arms. “I.Was.In.Heaven. I was with…everyone, Maddy…and my ma and da…” Spike stood up, he couldn’t be in the room with her right now.
“Where-where are y-you going?” she asked frightfully, grabbing his ankle like it was her lifeline.
Spike sighed and crouched back down. “I’m not leavin’ ya. I’m going to get some clothes.”
“You don’t love me anymore?” It was a question that made his heart break.
“I still love you, but…I just, I need to not be with you right now.” He walked upstairs without looking back, never once noticing that anyone else had been in the room besides him and Buffy.
XXX
Xander sat on the bed and watched Anya unpack their suitcases. Apparently they were going to stay here for a few days while Lenore read her cards and consulted the stars. None of it made any sense to Xander. If Drusilla was going to be releasing Angelus, then they should be running to the rescue stakes blazing, but apparently that would upset the “balance of life” or some crap like that.
“Where do you think Spike went when he died?” Xander asked suddenly.
“I hadn’t really thought about it. I guess Hell because he’s a vampire and all,” Anya answered.
“Yeah, but he’s been helping the side of good for over two hundred years, and the Powers have already given him retribution for all the evil he did, remember?”
“Oh, then I guess he went to Heaven. Why?” Anya asked.
“Oh God, Buffy’s gonna pull him out of Heaven!” Xander looked at Anya in shock.
“Well that’s ridiculous,” Anya said. “She was so upset when we did it to her, I doubt she’d do that to someone else.”
“Ahn, she’s not thinking clearly and she’s in the presence of an insane vampire. Let’s think about this,” Xander said.
“Hmm, well that’s going to make Spike very unhappy.”
XXX
“How’s my hair look?” Willow asked worriedly.
“Your hair looks fine,” Buffy assured her.
“And what about my clothes,” she asked, smoothing down the white pantsuit she was wearing. “I should have gone with the dress, shouldn’t I? I knew it, I knew I should have gotten the dress.”
“Would you relax,” Dawn said. “It’s not like Tara’s gonna leave you at the altar or something.”
Both Buffy and Willow shot Dawn a death look.
“You know, I’m just gonna go to where, um, somewhere else,” Dawn muttered and ran out the door.
“I wish that Xander could be here,” Willow said.
Buffy adjusted the boutonniere on Willow’s jacket. “He wanted to be here too, but at least he’ll be able watch via that portal you set up.”
“It’s not the same thing.”
“I know…Wow! Look at you Wills, you look beautiful.”
Willow turned to look into the mirror. “You know sometimes I look at myself in the mirror and I think that my whole life is a dream, and that I’m going to wake up tomorrow nerdy, old Willow still in high school wishing that someone would notice her.”
Buffy put her arm around Willow’s shoulders. “I know what you mean.” She smiled at their reflections. “Come on, let’s get you married.”
“Joined,” Willow corrected her. “It’s not legal for us to be married.”
“Well, technically it’s not legal for me to be married to a vampire, but it still feels like a real marriage to me,” Buffy told her.
Willow smiled and the two girls walked out of the room.
| | | | |
| de evolution - Chapter 9 | | | | - abc + + | | | A/N: Someone left a review saying that they thought the flashback detracted from the "real" story. As stated earlier, the flashbacks sometimes contain hints that will further the plot, and other times are used to give the reader a glimpse into what has happened in Spike and Buffy's lives in the 200 years since the last story. Therefore, the ARE part of the "real" story.
XXX
Chapter 9
“I find it kind of funny, I find it kind of sad
The dreams in which I’m dying are the best I’ve ever had.”
-Tears for Fears
“Daddy? Are you in there?” Drusilla asked, crouching over Angel’s still form. She giggled when his eyes open and an evil smile spread over his lips.
“Hello, princess? Did you miss me?” He reached up and grabbed her by the back of her neck, pulling her down into a rough kiss. Angelus sat up, flipping Dru so that she was in his lap. She giggled and wrapped her legs around his waist, pressing herself against him. “How ‘bout a welcome back shag. Soul boy was swearing off the old in and out, and ‘m dying for a little release.”
“Not in front of baby,” Dru purred against him. “She’s not ready yet.”
Angelus pulled Drusilla by the hair so that her face was out of his line of vision. “Oh, look. Seems William’s left his Slayer all alone and abandoned. I think we should see if turned Slayer blood is as good as they say it is.” He pushed Drusilla off his lap and began to make his way over to where Buffy still sat in shock, staring at the stairs that Spike had disappeared from.
“No, bad daddy. That’s Spikey’s bride, not yours.”
“Ah, Dru, you forget, you’re all mine. ‘Sides, she’s immortal, the blood will come back. Spike will never know it was gone, I promise,” he cooed at her.
Drusilla grinned, “It will be our secret.”
“Yes, our secret. We could chain her up and drink from her forever,” Angelus whispered in her ear and Drusilla giggled again.
“Chain her up, her screams will be our music,” she whispered.
“That’s me girl,” Angelus said, and kissed her hard on the mouth. He walked over to Buffy and pulled her up roughly by her shoulders. “Now, let’s have a look see. My, Buffy, the years have not been kind.” Buffy’s face was still turned toward the staircase, and with a growl Angelus grabbed her chin and forced her to look at him. “You will look at me when I’m talking to you or I will make you very sorry.”
“He didn’t want to look at me,” Buffy muttered.
“And why would he, Buff? Have you taken a look in the mirror lately? The kinder-whore look is centuries out of style.”
Drusilla stopped dancing behind him, “Daddy doesn’t like how princess dresses?”
“Not talking to you, Dru,” he snapped. “I’m talking to Miss Slayer here, THE Slayer. We had some good times in the past, didn’t we Buff? And now, hey, we’re both immortal. We can have more good times in the future, but first, I’m gonna take a little taste of your blood. Then I’m gonna chain you up and use you as an all you can drink buffet. What do you think of that?”
“Why didn’t he want to look at me, Angel?”
“It’s Angelus,” he said as he sank his fangs into her neck.
Buffy let out a surprised cry and went limp in his arms.
XXX
“What are you watching?” Buffy asked, plopping down on the couch next to Spike.
“Dunno, some new soap opera about a bunch of rich kids who go out and battle mythical creatures every week,” Spike answered, sliding his arm around her shoulders so that she could snuggle into his side.
“Wow, they are really running out of ideas, aren’t they?” Buffy snorted.
“Yeah, I mean, they just took out a dragon with a water hose. Everybody knows that the only way to kill a dragon is to stab a sword right through the little fire nodule thing in their throat. They burn from the inside out that way,” Spike said. He rubbed his hand over Buffy’s shoulder and she flinched. “Here, wot’s that now?”
“Nothing, I’m a little sore still from that fight with the fyral demon yesterday,” she answered. “I hit the side of a tombstone.”
“Turn around, lemme see it,” Spike demanded.
“I’m fine. It’s nothing, really.”
“I’ll decide if it’s nothing or not, turn the bloody hell around.”
Buffy sighed and turned around, pulling her shirt off over her head. She tilted her head to the left so that Spike could get a good view of her shoulder.
“Dammit, Buffy. You’re all black and blue back here. Don’t move, I’m going to get the balm stuff.”
Buffy leaned her head against the couch and closed her eyes as she listened to Spike mutter and curse as he rummaged through the medicine cabinet. This was exactly why she’d said nothing in the first place. She felt the couch dip down behind her.
“Don’t move, luv. Fix this in a jiffy,” he said and Buffy let out a low moan as his fingers began to work the balm into her shoulder. Spike smiled at her reaction and scooped out some more of the balm onto his hand. He worked it slowly into her shoulder, then moved his hands to her neck.
“Mmmm, feels good,” Buffy said lowly.
Spike moved his hands up her neck, just below her hairline, then over to her other shoulder. Buffy leaned back farther until she was lying against his chest and he was forced to move his hands to her breasts. She moaned and arched into his hands.
“See, is it so awful to let me take care of your injuries?” he whispered in her ear.
She tilted her head back to capture his lips in a kiss. “Not awful at all…but now I’m all smelly and tingly and turned on.”
“Well, we can fix that.”
“No,” she kissed him again. “We can’t because you know this stuff gets all burny. So, now you’re stuck messaging my shoulders all night, and we both have to go to bed all unsatisfied.”
Spike growled and pressed a kiss into her neck. He made a face and smacked his lips together. “You’re right. That stuff tastes bloody awful. Come on, luv, guess its all message and no shagging tonight.” He grabbed her hand and pulled her up. “Let’s go, sooner we go to bed, sooner it’s morning and we can shag.”
XXX
Spike surveyed the shambles that was their bedroom. The closet had been ripped apart and its contents lay spread across the floor, along with every piece of clothing he owned. There was blood, Buffy’s blood, smeared across the bed sheets, the walls, even the ceiling.
He picked up a pair of jeans and a t-shirt and walked into the bathroom. The bathroom was even worse off then the bedroom. The mirror was shattered, the bathtub caked in more of Buffy’s blood, various razor blades and daggers were on the floor, each coated in blood.
“Oh, luv, what have you done?” he muttered as he sat on the seat of the toilet. Spike ran his fingers through his hair and pulled his pants on. He was still somewhat in shock that she had pulled-no-yanked him out of Heaven. After all that they had been through after her own release from Heaven…he wondered if she even remembered that.
He had been mostly happy in Heaven, though not completely. Spike could never be completely happy without Buffy by his side, but he had been mostly happy. He had been with Madison and Joyce and Dawn…even his mum and da had been there. He had been forgiven for all his past sins and been one with all the world. His spirit had been a part of everything and everyone and he had been almost complete. Almost because he couldn’t be complete without Buffy, and maybe that was the reason he had been brought back. Maybe, after all this time, they couldn’t be complete without each other…but it still hurt. The loss was still there.
Spike’s head snapped up at the sound of Buffy’s cry. Throwing his shirt over his head, he ran down the stairs to see her hanging limply in Angel’s arms. With a roar, Spike yanked Buffy back and stared at his grand-sire as the latter wiped the blood off his face.
“What’s ‘smatter Willy my boy. You should know that everything you have belongs to me, and you better learn to share,” Angelus sneered.
“Why Angelus, fancy you making an appearance,” Spike said glaring back at him.
“Get used to it. I plan on sticking around for a bit.
| | | | |
| de evolution - Chapter 10 | | | | - abc + + | | | Sorry it's been awhile. Had a death in the family and things have been...hectic.
Chapter 10
“And I was too far to stand with you tonight
And I was too lost to find my way home
And there was just this breath of air between us and I couldn’t breathe”
-Lennon
“Wow, hey Ahn, come look at this.”
“What? I’m busy here,” Anya said walking up behind him.
“Look, it’s a picture of Willow,” he said, pointing at a wall of old fashioned photos.
“Yes, that is the great Willow Rosenberg,” Lenore said, joining them. “She was one of the most powerful witches of her century. She-“
“Was my best friend since kindergarten,” Xander finished.
“You knew her?” Lenore inquired.
“Yeah, like I said, since kindergarten.”
“I was not aware that she socialized with demons in her lifetime. I was taught that she helped the Slayer to stop the forces of evil,” Lenore said.
“Well, I kinda wasn’t all demony back then…Hey, even Anya was having a human spell at that time…and she hung out with a few demons…mostly vampires, oh and a werewolf,” Xander muttered.
“She lived here with her partner, Tara, and the only living key of power known in existence. The three of them were able to harness the true powers of the Goddess. They are legends here. Their deaths are mourned, their lives celebrated.”
“But there were only here for like five years,” Anya objected.
“Five great years,” Lenore said. “Or so the writings say. Dawn Summers wrote the definitive book on the Ring of Vendia. Come, I was just about to show you.”
XXX
“Spike I need you to do me a favor,” Dawn said, pulling him into the guestroom and shutting the door.
“Wot’s goin’ on, nib?” he asked, his brows knitting together in confusion.
She reached into the pocket of her sweatshirt and pulled out a box, flipping it open to reveal the red ring.
“Not that I don’t appreciate the gesture, pet, but you and I are both happily married.”
“No, it’s not, I mean, you do know what this is, right?” Dawn asked.
“Yeah, it’s that red ring that Buffy gave you. Got some sort of power, don’t it?”
“It does. It has a lot of power,” Dawn paused. “Okay, remember when Xander made you watch all the Lord of the Rings movies in a row?”
Spike rolled his eyes, “How could I forget. Nine hours of little elvey things running around with swords, thought me arse was gonna stay asleep for the rest of my life.”
Dawn rolled her eyes and held up the ring, “Meet the one to rule them all.”
“Wot? Are you kidding me? That’s just a story, pet. Don’t tell me you believe in that rot?”
“Spike, how long have you been a vampire? Come on now, you know that all those things are based in truth,” Dawn said, smacking him in the chest.
“Lemme get this straight, you’re saying that this ring-“
“Is the most powerful thing in the world.”
“Can it make me invincible?”
“What? Spike, no. Listen to me, you hate magic, right?”
“Well, yeah, you know I do. It’s always got consequences,” Spike answered.
“Okay, well this ring, has really, really, really bad consequences,” Dawn said.
“How bad we talkin’ here, bit,” Spike asked.
“Uh, world domination and the end of life as we know it.”
“Oh, well that’s no good.”
“Nu-uh.”
“So the favor?”
“I need someone to hide the ring. Someone who wouldn’t ever be tempted to use it, and who won’t ever lose it,” she said.
Spike took the box from her outstretched hand. “Guess I’m the vampire for the job then.”
“I thought you might be.”
XXX
Spike glared at Angelus. “Plan on telling me what you’re doing with my wife? And I wanna know how you lost your soul and the name Buffy better not be in that equation.”
“What’s wrong William? You afraid that I took over your husbandly duties while you were gone? Wouldn’t be the first time as I’m sure you’ll remember,” Angelus answered as he wrapped his arm around Drusilla’s waist and pulled her closer. As he did, Spike caught sight of the ring on Drusilla’s finger.
“Where did you get that ring, Dru?” he asked lowly.
“Do you like it, my William? Baby found it all hidden, thought it was a present from her long lost prince.” She wiggled her fingers at him.
“Give me the ring, Dru,” Spike demanded.
“No, I don’t think she will,” Angelus answered. “That pretty little ring is the reason I’m standing here now. Think I rather like it…Thought you’d like it too seeing as it’s the reason that you’re standing here as well, but then, you never could learn to say thank you, now could ya?”
“What did you do to Buffy?”
“Baby’s all broken,” Drusilla said sashaying her way over to him. She ran her finger down the side of Buffy’s face. “All alone without her prince, no one to help her, no one to love her. They’d all gone, left her all alone. She tried to make her insides be seen on the outside, painted everything bright red but it didn’t help. She called to me. I heard her crying, crying, crying, crying for you. It made my insides go all cold, like icicles in my veins. The stars they told me to come to her, told me that I could bring you back and have my daddy back in the process. And it worked my William. Our family is whole now. All together.”
“No, Dru. We are not together.” Spike shook his head and Buffy let out a moan. “This is far from over, but for right now, get the hell out of my house.”
“Dru, me darling, I think we’ve worn out our welcome. Let’s get out of here,” Angelus said.
Drusilla pouted, “But I wanted to be a family again. The stars told me that’s what would happen.”
“Well, the stars lied. Let’s go have a massacre.”
Drusilla giggled and took Angelus’ offered hand. They ran out the door.
Spike adjusted his hold on Buffy. He knew that he couldn’t follow them at the moment. He swung Buffy into his arms and carried her into one of the guest rooms. He laid her on the bed and crawled in next to her, brushing a strand of hair out of her face.
“Oh, luv, what did you do?”
| | | | |
| de evolution - Chapter 11 | | | | - abc + + | | | Chapter 11
“Oh someone please the moon has raped me, I can feel it inside me
Oh mama please let someone fix me, let them fix me”
-Cursive
“Okay, that’s the last of them,” Buffy said, setting the shopping bags on the counter. “Do you want me to start putting stuff away?”
“T-that would be nice,” Tara said from her seat at the table. “I’m sorry, I don’t know why I’m so tired today.”
“Hey, don’t worry about it. I mean, it is really hot outside today and we were shopping for awhile. Maybe we just over did it,” Buffy said as she began unpacking the bags.
“Guess I’m not as young as I use to be,” Tara smiled.
“Hey, none of us are,” Buffy replied.
“True, but I think you look b-better for your age then I d-do.” Tara brushed some of her white hair back behind her ear. “Are you staying for dinner?”
“If you’d like me to. It’s card night at Xander’s, so Spike won’t be home until late.”
Tara chuckled. “Who’d have thought that those to would be such good friends?”
Buffy laughed as well. “I know! It was always ‘whelp I’m going to rip your head off,’ and ‘don’t make me stake you dead boy jr,’ and now they’re like inseparable.” She paused in the middle of putting away a bottle of Aspirin.
“What’s wrong?” Tara asked, noticing Buffy’s pause.
“Nothing,” Buffy said quickly. “Nothing wrong here. Nope all is good.” She began to unpack a little faster.
Tara sighed and stood up. She grabbed her cane and began to make her way over to Buffy. She opened the medicine cabinet and turned to look at the blonde next to her. “I should have told you.”
“Told me what? You have nothing to tell me,” Buffy said. “I mean, what business of mine is it if your cabinet looks like a pharmacy with all the pills in the bottles and the doses…”
“Buffy,” Tara said, gently. “I’m sick.”
“W-what? No, no you can’t be.”
“Buffy, I can and I am. I’m old, I’m going to be ninety-three this year,” Tara continued. “And to be honest, I miss Willow. It gets lonely being here alone-“
“I can visit more, and-and Spike too. I’ll-I’ll come every day,” Buffy interrupted.
Tara held up her hand. “It’s not that and you know it. It’s my time. We all have to go at some point.”
“Except me,” Buffy said softly.
“That is true, but l-let’s not talk about this any more. Let’s go watch that video you rented. Come on, Spike installed that new 3-D projection thingy last week. I want to see how it works.”
XXX
Xander studied the book in front of him. It was well preserved, but the pages were still yellowed and crinkling at the corners. Lenore had brought him the original and staring at Dawn’s neat handwriting was like a blast from the past…which it was. It reminded him of when he’d found the little love notes she’d written during her ‘I love Xander’ stage. Every I dotted, ever T crossed.
He ran his fingers across the page as though he could pull Dawn’s memory out of them. He could almost picture her sitting at the wooden table, hair falling over her face as she carefully wrote out her findings. Willow and Tara would be nearby, doing Willow and Tara things and occasionally helping her with sentence structure or a misspelled word.
“Why don’t I have a copy of this in the library?” Xander asked Lenore.
She smiled, “Because you work in a demon library and the books of witches are not housed in such a place. We keep our own counsel and our own library.”
“Can I see it?”
“If you like. I could arrange a tour,” Lenore offered. “Are you finding the readings of Dawn Summers to be interesting?”
“Yeah, I am. It’s weird to be reading this. She had a crush on me, you know? When she was younger,” he said.
Lenore regarded him a moment. “I would like, if you don’t mind, for you to come visit me again once the danger was passed. I would like to hear you stories about your time with the Slayer and the great witches of our past.”
“Well, I’m not really allowed to leave the library per say. This is kinda a special once in a millennia world is in danger clause,” Xander replied.
“That is too bad. Perhaps while you are here…”she trailed off.
“Oh, sure. Well, see Willow and I met over this-“
“Honey, you aren’t telling the yellow crayon story again,” Anya interrupted, walking into the room. “Really, it’s so boring, no one cares.”
“Hey, she asked,” Xander protested.
“Aren’t you supposed to be researching?” Anya crossed her arms and tapped her foot.
“Wha-? I am researching. I am Xander the research man here. Listen to this, ‘The Ring of Vendia was forged in Pltazhcfte, one of the deepest dimensions of Hell known among travelers as the worst dimension outside of Quortoth.
‘The ring was designed for the Hell God, Vendola, as a way to control his subjects, but was lost in the Hell Wars not to be seen again for centuries when a man named Augustus Brownstone used the ring for his own purposes. The ring is not meant to be worn by mortals, and to do so means the wearer will die a gruesome death.
‘It has been prophesized that Vendola will return for the ring, and that a great struggle between good and evil shall wage when the planets reach their alignment. There is little fact to support this theory outside of the ramblings on an old priest circa 498 B.C.’” Xander stopped reading. “There’s more but I figured we just need the gist of it. I’ve already recorded most of it in case we need it later.”
“Recorded it?” Lenore asked. “You cannot take a copy of this book! It must remain here.”
“Oh, no,” Anya said. “He means he memorized it. See, he has a photographic memory. It’s part of his contract.”
“Yep, this book is almost entirely in my head. You can pick any page in here at random and I can tell you word for word what it says,” Xander explained.
“Yeah,” Anya said. “He’s creepy like that.”
XXX
Buffy’s scream brought Spike tearing up the stairs and into the room. She was sitting on the bed looking around her wildly. When she caught sight of him, she threw herself in his arms with a sob.
“I thought I’d dreamed you. I woke up and I was alone, and I thought that it was all fake, but it’s not and you’re really here. Are you really here, Spike? Are you here with me? Please tell me you are. Tell me I’m not alone anymore.” Her eyes searched his for the answers to her questions, while her hands roamed over every inch of his body as though he would disappear if she stopped touching him.
“I’m here, luv. Just went to get you something to eat,” he ran his hands through his hair, messing up the tousled curls that lay on top his head. “You haven’t been eating, I can tell and most of the food in the fridge is moldy.” He paused a moment. “Buffy, what happened to the kitchen? What happened to the bedroom and the bathroom? What happened to you?” Spike had grabbed her arms and forced her away from him so that he could look at her.
Buffy looked at him for a second before her knees crumbled and Spike had to hold her up to keep her from curling in a ball at his feet.
“I’m bad, bad, bad, bad. I pulled you away and you hate me and I deserve it. I deserve your hate, but you were gone and I was alone. You said you’d always come back for me!” Buffy broke free from his grasp and began to hit him weakly on the chest. “You said you’d always come back and you lied! You weren’t coming back! You were going to leave me! You were going to leave me!” She fell against him, sobbing. “I wanted to go too. I didn’t want to be here without you. I tried to go with, I tried and tried and tried and they wouldn’t let me leave, wouldn’t let me rest with you.”
“Oh, luv.” Spike wrapped his arms around her tightly. He kissed the top of her head and nuzzled his cheek against her hair. He had hurt the girl, and she had broken apart. He had always known that beneath her strong exterior was a fragile little girl who never got over her destiny. They had been together long enough for him to occasionally see the cracks in her armor, but he had never allowed himself to believe that she would break over him. Two centuries of happiness together and he was still waiting for the other shoe to drop, and now it had dropped but not in the way he had thought. He had always thought that she held all the power in their relationship, and the whole time, it had been him. He felt his inner poet swell at that thought. Damn the real Heaven. He held his own Heaven in his arms, and that was all he needed.
XXX
| | | | |
| de evolution - Chapter 12 | | | | - abc + + | | | Chapter 12
“Two halves are equal, a cross between two evils
It’s not an enviable lot
But if you listen, you’ll learn to hear the difference
Between the halfs and the half nots”
-The Dresden Dolls
Angelus wiped the blood off his face with the back of his hand. He watched as Drusilla amused herself by finger painting designs on the dead clerk’s naked body with his own blood.
“Daddy, do you think he’ll appreciate my art? I’ve made him so pretty,” she cooed at him.
“Dru, I’m sure he’d love it if you hadn’t taken out his eyes,” Angelus replied.
“I had to. He was looking at me while I ate,” Drusilla growled at the body. “Didn’t his mummy teach him any manners? Rude to watch a lady while she dines.”
“I’m sure he’ll not make that mistake again. Why don’t you pick out some lovelies for yourself while we’re here? Then we’ll go find ourselves a nice place to reacquaint ourselves,” Angelus said, picking out a few sweaters for him to take with. It was going to be light soon and he needed to find them a place to stay. He glanced over at Drusilla and grinned. He was planning on ravaging her for most of the day, and when he finished, he was going back to the house and taking a go at Buffy. William needed to relearn that anything he thought was his really belonged to Angelus, and he planned on taking his revenge in Buffy’s blood.
XXX
Spike shrugged his duster off and dumped it on the back of the chair before he sat down. He lowered his head to the table with a bang.
“Stupid, stupid, stupid, stupid, stupid bloody git,” he muttered to himself.
“Okay, not that I’m one to interrupt your self beating over there, but what are you doing?” Xander asked coming out from behind on of the library stacks where he had been shelving books.
“I am the biggest ponce on the face of the planet,” Spike declared.
“And I’m not denying it, but what did you do?”
“It was nothing, really…You know how Buffy’s got this notion about bad luck on her birthday?”
Xander sat down at the chair across from Spike and dropped his stack of books on the table. “Oh, no! You did something, didn’t you? What did you do?”
“I just wanted the girl to have a good birthday! You know, little flowers, little wine, little enchanted flying doves-“
“What?! You-you hate magic! What are you doing with enchanted flying doves, and my God, how cheesy is that?” Xander exclaimed, then quickly added, “And how much was that ‘cause Anya would love it.”
“I won it off some ponce at cards. He said all that would happen was the birds would fly around our table a bit and do some bloody acrobatic thingies,” Spike said.
“But,” Xander prodded.
Spike sighed. “Bloody wanker gave me a dovita demon. Thing sits as separate birds until it wants to attack and then it merges to form a seven foot tall vulture type thing.”
“Oh, well I’m sure that went over well,” Xander said.
“Yeah, don’t know what was worse. The bloke from the restaurant yelling or Buffy…She’s not talking to me, you know,” Spike muttered.
“I heard her saying something to Anya, but I missed the gist of it. So I take it you’re in the dog house?”
“Which part of me saying that she’s not talking to me failed to penetrate your head?”
Xander shrugged, “So I take it you’re staying for dinner then?”
“Uh, yeah, you don’t mind, do ya?”
Xander shook his head. “Nah, mi library es su library.”
XXX
“Come on, pet, let’s get you clean, yeah?” Spike whispered into her ear as he started to guide her toward the bathroom.
Spike stripped her down and turned on the water. He debated about running to their bathroom to grab her shampoo, but the strength of her grip on his arm made up his mind. She usually kept stuff in the extra bathroom, and a quick rummage helped him to find a bottle of peppermint shampoo and a bar of soap.
“You want a bath or shower, luv?” he asked.
“Spike, do you hate me?” Buffy asked softly.
He sighed. “I could never hate you, Buffy.”
“But I-I pulled you out of H-H-“
Spike silenced her with a kiss. It was the first one they’d shared since he’d been back and Buffy accepted it hungrily.
“Shh, none of that now. Wasn’t Heaven without you, luv.”
Buffy let out a sob and buried her face in his neck.
“Come on now, that’s enough tears. Into the bath with ya.” Spike scooped her up and gently lowered her into the water.
He washed the dried blood out of her hair and off her skin although he had to scrub a bit. Some of it looked as though it had dried on weeks ago, and he wondered how long he’d been gone. Each stroke of the washcloth was like a cut to his heart. She had inflicted all this on herself knowing full well that she was a true immortal.
Buffy made no move to help, just sat with her hand on his arm, and watched him. She didn’t say a word until he had her dried and wrapped in a robe he’d found behind the door.
“I always thought I was strong,” she said softly. “I thought that after Mom and Dawnie and…Madison…that I could survive anything.” Buffy paused and walked over to the bed, sitting and motioning him to join her. His heart shattered when she looked him square in the eye. “But I couldn’t survive without you.”
“Buff-“
“No,” she cut him off. “Please, I-I need to say this. After you…”Buffy swallowed hard. “After…I saw the d-d-d…the d-d-d-d…I couldn’t move. I just stopped. It was like everything stopped moving, stopped working. Angel, he saw what happened…staked the vamp.”
“Who was it? I don’t remember seeing anyone.”
“It was no one. It was a stupid fledgling. If-if I had been looking, if I hadn’t stopped to tie my shoe, I-I could have stopped him,” Buffy started to hyperventilate. “And I did stop him every time I relived that moment, but by then you were gone.”
Spike couldn’t help but chuckle. William the Bloody done in by a fledgling. “Guess that fledge got his one good day then.”
“It’s not funny!” Buffy smacked him on the chest. “It’s not funny!”
“Whoa! Easy, luv. You’re right, it’s not funny…but it is ironic.”
Buffy gave him a dirty look.
“Sorry, luv. Go on.”
She took a deep breath. “I don’t…I don’t really know what happened after that. Angel…he brought me home…brought you home too. I tried…I-“
“Buffy, you don’t have to tell me.”
“YES! Yes, I do. Oh, Spike I wanted to join you. I couldn’t…all the time I thought I was strong, but you were my strength and then you were gone…and it’s so stupid because I knew, deep in the back of my head that it wouldn’t work, but I tried anyway. I thought that if they saw how I f-felt then the Powers would take pity on me and let me go with you. But they didn’t. They didn’t even care. And I…Spike I didn’t mean to, but I ruined the island in the kitchen…I-“
Spike cut her off. “That’s enough luv. I don’t care about the bloody island. I do care about you and what you’ve done to yerself. The entire house can fall into a bloody hole for all I care. Hell, we can move tomorrow. All I care about is you.” He softened his voice and pushed some hair away from her face. “Buffy, I love you. More then the stars or the bloody planets and what have you, and yeah, I was in Heaven, but to me, Heaven is where you are and you weren’t there.”
He leaned forward and captured her lips in a kiss. It started off chaste, but soon became more passionate as Buffy’s tongue forced its way into his mouth. She moaned and Spike slowly pushed her down on the bed, letting her crawl backwards until she reached the headboard before lowering himself on top of her. His hands slid under her robe and she arched her back into him. He felt her hands at the hem of his t-shirt and he paused long enough to help her pull it off.
“Please,” she whispered as he kissed a wet path down her neck and to her breasts. “Need you, need you now.”
“Sssh,” he blew a stream of air across her chest and he smiled as she gasped and arched toward him.
Buffy hands fumbled with his zipper, and Spike finally relented and helped her take them off. He had wanted to go slow, but understood her frantic need to prove to herself that she wasn’t dreaming.
Spike positioned himself at her entrance and leaned down to capture her lips as he slid his way inside. They both moaned and Buffy’s legs immediately wrapped around his waist as he began to move into her. Although her need to have him inside her was urgent, once he was there, Buffy let him set a slow pace. She gasped and moaned into his mouth, her hands reacquainting themselves with his body.
“Spike,” she murmured against his skin.
“I know,” he replied.
“Now, do it now!”
Spike let his face shift and his fangs hit her neck moments before she buried her fangs in his. He felt her scream her release into his neck and he followed.
“Mine,” she sobbed. “My Spike, my William.”
“Mine,” he replied. “Always and forever.
XXX
| | | | |
| de evolution - Chapter 13 | | | | - abc + + | | | Chapter 13
“We don’t want anyone to mind us
So we play the roles they assign us”
-Fugazi
“Oh, look at you all graduating girl,” Buffy squealed helping her daughter put her graduation cap on.
“Mom, it’s eighth grade, it’s no big,” Madison replied.
“I’d say it’s a big deal. Next year you’re going to be in high school. You’ll have dances and-and all kinds of high schooly things,” Buffy said.
“But, just so you know, I will eat any boy that tries to date you before you’re thirty,” Spike joked.
Madison stomped her foot, “Don’t do that!”
“Do what, pet?” Spike asked.
“Don’t-don’t joke about eating people. You’re always doing that and it’s weird. No one else’s dad jokes about eating people!” Madison exclaimed.
“Well that’s probably because you’re the only lucky girl with a vampire for a father,” Buffy answered.
“It’s not luck, it’s freaky,” Madison muttered.
“Hey!” Buffy said, “Knock it off, that’s not nice. Now what’s going on here? Where’s this coming from?”
Madison huffed and folded her arms over her chest. “It’s not coming from anywhere, okay? I’m just tired of being the only kid in school with freaks for parents.”
“Oi, your mother and I are not freaks!” Spike was almost yelling.
“W-why would you say that?” Buffy asked.
“Oh, come on, you pretend that no one has noticed that Dad never goes out during the day. You think people really buy that he has a skin allergy? Jennifer said that her mom said that the reason Dad is never around during the day is because he has another family he’s hiding from us.”
“That’s not true and you know that, Madison Joyce,” Buffy said sternly.
“Yeah, but-but everyone else’s dads show up for softball practice and stuff and-and their dads are gonna be a graduation today, and my dad has to watch it on a video camera! It’s not fair! I hate this! I hate that I can’t tell people that my parents are, like, superheroes that save the world, and I hate that I have to lie to my friends about why my dad can’t go out in the day and I hate that you adopted me and forced me into this life of lies. Because that’s what we live in, lies.” Madison turned and ran up the stairs.
Spike watched his daughter disappear up the stairs and out of sight. He was frozen to the spot.
Buffy came up next to him and slid her arms around him. “She-she didn’t mean it. She’s just upset that you can’t go to graduation.”
Spike shoulders slumped. “No, she’s right. Can’t do a lot of things that fathers should do with their daughters. Can’t take her to softball or soccer. Can’t take her to the park or on picnics. She’s got a bloody useless git for a father.”
“No! Spike,” Buffy ducked her head so that he was forced to look in her eyes. “You are an amazing father.”
“No, ‘m not. She deserves better. She deserves some one who can take her out in sunlight-“He was cut off by the slap of Buffy’s hand across his face.
“Don’t you dare say that! Don’t you dare say that in my presence.” Buffy grabbed his face between her hands and pulled him in for a bruising kiss. “You are my reason for living and for fighting. You are my everything and don’t ever forget it.”
XXX
Angelus rolled off of Drusilla and let her curl up in a ball around him, purring her contentment. He grabbed the hand that was sliding up his thigh and held it to the light. The red ring glittered and danced in front of his eyes.
“So what do you think about taking your ring out for a test drive? See what it can do?”
“Can we use it to kill more people?” she asked sleepily. “It makes such lovely designs in their skin. It calls to me.”
“What does it say when it calls to you?”
“It wants us to rule the world. Bring up the demons and do away with the humans. Not their time anymore. Demon time now. Pretty demons with their pretty horns coming to topple the humans,” Drusilla whispered. She clawed her way up his body and scratched a bloody line across Angelus throat. He moaned as she licked it clean. “We’ll be a family again.”
Angelus growled and pinned her back to the bed. “There will be no more talk of family in this bed or I will have to punish you.”
Drusilla squealed in delight as Angelus rammed himself back into her body.
“The ring…it calls to me…wants us to raise its army,” she moaned.
“Suppose we could…do an apocalypse…just for fun, like old times,” he grunted.
“Two days!” Drusilla screamed.
“As the princess wishes,” Angelus growled and bit into her neck.
XXX
Spike lay awake for a long time after Buffy had fallen asleep. He wondered if she had noticed the difference in him, and then realized that she barely registered anything outside of the fact that he was back with her. He started to slide out of the bed, but Buffy’s grip tightened on him.
“Shh, luv,” Spike whispered, brushing her hair out of her face. “’M just going to the bathroom.”
Buffy’s grip released, but the second he stood up, Buffy grabbed his pillow and clutched it to her. He sighed and closed his eyes. Tomorrow he was packing up the few salvageable items in their house and getting her out. Too many bad memories now and Spike felt her sorrow all the way through his newly acquired soul.
XXX
“Hey, I’m back. Have you been sitting here this whole time? What have you been doing” Buffy tossed her purse on the table and leaned over to ruffle Spike’s hair.
“Being bloody bored, I hate this town,” he answered.
“Oh, come on, it’s not that bad,” Buffy countered. “I mean, it’s got lots of pretty things to look at like…ooh, trees and, um, hills and woodsy stuff.”
Spike glared at her.
“Oh, fine, it is boring,” Buffy conceded.
“When you said that you wanted to escape the city life, I thought you meant a vacation. You know, me, you, cozy little room for two, but instead you decided to buy a bloody house in the middle of bleedin’ Saskatchewan.”
Buffy sighed. “Well, we’ve never lived in Canada before and I thought you wanted to be adventurey.”
“Pet, I wanted to be adverturey with you, not in a forest,” Spike muttered. “…bleedin’ twenty miles from the nearest pub.”
“I heard that,” Buffy pouted. “You’re just mad because there’s no pub for you to go to, aren’t you?”
“No, I’m mad because you bought a house in the middle of the woods and didn’t consult me.”
“I didn’t buy a house, I rented and only for a few months.”
“And that makes all the difference,” Spike rolled his eyes.
“Fine, if you wanna sit here and be all pissy, then I’m not gonna give you your surprise.”
“What surprise? There’s a surprise?”
Buffy resisted the urge to roll her eyes at him settling for a saucy glide over to where he was sitting. “Like I would drag you out to the middle of the woods with no surprise.” She sat on his lap and nibbled on his ear.
Spike groaned and wrapped his arms around her waist. “I love surprises, pet.”
Buffy sucked on his neck, “Do you? Because you’re not acting like you do? All whiny,” she paused to bite down on his neck. He moaned and thrust his hips up at her. “And complainy,” she nibbled her way across his chin. “And not once have you looked around yet. ‘Course, if you had, you would have ruined my surprise.”
“Don’t plan on looking around right now either, luv. Got other things on my mind,” he whispered huskily, gliding his hands under her shirt.
Buffy playfully batted his hands away, jumped out of his lap, and ran out of the room. Spike growled and raced after her into the living room. There, hanging from the ceiling, was a big banner that read “Happy Birthday, Spike!”
“H-how…what’s this, luv?” Spike asked, stunned.
Buffy threw her arms around his neck. “Today’s your birthday. I looked it up.”
Spike stared at the banner and the small pile of presents resting next to a large cake. He couldn’t remember ever having a birthday party.
“Thank you, luv,” he whispered.
“Surprise,” she whispered back.
XXX
| | | | |
| de evolution - Chapter 14 | | | | - abc + + | | | Chapter 14
“So much to lose, so much to gain
So much to fight for, so much to change”
-Cock Sparrer
The light streaming out of the open bathroom door woke Buffy up. She stumbled into the room to see Spike staring at his lack of reflection in the mirror. Tentatively, Buffy shuffled into the bathroom and slid her arms around his waist, resting her chin on his shoulder.
“What are you thinking about?” she whispered, kissing the side of his neck.
When he didn’t answer, she started to unwrap herself and pull away. Spike stopped her by grabbing her wrists and stepping back into her embrace.
“Don’t go,” he replied, turning his head to look at her.
She relented and let him pull her arms all the way around his waist.
“200 years we’ve been together. 200…and every time I wake up with you in my arms I feel as giddy as I did the first time…” Spike said, staring into the reflection of her eyes. “I spent a long time thinking that it was all a dream, that I had died and somehow been granted access to Heaven.”
Buffy stiffened and he felt her start to pull away.
“No, don’t,” he muttered. “The point is, I did go to Heaven, but I wasn’t as happy as I am in your arms…and I know I said this before, but I want you to understand that I know what I’m giving up by being brought back here, but what I’ve gained is so much more.” Spike turned around in her embrace and slid his arms around her. “I have eternity to be with the woman I love…and the soul to understand her.”
He watched the play of emotions flicker across her face. She looked up at him, confusion in her eyes.
“Could you repeat that last part,” she asked, licking her lips. Her throat was suddenly very dry.
“Which part, luv?” Spike asked, smiling down at her. “The part where I said we have eternity-a true eternity this time-or the part about my soul. My soul, not a demon’s soul, MINE…William’s.”
Buffy’s mouth dropped open, and Spike took the opportunity to lean in and steal a kiss.
XXX
“That’s…disturbing,” Xander shuddered.
“But very useful in your line of work,” Anya added.
“No, I’d go with disturbing…not that I’m knocking it though, could have lost my girl.” Spike said.
“I think we have firmly established that I’m not going anywhere,” Buffy said, her hands rubbing the sides of her neck.
“You know, being able to come back from a decapitation is a very rare trait. You should be thankful for that. Just think of all the fun games you could play knowing that information,” Anya said.
Spike growled. “No one is decapitating my wife…again!”
“But you could hide her head in places that you can’t go, and she could gather information. It’d be all covert, like a spy movie,” Anya insisted. “And I can always stick it back on again, it’s not a big deal.”
“Okay, my head is now staying firmly on my body and Anya…that is so creepy,” Buffy said, placing her hands on her hips.
“On that note, it’s time for the Missus and me to be taking our leave,” Spike said, standing up and pulling Buffy to her feet as well. “Xander, see you Wednesday. Anya, see ya next month.”
Buffy sifted through her pockets looking for the transporting dust that allowed them to travel between the Harris’ house and their own. She dropped it in a circle around them, muttered a few words, and in a poof of smoke, had them in their own living room.
“Wow, it’s been awhile since I’ve been so glad to get away from Anya,” Buffy muttered, stretching her arms above her head.
Spike grabbed her around the waist and pulled her taunt against him. “Almost lost you tonight, luv,” he murmured, nuzzling the side of her neck.
“Spike, I’m immortal. I’m not going anywhere,” she replied, tilting her head to give him better access.
“Don’t care. All I know is that my life stopped when I saw that creature…” he couldn’t finish the sentence.
Buffy snorted. “Your life stopped? You weren’t the one holding your own head in her hands.”
Spike framed her face in his hands. “You don’t understand. You are my life, my reason for living. Without you, I’m dust.”
Buffy’s face softened. “Oh, Spike. You’re my reason for living too.”
He leaned forward and kissed her gently. “Don’t ever scare me like that again.”
“Promise,” she whispered. “So long as you’re by my side, I will never try and get decapitated again.”
XXX
Lenore came into the kitchen and startled Xander.
“I’m sorry, I was, er, spacing out. You have a window,” he said, pointing toward it. “I don’t have one in the library and I always tend to revert to high school form when I see one.”
“I did not mean to startle you. I merely came to tell you that you must be leaving soon.”
“Oh, did we wear out our welcome? I know Anya can be a handful sometimes, but-“
“No, you are always welcome here,” Lenore interrupted. “But the time is almost upon us.”
“It moved up again, huh? Damn planets,” Xander joked.
“It moved neither up nor down. As I stated before, the planets keep their own time,” Lenore said.
“It was a…um, never mind. So, what do we do know?” Xander asked.
Lenore shook her head. “That I cannot tell you. You must let the stars guide you to your destiny.”
“Oookay, and how do I do that?”
“If you listen very hard, they will tell you,” Lenore answered and walked out of the room.
“Oh that’s just great,” Xander muttered. “It’s Drusilla the second.”
XXX¬¬¬¬¬¬¬¬¬¬¬¬¬¬¬¬¬¬¬
“Daddy, the stars want us to gather our forces,” Drusilla said.
“Do they now?” he asked, knocking her over so that they landed on top the dead nun that lay on the floor.
Drusilla whimpered, “Not here. Never here. He whispers in my ear. Calls me back to the fold, he does. Lost little lamb, all caught in the blackberry patch. Nasty thorns sticking in my side.”
Angelus growled and pressed down on her. “We will be where ever I decide…unless you want me to punish you. Would you like that, Dru? Have me wrap your pretty wrists in chains while I fuck you?”
She closed her eyes and Angelus stood up, yanking her by her hair. “Fine, Dru. We’ll leave, but when I get you home…”
“But the time has almost come,” she said. “Time for darkness. Time for ruling. Time for family. William and the sunshine will be family with us again. The stars never lie…Miss Edith never lies.”
“Fine, stars and Spike and Buffy. Now, get out of here before I lose me temper…and when we get home, I’m going to chain you up and do despicable things to your body.”
XXX
“Will you stop fussing? Everything will be fine,” Dawn said, hands on her hips as she watched her fiancé reset the table.
“I know. I just-I want them to like me. I mean, they’re the only family you have,” Brian said. “Plus, I find it a little weird that we’ve been dating for two years and I’ve never so much as talked to them on the phone.”
“Well, my sister and her husband are kinda…they’re different. They move… a lot,” Dawn answered. “But, hey, you’ve met Willow and Tara and they’re just like family…and-and Xander-“
“Who I’ve only talked to on the phone,” he interrupted.
Dawn winced, “Yeah, well, his job doesn’t let him get away much.”
Brian walked over and wrapped his arms around Dawn’s waist. “Baby, you know that I love you, but I sometimes get the feeling that you’re hiding something about your family from me. I mean, you’ve met my family and you gotta admit they’re a bit strange.”
Dawn couldn’t raise her eyes to meet his glance, “Yeah, well, my family’s just a bit…different.”
Brain smiled, “You mean like how you can read those tarot cards so accurately? Do you come from a family of psychics?”
“Um, no, not so much-“
The doorbell cut her off and Dawn took the interruption to run down the hall. She flung the door open and squealed as she gathered Buffy and Spike in a giant hug.
“Oh my Goddess! I can’t believe you’re here. Come in! Come in, both of you!”
“Hey, Dawnie,” Buffy said, squeezing her sister tight.
“Bit! Look at you, all grown up,” Spike said.
Brian cleared his throat and when the two blondes looked at him, he swore that his heart stopped beating. It wasn’t that they were both deathly pale or that the man’s hair was so white it glowed. No, it was the look that radiated from behind both their eyes. It screamed power, strength, and a million other things that used to give him nightmares as a kid.
“Guys, this,” Dawn made a point of walking over and taking Brian by the arm. “Is Brian…my fiancé.”
“Hi Brian,” Buffy said. “I’m Buffy, Dawn’s sister, and this is my husband, Spike.”
“Uh, hi,” Brian managed to shake both their hands, noting how cold the man’s touch was. Also, he was sure that Buffy was a full five years older then Dawn, so why did she look younger? “Welcome. Can I offer you something to drink?”
“Do you have any Diet Coke?” Buffy asked.
Brian nodded and turned to Spike.
“Beer if ya got it, mate.”
Somehow they made it through the small talk and to the dinner table, although Spike didn’t eat anything, just drank some red wine that Dawn had mysteriously produced. Brian hadn’t seen it in the house earlier. Maybe that’s why Dawn was so reluctant to talk about her sister and her husband. Maybe the man- Spike, what kind of name was that-was an alcoholic. Maybe he beat Buffy. Brain watched as the man finished off the mug-yeah mug, not even a wine glass-and Dawn got up to get him another glass.
“Hope you’re not driving home,” Brian said.
Spike laughed, “’Course I am. Have you ever seen this woman drive?”
Buffy pouted, “Hey, I am not that bad. I mean, those curbs come out of nowhere.”
Dawn laughed, “Hey, remember that time when you convinced Mom to let you drive us to school, and you-you put the car in neutral and couldn’t figure out why it wouldn’t drive.” Dawn doubled over in her laughter as she handed the new mug to Spike.
“Will you guys be staying here tonight?” Brian asked.
Buffy shook her head. “No, we have a hotel.”
“Trust me, honey, a hotel is way better for them,” Dawn added.
“Hey, I resent that,” Buffy said.
“And I resent that you guys broke my guest bed last time you visited me.”
“That was like three years ago. Get over it,” Buffy answered.
“Dawnie, can I talk to you in the kitchen a moment?” Brian asked, setting his napkin down on the table.
“Sure,” she smiled and followed him. “What’s wrong?” Dawn asked once they were out of view.
“Babe, I just don’t think that we should let him drive. I mean, he had three beers before dinner and that’s his second MUG of wine,” Brian looked at her worriedly. “Dawn, is he an alcoholic? Does he hurt Buffy?”
He looked so concerned that Dawn held back the laughter that was tickling the back of her throat. “No, no, no, Spike is not an alcoholic and trust me when I say that he doesn’t do anything to Buffy that she doesn’t like. She is perfectly capable of handling herself.”
“Sweetie, my uncle was an alcoholic and my aunt, she let it go for years without telling anyone because she though she could handle it. We only found out when he put her in the hospital.”
“Something wrong, bit?”
Brian jumped and spun around to find himself face to face with the man in question.
Dawn sighed, “No, Spike, nothing’s wrong.”
“No,” Brian surprised himself by speaking up. “Something is wrong, and dammit Dawn if you won’t speak up I will.”
“Now, hold on a moment here. Don’t appreciate you talking to the girl like that-“
“No, you listen here. You may think you’ve got it under control, but if you don’t get help for your drinking, then-then I will make you get help because you are Dawn’s family and that makes you MY family.” He poked Spike in the chest with his index finger to drive the point home.
Spike looked over at Dawn, who was busy looking at the floor. “You didn’t tell him, bit?” he asked quietly.
She shook her head.
“Hey, what’s with the yelling?” Buffy asked, coming into the kitchen.
“Brian here thinks I’m an alcoholic that beats his wife, pet.”
Buffy snorted, “Puh-lease, I can so kick your ass.”
“She hasn’t told him, luv,” Spike said, softly.
“What-OH,” Buffy gave Brian an odd glance.
“Dawn what are they talking about? What haven’t you told me?” Brian demanded.
Dawn looked up at him sadly. “I meant to tell you, I did, but…”
Brian grabbed her in a tight embrace, stroking her hair as he held her. “Dawnie, I love you and nothing you can say will make me change that.”
Dawn sniffled and nodded. “Spike, just-just show him, get it over with.”
Spike waited until he had Brian’s attention and vamped out.
“JESUS CHRIST! WHAT THE HELL ARE YOU?”
“Vampire, mate,” Spike answered.
“And you,” Brian turned to Buffy. “Are you a vampire too?”
“Nope,” Buffy shook her head cheerfully. “I’m a vampire slayer.”
“Wha-huh?” Brian managed.
“You better sit down, this is gonna take awhile,” Dawn said.
XXX
| | | | |
| de evolution - Chapter 15 | | | | - abc + + | | | Chapter 15
“What have I become, my sweetest friend
Everyone I love goes away in the end”
-Nine Inch Nails
Spike stuffed the last of their clothes into a suitcase before heading down to the living room. It had taken him a while to convince Buffy that he was capable of leaving her sight without disappearing. He had wanted-no, he had needed to do the packing alone. Needed to feel Buffy’s devastation in their bedroom as he packed their belongings, but he didn’t want her to have to relive it.
“’T’s the last of it, luv,” he said, setting the suitcase down next to the two others. “You ready to go?”
She nodded, “What are you going to do with the house?”
“Gonna torch it. Burn the memories out of our minds. Sound good?”
She nodded again, “We don’t…we don’t have a transport anymore.”
“We’ll walk a ways and then call ourselves a driver. Can tell ‘im that ours broke down somewhere. Bloke won’t care so long as we tip ‘im.”
Buffy picked up one of the suitcases and followed Spike out the door. She waited patiently on the lawn while he poured the gasoline through their home and set it on fire. It wasn’t the first home they had burned together and she doubted that it would be the last, sometimes they had to set fake fires when neighbors got too nosy about their lives or when a demon fight had destroyed the interior, but it was the only house she felt right about burning. It was the only house that she would not miss.
Spike picked up the remaining suitcases and offered his arm to Buffy. She accepted and the two walked down the street and disappeared over the hill just as the first neighbor’s bedroom light went on and the first yell of “fire” echoed after them.
XXX
Spike poked the turkey with his finger, “Uh, luv, I don’t think that’s cooked yet.”
Buffy peered over his shoulder, “What do you mean? I followed the instructions. It said cook at 350 degrees at one hour per pound.”
“Yeah, but it’s still cold, pet.”
“What would you know? It’s not like you eat food anyway,” Buffy huffed.
“Oi! You know I love a good chicken wing as much as the next fellow, so don’t be blaming me for the turkey being cold,” Spike protested.
Buffy grabbed the turkey pan, shoved it back into the oven, and slammed the door shut with a scowl on her face. She grabbed the cucumber that she had been peeling and began flicking bits of the peel all over the counter. “Stupid vampire, telling me how to cook a turkey,” she muttered to herself.
“Mommy, I finished setting the table. Wanna come see?” Madison hopped on the balls of her feet.
“’Fraid Mum’s a bit busy. Can I come see instead?” Spike asked.
“’Tay, but you gotta do what mom does,” Madison replied, taking Spike’s hand and pulling his into the dining room. “Is it pretty?”
“It’s bloody gorgeous, princess, just like you are,” Spike replied, picking his daughter up and tossing her in the air.
Madison giggled, “You swore, daddy. You’re not suppose to say bloody around me, ‘member? Mommy said so.”
“You are certainly correct and I am a bad, bad daddy. Let’s have this be our little secret, right pet?”
Madison looked thoughtful for a minute and then smiled,”’Tay, but only if I get to have two cookies after dinner tonight.” She held up two fingers to emphasize her point.
Spike shook his head. “You drive a right hard bargain there, pet, but…alright, two cookies for not telling yer mum that I swore,” he promised, knowing perfectly well that Buffy would let the girl eat as much as she wanted on a holiday.
Madison wrapped her arms around Spike’s neck and tucked her head under his chin. “Do I have to sit by Taylor?” she asked. “He always pokes me when no one is looking, and-and he opens his mouth with food in it. That’s rude, right daddy? He shouldn’t do that.”
“Oh, he does, does he? Tell you what? Next time he does that I give you permission to throw mashed potato at ‘im. Just don’t let yer mum or Auntie Dawn catch you, kay?”
“Can I sit by Aunt Tara instead? She always lets me play with her hair.”
“If you like, pet. Now, what say we go help mum in the kitchen, yeah?”
“’Tay.”
XXX
“Xander, you are paying way more attention to that musty, old book then you are to me,” Anya huffed.
“Sorry, Ahn, it’s just that this book is really fascinating. I can’t believe how much we didn’t know about this ring…or about Dawn. Did you know that she could read tarot cards? I don’t remember her ever doing that.”
Anya set her bag down in the field. “I don’t even know where we’re going? How am I supposed to teleport us somewhere if I don’t know where?”
“Listen to this, ‘The ring possesses the power to speak to the wearer through their mind. After wearing the ring for two months, I began to hear voices in my head telling me that I could rule the world and that I must raise the master’s army. At first I ignored them, but little by little I found myself following the commands without realizing it. When I found myself researching incantations to raise the army of darkness, I removed the ring from my finger and stored it safely away.’ How weird is that?” Xander asked, still walking as he read. He looked up and noticed that Anya was several feet behind him. “Hey, when did we stop walking?”
“Alexander Harris, were you even listening to me?”
“Oh, uh, yeah. Um…we need to find Buffy? Can you teleport us to where ever she is?”
Anya stood with her hands on her hips. “What do I look like, some sort of Buffy homing device?” She tapped her foot for emphasis, then sighed, “Fine…fine, I’ll see what I can do. Hold on, this won’t be fun.”
Xander gulped and grabbed his wife’s hand, “God, I hate teleporting.”
XXX
“So what’s my fortune?” Buffy asked, taking a sip of her tea.
“Not doing your fortune yet, still doing mine, just like I was two minutes ago.” Dawn rolled her eyes and set another card on the table.
“Oh, well, when’s my turn?”
“When I finish with me,” Dawn answered.
“Isn’t it bad luck to be reading your own fortune?” Buffy asked.
“That’s a superstition. Now are you going to tell me what you’re doing here anyway? Not that I’m not happy to see you, but you don’t randomly drop by here much even if you do just live down the street now.”
“I need a favor,” Buffy said.
“I figured.” Dawn glanced at another card and put it down. “What’s up?”
“Well, Madison wants to go to the football game on Friday night, and I promised Giles that Spike and I would help him research some stupid ritual demony thing that supposed to be happening. Anyway, Taylor’s on the team and I thought that you might be going and-“
“You need me to drive her there and home? Yeah, not a problem.”
“And, you know, keep an eye on her.”
Dawn stared at her sister, “Buffy, Madison is in high school now. You need to tell Spike to lay off the overprotective vibe.” She set down another card. “It’s creepy.”
“I know, it’s just…he just-he worries, you know. He’s her dad, that’s what they do.” Buffy frowned, “Okay, that’s what they’re supposed to do, not that our dad ever did but…good fathers do.” She finished righteously.
Dawn flipped another card on the table without looking at it. “Yeah, it’s no problem, like I said.”
“Thanks, sis. You’re the greatest. I’ll catch you later.” Buffy hugged her sister and turned to leave. “Yuck, that’s an ugly card. Anyway, have fun.” She was out the door a minute later.
Dawn glanced at the table and frowned. Death was looking back at her.
XXX
“Are you sure this is where we’re supposed to be? Looks like a stupid hole in the ground to me.” Angelus crossed his arms and looked down into the black hole that took up most of the clearing.
“Sssh, pretty ring. Daddy doesn’t understand, but he will,” Drusilla petted the ring on her finger.
“Dru, it’s a ring. Knock it off.”
Drusilla circled him. “The ring has power. If we raise the master’s army, he will give US power, and we will rule the world.”
“I don’t like this master crap. I’M the only master needed around here, got it?”
Drusilla leaned forward and kissed him harshly. “I can see the light around you. So pretty, it is. The ring will make you glow.”
“Great, so what do we need to do this?” Angelus asked.
“Need a sacrifice, blood of a virgin, blood of a whore, blood of an immortal…blood of family,” she whispered.
Angelus smirked, “Guess we need to pay Buffy and Spike another visit. Come on Dru, let’s go.”
XXX
| | | | |
| de evolution - Chapter 16 | | | | - abc + + | | | Chapter 16
“Who would’ve thought that dreams come true
And who would’ve thought I’d ended up with you”
-Rancid
Buffy lay on her side staring at Spike’s face. He was asleep, his left arm flung carelessly around her waist while the right arm rested underneath his pillow. She marveled at the peacefulness of his face, the smoothness of his lips, the muscles of his arms, the way the nail of his big toe scrapped against her leg. That used to annoy her to no end, the ragged toe nail that Spike never filed unless he filed it in bed, which was disgusting, and yet when he was gone, she would have let him clip, file, and paint his nails in bed if it meant that he would have been there with her.
Buffy ghosted her hand over his face and watched as Spike shifted closer to her in his sleep. He had been in Heaven. No matter how many times she ran that sentence through her head, she couldn’t grasp it. Heaven. Her Heaven. The one place that she would never see again, yet it haunted her dreams. It lay on the edge of her perception- taunting and tormenting her- and she could only find peace in Spike’s arms. When Spike was with her, she was in Heaven again. She’d never told him that, never told anyone that. Buffy was sure that her friends had thought that she’d gotten over her stint in Heaven, but how do you get over pure bliss? Pure love? Pure happiness? The answer; you don’t. You try to find it somewhere else and Buffy had been lucky, until Spike had been gone and Hell had raged all around her.
“Forgive me,” she whispered, brushing her lips against his.
Spike’s arm around her waist tightened, pulling her flush against him. He tucked is head under her chin and nuzzled her neck. Buffy’s arms automatically wrapped around him.
“My Buffy. My angel,” he muttered.
She stoked his hair and smiled. He was still asleep.
XXX
Buffy laughed as Spike spun her around the dance floor.
“Stop, you’re making me dizzy,” she giggled.
“Good, makes it easier to sweep you off yer feet,” Spike replied, yanking her into his arms and rocking her body to the beat of the music.
“I didn’t know you could swing dance,” Buffy said as she let Spike lead her in the unfamiliar dance steps.
“’Course I can swing dance, luv. It was the rebellious thing to do back in the forties. Told you ‘ve always been a rebel,” Spike retorted. “Unlike the Poof who spent the forties hiding in an apartment as we can see by his dancin’. Looks like he’s gonna knock Cordelia’s head off.”
Buffy glanced over her should to see Angel awkwardly stepping on Cordelia’s toe. She laughed, “Well, he doing better than Xander because-“
“Alexander Harris, you’ve crushed my foot again!”
“Sorry, you were saying, luv,” Spike grinned at her. The music slowed down and Spike pulled Buffy close. “’M surprised that Anya let him come out at all. Would have thought that on his one week off from work, she’d have whisked him to a hotel or something.”
“He really wanted to come out and see everyone, you know? I think this whole two weeks of freedom a year is kinda getting to him. He misses out on so much.” Buffy leaned in and rested her forehead against Spike’s neck. She closed her eyes and sighed softly.
“What are you thinking about, luv?” Spike whispered in her ear.
“This…us. I wish that we could stay like this forever, but we can’t. Someday,” Buffy lifted her head and looked around her. Willow was gently spinning Tara around. Cordelia had her arms wrapped around Angel’s neck, her head tilted up to look at him. Xander was battling Anya for the right to lead the dance, Brian was sitting at their table, slowly feeding Dawn forkfuls of a decadent chocolate cake. “Someday they’ll all be gone, won’t they?”
“Yes, they will…Will…Are you okay with that though?” Spike asked hesitantly.
Buffy turned and smiled at him. “As long as you’re with me, I’ll always be okay.”
XXX
Spike opened his eyes slowly to find his face pressed against Buffy’s neck. She was awake, probably had been all night, and he berated himself for being able to fall asleep when she obviously needed him. Gently, he peppered her neck with soft kisses.
“Spike?” Buffy asked softly. “Are you awake?”
“Am now,” he said huskily, pressing himself against her. “Very awake. The question is, why are you awake?” He had been slowly working his way around her neck and now latched his mouth around her nearest breast.
Buffy’s hands flew around his head, holding him to her. “Couldn’t sleep,” she moaned.
“Well, we’ll just have to do something to tire you out then, yeah?” He ran his hand down her body and stroked her through her panties.
Buffy arched into him and pulled him up by his hair. She crushed her lips against his as his hand teased her into a frenzy. “Spike,” she whispered.
“Yes, luv.”
“No teasing…need you inside me. Need to feel you. Need to be one with you.”
Spike groaned and ripped her panties with a quick flick of his wrist. He covered her body with his own, pressing kisses against her lips as he slid inside her. Neither of them moved.
“I-I want to stay like this,” Buffy whispered in his ear. “You and me joined as one, forever. You make me whole.”
“God, Buffy, what you do to me. Never felt complete until I met you,” Spike cupped her cheek with his hand. “I am yours eternally.” Slowly, he started to move his hips.
“Yours,” Buffy moaned. “Only yours, forever.”
“Now isn’t this a romantic sight? Please, don’t stop on my account. Continue with the charming words of endearment.”
Spike growled low in his throat and turned to face Angelus. “I told you to say the fuck away from us, mate or you’d be sorry.”
“And I seem to remember not caring.” Angelus moved to show the tranquilizer gun hidden behind his back. He had a dart buried in Spike’s neck before the other vampire could move.
“I have to tell you, not smart choosing to say in a hotel where vampires don’t need an invitation. Come on, Buff. That’s just asking for trouble,” Angelus continued, watching Buffy carefully. She slowly rolled Spike off of her, pulling the dart out of his neck as she did so. “I mean, I was able to sneak right in here without either of you noticing it. How have you survived all these years? Oh, that’s right. You’re immortal.”
Buffy was slowly getting out of the bed, her eyes never leaving Angelus’.
“You know what immortality means to me? It means that I can drag out your torture forever. That’s going to be so much fun.”
“It means that you’re going to die,” Buffy said lowly. Her hand shot out behind her and she caught Drusilla by the neck.
“Damn and I was so counting on Dru to be able to sneak up on you,” Angelus grinned.
Buffy tightened her hold on Drusilla’s neck. “Sorry to disappoint.”
“Oh, I’m not disappointed at all. You’re so easy to read,” Angelus replied and Buffy felt Drusilla kick her lightly in the knee.
She looked down to see the needle sticking out of the vampiress’ shoe.
“Nighty night baby,” Drusilla whispered as Buffy’s world went black.
XXX
“Well, they were here,” Xander said looking around the hotel room.
“Well, it doesn’t look like they struggled. I mean, if the tranquilizer guns worked, I’m sure they didn’t feel a thing,” Anya replied.
“Wait, how do you know they were tranqued?” Xander asked.
Anya pointed to the discarded gun lying half under the bed. “Now what do we do?” she asked.
Xander sighed, “I’m not sure.”
| | | | |
| de evolution - Chapter 17 | | | | - abc + + | | | Chapter 17
“For a moment your eyes open and you know
All the things I ever wanted you to know”
-Keane
Buffy knocked softly on the door. There was no answer, but she opened it and walked into the dark room anyway. The figure on the bed rolled over on its side, away from her.
“I know that you’re hurting, but you can’t lock yourself away in here forever,” she said softly.
“Go away, Buffy,” Angel answered. “You don’t know how I feel.”
Buffy felt a surge of anger at the response, “I don’t presume to tell you how to feel, and I’ll thank you for not presuming to tell me that I don’t understand how you feel.”
“You still have your mate! I lost mine!” Angel roared sitting up to face her.
“Yes, and you still have your child but I’ve lost mine,” Buffy countered, closing her eyes against the tears that instantly welled up at the thought of Madison.
Angel stared at her a moment before curling back up on the bed. Buffy sat on the bed next to his back. Slowly she lay down next to him and wrapped her arms around his chest. He stiffened a moment before relaxing against her. Her arms were different then Cordelia’s, smaller, paler, and so much stronger.
“You can let it go, Angel. You don’t have to be strong. Let me be strong for you,” she whispered.
Angel felt the tears that had been burning in his throat begin to fall. He didn’t sob, didn’t shake, just let the tears roll down his face while Buffy whispered soothing words in his ear.
After a while, he sensed Spike walk into the room. To his surprise Spike sat on the bed next to him and handed him a handkerchief.
“Here to gloat, William?” Angel asked.
“Nothing to gloat about, mate. She was a lovely woman and I’m sorry for your loss.”
“Why are you here? Why can’t you two just leave me alone? You will never know the pain I feel.” He sat up and tried to move off the bed, but Spike held him back.
“Like it or not, we’re your family and we care about you. Yer hurting and it’s goin’ to hurt for a long time. Let us help you.” Spike cocked his head to one side and looked at Buffy over Angel’s shoulder.
“Let us take you away from here, Angel,” Buffy said softly. “There’s a place, we went there after Madison. It helped us, it can help you.”
“Fine,” Angel conceded. “Fine, take me there but leave me alone.” He flinched as Buffy kissed him lightly on the cheek.
“We’ll always help you. I promise.”
XXX
Spike woke up to find himself chained to a cavern wall. Buffy was next to him, although she was still unconscious. There were two other women chained directly across from him, awake and looking terrified.
“Where are we?” he asked.
“Sssh, don’t talk. He’ll come back,” the younger looking one said.
“Hope he does, want to give him a piece of my mind, bloody bastard,” Spike muttered.
“He’s a monster,” the other woman said. “He’s not human, threw my…friend, a good two blocks…and the woman he’s with…she’s a monster too.”
“Someone’s being naughty,” Drusilla said in a sing song voice as she entered the room. “Talking, talking, talking like she knows.”
“Drusilla, what are we doing here?” Spike growled.
Drusilla grinned and sashayed over to him. “We’re going to be a family again, my William. You and me and daddy and baby.”
“What about the two birds?” he jerked his head to the two woman.
“Need them for the sacrifice. We’re going to raise an army,” she grinned.
Buffy moaned and Spike turned his attention away from Drusilla.
“You with me, luv?”
“Spike? What happened?”
“Still trying to figure that out.”
“Baby’s awake!” Drusilla clapped her hands. “We can start the ceremony. Aren’t you excited, precious?” Drusilla asked the ring on her finger.
“Stop talking to the ring, Dru,” Angelus said as he entered the room.
“But it talks to me, daddy. It says such naughty things.”
The younger girl began to cry and Angelus silenced her with the back of his hand. “I’m sorry, did I give you permission to cry?”
Both Spike and Buffy pulled at their chains in a vain attempt to break free.
“I hate to break it to you two, but you won’t be free until after our little ritual,” Angelus said. “So don’t even bother trying to free yourselves. Dru’s ring is handy for certain things like, oh, reinforcing chains.” He turned to Drusilla. “Let’s get this started, shall we?”
XXX
“I don’t like the look of this place,” Anya whispered.
Xander stared at the entrance to the cave and silently agreed.
“Do you think they’re even here?” Anya asked.
“It’s the place Dawn described in the book, so…”
A single scream cut him off.
“Yep, must be the place,” Xander finished. “I think…I think if we follow Dawn’s instructions, we should be okay.”
“Should be?”
“Well, it’s not like she ever tried it out.”
“Are you sure that you read it right?” Anya asked.
”Have I ever read anything wrong?” Xander retorted. “Come on, let’s go.” He reached out and grabbed Anya’s hand, dragging her into the cave behind him.
XXX
Buffy’s eyes were stinging as she tried to see through the fog that filled the cave. Somewhere in front of her, Drusilla was chanting in another language. The two other girls were crying loudly and Buffy tried to pull against the chains again.
“You able to get free, luv?” Spike yelled against the wind that swirled around them.
“No, you?”
“Not yet.”
“Spike, I can’t see anything, can you?”
Spike squinted his eyes and was able to make out Angelus’ figure in the mist. He watched as Angelus plunged a sculpted knife into the younger girl’s chest and captured the blood in a goblet. “No, not a thing,” he lied.
“Blood of a virgin to make it all pure,” Drusilla sang. “Blood of a whore to taint it again.” She took the goblet of virgin blood from Angelus and danced over to Spike and Buffy. “Blood of an immortal so that the spell lasts forever and blood of family to bind us together.” She slashed Spike’s wrist and caught his blood in the same cup as the virgin blood before doing the same to Buffy. “One more part left and everything will be as it should-“ she was cut off by an arrow that imbedded itself in her shoulder.
Angelus growled. “Who the hell is interrupting my ceremony?”
“That would be us, you evil soulless vampire, you,” Anya yelled.
“Well, aren’t I insulted,” Angelus smirked. “I’m going to be stopped by a librarian and a vengeance demon. Be still my non-beating heart.”
“I don’t think so,” Drusilla said, stepping in front of Xander. He had been trying to pick the lock of Buffy’s chains.
Xander grinned sheepishly and then kicked her square in the stomach, causing Drusilla to fall backwards. He muttered a few words in Latin and both Buffy and Spike’s chains released.
“Thanks, mate. Owe you one,” Spike muttered.
“We have to destroy the ring,” Xander said.
“And quickly because the ceremony has already started,” Anya added.
“Buffy and I will take care of Angelus and Drusilla, you two get the two girls out of here,” Spike said.
“Wait, I need to perform a spell to close the portal that’s opening,” Xander said.
“What portal?” Buffy asked as she turned around to see a portal opening in the floor. “Oh, that portal.”
“Okay, then Xander performs the spell, Anya gets the girls, Buffy and I kick arse, got it?”
“Who gets the devil looking guy?” Anya asked.
“What devil guy?” Spike asked.
Buffy tapped him on the shoulder, “I think she means the one rising out of the portal.”
“Er, right then. Buffy and I will get the devil guy and Angelus and Drusilla while Xander chants and Anya saves the two girls.”
“Or, I kick your ass while you’re not paying attention,” Angelus said as he punched Spike in the face. “I like this plan.”
| | | | |
| de evolution - Chapter 18 | | | | - abc + + | | | Chapter 18
“Stand up strong, feel the pain
When the angels sing
Love and death don’t mean a thing
Till the angels sing”
-Social Distortion
Buffy sipped her tea politely before setting back down on the table. She had never liked tea in the first place.
“More tea?” Giles asked.
“No, thank you,” Buffy answered, covering her cup so that Giles wouldn’t overflow it again. “How are you doing?”
“Oh, fine, fine. Andrew takes good care of me…he used to want to be evil, did you know that?” Giles asked.
“Yes, I was there, remember?”
“Yes, you were there. I remember now,” Giles removed his glasses and cleaned them on his sweater. “The other Slayer was there too, right?” He shook his head. “Two active Slayers, who would have thought?”
“Faith says hi, by the way. Spike and I saw her last month.”
Giles frowned, “Spike is an evil vampire with no soul, Buffy. We must remember that his chip is not a conscious.”
Buffy sighed, “Giles, Spike doesn’t have a chip, remember? He’s a good guy now.”
“Oh, quite right,” Giles replied. “Any good apocalypses I should know about?”
Buffy shook her head. “Not this visit.”
“How’s Madison doing?”
Buffy swallowed thickly, “Giles, Madison’s d-she d…she left us over ten years ago.”
Giles put his hand over Buffy’s. “I’m sorry Buffy. I didn’t mean to…sometimes I forget, my mind…”he chuckled, “I think I now know how Drusilla must feel. I’m here, but I don’t always know where and when I am.”
“I know Giles, its okay.”
“I think I’ll be leaving soon.”
“I know,” Buffy answered.
“I’m sorry I can’t live up to my promise.”
Buffy looked confused.
“I promised that I would be standing by your side, my forever Slayer…I am sorry that you never got your normal life.”
“I have a good life,” Buffy insisted. “I have good friends, I had a beautiful sister and daughter, I have a wonderful husband, I had a wonderful mother, and,” she touched his cheek. “I had an amazing father.”
Giles closed his eyes, “Thank you.”
XXX
Spike’s head snapped back from the blow of Angelus’ fist. With a roar, he kicked his foot out and hit Angelus in the stomach.
Buffy moved toward the devil figure. Drusilla was on her knees babbling incoherently and stroking the ring. The devil was solid yet and Buffy knew that if she could get the ring from Drusilla, this would end.
Anya raced across the cave to where the girls were chained. The younger girl was dead, but the other one was alive and struggling fiercely.
“Get me out of here!” She demanded. “There’s some crazy shit going on here. I swear if I live to see tomorrow, I won’t ever spend my money on drugs again and I’ll join church and go every Sunday…I’ll join a temple too and go there on Saturdays. Just get me the fuck out of here.”
Anya released her from the chains and the girl took off running. “You’re welcome,” Anya muttered at the girl’s retreating back. She made her way back to where Xander was frantically chanting and dropping a powder around the portal.
“NO!” Drusilla leapt toward Xander, but Buffy caught her with a foot in the stomach.
“Buffy! Get the ring!” Anya yelled.
Angelus knocked Spike to the ground and pinned him down. “You’ll never defeat me boy.”
Spike smashed his head into Angelus’ forehead, “I will-and don’t call me boy.”
“Naughty baby, hitting Mummy,” Drusilla mumbled as she stood up. She was swaying slightly. “Need to raise the precious’ army. Can’t stop now.”
Buffy watched her, unsure of how to proceed.
“BUFFY, THE RING!” Anya screamed again.
Buffy slammed Drusilla against the wall, pinned her, and tried to pull the ring from her finger.
“Stuck. Can’t take it off. Too many voices,” Drusilla said. “I bit it off him, I did and he bled so prettily for me.”
Buffy shifted her face, “Guess I’ll have to follow suit then, mummy.” She grabbed Drusilla’s hand and bit the finger off.
Drusilla screamed and slumped to the floor.
Buffy removed the finger from her mouth and pulled the ring off. She tossed the finger into Drusilla’s lap.
“I got it!” She yelled toward Anya.
“Destroy it!” Anya yelled back.
Buffy dropped the ring to the ground and grabbed a nearby rock. She positioned the rock directly over the ring.
“Are you sure you want to do that?” The voice said inside her head. Buffy looked up to the devil figure in the portal. ”We can rule this world together, you and I. This ring is…precious. Can you feel it? Feel the power? The others, look at them, they would steal your power and keep it for themselves. You’ve done enough. You deserve this power.”
Buffy felt a power course through her. Why shouldn’t she keep the ring? It had been hers to begin with. Why had she given it up in the first place? This was her ring. Her power.
“Buffy!”
Her head snapped around at the sound of Spike’s voice. “Spike?” She watched in horror as Angelus pinned him down and raised a stake over his heart.
“Destroy the ring!”
Buffy turned back to the devil. She looked it square in the eye and brought the rock down. The light was blinding.
XXX
Buffy was the first one to open her eyes. The cave was dark except for a few candles. She crawled over to Spike’s unconscious body and pulled his head into her lap. His eyes opened a few moments later.
“Hi,” he said softly.
“Hi,” she replied.
“Did we win?”
“Yeah, I think we did,” she answered and leaned down to kiss him.
“Okay, ow!” Xander said, sitting up and rubbing his head. “That wasn’t in the book. Everyone on the side of good okay?”
“I have a bump on my head,” Anya complained and winced dramatically when Xander reached a hand over to examine it. “I think I’ll need Dr. Harris to take care of me when we get home.”
Xander smiled. “I think that can be arranged.”
There was a groan to the left of them and all four moved to stand around the figure on the ground.
“What happened? Why am I in a cave?” Angel moaned, slowly sitting up. “Spike? What are you doing here?” Angel looked up at him, confused.
“Long story, mate. Glad you’re you though.”
A scream filled the cave and the group turned to see Drusilla writhing on the floor, scratching herself. “Get it out! It burns! Getitoutgetitoutgetitout! Bad girl, been naughty, forgive me Father I have sinned and sinned and sinned and sinned. Cast me in hell and let me burn, I burn!”
“Oh, my…” Buffy started.
“Does she…” Xander said.
“She’s got her soul,” Spike finished.
“Thou shall not kill, not kill, not kill. Hail Mary full of grace, though I walk through the valley, I shall know no hunger, drink this wine it is my blood.”
“We have to help her,” Buffy said softly.
“No, I have to help her,” Angel said. “I made her, this is my fault.”
“Not alone,” Spike said. “Buffy and I will help you.”
“We’re family,” Buffy finished. “We’ll always be here to help you…even when you go evil and try to destroy the world.”
“Thank you…and I’m-“
“You don’t need to say it, Angel,” Buffy said softly.
“Yeah, think there’s been too much apologizing ‘round here lately. Too much gloom,” Spike said.
“I say we all go out and celebrate because-hey-I’m on an unexpected vacation here,” Xander said.
Drusillia let out another scream.
“Or we could watch movies and order a pizza?” Xander suggested.
XXX
Epilogue
*six months later*
“We’re here,” Buffy announced as she and Spike walked into the library.
”Good, you can help with the table because Drusilla was setting it when a knife reminded her of some guy she killed and she started crying and praying and Angel had to take her into the guestroom,” Anya said as she handed Buffy a stack of plates.
“Well, hello to you too,” Buffy laughed.
“Yes, yes, hello. Now go set the table.”
Spike followed Buffy into the living room to help her set the table while Anya disappeared into the kitchen.
“Hey, I thought I heard you two come in,” Xander appeared in the living room. “Sorry, Anya’s been on a cooking marathon for the past two days. She’s really taking this dinner seriously.”
“Hey, I offered to have it at our place,” Buffy said.
“Yeah, but she suddenly got it in her head that family during the holidays is important. I give up trying to figure her out,” Xander shrugged.
“XANDER! The turkey will not cut right! Come make it slice according to the picture in the book!” Anya screamed from the kitchen. Xander grinned at them and slipped out.
Buffy met Spike’s eyes and stifled a giggle.
“Don’t know what you’re laughing at, pet. I’ve been in Xander’s shoes before,” Spike said, raising an eyebrow at her.
“I have never been like that,” Buffy insisted.
“Uh-huh, you keep thinking that, Slayer.” He pulled her into his arms and stole a kiss before she could protest.
“Hello Buffy, William.”
Buffy playfully pushed Spike away and turned to the doorway. “Hello Drusilla. How are you?”
“I am well, thank you. How are you?” Drusilla walked primly into the living room and placed her hands on the back of a chair.
“We’re good. How was your visit to the sanctuary?” Buffy asked.
“I enjoyed it very much. Angel and I spent much time walking through the woods and talking with the sisters there. I have begun my path toward redemption,” she said quietly.
“That’s good, pet. You’ll do great. I mean, you’ve got great teachers and all…me and Buffy,” Spike grinned as Angel walked into the room. “Oh, yeah and the Poof too.”
“Nice to see you, too,” Angel grinned.
“Oh, good the table’s set,” Anya said. “Everyone sit.”
Xander followed behind her carrying the turkey. “I have turkey goodness and for those non-turkey eaters, I have otter blood, er, goodness.”
The group sat down at the table.
“We’re supposed to be thankful, someone say something thankful,” Anya demanded.
“Anya, you can’t force people to say something thankful,” Xander started but a look from Anya’s face silenced him. “I mean, I’m thankful for my wife and my good friends…and that the world didn’t end from the scary ring.”
Drusilla started to cry again and Angel shot Xander a dirty look.
“I’m thankful,” Spike said quickly, “for my beautiful wife.” He leaned over and kissed Buffy softly, “and my wonderful friends who are my family.” He raised his glass. “To family.”
“To family,” Buffy echoed.
“To family,” Angel said, squeezing Drusilla’s hand.
“To family,” Drusilla said softly. “Family forever.”
____________________________________________________________________
Song Listing
“It’s all over but the crying” Artist: Garbage Album: Bleed like me
“Cold man’s nightmare” Artist: Cathy Davy Album: Something ilk
“Where soul meets body” Artist: Death Cab for Cutie Album: Plans
“The year of no light” Artist: Three Mile Pilot Album: Another desert, another sea
“Perfecting Loneliness” Artist: Jets To Brazil Album: Perfecting Loneliness
“Little Earthquakes” Artist: Tori Amos Album: Little Earthquakes
“Look out below” Artist: Auntie Christ Album: Life Could Be A Dream
“You’ve got so far to go” Artist: Alkaline Trio Album: Maybe I’ll Catch Fire
“Mad World” Artist: Tears for Fears Album: The Hurting
“Couldn’t Breathe” Artist: Lennon Album: 5:30 Saturday Morning
“The Lament of Pretty Baby” Artist: Cursive Album: Domestica
“Half Jack” Artist: The Dresden Dolls Album: The Dresden Dolls
“Suggestion” Artist: Fugazi Album: 13 songs
“Because You’re Young” Artist: Cock Sparrer Album: Guilty as Charged
“Hurt” Artist: Nine Inch Nails Album: The Downward Spiral
“Who would’ve thought” Artist: Rancid Album: Life Won’t Wait
“Your Eyes Open” Artist: Keane Album: Hopes and Fears
“When the Angels Sing” Artist: Social Distortion Album: White Light, White Heat, White Trash
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