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?”
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