Parts: 11 - 12
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~Part: 11~
Xander and Liz made their way through the department store, the arms loaded down with bags. Xander couldn’t believe he had actually had fun spending the whole day shopping. He usually loathed going to the mall when Willow and Dawn would drag him there, but Liz was a different story. Spike’s mother entertained him with stories of his mate’s life as a child in Victorian England.
“I still can’t believe I let you buy all of this,” Xander told the woman, who didn’t look much older than him. “You really didn’t have to.”
“I know I didn’t, Xander, but I wanted to,” she assured the brunet. “You’re my son’s mate. His chosen one. You’re the one that was willing to put aside what you learned about vampires so that you could see what was underneath and I’m sure my son didn’t make that easy.”
“You can say that again,” Xander laughed. “Spike tried to kill all of us more times than I can count. Hell, he had even kidnapped me and Willow once so he could get her to try a spell to get Dru back. It wasn’t pretty, but I was impressed by his devotion to her. Even after she left him for helping Buffy, choosing to be with a Chaos Demon instead, he wanted nothing more than to get her back in his life. At the time, I wished I would be able to find someone that loved me like that.”
“And now you have,” Liz told him. “Trust me when I say, whatever my son felt for Drusilla, it pales in comparison to what he feels for you. I can see it in your auras. In your souls. The two of you are true soul mates. It was why I could do that spell on you. It would never had worked if either of you had any doubts about your feelings for the other.”
“What would have happened if that was the case?”
“Nothing, sweetheart,” Liz assured him. “If one of you was unsure, the crystal I used for the spell would have stayed the same color instead of changing to the blue that it did.” Xander smiled as he thought about the beautiful deep blue crystal that now had a place of honor in his and Spike’s living room. Liz had used it as a power source for the spell that she had done to mark Xander as Spike’s official mate, insuring that the two men’s lives were intertwined. What she did meant that Xander would live as long as Spike and considering the spell also made Spike’s fae heritage of long life also take affect, that meant those lives would be very long indeed. In fact, the spell made it so that there was nothing that would permanently kill Spike, including stakes or sunlight. Xander couldn’t wait to see his lover in the daylight. The only thing that worried him would be the others’ reactions, especially Willow when she discovered that, unlike her, he would be able to be with his mate forever. Liz knew immediately what her son in law was thinking when she saw him suddenly frown.
“Xander, you shouldn’t worry about how your friends will react to this news,” the red head told him. “It is your life and, as much as I know you love them, you can’t live that life for them. And I have to be honest, if your friends can’t be happy about this, happy about the fact that you and Spike will have as close to forever as possible to be together, then how good of friends are they really?”
“That’s not fair,” Xander argued. “You don’t know anything about my friends. You don’t know what we’ve been through together. There isn’t anyone I would rather have at my side. They’re the best and we all love each other.”
“I’m sorry, son,” Liz apologized, “I didn’t mean to belittle your friendships. You’re wrong, I do know what your friends mean to you. I’ve read the reports that Mr. Giles has sent to the Watcher’s Council regarding your group of friends. If anything, I must admit to being slightly jealous about it. I’ve never been lucky enough to have the kind of friends that you do. My father never allowed it. It was a miracle that I even got a chance to know Liam and William’s father. My father only wanted me to associate myself with those of fae blood and many of them only wanted to be near me because of the power of my father.”
“Because they thought that he could do something for them if they were nice to you?” Xander asked, feeling sorry for the woman that had lost so much, only to find it later in life. “That’s fucked.”
“Yes, it is, but it is also a fact of life,” Liz told him. “It was something that I had to learn to live with, but that isn’t what’s important right now. What’s important to me is making sure my son and his chosen mate are happy. It’s something that I never thought I would get to see. I thought I lost that chance over a hundred years ago when I was told that William had been killed. I don’t want the worry of how your friends will react to that happiness make you afraid to show that. It’s something that shouldn’t be hidden. I don’t think you can hide it.”
“I know and you have no idea how happy I am that nothing can hurt Spike, especially because of what the Initiative did to him.” The couple had finally made it to the car that Liz had rented for her stay. They dumped the bags they were carrying into the trunk, adding them to the ones already there, but when Liz heard what Xander had to say, she turned to him sharply and he felt the need to back away from her when he saw the look on her face.
“What is the Initiative and what did they do to my son?” She asked darkly and Xander could sense the power that she held and was thankful that it wasn’t being aimed towards him.
Throughout their shopping trip, Liz and Xander had spoken about many things, but most of the conversation had been about Spike’s childhood and the relationship he had with Xander. Xander had only glossed over how Spike had joined their little band of white hats, as Spike liked to call the Scoobies. He hated thinking of what had happened to his lover, even though it had brought Spike and Xander together. Xander still shuddered when he thought about how close he had come to losing Spike before he had even gotten him. The night he and Willow had walked in on Spike trying to kill himself showed him how much he had fallen in love with the blond vampire. It convinced him that he had to, at least, tell the vampire how he felt even if it meant he was opening himself up to ridicule. It still surprised him when Spike had told him that he was willing to see what a relationship between the two men would be like. And they had been together ever since.
“Xander, please tell me, what happened to my son?” Xander looked over at the woman that had come to mean so much to him in so little time.
“I think that conversation is something that we should have back at the apartment,” he told her. “It’s something that I think we need to have we Spike present.”
Back at the apartment, Spike watched as the two most important people in his life carried in so many bags that the blond vampire began to wonder if they left anything in the stores for other people to buy. He had wanted to join them in their shopping journey but, because of his vampiric nature, he had been too tired. He hoped, now that he was able to go out in the sun, he would adjust to a more human sleep pattern. He was just glad that his lover and his mother had a chance to get to know each other.
“What did you do Mum, try and spend all of grandfather’s money in one day?” Liz set down the bags in her hands and went over to her son. She gave the blond vampire a kiss on his cheek, still reveling in being able to do that.
“Of course not,” she told him. “What I spent today wouldn’t even be enough to be noticed by the accountants, as you will soon find out.”
“What do you mean?”
“What I mean is that, now that I’ve found you, you’ll have access to what would have been your inheritance,” Liz explained. “You didn’t just inherit fae blood, my sweet William; you’ve inherited quite a bit of money.”
“Hey, Spike, does this mean you’re my sugar daddy now?” Xander joked, going over to his lover and mother in law. “You can support me in a lifestyle that I’d like to become accustomed too.”
“I’d support you in any lifestyle you’d like, luv,” the blond said, kissing his mate. Liz watched the two men, a loving smile on her face before she remembered what Xander had said about something happening to her son. She cleared her throat, hating to break them apart but needing to know more information.
“William, Xander mentioned something to me earlier but when I asked him about it, he thought it would be better if we waited until we got back here,” Liz told him. Spike looked between Liz and Xander, sensing the tension that had suddenly sprung up and was curious about it.
“Mum, Xan, what’s going on?”
“Spike, I mentioned the Initiative and, well, your mom wants to know about them. About what they did to you.” Spike broke away from his lover, walking over towards the kitchen, trying to get his emotions under control. While he was happy with his life, especially now that he had both his mother and his mate with him, the thoughts of what had happened to him while under Initiative control, bothered him. Even now, a year after it happened, the vampire still had an occasional nightmare about what had been done to him. Liz watched helplessly as Xander went over to her son and took him back into his arms. She couldn’t hear what the brunet was saying to the blond but did see that it was calming him somewhat. She cursed those that had conspired to take her son away from her, including her father whom she was sure knew what had happened to Spike. She knew her father had too much magickal power to not know that his grandson had been turned.
“William, you don’t have to tell me anything that you don’t want to,” she assured the vampire. “If you’re uncomfortable talking about it, you don’t have to.”
“No, Mum, you need to know what happened,” Spike told her. “It will help you understand why I act certain ways.”
“What do you mean?” Spike looked over at his mate, who smiled softly at him, squeezing the hand he held.
“I can’t hurt humans, Mum,” Spike stated simply. “If I even think about hurting one there’s a chip in my head that caused me pain.” When Liz heard that, Xander could have sworn that he had seen her eyes glow. He could see how powerful she was and was afraid of what she might do when she heard the full story.
“You will tell me now what has been done to my son,” Liz ordered, her voice broking no argument. Spike and Xander made their way to the couch, signaling Liz to join them. Liz calmed down a bit but they all had a feeling that it would only be a matter of time before her temper came out again.
“It happened about a year and a half ago,” Spike started. “I had come to Sunnydale to look for the Gem of Amara.”
“The ring that renders it wearer, if it’s a vampire, invulnerable?”
“That’s the one,” Spike answered. “The research I had done showed that its hiding place was somewhere in under Sunnydale so I decided to come here and find it. Unfortunately for me, before I found it, I was captured by a group of a military Slayer wannabes.”
“The Initiative?”
“Fucking assholes,” Xander swore, thinking of the men who had tortured his lover.
“Tell me about them,” Liz demanded. “What did they do to you?”
“I don’t remember most of it, at least not when I’m awake,” Spike explained. “There have been quite a few nights where I’ve been woken up by some nightmare about what happened.”
“William, I have always hated the way you never answer a question out right,” Liz said. “And that’s going to end now. What. Did. They. Do. To. You?”
“Drugged me. Did some experiments. I think a couple of them raped me, but as far as I know, I’ve blocked that bit out. And they put a chop in my head that makes it so I can’t hurt any human. I can’t even think about it. If I do, it sends an electrical shock to my brain that causes one hell of a headache. We’ve tried getting it out, or at least modifying it, but we haven’t been able to yet.”
“And this was the government that did this?” Spike and Xander both nodded their heads. “To what purpose?”
“According to Riley, the hope was that they could study demons,” Xander answered. “The military hoped that, with the chip, they would be able to figure out a way to use demons as their own personal army.”
“This Riley, he’s the one married to Faith, the current Slayer?” Again both men nodded. “How does he know about what the Initiative had planned?”
“He was a member of it,” Xander answered, suddenly unsure if it was a wise idea that he had mentioned Riley. He didn’t think that Liz would be as willing to forgive the former soldier for his part in what had happened to her son.
“And he’s still alive?” Liz growled.
“He’s changed, Mum,” Spike told her, knowing that if he didn’t calm his mother down, she would probably try to kill Riley. “Once he got to know Faith and the rest of the Scoobies, he saw that what the Initiative really was doing and he left. He even helped us go against them in the end. He’s even tried to get a doctor to remove the chip.”
“And the Initiative?”
“Destroyed as far as we know,” Xander assured her. “We took them out a year ago. We haven’t heard anything about them since.”
“That’s good. Then I won’t have to destroy them,” Liz said. “As for that chip in your head, while you might not have been able to find something to get rid of it, that was before I arrived.” Spike and Xander looked at each other and then turned to Liz, wondering what other surprises they would be in for now that Spike’s mother was in town.
~Part: 12~
Liz found herself wandering around Sunnydale later that evening. After having spent most of the day shopping with Xander, and then later talking to the two men and finding out what had happened to Spike, Liz had decided to give the two men some time alone. Spike had been through almost as many shocks as she herself had and she knew that her son needed to spend some quality time with his mate. She, herself, needed some time alone to try and center herself after everything she had discovered in the past two days.
Liz entered the playground area of the park that she was walking through, empty at that time of night, and went to sit on one of the swings. The fae witch looked up at the nearly full moon, basking in the light it provided. She had always loved the night time, even though she knew what dangers it held. Vampires and demons never bothered her; she knew how to take care of herself. Liz's head lifted as she heard someone coming from behind her. It only took her a moment before she realized who it was. Even after so many years, she could still sense his presence.
"Hello, Liam," she greeted the newcomer.
"Beth. You should know better than to be out at night all alone," Angel told her, joining her at the swing set. "You never know what you could run into."
"I see that," Liz grinned at her former beau. He had always had a way of making her smile, no matter what. It was one of the reasons she had fallen in love with him so long ago. "But the night is so beautiful, and the moon is gorgeous, there was no way I could not be outside. And, besides, I wanted to give William and Xander some time alone. They needed it, especially since they are newly mated."
"They've been mated for a while, Beth," Angel informed her. "As Spike's grandsire, I was one of the witnesses."
"They were mated the vampire way, maybe, but I'm referring to them being mated and recognized under fae law," Liz told him. "As is William's birthright."
"What does that mean? What birthright?" Liz smiled at Angel. `Ah, Liam, always so inquisitive.'
"What I mean is that since William is of fae blood, and even if he was turned"Liz explained, "that he has the right to bring his mate into the family and give them some of the benefits of that bloodline. Where as being a vampire's mate only means that Xander is marked as claimed so that other demons will recognize that, being mated in the fae tradition allows them more freedom."
"What kind of benefits? What kind of freedom?"
"Basically the ceremony I gave them initiated William's fae bloodline, a process that was interrupted by Drusilla turning him," Liz stated. "It renders William damn near invulnerable, and that includes stakes and sunlight. And the mating ritual bound Xander's lifeline to William's, making him just as invulnerable. And it also stops Xander from aging, so that they don't have worry about Xander dying of old age."
"Spike's invulnerable?" Liz nodded her head. "And Xander has stopped aging? He'll be alive as long as Spike?" Again Liz nodded her head. "Shit."
"Yeah that was pretty much their reactions when I told them I could bind them like that. Among other things."
"Willow?" Angel asked, hating the flinch that the red- head's name causes in Liz.
"Yes, Xander wondered if I could grant Willow and you the same kind of binding, allowing her that same kind of immortality," Liz said. "He was afraid of what her reaction would be when she found out about their binding."
"She'll be happy for him," Angel told her. "For both of them. Xander didn't have a great childhood and Willow is grateful that Spike makes him happy. That's all she wants for him."
"But she'll wish that I could do the same thing for the two of you?" Liz asked. "Maybe she'll even think that the reason I won't do it is because I want you for myself?"
"She would never accuse you of that," Angel defended his girlfriend.
"But that wouldn't mean she wouldn't be thinking it," Liz pointed out. Liz looked over at her former boyfriend and asked a question she wasn't sure she wanted the answer to. "Do you wish that I could do the spell for the two of you?"
"I can't lie to you, Beth," Angel said. "I can see spending the rest of my unlife bonded to Willow." Liz turned away from Angel, not able to face him without risking him seeing the hurt in her eyes, but he knew it was there all the same and he hated being the cause of it, but Angel also couldn't lie to her. "Willow completes me Beth, in a way I didn't think anyone could after I lost you. She's my soul mate."
"Tell me about her, Liam. Tell me about your Willow."
"She's the sweetest, most caring person I've met in a very long time," Angel told her, a smile on his face. "She was the first person to forgive me for what happened when I lost my soul. She helped make me human again from that Hell dimension. She made sure to include me in the group even when it was obvious that the others wanted nothing to do with me. I think that's when I started falling in love with her. She's the reason I left for LA and the reason I came back."
"And yet the two of you aren't lovers," Beth stated. "It's in the way you touched each other the other night. There's closeness between the two of you but it's not the intimacy that's usually seen between lovers."
"You always were the intuitive one, weren't you Beth?" Angel said. "But to answer your question, no Willow and I aren't lovers. We can't be because of the spell."
"What that stupid happiness clause?" Angel nodded his head causing Liz to laugh. "Liam, oh dear, sweet Liam, are you telling me that, knowing that you do now, that you can ever achieve true happiness? I mean, shit, if you didn't lose your soul when you came back from that hell dimension, somehow I don't think making love to Willow, even if it is satisfying, will do it."
"Beth, it's not like you to belittle a relationship," Angel chastised her. "And I certainly don't appreciate you doing so with my relationship with Willow. Don't presume you know what is between us when you know nothing about it other than what the Watcher's bothered telling you."
"And don't you presume to know what I am thinking and how I came to those conclusions, Angelus," Liz said, purposely using his vampiric name. "You know nothing about what my life has been like since I was taken away from you. And if you think I was belittling your relationship with Willow, then you either don't know me at all or you think entirely too highly of yourself." Angel looked down, feeling properly chastised. And the fact that Liz had called him Angelus cut him deeper than he had thought it would.
"Forgive me, Beth," Angel begged. "I didn't mean to insult you and if I have, I'm sorry."
"Liam I did not mean to belittle your feelings for Willow," Liz told him.
"Then what did you mean? Why do you think I wouldn't lose my soul if I slept with Willow? I did when I had sex with Buffy."
"Please do not remind me of that," Liz said. "I still can't believe you had so little taste in thinking you loved that girl. Just from what little I have seen and heard, she is entirely too selfish and shallow for the Liam that I remember. Then again, you aren't my Liam, anymore, are you?"
"No." Liz nodded her head in agreement. It pained her to think of what she had lost because of her father and she wished, not for the first time, that she hadn't been cursed with such a long life.
"As for why I think that you lost your soul when you slept with Buffy, I'm only guessing here, but I have a feeling part of your happiness was because by being with Buffy, it allowed you to forget your past, if only for a minute," Liz explained. "In her arms, you were no longer a vampire; instead you were only a man. And, here's the key thing, you didn't know about that clause. Now, even when you're with your young Willow, that clause will always be in the back of your mind. Just your knowledge of it will prevent you achieving that perfect moment. But again, I still think it's a moot point because if you're returning to the land of the unloving didn't give you that moment of perfect happiness, I don't know what will."
Angel thought about what Liz was telling him and he could see her point. He would never be able to forget that just one moment of pure happiness could mean him losing his soul again. Even when he and Willow are lost in each other, that is still there between them. And he also thought that Liz had a point about him returning from hell. He couldn't think of anything, including being with Willow, that had made him as happy as that. The only thing Angel was sure of was that he wanted to be with Willow in any way that he could. He wanted to make her as happy as she had made him.
"She's a lovely girl, Liam," Liz broke into his thoughts. "You've chosen well."
"Thank you," Angel said, glad that his old love approved of his new one. He knew how much it had taken for Liz to say what she had. "And I know that, if you could, you would be willing to give us what you have given to Spike and Xander." Liz didn't say anything but he could see her answer in her eyes. He knew that, even though it would have hurt, she would have granted him the same kind of happiness his grandchilde now had. And Angel was happy. The only thing he wished was that Liz could find the kind of happiness that he had.
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