AUTHOR: Tisienne Blue
E-MAIL: tisatko@msn.com
DISCLAIMER: All characters belong to their respective producers/ studios/ creators, except for Serena, who is totally mine.
RATING: Very R.
NOTES: This is an X-over btwn. Buffy, Angel, Highlander,
and Pretender. In my world, the totally suck-ass season 5 of
Highlander never happened. This fic is for Natty's
b-day, cuz she just rocks!!!*G*
PAIRINGS: W/A; Ser/Jarod...
DISTRIBUTION: Charity gets whatever she wants (all
hail the mighty Fic-goddess!!); if you're a list archive or someone I've
said
yes to before, you're good to go, as well. Otherwise,
just ask.
FEEDBACK: please... it gets you a dedi!!!
DEDICATIONS: for Nat, of course, and for Noreen,
Mitch, and Alana... thanks for the feedback, luvs...*G* Also for the CO,
and
especially Mystra for letting me run this by her...
You're the best, girlie!!!*VBEG*
&*&*&*&*&*&*&*&*&*&*&*&*&*&*&*&*&*&*&*&*&*&*&*&*&*&*&*&*
"OK, Adam," the redheaded witch said impatiently
as she sat down in her usual chair, "What's so important that you had to
see
me right NOW?"
The oldest immortal swallowed hard at the look
she was giving him, and ignored the amusement in Jarod and MacLeod's faces.
"Look, Willow," he said placatingly, "I wouldn't
have... interrupted you if I thought I had a choice, but... it's starting."
Willow sighed and closed her eyes for a moment
as her mind ran through quick stages of denials and 'why me'-s, and when
she
finally opened her eyes again, a few moments later,
it was with an air of resignation. "All right, it's started. I get that.
But what
about the companions? We still don't..." She stopped
herself as Serena and Methos both began shaking their heads. "OK," she
continued, her eyes slightly wild, "We DO... so
who are they?"
Serena sighed when Adam remained silent, and grasped
Jarod's hand even tighter in her own. "Jarod," she said tightly, "And
Spike." She sighed again at the look on the girl's
face, and tried to explain. "Jarod is 'the one of masks', or facades as
Adam put
it. It's a long story, but... trust me, it's him."
The small-ish redhead nodded slightly, believing
the sorrow in the older woman's eyes more than she believed the words.
"And
Spike? How does he fit in to this?"
The blond vampire sat forward in his chair, wanting
to hear the answer himself. He hated it that he had no idea of what was
going on, but when he'd asked, he'd been told
to 'wait for Willow'. He had a sneaking suspicion that there was some sort
of
prophecy involved, and he vowed to himself that
if he lived through this one, he'd keep in touch with the little witch
by phone...
after all, she seemed to be some sort of a prophecy
magnet. "Yeah," he added, eyes narrowed, "How DO I fit in to this... and
what's the 'this' we're fitting me into?"
Serena stayed silent then, and stared intently at Methos. Finally, she relaxed, when he slowly nodded.
"Well," the oldest immortal began, "There was this
legend, back before even MY time, and..." He watched the blond's eyes as
he
began to tell him everything he knew, smiling
slightly as the vampire seemed to shrink farther and farther back into
his chair.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ 30 minutes later ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
"So wait!" Spike said seriously, "You're telling
me that this 'legend' of yours is coming to pass... here... now. And I'm
a part of
it?!" He shook his head. "How can that be? I mean,
Jarod here being one of the companions, OK, but... ME?" He shook his head
again as he stood and began pacing quickly around
the room. "I don't FIT! It doesn't say anything about a vampire,
devastatingly handsome or otherwise!" He stopped
then, and smiled slightly in relief. "It's GOT to be someone else... it's
GOT to!"
Serena stood, herself, then, and approached the
blond who had been her brother in what was really another life. "It's you,
Spike. And you DO fit! Think about it! You WERE
lost-- to me and Mother-- when you became what you are. You WERE
abandoned, when Angelus became souled and left
you. And you DO want to be found!" She reached out swiftly and grasped
his
face between her hands, ignoring his growl as
she kept her eyes locked on his. "That's all you EVER wanted, even when
you
were HUMAN! You wanted to be found, and not found
wanting! Your entire existence has been spent pursuing that one goal...
To be FOUND... to belong..." She nodded slightly
at the knowledge in his eyes. "Well, now you DO. You belong here, helping
Willow and Jarod fight this thing, this... what's
it called again?" she directed the last to the oldest immortal, and nodded
again at
his answer, "Sauverna. It's YOU, Spike. That's
why you're here in Paris, instead of lounging around California."
The worst part for him was that he knew she was
right, and he actually wanted to help. If some old God was wandering around
creating mayhem and misery for the humans around
it, he should be ecstatic-- he was a vampire, after all-- but for some
reason, he really wanted to stop it. Maybe it
was because Red was involved, or maybe it was seeing his Sire again, but...
he
couldn't turn his back on this; he just COULDN'T.
"Whatever," he finally said, shaking Serena's hands from him. He stepped
around her and went back to his seat, glancing
at Willow for just a moment. "I'm going to help," he announced, glaring
around
the group in the living room, "But only because
I want to protect Red. The rest of this city can go hang for all I care!"
Willow rolled her eyes at the vampire's statement.
"Fine," she said, sounding annoyed, "But I don't know that this is something
you can protect me from, Spike... I think it has
to play itself out in whatever way is intended, and that seems to involve
me
facing it, one on one..."
The blond stared at the girl, almost angrily. "Yeah,
well, in case you weren't listening, pet, the legend says IF we succeed,
not
WHEN, so I think that allows me a little latitude
in how I interpret it, little girl!"
"All right, people!" Jarod shouted, stopping them
before their little disagreement got out of hand, "You're both anxious;
so am I,
but that's no reason to attack each other!" He
watched as the red-faced witch nodded and sat back in her chair, and turned
his
attention to the vampire. "It's a common reaction
to stress," he explained, "But as healthy as it can be to vent, this really
isn't
the time." He waited for the blond to nod, and
leaned back when he finally did. "What we need to be doing now is figuring
out
when and where we're gonna meet this thing...
and what we're gonna do when we DO go to it." He took Serena's hand again
when she sat beside him once more, and smiled
slightly into her worried eyes. "Whatever happens, Ser, I..."
"Shhh..." the redheaded immortal replied softly, "I know, J... forever."
He nodded slowly, and sighed. "Forever..." he echoed her before they both turned their attentions back to the matter at hand.
Spike watched the man with his sister, and came
to a rather unhappy conclusion. He'd have to protect Willow, yes, but...
he'd
watch after the human, too... He was a good sort,
and... he obviously loved Serena, maybe even as much as she loved him.
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
Angel sighed unhappily as he listened to the group
outside his room saying their goodbyes... He hadn't wanted to tell Willow
earlier, but he'd never had a problem hearing
everything that went on in the living room-- while he was awake, anyway.
He'd
heard the conversation she'd had with Amanda and
Serena, and the one just now with almost the entire group, and... he was
worried. He was afraid for her... afraid for himself,
too.
He'd known, almost from the beginning, that he'd
have to let her go someday, but he'd assumed that it would be because she
wanted something a bit more... *normal* than a
relationship with a vampire... Obviously, he'd been wrong, because as much
as
he hated it, it appeared that she was going to
leave him much sooner than he'd expected. Not for a new love; not for a
life filled
with sunny days and children, but... to fulfill
some sort of a *legend*... to play her part in saving the world.
He wanted to curse the Powers for twisting her
life the way they had. They'd shown her a prophecy that made her leave
her
home and friends; she'd done what was necessary
to prevent its coming to pass; and now... now that she was virtually alone
in
the world, except for him and her new 'friends'...
they threw *this* at her! She was going to have to face a *God*! And odds
were-- she wouldn't be coming back to their apartment
after she left to do what she'd agreed to do.
He closed his eyes tightly, willing his sorrow
away, as he heard her knock softly at his door. "Come in, Willow," he called
out,
swallowing hard. He opened his eyes as she closed
the door behind her, and he smiled a bit. "You don't have to knock, you
know," he said gently, his arm wrapping tightly
around her small waist as she lay down beside him, "You're *always* welcome
here."
Willow smiled softly, her arm resting lightly across
his ribs. "Well, I thought you might be sleeping," she explained, giving
him a
gentle squeeze, "And I didn't want to disturb
you..."
Angel chuckled slightly, and turned to face her.
"You could never disturb me, love," he answered her, before pressing a
chaste
kiss to her lips, "And... I couldn't have slept
anyway, considering what you were talking about out there..."
The redhead's eyebrows drew together for a moment
before she admitted to herself that he'd said what she *thought* he had,
and she exhaled quietly. "So, you know, then..."
She burrowed her head into the crook of his neck when he nodded.
"I know." he replied softly, "And I think you know
that I don't like it, but... It's what you have to do, so I won't interfere,
just...
Promise me something, Will?"
She pulled back slightly, and stared into his deep, coffee-coloured eyes. "If I can..."
Angel smiled, realizing that he wasn't going to
get her to promise to just stay home and let someone else handle this Sauverna.
"Just... be careful?"
"I'll be as careful as I can, Angel," she murmured,
her hand sliding up his body to rest on his cheek. "I'll do everything
I can to
come ba..."
"No," he said suddenly, cutting her off, "Don't
say it. If you say it, then I'll have to think about the alternative, and...
I can't do
that." His hand rose to cover hers, and he pressed
her warm palm harder against his face. "Just be careful, and... I'll see
you
when it's over." And he *would*, he promised himself,
even if it meant watching a glorious sunrise burst over the horizon...
there would be no point without her, he knew;
not now that he'd finally found her. "I just wish..." he started before
shaking his
head and lapsing into silence.
She smiled wistfully at him, her heart almost breaking
at the look of anguish in his eyes. "I know..." she said softly, her voice
showing her sincerity, "I do too. I wish this
wasn't happening; that we had more time... that there was someone other
than me
who could do this... that you hadn't been wounded;
that you could come with me, but..." She shook her head slowly, still smiling
her sad little smile. "I wish so many things,
Angel, but mostly... Mostly, I wish that those damned gypsies hadn't...
well, you
know."
Angel nodded slowly. "Me too, love... me too..."
He sighed then, and pulled her tightly against him, ignoring the screaming
pain
from his punctured muscles. His eyes closed again
as she breathed against his cool skin. He would follow her into hell, if
that's
what it took, but he wouldn't ever be separated
from her again... not for anything; not in this lifetime. He just had to
figure out
how he could help it.
He sighed again, in annoyance this time, when there
came another knock at his door, this one much more attitude-laden. "What
is it, Spike?" he growled, trying not to smile
when the redhead in his arms giggled against him.
The blond poked his head around the edge of the
door, and groaned loudly before pulling it back. "Gah... Get your incredibly
over-sized paws off of Red, Peaches... the girl
can't *possibly* be enjoying it... Besides, not something I really want
to see..."
He smirked to himself as he heard the sounds of
the giggling redhead getting up from the bed, his smirk growing wider at
the
slight growl he heard coming from his Sire. He
wiped the amusement from his face, however, as he pushed the door fully
open
and stepped in to Angel's bedroom. "We need to
talk," he informed the glaring vampire, "Privately." His gaze shifted to
Willow's,
and he nodded tightly at the promise her eyes
were demanding. He wouldn't hurt the great poof... this time. "Maybe Red,
here,
can get us something to eat?"
Willow looked back to the dark-haired vampire in
the bed, the question clearly visible in her eyes, and nodded slowly when
his
glance answered her 'Yes'. "Fine, Spike," she
said, sounding weary, "But don't be too long about it; he's still healing,
you know!"
He gazed consideringly at his Sire for a moment. "Yeah, Red. I'll make it *real* quick."
The redhead almost laughed out loud at his insincerity,
but swallowed the sound, a strangled strangled snort escaping her, none
the less. She walked to the door, blowing a quick
kiss to her vampire, and stepped through, closing it behind her. She wasn't
entirely sure of what Spike wanted to say to Angel,
but... she hoped that whatever it was would help heal the breach between
them. After all, if they couldn't work it out
now, there might not be another chance.
She sat down on the couch and closed her eyes for
just a moment, the moment turning into two, then three, then many more,
as she slipped into an almost peaceful doze, twitching
slightly only when she felt the God reaching out to her.
"OK, Spike," Angel said when Willow shut the door,
"What is it that you want to say?" He thought he had a pretty good idea
of
what had brought his childe to his bedroom, but
there was always the chance that he was wrong. That chance quickly
disappeared as the blond began to speak.
"It's more what do I want *you* to say." Spike
announced, glaring at the older man. "Why didn't you ever tell me what
you did
to my sister! And what in the *hell* are you doing
with Red!" He continued to glare at his silent Sire, his anger building
until he
was pacing the small room furiously. "Well?" he
demanded, fists clenched at his sides.
Angel groaned again; the guilt over his treatment
of Serena over a hundred years earlier was so strong, it was almost a physical
pain. "Sit down, Spike," he finally said, slowly
moving onto his back and sitting up, "And I'll... I'll tell you everything..."
End-- pt 16