AUTHOR: Tisienne Blue

E-MAIL: tisatko@msn.com

DISCLAIMER: all characters belong to their respective studios/producers/creators-- except Serena, cuz she's mine.

RATING: This part actually DESERVES that hard R, so... be warned.

NOTES: This is a Buffy/Angel/Highlander/Pretender X-over, and it's Nat's b-day present from me. In my world, the totally suck fifth season of Highlander never happened. I THINK there's only gonna be one more part after this one, so...*giggle* (I warned you Nat!!! I can't write short fics... or not often, and not well...*BG*) Also, there is some minor hinting at a possible m/m pairing here, so... but nothing much, really.

PAIRINGS: W/A; Ser/Jarod...

DISTRIBUTION: Charity can have it for Bite Me... Please? (of course!!!*G*); anyone I've said yes to for anything else is also of the good in taking this... um, list archives, too. Otherwise, ask, cuz... I'm easy like that.

FEEDBACK: is good.

DEDICATIONS: to Nat, of course, cuz it's HER b-day giftie... also, for Myst, Kat, Di, Ali, Michelle, Mitch, and Darla-- thanks for the feedback!!!

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He groaned as he slowly sat up, his head pounding worse than it ever had-- even after one of his week-long drinking binges-- and he wondered, for a moment, just where he was. He tried cracking his eyes, just a bit, and winced at the slight glow coming from beyond the horizon. It should have bothered him, he knew, but... for some reason, he didn't know why. Or not right away, anyway. His barely opened eyes flicked quickly to the side of a building almost twenty feet away at the sound of an answering groan coming from that direction, and he eyes squeezed shut as he saw Jarod struggling to his feet-- and the rest of it came back to him. He was a vampire; that's why the rising sun should have had him in a panic, and it would have, if he hadn't been suddenly more concerned with the small redhead laying motionless a few feet away. "Red?" he said quietly, the sound of his own voice making his head throb with anguish, and "Red!" again, a bit louder-- despite the pain-- when she didn't even move. "Oh, Red..." he moaned, crawling to her side and taking one small, limp hand in his, "Willow..."

Jarod had been awake for a while, but he really hadn't been able to move at first. He had a distinct recollection of dying, but... he ran his fingers, gingerly, over his own head, sighing in confusion when he found none of the damage he remembered receiving, and he turned his head slightly, eyes fastened on the large streak of dried blood that ran down the side of the building just behind him. There was just no way that he was alive, and he KNEW it, unless... He groaned out loud, and forced himself to stand. He and his woman were going to have a little talk, but first... He stared for a moment at the somewhat frantic vampire and the very still form of the little witch, and he sighed as he approached them. "Is it..." he said softly, "I mean, how is she?" He crouched down beside the girl, pressing his fingers gently to the pulse in her neck, sighing after a moment.

The blond glared at the new immortal. "What? What IS it?" He growled when the other man didn't answer quickly enough for him, and reached out, grabbing Jarod by the throat. "Look, mate," he ground out, his eyes flashing golden in the barely pink-tinged light, "I don't care if you ARE my sister's... whatever it is you are, but... Red's my friend," he shook the man a bit, his worry translating into anger, "AND she belongs to my Sire, so you're damned well gonna TALK! Now, What. Is. Wrong. With. Willow!" he demanded, emphasizing each clipped word with a small shake before letting the man go and concentrating once more on the unnaturally still girl.

Jarod rubbed at his throat for a moment, smiling slightly when the pain quickly faded. He could get used to healing this quickly, which-- he reminded himself-- was a good thing, since he really didn't have a choice. "I don't know," he said quickly, when the blond looked as if he would lunge at him again. "I mean, I WAS a doctor, but... I never had to deal with this kind of thing, so..." he sighed, "Anything I say is going to be pure conjecture, but..."

"Out with it, mate!" Spike demanded, ignoring, for the moment, the brightening of the sky.

"All right," Jarod finally said, feeling for the girl's pulse again, "As far as I can TELL... She's alive, but," he shook his head in confusion. "She's not as warm as she should be, and her heart-rate? MUCH lower than normal. I don't know what it MEANS, but... I don't see any reason why she shouldn't be fine, eventually..." He shrugged, meeting the vampires slightly more relaxed gaze. "Maybe it's a side-effect of what happened here, and... Spike?" he said curiously, "What DID happen here?"

The vampire looked back down at the peaceful face of the little redhead. "I wish I could tell ya, mate.. I really wish I could..." He could feel his own body temperature rising slightly as the sun began to creep over the horizon, and he stood, lifting the girl in his arms. "I need to get her home. The poof'll be wondering what's taking so long."

Jarod followed the blond to the car. Angel WOULD be worried, he knew... and so would Serena. "Right," he said, climbing in behind the wheel, "Keep an eye on her-- let me know if anything changes." He turned the key that was still in the ignition, and pulled away from the curb once the engine caught, driving like the race-car driver he'd once been... after all, he didn't want Serena's brother going up in flames.

"Uh..." Spike said, a few minutes later, "You know what you said about letting you know about any changes?"

"Yeah..." the new immortal said tightly, negotiating a tricky turn.

"Well, something's CHANGED." he said quietly, his tone almost awe-struck. "She's gone, Jarod."

The former Pretender slammed on the brakes. "She's DEAD?" he demanded, looking back over the seat at the stunned vampire.

"No..." the blond said, gesturing to his empty lap, "She's just... gone. One minute she was here, barely breathing, and the next... Her eyes opened wide, and..." He trailed off, feeling just as poleaxed as the other man looked.

Jarod spent a good minute or so trying to process what he'd just heard, but... the sun was still rising, and he had a feeling that it was going to take MUCH longer than he had-- at that particular moment-- to figure it all out. "OK... then she's probably fine. But you WON'T be if we don't get you inside..." He eased off the brake pedal and pressed the gas once more, driving a bit more slowly this time-- just in case Willow decided to come back from wherever it was she'd-- literally-- disappeared to.

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

He looked sadly out the window once again, watching as the sun slowly stole over the horizon, and... it was over. It wasn't fair, he thought, that they'd never really had a chance, but... the world wasn't a fair place; never really HAD been, and he should have known that. He almost wished that he could regret loving her the way he did; almost wanted to never have known the emptiness he was feeling, but... he couldn't.

He sighed deeply and turned away from the window, speaking, finally, to the two immortals who still watched him from their separate chairs. "You can leave, now..." he said, nodding towards the door. "It's not like they're coming back, so... good-bye."

He could hear them trying to say something, but whatever it was, he just couldn't process it. He'd made his decision, and... he'd see it through. He'd been right, when he'd told Buffy that he was weak. He WAS weak, then... but now? Now, he was going to have to be stronger than he'd ever known he could be. He was going to wait until the sun was fully up-- regardless of how much he wanted to end it right then-- and when it was time, he's step in to that bright glow like he was stepping into the arms of a lover, and... maybe he'd find her there. Maybe he'd done enough to deserve that kind of happiness, but... he doubted it. It didn't mater, though, because there was just no way he could go on fighting on the behalf of the Powers that had sent her off to die. "Go." he instructed them, his eyes glued to the rapidly brightening window shade.

The two immortals sighed, glancing at each other. They couldn't help him, and they knew it, but... It was a shame. Still, he was a grown man-- vampire-- and neither of them had the right to deny him an ending, so... They turned, sadly, and went to the door, turning back for one last look at the stoic and shattered creature. What they saw, however, put smiles on both their faces, and they stepped out into the hallway, closing the door quietly behind them.

"How did she...?" the redhead began, only to stop when Adam shook his head.

"No idea," the oldest immortal told her, his eyes gleaming. "But, somehow... she did, and... if SHE'S alive, then..." He laughed out loud when she bolted down the stairs, then followed her much more slowly. She'd be waiting out front, he knew, when her lover and her brother arrived.

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

She remembered feeling the thin, invisible fingers of the God reaching deep into her soul. She remembered the pain, and the anguish at knowing that she would die without ever telling the one she loved just how deeply he WAS loved... She remembered-- clearly-- falling to the cold, hard ground, and... she remembered floating, almost weightlessly, in a thick cloud of hazy purple. The voices had called out to her, and after a while, she had answered, only to find that they kept asking the same question the God had asked repeatedly. What DID she want? She wondered, with a clarity she'd never known before, and something told her to be very careful of her answer.

"I want..." she finally said into the mist, "I want him to be HAPPY... without having to worry about his SOUL. I want the world to be a place where no-one has to feel the way WE felt-- wanting, needing, loving, even, and... having no hope, NO chance at all! I WANT," she cried, warming to her subject, "To be able to keep that sort of thing from happening again... I want those Gypsies to understand the difference between justice and vengeance! I want to wake up, and look around me, and see HIM!" She slowed her hurried speech, and thought a bit more. "I want to understand what my new friends are, and to be able to help them when they let me. I want MY vampires to know the joys of sunlight without fear! I want to be able to hold my Angel in my arms, and never let him go, and..." She sighed, her brief tirade almost at an end. "I want to not be dead." She glared around her, still seeing nothing in the heavy purple fog. "How's THAT for a wish-list?" she asked bitterly, her eyes closing in sorrow for just a moment before flying open again in disbelief at what the voices said next.

She did what they told her to, of course, because if there was one thing she'd NEVER been, it was stupid, but... a large part of her didn't believe, not even when she felt the changes starting within her. "Wha... what have I done?" she whimpered softly, not expecting an answer. But she got one, and she listened intently as the last voice spoke to her at length. "Thank you..." she said, finally understanding, "I won't abuse your trust..."

She smiled slightly, and felt down along her brand new link to the vampire she adored, her heart almost stopping when she felt his despair. "No..." she said silently, her eyes opening for a moment to see Spike's surprised expression before she shut them again quickly and focused on her Angel, and... she was there.

She stared for a moment at his strong back, her heart beating a bit more quickly as she stepped forward and ran the slender fingers of one hand over his spine. "Angel..." she almost whispered, smiling when he spun towards her, "MY Angel..."

He was fairly certain that it was just wishful thinking on his part when his nostrils were filled with her scent, and when he felt her small hand on his back, he was sure of it, but... he turned around, and she was actually there! "W...Will?" he said tentatively, his own disbelief freezing him in place, "Willow? Are you..." he stopped, eyes wide, when she stepped in to him, her arms wrapping tightly around his neck.

"I'm real, Angel; I'm here..." she said softly, her warm breath hitting his neck. She smiled when he shivered at the sensation, and she pulled his mouth down to meet hers. "My love..." she murmured against his cool lips.

If he WAS dreaming, he didn't want to wake up, he told himself as his arms closed longingly around her slight form, crushing her against him as his tongue delved deep into her warm mouth. He didn't want to wake up, and he'd KILL anyone who made him. Because... he'd thought she was dead, but she was right there, in his arms, and she was warm, and her heart was beating, and she was... kissing him, and God! Her hands were in his hair, her fingers tangled in the short brown strands, and... she was moaning deep into his mouth. "God... God, Will..." he moaned, his hands sliding down her back, rubbing against her spine.

She smiled against him, and jumped up, trusting him to catch her as her legs locked around his solid waist. "MY Angel..." she murmured softly, before attaching her lips to his once again.

He could have sworn that he was dying again, but... damn, he felt so ALIVE! His hands slipped under the firm globes of her ass, holding her tightly to him. "Will..." he moaned again, when her legs tightened around him, "Will, we can't..."

"Shhh..." she murmured softly against his cool lips, "We CAN, my love... trust me on this." She flexed her calves, pulling him more tightly against her, and groaned happily when he nodded. "Take me to bed, Angel..." she whispered, moving her lips to his neck while he carried her quickly to his bedroom.

He was entirely caught up in the sensations of her... the way she was touching him, her lips on his skin... and he wanted so much more, but... "Are you sure.." he managed to force out, before groaning loudly as she released her legs from around him and slid them slowly to the floor. He closed his eyes when her hands slipped under his sweater, and groaned again as she slid it up his chest. He lifted his arms, letting her pull it from his now-aching form, and gasped when her lips fastened on to one pale, hard nipple. "Oh, God!" he almost screamed, his finger clenching in her hair as he held her to him, "Will..."

She smiled hungrily against his cool flesh, her own fingers busily unbuttoning her shirt, then reaching back to unfasten her bra. Her tongue traveled quickly over his chest as she slipped both garments from her shoulders, and she pressed herself hard against him, her hands sliding around his waist to rest firmly on his tense ass.

He was breathing hard, and he knew it, but... his head fell forward, resting on top of hers as she continued to explore his torso. Then she was firmly against him, and his eyes flew wide, feeling the hard little nubs of her tight nipples, naked against his skin. He felt her hands, rhythmically pressing against his ass, and he almost sighed for pure joy, but... "Wha... Willow... what...?"

She sighed, almost annoyed, and gazed up into his hot eyes. "Angel..." she murmured softly, her hands moving more firmly on him, "We can talk about this now, or later, and personally?" She returned her lips to the pale nub of flesh she been worrying at just a moment earlier, smiling when he groaned, "I'm hoping for LATER..." She moved one hand around to the front of his pants, trailing her fingers lightly over the straining evidence of his arousal. "How 'bout YOU?" she purred before fastening her blunt teeth to his chest once again.

He groaned again, almost silently this time, and deliberately pushed all thoughts of stopping her from his mind, mostly because he really didn't WANT to, but also because he wasn't sure that he COULD stop her, even if he DID, and... He didn't care anymore. Whatever happened, he was going to see this through, and if that meant that the demon got free again? Well, so be it. He pulled his hands from her hair, running them slowly down her back, his eyes wide as she continued to stroke him through his trousers. Her lips on his skin; her hands... touching him, almost naked; her small, pert breasts brushing against his cool flesh... it was almost too much to bear, and... his hands slid to the waistband of her pants, his fingers working shakily at the button and zipper while hers did the same to his. "Willow..." he breathed, his eyes closing for a moment, when she slid the cotton down over his hips.

She gently worked his slacks down his body, smiling up at him in lustful amusement as she did. "No underwear, my Angel?" she purred silkily, as his pants fell in a pool around his ankles, "That's good..." She gasped slightly when his hands slipped her jeans to the floor as well, and she smiled, trembling, at the look in his eyes.

He stared for a moment at her pure, white skin, his eyes roaming her body intently. "You either..." he said, wincing slightly at the huskiness of his own voice, "The underwear, I mean..." He didn't know if she would have said something in response, because that was when he'd had enough. "Shhh..." he whispered into her small, pink ear, his arms wrapping tightly around her shaking torso, "You're right, Willow... we'll talk... later..." and he pulled her even harder against him as he drove into her mouth with his searching tongue.

He was making her crazy, she decided. He was making her crazy, and she couldn't get enough of him. "Angel..." she groaned, pulling away from his mouth, "Angel... please...!" She wrapped her arms tightly around his slightly bent neck, and pulled herself up his body, until she was once again being supported purely by him, her legs wrapped around his naked waist. She could feel the tip of his rampant maleness brushing against her, and she moaned deeply before relaxing her legs slightly and sliding down onto him, her cry of ecstasy drowned out by his equally ecstatic growl.

Oh, God, oh, God, he chanted internally, Hold on, hold on... But he was... inside her. He was holding her up, and she was... on him, surrounding him, and... He forced himself to stay still within her, and moved the few feet to the bed, slowly lowering them both to the mattress. His hands slid from her back and came to rest on either side of her shoulders, and he gazed deep into her eyes as he pulled back and then stroked deep inside her, his eyes rolling back at just the feel of her around him. "Oh... God..." he moaned out.

She couldn't believe the way he was making her feel. Oh, sure, she'd known that he'd be... amazing, but even with as close as they'd come to doing this before, she hadn't known just how... perfect he'd be. But he was, and... he was HERS. "Angel!" she almost screamed, when his movements started to come faster and harder, "Oh, Gods!" She gazed up into his eyes, excited even more by the love she could see behind the lust and need. "My Angel... please...!" She raked her short nails down his back, her eyes gleaming in triumph when the slight pain brought his demon to the fore. "Angel!" she cried again, rolling her head to the side as she repeated her action.

She wanted him! He almost didn't believe it, but she wanted him, even when he was wearing his true face, and... she wanted him to taste her. She'd deliberately drawn blood from him, and now... now she was arching her neck to him in clear invitation, and... he moved even faster, delighting in her soft, almost grunting whimpers as he acceded to her demand, his lips nuzzling her skin roughly before he smoothly slipped his fangs into her warm, sweet-smelling flesh, and... The taste of her burst over him, and he moaned, deep and hard against her, as he fell over the edge of his release.

"Oh... Gods..." she almost whispered, as his sharp teeth pierced her delicate skin. She hadn't expected it to be so much better than the last time he'd drank directly from her, but... it WAS... It was... amazing; fantastic; beautiful, and... almost unbearable in its intensity, and as she felt him arching against her, his harsh groan of fulfillment muffled by her skin, she followed him-- first flying, then falling back to earth-- her arms wrapping tightly around him when he would have pulled away.

He was speechless, but somehow, with her small, tight body resting easily beneath his much larger one, and her hands hard against his back while he licked slowly at the rapidly healing wound in her throat, he couldn't seem to care. The only words he needed to say had just been expressed in an entirely different manner, and... they had time. He could tell, somehow, that he wasn't going anywhere; that there would be no breaking free for the demon that lived inside him, and while he didn't know how she'd managed it, he was glad. He licked again at the fully healed mark on her neck, his brow furrowing as he found his voice. "Will...?"

She smiled softly and turned her head to meet his eyes. "It's all right, my Angel..." She kissed his lips softly, pulling back when he would have explored her mouth more. "Some things have changed, but others haven't, and..." She slipped one hand from his back and brought it around, cupping his cheek as she stared deep into his eyes. "I still love you, Angel; I'm still ME... and I STILL want an eternity with you..."

If his heart had been beating, it would have stopped for joy at her words, and he smiled happily, his human features hiding his true face once again. "Say it again, Will..." he sighed, his heart in his eyes, "Say it again..."

The redhead smiled shakily, her legs tightening around his hips. "I love you, Angel... MY Angel..." She frowned slightly then, her fingers trailing through the mostly-dried blood on his back. "You... you are MY Angel... aren't you?" she said, in a small voice.

"Yours, my love," he murmured against her lips, as his once again ready body began to move within her, "Always yours..."

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

Spike really didn't know what was happening, but... when he and Jarod had finally reached the apartment building, it had been fully light out. He'd braced himself for the pain, though, and had flung the car door open, dashing towards the awning over the building's door. Unfortunately, he'd been in such a hurry that he hadn't noticed the rather large rock in his path, and he flown to the ground, right in the bright sunshine when he'd tripped over it. He also hadn't noticed Serena and Methos sitting anxiously in the shade, but when the both of them had flung themselves onto him in an effort to block the sun, he DID! "Oof!" he cried, "Get the hell OFF of me, you great bloody twits!" He struggled then, forgetting about the sun, when they tried to wrestle him out of the light, finally succeeding in getting them to leave him be. "I swear! You'd think a bloke couldn't manage to WALK on his own!" he muttered, as he stood up and brushed himself off. It was only then, as he watched his hand moving over the black denim covering his thigh that he realized it, and... he extended that same hand in front of him, turning it this way and that in the morning's glow.

Methos watched, amazed, as the vampire didn't burst into flames, and he turned to say something to his former student, but... once she'd seen that her brother wasn't on fire, she'd caught sight of the latest immortal to be added to their ranks, and at the moment? Well, she was apparently seeing if she could kill him from lack of oxygen... not that Jarod seemed to be objecting much; in fact, he seemed to be helping her with the experiment! He looked again at the still fascinated-- yet bewildered-- expression on the vampire's face, and chuckled. "So," he finally said, smirking when the blond jumped, "How is it that you're not a big pile of stinking ash right now?"

Spike laughed at the immortal's phrasing of the question, and glanced up at the living room window of his Sire's apartment. "I don't know, mate," he said quietly, feeling tentatively along the childe/Sire bond he shared with the mighty poof and smiling at what he felt there before shutting it back down, "But I'd be willing to bet that it has something to do with a certain little WITCH we both know... And that was just RUDE." he finished, directing his last comment towards the swiftly disappearing car that apparently contained Jarod and his sister.

The oldest immortal laughed again, deciding that-- vampire or not, formerly part of the Scourge of Europe or not-- he LIKED this Spike person. "Well," he said slowly, "Seeing as you're apparently NOT going to burst into flame at the moment, I could use a drink. Care to join me?"

Spike looked the man up and down for a moment, eyes narrowed. "Yeah," he finally said, following the immortal to his car, "But this is NOT a DATE."

"Oh, of course not, Spike," Methos said, hiding his amusement as he opened the vampire's door and closed it behind him once he'd settled in. "Of course not..." he repeated, speculatively, going around the car to the driver's side. He got in to the car and started up the engine, glancing at the blond from the corner of his eye, until suddenly he started laughing.

"Hey! What's so funny, mate?" Spike demanded hotly, "I'll have you know that I'm VERY sought after!"

Methos laughed again as he drove away from the curb. "I'm sure you ARE, but I was actually just thinking..." He chuckled again. "You've never met my friend Joe, but... I wonder how he's going to react to having William the Bloody in his bar... ESPECIALLY with all he knows about Angelus now..."

Spike rolled his eyes, wondering if senility had set in with the much older man. Of course, after five thousand years... he'd probably be a bit odd, too. It was a shame, really, because this Adam bloke wasn't too bad, in a tall, dark, and never-gonna-die-unless-someone-whacks-off-my-head sort of way. But that was neither here nor there, he decided, as he relaxed against the seat and just enjoyed the sunshine.

End-- pt 20

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