SERIES: Phases
AUTHOR: Tisienne Blue
E-MAIL: tisatko@msn.com
DISCLAIMER: Joss owns everyone...
RATING: PG-13, maybe R-ish at most...
PAIRINGS: A/W; S/W
DISTRIBUTION: Charity can have it, as can anyone with other fic of mine... anyone else, just ask...
FEEDBACK: is both welcomed and valued...
DEDICATIONS: George (duh...) Also: Mystra, Ryan, Witchy, Kermet, Darkgem, Nutmeg, Ali, Isis, Natty, and Noreen... thanks for the feedback, luvs... Also to the way-wicked Candy Orgy, in its entirety... do we rock, or do we rock???*giggle*
NOTES: This part starts before the last part ends... you'll see.. oh, and * *= emphasis...
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He had finished his letter to his love, and had found that the writing of it wasn't quite the cathartic experience he'd thought it would be. So she'd know where he stood... how he felt... so what? She wouldn't be coming back to him, that he *knew*. He sighed, placing the sheet of paper on the couch. If he knew nothing else, he finally, finally knew that it was over. He couldn't really grasp the actuality of it... his mind felt fuzzy... disconnected from reality. She was everything for him, the beginning and the end. He had never really appreciated anything until he'd met her, and had gotten to know her, and had come to love her... But once he *had*... oh, once he *had*, he'd seen things, *understood* things, that had baffled him for centuries! The need of mankind, to find that one person who made them complete, the sometimes subconscious conviction that love conquered all, the deep-seated desire to find that one other being who could make you want to be everything you'd never thought to be... he understood it all. Unfortunately, he realized, it was too late. She had made her decision, and whatever the reason, she had decided that *he* wasn't the one she needed... His eyes started tearing up yet again, and he left the mansion. He slumped aimlessly through the night, wishing desperately for time to turn back so that he never would have left her on that fateful night... so that he could have *stayed* there, by her side, where he belonged.
His mind may have been tracking wildly through areas he didn't want to visit, but his feet were finally back on familiar ground, and when he looked up, he found himself in front of Willie's Bar. He shrugged slightly, in despair over his situation, and entered.
It was only a few minutes, but still many drinks, later, that he decided he'd had enough. He would go back to the house and tear up that letter he'd written... Maybe Spike *had* been right, and he *was* hurting her, but... not anymore. He couldn't leave her with that kind of guilt... She was a kind and gentle soul... She would feel responsible for what he was about to do, no matter *what* he wrote... No, he decided, much better to go back to LA and make it look like he'd just gotten unlucky... zigged instead of zagged. She would probably be upset when she heard, but... she wouldn't blame herself. He stood and paid the smarmy little human man before leaving, heading towards the large house that would always, in some small corner of his heart, be *home*... it was where he'd first kissed her, after all...
His steps faltered, a few blocks from the mansion, as he felt something he'd never thought to feel... she was desolate, desperate, and for the very first time, he understood exactly what Spike had meant when he'd said that she could feel him watching, because he could feel *her*... she was hurt... in pain! He broke into a ground-eating run without even realizing it, and had he been human, the speed with which he reached his house would have been impossible. Unfortunately, it still wasn't fast enough.
He raced to the door, not stopping to twist the knob as he slammed through it, his eyes wild as he stopped just a few feet inside, his eyes drawn to the gut-wrenching sight before him. "Oh..." he moaned almost silently, "Oh, my love... NO!!!"
He was at her side in an instant, his hands fluttering helplessly beside him, wanting more than anything to draw her into his arms and make this never have happened, but... he was afraid. He could hear her heartbeat starting to skip, as each weakened thump pressed more of her blood through the skin around the exit wound in her back. "Will..." he sobbed, one hand finally slipping forward to rest, trembling, on her forehead, "Will... *why*?" His eyes closed tightly, for just a moment, as he tried desperately to stop his own tears.
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
He had been sitting on their bed for what seemed like hours before he suddenly *felt* it. He didn't know how he knew, but he was just *sure* that something was wrong... with Willow. She had left, and he'd *let* her, and he swore to himself as he jumped up from the bed and ran for his shirt, boots and coat, that he would *kill* whoever was responsible... and that he'd never forgive himself for letting her current pain happen.
His eyes were wide as he followed the internal tugging at what he once would have called his heart, and was almost completely unsurprised when his feet took him to the bloody prick's place. He should have known.
He could feel the borrowed blood ringing in his ears as he ran up the drive, a slight lingering scent in the still air telling him that Angel had passed this way just a few moments earlier. He was prepared to see the poof, fight him even, for making the little redhead feel what he'd sensed earlier. He wasn't, of course, prepared for what he saw when he dashed through the splintered front door.
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Even through his pain and grief, he knew when his childe arrived. His heart-sore eyes flew from the girl before him, and met his childe's across the room. "Spike," he said, pleadingly, "She's *dying*... and I don't know what to *do*..."
The blond found himself doing a very rapid mental about-face... he'd been convinced that the girl's pain was being caused by the older vampire, but... an un-needed breath caught in his throat as he stared, horrified, at the picture before him.
Willow... *his* Willow, was laying on the cold stone floor, with a *stake* driven fully through her ribcage!... She was still twitching, her body convulsing against the stone as her blood... *pulsed* from her back... His Sire was kneeling there, completely unaware of the fact that his knees were resting in the spreading crimson pool.
He tried desperately to calm himself, and finally forced himself tojust... listen for a moment, his shadowed eyes lightening just a bit when he barely caught the sound of her quickly fading heart beat. "Right," he said, suddenly sounding all business as he darted across the room to join them. "*You* may not know what to do, but *I* do..." he leaned down, pulling the girl's collar away from her throat. "*Do* *it*, Angel!" he demanded, not even looking at the older vampire.
Angel stared for a moment at his childe, after pulling his eyes away from the dying redhead before him. "Spike..." he said sadly, more tears falling from his eyes, "I *can't*..." He sighed deeply, his hand still caressing the redhead's forehead. "You know she wouldn't want this... she's not the type."
Spike growled, meeting the older man's eyes. "I don't *care*, Angel!" he hissed, letting the darker vampire hear his anger and determination. "I'm not willing to let her *die*, damn it, and *I* can't drain her, thanks to Slutty's little boy-toy-that-was, so it *has* to be you!" He growled again, hating what he was about to say. "I don't want her to be evil any more than you do, but I can't just let her *go*! Just..." he swallowed hard, letting his Sire see the pleading in his eyes, "Just *do* it, Sire... You can go to the Watcher and curse her if you want to, but..." He almost reached out to strangle the older man when he saw him shake his head.
Angel felt his unbeating heart leaping, with *hope*... This might work... it *had* to work! He shook his head at the blond, a better idea already forming in his mind. "No. We don't need to go to Giles," he finally said, looking again at the girl before him. "I... I have the spell here," he clarified, "*And* the things I'll need to cast it, but..." He hesitated a moment before continuing. "She's going to have to be *your* childe, William," he said sadly, not even noticing that he'd used Spike's given name. His eyes flew once again to the blond's. "I can drain her, but... it'll have to be your blood that brings her back... and it'll have to be *now*, or it'll be too late..."
The blond couldn't believe that his Sire had given in that easily. "But, what about..." He shook his head quickly. "Never mind... you'll tell me later..." He grimaced at the look on Angel's face. "So get *to* *it*!" he barked impatiently, hearing the girl's heartbeat slowing even more. He watched, anticipating, as his Sire slid his true face on over his human features, and sank the well-remembered fangs into the redhead's neck.
Angel couldn't believe that he was doing this... he was helping to turn the one woman he'd sworn to himself that he would never hurt. Of course, he'd hurt her so much already, but... his eyes grew even wider than they'd been since he'd found her, as he tasted the unique flavor that was Willow. She was... raspberries... and vanilla... and honeysuckle... and cream, all rolled up into one! He almost didn't want to stop when he felt her body giving its last... *almost*...
Spike sighed in relief when he saw the dark haired vampire pull away from the tiny witch's throat. He'd been afraid, for a minute there, that Angel wouldn't be able to stop. "Good show, mate," he said softly, as he pushed the larger man away from the petite redhead. "Now, go do whatever it is you need to do..." He ignored his Sire's deep growl, and laid himself down on the floor behind the girl, wrapping one arm under her, whilst carefully avoiding jostling the stake that still pierced her body. He lifted his other arm to his lips, slipping his fangs out for a moment to slash across the thin skin of his wrist before sliding his now-bleeding limb around her, pressing it to her mouth, and sighed in satisfaction as he felt the hoped-for suction begin... He was so caught up in the fact that he was making her his childe, so focused on the determination that there would be nothing of the 'minion' about her, that he didn't even notice when the dark haired vampire left the room... He didn't notice it when Angel returned, either, but he smelled the stench of the herbs, and heard the sounds of his Sire's chanting quite well, a few minutes later.
Angel sighed to himself as the power flowed through him, and smiled slightly when the Orb of Thessulah glowed for him... he watched, satisfied, as the power that only he could see, since he was the one who'd called it up, swirled around the room and finally came to rest upon the slight form of the woman he loved. Slowly he stood, crossing to his love and his childe, who was her lover. He knelt in the dust in front of her, and slowly began pulling the piece of chair from her chest. He smiled slightly when his childe growled at him. "I don't think she's going to want to wake up with it there, Spike..." he said softly, smiling sadly at the blond.
Spike forced the growl to die in his chest as he felt Willow's suction and desire for his blood increase, the further the stake was pulled from her. "All right..." he finally said, "But you still need to tell me why it was so important for *me* to be her Sire..." His eyes slid shut for a moment as the wood was fully removed from her torso, and he pressed himself closer to her, his chest finally up against her back as she continued to drink. His eyes opened again, a panicked look in them as he stared at Angel. "Sire..." he moaned loudly, knowing that there was fear in his voice as he came to an unwelcome realization. "She's too... she's *damaged*... and if she doesn't *stop*..."
Angel chuckled to himself, knowing exactly what his blond childe meant, but unable to keep himself from toying with the boy, none the less. "Yes," he purred softly, "If she doesn't stop, she'll end up killing you..." He pulled a purely 'Angelus' grin from his memory and slapped it on his face. "I'll make sure to tell her just how *much* you were willing to sacrifice for her..."
Spike stared in shock at the older vampire who was, all of a sudden, acting just like his *Sire*. "Angel?" he almost pleaded, hoping that the taste of the girl's blood hadn't been enough to make him revert to being the prick he'd been the *last* time he'd lost his soul, "Are you...?"
Angel smiled, in his own fashion this time, and slid his own true face on. "Sorry, Spike," he said softly, before using his fangs on his own wrist, "Couldn't resist..." He ignored the blond's mumbled curses, and pressed his bleeding appendage to his childe's lips, sighing in satisfaction as his boy began to feed.
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"You're going to explain, right?" Spike asked again, as the two of them watched the girl they both loved sleeping her initial sleep in Angel's enormous bed.
Angel sighed, moving slightly closer to his childe, frowning when the blond moved away. "What do you want me to explain, Spike?" he asked rhetorically, leaning against the wall, "Why she had to be your childe? Why I had to do the curse right *then*? Why I had everything on hand to do it in the first place?" He sighed, finally deciding to get *everything* out in the open. "Or why I love her even more, knowing that *you* love her?"
The blond stared at his Sire for a moment, not sure of exactly what the older man was saying. "All of it." he finally said in response, as he sat down on the edge of the bed their woman was currently sleeping in, and waited for some answers. He looked fixedly at the tall vampire until he realized what he'd just thought... (*Our* woman?) he almost growled out loud, (Oh, *bloody* hell, not*again*...!)
Angel smiled slightly, seeing the thoughts chase each other around his childe's head... the boy had never been known for his subtlety, and that was apparently something that would never *change*. "Fine, Spike..." he said softly, moving slowly towards the blond and reveling internally when the younger man didn't recoil. "I'll tell you *everything*... *tomorrow*." He chuckled, mostly to himself, as he grabbed the blond and flung him onto the bed, on the far side of the little woman they both loved so much. He settled himself on the opposite side of her, one hand coming to rest on her abdomen. "Tomorrow..." he said again, meeting his childe's confused glance, and then he said something he almost never said, but seeing the reaction in his childe's eyes, it was *worth* it... "I promise." He closed his eyes then, feigning sleep for less than a moment before pretense became reality.
Spike's eyes were wider than he'd ever thought they could be... his Sire had never made him a *promise* before... Of course, this was Angel, not *Angelus*, but still... He settled himself next to the woman they both loved and drifted off to sleep, knowing that he'd have his answers in the 'morning'.
End.
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