E-mail: lendolyn@yahoo.com
Rating: 'R' for that pesky 'F' word that pops out of Spike every once in a while.
Spoilers: If you know about Willow's magic addiction and recent meltdown, you're set.
Summary: An odd prophesy and an over-used plot results in sunshine and happy endings for all. Well, almost.
Notes: In this happy universe, Spike's obsession with Buffy ended around Glory, as did the W/T. Buffy didn't die.
More Notes: Dear God, I'm doing it again! Another multipart story! But never fear, this is much happier than the stuff I've been churning out. And I know what's going to happen next, which means I'll finish this story! Yay!
Distribution: Blood Magic: http://www.geocities.com/voodoo_bloodmagic/enter.html , Breathe, NHR, WLS, Fanfiction.net, and really anyone who wants it.
Dedication: For Leanne, because she is remarkably kind and a very groovy lady. And she prompted me to finish this. Blame her!
Feedback: Why yes, thanks! I'd love some!
~Part One~
"I'm.what?" Spike asked incredulously. Normally he wasn't one for repeating things - it ruined the whole omniscient Master Vamp thing he had going on - but this was well worth the lapse.
"In the prophesy," Giles said again, sighing. Spike's response was nearly identical to the ones shown by the rest of the gang earlier that evening.
The thought of being in a prophesy was oddly disturbing to the vampire. For all of his vamp-hood he'd had a bit of a problem with authority, and having the Powers that Be pushing his pieces around the board wasn't making him happy. "For something good, right? Mass murders? Blood baths? Killing a really big demon?" he asked hopefully.
Giles removed his glasses and started to pace. Confused, Spike looked around the room. The slayer's lips were pressed together in a thin line, and Xapper was looking at his shoes. Next to him, Anya was watching Willow.
Willow. Now there was a creature worth the watching. Spike had a feeling that if he were still human, he'd be devoting a great deal of time towards writing sonnets about her eyebrows.or her lips..freckles..hair..
It wasn't that he still had a single shred of humanity in him - he was just a habitual observer. Willow was the only one of her the slayer's little gang that he didn't want to eviscerate, so he had spent lots of time in the bathtub cataloguing of her facial expressions and body language. The ones currently displayed were new, and a thought occurred to him. It was oddly troubling, and yet unspeakably beautiful at the same time. He grinned.
"Hell! I don't get to kill you lot, do I? Is that what all these long faces are about? YES!"
Buffy slammed a book down on the table. "No, you pathetic bleached idiot, you're not killing anyone!"
Spike cocked an eyebrow. "No? It's shagging then? I get to shag some celebrity out of your watcher books, there? I'm okay with that."
"I'm afraid not, Spike. You see, according to this document, a vampire will die a second death, and in doing so bring about-"
"-the apocalypse. Right? How many bleedin' apocalypses do you lot avert ever year, anyway? So advert this one, and let me get back to planning the gruesome deaths of those sodding commandos."
"Er.well no, Spike. I'm afraid not."
"Giles!" Buffy objected. "Don't say it like you're sorry about it - you'll jinx us!" She turned to Spike. "Your death isn't going to start the apocalypse. It's going to prevent one."
Spike blinked. Then he quirked one eyebrow. But that was his only outward sign of disturbance. On this inside, though, he was sure he felt something.crack. "Oh."
"Bad luck, man," Xander offered.
"I've never heard of a demon bringing about peace and prosperity before," Anya added. "You'll be famous. If that's any consolation."
Then the room, not knowing how to converse with a demon about to meet a prophetic end, fell silent.
Spike blinked again, and put a hand over his chest, attempting to pinpoint the location of the horrible breaking emptiness that had come upon him all of a sudden. "Oh," he repeated, desperate to end the stillness.
Willow quietly jumped off the counter and disappeared into the back of the shop. Buffy watched her leave with a troubled expression. "She cares too much. About everything," she muttered. "Giles, are you sure that Spike knowing about the prophecy won't do anything to mess it up?"
"Thanks for caring, Slayer," Spike spat, recovering somewhat from the shock. "This is my death you're dancing on."
"Boogie down," Buffy retorted.
Giles sighed and consulted the book in front of him again. "We really have no way of knowing. It's not very kind to spring this on you, Spike, I know. But we felt you had a right to know."
The vampire nodded and looked down at his boots for a moment. Was it better to know and prepare, or just continue blithely on `til oblivion? "How?"
"Hierase. It's a creature who feeds off the-"
Spike held a hand up to stop him. "I know what Hierase is. Damn. It couldn't have been something a little more.painless?" He didn't wait for an answer, but went back to staring at his boots. Well, at least it wouldn't be some pansy-ass death. No, not for William the Bloody. He was going to have his demon sucked out of him piece by piece until there was nothing remaining but an empty, mindless shell. And then that shell would simply.turn to dust. Yay.
"When is this going-supposed to happen?"
"Three days. I'm sorry, Spike. But in this matter we cannot interfere. Nor can we let you go without knowing, not after all your help - however reluctantly it was given." The Watcher did look a little sorry to be delivering the news. They all did, in fact. How..strange.
"Yeah, well.thanks mate. I guess I'd best be off then. I've got three more nights of moonlight to savor." He stood up straighter and turned to face the door. It seemed a long ways away. `Hell, Spike,' he thought, `Suck it up and be a Vamp. So you're going to die a horrible death. Least you won't have to worry about the chip anymore!'
"Wait!" a voice called out. He turned back to watch Willow bustle back into the room carrying a stack of books tucked under her chin. She dropped them on the table. "I don't care how much you want to die, Spike. You can't just accept this! And the rest of you - shame on you!"
Only Willow could make people cringe with a simple `shame on you', the gang reflected. And they all cringed.
"I know Spike hasn't always been our ally in all this slayery stuff, but he is our friend now-"
"Oy, now Red - don't get insulting!"
"Shut up, Spike," she said with a look. "We can't just blindly accept that this is going to happen! There's got to be some other way to prevent this apocalypse!"
Buffy rolled her eyes. "Willow - we've already been over this. Giles checked. You checked. We all checked! There's nothing we can do."
"Ha. I bet you checked. You've probably just been getting your little dustpan ready, Slutty."
The slayer glared at him and a stake seemed to materialize in her hand. "I can speed it up, Spike. Just give me an excuse."
Giles, clucking, attempted to diffuse the situation by stepping between them, and Xander looked up at his best friend. "What do you have in mind, Wills?"
Willow winced. This was so not going to go over well."We research some more. There are still three days until this is supposed to happen. And.well, um, if we can't find anything in the books to help us, I was thinking..how about a spell?"
The reaction was pretty much as she'd expected. "WHAT?! Willow, no!"
"Buffy, I didn't mean that I-"
"Willow, I thought we'd discussed this-"
"Um.Will - don't zap me or anything, but I'd actually rather die than kiss the slayer again."
"But Spike, I *told* you that was an accident-"
"-said no more big mojo-magic for the Willster?"
They all began to argue amongst themselves, and at Willow, and she let them go for a minute, the shouting pummeling her from all sides. They were yelling at her for suggesting something that almost ended fatally last time, for suggesting something that could save Spike, and at each other for not trusting her.what a mess. "Stop it!" she finally screamed. "All of you - that's enough! Buffy, Xander - sit down NOW! Spike, quit taunting them! I'm trying to save your unlife, you dumb vamp! And Giles - I didn't mean that I would perform the spell," she added, more calmly. "I was kind of hoping you would, with Anya's help."
"Oh.er, Willow, I'm sorry. I just assumed that you meant-"
"I know. But there will be no more scary Evil Witch Willow-"
"Not evil," Dawn said with a smile, speaking for the first time. Her cast - the result of Willow's recent magical meltdown - had come off several days before. "Not evil, Willow. Just misguided."
The redhead smiled back. Dawn was echoing her own words from a conversation they'd had nearly a year ago. Back before Buffy died, before the mess with Tara, back when Spike's obsession with the Slayer was still driving everyone nuts. "Why doesn't Buffy like Spike?" Dawn had asked, confused. "He's saved her life, and my life, and your life, too! But she's all `Oooh, he's evil, Dawnie. And he's a pain in the-`"
"Dawn," Willow said warningly.
Dawn blinked innocently. "But. He's not evil, is he, Willow?"
Willow had cocked her head, trying to figure out how to answer her. If Spike had been there, she was fairly certain he would have said something like, "Heck yeah I'm evil! I'm the Big Bad!", but how true was that, really? "Well, yeah, he's evil. But only in an `I'm a demon' kinda way. He's not evil evil. He's just.misguided."
Just misguided. Yup, that was her alright. At least Spike didn't go completely loopy when he was being evil - he always knew exactly what he was doing. Unlike Willow.
It was at that precise moment that Willow realized how much time she had devoted to brooding. Her! Brooding! She wasn't a broody person! And yet, there she was, feeling sorry for herself again! This had to stop! She put on her internal resolve face.
"Thanks, Dawn. So, guys, are you in?"
"I am!" the youngest Summers girl chirped, smiling encouragingly at Spike. He rolled his eyes. "What the hell. I'm sure you've got brains in that lovely head of yours, Red. Why not?"
Giles nodded at them all. "I-I will, of course, help as much as I can. But Willow, are you quite sure it's wise to.to raise hopes?"
"We won't know that it can't be done until we try, Giles," Buffy said, stepping in. Spike looked at her, allowing a small flash of surprise cross his face. "This doesn't mean I like you, Spike."
"Right back at you, Slayer."
"Xander, we'd better help, too. I feel left out!"
One by one they sat down, putting together a research plan. Willow watched them approvingly before catching Spike's gaze over the tops of their heads. "Thank you," he said quietly.
There was more to that thanks than met the eye, Willow thought, and nodded solemnly at him. "Anytime."
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