Disclaimer: Joss owns Willow and Spike. A whole mess of people own the Andromeda crew and ain't none of them me. I do own Khalil.
Spoilers: Minor Season 5 for BTVS. Up to "In Heaven Now Are Three" for Andromeda. Very minor spoiler for "The Lone and Level Sands"
Pairing: Spike/Willow
Rating: M for language.
Archive: My site http://madcelt.org/~stevo/Fiction, Anyone else want it, just ask.
This is set in the same universe as my stories Prophecy of the Undying, The Tower and The Morrigans Daughter. No Willow or Spike in this part, but I'm just setting things up. Unbeta-ed as well, so forgive any erros. Better yet, point them out and I'll correct them before I archive it.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
~Prologue~
Earth Date 5371AD
Andromeda Ascendant
Beka set the Eureka Maru down in the landing bay of the Andromeda Ascendant, ship of the line, vanguard of the new, reborn Systems Commonwealth and not the least, home. As she finished the post flight power down, Beka turned to her friends Trance Gemini and Captain Dylan Hunt, "Well guys, we're home."
Dylan smiled at Beka, "Thanks Beka. You've seen us home safely again."
Turning to Trance, Dylan asked, "OK Trance, now that we have the Engine of Creation, what do we do with it?"
Trance looked enigmatic as always and replied, "I don't know, lets ask it."
Dylan glanced at Beka. She seemed to have no more idea than he did if Trance was joking or not.
Trance started walking back to the living compartment of the Maru. When she realised the other weren't following she glared at them. Dylan shrugged at Beka and started after Trance. Beka unbuckled herself and followed her two crewmates.
Reaching the room where the Engine Of Creation rested, Trance place her hands on the Engine and 'listened' with all her senses. "The Engine says we should take it up to the Andromeda's command room. It will tell us where we need to go from there."
Dylan just looked dumbfounded at Trance. "Well, then. I guess we should take it up to the control room then. Shall we?"
******
Tyr was bored. Trance, Dylan and Beka had returned from whatever adventure they had been on and hadn't even had the decency to be followed by hostile forces, bent on their destruction. Life had become too quiet on the Andromeda of late. Little did Tyr know, he was to get his wish. Things were about to get VERY interesting for the crew of the Andromeda.
Dylan, Trance and Beka finally reached the Control Room of the Andromeda with the Engine nearly collapsing as they put it down on the floor in front of the main screen.
Harper looked at the Engine and remarked, "You go away for three weeks and that's all you bring back? A...what exactly is it anyway? Trance my no-longer purple babe, care to tell the great Seamus Zelazny Harper what wonders you want him to perform for you this fine morning?"
Trance smiled at Harper, with a secret twinkle to her eye, "We found the Engine Of Creation."
Tyr snorted, "Found it? Just lying around waiting for someone to come along?"
Dylan preempted Trance, "Not just someone, but the right someones."
"And what exactly is the Engine Of Creation?" Tyr asked.
"That bit we're still a bit hazy on. Legend says it was used to create the universe, but you know what legend is like."
Turning to Rommie, Dylan asked, "What does a scan of the Engine show, Rommie?"
Rommie was the Avatar of the Andromeda Ascendant. The ships AI given human shape, but in reality an android. Looking at the Engine, Rommie was confused, "This doesn't make sense. I can see the Engine there, but my scans detect nothing"
Dylan asked for clarification, "You mean it doesn't scan as anything unusual?"
Rommie replied, "No. I mean ny scans say there is nothing there. It doesn't exist to anything other than visible light sensors. All other scans report there is nothing on the deck. But I can see it, and you could touch it, so there must be something there."
Looking over at Harper, Dylan asked, "Harper, what do you make of it?"
Harper knelt down to look at the Engine, "Well, Mon Capitaan, it looks like a shiny stick with a lucite starry thing on top. It looked heavy, when you three brought it in. Other than that? I've got no idea."
"Thank you Mr Harper. I had hoped for a little more than that." Dylan remonstrasted.
"Sorry Captain. The sensors just can't make any sense of it. One second they say it doesn't even exist, the next they're telling me it weighs three whole galaxies. Whatever it is, it's beyond our tech to identify it."
"Thank you anyway Mr Harper." Turning back to to Trance, Dylan was about to ask her if she had any ideas, when a light shown from the Engine on to the navigation console.
Andromeda appeared on the screen to the side of the Captains console, "Captain I am receiving a set of coordinates. Sir, they're for Earth."
"Well, then it looks like we're going back to Erth." Duylan told the room. "Beka, set a course and let's get on our way."
~Part: 1~
Earth Date 5371AD
Sunnydale, Home of Willow and Spike
It was early morning, Sunnydale time, when Willow sense a change in the air. Lying back in bed and closing her eyes, she opened all of her senses, mundane and magical, to ascertain what had woken her. She immediately sensed the Engine Of Creation in orbit above Earth.
Spike waited until Willow had brought her senses back to the room, then asked, "What's up luv?"
"The Engine Of Creation is in orbit," she answered.
"All of it or just part?"
Not sensing the major Space/Time disruptions that the complete Engine would have caused, Willow replied "Just the one part. I'd have sensed it earlier if it was more than that."
Spike made the only comment he could, "Well, FUCK! I was hoping for a quiet century."
Willow smiled at her love, "You should know better than that. We never get quiet. Hell, in a good decade we only get one universe shattering event. It's been too quiet lately. I've been expecting something for the last couple of years."
As Spike got out of bed, Willow admired his sleak form, still in love with him after all the time they spent together. Spike walked over to the closet and started to put on his 'big bad' clothes. Sliding in to the skin tight jeans with practised ease, he turned to Willow and enquired, "What statement we going for?"
Willow thought for a moment, pondering who could possibly have found the Engine, and what their reason for coming to Earth could be. "Better go for intimidating, just in case."
Spike grinned evilly and reached for his 'fuck with me and I'll rip your lungs out' clothes. A figure hugging tunic and his black leather duster. Over the jeans he strapped on a belt with a antique slug thrower on one hip and a short sword on the other. Over the many years Spike had been a champion of good, he had found that if you look mean enough you didn't actually have to fight to get what you wanted. Finishing his look with knee high riding boots, Spike was the epitomy of the warrior knight.
While Spike was getting himself ready and in to character, Willow was preparing herself. Dressing in an outfit the match of Spikes, the two of them looked ready to take on the world. Looking at Spike Willow asked, "Ready?"
******
Andromeda Ascendant In orbit around Earth
As the Andromeda came out of Slipstream, Beka looked at Dylan, "Well, here we are. Now what?"
Harper piped up, "Now we look out for any scum sucking Ubers to try and shoot out out of the sky," glancing at Tyr and the look on his face, Harper rephrased, "By which I mean, of course, that we wait for our friendly neighbourhood Nietzchean pride to contact us." Harper then gulped and moved to the other side of Dylan from Tyr, who just glared at him.
Dylan asked Andromeda, "Andromeda, is there any more coordinates coming from the Engine? Some idea of where we should go?"
As he asked the question, the faces of Willow and Spike appeared on the main screen, "I believe I can answer that question Captain Hunt."
"Who are you, and how do you know my name?" Dylan demanded.
"I'm Willow and this is my husband, Spike." replied Willow, "And as for how I know your name? Well, you've been making quite a name for yourself across the galaxies, haven't you?"
Andromeda then spoke up, "Captain, I don't know how, but we're not receiving any signal from the planet below."
Dylan turned to Andromeda's avatar, Rommie, "You mean besides the one we're talking to Willow on?"
"No Captain, I mean we're not receiving ANY signal from Earth. The Drago-Kazov haven't noticed us yet and there are no other signals pointed our way. Sorry, spoke too soon. The Drago-Kazov are hailing us. Put them on screen now?" At Dylan's nod, Adromeda opened a channel with the Drago-Kazov.
Dylan noticed that, despite what Rommie had said, the screen was now split down the middle, with Willow and Spike on the left and the Drago-Kazov on the right. Smiling apologetically at Willow, Dylan addressed the Drago-Kazov, "Who do I have the honour of addressing?"
The Drago-Kazov replied, "I am Finn, out of Cuul and Katherine. Warleader of the Drago-Kazov clan for this sector. You are very bold, Captain Hunt, returning so soon after the abortive coup lead by your man there." Finn stated boldly, pointing at Harper.
Before Dylan could reply, Willow cleared her throat, "Captain Hunt and his ship are here to pick me up, Finn. You needn't bother yourself any more. I will take it from here. Oh, and Finn? Stay away from my house. Just in case you were thinking about trying to break in again while I was away, don't. You wouldn't like what you'd find inside anyway."
Finn growled sourly and indicated to someone off screen to break the transmission, not saying anything more.
Tyr looked at Willow, "And just who are you that orders a Nietzchean around like a spoilt child?" Tyr didn't care that a Drago-Kazov was treated with disdain, but he felt he had to stand up for his race or all respect would be lost.
"Just someone the Drago-Kazov have learned through bitter lesson to respect and fear." Turning back to Dylan, Willow asked, "May we come aboard Captain?"
"By all means. Anyone that can order a Nietzchean War Leader around like a spoilt child is welcome on the Andromeda. Will it take you long to make orbit?"
Stepping out of the viewscreen and on to the Andromeda, Willow linked hands with Spike and pulled him through gently. Facing Dylan, she said with a smile, "Not long at all."
Getting a good look at Willow, Dylan was struck with a sense of recognition. "Do you know, you bare a striking resemblance to someone I met once on Vedra."
Andromeda spoke up, "Captain, Willow is an exact match for the Ambassador Exemplary to the Vedran Empress. I can't explain it, but the resemblance is exact to the cellular level."
Willow looked at Rommie with remonstration, "Why Andromeda Ascendant, did you scan me when I was last on board? Isn't that in direct violation of the Ambassadorial Code?"
Rommie had the grace to look chagrined, "I'm sorry. I didn't mean to. I didn't realise you were an Ambassador until you were already on board and I routinely scan all who travel on me."
Dylam asked Willow, "How is it possible that you're still alive? Our embassy to the Than homeworld was over 300 years ago."
"I don't know if your world view can handle the answer to that, Captain. Suffice it to say, I am older than I look and let's leave it at that. OK?" Willow tried to avoid the question.
"I'm afraid I really must insist. We've had too much trouble on the Andromeda to accept people on faith. How did you survive for 300 years without appearing to aging a day?" Dylan demanded firmly.
Willow sighed. She hated this part. "It's very simple Captain Hunt. I'm immortal."
~Part: 2~
Tyr snorted, "What fools do you take us for? Immortality is a myth, told to amuse children at bedtime."
Willow smirked, "Noting but the the truth. I'm immortal. I'm over 300 years old. A simple fact. Believe it or don't, it really doesn't make much difference to me either way."
Tyr glared, "Then I choose to not believe it. If immortality were possible, I'm sure it would have been included in the Nietzchean genome."
Willow smiled enigmatically, "Oh they tried. They tried. But immortality isn't a genetic trait, so they failed."
"If immortality is not a genetic trait, how is it that you are immortal, then?" Tyr asked.
"To tell you the truth, I have no idea. I've spent a considerable amount of time trying to work it out as well. I suspect I'm not meant to know why." Willow explained with a smile, "Keeps me humble, not knowing everything."
Rommie looked at Willow, "Then would you like to explain how you were able to walk out of the view screen? That shouldn't be possible."
"Shit! You weren't supposed to notice anything unusual about that." Willow then gave Rommie her full attention and had a look at Rommie with all her senses. "Ah that's why you weren't affected. You're not a normal Avatar, are you? Let me guess, the famous Seamus Harper built you, didn't he?"
The big grin on Harpers face told Willow the answer, even before Rommie could say a thing. Willow addressed Rommie, "I would like to talk in private with you later, if we may. I have some questions I would like to ask, and an offer you may want to consider."
Rommie nodded her agreement. Turning to Dylan, she asked, "Where to next, Captain?"
Willow raised her hand to catch Dylan's attention, "If I may ask, Captain Hunt, what do you intend to do with the Engine Of Creation?"
Dylan glanced at Trance, who nodded, "We hadn't really thought that far ahead. To be completely honest, we didn't really expect to find the Engine, so we hadn't gotten as far as planning on what to do with it, now that we have it."
"I don't suppose you would be willing to turn it over to me for safe keeping, will you?" Willow asked Dylan.
At Tyr's snort, Dylan smiled apologetically, "You didn't really expect me to hand it over to just anybody, did you?"
"Well, no. But it never hurts to ask. You strike me as just the sort of person who WOULD hand it over, if you thought it was to the right person." Willow told Dylan.
Dylan shrugged, knowing Willow was right. If he thought it was the right thing to so, he wouldn't hesitate to hand the Engine over. If he was the type that sought power, he would have forged an Empire, rather than the Commonwealth he was seeking to rebuild.
"Did you have any pressing business anywhere, Captain Hunt?" enquired Willow.
"No. Nothing at the moment. Why do you ask?"
"What if I was to tell you where the next part of the Engine Of Creation is?" Willow asked a suddenly quiet room.
"I think that would be wonderful. Where are we headed?" Trance asked, pre- empting Dylan, before he had a chance to refuse. Turning to Dylan, she explained, "I'm sorry Captain, but I have a feeling we should do this. What if the Engine was to fall in to the wrong hands?"
Willow laughed, "I wouldn't worry about that, child. Due to it's very nature, the Engine can't fall in to the hands of anyone except the right hands. If the Engine ends up in your hands, then yours are the hands it belongs in. That's part of it's power." Looking at Beka, Willow gave a wave of her hand.
Beka looked at the coordinates that had appeared on her console. It was a series of slipstream jumps that lead to a section of the Greater Magellanic Cloud. "These coordinates will take us to the centre of one of the most dangerous parts of space. There are more supernova's in that area than anywhere else in the known galaxies." Enquiring of Dylan, and receiving a nod of permission, Beka prepared to make the first jump.
"Do you have a cabin we can use, Captain? The journey is going to take us a couple of weeks, so we may as well get comfortable." Willow explained.
"I'll show them to a cabin, Captain, "Rommie volunteered.
"Thank you Rommie. Harper, could you keep trying to analyse the Engine and let me know what you find." Dylan instructed.
~Part: 3~
Rommie led Willow and Spike to their quarters in silence. Willow and Spike had been together for so long they were able to communicate with barely a motion and a raised eyebrow.
"What is going on in that mind of yours?" Spike silently asked Willow.
"Just up to no good," Willow replied with a smirk and a twinkle in her eye.
As they reached their quarters, Willow asked Rommie, "Rommie, could I have a word with you?"
Remembering the promise to talk Willow had made earlier, Rommie agreed, "Of course."
They stepped in to their quarters and Willow indicated Rommie should sit. "I'll get straight to the point. Have you ever wanted to be human? I mean fully human, not just living in their world?"
Rommie replied, "I note the distinction you make. 'their world', not 'our world'. What are you, if not human? When I scanned you three hundred years you scanned as human, and now when I scan you, you read as human. But humans don't live for over three hundred years. And the scans I get from your husband are even stranger. He scans as human, but dead. Would you care to explain, or should I notify the Captain?"
Willow smiled at Rommie, "It's alright. I'm not a threat to you or the ship. What I am about to tell you, you mustn't discuss with anyone, unless I tell you otherwise. Can I have your word on that?"
Thinking before replying, Rommie answered, "I can only promise, that if I think there is no danger to myself or my crew, I'll say nothing. But if I think there's a danger to the crew, I will tell them whatever they need. Agreed?"
Willow nodded, "Agreed. I'm considerably more than three hundred years old. I'm actually closer to, um, Spike, what year is it?"
"Fifty three seventy one," Spike replied.
"Really? Shit, time has flown by," Willow swore. Looking back at Rommie, she said, "In that case I'm three thousand, three hundred and ninety years old. I was born in the Old Earth year nineteen eighty one. And what I said to Tyr before is true. I have no idea why I'm immortal. Or, to be more accurate, Undying. I've spent a good portion of my life on trying to discover what makes me Undying, but as you have discovered, I scan as a normal, baseline human. I'm sure the Universe has a plan for the Undying, I just haven't worked it out yet. Now, back to the original question. Have you ever wanted to be human?"
"Sometimes, yes. But I also enjoy the benefits of being a ships Avatar. If I was to be human, I'd only live another fifty, maybe seventy years. As an Avatar, I fully expect to still be here in a thousand years. Why do you ask?"
"Just curious. I want you to remember this conversation later. Now if you would be so kind, could you tell me where I might find Trance?" Willow asked.
Consulting her sensors, Rommie replied, "Trance is in her garden. Shall I lead you there?"
"No, that's alright. I can find it myself." Looking back at Spike, Willow asked him, "Tyr?"
Spike nodded, "Tyr." After three thousand years together, Willow and Spike had developed a short hand, whereby they could have entire conversations with a single word. Spike asked Rommie, "Would you be so kind as to show me where Tyr has his training room set up?"
Rommie looked surprised, "How did you know Tyr has a training room?"
Spike shrugged, "He's Nietzchean." As if that explained everything, which in a way, it did.
Rommie nodded. Of course a Nietzchean would have a training room set up. She was just surprised Spike and Willow knew the Nietzchean's so well. "Follow me and I'll take you to him." Rommie then led Spike out the room.
Willow followed as far as the lift. Spike and Rommie went down to Tyr's training area, while Willow went up to Trances garden. Spying Trance digging in a garden bed, Willow moved stealthily in to the room, hoping to take Trance by surprise. As soon as Willow was barely a foot away, Trance looked up and said, "You're getting better. You never used to be able to get closer than a couple of metres before I heard you."
Willow swore, "Bugger. I thought I had you that time. So, do they know who you are yet?"
Trance shook her head, "No. They know I'm not human, but they have no idea what I really am, and I've managed to avoid the question every time it gets raised."
Smiling, Willow hugged Trance, "I've missed you. You haven't come to visit for far to long."
Trance hugged Willow back, "I know, but I've been busy. You know what it's like. Always some one to set on a path, or stop from going down the wrong one. I see Spike didn't notice anything about me. You did right away though, didn't you?"
Willow smiled, "Oh come now Morrigan. If a Champion doesn't recognise her own Mother, there's something wrong."
~Part: 4~
Rommie led Spike through the Andromeda Ascendant, down a few levels, to Tyr's training room. As they walked, she asked Spike, "Spike, how long have you and Willow been together?"
Spike smiled as he remembered the years, "Three thousand, three hundred and seventy years and change. Why?"
Rommie glanced at him, "You seemed to be carrying on a conversation, yet neither of you said anything. In my experience it takes some time for a couple to reach that level of communication. You and Willow have taken it to a new level."
"When you spend as much time as we have together, you just know how each other thinks." Spike explained.
By this time they had reached the part of the Gymnasium Tyr had taken as his personal training room. Tyr was laying on the bench press lifting weights, part of his standard excercise regimen. Seeing Spike and Rommie enter, he put up the weight and sat up. "Can I help you?" Tyr asked Spike snidely.
"I was bored. Thought I'd come down here and see if you wanted to spar. You up for it?" Spike replied.
"Are you sure? I wouldn't want to hurt you." Tyr said.
"Oh, no danger of that, my Nietzchean friend. Now, I believe this is the part where you give me your pedigree then we fight. Ready?" Spike taunted.
"Very well then. I am Tyr Anasazi, out of Barbarossa by Victoria, Kodiak prime." Tyr declared.
As he made his declaration Tyr attacked, relying on surprise and his Nietzchean speed to overwhelm Spike. Spike moved imperceptibly and Tyr's leap took him past Spike. As Tyr passed by Spike, Tyr punched out his left hand at Spikes head. Spike caught the punch and flipped Tyr over, landing Tyr on his feet. Spike then kicked Tyr's feet out from under him, knocking him on his backside.
Calmly walking over to the weight bench, Spike took off his duster and his belt, not wanting to bring weapons in to a fist fight. Turning back to the now standing Tyr Spike gave his trademark smirk and lifted his eyebrow in question.
Seeing the question in Spikes face, Tyr explained "I wouldn't want it said I beat you unfairly." Tyr then took a defencive stance and waited for Spike to attack.
Spike took the challenge and lept up, seeming to defy gravity, and kicked out at Tyr's face. Tyr caught the foot, more by luck than anything, and propelled Spike down face first into the deck. A crunching sound was heard as Spikes nose broke. Kicking out his other foot, Spike broke Tyr's hold on him and, puching himself off the floor, spun himself around his own access to finish on his feet. With a loud popping sound, Spike set his nose, glad he still had a vampiric level of healing, a side effect of his own unique brand of immortallity.
Rommie decided she should step in before someone got seriously hurt. Taking a step forward she interposed her body between Spike and Tyr, holding a hand up to each of them. "I'm afraid I am going to have to holt things there. My safety overrides prevent me from letting you two kill each other."
Spike looked at Tyr, "You up for another round or you want to stop here?"
Tyr smiled, "I have barely broken a sweat. Shall we continue then?"
"We shall," Spike replied. "Rommie, please step aside. I invoke safety override protocol NancyBoy-1"
Rommie did not even realise such an override existed, but the override protocol was indeed in her databanks. "I don't think that has ever been invoked before, and certainly has not been invoked upon my decks. I release the safety overrides as you request." Standing back, Rommie made sure the sensors in the Gymnasium were recording. She suspected the replay would be worth watching .
Tyr and Spike both attacked at the same instant. The fight moved all over the training area, neither one able to gain an advantage over the other, but both moving almost too fast for the eye to human eye to see. Finally, after a good ten minutes of sparing, Spike stepped back.
"Call it a draw shall we?" He asked Tyr.
Tyr knew that they were evenly matched, and that the victory would be because of a mistake brought on by fatigue, not due to superior skill. "Agreed. A draw it is. Answer me this though. How is it a human is able to match speed and stamina with a Nietzchean warrior in his prime? I should have been able to easily overpower you with strength, speed or stamina, and yet you equalled me in all three."
Spike smiled, "Ah, yes. That. Suffice it to say that I am unique in all the universe. After Willow has spoken with you, I will tell you my story, which which will exlain everything."
Tyr was obviously not happy with Spikes answer but, as they had just proven, he was not able to best Spike. He woule have to wait for the explaination.
Spike walked over, slapped Tyr on the back and said, "Come on, let's go see what everyone is up to, shall we?"
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