Title: Affections Dark
Author: Ankhet
Email: snm2761@cub.uca.edu
Disclaimer: Joss Whedon owns Buffy & Co. Which means I *don't* own them. I'm only playing and will return them when I'm done. I'm not making money off this, so don't sue.
Note: Just a little back story. Everything in the series up to the end of 'What's My Line' pt. 2. The ending of WML2 (the way we saw it) never happened, and everything in the second season after WML2 never happened.

The motions of his spirit are dull as night, And his affections dark as Erebus: Let no such man be trusted. -- William Shakespeare, Merchant of Venice


Affections Dark (1/1)


"You weren't long for this world," Angel whispered, running his fingertips over the letters of her name. It was simple tombstone, but one he knew Buffy would have liked. Her epitaph was equally simple. 'Buffy Summers 1981-1997 She was loved.'

"I loved you." Angel sighed as his confession came spilling out. "I was afraid. Afraid of us, of me, of what would happen if I'd actually said 'I love you.'" He pulled a white rose out of his jacket pocket and set it carefully at the base of the headstone. "I wasn't sure what flowers you'd liked; you'd never told me, so I bought this because it reminded me of you." His hand continued to trace the letters of her name. "Its strong and pure, but with a thorn ready for those that hurt it."

"Like you." The words came out in a rush of air as silent tears rolled down his face. He leaned forward and rested his forehead against the cool stone of the grave marker.

"Well, wasn't that sweet," the mocking voice commented from behind Angel. He turned sharply to glare at the blond vampire leaning against a tombstone. "Allow me to run home and get my camera. I want to capture this Kodak moment.

"Spike, what do you want?"

"Well, let's see. World peace, the end of poverty. Oh, wait, you mean right at this moment." Spike pushed himself away from the tombstone he was leaning on and covered the distance between him and Angel. "Why, I just want to offer my condolences." Angel growled softly before he jumped to his feet, grabbed Spike's shoulder's, and slammed him into the nearest tree.

"You killed her!" Angel replied through clenched teeth.

"And she killed Dru," Spike responded calmly. "Blood for blood. You taught me that, Angelus."

"She didn't kill her. The cure didn't work, pure and simple."

"But if your bitch of a girlfriend hadn't interrupted, the spell would have happened, and Dru would be alive." Spike stared hard into Angel's demonic visage. "You don't feel anything, right? It's just empty. No pain, no loss, just vast emptiness." Angel cast his eyes downward to hide the truth. Spike laughed softly and bitterly. "Welcome to the club."

"You're wrong, Spike," Angel commented as he pushed Spike roughly into the tree before backing away. "I feel something. I want to die."

"You can't live without her. The knowledge of her death weighs so heavily on your poor, tortured soul, that you want oblivion, so the guilt will stop. Am I right?" Angel didn't reply, but Spike could see that he'd hit a chord. He walked over to him and put his face inches away from Angel's. "May you live forever," Spike hissed. Angel pushed Spike away, and the force of it knocked Spike into Buffy's tombstone. Angel turned his back on Spike, and he walked away, out of the cemetery.

"She deserved to die, Angelus. She deserved it!" Spike called out after him. He watched Angel leave before looking down at the Slayer's final resting place. He reached into his coat a pulled out a single blood-red rose and placed in across Angel's rose. He stared at the marker for a few seconds before he too hurried out of the cemetery.

As Spike left the cemetery, a soft rain began to fall, moistening the two roses on the girl's grave. A white rose for a love so pure even death couldn't stop it, and a red one for a hate so deep that it would never die.

< Fin >