Title: Death Is But A Memory
Author: Kylia
Email: kylia_bug@yahoo.com
Disclaimer: Nobody belongs to me, unfortunately. They belong to Joss & Mutant Enemy, and a few other people I don’t know. ; Highlander is owned by Davis-Panzer & Rysher .
Rating: R
Spoilers: Nothing Really. General Season 4 BtVS, Season 1 Angel
Category: Willow/Spike; Who Else?
Summary: Fate has drawn Willow and Spike together.
Distribution: Fire & Ice, WitchFanFic, anyone else, ask, and you shall receive
Author's Notes: This takes place in the future.
Author's Notes #2: Crossover with the Highlander universe.
Dedication: Courtney Lynn, and the girls on the second floor. Elka, my favorite Bad Ass!

Siorrue watched the large building loom in the darkness. Her prey was closer. Closer than she had ever been. Her time of victory was at hand. Soon, she would have the witches head, and with it, her power. Then she could plunge the world into darkness, or not. It all depended on the young immortal, and the power she retained.

Siorrue looked around the street carefully. She knew that Elka was in town. That was dangerous. Elka knew the truth. She knew what would happen once the stone’s power was unleashed. Only she had all of the knowledge needed to stop what was to come.

If the witch or her vampire learned the truth, there was no telling what would happen.

"Angelus?" Spike looked carefully at Willow. He wasn’t expecting that little revelation.

Willow sighed. "He was with me when… We were together when…"

"Stop!" Spike barked. He looked at her with hurt eyes. "How could you? With him?" When she didn’t answer, he continued. "Did the oath mean anything to you? Have you forgotten the bond?"

Willow stared at the man before her, feeling her anger rise. She stood up. "Now, you wait just a minute! How dare you come in here, and judge me. It has been two hundred years, Spike. Two centuries." She paused, not sure whether she should be apologizing or not. "I’m sure you have not spent the last two centuries being celibate and mourning over your lost love." She's napped, and then continued in a whisper, almost afraid to voice her concerns. "I doubt you had even given me a second thought until ran into me in the hall."

Willow turned away from him, not wanting to see the truth in his eyes. She looked out the window blankly, wishing, not for the first time that she had died that night so long ago. She was about to turn around and try and explain things to him when she felt it. The ever present sensation telling her of another immortal nearby.

Willow spun around, hopping over the bed, she grabbed her sword from where it lay near the door.

"Willow?" Spike asked, not knowing exactly what was going on.

Willow turned to face him. "Someone’s here." She didn’t wait for him to respond, instead leaving the room, her sword drawn.

When she reached the foot of the stairs, she narrowed her eyes as she scanned the room. "Who are you?" She asked into the seemingly empty room.

"Witch, I’ve come for your head. It will be mine."

Willow scoured the room with her eyes, finally settling on a shadow in the corner of the room. She approached the figure cautiously.

"Willow! Be careful!" Spike’s voice rang through the silence of the room.

Willow tensed. "You can’t interfere." She took another step closer to her opponent, hoping Spike would stay out of it.

Siorrue stepped out from the wall. "Are you ready to die?"

Willow smiled. "You first."

Spike watched in horror as Willow waged a battle for her head. It was a fight to the death, and there was nothing he could do. Nothing he could have said would have stopped what was happening now.

He was rooted in place as he watched the two immortals fight. Spike found himself admiring the way in which Willow moved. He had always admired her , but she had never been an excellent fighter before. Now, she moved with a gracefulness and confidence she had previously lacked.

So intent on her form and the way in which she moved Spike failed to notice that Willow had severed the other woman’s head, until he heard a crash. There was a field of energy leaving the fallen body. As the energy consumed Willow, the room was cast in eerie flashes of light, produced by the freak lightning storm.

After a few moments, Willow collapsed onto the floor, letting her sword fall. Spike ran to her and pulled her against his chest, rubbing her back soothingly.

"Willow, luv." He spoke softly, "Who was that?"

Willow looked up, green eyes meeting blue. "It’s over." She told him. "For two centuries she has hunted me. I never understood why. Now I do." Wi llow started to stand, allowing Spike to pull her to her feet.

Willow grabbed her sword and headed towards the door.

"Where are you going?" Spike asked confused.

Willow stopped, and turned towards Spike. She smiled softly at him. "I have to finish this." She took a step closer to him and cupped his cheek in her hand. "If I don’t make it back, I want you to know… I’m sorry. For Angelus. For everything I didn’t tell you. For…" her words were cut off as Spike places a tender kiss against her lips.

When he pulled away to let her breath, he smiled. "I know. Our bond cannot be unbroken." He reminded her.

Willow pulled herself away from the one place she wanted to be most. "I have to go."

"Where are you going?" He asked again.

She was almost out the door before he heard her answer. "To Elka. She has some explaining to do."

Willow strode into the club with a purpose. Her green eyes taking in the darkened bar. She smiled evilly when she saw Cienne talking to Angelus and a female vampire. She walked over and pushed herself in between the two vampires.

"Where is she?" She asked Cienne.

He tried to look ignorant. "Who?"

Willow's green eyes darkened in barely contained fury. She reached over the bar and pulled the demon up by his collar, hoisting him over the bar in a show of strength. "Don't play games with me, little man." She whispered into his ear. "Would you like me to tell Angelus here, about Drusilla's last visit?"

Cienne shook his head violently, hoping Angelus had not her Willow's whispered words. "No," he gasped as quietly as he could manage.

Willow dropped him to the floor, and leaned over the bar to peer down at him. "Now, Where. Is. She?"

Cienne pointed to the secret entrance. "Upstairs."

Willow left the bar and headed towards her destination.

Angelus smirked as she watched Cienne stand on shaky legs. "Red's a handful." He observed.

Cienne looked quizzically at the vampire. "How do you know her?" He wasn't exactly sure how safe it was to ask, but his curiosity got the better of him. Even after all these years, Willow was still a mystery. He didn't know anything about her. Who she was, where she came from, nothing of any consequence, other than she was immortal, and had a lot of friends in supernatural circles.

Angelus chuckled. "I guess you could say, she's my daughter." He laughed at Cienne's puzzled expression and ordered another drink.

Willow entered the private part of the club, and found her target almost immediately. The buzz she got off of another immortal was prevalent. She felt others like her all around. But the one she sought was her only concern. S he climbed up the stairs to the third level and slid into the booth across from Elka.

"Siorrue is dead." She spoke calmly.

Brief flashes of surprise, anger and then fear shown in Elka's violet eyes.

"You lied to me."

"Did I?" Elka quirked a brow. "If I recall, I didn't tell you anything. All of your knowledge, you gained from death. The deaths of those like us. I told you nothing." Elka's voice was hard.

Willow sighed, realizing the truth in Elka's words. "Now what? We fight? One of us dies? And for what? The memory of a long dead people?"

"We were strong once. We could have ruled." Elka's tone took on a far away note. "But we refused. We knew that the power sought wasn't gained through violence. And so we ran. From our home, from our history, from who we are." She spat the words, as if she could get the memories they caused out of her mind. "Now, we are nothing more than a memory, in some chronicle." Elka's voice had grown weary.

Willow looked at her old friend sadly. "We can destroy the stone. My power is strong. I won't even have to touch it."

"NO!" Elka nearly shouted. "I will have it. It belongs to my people."

"El, it needs to be destroyed. You know that. Spike and I…"

You. Will. Not. Have. It.!" Each word came out in a low growl.

Willow stood up, frustrated. "This has to end, one way or another." She started to walk off when Elka's voice stopped her.

"You are powerful. But don't think that you can beat me. Do not back me into a corner, Red."

Willow whipped around to face the older immortal.

"This isn't about you. It had ceased to be about you a thousand years ago. L'liora died, releasing you from your bond. You could have gone on. Lived. But you… you refused. You were so stubborn. You refuse to let the past go. Let it die, as we have done. Make a new life." Willow's green eyes bore into Elka's violet.

"Like you have done?" Elka hissed. "For two centuries you have hid. You have not lived. You have been dying a slow death, as have we all. You and I are no different."

Willow shook her head. "You don't understand. I haven't been hiding. I have lived my life." She explained.

Elka laughed. "Have you? Then why is it you have spent the last two centuries avoiding Spike? Why is it you have shared a bed with Angelus, and spent numerous time with Drusilla, but not a single phone call to your mate?"

Elka climbed out of the booth and looked Willow in the eye, "Tell me, Red, which one of us refuses to let the past go?" She walked away, leaving Willow to think about what she had said.

Willow stood there stunned, for countless minutes. The words spoken by Elka reverberated in her head. Was she right? Had she been hiding like a frightened child all these years?

Willow fell into the booth, realizing that she had been correct. She hadn't lived. She had barely survived. She sighed heavily and waved Lia over.

"Bring me one of those toxic concoctions Angelus is so fond of." Willow paused, "Actually, bring me three."

Lia nodded sympathetically as she went to get Willow's order.

"Little Tree, Miss Edith tells me trouble is coming."

Willow smiled at the sound of the familiar voice. "Drusilla."

Drusilla bent down and kissed Willow on the cheek. "Was Miss Edith right?"

Willow sighed. "As always. What did you see?"

Drusilla laughed, her eyes sparkling mischievously. "I never could fool you." She leaned across the booth, "Tell me, is Daddy here?"

Willow groaned as Lia returned with a tray. She set down a shot glass and a small pitcher in front of Willow, and an empty wine glass and bottle of blood wine in front of Drusilla. She disappeared as quickly as she had arrived.

After knocking back one shot of the dark blue liquid, Willow turned her green eyes back to the vampire. "Everyone is here. You, me, Angelus, Spike. It's like a bloody family reunion."

Drusilla giggled at Willow's use of Spike's euphemisms. "It's time" She whispered mysteriously.

Willow quirked an eyebrow. "What did you see, Dru?"

Drusilla smiled slyly as she took a drink of her bloodwine. She stood up and offered her hand to Willow. "Come, let's go see Daddy."

Willow stood up and finished off the last of the alcohol. She could feel it burning through her system. She followed Drusilla, too familiar with the vampires' visions, to bother asking for more details. She would share when she was ready.

Spike paced around the bar nervously. It had been several hours since Willow had left to go see Elka. He didn't know exactly what explanations she was after, but he knew that Elka was not above killing a friend to get what she wanted.

He heard the front door open as he poured himself and his sire a drink. He had just swallowed the last of his when Angelus entered.

"Drusilla's here." Angelus spoke as he took the offered drink.

"I know. No doubt for the same reason you are." He eyed his sire warily. "Why exactly are you here? Planning on destroying the world again? Or are you here for another reason?"

Angelus smirked at his childe. "What bothers you more? The fact that I had her, or the fact that I knew she was alive?"

"Does it matter?" Spike leaned against the bar.

Angelus looked up, his dark eyes serious. "Yes."

When Spike didn't answer, Angelus growled. "This isn't about me, or me and her. It never was. It's always been about you. It was two hundred years ago, and it still is now. If we all live another thousand years, it'll still be about you, my boy."

"If?" Spike looked quizzically at his sire.

Angelus sighed needlessly as he stood up. "If this hunter, this immortal who's after Red, gets a hold of the stone, none of us, man, demon or immortal will live to see the next century." His voice was more serious than Spike had heard it in a long time.

"The hunter is dead." Angelus stared disbelievingly at Spike. "Are you sure?"

"Bloody hell, I was standing not two feet away when Willow killed her!" Spike snapped.

Angelus smiled. "Problem solved."

"Not quite."

Both vampires turned at the sound of a slightly accented voice.

William, Angelus." Elka entered the room and headed straight for the bar.

"You shouldn't be here."

Elka raised an eyebrow. "I shouldn't be doing a lot of things. This is just the latest in a long line." She raised the glass to her lips as she nodded towards the front door. "Gentlemen, The fun's about to start."

Willow and Drusilla rode up the elevator in silence. Drusilla humming a tune softly, while Willow thought about all the things that could happen next. Siorrue was dead, but that didn't solve the problem about what to do with the stone. It should be destroyed, but Willow doubted Elka would allow that to happen.

She didn't even know where the stone was, only that Amanda had it. That was another problem. Would Amanda allow them to have it? If not, Willow feared someone would lose her head.

Her inner musings were halted as the elevator neared its stop and she felt the buzz. It seemed to fill her senses. It was powerful. She turned to Drusilla. "We have company."

Drusilla followed Willow out of the elevator and into the apartment. The immortal had her sword drawn, just in case it wasn't Amanda or Nick. Drusilla snarled viscously when she saw Elka standing casually in the room.

"Well, well, if it isn't the infamous Drusilla." Elka smirked at the golden eyes f the vampiress. She turned to Willow, "What did I tell you about the company you keep?"

Willow's response was interrupted by the addition of two more immortals. "Is this a private party, or can anyone join?"

Willow watched in dreaded silence as Amanda and Nick entered the room. She felt her world collapsing around her. She didn't know why Amanda had stolen the stone. If she even knew what it was. And if she did, would she be willing to give it up.

Amanda smiled. "You must be the legendary Elka. It's not often I meet someone older than I." She nodded her head slightly. She turned towards Nick. Nick, Elka, Elka, Nick." She winked at Willow as she continued to speak to nick. "Elka here wants my head. She thinks I have something that belongs to her."

"You do." Elka's face was expressionless, but Willow could see the anger in her eyes.

Willow watched Amanda carefully, unsure what her teacher would do next. She was famous for not letting go of her 'prizes' without a fight.

Amanda's dark eyes sparkled with amusement. "Do I now? As I recall the legend, The stone belongs to the one with the power to affect it." She raised an eyebrow at Elka. "And if I'm not mistaken, "That's not either one of us."

Every eye in the room turned to look at Willow.

In a small pouch, in a hidden compartment, in the next room, the object in question glowed with unrestrained power. The life force was strong. It could sense a change. The power coiled around the room with a fury.

Willow could feel the tension in the room. It surrounded her, suffocating her. But there was something else to. A knowledge born of centuries of power. Power she contained, power she could harness.

She turned to look at Elka, green eyes staring into violent, in a silent warning. "Do you know where it was forged?"

Elka glanced away, knowing instantly what it was Willow was planning. And knowing how dangerous such an attempt could be. "It won't work. The dimension has shifted too far. You would have to enter our dimension, our hell, and release its power there."

Willow nodded. "I understand the risks."

"Well I don't. Care to explain?" Spike looked from Elka to Willow and back again.

It was Drusilla who spoke. "Little tree needs to release the stone's power. She can't do it here. Miss Edith says it would all end. She must go there."

"Where, baby?" Angelus spoke quietly, recognizing the escalated tension for what it was.

"Dru smiled at her Sire, and then turned her gaze to Elka. "To her world. Only there can all be made right."

"You're world?" Nick asked, confused by the direction the conversation had taken.

Elka glared at the vampiress. "This doesn't concern you. Any of you." She snapped, not wanted to reveal her peoples true origins.

"Like Hell it doesn't!" Spike snarled taking a step closer to Elka. "If it concerns Red, it concerns me."

"Spikey's right. We're family." Drusilla looked to Angelus for confirmation. When he nodded, she turned back to Elka.

Elka removed her gaze from the vampiress and turned questioningly to Nick and Amanda, seeing their determination to remain, she sighed. "Very well, Red." She nodded her consent as she hopped on the bar's counter.

Willow smiled her thanks, and turned to face Spike, knowing he would be the one who had the most questions.

"The Viata' originated from another dimension. One parallel to our own. If the stone's power is harnessed here, both worlds will be destroyed." She paused, letting the information sink in before she continued. "The stone can't be destroyed, at least not in the conventional sense. The power must be released. Harnessed as it were. If it is harnessed here, all will be destroyed."

"And if it is harnessed there?" Nick asked, beginning to understand.

"The power will be released into the atmosphere, containing the explosion, keeping the fabric intact." Willow explained.

"I know I don't really want to know, but… what fabric." Amanda asked, seriously wishing she had not come home.

"The fabric of reality." Angelus smirked. "See, this dimension, as all dimensions, are all held together. An explosion like the one we're talking about could destroy them all." He chuckled as the immortal couple visibly paled.

"The problem is," Elka added, "My dimension is constantly shifting. It never stays in one place very long, and it has moved so far from its original location, finding it will be difficult." She looked at Willow, "Not to mention that if we find it, the odds aren't good that it will remain in the same place long enough to dispel the energy."

Willow turned to Amanda. "Where is it?"

Amanda shook her head. "No. I'm not giving it to you, so that you can get yourself killed. The way I understand it, as long as it's power remains untouched, it isn't dangerous."

"That's isn't an option anymore, deary." Drusilla's eyes had taken on this far away look. "Its power has been awakened." She smiled.

Willow looked expectantly at Amanda. Amanda shook her head, causing Willow to growl. She looked over her shoulder to where Angelus was sitting. "Angelus? Where is it?"

Angelus watched everyone with amusement, as they waited for him to respond. He thought about denying that he knew the location, but after sensing Willow's determination, he relented. "Coffee table. Secret compartment."

"Elka?" Willow asked, knowing she could touch the stone, not until she was safely in the Viata' dimension.

Elka slid off of the counter and headed into the livingroom. After a moment, she called out. "Got it. C'mon, Red, we don't have much time. Its power has already been activated."

Willow smiled sadly at the assembled group before she headed out of the room, with Spike on her heels.

"I'm coming with you."

Willow stopped and turned to face Spike. "You can't. You won't survive."

"Actually he can." Angelus stood in the doorway, smirking at Willow, "If you complete the bonding."

Willow glared at the older vampire and then looked questioningly at Elka, silently asking if this were true. Elka nodded.

Angelus entered the room and smiled. It was time, finally. After two centuries his childe would finally complete the binding. He would claim his mate, as she would claim him. He was honored to be present at the ceremony. It wasn't often that a sire was completely accepted by both parties. And it was equally rare that a sire would wish to be a part of the ritual, especially if said mate wasn't a vampire.

However, the oddity of the present situation, didn't change how he felt about Willow. She was Spike's other half. She had always been. She was born for him and he for her. The difference of two centuries between the two didn't change that. Angelus chuckled to himself as he realized that the two would never have found one another if it hadn't been for him.

Willow sat inside the circle drawn on the floor, facing spike. Elka's dagger in her hand. She drew the blade across her palm, slicing the skin. "My blood calls you to me, for now, for always."

Spike took the knife and sliced his own palm. "My blood calls you to me, for now for always."

They each squeezed their blood into a glass, which already contained small amounts of blood belonging to Angelus and Drusilla.

"From the blood of the chilled to the blood of the sire, we witness this union." Angelus spoke reverently.

Drusilla giggled. "From the blood of the sister, to the blood of the mother, we witness this joining."

"I bind myself to you, from now until death. " Willow lifted the glass to her lips and drank.

"Your life, to my life. Your blood to my blood, from now until death." Spike drained the last of the liquid, savoring the taste of the mixture.

Willow felt the energy as it surrounded her and her mate, binding them together, for eternity.

Elka paced around the room. The ritual was taking too long. They were running out of time. They wouldn't have enough time to make it to the doorway. They would have to open the vortex here. That could cause a problem, but they didn't have another choice.

She looked around the empty warehouse, wondering if this was the end. She had lived far too long to see it end this way. Willow had been right. She hadn't lived. L'liora had died over a thousand years ago, and she had wasted that time. Collecting artifacts of a long dead race. And now, if would all end, unless Willow was successful. But even if she were, it was doubtful, they would return. There were too many variables. Too many reasons they couldn't succeed.

Elka was startled out of her thoughts by the door being opened. Willow and Spike entered the warehouse. She could feel the difference. The energy that surrounded them was strong powerful. So much so, that she found herself wondering if they could actually do it. Could they restore the balance? Repair the damage that had been done, was being done.

"Okay, lets get this party started." Spike grinned wolfishly.

Willow rolled her eyes and began to draw the necessary circle in the ground. Chanting softly under her breath, she expanded the ring. The flame with had started, grew wider, engulfing her and Spike, who stood in the center."

"Guardian of Viata', grant us passage." She spoke softly.

In response, a vortex started to form, sucking the couple into another world.

Spike looked around, "It's dark." He noted.

"No sun" Willow explained. They live in total darkness." She turned to Spike. "Let me see the stone."

Spike pulled the stone out of his duster pocket and handed it over.

Willow clasped the stone between her two hands. She could feel the power. It was building. Her hands glowed, lighting up the darkness, revealing a thick forrest.

"L'liora, daughter of the old ones, I release you." Willow spoke loudly into the darkened sky. "I return you to your home, and ask that we be returned to ours."

There was a loud clap of thunder, and a flash of purple lighting. The stone exploded within her clasped hands, as the vortex disappeared into nothingness.

Willow and Spike looked around in the blackness.

"What happened?"

Elka watched the vortex close in on it and sighed. It was over. She would never go home again.

Drusilla collapsed on the floor, images filling her head.

"Dru baby, what is it?" Angelus asked picking her up and placing her on his lap.

"They're gone." She whispered as one blood tear slid down her pale cheek.

Angelus entered "Deaths Door" and searched the room silently. He spotted Amanda and Nick sitting quietly at a booth. He strolled up to them, sword in hand. He set the weapon down on the table in front of the two immortals, and walked away. He was almost a yard away when Amanda spoke.

"Are you certain?"

Angelus stopped, and without turning around he spoke. "Yes." He left the building, knowing that wherever they were his children were lost to him.