Title:
The Outcasts
Author:
FerretGirl
Pairing/Characters: Wesley/Spike, Faith, Willow.
Rating: PG13 to NC-17
Disclaimer: They boys and girls are not mine, I'm just playing with
them.
Summary: A second chance, a new beginning?.
Spoilers: AtS S1 to 4, BtvS S3 and S5/6 I guess. At the beginning S4 of
AtS and S7 of BtvS, Joss and I go our separate ways
again.
A big thanks for my beta's miniera,
and eloise_bright
for their help and encouragement.
The Outcasts
"The warriors are gone, this world is now
without champions," the female Oracle said.
"This cannot be, it shall not be permitted," her brother answered.
"But it is so, what can we do?" The female Oracle questioned.
"We must seek champions elsewhere," the male said.
"But where? All worlds need their champions, we cannot just take them,"
She said.
"There are the outcasts in this world," her brother said, pointing
toward one of the worlds.
"They shall not go willingly, they are known for their stubbornness the
ones from this world," she said thoughtfully.
"Then we shall give them no choice, until after they've spend some time
in the world who lost their champion," the male Oracle decided.
The female thought about this for a moment. "But they will not work
together. They are all like fire and water," she argued.
"This is best combination. They will learn to get along. They are a lot
alike. Those from this world adapt faster then those from any other world.
Especially when without much choice," he reasoned.
"This is true," his sister said, circling the glowing ball. "It
shall be done."
They both nodded their agreement and four flashes appeared over one world and
re-appeared over another.
"Done," both voices said.
Somewhere in England
The redhead looked on as the flower grew and bloomed as if mesmerized. A small smile was on her face as she thought of Tara, the one who had loved flowers.
"This flower doesn't belong here," a soft British voice said.
"I know, Giles," Willow sighed. Yes, she knew this, but what harm did it do? It was only one little flower. She was getting frustrated in the coven. Everyone was looking at her with fear in their eyes, making sure that she never overstepped any boundaries. Boundaries they had set, not her own boundaries.
Giles sat down next to her, looking at the young woman with worry. "You seem...frustrated," he said. "What's the matter?"
Willow thought about this for a while. "This isn't working Giles," she said, holding up her hand to forestall any interruptions that were sure to come. "I have this power, I know how to use it. But here, here they won't let me develop it. Use it for good, teach me how to use it," she tried to explain. "They are afraid of me, of what I can do. As are my friends", she whispered.
"You were about to destroy the world Willow," Giles pointed out. "You would have if Xander hadn't stopped you."
"I know," she said again, looking up. Unshed tears shinning in her eyes. "It's just...I think I have no purpose here anymore Giles," she whispered. "Like I don't belong."
Giles looked at her alarmed and was about to tell her otherwise when he sensed magic in the air. He frowned and looked at Willow, about to lecture her again.
Willow however looked at him, rather puzzled herself. "What...?" she started to say, but that was about as far as she came. A bright, white light enveloped her.
When Giles could see again, Willow...was gone.
Somewhere in Africa
"You have done well Vampire. You shall receive your reward," the demon said. He reached out and his claw touched Spike's chest, where his heart would be.
Spike fell on his knees as the searing, burning pain went though his dead body. His mouth open for a cry that never came out. When he awoke several hours later, the cave was empty. The demon gone.
"No, no, no," Spike moaned. He was bombarded with images of people. People he'd tortured, people he'd killed, people he'd hurt...Buffy. And with it came the guilt, the shame, the pain.
"Nooooo," Spike shouted, standing up on shaky legs. "This isn't what I wanted! This isn't what I asked for!" But it was what he had been given, his reward. "Get back here you bastard!" he yelled in the empty cave.
But no one came. He was alone. Alone with the guilt, the shame, the pain...the memories. "Buggering hell! What am I going to do now?" Spike asked himself, burrying his head in his hands.
He looked up when he felt a tingle at the spine of his back. Narrowing his eyes suspiciously he glanced around. Magic, he could feel it working. Had the demon come back?
The white light enveloping him was so unexpected, that he was unable to react. When the light disappeared and the darkness was returned to the cave...Spike was gone.
Womans Penitentiary California, Maximum Security
Faith lay on the bunk in her cell. She could just see outside the small window in her cell. A privilege, most cells didn't have any windows. A year of good behavior and there were benefits to be expected. Today, she noticed, it rained.
Wesley had come to visit again. She was depressed by how he looked and how he just didn't seem to care about himself at all. Angel never came by anymore, had stopped doing so some time ago. There were letters of course, but even those had stopped about six months ago.
Now she was feeling depressed. Why was she still in here? It wasn't doing her any good, it wasn't doing the world any good. She should be out there, fight the good fight, help the helpless and all that shit. But there was no room for her in that world was there?
She wasn't wanted by most. Buffy was holding her own, didn't need Faith's help. Angel was holding his own, didn't need her help. Wesley wasn't holding his own, but he obviously didn't want her help.
She felt lost. She hadn't felt this lost since that faithful night in the rain. When she had tortured Wesley and had tried to get Angel to kill her. It had rained then, like it did now. How ironic, she thought.
She sat up, looking around suspiciously when she felt a tingling in her body. 'Slayer senses' Buffy would call it. She felt it now.
"What the fuck...?" she started, but before she could turn to yell for help, a white light exploded in her cell, shone outside the door.
By the time the guards got the door open and frantically looked inside...Faith was gone.
An alley somewhere in Los Angeles
He was drunk. Riproaringly, completely bonkers drunk. And he didn't care. It made him feel numb. Got rid of those pesky feelings of guilt, shame and the pain that appeared to be his constant companions.
Wesley swayed down the alley on his way home, or at least he thought it was in the direction of his home. Knowing that he was asking for trouble. Knowing that deep down inside, maybe he wanted trouble. Nothing like a good fight to forget what the alcohol couldn't. If he was lucky he might even get killed.
"Bloody Angel, sodding friends," he muttered to himself, his tone bitter. "Ha! Some friends they turned out to be," he said a little to loud. "Bloody prophecy, I'm an idiot," he berated himself.
"What have we here, a pretty looking snack." A vampire jumped from behind some crates and glanced at Wesley. It was a dirty looking man, probably died during his early twenties. Still wearing a 'Frankie goes to Hollywood' T-shirt and some faded jeans.
"Oh just my luck," Wesley muttered, rolling his eyes. "I run into an eighties reject vampire."
"Hey! Did you just insult me?" The vampire growled. He grabbed Wesley by his jacket and slammed him against the wall.
Wesley winced when he felt the back of his head connect hard with the stone wall. "Yes, yes I did," Wesley smirked, "What of it?"
The vampire was about to make a come back, and quite a witty one he thought, when he looked around confused. Something wasn't right, but he had no idea what.
"Get on with it man, I haven't all night." Wesley sighed, not noticing anything. The next thing he knew, a white light exploded in front of his eyes. How odd, Wesley thought, this wasn't at all what I'd imagined when dying.
The vampire crumbled to dust when the light reached its brightest point. When the light was gone, only a pile of dust remained in the alley. Wesley...was gone.
2004 by FerretGirl
