Title: …In Darkest Night
Author: DWDuck
Pairings: Buffy + Spike. Willow + Diana
Rating: R
Disclaimer: I do not own any of the rights to either Buffy or the DC Universe (specifically Green Lantern and Wonder Woman.) The rights belong to Joss Whedon and DC Comics; I'm just playing with their things.
Setting: Season 7 BtVS. Spike did not return from Africa immediately after the Demon Trials.

Summary: Buffy gets help in fighting the First Evil in the form of an Amazon Princess as well as the newest Green Lantern for Sector 2814, William "Spike" Pratt.

…In Darkest Night

African Savannah

Spike stumbled out of the cave that housed the Demon Trials and collapsed in a heap. The demon lord known as Lloyd had granted him his one wish for surviving the Trials. Spike had endured the unspeakable pain and suffering of the Trials with only one goal in mind. He wanted his soul back. Now that his soul had been returned to him, new agony was forming in his chest. Spike knew his heart would break under all of the remorse and guilt he had accumulated since becoming a vampire. The weight of his sin felt like it would crush him into a pale, yet still devilishly handsome, puddle of goo. Thoughts of suicide ran through his head briefly as the faces of all his victims flashed one at a time before his eyes. The man inside of Spike fought back and he screamed into the night, refusing to be overwhelmed by thoughts of ending his existence. He swallowed his remorse and focused on his reason for getting his soul back in the first place…a blonde Slayer by the name of Buffy.

Spike thought that he had loved the Slayer before, but now he knew what true love felt like. Tears streamed from his eyes as he marveled at the beauty of it. Clinging to the image of her face, Spike pushed back the darkness threatening to swallow his soul. After about an hour of crying he stood up, brushed the dirt off of his pants, and said, "Well, that's enough of that. Time to head back to Buffy and tell her how I feel." Spike walked over to the old, gnarled tree that stood by the cave entrance and found the beat up dirt bike he had "borrowed" still leaning against the trunk. Spike got on it and after a few tries got the motor running.

Spike's mind was divided between experiencing the beauty of the night and trying to figure out what to say to Buffy. He was so preoccupied that he was startled when he saw a huge shooting star in the side mirror on his handlebars. Spike brought the bike to a stop and stared at the marvelous sight. He smiled and thought about writing a poem about how lovely it was (something he hadn't done in over a hundred years.) That was until he realized that the shooting star kept getting bigger and looked like it was coming straight towards him.

"Oh bugger!" Spike swore as he gunned the throttle and fishtailed down the game trail. He kept looking in his mirror and saw the fireball was getting closer. Spike smacked his forehead with his palm. He braked hard and slid the rear of the bike to his right. He shot off again at a path 90 degrees from the one he had just been on. Spike chuckled and then looked in his mirror again and saw the large flaming object had changed course along with him. "Bloody hell! You've got to be kidding me!" he yelled. "I did not just go through a week of torture to get my soul back just to be smited from above," Spike said to himself. He glanced over his shoulder and imagined he could hear the roar of the flames coming off the falling "whatever it was". Spike shook his head in dismay as he came up with a plan. "Well, I've done stupider things," he said.

Spike opened up the throttle all the way and put on as much speed as he could. When all he could see in his mirror was rolling orange and red flames, Spike laid the dirt bike over and slid on the ground for over 100 feet. The object flew past him and Spike could feel the heat coming off of it. The "shooting star" came to earth with a huge, booming crash. It crashed on the other side of a small hill less than 100 yards away from where he lay in the dirt.

"That was too bloody close," Spike muttered. He looked over to the hill and saw a faint glow coming from the other side. His vampire hearing picked up the sound of someone moaning. Spike started talking to himself, trying to talk some sense into him. "DO NOT go over there, Spike" he warned himself. "You know what happens every time in the movies. The nasty alien thingy jumps out and does the nasty with some poor bloke's face," he said as he held his hand up to his face, mimicking a monster. Spike heard another painful moan. "Oh…who am I kidding," he sighed and started trudging up the hill.

Spike let out an impressed whistle when he saw the wreckage strewn around. "I haven't seen anything like this since the last time Giles let Buffy use his car," he said. Another moan came from the wreckage and Spike ran down the hill towards it. When he got to the piles of twisted metal and plastic, he saw a leg under a particularly large piece of debris. Spike used his enhanced strength and managed to lift the debris and move it to the side. He found a purple skinned man in a green and black one piece suit under the debris. Spike knelt down next to the injured being, not sure of where to begin. He remembered hearing something about not moving some one until you knew the patients injuries. A piece of wreckage to Spike's right gave off a shower of sparks and then ignited. "Well, I guess that streamlines the process now a bit," Spike said. He put his arms under the injured man's back and hips and picked him up in a smooth motion. The purple man weighed a little more than Spike would have thought, but he managed the extra weight with ease. A second shower of sparks sent Spike scurrying to the other side of the hill where he ditched his motorcycle.

A second large explosion told Spike he had been right to move the patient. He gently laid the man down next to a tree. "My name's Spike, I want to help you," Spike said, not expecting an answer. From how high tech the wreckage looked and the general direction he came from (up); Spike guessed the purple skinned man was an alien, rather than a demon. He was surprised when the injured man opened his eyes and spoke in a pained voice.

"Abin Sur," the man moaned.

"Um…Abin Sur to you too," Spike said hesitantly.

"It's my name," Abin Sur whispered.

Spike leaned back a bit, embarrassed. "Oh…sorry about that," he apologized.

"Are you the one who was riding the two wheel conveyance?" Abin Sur asked.

"Two wheeled conveyance? Oh the motorcycle, yeah that was me," Spike said. "No offense, Mate, but your piloting skills suck more than a starved fledgling," he pointed out.

Abin Sur looked at Spike accusingly. "You kept moving," he countered. "I was trying to land next to you. Your rapid change in course was more than the damaged life pod could take," Abin Sur explained.

"Oops," Spike said. He thought a moment and then asked, "Wait…why where you trying to land next to me?"

"This," Abin Sur said as he lifted up his hand. A green ring in the shape of an old railway lantern glowed on one of his three fingers and then slipped off on its own. The ring floated upwards and stopped in front of Spike's face. It gave off a brighter flash of green light and then went back to its normal glow. Spiked waited for an explanation, not wanting to insult the dying alien by asking a stupid question. "I'm dying. I was wounded in a battle far out in space," Abin Sur told him. "The ring knew this and directed me to come to Earth to find my replacement," he said. "We were headed to what you call the US when the ring suddenly picked up a flare of intense courage and will," Abin Sur whispered. "I forced a flight path change to home in on this new candidate. The ring became more sure as we saw you," he said.

"Me?" Spike asked in astonishment. "Sounds like you're looking for a champion. If so, you found the wrong bloke," he told Abin Sur.

"Put on the ring and we'll see," Abin Sur said; a slight hint of a smile on his pained face. Spike shrugged his shoulders and grabbed the floating ring. It felt warm and comforting in his hand. Spike slipped the ring on his right hand and noted how it fit perfectly. "Good…now to see if the ring made a mistake," Abin Sur said. "I'll need you to repeat something after me. If nothing happens then the ring was wrong and I will have no successor," he said.

Spike looked warily at the ring and then alien. "What happens if the ring was right?" he asked.

This time Abin Sur smiled fully. "Then you start a wondrous journey and fulfill your potential as a 'champion', as you put it," he said.

Spike took a deep breath (some habits die hard) and nodded his head. Abin Sur coughed up some dark blue blood and then said, "Repeat after me." Abin Sur recited the oath he had said daily for well over a century.

Spike thought it sounded a little corny, but he decided to humor the dying alien. Spike did as he was told, even though he had a sudden bad feeling about it. He repeated the oath:
"In brightest day,
In blackest night,
No evil shall escape my sight,
Let those who worship evil's might,
Beware my power…Green Lantern's light!"
Spike felt power rushing through his body to the ring. Instinctively he held up his right hand to the sky. A beam of pure green light shot out of the ring and streaked heavenward. A green energy started crawling down Spike's arm towards the rest of his body. As it progressed, Spike's clothing was transformed into a uniform similar to Abin Sur's.

"The ring chose you, Spike," Abin Sur said ever so softly. It was only Spike's vampire hearing that allowed him to hear it.

Spike looked over his body, not sure what to think. The outfit was horrible, too much like a uniform; but the power flowing through him was terrific. "Abin, this feels great," Spike said happily. He glanced down and saw the alien's chest had stopped rising. "Abin?" Spike asked. He knelt next to the dead body and gently closed the alien's eyes. Spike walked over to the motorcycle and retrieved a small camp shovel. He went about the task of digging Abin Sur a grave.

When Spike had tapped down the last bit of earth over the strange purple man, he sighed and straightened up. Spike looked at the ring curiously. "Wish I had asked old Abin if you came with an instruction manual," he sighed. Spike felt a vibration coming from the ring and suddenly his body was covered in a green glow. "Uh…oh…" Spike said. He shot upwards at nearly twice the sound of speed and continued to accelerate. When he reached the edge of the atmosphere, a green and black helmet took shape over his head and black gloves appeared on his hands. Not an inch of his skin was showing and Spike soon found out why. He was leaving the planet behind him and there was nothing except his new suit to block out the deadly rays of the sun.

The ring shot out another blast of light. This blast triggered a wormhole that Spike sped into. As he crossed the event horizon, Spike thought, "Shit…Now how am I supposed to tell Buffy that I really love her?"

Island of Themyscira

Princess Diana looked through the smoke the bronze brazier was giving off. The oldest of the seers was sitting across her. The old woman smiled at the young Amazon. "Thank you for coming at such at short notice, your Highness," the seer said.

"You know I would always come running when you called, Serra," Diana told the woman who had helped raise her. "What is it that I can do for you?" she asked. "Can I get more wood for your fire. I know how the cold has been affecting you more the last couple of years," Diana said.

"No dear one, that's not why I called you here," Serra said. "I have had some very disturbing visions…visions of the outside world," she told Diana.

Diana perked up mentally. She had grown up the Island of Themyscira and only knew about what on in the rest of the world through what the seers and their spies told her. "Tell me," the Princess said.

"Before I do, what do you remember about the story we teach the younger sisters about 'the Betrayed One'?" the seer asked.

Diana thought for a moment. She had an eidetic memory and quickly came up with the right story. "Yes, I remember you telling me about her, and what the men did to her" Diana said.

Serra nodded. "Her current vessel is under attack from the First Evil, also known as the spirit of fear," she said. "I have foreseen that even though she will fight valiantly, she will not succeed alone," Serra told her.

Diana took in a quick breath of excitement. "Am I to help her?" she asked hopefully. Diana had been created on the island and had never left its shores.

"Yes, dear one. The council of elders wanted you to stay here, but I reminded them that the gods created you to be a protector of the whole world, not just our little corner of it," Serra said. "The time has finally come for our Princess to make her debut in the world of man," she said.

Diana could barely contain her excitement. All of her years of training and education had led up to this moment. "Where do I need to go to help the Betrayed One?" Diana asked.

Serra focused her gaze into the rising smoke. "A small town called Sunnydale," she replied.