Like Father -- part 15 of The Island of Galleno (Only a man who has felt ultimate despair is capable of feeling ultimate bliss.)
by Isabelle
Rating: R (for cursing, mild nudity, adult situations and violence)
Disclaimers: BTVS belong to Joss Whedon, ME, and UPN they are being used for entertainment, I don't own them. The Count of Monte Cristo belongs to Alexandre Dumas--Spike's journey was taken from the idea of the book and is used in the skeleton of the Series. Lyrics belong to Creed's With Arms Wide Opened.
Summary: The moment that Spike finally has Buffy he is vamp-napped by Riley and a new officer, Jack Marshall and sent to the Island of Galleno off the Moroccan coast where all the leftovers of the Initiative are being placed. Buffy frantically looks for Spike but gets news that he was 'accidentally killed' by Jack, who decides to make Sunnydale his residence. The whole thing is Spike trying to get back to Sunnydale and Buffy thinking he's dead. It's filled with exotic places, tons of Original Characters, mysticism, enchantment, magic and love. It takes him years to find out who he is before he can find the one he loves.
Spoilers: Set after Normal Again, Season 6
Feedback: bih80reviews@yahoo.com
Archiving: Carnal Sins, DeathMarkedLove, and Only Time--all others please ask.
A/N: I know a lot of you are waiting for Spike to kill Jack but I think William should be first to meet his father therefore I gave him first shot. *g*
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Well I just heard the news today
It seems my life is going to change
I closed my eyes, begin to pray
Then tears of joy stream down my face
With arms wide open
Under the sunlight
Buffy dashed into the house, almost tripping on her heels to find Giles sitting at the floor of the stairs with his head in his hands.
"Giles!"
His head snapped up to look at her. She was pale and worry was written all over her face.
"What happened?" she cried.
He slowly took the letter from his pocket, the same letter he had read over and over again since he found it on William's bed.
She quickly took the paper, with trembling hands.
As she read it a small sob escaped her mouth and she brought her manicured hand up to prevent herself from bawling all over the place.
"Oh god!" she whispered, almost hastily. "Why... how..."
"I guess he tried to wake me," Giles said silently.
Buffy was shivering, suddenly the night wasn't as damp and hot as it had seemed. She met her ex-watcher's eyes.
"He's only a baby, Giles..."
Giles nodded. "I know, the police are out there, right now."
Buffy pulled on her resolve face. "I have to do something," she started up the stairs.
"Where are you going?" Giles asked after her.
"I'm changing, my baby is out there all alone in the streets of Los Angeles--anything...things that I don't even want to think about can happen to him... I need to find him... he needs his mom," she said, breathing in deeply before she started loosing her nerve.
"Buffy!" Giles cried after her, going up the stairs himself. "The police are already looking for him."
"He's not their child--he's mine!" she hissed and entered her bedroom with the Englishman trailing behind her.
"You're no longer the Slayer, Buffy--let the proper authorities handle this!"
She froze and looked at him, little ice pixels in her eyes. "This is not the job of a Slayer, Giles--it's the job of a mother."
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Welcome to this place
I'll show you everything
With arms wide open
Well I don't know if I'm ready
To be the man I have to be
Spike blinked at the little boy before him.
"You're who?"
William arched his small eyebrow at Spike. "I know you."
"You do?" Spike was now beyond confused.
"You're Spike!" William grinned at him.
Spike froze. "Who told you that?"
A small little hand reached out to touch his beard. "You have a berd."
"Beard," Spike corrected him then smiled.
"You talk like him... and your hair's not white." William cocked his head to the side. "I knew you were coming, the old man told me in my dreams."
Spike sighed. "Is the entire bloody child population dreamin' 'bout me then?"
William grinned. "My mommy loves you."
Spike's face softened. "She does, does she?"
William nodded.
"Does she talk about me?"
"Sometimes... sometimes she's just sad but I know she's thinking 'bout you." William looked down at his bag and pulled a blankie out. "Smell!" he demanded.
Spike looked at the child quizzically and leaned in to smell the material.
His pores filled with different senses.
He could smell Buffy, the young boy... and himself in it.
"Where did you get this?" Spike asked him.
"It was mommy's blanket and she gave it to me when I was scared at night... like tonight," he frowned.
"What does your 'da think of this development... your mom and a dead man's blanket?" Spike grinned.
"He's not my dad... you are."
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Spike gulped.
Took a deep breath.
Then looked at the child's eyes.
He knew those eyes.
They were his eyes.
And his cheeks... and his hair... and how the hell was this possible?
"What?" he asked, although he already knew the answer. "How did this happen?"
William looked around, unsure... maybe a little rejected... he didn't think Spike would act that way.
"I dunno...mommy said babies come from the sea, do you think babies come from the sea?"
Spike looked down to the ground... before he fainted and saw William's crushed glasses. He had the same when he was a little chap...
He picked them up.
"They broke," William stated, solemnly.
"I'll get you a new pair, ok, no one's going to be mad," Spike looked at him.
William had tears about to spill from his eyes.
"What's wrong?" Spike asked, panicked. He didn't know how to deal with a child.
William burst out sobbing, and hiccupping and Spike stood there, not knowing what to do. "There, there, 'tike..."
That only made William cry harder. "You don't want me," he sobbed.
Spike's mouth just hung opened and then he tentatively wrapped his arms around the small body before him. "What's that talk?"
But when his skin touched the little boy's he just knew... like a current and he instinctively picked him up in arms and hugged him against his body.
William curled up on Spike and whimpered against his chest.
Spike sighed... it was the most amazing experience he had ever felt, he felt all mushy and soft and happy it was ridiculous yet perfectly normal.
He held William closer, and closer until he sobbed along with the little boy.
"I'm sorry, dad," William murmured.
"No sorries, get that, bitty bad?" he asked him, pulling him away to look at his face. "M'not leaving you again, get that?"
William nodded eagerly.
"Has he ever 'urt you, or your mom?" Spike asked him.
"He's mean... and he's never home... sometimes mom cries, but she says she was reading a sad book but mom doesn't read."
Spike nodded, his anger for Jack Marshalls rising. "I'm going to take care of everything, ok--we're going to be a family and no one is taking that away, got it?"
William nodded again. "Got it."
Spike smiled softly at him... his son... he was one lucky bastard. He leaned in and kissed William's forehead. William sighed and rested his small head on Spike shoulder.
Spike leaned down and picked up his book bag and carried him and Mr. Gordo to the limousine.
I'll take a breath, take her by my side
We stand in awe, we've created life
With arms wide open Under the sunlight
Welcome to this place I'll show you everything
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Spike looked down at the tousled blond head, resting on his chest. "You hungry?"
Blue eyes looked back up at him and nodded.
"What would you like to eat?" Spike asked, he was sure that Bourbon and cigarettes were not going to do for William.
William thought for a moment and then grinned, brightly. "Happy Meal!"
Spike choked. "What?" he asked, startled.
"Nuggets and French fries!" he said happily.
"Oh," Spike chuckled. "Of course... off to clown land we go." He touched the beep on the side of his door. "Jake, do you know any McDonalds opened 24/7?"
The driver nodded. "Yeah, there's one about fifteen minutes from here."
"That's where we're going," Spike told him.
"Will you go down the slide with me? Mom always does it," William looked at him, innocently.
Spike groaned. "Fine... no body better see me or there goes my reputation."
William giggle. "Yey! MickeyD's!"
Fifteen minutes later Spike was standing before a young teenager who was chewing her gum loudly and waiting impatiently for him to order.
"Humm... a happy meal?" he looked down at William who was standing on his tip-toes, trying to look over the counter. Spike picked him up and sat him on it.
"Nuggets!"
"Happy meal with nuggets... and fries--"
"It comes with it," the girl told him, she looked extremely bored.
Spike took a calming breath. "Right, the meal thing."
"I want Piglet!" William announced.
Spike leaned in to look at the girl. "Can you make sure we get the pig?"
She blew a bubble. "We ran out of Piglet. We have... the donkey, Eoore."
William frowned and looked as if he was about to cry. "I want Piglet."
"Is there any way you can get me the pig, before the kid starts crying?" Spike asked desperately.
"No, if I were to call in a favor to all the kids that want the pig I'd be fired," she snapped at him.
Spike growled. "Get your ass back there and find a damn pig!"
The girl's eyes widened when his eyes twinkled yellow and she scurried off.
Spike sighed and ran his hand through his hair. This parenting business was something else. Harassing the fast food staff and going down slides.
William was looking at him with wide eyes.
"You're getting the pig," Spike told him.
"You said a popoo word," William told him, his eyes wide in wonderment. His dad was super cool.
"I did?" Spike asked confused.
"Mommy says never to say those words."
Shit, Spike scolded himself. "Only grownups can say those."
"When am I going to be a grown up?" William asked him, playing with the strings of his small boots.
"When you're 18 and even then we'll have talks." Spike told him and smiled when the girl came back with a wrapped Piglet.
"There you are, sir," she said nervously.
Spike smiled and yanked the toy from her. "Now I'm a satisfied customer."
He ripped the toy out of the plastic bag and handed it to William who happily accepted it. He had many things to tell his mom when he got back him. She had never fought to get him the toy he wanted.
"And the meal," the girl said, taking Spike's money and giving him back his change.
Spike picked up William with one arm and his happy meal on his other hand and dreadfully headed towards the playground. He idly wondered why the tike wouldn't be asleep at this hour of the night.
With arms wide open
Now everything has changed
I'll show you love I'll show you everything
With arms wide open
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
"Anything?" Buffy asked rather desperately as she walked into her home. She had been out searching for hours.
Giles looked grim, Jack stood next to him--although he looked troubled he really didn't look worried.
"Buffy... you need to sit down," Giles told her gently.
Her guts were twisting inside like a bunch of tossed spaghetti.
"Just say it, Giles--you know I can take it!" she cried, nervous as a leaf.
From behind him Jack pulled a pair of smashed glasses. Small little glasses that she recognized.
"The police found this in an alley downtown," he told her softly. He shrugged as she gaped at the pair. "I'm sorry, Buffy. The police will continue looking--"
"No! You should be looking!" she spit at him. "If we hadn't gone to that stupid ball your son wouldn't be missing at the moment!"
"Don't blame this on me, you bitch--I saw you having quite a good time tonight, rubbing yourself all over Mr. Big Bucks!" he yelled back at her.
Her eyes widened in horror and shame at being addressed that way in front of Giles. Giles' eyes narrowed at Jack.
"This is resolving nothing!" he told the younger man.
Jack snapped his neck at the English man. "Stay out of this, old man--this is family business!"
Giles took off his glasses and walked to the man's face. "She is my family--as is William. And don't you ever talk to her like that again, you little prick."
Jack studied the man before, almost transformed before his eyes. Then he grinned. "Alright then--your family. Then you stay up with her until they find the brat. I'm going to bed--I have a busy day tomorrow and can't be bothered by kids who need attention."
He walked up the stairs and left Buffy and Giles.
Buffy clutching the small glasses in her hand and Giles glared at the man.
"I'm sorry you had to see that, Giles," she said softly. Giles took a deep breath and placed his glasses back on.
"How long have you been having trouble with your marriage?" he asked her gently. Buffy sagged to the foot of the stairs, bringing the small glasses to her chest.
"Between the time he would never come home at night and the 365 days of the year that he ignores William," she said softly.
Giles clenched his jaw and sat next to her.
"I told him once that it was over and I wanted to leave...we haven't even slept in the same room since... god, I can't remember..." she took a deep breath. "If Spike were here he'd be out searching for his son until he found him."
"But he's not Spike," Giles reminded her.
"Yes... he's not Spike..." she looked at her watcher. "If I loose my son I loose everything I had left of Spike... of us... Dawn's gone, she has her own life. Willow and Xander have their families and so does Angel... William is my life, Giles--in a few weeks you'll be going off to England and I'll be on my own again."
Giles looked down at his shoes.
"I know he's still alive, Giles--I feel him... but not knowing where he's at is killing me."
"Take a bath," she started shaking her head but he continued. "I'll continue to call the authorities--I wager they'll find him before you get out of the shower."
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If I had just one wish
Only one demand
I hope he's not like me
I hope he understands
That he can take this life
And hold it by the hand
And he can greet the world
With arms wide open...
"Ok, time for you to head home--you're mum must be dead worried," Spike told an exhausted William.
"I miss mommy," he said softly, now playing with Piglet.
"But you remember our deal, right?" Spike asked him, sticking the crayons back in their box as they sat in the McDonald's playground.
"No telling mommy who you are--like a secret," William yawned.
"C'mon," Spike said and lifted him easily up, picking up all the crayons and coloring books he had bought him along with Piglet.
Before he reached the limousine William was completely asleep in his arms.
"We're here, sir," the driver told Spike as they pulled up to the large house where Buffy resided with her husband.
Lugo went around the car and opened the door for him, grabbing William's things as Spike carefully got out, trying not to wake his son.
William murmured in his sleep but had a satisfied smile on his face as his father carried him up the stairs.
Ringing the door bell he waited, taking deep breaths to calm himself. Any moment now Buffy would be coming down the stairs.
He heard some shuffling behind the door and finally it opened.
It took everything that he had learned all this time to not show the shock at Giles opening the door.
"William!" he cried, half relief half surprise.
"Evening, sir," Spike smiled and looked down at his sleeping child. "I found him a few hours ago--I'm friends with Mr. Marshall."
"Giles!" Spike heard Buffy call from upstairs.
"He's here, Buffy!" Giles screamed at her.
Instantly you could heard footsteps running down the stairs until a bathrobe clad Buffy ran to the door. She screamed when she saw William asleep, thinking he was dead.
"Oh god!"
"He's just sleeping," Spike told her to calm her down. But her hands were everywhere as she pushed Giles out of the way and snagged a stunned and confused William out of Spike's arms.
"William, oh my god, William!" she kissed and hugged him and sank to the floor crying and holding him, making sure he was ok.
William was beyond confused and started to cry.
"Are you hurt? Why did you so this? You could've died! Something could've happened to you!" she babbled on.
William simply whimpered and Buffy held his face to her neck. She took a deep breath and held him close, smelling his hair and reassuring herself that he was ok.
"My baby, oh god! You're ok, mommy's got you now," she shushed him.
Spike gulped back the need to wrap his arms around them both but he simply crouched down and extended William's book bag to a teary Giles.
"I found him sometime ago... but he was hungry--"
Buffy finally seemed to have noticed him and gasped as she saw who is was. "Lord Perling!"
Spike grinned and looked down. "He was about to be attacked in an alley and I found him--there's no worries. He ate and I got him some things to calm him down--he seemed to be on a hunt for you."
She smiled through tears. "Thank you so much--I owe you everything I have."
Spike gulped again.
"Is he home?"
Spike looked up and saw Dawn.
All grown up in her college jeans and small tee.
"Yes, Dawn--he's ok!" Giles told her.
Dawn quickly ran and crouched with Buffy. William lifted his head to look at his aunt. "Where did you go?"
William yawned. "I went to look for mommy... but Mr. Pearl found me."
"Perling, darling," Buffy corrected and smiled at Spike, apologetically.
Dawn sighed in relief and took him from Buffy's arms. "I'm going to start his bath, Buffy." She smiled at Spike. "Thank you."
Spike nodded and watched as Buffy kissed William forehead and watched Dawn take him upstairs.
"I'll interrupt you no further. A pleasure meeting you, sir," Spike bowed slightly at Giles and Giles smiled, quite pleased with the young Lord.
"Anything you need you can always come here, M'lord." he told him.
"I would appreciate seeing William again--he's quite charming," Spike smiled, keeping his accent and poise at check.
Buffy suddenly threw herself on him and hugged him. He stood stock still, not knowing what to do. "Anything you need, simply ask."
"My god, Buffy!"
Buffy jumped off Spike and turned to see Jack in his night cloak coming down the stairs.
"They found him?" Jack asked worriedly. Giles's eyes narrowed at the fake emotions.
"Yes, Jack--Lord Perling found him." Buffy told her husband annoyed.
Jack's eyes lit up. "We were so worried, M'Lord--we owe you everything," he stood next to Buffy and wrapped his arm around her shoulder, looking very much like the worried parent.
Spike narrowed his eyes. "I'm sure you were."
"We're all very close, you see--I don't know what I would do without William---he's..."
"Well I have to be going," Spike interrupted him before he would get any sicker to his stomach.
"Of course!" Buffy said quickly, embarrassed that they had kept him that long.
"Would you like to stay, M'Lord? We could make some tea--" Jack persuaded him.
"No--I really must be on my way. Have a good night," he turned and walked down the steps to the waiting limo.
Jack grinned. "We have the luck of the gods! Out of all the people to find William, he did! This is marvelous, this money is mine for sure!"
Buffy snapped to look at him. "And he looked more worried about our son that you did!"
"I told you he would turn up, my darling wife!" Jack grinned and murmured happy songs to himself as he gingerly went up the stairs.
Buffy sighed and looked at Giles.
"Is there any way I can persuade you to get on a plane to England tomorrow--you and William far away from here?"
Buffy smiled and shook her head. "Maybe in a few years."
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Dawn was drying William off when they both heard the motor of the limo when it turned on.
William leaned out to the window and smiled. "Bye Spike!" he waved.
Dawn stopped what she was doing and froze. She looked at him. "What did you say?"
William instantly caught himself. "Oh poop." He bit his lip.
Dawn's mind worked quickly as she remembered what 'Lord Perling' looked like and then it instantly clicked.
She looked out the window as gasped as she saw none other than Lugo closing the door and walking around the car.
"Ricardo..." she murmured, remembering.
"I didn't mean to frighten you..."
"Why are you following me?" she demanded, her eyes sparkling.
"I was sent to protect you," he said, smiling a bit.
"Spike..." she whispered. "Spike's alive?"
"We can't tell mommy--he made me promise," William pleaded, he was in the verge of tears at not being able to keep a secret.
"He told you not to tell?" She asked him.
William nodded.
Dawn's eyes narrowed.
"We'll keep this our secret, ok?" she asked him. "But Aunty Dawn is going to have a talk with a very naughty vampire."
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
TBC....