Disclaimer: I own nothing. Everything belongs to Joss Whedon and Warner Brothers.
Title: All That's Good
Part 3: Departures and Arrivals
By
Anessa Ramsey
Piper glanced at Phoebe and Paige as they each sat at their designated point of the circle. Two days had passed quickly and it was now the night of the ceremony. Spike sat in the middle of the circle. After explaining what the Hellmouth was the Charmed Ones knew that the ceremony must take place. Spike was the most nervous of the group. He was going to die. He knew that to become a Whitelighter he had to be dead, and though he already was, his body was inhabited by a demon. The demon had to die for William to ascend.
"This won't hurt will it?" he asked.
Paige felt sorry for him. It was probably very hard to let go of everything he knew to do this. "It shouldn't. It should happen quickly. The book says it will kind of be like going to sleep, only you'll turn to dust."
"Lovely."
"Don't worry. Everything will be okay."
"Easy for you to say. You're not going to Hell."
The three of them looked surprised. "What?" Phoebe asked.
Leo looked at them. "He's a demon. Spike will be sent to Hell and William will ascend."
"Hey, you never told us that!" Paige snapped, angry at being out of the loop.
"I assumed you knew. It's where every demon you've ever vanquished has ended up. Despite his…helpfulness, the past few years, Spike is not heaven bound."
Paige rose and stood away from the circle. "Then I'm not doing the ritual."
Spike looked up at her. "You have to do it, luv. There's no getting out of this one."
"But you'll…"
"I've been around for over a hundred and fifty years. I never thought I'd go out doing something good. You have to do this for me, Paige. It's the right thing to do."
"Listen to him, Paige," Leo said. "It's the fate of the world."
Paige looked at him then at Piper and Phoebe. Phoebe, who sacrificed her love for the side of Good. Sighing she rejoined the circle and they began the ceremony, the moon hanging high in the sky outside.
They each lit the candle in front of them and began to chant. They grasped each other's hands and raised them toward the ceiling, the power flowing through them. A barrier of light surrounded them and as the chanting grew louder their eyes began to glow. Leo observed from afar, concerned for his wife. He knew they were doing the right thing. He could feel it. The energy crackled and he looked at Spike who was sitting serenely in the center of the circle. They all could see the events in their head. They saw the witch with the black hair trying to raise the temple from the ground. Spike was the only one who recognized the girl's face.
His eyes were closed and he began to glow brighter and brighter and with a whisper he turned to dust, coating the floor in between the girls. Slowly the chanting stopped, the light dimmed until it faded away, and the girls hands fell to their sides. They each opened their eyes, expecting to see William sitting in the circle but it was empty. They each sat there for a moment, absorbing the enormity of what they'd seen, then they began to move and clean up.
"Did we do it wrong?" Piper asked as Paige swept up Spike's remains and put them into a jar. Phoebe was picking up the candles and placing them back in the trunk.
"No, nothing went wrong. The spell worked just like it was supposed to. William has ascended. Now the Elders are taking care of him. He is receiving their knowledge and care. He's spent the past one hundred and twenty six years with no control over his body. He needs to be calmed a bit and told what is going on."
"But the world's supposed to end tomorrow night."
"He'll be back before then. Time moves differently up there."
"How different will he be?" Paige asked. She'd grown fond of Spike. She hadn't wanted him to go.
"I don't know, Paige. I honestly don't know."
Paige was pacing back and forth across the living room. Piper and Phoebe sat on the couch watching her. She had been pacing for nearly two hours. That's how long it had been since the Elders had summoned Leo. Piper smiled and said to her, "Aren't you getting tired?"
"No."
"Paige, honey, you need to sit down. Leo will be back with news as soon as he can."
"That's not going to work Phoebe."
"Paige, we know that it was hard for you to let Spike go, but you do know that he's not coming back right?"
"You don't know that…William could be a lot like Spike."
"The chances of that are so slim Paige. Don't hold out hope. Just be happy that William is getting another chance."
"How can I be happy knowing we sent Spike to Hell? He was doing good. It shouldn't have had to be this way."
"It was the only way, sweetie. He knew what he was getting himself into. He wouldn't want you to be sad either. He'd want you to say 'To Hell with being sad and mopey'. Even though we only knew him for a couple of days, he didn't strike me as a person who spent his life being sad."
Paige looked at them and realized that they were right. It wasn't as if she'd been in love with him. She just felt bad that they'd had to condemn him to Hell when he was doing so good. There had been a little attraction but knowing he was going to die had put a damper on that. "Okay. You're right. I'll stop pacing." She plopped down next to Phoebe and rested her head on her sister's shoulder.
Phoebe hugged her and they were so lost in comforting each other that they didn't notice the glow that emanated from the kitchen momentarily. Piper did though and she sat up and called out, "Leo?"
He walked into the room followed by someone who was pretty familiar to them now. It was Spike but not Spike. This was William. His hair was brown and kind of a mess of unruly spikes all over his head. Blond streaks were interwoven with them and he was wearing a long sleeve blue silk shirt and a pair of jeans. On his feet was a pair of what looked to be Birkenstock sandals. He even had on a pair of black, wire frame glasses. He smiled nervously.
"Will, this is my wife, Piper," Leo said as Piper rose and shook Will's hand.
"It's nice to meet you," she said.
He nodded and said, "It's a pleasure to meet you too. It's been a while since I've had the honor of being in the presence of such lovely ladies." His voice was more cultured and smooth than Spike's. 'He must have been well educated,' Piper thought. She stepped aside as Phoebe and Paige both stood and practically shoved each other out of the way to be the next to meet Will.
Phoebe managed to reach him first and Leo introduced her. "This is Piper's sister, Phoebe." And as Phoebe stepped back Paige stepped forward. "And her other sister, Paige."
After shaking both their hands, he looked them each over. "I knew things had changed greatly as I experienced the world through Spike's eyes, but it's not quite the same seeing it in person. Ladies dress quite differently than when I was alive."
Paige smiled. He wasn't so bad. He just needed time to adjust. He wasn't Spike, but he wasn't William either. It seemed almost that they had crossed the two and come out with this new person…angel.
"There's not really any time to dwell on trivial things. We can show him later. Right now we have to stop an apocalypse. It's already begun and we are needed," Leo said. "Are you ready?" he asked Will.
"I don't think I'll ever be ready for this," he responded, thinking of Spike's actions in Sunnydale. "But I can do it. No worries."
"Then let's go," Leo said. Will orbed out at the same time as Paige. Leo was right behind them, with Piper and Phoebe each grasping one of his hands.