A/N: I know, I know...I've been a terrible, horrible author for promising
updates and not giving any for a LONG time. However, RL threw a few kinks
at me that I wasn't expecting with relationships and such, so I needed to
take care of those before I could get any substantial writing done. But
it's all good now! :-) So on with the story...
~
"Kill the other Spike? That simple?" Angel snorted, "Sounds a little suspicious."
"Look, mate, the last thing he'd expect is you to attack him. He thinks that you think he has a soul." Spike explained slowly, trying to restrain himself from rolling his eyes.
Spike rounded the older vampire, his eyes cold and dark.
"Do you love the Slayer?" He asked, his voice not above a whisper.
"Yes." Angel answered.
"Then you have to do it. For the Slayer's sake. She'll perish if you don't. He'll rip her throat out, but not before he ripped off her arms slowly" Spike got a tiny smirk on his face, "and gauged her eyes and cut her stomach into tiny little bits and rip both of her legs and cut out her cheeks..." Spike broke out of his reverie to see a very pensive Angel. He quickly recovered, "Or, at least that's what my soulless self would do."
"Fine. I'll do it." Angel consented, "But how?"
Spike gave him an incredulous look.
"Well, in general, stake to the heart equals dusted vamp."
"Thank you." Angel replied sarcastically, "What I mean is, how do I do this without Buffy getting in the way? The last thing I want is to hurt her in anyway."
Spike could barely contain an eyeroll.
"The last thing the Slayer is gonna do is protect that bastard now. If by some miracle, she does, then you get around her. Don't think so hard, mate."
"Not your mate." Angel said quietly. Spike merely cocked an eyebrow.
"Angelus, I should make something clear. So long as you cooperate, I'm the best damn mate you'll ever have."
~
Giles was frantic.
Everything made sense so suddenly...Spike and Dawn were from the future and they came to the past...creating a break in time.
"This is bloody awful." Giles finally said after at least an hour of pacing around the library, "What the hell were the two of you thinking, playing with time in that manner?"
"We weren't bloody well 'playing,' Giles!" Spike replied indignantly, "I told you before, the Choosers told us to do it."
"Oh, 'the Choosers told you to do it.'" Giles mocked, "You didn't by any chance notice dark, ominous shadows floating around when you were there did you, because I would think that you might be tipped off by the obvious * evil * that sent you there!" Giles finished with a roar.
"Actually, the one who sent us didn't seem evil. He was called the Keeper of the Earthly Secrets or some pompous ass name like that." Spike explained. Xander perked up.
"That's the dude I met! I thought you said he was good?" Xander asked Giles, who was once again dumbfounded.
"It just doesn't make sense...why would he purposefully awaken the Age of Demons again?"
Buffy cleared her throat.
"Spike said it had something to do with me. And my power." She offered.
"Don't be ridiculous, Buffy." Giles replied, "You're a slayer just like any other."
"Don't be so quick to jump that gun, Rupes." Spike drawled, "Buffy's definitely not your average Slayer."
Dawn nodded in eager agreement.
"Yeah. She's way strong and powerful and shit."
"Dawn, language!" Buffy chastised. She widened her eyes, "Whoa...where'd that come from?"
As the group continued to converse and brainstorm, Jesse pulled Dawn into a row of books.
"So Ambrine Jones never existed?" Jesse asked Dawn quietly.
"No." Dawn replied, trying to gauge his response.
To her relief, Jesse smiled.
"Thank god. The only thing that was wrong with you from my point of view was the way you used to treat people." Dawn returned his smile and flung her arms around him.
"I don't deserve you." She whispered into his ear. Jesse rubbed her back and kissed the top of her head.
"How do you think Cordelia's taking this?" Dawn pulled away with a pained expression.
"Did you not see her storm out? I'll have to talk to her later."
Jesse nodded slowly and pulled her back into his embrace.
"I feel like I haven't gotten to see you in awhile with all this going on."
Dawn leaned in and kissed him softly on the lips.
"Well, we'd better make up for lost time then."
~
The stars above Buffy twinkled in the night sky as she and Spike walked silently on a patrol.
"It's nice out." She said, "You can really see the stars again tonight."
Spike smiled.
"Yeah, I know. Sometimes, when I look up, it's like I can see all the answers...everything I'll ever need to know, right up there. I think they are there, the answers to every one of life's mysteries, I mean. I just think no one ever bothers to suss them out."
Buffy cocked her head and looked at Spike for a little while.
"You really have a thing for the stars don't you?" She asked, still staring thoughtfully at her ex. Spike laughed.
"I am a vampire, pet. You get pretty accustomed to them. I think every vampire either hates or loves the stars."
"I think that'd be poetic if we weren't talking about man-eating demons." Buffy replied, but cast a glance at Spike, "For the most part anyway."
"I was gonna say..."
Buffy looked at the ground with a smile, and tucked a piece of hair behind her ear.
"So, these Chooser guys are pretty scary, huh? Now I sort of wish I * had * just taken on the Master as the Big Bad."
"Guess so, but this has to happen. It's bloody awful, but true."
Buffy shook her head.
"But, why? Cuz of me? I don't think I want my purpose in my life to bring forth the end of all humanity."
Spike smiled.
"It's not pet. Your purpose is to make sure that doesn't happen."
Buffy frowned and looked up.
"Then why did they send you and Dawnie back?"
For once, Spike didn't have a reply.
~
3:00 am PST.
The library was silent...nothing was stirring.
Not even a mouse... Xander thought humorously as he searched the expanse. He had snuck in, in search of something, anything that would begin to explain what The Choosers had told him.
He turned on the computer, a blue light illuminating the entire room.
"Where's Wills when you need her?" He whispered as he clicked on the card catalog icon.
Luckily, he found a search button.
"Aha..." He quickly typed 'The Choosers' into the tiny text box.
Two items came up, both under 'Personal Collection.' Xander smiled wryly. He assumed Miss Calendar had set that up for Giles. Shame he won't touch this thing even with a foot long stick.
One was the infamous 'The Book.'
The other, however, Xander did not recognize.
'In the Depths: A Look at the History of Demonolgy'
However, Xander noticed that there was a tiny symbol next to the title...one that looked suspiciously like a lock. He clicked on this and two red, flashing words appeared.
RESTRICTED READING
Xander cursed under his breath.
"I really need Wills now."
Giving up, Xander turned off the computer and moved his way through the dark.
He stopped.
But the footsteps didn't.
The hairs on the back of Xander's neck stood on end.
"Who's there?" He asked aloud. A cold laugh was his only reply.
"Holy shit." Xander whispered, before his body threw itself into its natural instinct.
Xander's?
Flight and flight * fast. *
He flew from the room, screaming. A cold hand caught him though and flung him over the desk, making him hit his head on the desk. Xander was knocked unconscious.
The computer illuminated again. The mouse moved the card catalog icon.
An hour later, when the library was still once again... two red, flashing letters were all that were seen.
SYSTEM DELETED
~
Blood ran over Xander's eyes. He groggily sat up, the sky and ground spinning around him. He took in his surroundings; feeling like he was in a dream world.
"What the fu-" A metal spike clamped down into his hand. Xander howled in pain, lurching his entire body forward. He felt like he was sweating blood.
"What's going on?" He asked frantically, trying desperately the excruciating pain.
Suddenly, through his haze, a bright white light appeared.
And a girl stepped through the threshold. She smiled warmly at him and knelt down, placing her cool hand upon his brow.
"Shh...everything's alright, Alexander. It's okay. You're going to be fine." Xander knelt his head down, snuggling against the beauty before him.
"It's okay..."
~
Buffy, Jesse, Dawn, Cordelia and Giles sat in a straight row.
"This actually happened, didn't it?" Buffy whispered, her voice choked. Giles nodded starkly, but kept staring to the front of the hall.
Between Dawn's tears, she reached for Jesse's hand, which he abruptly pushed away. She crinkled her brow and folded her arms, refusing to look at her boyfriend, as childish as it might have been.
Buffy glanced upward when she heard Willow's tiny voice amplified by the compact mic in front of her.
"Xander Harris..." Willow swallowed a sob, "Xander Harris was my best friend..."
That was all Buffy allowed herself to listen to.
~
Xander moved like air, swishing in and out of every corner he came across.
Not too shabby. He thought, glad that the whole "death deal" didn't mean that he had lost his sense of humor.
If he still had a body, he would have shuddered.
Death deal. Way of the freaky.
It was strange, because all Xander remembered was being in the library, trying to find out more about The Choosers...and then the thing going through his hand and then * poof! * He was in heaven; his body was dead.
He had heard so many stories about how people always knew when they died...like it was a moment of clarity.
Xander felt no clarity...happiness, yes. Clarity, though?
That'd be 'no.'
In all honesty, he was more confused than he had ever been in his entire life.
His thoughts drifted to Willow, Jesse, Buffy...
He hoped they were alright.
~
Spike walked to the front of the Summers house, sighing heavily. He knocked on the door.
A small, meek figure exited.
Spike smiled sadly.
"Buffy..." He whispered, pulling her into an embrace.
Buffy sobbed her eyes out, pounding rather strongly on his chest, wild sound erupting from her voice. She calmed down after awhile, but was whispering something...a fast, quiet mantra...
"My fault, my fault, my fault, my fault, my fault..."
Spike took Buffy's face into his hands and peered into her eyes.
"This is not your fault. It was that bloody drunk driver. This had nothing to do with you, ya hear?"
"It is though! He was walking in the middle of the night, all alone...to the library. To the library, Spike! To do research...God...for us..." She sniffled, "For me."
Spike kissed her forehead and brought her into his arms again, wishing he could say something.
"Still isn't your fault." He decided to say...more because he needed to say * something. *
"Maybe not." Buffy consented, "But I need to blame someone."
Spike let a little smile out.
"Always the martyr."
"Always."
After that, they didn't move for a long time.
~
The next day, Spike moved through the sewers, trying to take his mind off of Xander.
He was surprised at the amount of pain he felt in the boy's absence.
He had always hated Xander...never thought that he'd care when he...well, ya know.
But he cared. He genuinely cared.
Through Spike's reverie, he ran smack into Whistler. The duo rolled their eyes in unison.
"What the bloody hell do you want?" Spike asked.
"No time for games, my friend. There's something you gotta know. I'm not even gonna bother with the whole cryptic thing."
"I'm listening." Spike replied, folding his arms.
"It was all a set-up. All of it." Whistler said, taking off his hat and alternating it from hand to hand.
"All of what?"
"The boy and his "death." He ain't dead, Spike. Xander's still alive and kickin'." Whistler thought about his words and shook his head, "Let me rephrase that. In * this * dimension, yeah. He's dead. A drunk driver did hit him, he did suffer from massive brain trauma, all that. But, and this is an enourmous but, it wasn't * really * him. It was a set-up, as I said. The real Xander's in another dimension, alive and healthy, but thinking he's dead."
Spike scratched his head.
"Well, that's a bit puzzling. Does it got to do with The Choosers?" He asked.
Whistler snorted.
"You bet your ass it does. It's getting serious, Spike. Plus, Angel's due date is comin' up."
Spike shrugged.
"I don't see the big deal. He's been a mosquito bite- annoying as hell, but in the end, harmless."
Whistler shook his head.
"Don't forget that many mosquitoes have poison in their bite. Angel's presence is much more dangerous than you, or anybody else, thinks. Get him out and get him out fast."
With that, Whistler was gone, leaving Spike alone.
He had to get busy.
~
"Kill the other Spike? That simple?" Angel snorted, "Sounds a little suspicious."
"Look, mate, the last thing he'd expect is you to attack him. He thinks that you think he has a soul." Spike explained slowly, trying to restrain himself from rolling his eyes.
Spike rounded the older vampire, his eyes cold and dark.
"Do you love the Slayer?" He asked, his voice not above a whisper.
"Yes." Angel answered.
"Then you have to do it. For the Slayer's sake. She'll perish if you don't. He'll rip her throat out, but not before he ripped off her arms slowly" Spike got a tiny smirk on his face, "and gauged her eyes and cut her stomach into tiny little bits and rip both of her legs and cut out her cheeks..." Spike broke out of his reverie to see a very pensive Angel. He quickly recovered, "Or, at least that's what my soulless self would do."
"Fine. I'll do it." Angel consented, "But how?"
Spike gave him an incredulous look.
"Well, in general, stake to the heart equals dusted vamp."
"Thank you." Angel replied sarcastically, "What I mean is, how do I do this without Buffy getting in the way? The last thing I want is to hurt her in anyway."
Spike could barely contain an eyeroll.
"The last thing the Slayer is gonna do is protect that bastard now. If by some miracle, she does, then you get around her. Don't think so hard, mate."
"Not your mate." Angel said quietly. Spike merely cocked an eyebrow.
"Angelus, I should make something clear. So long as you cooperate, I'm the best damn mate you'll ever have."
~
Giles was frantic.
Everything made sense so suddenly...Spike and Dawn were from the future and they came to the past...creating a break in time.
"This is bloody awful." Giles finally said after at least an hour of pacing around the library, "What the hell were the two of you thinking, playing with time in that manner?"
"We weren't bloody well 'playing,' Giles!" Spike replied indignantly, "I told you before, the Choosers told us to do it."
"Oh, 'the Choosers told you to do it.'" Giles mocked, "You didn't by any chance notice dark, ominous shadows floating around when you were there did you, because I would think that you might be tipped off by the obvious * evil * that sent you there!" Giles finished with a roar.
"Actually, the one who sent us didn't seem evil. He was called the Keeper of the Earthly Secrets or some pompous ass name like that." Spike explained. Xander perked up.
"That's the dude I met! I thought you said he was good?" Xander asked Giles, who was once again dumbfounded.
"It just doesn't make sense...why would he purposefully awaken the Age of Demons again?"
Buffy cleared her throat.
"Spike said it had something to do with me. And my power." She offered.
"Don't be ridiculous, Buffy." Giles replied, "You're a slayer just like any other."
"Don't be so quick to jump that gun, Rupes." Spike drawled, "Buffy's definitely not your average Slayer."
Dawn nodded in eager agreement.
"Yeah. She's way strong and powerful and shit."
"Dawn, language!" Buffy chastised. She widened her eyes, "Whoa...where'd that come from?"
As the group continued to converse and brainstorm, Jesse pulled Dawn into a row of books.
"So Ambrine Jones never existed?" Jesse asked Dawn quietly.
"No." Dawn replied, trying to gauge his response.
To her relief, Jesse smiled.
"Thank god. The only thing that was wrong with you from my point of view was the way you used to treat people." Dawn returned his smile and flung her arms around him.
"I don't deserve you." She whispered into his ear. Jesse rubbed her back and kissed the top of her head.
"How do you think Cordelia's taking this?" Dawn pulled away with a pained expression.
"Did you not see her storm out? I'll have to talk to her later."
Jesse nodded slowly and pulled her back into his embrace.
"I feel like I haven't gotten to see you in awhile with all this going on."
Dawn leaned in and kissed him softly on the lips.
"Well, we'd better make up for lost time then."
~
The stars above Buffy twinkled in the night sky as she and Spike walked silently on a patrol.
"It's nice out." She said, "You can really see the stars again tonight."
Spike smiled.
"Yeah, I know. Sometimes, when I look up, it's like I can see all the answers...everything I'll ever need to know, right up there. I think they are there, the answers to every one of life's mysteries, I mean. I just think no one ever bothers to suss them out."
Buffy cocked her head and looked at Spike for a little while.
"You really have a thing for the stars don't you?" She asked, still staring thoughtfully at her ex. Spike laughed.
"I am a vampire, pet. You get pretty accustomed to them. I think every vampire either hates or loves the stars."
"I think that'd be poetic if we weren't talking about man-eating demons." Buffy replied, but cast a glance at Spike, "For the most part anyway."
"I was gonna say..."
Buffy looked at the ground with a smile, and tucked a piece of hair behind her ear.
"So, these Chooser guys are pretty scary, huh? Now I sort of wish I * had * just taken on the Master as the Big Bad."
"Guess so, but this has to happen. It's bloody awful, but true."
Buffy shook her head.
"But, why? Cuz of me? I don't think I want my purpose in my life to bring forth the end of all humanity."
Spike smiled.
"It's not pet. Your purpose is to make sure that doesn't happen."
Buffy frowned and looked up.
"Then why did they send you and Dawnie back?"
For once, Spike didn't have a reply.
~
3:00 am PST.
The library was silent...nothing was stirring.
Not even a mouse... Xander thought humorously as he searched the expanse. He had snuck in, in search of something, anything that would begin to explain what The Choosers had told him.
He turned on the computer, a blue light illuminating the entire room.
"Where's Wills when you need her?" He whispered as he clicked on the card catalog icon.
Luckily, he found a search button.
"Aha..." He quickly typed 'The Choosers' into the tiny text box.
Two items came up, both under 'Personal Collection.' Xander smiled wryly. He assumed Miss Calendar had set that up for Giles. Shame he won't touch this thing even with a foot long stick.
One was the infamous 'The Book.'
The other, however, Xander did not recognize.
'In the Depths: A Look at the History of Demonolgy'
However, Xander noticed that there was a tiny symbol next to the title...one that looked suspiciously like a lock. He clicked on this and two red, flashing words appeared.
RESTRICTED READING
Xander cursed under his breath.
"I really need Wills now."
Giving up, Xander turned off the computer and moved his way through the dark.
He stopped.
But the footsteps didn't.
The hairs on the back of Xander's neck stood on end.
"Who's there?" He asked aloud. A cold laugh was his only reply.
"Holy shit." Xander whispered, before his body threw itself into its natural instinct.
Xander's?
Flight and flight * fast. *
He flew from the room, screaming. A cold hand caught him though and flung him over the desk, making him hit his head on the desk. Xander was knocked unconscious.
The computer illuminated again. The mouse moved the card catalog icon.
An hour later, when the library was still once again... two red, flashing letters were all that were seen.
SYSTEM DELETED
~
Blood ran over Xander's eyes. He groggily sat up, the sky and ground spinning around him. He took in his surroundings; feeling like he was in a dream world.
"What the fu-" A metal spike clamped down into his hand. Xander howled in pain, lurching his entire body forward. He felt like he was sweating blood.
"What's going on?" He asked frantically, trying desperately the excruciating pain.
Suddenly, through his haze, a bright white light appeared.
And a girl stepped through the threshold. She smiled warmly at him and knelt down, placing her cool hand upon his brow.
"Shh...everything's alright, Alexander. It's okay. You're going to be fine." Xander knelt his head down, snuggling against the beauty before him.
"It's okay..."
~
Buffy, Jesse, Dawn, Cordelia and Giles sat in a straight row.
"This actually happened, didn't it?" Buffy whispered, her voice choked. Giles nodded starkly, but kept staring to the front of the hall.
Between Dawn's tears, she reached for Jesse's hand, which he abruptly pushed away. She crinkled her brow and folded her arms, refusing to look at her boyfriend, as childish as it might have been.
Buffy glanced upward when she heard Willow's tiny voice amplified by the compact mic in front of her.
"Xander Harris..." Willow swallowed a sob, "Xander Harris was my best friend..."
That was all Buffy allowed herself to listen to.
~
Xander moved like air, swishing in and out of every corner he came across.
Not too shabby. He thought, glad that the whole "death deal" didn't mean that he had lost his sense of humor.
If he still had a body, he would have shuddered.
Death deal. Way of the freaky.
It was strange, because all Xander remembered was being in the library, trying to find out more about The Choosers...and then the thing going through his hand and then * poof! * He was in heaven; his body was dead.
He had heard so many stories about how people always knew when they died...like it was a moment of clarity.
Xander felt no clarity...happiness, yes. Clarity, though?
That'd be 'no.'
In all honesty, he was more confused than he had ever been in his entire life.
His thoughts drifted to Willow, Jesse, Buffy...
He hoped they were alright.
~
Spike walked to the front of the Summers house, sighing heavily. He knocked on the door.
A small, meek figure exited.
Spike smiled sadly.
"Buffy..." He whispered, pulling her into an embrace.
Buffy sobbed her eyes out, pounding rather strongly on his chest, wild sound erupting from her voice. She calmed down after awhile, but was whispering something...a fast, quiet mantra...
"My fault, my fault, my fault, my fault, my fault..."
Spike took Buffy's face into his hands and peered into her eyes.
"This is not your fault. It was that bloody drunk driver. This had nothing to do with you, ya hear?"
"It is though! He was walking in the middle of the night, all alone...to the library. To the library, Spike! To do research...God...for us..." She sniffled, "For me."
Spike kissed her forehead and brought her into his arms again, wishing he could say something.
"Still isn't your fault." He decided to say...more because he needed to say * something. *
"Maybe not." Buffy consented, "But I need to blame someone."
Spike let a little smile out.
"Always the martyr."
"Always."
After that, they didn't move for a long time.
~
The next day, Spike moved through the sewers, trying to take his mind off of Xander.
He was surprised at the amount of pain he felt in the boy's absence.
He had always hated Xander...never thought that he'd care when he...well, ya know.
But he cared. He genuinely cared.
Through Spike's reverie, he ran smack into Whistler. The duo rolled their eyes in unison.
"What the bloody hell do you want?" Spike asked.
"No time for games, my friend. There's something you gotta know. I'm not even gonna bother with the whole cryptic thing."
"I'm listening." Spike replied, folding his arms.
"It was all a set-up. All of it." Whistler said, taking off his hat and alternating it from hand to hand.
"All of what?"
"The boy and his "death." He ain't dead, Spike. Xander's still alive and kickin'." Whistler thought about his words and shook his head, "Let me rephrase that. In * this * dimension, yeah. He's dead. A drunk driver did hit him, he did suffer from massive brain trauma, all that. But, and this is an enourmous but, it wasn't * really * him. It was a set-up, as I said. The real Xander's in another dimension, alive and healthy, but thinking he's dead."
Spike scratched his head.
"Well, that's a bit puzzling. Does it got to do with The Choosers?" He asked.
Whistler snorted.
"You bet your ass it does. It's getting serious, Spike. Plus, Angel's due date is comin' up."
Spike shrugged.
"I don't see the big deal. He's been a mosquito bite- annoying as hell, but in the end, harmless."
Whistler shook his head.
"Don't forget that many mosquitoes have poison in their bite. Angel's presence is much more dangerous than you, or anybody else, thinks. Get him out and get him out fast."
With that, Whistler was gone, leaving Spike alone.
He had to get busy.
~
