Unprecedented: Chapter 5
A/N: Big thanks to my beta Kimberly for spotting my many, many run ons and spelling/grammatical mistakes.
SUMMERY: Spike knows about the baby, now he's all awe struck and recalling the occurrences which led him to go and visit Buffy in the first place. Should fill in a few blanks about his soul and how he got it (remember this whole thing kicks off post Seeing Red so nothing that happened on the show after that, has happened in my universe.)
*#*#*#*#*#*#*#
Spike thought about how he had planned to come to the Buffy's home and apologize for what he had done to her, for those horrible moments up in her bathroom. How he had wanted to share with her the story of how he got a soul. How he had stormed out of Sunnydale on his stolen motorcycle in search of a way to remove the chip and be returned to his former big-bad self. Only it hadn't quite turned out the way he thought he wanted it to.
He rode off into the night in search of a higher power. Some being with the capabilities to restore him, bring his inner demon very much back to the surface, and with it the ability to show Buffy that he was strong, powerful, and very much ready to maim and maul anyone who crossed him.
After sounding out various different connections, both human and not so human, he wound up at the wooden shack of a home belonging to Kashlar. A being that, Spike was told, held the power to modify a person's make up, change their habits, personality, race, or even species if that was what was desired by her client.
Unfortunately the service came at a cost.
Two long months in the desert of New Mexico, the first spent transferring power to Kashlar, ensued.
She claimed that in order to perform the rituals required of her, she needed a store of power, and that the best power for this case would be that of her client.
Meditations and sacred rites involving ingesting various unearthly fluids and concoctions followed, along with many hours of rest on Kashlar's part to allow her time to generate the strength, both of muscle and spirit, which she professed to need to comply with Spike's request followed.
After Kashlar felt she had the power to carry out Spike's reformation, she said she must see Spike's being. She needed to feel his spirit, who this man was, what he was and where he was headed. Kashlar spent a month prying into the mind of William The Bloody, both supernaturally and through good old alcohol-aided chat, all under the premise that this was required for her to effectively restore Spike's demon self to his former glory.
She lied.
She never believed for a moment that resorting to evil was what Spike truly wanted and it was not in her nature to alter a person if they were not, deep down, in true want of the change.
Part of her gift was that she could see people; who they appeared to be on the outside, who the really were on the inside, and most of all, who they desired to be. That was how she knew exactly what her clients wanted, how she knew which little parts of them they truly did want to change and which parts of themselves they would yearn for if removed or changed.
And so, within hours of meeting this bleach blonde whirlwind of a vampire, she knew he was lying - both to her, and more importantly, to himself. She just wasn't sure what exactly it was that he really did want. Something different, she knew that much, something he had had before but had lost long, long ago.
Then one night when the air was still and night jasmine bloomed in the pot she kept on her windowsill, she knew. It had been weeks since Spike had come to her and asked for her help and she felt she was beginning to come to grips with his complexities, but still not getting a hold of what he needed from her. She was normally so good at this, and after so long spent fruitlessly mulling over the mystery of what Spike needed from her she was beginning to doubt herself, but she suddenly hit pay dirt at long last.
He had been talking for hours about absolutely nothing; the colour of the full moon, the smell of wet grass in the springtime, and his favorite seventies punk rockers, when he began to talk about the way he'd decorated his crypt back home. Something flashed through his mind right then, a memory so vivid that Kashlar felt as though she were seeing it with her own eyes.
He never told her what he was thinking, just paused for a moment with a look of infinite sadness on his face, and then continued on with his ramblings about nothing.
But that one second was enough for her to pick it up. Clear as day she could see it. A girl. A petite blond with power to bring the world to its knees and a pull on Spike's heart that she didn't know she possessed. She lay under a pile of rugs, Spike at her side smiling and laughing one minute, and the next swearing she would never trust him.
This was what he wanted, why he'd come to her last month asking to be restored. He wanted her, but thought he could never be good enough for this woman, this ray of light in his world of darkness. He figured if he couldn't be with her and be worthy of her world, then he might as well go back to his old ways.
But Kashlar knew better. That wasn't what he really wanted, that was just a stopgap solution because what he really wanted, what he needed to be worthy of his girl, wasn't achievable.
Except that it was. And now Kashlar could help him with it. She always was a sucker for a good love story.
She started right then and there with the preparations, the blessings and conjuring, the casting of circles and consecrating of powerful instruments. By the time Spike awoke in the morning it was all done and she was ready to go.
Ten hours later it was finished. Kashlar was worn out and Spike was resting on her favorite chair. His body had been put through hell; hour after hour of tugging, pulling apart and reforming bonds, so it was to be expected that he'd need time to recuperate.
She hadn't quite anticipated how quickly his body would bounce back, though. She thought he would have a good few days of blissful unconsciousness while his soul seeped back into all of the nooks and crevices of his being, silently bringing him to terms with the change without him even noticing. That is just the way it worked, the way it had always worked.
Kashlar hadn't counted on the effect of his vampire constitution and was worried when he started to stir and show signs of awakening after only a few hours of rest. She feared he might not have had enough time, not had long enough to get a grip on this new reality, and that he might be uneasy, irrational, and simply bolt.
She got one out of three almost correct.
He finally fully gained consciousness and within seconds understood. He stood slowly, a little unsteady on his feet, and walked over to Kashlar. He looked at her for what seemed like an eternity before smiling, whispering something in her ear, and heading toward his motorbike.
Long after he had driven off into the night and hours after the sand outside of her home had settled, as though it had never been disturbed in the first place, Kashlar could still hear him. She could still hear the most sincere words ever spoken to her by a client, words she knew she would still hear in the morning, echoing around her like sunlight on a gentle summer breeze.
"Thank you."
#*#*#*#*#*#*#*
Thanks for reading! Sorry this chapter took so long but the dreaded writers block consumed me for a while there. More coming soon. Please review, I live for feedback!
A/N: Big thanks to my beta Kimberly for spotting my many, many run ons and spelling/grammatical mistakes.
SUMMERY: Spike knows about the baby, now he's all awe struck and recalling the occurrences which led him to go and visit Buffy in the first place. Should fill in a few blanks about his soul and how he got it (remember this whole thing kicks off post Seeing Red so nothing that happened on the show after that, has happened in my universe.)
*#*#*#*#*#*#*#
Spike thought about how he had planned to come to the Buffy's home and apologize for what he had done to her, for those horrible moments up in her bathroom. How he had wanted to share with her the story of how he got a soul. How he had stormed out of Sunnydale on his stolen motorcycle in search of a way to remove the chip and be returned to his former big-bad self. Only it hadn't quite turned out the way he thought he wanted it to.
He rode off into the night in search of a higher power. Some being with the capabilities to restore him, bring his inner demon very much back to the surface, and with it the ability to show Buffy that he was strong, powerful, and very much ready to maim and maul anyone who crossed him.
After sounding out various different connections, both human and not so human, he wound up at the wooden shack of a home belonging to Kashlar. A being that, Spike was told, held the power to modify a person's make up, change their habits, personality, race, or even species if that was what was desired by her client.
Unfortunately the service came at a cost.
Two long months in the desert of New Mexico, the first spent transferring power to Kashlar, ensued.
She claimed that in order to perform the rituals required of her, she needed a store of power, and that the best power for this case would be that of her client.
Meditations and sacred rites involving ingesting various unearthly fluids and concoctions followed, along with many hours of rest on Kashlar's part to allow her time to generate the strength, both of muscle and spirit, which she professed to need to comply with Spike's request followed.
After Kashlar felt she had the power to carry out Spike's reformation, she said she must see Spike's being. She needed to feel his spirit, who this man was, what he was and where he was headed. Kashlar spent a month prying into the mind of William The Bloody, both supernaturally and through good old alcohol-aided chat, all under the premise that this was required for her to effectively restore Spike's demon self to his former glory.
She lied.
She never believed for a moment that resorting to evil was what Spike truly wanted and it was not in her nature to alter a person if they were not, deep down, in true want of the change.
Part of her gift was that she could see people; who they appeared to be on the outside, who the really were on the inside, and most of all, who they desired to be. That was how she knew exactly what her clients wanted, how she knew which little parts of them they truly did want to change and which parts of themselves they would yearn for if removed or changed.
And so, within hours of meeting this bleach blonde whirlwind of a vampire, she knew he was lying - both to her, and more importantly, to himself. She just wasn't sure what exactly it was that he really did want. Something different, she knew that much, something he had had before but had lost long, long ago.
Then one night when the air was still and night jasmine bloomed in the pot she kept on her windowsill, she knew. It had been weeks since Spike had come to her and asked for her help and she felt she was beginning to come to grips with his complexities, but still not getting a hold of what he needed from her. She was normally so good at this, and after so long spent fruitlessly mulling over the mystery of what Spike needed from her she was beginning to doubt herself, but she suddenly hit pay dirt at long last.
He had been talking for hours about absolutely nothing; the colour of the full moon, the smell of wet grass in the springtime, and his favorite seventies punk rockers, when he began to talk about the way he'd decorated his crypt back home. Something flashed through his mind right then, a memory so vivid that Kashlar felt as though she were seeing it with her own eyes.
He never told her what he was thinking, just paused for a moment with a look of infinite sadness on his face, and then continued on with his ramblings about nothing.
But that one second was enough for her to pick it up. Clear as day she could see it. A girl. A petite blond with power to bring the world to its knees and a pull on Spike's heart that she didn't know she possessed. She lay under a pile of rugs, Spike at her side smiling and laughing one minute, and the next swearing she would never trust him.
This was what he wanted, why he'd come to her last month asking to be restored. He wanted her, but thought he could never be good enough for this woman, this ray of light in his world of darkness. He figured if he couldn't be with her and be worthy of her world, then he might as well go back to his old ways.
But Kashlar knew better. That wasn't what he really wanted, that was just a stopgap solution because what he really wanted, what he needed to be worthy of his girl, wasn't achievable.
Except that it was. And now Kashlar could help him with it. She always was a sucker for a good love story.
She started right then and there with the preparations, the blessings and conjuring, the casting of circles and consecrating of powerful instruments. By the time Spike awoke in the morning it was all done and she was ready to go.
Ten hours later it was finished. Kashlar was worn out and Spike was resting on her favorite chair. His body had been put through hell; hour after hour of tugging, pulling apart and reforming bonds, so it was to be expected that he'd need time to recuperate.
She hadn't quite anticipated how quickly his body would bounce back, though. She thought he would have a good few days of blissful unconsciousness while his soul seeped back into all of the nooks and crevices of his being, silently bringing him to terms with the change without him even noticing. That is just the way it worked, the way it had always worked.
Kashlar hadn't counted on the effect of his vampire constitution and was worried when he started to stir and show signs of awakening after only a few hours of rest. She feared he might not have had enough time, not had long enough to get a grip on this new reality, and that he might be uneasy, irrational, and simply bolt.
She got one out of three almost correct.
He finally fully gained consciousness and within seconds understood. He stood slowly, a little unsteady on his feet, and walked over to Kashlar. He looked at her for what seemed like an eternity before smiling, whispering something in her ear, and heading toward his motorbike.
Long after he had driven off into the night and hours after the sand outside of her home had settled, as though it had never been disturbed in the first place, Kashlar could still hear him. She could still hear the most sincere words ever spoken to her by a client, words she knew she would still hear in the morning, echoing around her like sunlight on a gentle summer breeze.
"Thank you."
#*#*#*#*#*#*#*
Thanks for reading! Sorry this chapter took so long but the dreaded writers block consumed me for a while there. More coming soon. Please review, I live for feedback!
