A fire roared somewhere in the distance from the two, blazing strong and true. A dark man is smiling happily as he hears people inside screaming. Gunn turns and walk's away from the mayors headquarters, as with a loud bang the building blows up entirely and the screaming ceases. 'That went well.' He thought smugly.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Buffy screamed loudly as a vampire smashed her into the ground. She heard her arm twist with a sickening snap. Angel let out a under-wordly growl and grabbed the vampire. He threw it across the graveyard into a tree. It whooshed into dust and Angel stared down at the broken slayer. She reached out her unwounded arm to him and he gently pulled her up. Her arm was hanging at a grotesgue angle at her side. Angel stared at her. "So. Spike huh? REAL great choice Buff, im sure he'll be the best thing that will ever happen to you. God, that's so disgusting. Your tossing me aside for my childe? Nice. He didn't even have a soul while you were off fucking him into oblivion. And now that he does you assume you can just go crazy with the love-making? News Flash baby, it doesn't take a soul to make someone good. Human's kill each other all the time, and they have soul's. A soul can make a tiny difference, but it isnt everything." He spoke to her in a low, deadly whisper, his voice harsh and cutting into her. Then he turned and disspapeared away from her into the night.
*Im so tired of being here*
*Surpressed by all my childish fears*
*And if you have to leave*
*I wish that you would just leave*
*Because your presence still lingers here*
*And it won't leave me alone*
Buffy stared in the direction Angel had walked. It had happened again. Once again he had walked away from her. She slowly licked her lips in thought and in her mind tha sharp pains from her arm registered. She gritted her teeth and slowly walked to a crypt. She closed her eyes and bit down hard and ran sideways into the wall and threw her arm out. Her arm snapped back into place with a satisfying crunch. She sighed in relief, but tears stung at her eyes. No matter what she did, her choice would never be right. She would hurt both of them.
*These wounds wont seem to heal*
*This pain is just to real*
*Theres just to much that time cannot erase*
*When you cried i'd wipe away all of your tears*
*When you'd scream i'd fight away all of your fears*
*And i held your hand through all of these years*
*And you still have All of me*
Angel sat in the seat of his car once more. And he began to cry. The tears ran down his face as he shook with harsh sobs. His Buffy was gone. She was replaced by some new woman, who had grown to love something he couldn't even look at with an inch of respect. How had he let her slip away like that. He left her for sun, and she had chosen the darkness. Maybe it was meant to be for her. The darkness.
*You used to captivate me*
*By your resinating mind*
*Now im bound by the life you left behind*
*Your face it haunts*
*My once pleasant dreams*
*Your voice has chased away all the sanity in me*
Spike felt a tugging at his heart while laying in the bed. He knew. She was hurting. He could feel her deep inside. She had told Angel. 'And I bet the wanker called her disgusting and what not and made her cry. Bugger it all.'
He sighed in resolution, and rolled over. 'Maybe I should go after her.' Then he felt tingling in his arms. She was nearyby. He heard her softly creep down the hall, and heard the elevator ding. If she came back then at least she was okay.
*These wounds wont seem to heal*
*This pain is just to real*
*Theres just to much that time cannot erase*
*When you cried i'd wipe away all of your tears*
*When you'd scream i'd fight away all of your fears*
*And i held your hand through all of these years*
*And you still have All of me*
Buffy sat slowly on the bed, the pain in her arm a dull sting. She stared softly around her. Once again, she was going to do it. Run. She slowly picked up a piece of paper and traced her last words to the gang on it.
'Sunny days wouldn't be so special, if it wasnt for rain.
Joy wouldn't feel so good, if it wasnt for pain.
Death's gadda be easy, because life is hard.
It will leave you physically, mentally, and emotionally scarred.'
That calligraphy class she had took at Hemry, before she got that earth shattering news on that sunny day in Los Angeles, was finally paying off. She shook her blonde head at the memory and stood up slowly. She placed the note on the bed and opened her window. She knew Spike would sense her if she walked by his room. Placing her feet of the window she jumped out onto the ledge and swiftly jumped to the lower parking garage roof and then to the pavement below her. 'Where to?' She looked around and saw a Mini Van, something she would never need. Her eyes traveled to the liscence plate. 'Maine. Sound's good.' Then she turned and ran into the darkness, her feet making no noise.
*I tried so hard to tell myself that your gone*
*But thought you're still with me*
*I've been alone all along*
Angel slowly pulled into the hotel parking lot. It was time to finish his and Buffy's thing, whatever it had been. He needed to know now. As he got to her room, he saw the door open and Spike crying. Willow was laying with Dawn's head in her lap. Giles and some woman were shaking thier heads solemly. Weasly was standing around, looking uncomfortable and holding a page torn from a book. His soul shattered. He knew. She was gone.
*When you cried i'd wipe away all of your tears*
*When you'd scream i'd fight away all of your fears*
*And i held your hand through all of these years*
*And you still have All of me*
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
*2 years later*
The streets are lonely as a figure walks, carrying a bundle in her arms. She has forgetten how dark this place can be. Her skin is on fire, her scenses are on overload. They're everywhere. The number seems to have risen to the 100's. But she can feel humans in larger numbers. Good. The bundle slightly moves and she rocks it a little and it ceases. She stops in front of a friendly, familiar settlement. She slowly stalks around the side, her long brown hair swaying in the breeze. Her muscles flex as she grips the package to her chest, and she jumpes up to a branch in a familiar tree, it still exactly the same as she remembered it. The package once again stirred, and she again rocked it, and it again stopped. She smiled slowly and her hair moved slowly. She lept to a higher branch, and sat herself down, perfectly balanced. She peered into the window in front of her. There he was, slowly moving around the room and smoking a ciggarette. His hair was brown now, with blonde tips. It looked good. He picked up a stuffed pig and kissed it softly. She smiled. Then he whipped his head up, and looked around frantically. She froze, standing perfectly still. He shook his head sadly and walked out of the room. She clutched the bundle to her chest and jumped from the tree, never making a sound. She peared into the window directly below hers, and saw him again. He was alone in the house. She slowly went to the mailbox and read. Only one name. "William Spike." She looked up and saw him, staring at her. She ran as fast as lighting, never letting go of her bundle. She peared over the bush she had dived soundlessly behind, and she saw him close his eyes and open them, then wave his hand in front of his face. He took another drag of his butt and turned from the window, shaking his head. 2 hours later the same figure is climbing into the window next to the door, The bundle secured to her back. She swiftly lands in the dining room.She ties hre long dark hair into a low ponytail and advances to the stairs, creeping slowly, ever soundless. She has perfected this art, this stalking through places. Slowly she turns the doorknob, and he is laying in the bed, that stuffed big beside him. Rolling her body towards him she places her bundle onto his bed, his resting place. Then she slitheres from the room, and dives down the stairs. She swiftly skips down to the basement and looks around. It is strange, empty now. Boxes are huddled in each corner, and she smiles. The chains are still down there. She slowly sinks to the floor and falls into a light hyperaware sleep. The man awakes to soft cooing. He looks down and gasps. There's a baby next to him, with dark hair and piercing blue eyes. The fathers high cheekbones and the mothers mouth and teeth. Without thinking he know's whose child this is. Her's and his. Where was she though?
"I thought you might like to see her. Her names Rain. Beautiful isn't she."
He didn't dare look up.
"Well, her mother was beautiful."
The woman laughed softly.
"Yeah, I guess I was."
He looks up now, and there she is. Her hair long and dark, back to it's natural color. There is a long scar going from her left eyebrow down to below her eye. She looks beautiful as ever, if not more, and he can feel the power radiating from her.
"So, uber-slayer then?"
She laughed again, soft and manically.
"You wouldn't believe the hell I went through with that kid. She re-ensouled me when she was born you know, brought back my memory. You know, she looks a lot like you."
Spike laughed.
"And yet, she doesn't have fangs, wheras we both could if we chose to."
He raises his eyebrows at her in question, and she responds by smiling. She shakes her head and her eyes become bright purple, and her canines extend into deadly fangs. Then she shakes out and sighs.
"That is a rush and a half. And she does."
His heart catches, his beating heart. He remembered the morning he had woken up human. If was absolutely amazing. He had run into the sunlight and danced around happily. Then he felt his heart sink as he realised he still had fangs.
"By the way, thanks for the human'ness thing. It's not perfect then, but its bloody alright. Im tan."
She slowly advances towards him.
"Oh yes, you are, aren't you."
"Buffy, why, why are you back now? Why did you leave?"
She methodically turns and hums softly.
"Maybe cus i wanted to. How's Angel?"
The man shudders.
"He didn't take it well, the you making me human and not him. He's somewhere off in Dublin, trapsing around with Weasley. Who knew. Connor's dead. Angel killed him. Right before he left. Strange thing, it is. Your scoobies are all around in at least a 3 hour reaching distance."
She slowly twirls again.
"Druesilla says im not meant to be. Faith says I should take over the world. Rain just wants to bite me all the time."
The man nodded.
"They don't call you Buffy anymore, do they. Whats your name now?"
She giggles girlishly, sounding strange coming from a killing machine.
"Irulan."
He smiles. She gracefully leaps from her spot to another and back, never stopping humming. He now knew why vampires where terrified of her. He recognized the song, it was something Dru used to sing to him. Demons from miles around talked of those 3. Faith, Dru, and Buffy/Irulan. The story was that Dru had found Buffy, pregnant and Uber-slayer, stripped of her memory and of emotion. Dru had taken compassion, and nursed her back to health. They say a burnt Faith had come in months later, and together they ruled the demon world of the South Shore. Then Rain was born, and Buffy was returned. Not wanting people to realise this, the began to call her Irulan, and they traded bad for good, Dru seemingly have gotten the same treatment Spike had. It had been rumord that Irulan had left the 3 to seek revenge upon her old friends, but Spike hadn't believed a word. Until now.
"So Spikey, hows the living thing going for you?"
He looks at her.
"I love it."
She smiles softly.
"I don't care what I missed. The old times mean nothing to me. I don't care about the Scoobies, or tha L.A. gang, or Angel. Im someone new. But Spike. I want you with me. Come with me."
Spike smiled slowly.
"Let's go, luv."
Rain squeeled and Irulan dashed from the room and he saw her outside from his window seconds later. He smiled and picked up Rain. Then he slowly walked out of the house.
'I wonder what name they'll give me.'
The End
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Buffy screamed loudly as a vampire smashed her into the ground. She heard her arm twist with a sickening snap. Angel let out a under-wordly growl and grabbed the vampire. He threw it across the graveyard into a tree. It whooshed into dust and Angel stared down at the broken slayer. She reached out her unwounded arm to him and he gently pulled her up. Her arm was hanging at a grotesgue angle at her side. Angel stared at her. "So. Spike huh? REAL great choice Buff, im sure he'll be the best thing that will ever happen to you. God, that's so disgusting. Your tossing me aside for my childe? Nice. He didn't even have a soul while you were off fucking him into oblivion. And now that he does you assume you can just go crazy with the love-making? News Flash baby, it doesn't take a soul to make someone good. Human's kill each other all the time, and they have soul's. A soul can make a tiny difference, but it isnt everything." He spoke to her in a low, deadly whisper, his voice harsh and cutting into her. Then he turned and disspapeared away from her into the night.
*Im so tired of being here*
*Surpressed by all my childish fears*
*And if you have to leave*
*I wish that you would just leave*
*Because your presence still lingers here*
*And it won't leave me alone*
Buffy stared in the direction Angel had walked. It had happened again. Once again he had walked away from her. She slowly licked her lips in thought and in her mind tha sharp pains from her arm registered. She gritted her teeth and slowly walked to a crypt. She closed her eyes and bit down hard and ran sideways into the wall and threw her arm out. Her arm snapped back into place with a satisfying crunch. She sighed in relief, but tears stung at her eyes. No matter what she did, her choice would never be right. She would hurt both of them.
*These wounds wont seem to heal*
*This pain is just to real*
*Theres just to much that time cannot erase*
*When you cried i'd wipe away all of your tears*
*When you'd scream i'd fight away all of your fears*
*And i held your hand through all of these years*
*And you still have All of me*
Angel sat in the seat of his car once more. And he began to cry. The tears ran down his face as he shook with harsh sobs. His Buffy was gone. She was replaced by some new woman, who had grown to love something he couldn't even look at with an inch of respect. How had he let her slip away like that. He left her for sun, and she had chosen the darkness. Maybe it was meant to be for her. The darkness.
*You used to captivate me*
*By your resinating mind*
*Now im bound by the life you left behind*
*Your face it haunts*
*My once pleasant dreams*
*Your voice has chased away all the sanity in me*
Spike felt a tugging at his heart while laying in the bed. He knew. She was hurting. He could feel her deep inside. She had told Angel. 'And I bet the wanker called her disgusting and what not and made her cry. Bugger it all.'
He sighed in resolution, and rolled over. 'Maybe I should go after her.' Then he felt tingling in his arms. She was nearyby. He heard her softly creep down the hall, and heard the elevator ding. If she came back then at least she was okay.
*These wounds wont seem to heal*
*This pain is just to real*
*Theres just to much that time cannot erase*
*When you cried i'd wipe away all of your tears*
*When you'd scream i'd fight away all of your fears*
*And i held your hand through all of these years*
*And you still have All of me*
Buffy sat slowly on the bed, the pain in her arm a dull sting. She stared softly around her. Once again, she was going to do it. Run. She slowly picked up a piece of paper and traced her last words to the gang on it.
'Sunny days wouldn't be so special, if it wasnt for rain.
Joy wouldn't feel so good, if it wasnt for pain.
Death's gadda be easy, because life is hard.
It will leave you physically, mentally, and emotionally scarred.'
That calligraphy class she had took at Hemry, before she got that earth shattering news on that sunny day in Los Angeles, was finally paying off. She shook her blonde head at the memory and stood up slowly. She placed the note on the bed and opened her window. She knew Spike would sense her if she walked by his room. Placing her feet of the window she jumped out onto the ledge and swiftly jumped to the lower parking garage roof and then to the pavement below her. 'Where to?' She looked around and saw a Mini Van, something she would never need. Her eyes traveled to the liscence plate. 'Maine. Sound's good.' Then she turned and ran into the darkness, her feet making no noise.
*I tried so hard to tell myself that your gone*
*But thought you're still with me*
*I've been alone all along*
Angel slowly pulled into the hotel parking lot. It was time to finish his and Buffy's thing, whatever it had been. He needed to know now. As he got to her room, he saw the door open and Spike crying. Willow was laying with Dawn's head in her lap. Giles and some woman were shaking thier heads solemly. Weasly was standing around, looking uncomfortable and holding a page torn from a book. His soul shattered. He knew. She was gone.
*When you cried i'd wipe away all of your tears*
*When you'd scream i'd fight away all of your fears*
*And i held your hand through all of these years*
*And you still have All of me*
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
*2 years later*
The streets are lonely as a figure walks, carrying a bundle in her arms. She has forgetten how dark this place can be. Her skin is on fire, her scenses are on overload. They're everywhere. The number seems to have risen to the 100's. But she can feel humans in larger numbers. Good. The bundle slightly moves and she rocks it a little and it ceases. She stops in front of a friendly, familiar settlement. She slowly stalks around the side, her long brown hair swaying in the breeze. Her muscles flex as she grips the package to her chest, and she jumpes up to a branch in a familiar tree, it still exactly the same as she remembered it. The package once again stirred, and she again rocked it, and it again stopped. She smiled slowly and her hair moved slowly. She lept to a higher branch, and sat herself down, perfectly balanced. She peered into the window in front of her. There he was, slowly moving around the room and smoking a ciggarette. His hair was brown now, with blonde tips. It looked good. He picked up a stuffed pig and kissed it softly. She smiled. Then he whipped his head up, and looked around frantically. She froze, standing perfectly still. He shook his head sadly and walked out of the room. She clutched the bundle to her chest and jumped from the tree, never making a sound. She peared into the window directly below hers, and saw him again. He was alone in the house. She slowly went to the mailbox and read. Only one name. "William Spike." She looked up and saw him, staring at her. She ran as fast as lighting, never letting go of her bundle. She peared over the bush she had dived soundlessly behind, and she saw him close his eyes and open them, then wave his hand in front of his face. He took another drag of his butt and turned from the window, shaking his head. 2 hours later the same figure is climbing into the window next to the door, The bundle secured to her back. She swiftly lands in the dining room.She ties hre long dark hair into a low ponytail and advances to the stairs, creeping slowly, ever soundless. She has perfected this art, this stalking through places. Slowly she turns the doorknob, and he is laying in the bed, that stuffed big beside him. Rolling her body towards him she places her bundle onto his bed, his resting place. Then she slitheres from the room, and dives down the stairs. She swiftly skips down to the basement and looks around. It is strange, empty now. Boxes are huddled in each corner, and she smiles. The chains are still down there. She slowly sinks to the floor and falls into a light hyperaware sleep. The man awakes to soft cooing. He looks down and gasps. There's a baby next to him, with dark hair and piercing blue eyes. The fathers high cheekbones and the mothers mouth and teeth. Without thinking he know's whose child this is. Her's and his. Where was she though?
"I thought you might like to see her. Her names Rain. Beautiful isn't she."
He didn't dare look up.
"Well, her mother was beautiful."
The woman laughed softly.
"Yeah, I guess I was."
He looks up now, and there she is. Her hair long and dark, back to it's natural color. There is a long scar going from her left eyebrow down to below her eye. She looks beautiful as ever, if not more, and he can feel the power radiating from her.
"So, uber-slayer then?"
She laughed again, soft and manically.
"You wouldn't believe the hell I went through with that kid. She re-ensouled me when she was born you know, brought back my memory. You know, she looks a lot like you."
Spike laughed.
"And yet, she doesn't have fangs, wheras we both could if we chose to."
He raises his eyebrows at her in question, and she responds by smiling. She shakes her head and her eyes become bright purple, and her canines extend into deadly fangs. Then she shakes out and sighs.
"That is a rush and a half. And she does."
His heart catches, his beating heart. He remembered the morning he had woken up human. If was absolutely amazing. He had run into the sunlight and danced around happily. Then he felt his heart sink as he realised he still had fangs.
"By the way, thanks for the human'ness thing. It's not perfect then, but its bloody alright. Im tan."
She slowly advances towards him.
"Oh yes, you are, aren't you."
"Buffy, why, why are you back now? Why did you leave?"
She methodically turns and hums softly.
"Maybe cus i wanted to. How's Angel?"
The man shudders.
"He didn't take it well, the you making me human and not him. He's somewhere off in Dublin, trapsing around with Weasley. Who knew. Connor's dead. Angel killed him. Right before he left. Strange thing, it is. Your scoobies are all around in at least a 3 hour reaching distance."
She slowly twirls again.
"Druesilla says im not meant to be. Faith says I should take over the world. Rain just wants to bite me all the time."
The man nodded.
"They don't call you Buffy anymore, do they. Whats your name now?"
She giggles girlishly, sounding strange coming from a killing machine.
"Irulan."
He smiles. She gracefully leaps from her spot to another and back, never stopping humming. He now knew why vampires where terrified of her. He recognized the song, it was something Dru used to sing to him. Demons from miles around talked of those 3. Faith, Dru, and Buffy/Irulan. The story was that Dru had found Buffy, pregnant and Uber-slayer, stripped of her memory and of emotion. Dru had taken compassion, and nursed her back to health. They say a burnt Faith had come in months later, and together they ruled the demon world of the South Shore. Then Rain was born, and Buffy was returned. Not wanting people to realise this, the began to call her Irulan, and they traded bad for good, Dru seemingly have gotten the same treatment Spike had. It had been rumord that Irulan had left the 3 to seek revenge upon her old friends, but Spike hadn't believed a word. Until now.
"So Spikey, hows the living thing going for you?"
He looks at her.
"I love it."
She smiles softly.
"I don't care what I missed. The old times mean nothing to me. I don't care about the Scoobies, or tha L.A. gang, or Angel. Im someone new. But Spike. I want you with me. Come with me."
Spike smiled slowly.
"Let's go, luv."
Rain squeeled and Irulan dashed from the room and he saw her outside from his window seconds later. He smiled and picked up Rain. Then he slowly walked out of the house.
'I wonder what name they'll give me.'
The End
