Disclaimer: I don't own CBBB or any of its characters. I don't own God, or Heaven, or Hell, or the Devil, or anything of that nature.
A/N: I am SO sorry I haven't updated in so long. On top of groundation and writer's bloc, I have a lot of extracurricular activities going on……Sorry!!!
Spike stared in disbelief at the apparition before him, at the twisted, mutated form of the woman he once loved standing there with a look of pure hatred in her eyes.
Faye rushed forward. "Get out of here, Spike. I have some issues to settle with this one," she said to him calmly, though her fury leaked out through her tone.
He couldn't move, for fear that he might wake up and things would be even worse than they were at this moment. "Julia…" he whispered.
"Took you long enough to get here," the demon repeated. "I was thinking the devil had taken care of you, and I wouldn't get to have my fun. You very nearly disappointed me again, Spike." She was floating about four feet in the air, her legs and arms casually crossed. As she spoke she looked at her nails and flicked a piece of dirt out from under her thumbnail.
"Why you…" Faye seethed, resisting the urge to grab hold of Julia's tail and swing her into a wall.
"Wait, Faye," Spike said, holding up a still-bandaged hand. "Don't do anything. It's not Julia, I know it's not."
Julia laughed. "Shows me how much you cared, Spike. You don't even recognize your own girlfriend. You'll pay for all those times you left me in the dust!" she screeched.
"Damn, what a drama queen," Faye snorted. She raised her voice so Julia could hear her. "You lay a finger on him and I'll shove your head so far up your ass, you'll never see the light of day again!"
The demon raised a skeptical eyebrow, lifted a finger, and easily sent Faye flying into the door to the Other Realm. She yelped in pain as her skin stuck to the unholy metal.
Spike watched, unable to move, unable to speak. His mind was racing, confused about which of these two women he should help. Should he allow Julia to do what she would with Faye, since Julia had been the love of his life for so long, or should he do whatever was necessary to protect his new love, Faye? As Julia threw Hellfire at Faye, Spike simply contemplated which of these paths to take, stricken completely dumb.
Faye screamed. "Spike, when are you going to stop standing there like a goddamn deer in headlights and get your ass over here and help me???" she yelled at him, jerking him out of his trance. "This isn't the real Julia! I wouldn't be sensing the Devil if it was!"
Oh, duh! Spike thought stupidly, hitting himself on the forehead. Of course it's not Julia! I knew it! He put on a sardonic grin and assumed a fighting stance. "Bring it on, Julia," he was about to say. Then he stopped. What if it was Julia, only possessed? Then he would only be fighting his love in a different form.
Faye stared at him. "What the hell are you DOING, Spike?!" she screamed. "Help me!!"
He lowered his fists and shook his head. "I can't…" he whispered. "I can't do it…" He turned and began to walk away from the scene, trying once more to escape his past.
Julia stared after him, wondering why he didn't fight her. Her face contorted into an angry, menacing glare as she watched him walk away from her…again. She threw herself at him, ripping and tearing at his flesh with her demonic claws and vampiric teeth.
Spike screamed, feeling his skin rip as she seemingly ate him alive.
"Spike, you have to fight back!" Faye yelled, tears streaming down her face. "I won't be able to bear it if you die again!"
Knowing he had to save his own…well…afterlife, Spike reluctantly began to fight back. He kicked her in the stomach, causing her to double over and fall back a bit. He staggered to his feet and regained his balance, then fell to his knees again.
God…if you can hear me…HELP ME…she's killing me again, Spike prayed, for the first time in his life. I can't let Faye be alone again…
Spike felt his body lift itself up as a strange sensation filled his entirety. He felt his head lift up to gaze at a sky that held no stars, and he sighed. Suddenly, he winced as a sharp pain whipped through his back. Glancing behind his shoulder, he was startled and a bit scared to find wings sprouting from his shoulder blades. Feeling something heavy grow in his hands, he looked front and down to see an elaborate sword materialize in his grip. The inscription on the blade read "In God You Trusted," and for some strange reason it gave Spike the incentive he needed to go up against Julia. He grinned and said those words he had held back before. "Bring it on, Julia."
Julia stared at him in wonderment and shock, which was soon replaced by that old fury she seemed to hold dear now. She flew at him, screeching horribly.
He didn't even have to think about it. Almost as a reflex, he held the point of the sword out towards her, causing her to impale herself on the dreadfully sharp blade. She screamed: one long, last, miserable scream. Spike's fleeting feeling of triumph quickly vanished as the realization of what he had just done hit him like a slap in the face.
"Julia!" he screamed, feeling his heart jump out of his body and skewer itself on the same sword that had just run her through. He yanked the sword out of her, and watched in horror as she fell to the ground, eyes staring and vacant, body twitching slightly. The wings and the claws disappeared, leaving a sad, helpless young woman lying near-dead on the floor of Heaven.
He threw the weapon down and floated down to where she lay. Taking her in his arms, he prayed that his tears would mend her wound. "Julia…" he whispered. "I'm so sorry…What the hell have I done…?"
Her eyes focused for a moment. "Spike…" she tried to say, but ended up in a fit of coughing. Spike wiped the blood that shone on her lips with his shirt. "I'm sorry…This was all my fault…"
"No. No it wasn't…You were jealous, I understand that…" Spike hugged her tightly.
"I guess…I guess now you can be with Faye…" Julia said softly, a single tear rolling down the side of her face to join the multitude of Spike's tears on the ground.
"No, don't say that…It's not like that…"
Faye, who had been released once Julia had returned to normal, walked cautiously over to where the couple was. Tears filled even stonehearted Faye's eyes as she watched this broken man hold his broken woman at the end of their broken relationship.
A shadowy figure materialized near them. Spike reckoned this must have been the creature that children had gotten their stories of the Grim Reaper from.
"It is her time," the figure said. "She must enter the Other Realm."
"NO!" Spike screamed, holding Julia even tighter to him. "I won't let her go again!"
"You have no choice. The Realm is hungry for her soul, and will not be satisfied until it receives it. There are consequences for those who resist."
"Spike…" Julia whispered. "I love you…"
"I love you, too, Julia…" Spike sobbed, hugging her and rocking back and forth as the life left her.
Her eyes went dead, and her body rose, answering the beckoning call of the Other Realm. The Door swung open.
"NO!" Faye yelled, and she rushed to close it.
"Get close to that door and you enter the Realm!" the Grim Reaper shouted. "You cannot approach the Door while life still clings to you!"
"The Other Realm only wants a soul, doesn't it?!" Faye screamed. "Let it take my soul instead!"
Spike stared at Faye. No, he couldn't live without her either…
"That is correct, my child, but it would be foolish to sacrifice your life for one who has experienced the powers of Hell."
"I don't care!" She rushed at the Door, trying to beat Julia.
"FAYE!!! NO!!!" Spike screamed. He rushed forward and shoved her backwards. The impact caused him to fall backwards, and through the Door. "I love you, Faye!" he shouted one last time as his soul was taken by the Rippers of the Other Realm."
"SPIKE!!!" the now very alive Julia and heartbroken Faye cried out in unison. They rushed to the Door to try and save him, but it swung shut, and the Grim Reaper disappeared.
"He made his choice…Now you must make yours…" the apparition's voice echoed after him.
Faye and Julia collapsed, sobbing. What was this for? Why did Spike have to go? They gazed at each other, a friendship forming through this similar loss.
Clinging to each other, they cried as they had only just been born, and in the distance, the lonely cry of a single wolf, the pet of God, sounded along the brilliant horizon.
A/N: OK it sounded a lot better in my head, and I'm going to try and update the next chapter faster than I updated this chapter. Thanks for all your support everyone!