Author: Meltha
Rating: G, at this point.
Feedback: Yes, thank you. Melpomenethalia@aol.com
Spoilers: Casting spoilers for Angel season five: specifically, the two major casting spoilers. If you have no idea what I mean, it's probably better to wait to read this until after at least the first episode.
Distribution: Fanfiction.net and the Bunny Warren. If you're interested, please let me know.
Summary: A sequel to "The Other Side" of sorts. Spike has helped save the world and has earned a bit of rest, but it seems that other plans are in store for him.
Author's Note: Parts of this will make precious little sense unless you've read "The Other Side." Also, aside from knowing one character is being added and one subtracted from Angel, I don't know any spoilers, so this is just my odd (and probably incredibly naïve) version of what might have happened to our dear William.
Disclaimer: All characters are owned by Mutant Enemy (Joss Whedon), a wonderfully creative company whose characters I have borrowed for a completely profit-free flight of fancy. Kindly do not sue me, please, as I am terrified of you. Thank you.
Part 5The months of Spike's recovery passed quietly in Limbo. Cordelia didn't feel quite ready to move on to her own final resting place yet, and Drusilla felt that this was most likely a good idea. Things needed to become unknotted a bit more to pave the way for William's re-entry to the other reality. Cordelia, as was usually the case, somehow seemed to ingratiate herself to the others through her complete lack of tact. At times, Spike was reminded very vividly of Anya, and the connection that Xander must have felt between the two was obvious. He missed the former demon in spite of himself, even knowing that she was perfectly happy now, and for Anya's memory's sake he managed to tolerate the former cheerleader much better than he could have anticipated. Still, she spent most of her time with Harmony, which was surprising, in a way. Harmony and Dru were the only two of their group to still have the pain of their other selves feeding, and it was strange to see how Cordy would suddenly become immensely protective and thoughtful around her friend when she started to show signs that the other Harmony was up to something dire.
Tara remained. It was obvious that she and Drusilla had formed an unlikely friendship during her time there, though there was no smack of romance about it. Spike couldn't really understand at first what kept her there. Of all the Scoobies, she was probably the one most likely to have spring boarded into heaven without a hitch. But it became obvious over time; she missed Willow. Frequent visits to the redhead were paid by the soft-spoken soul, and Spike found himself sometimes tagging along since Buffy was often in the vicinity. It was becoming a problem, though, and one Spike finally addressed.
"Tara," he asked her as the two sat on the same bench by the pond after one of their sojourns to earth, "why do keep visiting Red when it hurts you so much?"
Tara brushed a tear away, then looked at him with a bittersweet smile. "The same reason you keep visiting Buffy when it hurts you."
He snorted roughly at being caught. "Hurts like bloody hell, don't it?"
"Yeah," Tara agreed. "But I just can't let her go yet, you know?"
"I know," he said. "Believe me, I know. How many blokes has Buffy dated in the last four months? Five? Six? Soul or no, there's times I'd all but kill to be one of them."
"At least she isn't really serious about any of them. Willow and Kennedy are, you know, pretty well long-term now," Tara said.
"Yeah. Never liked that bird myself," Spike stated bluntly. "Got a mite of a superiority complex."
Tara glanced around quickly as though to make sure they were alone before saying, "Oh yeah. Tell me about it. I mean, she makes Willow happy, which is good. Really good. Really, really good. But…"
"But it still hurts like hell," Spike finished.
"Like bloody hell," Tara said with a sheepish grin. "She's really doing okay, isn't she?"
"I'd say so. Magic is under control, enrolled in college, that software job helping to pay a bit of rent on the flat she, Buffy and Bit keep in Cleveland. Yeah, her head's on straight again, if you pardon the expression," he agreed.
Tara nodded. "And so's Buffy. She's really okay, Spike."
Spike blew out a completely unneccessary breath as his shoulders slumped. "I know. I just… Even now, I can't stay away. I miss what we had here."
"I'm sorry about that," Tara said, her eyes suddenly brimming with tears once more. "I should have said something to Willow, made her stop. It's my fault that…"
"Nonsense," he cut her off. "Willow would have raised Buffy with or without your help. You know that."
"But I should have…"
"Should have, could have, would have! What's done is done!" he shouted. "There's not a damn force in this universe that can give her back to me now, and thinking about it is only going to drive us both crazier than I was a year ago. Let it go, Tara. Forgive yourself. You did one rotten thing in your whole bleeding life, and you didn't even realize just how rotten it was at the time. That doesn't make you evil; it makes you a human being."
Tara was taken aback momentarily by his tone, but she realized that he meant what he said. He didn't hold her responsible for wrecking his afterlife with Buffy. Somehow, the feeling of acceptance acted like a balm on her spirit, healing her self-inflicted wounds of guilt.
"Thanks," she said, and she meant it.
"Welcome," Spike answered, letting the moment pass. "Feel up to listening to Harm and Cor twitter on about hemlines?"
Tara laughed easily. "No thanks. I'd rather see how Dru's doing."
"Right then. Shall we go?" he asked, offering her an arm and escorting her to Drusilla's favorite garden.
The brunette's other self had been giving her an increased amount of trouble lately, and she'd taken to retreating to her roses and lilacs on her own quite often, partly because she was comfortable there but equally to save the others from having to witness her agonies over Drusilla's kills. Over 140 years had passed without a single break in the vampire's violence, and the soul had still never become jaded to it. When the two arrived, Dru was in her hammock, a slight dampness still glistening on her brow as the latest attack finished subsiding.
"How you feeling, luv," Spike asked, once again looking like his former human self as he pulled up two chairs beside her and sat down on one, straddling the seat.
"Oh, just fine, dearie," she said weakly, fooling no one.
Tara, who had remained standing, placed a hand on Drusilla's head and quietly chanted a spell that eased away the last remnants of her pain. A smile crossed her face as she saw her friend's discomfort subside.
"That's much better. Thank you, Tara," she assured her. "I'm afraid the other Drusilla has been having rather a difficult time of it of late. She knows Spike is gone, you see, and with the last bit of her family erased, she's gone into something of a frenzy. I can't help feeling a little sorry for her."
"Why?" Tara asked, dumbfounded.
"Most of the time she doesn't really understand what she's doing. She's evil, or course, but in many ways she's like the broken dolls she plays with. And she's always been terrified of being alone. I was, too, when I was alive, so we have that in common. Now, there's no one left on the earth who's hers or who she belongs to. She's desperately lonely," Drusilla explained.
"Think she'll sire again?" Spike asked.
"No," Drusilla said definitely. "She doesn't want to lose anyone again. Right now she's in Paris once more, walking by the Seine. She takes the same route every night, the one she took with Spike almost fifty years ago. Her kills are getting far less cautious and far too repetitive. I think she's trying to get herself caught."
"Might be the best thing for you," Spike said. "Finally get you out of this place. More than put in your time, you have."
"I doubt it. I think the Powers want a seer on this plane. There's a good chance that even if Drusilla does turn to dust, they'll ask me to stay here, at least for a while," she said softly.
"When does it get to be fair?" he asked her, frowning.
"That would be the next life, William darling," she said with a wink. "At least, I think so. Perhaps it's the next life after the next life?"
Tara chuckled. "Dru, if you weren't straight and I weren't still in love with Willow, I'd have to date you."
Drusilla patted her hand fondly. "Thank you, sweeting. Unfortunately, I'm the least of our worries right now. William?"
He knew before she said another word.
"How soon?" he asked calmly.
"I'm afraid you have only two days left, dearest, before you'll have to go. Cordelia's time is almost up. When her mortal body dies, you must either take her place then or never return," Drusilla told him.