Title: RETURN
Author: Ivytree
Rating: PG-13
Disclaimer: Like I could create these guys.
All characters belong to Joss Whedon, UPN, Mutant Enemy, etc.
Feedback: Please!
Summary: A Spike-centric alternative ending (which you can bet will never happen) for Ep. 22 of this season, incorporating many (though not all) recent spoilers. The end of BtVS, and the beginning of The Spike Show.
NO SPOILERS - LONG BUT SPUFFY
-------------------------------------------
RETURN
Part 26. Delight of Battle
"Where is your master, hounds?" Etienne called out derisively to what looked - to Buffy's trained eye - like a whole bunch of demons.
Rack was holed up in an abandoned store, and massed inside were big, speckled, green, inexplicably squirmy demons. A growl rose from amongst them, and one of the pack lumbered angrily forward. Uh-oh, Buffy thought, getting a closer look. Etienne just grinned and danced backwards, drawing the beast out the back door and into the alley. Grasping her own sword - lightly, as she had been taught - she leapt forward to join him.
There had been no need for a big evil-vibe hunt; Clem knew where Rack was. They decided to approach the shuttered shop through an alleyway in back, and then determine whether to reconnoiter further or simply rush the place.
Perhaps because Xander drove instead of Buffy, Etienne had displayed no particular uneasiness about riding in her SUV. Apparently he chose to view it as just another carriage. Buffy's tension grew and grew, however, not because of the coming fight, but because she was feeling Spike's absence. She didn't want to fight beside someone else - she wanted to fight beside Spike. The same empty ache she'd felt when he went away was beginning to throb inside.
Sitting beside her in the back seat, Etienne sensed her unease. "Are you worried, Buffy?" he said quietly. "These demons are not so dangerous, after all." She looked up into his blue eyes. It was the man - the being - she loved, and yet so much not him. Finally she decided that the Watchers should know how she felt.
"It's not that," she said frankly. "I don't feel right when Spike's gone. I'm - I'm always afraid he won't come back, that he won't be able to come back."
He bent his head. "Buffy, please believe what I say." He spoke very softly, so none of the others could hear. "Nothing will be permitted to keep him from you."
Then he turned away from the questions in her eyes as though he had said too much already.
Meanwhile, in the front seat, Xander hissed to Giles, "Holy Casper, G-man! Do you see that?"
"I'm sorry; what?" Giles said, inattentively. "What did you say?" In response, Xander just signaled with his eyes for Giles to look in the rear-view mirror. "What?" Giles said again. Then he looked.
"Good God!" he said. What he saw was a ghost - sitting beside Buffy and apparently conversing with her. Both he and Xander were quite used to the lack of reflection where Spike's should be; they never gave it a thought anymore. But now there was just the faintest, shimmering outline of a man - Etienne De Treville, obviously - where empty space should be. Giles felt ice roll up his spine.
Eyes wide, Xander said, "Now I am officially creeped out for this evening. Rack had better pull something big to top this."
Giles looked at him. "You know, I would think you'd lived in Sunnydale long enough not to say things like that," he said severely.
After parking the van, they met briefly to discuss their options - Giles favored gathering a bit more intelligence - when Etienne suddenly threw his head up (or, technically, Spike's head) and made a dash for the back entrance, saying, "Follow me, my friends!"
Xander remarked, "I guess we're going to rush them."
"Good lord, he's worse than Spike," said Giles, taking to his heels in pursuit.
Buffy cursed under her breath. She didn't want any harm to come to Spike through Etienne's overconfidence. Naturally, she easily outstripped the other three, and arrived in time to see him draw the none-too-bright demons out of the store one by one.
On reaching the scene, Xander skidded to a halt so that Giles actually bumped into him. "Hey, wait a minute!" he exclaimed breathlessly. "Nobody said anything about tentacles!"
As Giles, Clem and Xander watched in consternation, eight large green demons surged out of the shop's back door, single file. Each one had only two arms, and a rather well defined dark spot in the center of the chest over the heart; but unfortunately they also had two pairs of powerful tentacles emerging from each shoulder, to grasp, tear, and hold their opponents.
"Damn!" Giles exclaimed, and waded in, hacking at the nearest one.
Two of the Kaa Lores fell immediately, impaled by Etienne's preternaturally swift blade, oozing slippery, repulsive looking green blood. Buffy took down two more. Then one caught her by the arm and leg, and Xander hacked at its tentacle until it released her. She returned the favor by neatly skewering one that was just about to seize him around the neck. Clem and Giles stood back to back and fought off two more.
As Buffy transfixed the last Kaa Lore with her sword, she heard Giles cry, "Buffy, stop him!"
She spun to see Etienne round on Rack, cowering behind empty storage units, and with a snarl of rage toss him across the room; then he pinned the warlock beneath one boot, and the point of his sword found Rack's neck. Rack screamed, and Etienne laughed unpleasantly.
"So!" he snapped. "Now you are afraid, yes?" He drew back his sword and Rack screamed again.
Buffy shot to his side and grabbed his arm. "Don't kill him!"
"You do not wish him killed, Buffy? Is he not evil?" He seemed genuinely puzzled.
"Well, yes; he is evil," she replied. "But nowadays we don't kill humans, if we can help it."
"Get him off me!" Rack hissed desperately.
Etienne kicked him. "Quiet, dog!"
"Etienne," Buffy said, in a quiet voice. Spike's blue eyes met hers candidly. "We need Spike back now. He'll take care of Rack."
"Very well, if you wish it, Buffy," he said, with a smile. He leaned closer to whisper in her ear. "You miss him, eh?"
"Well, yes, but that's not why," Buffy said, blushing a little.
"I understand." He turned to Giles, and offered his hand; Giles clasped his warmly, and a bright bluish light flowed between them for a moment. "Now this one cannot touch you," he said. Giles smiled grimly and placed his foot on Rack's neck, directing his own swordpoint at the warlock's throat. He didn't like Rack.
"Farewell, my friends, for now." Etienne stepped away and stood stock-still for a few moments.
"Yeowch!" Spike said, clutching the back of his head.
Quivering with relief, Buffy wrapped her arms tightly around his waist. "You okay?"
"Couldn't be better, love." He shook himself, like a bird settling its feathers. Then he laughed, tossing the sword he still held from hand to hand. He said, "I can do this now."
"Shall we deal with this - this creature at once?" Giles said. "I'm not fond of his company."
"Ah, yes," Spike said. He looked at Rack with a most unsettling smile. "Like to corrupt little girls, don't you? Made you potent, didn't it? Made you powerful. Well, not anymore." He stretched out his hand and pressed it to Rack's heaving chest. Blue-white light shimmered down his arm and seemed to strike Rack, and ripple outwards briefly; then it disappeared abruptly.
"No more magic for you. Ever." Rack lay on the floor stunned, his mouth opening and closing as if he were still searching for a spell that would work.
"What about her?" Xander said. Amy was crouched against the wall, both hands over her mouth, her eyes wide with fear.
"Her, too," Spike said grimly. He strode across the room and seized Amy by the wrist; as she struggled he said impatiently, "No one's going to hurt you, girl." The same light surged down his arm briefly, and he released her.
"What did you do to me?" she whispered.
"No more magic. Ever. No spell will work for you - you're just an ordinary girl again. Now both of you take off, and don't let us see you 'round here again."
"Wow!" Xander said, leaning picturesquely on his sword and watching their disarmed adversaries scuttled off - in opposite directions. "I guess this means it's Miller time, right?"
"Sounds like a plan," Clem said, and they turned and headed towards the van.
"Not a bad plan, either," Giles had to admit.
Spike put his arms around Buffy, still keeping a grip on his weapon.
"You're not letting go of that sword anytime soon, are you?" she teased.
"I feel just like I've been in a good fight, know what I mean?" he said.
"Well, I guess you have, really," she began. Then her eyes met his glowing blue ones. "Oh. Um, yeah. Now that you mention it, I do know what you mean."
He pulled her closer, right there in the street in front of everybody. Buffy gazed up at him, starry-eyed; she felt just like she'd been in a good fight, too. All warm and tingly. And hungry. And other things. "Let's go home, sweetheart," Spike said, and kissed her.
TBC
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
"I cannot rest from travel: I will drink
Life to the lees: all times I have enjoy'd
Greatly, have suffer'd greatly, both with those
That loved me, and alone; on shore, and when
Thro' scudding drifts the rainy Hyades
Vext the dim sea: I am become a name;
For always roaming with a hungry heart
Much have I seen and known; cities of men
And manners, climates, councils, governments,
Myself not least, but honour'd of them all;
And drunk delight of battle with my peers,
Far on the ringing plains of windy Troy.
I am a part of all that I have met;
Yet all experience is an arch wherethro'
Gleams that untravell'd world, whose margin fades
For ever and for ever when I move."
Alfred, Lord Tennyson
Author: Ivytree
Rating: PG-13
Disclaimer: Like I could create these guys.
All characters belong to Joss Whedon, UPN, Mutant Enemy, etc.
Feedback: Please!
Summary: A Spike-centric alternative ending (which you can bet will never happen) for Ep. 22 of this season, incorporating many (though not all) recent spoilers. The end of BtVS, and the beginning of The Spike Show.
NO SPOILERS - LONG BUT SPUFFY
-------------------------------------------
RETURN
Part 26. Delight of Battle
"Where is your master, hounds?" Etienne called out derisively to what looked - to Buffy's trained eye - like a whole bunch of demons.
Rack was holed up in an abandoned store, and massed inside were big, speckled, green, inexplicably squirmy demons. A growl rose from amongst them, and one of the pack lumbered angrily forward. Uh-oh, Buffy thought, getting a closer look. Etienne just grinned and danced backwards, drawing the beast out the back door and into the alley. Grasping her own sword - lightly, as she had been taught - she leapt forward to join him.
There had been no need for a big evil-vibe hunt; Clem knew where Rack was. They decided to approach the shuttered shop through an alleyway in back, and then determine whether to reconnoiter further or simply rush the place.
Perhaps because Xander drove instead of Buffy, Etienne had displayed no particular uneasiness about riding in her SUV. Apparently he chose to view it as just another carriage. Buffy's tension grew and grew, however, not because of the coming fight, but because she was feeling Spike's absence. She didn't want to fight beside someone else - she wanted to fight beside Spike. The same empty ache she'd felt when he went away was beginning to throb inside.
Sitting beside her in the back seat, Etienne sensed her unease. "Are you worried, Buffy?" he said quietly. "These demons are not so dangerous, after all." She looked up into his blue eyes. It was the man - the being - she loved, and yet so much not him. Finally she decided that the Watchers should know how she felt.
"It's not that," she said frankly. "I don't feel right when Spike's gone. I'm - I'm always afraid he won't come back, that he won't be able to come back."
He bent his head. "Buffy, please believe what I say." He spoke very softly, so none of the others could hear. "Nothing will be permitted to keep him from you."
Then he turned away from the questions in her eyes as though he had said too much already.
Meanwhile, in the front seat, Xander hissed to Giles, "Holy Casper, G-man! Do you see that?"
"I'm sorry; what?" Giles said, inattentively. "What did you say?" In response, Xander just signaled with his eyes for Giles to look in the rear-view mirror. "What?" Giles said again. Then he looked.
"Good God!" he said. What he saw was a ghost - sitting beside Buffy and apparently conversing with her. Both he and Xander were quite used to the lack of reflection where Spike's should be; they never gave it a thought anymore. But now there was just the faintest, shimmering outline of a man - Etienne De Treville, obviously - where empty space should be. Giles felt ice roll up his spine.
Eyes wide, Xander said, "Now I am officially creeped out for this evening. Rack had better pull something big to top this."
Giles looked at him. "You know, I would think you'd lived in Sunnydale long enough not to say things like that," he said severely.
After parking the van, they met briefly to discuss their options - Giles favored gathering a bit more intelligence - when Etienne suddenly threw his head up (or, technically, Spike's head) and made a dash for the back entrance, saying, "Follow me, my friends!"
Xander remarked, "I guess we're going to rush them."
"Good lord, he's worse than Spike," said Giles, taking to his heels in pursuit.
Buffy cursed under her breath. She didn't want any harm to come to Spike through Etienne's overconfidence. Naturally, she easily outstripped the other three, and arrived in time to see him draw the none-too-bright demons out of the store one by one.
On reaching the scene, Xander skidded to a halt so that Giles actually bumped into him. "Hey, wait a minute!" he exclaimed breathlessly. "Nobody said anything about tentacles!"
As Giles, Clem and Xander watched in consternation, eight large green demons surged out of the shop's back door, single file. Each one had only two arms, and a rather well defined dark spot in the center of the chest over the heart; but unfortunately they also had two pairs of powerful tentacles emerging from each shoulder, to grasp, tear, and hold their opponents.
"Damn!" Giles exclaimed, and waded in, hacking at the nearest one.
Two of the Kaa Lores fell immediately, impaled by Etienne's preternaturally swift blade, oozing slippery, repulsive looking green blood. Buffy took down two more. Then one caught her by the arm and leg, and Xander hacked at its tentacle until it released her. She returned the favor by neatly skewering one that was just about to seize him around the neck. Clem and Giles stood back to back and fought off two more.
As Buffy transfixed the last Kaa Lore with her sword, she heard Giles cry, "Buffy, stop him!"
She spun to see Etienne round on Rack, cowering behind empty storage units, and with a snarl of rage toss him across the room; then he pinned the warlock beneath one boot, and the point of his sword found Rack's neck. Rack screamed, and Etienne laughed unpleasantly.
"So!" he snapped. "Now you are afraid, yes?" He drew back his sword and Rack screamed again.
Buffy shot to his side and grabbed his arm. "Don't kill him!"
"You do not wish him killed, Buffy? Is he not evil?" He seemed genuinely puzzled.
"Well, yes; he is evil," she replied. "But nowadays we don't kill humans, if we can help it."
"Get him off me!" Rack hissed desperately.
Etienne kicked him. "Quiet, dog!"
"Etienne," Buffy said, in a quiet voice. Spike's blue eyes met hers candidly. "We need Spike back now. He'll take care of Rack."
"Very well, if you wish it, Buffy," he said, with a smile. He leaned closer to whisper in her ear. "You miss him, eh?"
"Well, yes, but that's not why," Buffy said, blushing a little.
"I understand." He turned to Giles, and offered his hand; Giles clasped his warmly, and a bright bluish light flowed between them for a moment. "Now this one cannot touch you," he said. Giles smiled grimly and placed his foot on Rack's neck, directing his own swordpoint at the warlock's throat. He didn't like Rack.
"Farewell, my friends, for now." Etienne stepped away and stood stock-still for a few moments.
"Yeowch!" Spike said, clutching the back of his head.
Quivering with relief, Buffy wrapped her arms tightly around his waist. "You okay?"
"Couldn't be better, love." He shook himself, like a bird settling its feathers. Then he laughed, tossing the sword he still held from hand to hand. He said, "I can do this now."
"Shall we deal with this - this creature at once?" Giles said. "I'm not fond of his company."
"Ah, yes," Spike said. He looked at Rack with a most unsettling smile. "Like to corrupt little girls, don't you? Made you potent, didn't it? Made you powerful. Well, not anymore." He stretched out his hand and pressed it to Rack's heaving chest. Blue-white light shimmered down his arm and seemed to strike Rack, and ripple outwards briefly; then it disappeared abruptly.
"No more magic for you. Ever." Rack lay on the floor stunned, his mouth opening and closing as if he were still searching for a spell that would work.
"What about her?" Xander said. Amy was crouched against the wall, both hands over her mouth, her eyes wide with fear.
"Her, too," Spike said grimly. He strode across the room and seized Amy by the wrist; as she struggled he said impatiently, "No one's going to hurt you, girl." The same light surged down his arm briefly, and he released her.
"What did you do to me?" she whispered.
"No more magic. Ever. No spell will work for you - you're just an ordinary girl again. Now both of you take off, and don't let us see you 'round here again."
"Wow!" Xander said, leaning picturesquely on his sword and watching their disarmed adversaries scuttled off - in opposite directions. "I guess this means it's Miller time, right?"
"Sounds like a plan," Clem said, and they turned and headed towards the van.
"Not a bad plan, either," Giles had to admit.
Spike put his arms around Buffy, still keeping a grip on his weapon.
"You're not letting go of that sword anytime soon, are you?" she teased.
"I feel just like I've been in a good fight, know what I mean?" he said.
"Well, I guess you have, really," she began. Then her eyes met his glowing blue ones. "Oh. Um, yeah. Now that you mention it, I do know what you mean."
He pulled her closer, right there in the street in front of everybody. Buffy gazed up at him, starry-eyed; she felt just like she'd been in a good fight, too. All warm and tingly. And hungry. And other things. "Let's go home, sweetheart," Spike said, and kissed her.
TBC
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
"I cannot rest from travel: I will drink
Life to the lees: all times I have enjoy'd
Greatly, have suffer'd greatly, both with those
That loved me, and alone; on shore, and when
Thro' scudding drifts the rainy Hyades
Vext the dim sea: I am become a name;
For always roaming with a hungry heart
Much have I seen and known; cities of men
And manners, climates, councils, governments,
Myself not least, but honour'd of them all;
And drunk delight of battle with my peers,
Far on the ringing plains of windy Troy.
I am a part of all that I have met;
Yet all experience is an arch wherethro'
Gleams that untravell'd world, whose margin fades
For ever and for ever when I move."
Alfred, Lord Tennyson