Salvation of the Fallen
Written by Ashen Ravenwing
Black Sheep, White Raven
Spike glanced back over his shoulder at hearing his name called. He smiled wearily at the winged male, looking back down at the lit up cityscape from his perch on the rooftop.
" I thought I'd find you up here my friend... Would you like some company?"
Abyssinian let his eyes sweep over the tarred blacktop, the young vampires angry rampage evident in the amount of damage that had been done to anything and everything that wasn't bolted down to the roof... And even those that were had some considerable denting. Although it displeased him to have his roof mangled, Abyssinian admired the night breeds amount of self control to take his pain out on a collection of inanimate objects rather than any innocents who had more to loose then their basic shape. The demonic looking animorph walked up beside his recently acquired coworker. Spike didn't make any motion as to show that he even acknowledged his presence, but his body seemed to relax a bit.
"Hn... I'll take that as a yes then..."
He too looked out across the city, smiling softly.
" It's a beautiful night, yes Spike?"
There was silence, but the vampire inhaled an unnecessary breath to let out a sigh of response. Abyss nodded his head, accepting that these might be the closest to any answers he was going to get from the blonde this night. The two males stood in silence as the minutes floated by, enjoying each others presence more then any words that could have been spoken.
Spike blinked softly at the feel of claws wrapping over his shoulder. He glanced to the side, noticing that Abyssinian had curled his wing around him. He creased his brow in slight discontent at the comfort the other male was trying to offer.
" Abyss..."
" You two... You're not as different as you think...William."
Spike tensed slightly in surprise at the sudden calm seriousness in the animorphs voice. He looked at his teammate with searching cornflower eyes.
" W-what are you talking about...?"
Abyssinian turned slightly to stare down at the young vampire, seeming to soak him in through his deep two-toned eyes.
" You and Angel... You're not as different as you think."
Spike let out a scoffing laugh, shaking his head as he moved away from the animorphs embrace.
" Don' think so there mate... Angel and I, hn... We're as separate as the day and the night. He's the 'saved' one... and I'm the condemned."
The blonde sighed softly, looking down as he turned his back to the banister and leaned against it, arms propped up on the railing.
" Oh? You believe Angel to be one of the light and you of the darkness?"
Abyss half turned, watching his comrade thoughtfully.
" Bingo."
Spike pulled a fag from his blazer pocket and lit it, taking a deep drag. He closed his eyes for a moment as his nearly useless lungs held the smoke before releasing it into the coo; night air. The blondes soft blue eyes turned to the darkened sky, watching the stars dance in the patch of heaven that was exposed in the brief reprieve of rain. Abyssinian, too, looked towards the stars, his leathery wings flexing and tail flicking lazily at his hoofed feet.
" Why is it then... that Angel is running from himself, and you are not my friend?"
The blonde took pause, thinking about that as if questioning it for the first time. He looked at Abyss quizzically.
" Because he has a soul now... He's making amends for his past..."
Spike shrugged.
" Why else would he?"
" Hn... Why indeed."
Abyss smirked softly.
" What part of his past exactly is he trying to amend? Faults? Wrongs committed to others?"
" I guess you could call it that... His sins. He wants to redeem his now blackened soul."
Spike mused this fact as if it were sadly ironic.. Which, he supposed, in a way it was...
" And you're not? You've committed no sins Spike?"
The vampire had to laugh at that one.
" Tsh! Hardly! I've done things that would make the devil blush luv... But, I've got no soul... So I'm already damned. Nothing to redeem y'see?"
Abyss mad e a skeptical face.
" I wouldn't go that far..."
Spike took another drag on his cigarette, looking at Abyss curiously.
" What do you mean by that?"
" What I mean, dear friend, is that you're far more attached to your emotions than an other normal vampire... Especially to the emotions of the heart... Those type emotions die within most of your kind over time... Like they did in Angelus... but he's only just now getting them back. While you, Spike, have always retained yours... Your driving emotion of love. You need to feel love... Need to give and receive it... It is the emotion of which you feed off, of what you exist off... it is the same emotion that also feeds the soul. Do you see what I'm getting at here?"
There was silence between them, Spike watching Abyss with flashing crystal cut blue eyes. A cruel and almost mocking grin twisted the corner of the vampire's lips.
" You dare to think that I've somehow... 'reclaimed' my soul? Is that it Abyss?"
Abyssinian stared back at the other man in front of him unflinchingly.
" I'm saying... That perhaps you never lost it in the first place Spike..."
The demon cried out as he was suddenly flung back against the railing, pushed dangerously far over the edge of the barrier. His wings flapped frantically at the open air, trying to balance him as the demon-faced night breed above him trapped him in the strained position. Spike's hand lunged forward and grabbed hold of one of the ribbed horns protruding from the animorphs skull, jerking it to the side so that the males throat became exposed. he felt the larger creature stiffen below him, instinctual fear causing the animal side to take over. Abyss let out a howling bugle of fright, his wide spliced eyes staring up at the vampire in mortal terror. The demon within grinned through Spike, loving the feel of dominating another... of filling them with that dread so that he could smell it in the air. Spike pulled back though, restraining his own instinct to sink his fangs into the exposed vein that lay nestled under soft gray fur and hot flesh. he groaned in frustration as he staggered back, releasing Abyss. They both dropped to their knees on the tarred rooftop, panting heavily.
" D-does this... look... like the face of... some one 'saved'... to you?"
He stared back at Abyss through pained, self-tortured eyes.
" My own kind shuns me Abyss... I'm an outcast no matter who I am... or where I go."
Abyss allowed himself to catch his breath before answering.
" I-it's the same for him... for Angel... Don't you see Spike? Angel... is forsaken by both sides... Too 'pure' for hell... too tainted for heaven... he lives in a conscious limbo Spike... Unable to find peace on either side. A white raven. A watcher of the middle realm, trapped outside of both gates."
Abyssinian coughed slightly, rubbing his sore head at the horn base. Spike watched him, the demons mask staring at the animorph with inner spite. The blonde lowered his head to the tar top, closing his eyes as he let out a soft growl of despair.
" You make it sound like he's the one who needs saving here..."
The two males looked up in unison as thunder suddenly crashed overhead, a steady downpour cascading over them. Spike stared up at the sky with rue, as if the heavens were mocking him. His eyes lowered and met with Abyssinians', the face of his true self looking back at the disheveled beast. The blonde's brows knit in sadness.
" That is what you're saying... Isn't it? That Angel is so busy saving this fucked up world in order to redeem himself... that he's gone beyond the point to help himself... He needs someone to rescue him this time. But..., I don't know how you expect me to be able to do bollocks for him... he hates me, remember?"
Abyss slumped back against the wet rooftop, looking at the young night breed sympathetically.
" He doesn't hate you Spike... He wouldn't have held back the way he did tonight if he didn't have something to hold back for. he fears you Spike... Not your physical strength... but rather your emotional strength... it's the power that you hold over him; the power you've always exceeded him in..."
" What bloody power Aby! Eh! What damned power could I possibly hold over him?"
Spikes voice was getting strained due to his stress and he looked away, knowing this subject was getting the better of him. He'd never really liked talking personally... especially when it concerned his grandsire.
" The power of your ability to love Will... He's scared of the way he used to feel about you...
About allowing himself to be happy again..."
The thunder roared out again, the night being washed in light as an electric bolt ripped through the
sky. Spike bowed his head, crying despite himself and thankful that the rain would cover his tears. After a
moment, he stood slowly and walked over to the animorph, offering Abyss his hand which the other male
gratefully accepted.
" For jus meeting me... you sure seem to know me pet... Angel too... You hidin' something?"
He hauled Abyss up off the wet roof, staring at him with masked scrutiny. Abyss smiled softly and
shook his head.
" Not really... Some people are just easy to read."
" Bullshit! You're a piss-poor liar mate...:
" Heh, well that's my story and I'm stickin' to it..."
The animorph laughed softly, hooking his wing up over the blonde to shield him from the rain.
They walked back to the stair door and paused, Spike looking up at the larger male.
" No hard feelings... yeh luv?"
Abyssinian smiled and leaned down, placing a soft kiss on the young vampire's forehead. Spike
blinked with mild bemusement and looked at Abyss with questioning eyes.
" We're friends, you and I... We're entitled to have our fights... Besides, how can I stay mad at an
outcast like you? My black sheep?"
" That make you some sort of shepherd Aby?"
" Heh... I watch over my own... Let's leave it at that..."
" Riiiggghhht."
Spike stepped inside, Abyssinian behind him. As he walked down the stairs to their now shared loft,
he couldn't help but feel a certain warmth resonate within him at feeling that perhaps for one he really was
were he belonged... With his own, as it were... His thoughts trailed again to his grandsire, and to what Abyss
had said. Perhaps he'd had it wrong for all these years... wanting Angel to save him when it was Angel who
needed the true saving. Either way... he would make his wayward grandsire understand the way things used
to be... and should be again...
