Ring on her Finger

By Nickeltaffy

Disclaimer: I would like to thank Joss for the use of his characters. They are still his and will never be mine. (Heavy sigh).

Synopsis: Anyone ever notice that Buffy never returned Spike's ring from when they were engaged? What if Willow's reversal of the Will Be Done spell from the Something Blue episode was not exactly 100% effective? What if Buffy was still under a spell and still considered herself engaged to a horrified Spike?

…

Chapter 19

"What the bleedin hell are you talkin about?" Spike asked as he angrily pulled his head back dumbfounded. "Where the bleedin hell am I? And what are you doin here?"

Still disoriented, Spike quickly looked around at the columns and silk panels. Then there was something that caught his attention, a soft small sound. There was a fast rhythmic pattern of bare feet running across the stone floor off in the distance. Then, it abruptly stopped and there was only silence. Spike turned his attention back to his Aunt Charlotte.

"Magic!" He spit the word out of his mouth, curling his lips back as he regarded his surroundings.

Aunt Charlotte tilted her head, regarding the platinum haired man in front of her with a disappointed look. Her eyes traveled from the top of his head all the way down to his boots.

"You are so like your father. He held such disdain for magic as well." She gave a resigned sigh. "William, please pay attention. There is much to do and we are running out of time. Please attend me."

"Bollocks! I am not going anywhere! Who are you really? What do you want with me?" Spike growled as he started to move toward the woman. "Let me outta of this place."

"William! Language!" Aunt Charlotte said as she held up her hand which seemed to stop Spike's advancement toward here. "I take it things are very different now in the world considering your strange appearance. There is no reason that you should forget yourself and your upbringing. I am sure my sister would be vastly disappointed in your conduct."

Spike upon hearing the reference to his mother by a woman who was so closely tied to her, suddenly felt shame creeping up his spine. The old training and social traditions that had been drilled into him as a child, were coming to fore in his mind. Before he knew it, the habits of the human William took precedence over his Spike persona and responded to his Aunt

"I apologize, Aunt Charlotte. I am a bit taken aback at the certain events that have happened to me recently. I am a bit out of sorts presently." Spike said in clipped upper-class British tones from his Victorian lifetime. "I would appreciate any assistance on leaving this place."

Upon hearing those words leave his mouth, Spike began to doubt his own sanity. Where the hell was that poofy speech coming from? He thought he had eliminated all bits of that loser, William from himself. Suddenly, there it was again! Spike again heard the small padded footsteps again, but couldn't discern the direction they came from. He looked at Aunt Charlotte who sighed and blinked at him knowingly about his confusion. Spike could have sworn he heard a child's voice make an 'aah' sound. Aunt Charlotte didn't react, so Spike wondered if he was just imagining the sound.

"Of course, I will assist you, William." Aunt Charlotte responded. "I always have."

"What do you mean?" Spike looked puzzled as he asked that question. All he could remember of this woman was an introduction upon arrival at his grandfather's estate as a small child.

Just then, Aunt Charlotte held her hand out to her side toward the silk panel beside her. A small child's hand on the other side of the panel grasped it. She brought her hand closer and in front of her body, bringing the child into view. There was a small curly haired boy in a nightshirt looking at Spike with a serious expectant expression in his eyes. Spike's eyes widened, as he recognized the child, it was him from that night at his Grandfather's estate.

"How? That's not possible! That's not me." Spike declared as he backed away from the pair a few steps and then looked wildly around. "What is this, some kind of sideshow trick?"

"I assure you, William, it is very real." Aunt Charlotte answered with deliberate slowness. "It is you."

"How can that be? Are you saying…" Spike stopped himself and pulled his head back as looked suspiciously at the pair. Then he said with a sardonic smile and waving a finger "No, no, you almost got me there. Righto. Whoever you are, you were doing a real cracking job up to then. You had me so totally gob smacked, that I actually apologized… but you pushed it too far. You had to trot out the little milksop and even I know that's just not bleedin possible."

"William, I will not allow such uncouth deportment in my presence." Aunt Charlotte said angrily, dropping the child's hand and moving forward. "You should know better not to call people names."

"Oh, Sod off! You're only manufactured puffs of overblown gas." Spike sneered at the woman

"William!"

Spike realized that Aunt Charlotte was not speaking to him as he heard two small bare feet run toward him. He smiled confidently at the little figure that was charging him with such malicious intent in his eyes. As the two chubby hands reached forward and touched his body, Spike felt himself unexpectedly thrown back about twenty feet.

Spike pulled himself up from where he was sprawled on the cold stone floor, looking back at the child who was staring at him with murderous rage. Spike shook his head to clear it and put a hand to his head. That sure felt real as he struggled to stand, he thought. How was that possible? If they were phantoms, how were they able to touch him? I must be having some kind of breakdown. Or maybe, I have gotten some bad blood or a blow on the head… Spike stopped and gazed at the pair as the realization hit him. "IT'S THAT RING! IT'S THAT RING. IT'S THAT BLOODY STUPID RING! I SHOULD HAVE THROWN IT AWAY OR PAWNED IT YEARS AGO! WHY DID I KEEP IT? IT HAS MUCKED UP EVERYTHING ROYALLY!

While Spike was experiencing his revelation in his head, Aunt Charlotte had crossed over to the small child, William. The little boy, who had been experiencing a supreme sense of satisfaction at tossing his insufferable older self across the room, was now looking up at his displeased Aunt with contrite expression.

"William! We do not revert to physical violence to resolve issues unless it is absolutely necessary." The woman looked down with a disapproving stare as she lectured the little boy.

"I DON'T LIKE HIM! HE'S MEAN AND HIS HAIR IS FUNNY. IT LOOKS LIKE MELTED WAX!" The smaller version of William declared vehemently.

"Hey, lay off the hair!" The slightly stung adult version Spike called over.

"William, I expect you to apologize. That was very coarse conduct on your part." Aunt Charlotte demanded of the child.

Spike groaned as that particular phrase was used so constantly in his childhood, that it still raised the hairs on the back of his neck. With a mighty groan, the child, William marched over to Spike with a resigned air and a touch of barely contained resentment. He stopped in front of Spike

"I apologize for my ungentlemanly behavior before. I do hope that this will not be an impediment to us developing a beneficial relationship." William recited looking down. If he had looked up, he would have seen Spike mouthing the words long with the little boy. It was an old phrase that had haunted his human lifetime.

"Ta. Think nothin of it, mate. I respect a man who defends those he cares about." Spike shrugged his shoulders, sympathizing with the child's predicament

Hearing that his apology was accepted, William looked up at Spike, a slow grin spread over the child's face, a grin that Spike found himself returning. Somehow, despite the situation, he liked the kid.

"Now, that that has been resolved. Shall we continue?" Aunt Charlotte asked.

"Alright. I believe that you exist, but what is going on here? This little tosser can't be me." Spike said as he looked up from the child over to the woman. "There's gotta be some kind of magic at work."

"Oh, of course, there is. You two haven't been together in a long time, in a decidely very long time, but at one time you were one." Aunt Charlotte looked at the two people in front of her. She then looked directly at Spike and asked. "Do you remember your visit to your Grandfather's estate?"

"Yes, I do." Spike answered, slightly puzzled.

"Do you remember what happened that night?" Aunt Charlotte furthered her interrogation.

"Mother brought me from London and I got the ring from Grandfather." Spike said, shrugging his shoulders and tilting his head in bewilderment.

"Anything else?" Aunt Charlotte said, expectantly.

"No. What else was there to remember?" Spike responded and then added. "You can stop with the twenty questions any time now. What happened? "

"Something very terrible and important to your life." Aunt Charlotte said grimly.

"I don't know what you're talking about. I got the ring and went home." Spike said. "If there was anything else, surely I would have remembered."

"I wouldn't be so sure." Aunt Charlotte said as she came close. "William, what about your father? Did you ever see your father again after that?"

"No, he was killed in a coach accident on his way back from Bristol." Spike again looked confounded.

"That's what they told you?" the woman said with some compassion.

"It's what my mother told me." Spike justified his response.

"I see." Aunt Charlotte sighed and looked directly into Spike's eyes. "William, you need to remember all that happened that night. I warn you, it will be incredibly difficult for you."

"Just how are you supposed to make me remember?" Spike responded, somewhat warily.

"You must join back with your other part of yourself. As the result of that night, you were torn in two." Aunt Charlotte indicated with her head as she continued. "One part of you continued with your mother and one part has been here with me in this dimension. I believe that the part of you in this dimension is holding those memories for you."

"So, he is going to tell me what happened then?" Spike looked at the child whose eyes seemed to hold much more wisdom than a child should possess.

"No. William." Aunt Charlotte said calmly. "When you two join back together, you're going to live them again."

With that statement, Aunt Charlotte made a motion with her hand. Spike felt himself become very relaxed and a fuzzy feeling came over his body. Time seemed to slow down. "Wait." Spike said, attempting to wrest some control back of the situation. But it was too late; Spike looked down at the child who had not moved the entire time. The child looked back at his face, the blue eyes blazing. As their eyes locked, Spike had a sensation of recognition and stranger yet, belonging. It was like seeing someone very important to you, like an old lost friend again, and having everything fall back into place as if no time had passed. On some intrinsic level, Spike could feel some part of himself reaching toward the child. A strange light filled his eyes, blinding him to the stoa with the silk panels, his Aunt and the child before him.

When he came back to himself, he found himself standing in his nightshirt at his grandfather's bedside again, his grandfather's finger on his lips to stay silent. He was five years old again and it was that night when he was given the ring.

….

Author's note: How do you like it so far? Sorry, the chapters are so short, but I want to get them out or I would never update. Please review- It motivates me to get the next chapter going!