Here I'm mentioning Angel and his team from the Angel series again. Since I wasn't quite sure about their fate so many years after the TV show ended, this version is just what I imagined for them. Please forgive me for any inaccuracies...
Chapter 2:
After the first shock had worn off and all traces of tears had vanished, Buffy and Spike stumbled from their room and burst into Xander and Dawn's training lesson downstairs, announcing what had happened.
They couldn't believe what they were hearing until Spike proved it once more by standing outside in the middle of the garden not bursting into flames. Excited and confused, they pondered over possible causes for this, trying to find out if something has changed.
After a few days of being mortal, Willow returned to the Scottish castle that served as the main Slayer HQ and checked Spike out with magic. But even to her it seemed like Spike was perfectly normal. Perfectly human. They tried to reach Giles, too, but he was busy investigating new supernatural forces that appeared in Los Angeles. They didn't manage to catch him on the phone yet.
Spike didn't really care about any of this. He was just happy that this new life experience was granted to him after such a long time of being undead and he decided to make the most of it as long as it lasted.
In an overexcited rush of being able to taste food again, he spent a whole week eating practically everything at once and then lounging in the sun whenever it was out, feeling more than a little sick.
But, regardless, he hasn't stopped smiling.
He laughed at the fact that his eye-sight wasn't as good as it used to be when he was a vampire and that he would probably need to wear glasses again. Just like he did over a hundred years ago when he was a soft, timid human named William Pratt.
He began to resemble him more and more each day. Since Buffy mentioned that she liked his curly, brown hair and because he realized how painful bleaching could be now that he would have to do it regularly, Spike decided to let his hair grow out naturally.
It was bliss, he found. Spike was mortal again and it was pure bliss.
After almost two weeks, Giles finally called back with some shocking news that shed light onto the whole mystery.
"It's Angel." said Giles. "He was possessed by a powerful demon over an extended time period without anyone noticing. His team here in Los Angeles eventually tried to separate him from it and they did succeed, but… I'm afraid the demon had already nested in Angel's brain for too long. He's been in a catatonic state, or-or more like a coma, actually, ever since. I'm with all of them now. They're trying to bring Angel back but so far nothing proved effective."
There was a bit of commotion in the background, a voice talking. "Yes, uh…" Giles came back to the telephone conversation. "Fred here says, five years ago when she brought back Spike, he told her he would be in her debt."
"Right," Spike cut in, nodding. "Now more than ever."
"Well, she could use some help right about now." said Giles.
Buffy crossed her arms, looking worried and grim. "When did this happen?" she asked.
"Uh, about two weeks ago, I reckon."
Buffy, Spike, Xander, Dawn and Willow all looked at each other. "That's when the thing with Spike happened, too." Buffy said. "That's when he became human."
"He what?" uttered Giles taken aback. "Spike became human?" An echo of 'What?' sounded at the L.A. end of the phone, voices all talking over each other.
"Look, I'll explain when we'll get there." She looked at Spike for confirmation and he nodded in agreement. "We're gonna fly out as soon as we can. Tell me if anything changes with Angel."
Anxiously, Spike held on to Buffy's hand during the transatlantic flight. The warmth between them made their hands clammy, but they didn't let go. Buffy noticed how Spike squeezed and massaged her hand from time to time while clenching his jaw hard so he wouldn't accidentally reveal what was troubling him.
Willow came, too, hoping that a spell would bring Angel back to life. She was sleeping now in the seat next to Buffy. Spike insisted on the place by the window and wasn't taking his eyes off the sun and the deep-blue waves far beneath them.
Buffy leaned over to him, taking his hand in both of hers. "Spike, I know what you're thinking."
He clenched her hand again, but refused to look at her. "Do you now?"
"You want to stay human." she revealed and a little bit of pain gleamed in Spike's eyes. "I know how much you enjoy being alive again." She pulled his hand over and pressed it to her chest. "Alive like me." she whispered and Spike took a deep breath, holding on to his emotions. "I'm glad, too, seeing you so happy… and I just want you to know that I won't love you less as a vampire. Whatever happens in L.A., I chose to be with you. Nothing has changed."
Now Spike turned, glancing at her with a bitter smile. "Everything has changed, luv. I know that I shouldn't, but I can't help thinking that… I don't want Angel to wake up if whatever happened to him is what made me human. And I hate myself for thinking that, because if we fail, you'll hate me, too, for being so bloody selfish. And if we can help him…" he looked into his lap, saddened by the thought. "I don't know how I feel about turning into a monster again."
"You won't be a monster." Buffy assured him. "You're stronger than that and you still got your soul. I love you, Spike. I always will." She stretched herself to kiss his jaw.
"And if it's really connected?" worried Spike. "Him being unconscious and me being human?"
"Then we'll figure things out. We don't know what to expect yet. But I know that I'm grateful for the time we have together. You and me. No matter what you are." promised Buffy.
Spike had to admit, the faces of Angel's team and especially Giles' as he stood before them, was pretty funny. Almost funny enough to forget his worries. Giles took off his glasses, cleaned them and put them on again, staring at the pretty similar thin pair of spectacles Spike was now wearing since a few days. The blond in his hair was still there at the tips, but the roots have grown out further and his hair fell in soft, hazel-brown curls.
Spike smiled brightly. All that was left to make his human look complete was a tan. He should make use of the Californian sun as long as he still could.
"Remarkable." uttered Giles under his breath.
"More like… creepy." Gunn pointed out uneasily.
They had left the evil law firm, Wolfram & Hart, behind and operated independently again from an abandoned hotel. Fred tried to make do with the limited resources they had, but without the money from the firm the equipment in her new lab had shrunk significantly.
Giles, Wesley and Gunn led Buffy, Spike and Willow down a corridor and into the lab where Fred and Lorne took care of Angel, who was lying on a cot, unmoving.
"I'm sure it's the prophecy." said Wesley eventually and then started to explain when the others looked at him blankly. "The Shanshu prophecy. It states that there will be a vampire with a soul who gets to live as a human again once he proves himself worthy. We always thought it would be Angel, but even before Spike got his soul back, Angel was always only working towards that goal; helping the helpless to be human one day. When Spike's body and soul was restored, he became an equally possible candidate, but since the prophecy talks about only one vampire, I believe that it couldn't fulfill itself until one of you was dead."
Everyone looked from an uncomfortably twitching Spike back to Angel. "Being unconscious seems to be enough." muttered Gunn.
"So, Spike was the one the prophecy was about all along?" asked Willow.
"I'm not sure." pondered Wesley. "I think it's all in flux. Maybe it used to be Angel's destiny, but when it was Spike who wore the amulet in battle and not him, Spike proved himself to be worthy, too."
Giles noticed how the former vampire looked away, apparently lost in thoughts. "Did Angel ever tell you about the prophecy, Spike?" he asked pointedly.
"Yeah." mumbled Spike. "Just before we left Wolfram & Hart for London."
"He did?" Buffy questioned softly. "You never told me."
"It's not what you're all thinking!" Spike pressed out defensively, still not meeting anyone's gaze. "I don't know why this demon possessed Angel. It had nothing to do with me! I never asked for a reward."
"No one is thinking that." Buffy tried to reassure.
"Some of them are, luv." argued Spike, glancing at Giles and Wesley. "They can't help themselves. But that's not why I did what I did in Sunnydale and ever since. When Angel told me about the prophecy I refused to act on it…" narrated Spike, thinking back and remembering:
Spike and Buffy were about to leave the offices of Wolfram & Hart after successfully recorporealizing Spike. Angel had avoided them, still hurt by the fact that Buffy didn't choose him, but he approached Spike when he happened to be alone, telling him that there was only supposed to be one champion so the prophecy would fulfill itself.
"And what do you suggest we do about this, huh?" Spike asked Angel. "I thought you didn't even believe in this sodding prophecy."
"Well, it's better to believe in something to make all of this worthwhile." said Angel. "Otherwise what's the point of you and me even having a soul if we can't achieve something good with it?"
Spike laughed. "You got it all wrong, mate. Maybe it's because you got your soul handed to you that you can't understand this. You didn't have to fight for it."
Furious about being patronized by his former ally, Angel vamped out and pushed Spike forcefully against the desk in his office. "So let's fight it out now! Let's see who's really worth to become mortal!"
Spike grinned in that way of his, but he didn't fight back. "That's not what it's all about." he said seriously. "I don't need to be human to be happy or to feel like I deserved my right to be here. What I did to get my soul had nothing to do with wanting to be a champion or be worthy in Buffy's eyes. Well, in the beginning that was my goal, but since then I realized that doing good has nothing to do with rewards."
"Easy for you to say." growled Angel. "You're with Buffy now. She's your reward."
"No." Spike stated strongly while his fingers searched the trinkets on Angel's desk. "It was her choice alone to be with me. I love her, so I'm grateful for her decision, but that's not why I try to do good." Spike had found what he was looking for and was holding it out. Slowly, he opened his palm to show Angel the crucifix that was sizzling and smoking where it touched the vampire's skin.
"I do it because it's the right thing to do." Spike continued. "I have inflicted pain in the past, of the worst kind, and I carry that pain with me. It will never go away. I can't even begin to hope that someone would someday reward me for the good deeds I do from now on. I just do it because I've realized it's right. And that's it. That's all I want."
He threw the little cross at Angel, who instinctively caught it and then flinched, letting it fall to the ground as it hurt his skin.
"I won't fight you, Angel." said Spike as he walked past him to leave. "Hurting you will only hurt her and I know you're still in her heart. But maybe once you stop fighting evil to appeal to the powers that be and start doing it just for the sake of it, you'll get to be human again. And honestly, I wish you the best of luck." he said and then he vanished.
The group stared at Spike as he finished narrating. Doubts of him having something to do with Angel's coma were dispelling; his words were too sincere.
Buffy came close to him, taking his hand that was slightly shaking in hers. She leaned up to whisper in his ear. "That's why I'll always love you." she said earnestly. "No matter what happens."
Smiling thankfully, Spike squeezed her hand back and they all sat down together and let Angel's team explain in detail what had happened to their leader.