SERIES : the
Trilogy
PAIRING : Buffy/Angel, Spike/Dru
[ALSO minor pairings: Spike/Faith, Raith/Riley, Willow/Oz]
OVERALL RATING : Parts 3,6,9 are
rated NC17. Part 28 is rated R. Otherwise, parts are rated PG14.
SPOILERS : I Will Remember You
& my fic the Challenge
DISCLAIMER : I do not own these characters.
=====================================================================
PART 24 (PG – Now & Then)
“What’s
happening?”
“Where?”
“What’s
going on, in the mansion?”
“Only
you can see that.”
“ANGEL?!
Come back, WAKE UP DAMMIT!” She was pushing on his chest, trying to get him to
breathe, but there was little breath left.
“Deary?
I can help, bring him back, maybe you could curse him again, wanna try?”
“GET
AWAY FROM ME BITCH!”
“Now,
that’s no way to treat someone with the key to his survival.”
“He
would rather die than be like you again, dead inside. Why’d you do it? You have
Spike, you have everything, the man you love, a great place to live, forever in
front of you, a guarantee you won’t die anytime soon, why’d you have to go and
wreck my life?”
“I
didn’t wreck it, he did. He got tangled up in my nails, he couldn’t get away.”
“Um
Dru?”
“What
Spike?”
“I’d
still like to know why he was in your nails?”
“Because
you needed it finished love, he’s not a threat to you anymore pet. See?”
“Yes,
bu…”
“You’re
not going soft on me are you Spike? She’s the slayer, we ruin her life, it’s
what we do.”
“Yes,
pet, but Angel? He’s not a threat anymore.”
“Now,
yes. Unless, the slayer wants to roll the dice.”
“Angel,
look at her, look hard at her, look at her ring, the one she can take off, but
she will never be rid of it, she will always be part of you. Remember?”
“You still haven’t told me what you wanted for your
birthday.”
“Surprise me.
“Okay. I will.”
“I certainly did that, didn’t I? I surprised the hell out
of her.”
“But you did.”
“It’s beautiful.”
“My people -- before I was changed -- they exchanged this
as a sign of devotion. It’s a claddagh ring. The hands represent friendship,
the crown represents loyalty... and the heart... Well, you know... Wear it with
the heart pointing towards you. It means you belong to somebody. Like this.” He
shows her his own ring on his finger. She touches his hand, leans over and
kisses the ring.
“Put it on.” He takes the ring from her and slips it onto
her finger.
“Yeah,
some surprise, ‘Honey, I’m home, oh and by the way, I don’t have a soul now so
I’m going to kill all your friends, happy birthday!’”
We are
in the school where Angelus has Willow by the throat. “I got a message for
Buffy.”
“Why don’t you give it to me yourself?” Angelus spins
around with Willow to face her.
“Well, it’s not really the kind of message you tell. It
sort of involves finding the bodies of all your friends.” He tightens his grip
on Willow even more and she lets out another pained yelp.
“This can’t be you.”
“Gee, we already covered that subject.”
“Angel, there must be some part of you inside that still
remembers who you are.”
“Dream on, schoolgirl.” Xander takes the cross
from Jenny and starts toward Angelus. “Your boyfriend is dead. You’re all gonna
join him.”
“Leave Willow alone, and
deal with me.”
“But she’s so cute, and helpless. Really a turn on.”
Xander shoves the cross into Angelus’ face from behind. He reels back and drops
Willow. She cries out as she falls backward into Xander, and they collapse
against the wall. Angelus turns to Jenny and wards her off with a hand as he
starts to back down the hall. When he reaches Buffy he grabs her by the
shoulders. She inhales in fright.
“Things are about to get VERY interesting.” He kisses her
with his game face, and shoves her into the wall and backs out the door.
PART 25 (PG – the Beast Within)
“I can’t
believe I did that.” He was starting to see, I knew he had trouble seeing the
difference between himself and Angelus, but there was a great one. Angelus was
never that man that Angel was.
“Angel,
that’s not the only time she touched your face, that’s not the only time, there
were other times, she wasn’t afraid of it, she never was.”
“No! Your eye!” She
reaches back up to him and he shakes her off.
“Hey! Don't be a baby. I'm not gonna hurt you.”
“It’s not that. I...”
“What?”
“You shouldn’t have to touch me when I’m like this.” She
looks up into his vampire features.
“Oh.” She removes her glove and reaches up to touch his
brow and his wound, brushing gently across and down his cheek. “I didn’t even
notice.” She moves closer to kiss him. He responds, and they kiss gently. The
kiss becomes more passionate as she reaches her hand behind his neck to draw
him closer.
Buffy
motions for Spike and him to go. He takes her into his arms and kisses her. He
realizes what he’s doing and tries to pull away, but she holds him close. She’s
kissing him, refusing to let him go, his real face. Her tongue runs over his
fangs. He tries to pull away once more, but she pulls him close to her and
presses her body to his. He puts his arms around her and kisses back. She pulls
away, and says “Okay, go get ‘em tiger…
I love you.”
“Angel,
it wasn’t YOU she was afraid of, it’s what you were.”
“What I was? Let’s talk about that. I was a drunken louse
who used women and occasionally beat them up, who used them for sex and dumped
them at day break, who disrespected his parents, and later killed th…”
“Angel, THAT WAS NOT YOU! THAT WAS THE DEMON!”
“Okay, what about the guy who was kissing Drusilla? Not
ten feet away from his fiancée? Let’s talk about him, the same one who beat women
up an…”
“Angel, you cannot
claim to be the same man you were then. You seem to think you are one
person, with a demon inside, and a soul, but there is more to you than that.
You WERE Liam, who died. You WERE Angelus, who also is dead and gone. You ARE
Angel, who is in love and who has someone who needs you. Your time is running
out Angel, I can only slow time for so long, your time is running out, what do
you want? What more can I do to show you that you belong down there, with
Buffy?”
“ENOUGH! Why am I here? Why aren’t I in hell? I shouldn’t
have come back. I shouldn’t have come at all.”
“Is that
your wish?”
“It is,
will you erase it? Never have me back, everything was wrong after that, before
she had closure, then I came and messed it all up.”
“If that
is your wish, but you must realize, things might not be better without you,
things might not be any better.”
“They
can’t be worse, that’s for sure.”
“Is it?
Beware Angel, that if that is your wish, you must watch and accept the
consequences of your wish. What do you say?”
“Do it.”
“Then it
is done.”
PART 26 (PG – the Wish)
“WAKE
UP! It’s a sunny day here in Sunnydale, the birds are chirping and they are
telling you to get up!” Buffy Summers hit the clock on the nightstand.
“UH! I don’t
want to go to school, things get all messy when I start being normal.” She
looked up at the sky, “Can’t destiny pick someone else one of these days?” She
walked into the bathroom mumbling, “I need a normal guy this year, one I don’t
have to kill, a good guy who can just make me forget everything, but can Buffy
Summers the Chosen One date? Of course not, and now she has to go to the
school, which doesn’t even want her back, little attempted murder things can’t
be overlooked, Principal Snyder… blah blah blah…”
“Buffy?”
“Yeah
Mom! I’m up.”
“Good,
I’ll give you a ride to school.”
“Oh,
yeah cause we love to be with Mom, she’s so wonderful and full of love. Doesn’t
even accept the fact she gave birth to a Slayer, it’s not like I had a choice,
it was either slay or die… stop this Buffy, you just have to deal with the fact
that this is a new day, a new dollar, and there will be no vampires in
Sunnydale anymore, do you hear me, you, you, you destiny! NO VAMPIRES! Now that
we have that straightened out, let’s just put on some clothes.”
She
arrived at school and got her schedule. The day went by, she met some people,
and decided to go out at night, see the nightlife. “The Bronze? Haven’t been
here in a while, since An… no, we’re not doing this tonight…” and she started
walking to the park.
“Hello
cutie.”
“Hmmm,
could it be the vampire who dates a ho?” She turned to see Spike. “You said you
wouldn’t be back, you said, ‘you’ll never see us again,’ what happened? Dru
decide she was better off without you?”
“You
just shut up.”
“She
did, didn’t she, she said, ‘Spike, I hate you… you meanie… Miss Edith is very
mad and doesn’t want to see you anymore’ is that what happened? Or did she find
another vampire that tickled her fancy?”
“And
where’s your lover, pet? What happened to good ol’ souless Angel? I know the
world didn’t end, so obviously you stopped him, huh? How’d it feel, chopping
his head off?”
“Now you
can shut up. Why are you here anyway?”
“Well, I
thought I would kill you, but as I see it, we’ve got something in common, so
maybe I won’t let you stay dead, maybe then we’ll go to Cuba or somewhere, to
London, I can show you where I grew up, where I killed my first human, oh the
memories…” She looked at him.
“You
disgust me.”
“Actually,
I got to thinking, Dru said that little red head of yours was doing some mojo
in the library when she took Giles.”
“Yeah,
so?”
“So, is
she a mojo person?”
“A
witch?”
“Yeah,
is she? Or rather, let’s put it this way, she better be, or else you’ll watch
her die.”
“What?”
“She’ll
do a spell, a love spell to bring Dru back to me.”
“Or
what? Huh? I could dust you right now and be done with you.”
“But you
won’t.”
“Oh
yeah? What make…” He grabbed her around the waist and pulled her to him and
placed his mouth over hers and kissed her ferociously. “Get off of me!”
“I
haven’t had a woman in weeks, I can imagine how Angel must have felt, 100
years? Long time without companionship, or a good long ro…”
“If you
know what’s good for you, SHUT UP ABOUT ANGEL!”
“Touchy subject…
sorry, what happened? He get his soul back right before you sliced him?” Her
eyes dropped to the ground, and her body went limp and followed and she was
crying. “Oh. He did. I’m sorry love.”
She was
crying, screaming, trying to hold on to something and he was there so he bent
over and picked her up. “Come on love, I’ll get you some place safe.” He
carried her to the mansion and he laid her down. “Stop crying now love, it’ll
be alright, love’s a bitch, but in the end, everything works out, look at me.
Twenty years ago, Dru and I had this big fight, I killed this one girl, after
I’d… you know… and Dru got all mad and jealous, crazy with jealousy, she
couldn’t believe it, I couldn’t believe it, and she chained me up for like a
month and just yelled at me, throwing holy water at me, and then she left. I
was bloody dying when she came back, weeks later, she hit me a little and then
forgave me, she will again, I know she will, I just gotta find her.”
“Spike,
shut up.” She was still crying.
“I’m
just trying to help. What happened?”
“He
pulled the sword out, and we fought and I was about to chop him, and he fell
over and came up and asked what was going on, he said he felt like he hadn’t
seen me in months, and then I stabbed him to stop Acathla. He was just zapped
into his mouth and… that’s it… I left, was waitressing, but had to come back,
deal with things, I suppose.”
“There
now, you’re starting to calm down. That’s better isn’t it?”
“Yeah,
than… what am I doing?”
“Calm
down love, life’s full of surprises, some good, some bad, others in the
middle.”
“Spi…”
“What?”
“Nothing.
So what are you going to do with me, huh? Kill me, suck my blood, laugh as you
listen to my heart give out, laugh as you watch me die? Maybe it’d be a welcome
ending, a stop to the pain.”
“Don’t
say that, it takes the fun out of it.”
“Gee,
sorry, ‘no, no Spike, no…’ better?”
“Well,
when you put it that way, no it’s not better. You have to be really scared.”
“Sorry,
my hearts just not into it, just do it and be done.”
“It’s not
the same, when I have permission.”
“Please
Spike! Do it! Make it stop! Take away the pain, kill me… please!”
“Do you
mean it?”
“Spike,
I want to go, I don’t want to be here, I’m done, I can’t think of anyone more
fitting to die with than you.”
“Yeah,
how so?”
“Well,
you’ve only been trying to kill me for how long now?”
“Couple
years.”
“So do
it! PLEASE…”
“No.”
“WHAT!”
She jumped up on her feet. “WHAT! All this about how you want to kill me and
give me a slow and painful death and you’re chickening out on me! What’s all
this about how evil you are? Wanna torture me with railroad spikes? Would that
make you feel better?! Suddenly Buffy’s too pitiful to kill off?” He stood up
now too.
“I
didn’t say th…”
“But
it’s what you meant. This is perfect… I’m such a loser that even Spike thinks
I’m not worth the effort, I mean Angelus would have jumped on by now.”
“Is that
what you want?”
“Yeah!”
She slapped him in the jaw. “Yeah, Spike!” He turned to her, with his game face
and lunged after her and took her to the floor.
PART 27 (PG14 – Consequences I : Falling)
They
were scratching and screaming and he was growling. She was crying and screaming
and begging for him to take her life. Then in two seconds, they were kissing and
he was tearing at her clothes and she was doing the same.
When it was over, she lay there, panting, naked next to
him. He was calm, quiet.
“What
the hell just happened?” She asked.
“If I
have to explain it, then you do have a lot to learn.”
“Well, I
know what happened, I’m not a total blond. I mean what the hell happened?”
“I do
believe we made with the smoochies.”
“Why? I
hate you. Why won’t you just bite me?”
“In time
love… in time.” She got up. “Where are you going?”
“Home.”
“Stay
with me here today, don’t leave, I can’t chase you, stay here with me.”
“Are you
begging? How long did you say it had been?”
“Months.”
“But you
were just with Dru…”
“I was
in a wheelchair, remember? That’s why she wanted Angel so bad, he coul… he’d…
you know… he could provide certain things that I couldn’t at the time is all.”
“Oh.”
“Stay
with me.”
“I was
begging too and I didn’t get what I wanted, so I’m going home.” She put her
shirt on and started for the door.
“Wait!
Buffy! Stay!”
“Bye.
Sweet dreams!” She opened the door and the ray came in. He turned away and
began gathering his clothes, he heard the door shut and she said, “What the
hell!” She ran and jumped on him from behind, he turned and the two entered in
a long embrace, that ended with them on the floor once more.
After,
she spoke, “Okay, I have to go see a shrink, I need help. This is worse than
before.”
“Hmmm?”
“Well,
at least I knew Angel could at least care.”
“I
care.”
“About
blood.”
“About
you.”
“Gee, Spike
could it sound more lame and practiced?”
“I do. I
have. It’s the kind of love you have for your worst enemies, you hate them so
bad you want them, want to twist inside them and get into their hair and feel
them grind against you, to know that you couldn’t hate them even if you tried
because it feels so wrong, it’s right. I do.”
“Oh.”
“You
know love, you could have it all.”
“What?”
“Love,
the world, the pain will go away, you just have to take control of it.”
“How?”
“I’ll
show you.”
“Show me
then, do it.”
“Not
that way, you have to see for yourself, you have to feel it, and when you’re
ready, I’ll bring you with me, I’ll make you mine.”
They got
up and dressed. “I’m hungry.” She offered her wrist to him.
“Here.
Bon appetite.”
“I want
some wheaties.”
“Wheaties?”
“Yeah,
they’re really good.”
“You
know what you want Spike.” She inched close to him and exposed her neck and
pressed her body to his. “Take it, take it all, take a little… take what you
want of me. You know I have the only thing that you crave.”
He put
his face to the nape of her neck and inhaled deeply, smelling her sweet skin,
the skin he had tasted earlier. “Just a little love.” He vamped out and bit
down, gentler than he had been with anyone in the past. She was startled, it hurt,
but she was hoping he would make the pain stop. Blood began dripping down her
neck and she felt dizzy, she began falling and he let her go and sat down next
to her.
“Thanks
pet. You’re delicious.”
“That’s
it? Am I dead?”
“No
love, you’re just weak, you’ll rest here, a few hours and you should be back to
normal.”
“Regenerating
meals on legs?”
“Something
like that.”
“Spike,
please…”
“I told
you no, not yet, you’re not ready, you don’t know, but you will, you will.” He
caressed her hair as she fell asleep next to him.
Five
hours later, she awoke. “Spike?”
“Yes
love?”
“What
time is it?”
“Time
for you to learn the lessons. How do you feel?”
“Better,
a little achy in the neck, but I suppose that’s to be expected huh?”
“Yeah… it’ll
go away soon, don’t worry.”
“I’m
not.”
PART 28 (R – Consequences II : the Massacre)
“Drink?”
“Where’d
you get vodka?”
“I’ve
got lots, it’s my second favorite drink.” She drank more than half the bottle
Spike offered her. “Whoa! Slow down, have you ever drank before? That stuff
goes to your head quick.”
“Good.
That’s the point isn’t it? Drown your sorrows?”
“You
know another thing that’s good for the pain?”
“What?”
She smiled as he came close to her and grazed her neck with his tongue.
“Violence.”
“Tease.”
“What?”
“You’re
a tease.”
“Yeah,
well, I’ve got practice. Let’s go.”
“You got
anymore vodka?”
“I got
everything you want, here.” He handed her another bottle and she guzzled it
down.
“Okay,
let’s go.” The two walked down the now darkened streets of Sunnydale. “Where
are we going Spike?”
“To find
a friend.” They walked a little ways and were almost to the Bronze. “Oh, look
here comes one now.”
“Buffy?”
“Willow,
hi.”
“Buffy,
what are you doing?”
“What am
I doing? Good question Will.”
“Buffy?
Are you drunk?”
“Yup,
and it’s great.”
“Buffy,
let’s get you home, come on.”
“Don’t
touch me Willow! You don’t have any right to touch me.”
“Buffy,
you’re not thinking clearly, and what are you doing with Spike?”
“We’re in
love Will, we’re going to be together.”
“Buffy,
you really are drunk, now come on.”
“DON’T
TOUCH ME!” Buffy screamed as she slapped Willow.
“BUFFY!”
“NO, YOU
DID IT TO HIM, YOU RUINED IT, YOU MADE ME.” Buffy screamed as she began
punching and kicking Willow.
“BUFFY!
STOP IT! I don’t know what you’re talking about! It’s me, Willow, stop it.” She
said as Buffy kept hitting her.
“Buffy!
That’s enough love.” Spike said after a few minutes. Willow had stopped
screaming by then and was just lying on the pavement.
“Oh
GOD!” Buffy said as she saw what she’d done. “Is she… is she dead?”
“Close
to it, I’d wager, but we can fix that.” He vamped out and bent down to Willow
and Buffy watched as the blood that had been on Willow’s face, slowly
disappeared, and Willow went blue. “See? Don’t you feel better?”
She
stood there, looking down at her best friend. “I think I need a drink.”
“Let’s
go in, everyone’s invited you know.” They entered the Bronze and saw Xander and
Cordelia dancing, Oz was sitting at the table looking around. They all saw
Buffy and Spike enter and they walked to them.
“BUFFY?
What are you doing with him?”
“Nothing…”
“Buffy?”
“What
Oz?”
“Have
you seen Willow?”
“Willow?
No, I haven’t.”
“I’m
going to look for her.”
“We’ll
come too. I’m worried.” The three began walking out and Buffy went after them,
Spike followed smiling.
“NO!
Don’t go out there, I’m sure she’s ju…” They walked down the ally and saw her
body, she was beaten severely and they knew what the puncture marks on her neck
met.
“WILLOW!”
Oz ran to her, crying. “WILLOW!” He stood up and saw the blood on Buffy’s
clothes. “YOU DID THIS?”
“Oz, I…
I didn’t do this, it wa…”
“Forget
it Buffy, you’ve got it written all over face, why? Why did you do it? Why?”
“Oz… I…”
He stood up and lunged at her.
“BITCH!
She cared for you, loved you, she…”
“SHE
FIXED HIM SO I HAD TO KILL HIM! DO YOU HAVE ANY IDEA OF WHAT IT’S LIKE TO HAVE
KILLED YOUR BOYFRIEND!!!!!”
“I don’t
know, but I’m going to find out what it’s like to kill you!” Xander and
Cordelia were watching as Buffy and Oz exchanged punches and kicks. Cordelia
tried to run, she couldn’t watch, she couldn’t deal with what had happened.
“I don’t
think so, Pet.” Spike said as she bite down hard on her neck. A couple minutes
later, she was dead and he let her fall to the ground.
By now
Xander was fighting too. “Love!” Buffy looked at him, he was fuzzy, everything
was, she was fighting off two demons.
“What?”
“Here!
Catch!” He threw an axe at her and she caught it just as Xander came up from
behind and she sliced him and he fell, without an arm. Spike jumped on him and
finished what she’d started.
Oz
looked down as Xander fell and he raced after her and she swung at him, and he
too fell, headless. Spike went to him as well.
She
stood in the alley, with the bodies of her friends. “What have I done?” She
began crying. She slumped to her knees and took the edge of the blade and
sliced her wrist and watched as her blood began pouring onto the pavement.
“You’re
ready now, Love.” He dove at her and bit deep into her neck. She felt the blood
draining, she was becoming weak, she was burning inside, for oxygen.
“Do you
still want to come with me, Love? Do you want what I have to offer?”
She
thought and she nodded. She was a monster now. He took the blade and cut his
wrist and held it to her mouth, “Then do it.” She paused and looked at him, the
blood dripped out, she couldn’t do it. She couldn’t, but she was so weak, her
head fell and her mouth fell onto it and she was drinking.