Title: Don't Fear the Reaper

Author: Ajay

Rating: PG ish for language.

Disclaimer: All characters in the BtVS and AtS verse
belong to Josh Whedon and others who are not me. I
just take them out for a walk sometimes. Okay, so I
forget to Spike back on occasion but who wouldn't
forgive me that?

Warning: Ummm, don't wanna do this but, character
'death' and a little Buffy bashing.

Description: Post 'Fade Away' a wish is made, a wish
is granted and everyone will pay.

Author's note: To everyone who reviewed my first fic
'And the Beat Goes On' I appreciate all the positive
feedback. Several of you asked for a fic giving
Spike's viewpoint on the subject. I will work on that
but for now this plot has had me tied in knots for
awhile so I need to get it out of the way first. Oh,
yeah. Please review and let me know if I should
continue.

Many thanks to Ghosts Forge for the amazing beta.

And special thanks to BOC for recording 'Don't Fear
the Reaper' which contains my all time favorite guitar
riffs.


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Chapter One

In the library of a large manor in England a reunion
of the former residents of Sunnydale, California was
interrupted when two figures suddenly appeared in the
middle of the room. A blonde woman seemed to stand
behind a male figure. The man was blond also, hair
bleached to an unnatural white. He was dressed in a
very familiar manner, a long dark coat fell to each
side of the chair he was perched on.

The youngest female in the room walked up to the
figures to find that the hand she had stretched out to
touch her former friend went right through the two
figures, distorting the image a little.

"It's a hologram."

"Yes, I agree with Andrew. Although I'm unsure where
it is coming from it does appear to be a projection of
some kind." The older man took off his glasses and
briskly polished them.

"But, is it real? I mean, Spike died in Sunnydale.
How could he be...?" The redhead trailed off turning
to look at the woman at her side.

Buffy stood there with wide eyes, tears threatening to
fall from the lower lids. She slowly approached the
image, running her hand across the hair of the male
and down his face. She suddenly snatched it away and
turned to the others in the room.

"This is beyond cruel! Who would want to torture me
like this? He's not here. He can't be, he made me
leave him behind!" She noticed Andrew trying to hide
behind Xander. "What do you know about this, Andrew?
Talk or I'll take your head off!" She grabbed his arm
and pulled him into the center of the room.

The young man threw a desperate look at Giles. He had
reported his experiences in Los Angeles to his
superior as soon as he returned. He had made the same
guarantee to the senior Watcher that he had given
Spike. None of the others would know that Spike had
been resurrected. Now, he silently asked the older
man what to do.

Giles took a deep breath before minutely nodding his
head. He knew Buffy well. She would get the
information out of Andrew one way or the other and
he'd rather not have to bring medical into the
picture.

Andrew swallowed audibly. "When I went to retrieve
Dana..."

\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\

The Hyperion Hotel in Los Angeles had long been a
quiet, depressing place. It was the perfect home for
the one resident who currently held rooms there. He
sat on the old couch in the lobby not even looking
around just ruminating on his past. Thinking about
his failures: Doyle, Cordelia, Connor-although he did
still have a link to his son, losing Fred, Gunn's
death as well as Wes'. He had no idea where Illyria
had gotten off to after the fight and cared even less.
Buffy and her group no longer trusted him. Spike was
all that was left to him and he had managed to drive
him away two days ago.

~'Why are you still here, Spike? I don't need you
here and I sure as hell don't want you around.'

'I'm here to help you, you ponce. Remember, saving
the world, helping the hopeless? All the hero rot
we're both supposed to be doing?'

'Bullshit. You've always been worthless, you little
bastard, and that sure as hell hasn't changed. You're
just hanging around waiting for my leftovers!
That's all you've ever done.' He looked at the sheen
of tears in the other man's eyes. 'Christ! Now
you're going to fucking cry like a little girl? Go
ahead. Prove just how much of a nothing you are.'

Spike simply nodded his head, turned on his heel and
walked out the front door.

Angel had taken a deep breath. He had let things get
to him and had taken them out on his Childe, again.
He never meant half of what he said to the blond and
now cringed when he thought of the ugly words he had
just screamed at Spike. He gasped in horror when he
realised it was daylight outside and the other vampire
had walked out without protection. He rushed to the
door and looked out but could see neither the black
duster walking away, nor a pile of dust where he might
have met his final death. He sighed. Spike would be
back soon, he'd apologise and maybe they'd be able to
figure out how to go on together.~

He waited on the couch for two days thinking about
ways to make it up to his Childe. He remembered when
he'd first turned Spike, having to correct Drusilla's
misguided attempt. He had initiated the young man in
the ways of vampire Lore, had taught him everything he
needed to know and had shared hours of passion. He
recalled the first time he took young William to his
bed. Drusilla had wanted to watch but Angelus, in a
rare moment of compassion for another being had denied
her this after seeing the fear and humiliation in
William's eyes.

The younger vampire had quickly learned all of his
lessons and become as proficient a lover as he was a
killer. If the gypsy's had not cursed Angelus he and
Spike probably would be ruling the world right this
moment. Angel didn't regret that the two of them were
no longer killing any human in their path but he was
racked with guilt that he had not given Spike the
chance to show him the good that was now in him.

No, that wasn't true. Spike had showed him repeatedly
that he was now a warrior for good. Angel had just
refused to acknowledge it. He had to show Spike that
things could be different. If he would just come
back.

The sudden appearance of the two blondes in his lobby
startled him. He quickly realised that it was an
illusion but he couldn't figure out how it was being
projected.

\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\

Spike threw his head back and snorted. "Why don't you
just get on with it? Tell me what you want and
dust me already!"

The blonde woman looked down at him. " I already told
you I have no intention of killing you, Spike."

"Whether you do personally, or have someone else do
it, I'll still know it was you who was responsible."

She walked around the table to take a seat across from
him. Levelling flat brown eyes on his face she
reached to take his hand only to have him snatch it
back so violently he nearly turned his chair over.
She sighed.

"Spike, I'm offering you a chance at a different sort
of redemption. One away from these humans that don't
appreciate you, from a Sire that won't even
acknowledge you..."

"I was the one who denied him, not the other way
around."

"He left you when he 'got a soul'. Isn't that denying
you?" She tilted her head in a near perfect imitation
of the man in front of her. "Then you followed in his
footsteps: went to Sunnydale, helped the Slayer,
fucked the Slayer, got a soul. But, you outdid him,
didn't you? You died for the humans, for Buffy the
Vampire Slayer and you wanted nothing more than to
remain dead, didn't you? But, Lindsay McDonald
brought you back, to continue in your Sire's
footsteps. To be a 'hero' to the people." She
smirked.

He growled.

"And he got stuck with you, didn't he? He tried to
make you go away, offered to kill you for the Black
Thorn, set you against Illyria hoping she'd do you in.
Are you sure your Sire didn't deny you?" She stood
and walked behind the vampire. "You know you'll never
be as important to him as anyone else is. You were
never as good as Drusilla or Penn, Darla always came
before you, and Buffy, Gunn, Lorne, Cordelia, Fred
even Wesley, who betrayed Angel so deeply that he
tried to kill him, they were all considered more
important than you. Cherished far above you. He
would have been so happy to have you die in any of
their places, wouldn't he?"

Spike stood abruptly, pushing the chair back into the
woman. "I would have happily died in any of their
places. Angel knows that! If it would've brought
Fred back I would have traded places with her in a
second." He kicked the chair into the wall.
"Charlie was a friend and Percy became one of the few
people who ever treated me as an equal in this life.
And, and if I could have died for Buffy before I did I
would have! I'd do it again now if she needed me
to."

The other occupant of the room took a deep breath.
She had him exactly where she wanted him to be. "Yes,
I know. Just as she does, just as Angel does. And,
I'm giving you the opportunity to do just that."

The audience sat there holding its collective breath,
each of them silently praying. All of them knowing
that the man in front of them had a martyr complex a
mile wide.

The lone occupant of an old hotel in Los Angeles sat
in the lobby, blood tears rolling down his face. The
bitch had the right of it. Everything Spike ever did
was because of him. From his first kill to the
predicament he now found himself in, each moment could
be linked back to Angel. And, now it appeared his
Childe was willing to give in to this harpy. He was
letting the poison she was spewing make the decision
for him. He never meant to make Spike feel the way he
did. He just couldn't deal with the guilt that
surrounded his relationship with his Childe so he
placed all the blame on Spike. Now, it looked as if
he was going to lose him just as he'd lost every one
else that meant anything to him.

Spike threw the woman a calculated look. He nodded.
"I'll take your deal, whatever it entails. But..."
The classic squint, "I have a few lasts requests."

"And, you want us to grant them?"

"Can you? Can you guarantee that my last wishes will
be fulfilled? If I give in. Give up?"

She smiled, "Yes, I can. I have full authority from
my higher ups to grant that."

Spike was skeptical but he was going to go for it. No
matter what he knew he wasn't going to be around much
longer. Why not try to go out with a bang even if he
was the only one who knew about it?

He thought it over. Why not? "Fine, then. First I
want some assurance that they'll all be happy. All of
my family."

"Your family?"

"Don't be such a bitch! The Scoobies and, and Angel."

"Angelus. So we're back to him. You know that the
only thing that would make Angelus happy is being with
Buffy, don't you?"

"Angel, not Angelus. And, yeah, I know being with
Buffy would make them both happy, not like I'm going
to be around for it to matter anyway, is it? Besides,
that's not the ONLY thing that will make him happy, I
just don't think you can do the other."

She smirked. "And, what couldn't I do?"

"Give him his family back."

She cocked her brow.

"Return Fred, Charlie, Wes and Cordelia. Oh, yeah,
that first guy he lost, Doyle. That would make me
Sire happy, it would."

"Are you sure? Buffy and his Crew? Wouldn't that
make him too happy? Shouldn't you fear for the rest
of your little Scooby family if that were to happen?"

"It wouldn't." Spike smiled sadly.

"Why would you think that?"

"Because, he'll always remember what happened and just
brooding on that would keep him from ever becoming
that happy again."

"Of course, being rid of you could counterbalance that
and make him even happier, couldn't it?"

Angel screamed and threw himself at the projection in
the middle of the lobby. She had no right to talk to
his Childe like that. Where the hell did she come up
with this shit? He drew up short realising that it
had been his own actions in the past that had
presented that particular picture to everyone.
Including Spike. He sat on the floor at the feet of
the image of the younger vampire. "I'm sorry, Will,
I'm so sorry."

Spike ignored her an idea suddenly occurring to him.
"Dawn."

"What! It's no where near daybreak."

"No, you stupid...Dawn Summers, lil Bit. Dawn, happy.
The one thing that would make her the happiest. I
wanted you to bring Joyce back. Glinda, too." He
shook his head. "I mean Tara. That's it. Bring them
back for Dawn."

She laughed. "Spike, you do realise that I'm humoring
you here, right? Don't get me wrong, your conditions
will be met since I already gave my word, but it isn't
really a requirement of taking you, okay."

"In other words, you won't do it?"

A long sigh. "Not won't. I can't. Before you go off
again, yes I said I could return the others with the
exception of Francis Doyle. The reason, well, the
others were all taken outside of their time by
supernatural means."

"But, Joyce died because of Glory."

"No, Joyce Summers was predestined to die at that
point in time no matter what. It had nothing to do
with Buffy being the Slayer, or the Hell God's
appearance or the monks' suddenly gifting her with the
burden of another daughter."

"Burden? Who called Dawn a burden?"

"Your precious Slayer. She's blamed her 'little
sister' for her mother's death since it happened."

"I don't believe you. Buffy protected Bit. She loves
her."

"She protected her because she had to. She's learned
to accept her but..."

"NO! You're wrong. She ..."

"Sacrificed her life blah, blah, blah. Yes, we know.
Did you ever think that leaping off that platform was
actually an easy way out for her? She wouldn't have
to go through the pain of missing her mother anymore,
wouldn't be burdened with an unwanted sister, as well
as having the world depend on her to save it from all
the big bads?" She laughed at his expression. "She
was allowed to be resurrected because she died an
unnatural death. Not to mention it was a way to teach
her a lesson about living. She didn't 'come back
wrong' as you put it. She was wrong before she leaped
into the void."

Buffy sank to the floor, stunned. Oh shit. She
looked up to meet the heartbroken face of the young
woman who had become her sister.

"Dawnie, it's not true. Not anymore. I came to grips
with it long ago, really. I do love you. You're my
sister, the only blood family I have left."

Tears trailed from blue eyes, both the ones in front
of the Scoobies and the ones in the projection in the
middle of the room.

Spike didn't believe this evil bitch. He knew that he
had made that promise, to take care of Dawn, to a
Buffy who desperately loved her sister. He refused to
believe anything else.

"After all she's done to you you're still ready to
forgive her anything, aren't you? Hmm. Of course you
are. You've forgiven Angelus."

"Let's just get back to the subject at hand. What
about Tara. She didn't die a natural death. Neither
did the Seer."

"Tara McKay died by the hand of man. She was a victim
of the vagaries of human nature. While her death was
not foreseen it cannot be undone without revisiting
everything that happened since. Willow Rosenberg
would have to answer for her actions in a way that she
would not appreciate." That bloody smile again. "Is
that what you want?"

"No. Red's paid for what happened. And, she's moved
on, I guess." He was disappointed. He would've
happily staked himself if he could have seen Joyce one
more time, if he knew that she and Tara were back
watching after his girls. "What about Doyle? Why
can't he come back?"

"Doyle offered his life unselfishly to save his
friends as well as the others that day. Although it
was his choice, it would have happened anyway. Angel
wouldn't have made it in time. Everyone would have
died that day. So, Doyle changed the fate of everyone
but himself."

"Then why the bloody hell was I brought back? I
wanted an end! I went willingly, didn't I?"

"Yes, you did. And, I'll even admit you did it as
much for yourself as you did for Buffy and the others
but you still had a purpose. You didn't think that
Lindsay McDonald actually found the spell on his own
did you? There had to be a reason for bringing you
back."

"To help Angel with this latest apocalypse? To stand
by idle while Fred died? To watch Gunn go down
fighting? What was my purpose?"

"To come to this point in time."

"You brought me back from death to KILL me?"

"Once more, William Arthur Edward Winstead, I am not
going to kill you. You're dead already." She
laughed. "No more discussion. Here's what's going to
happen. Buffy and her people will be all 'happy'.
We'll make sure they have successful long lived lives.
You're woebegone Sire will get his 'family' back.
And, now it's time for you to pay the agreed upon
price."

Spike huffed. "And, just take your word that
everything will be all happiness and light, eh?"

"Yes."

Everyone watching the illusionary play screamed as the
woman picked up a wicked looking axe. Several of
those present tried to throw themselves into the
action, Andrew and Buffy knocked heads as the figures
faded away between them.

Angel howled as his Childe disappeared unaware that
the woman standing behind him was set to strike.

No one saw the final act.

*****************************************************

She hadn't been in LA for a while, wouldn't be here
now if it wasn't for a directive from Giles. Not one
but three potentials in the same family. She shook
her head. It was hard enough to explain to parents
that you wanted to train their daughter to fight
demons but to knock on the door, say "Hi! I'm with
the Watcher's Council and I'd like to recruit your
triplets as Slayers", was going to be impossible and
probably dangerous.

She needed to let off some energy before tackling
this. She stepped into an atmosphere of loud music
and beer fumes. She still missed the cigarette smoke
that used to accompany them. Yes, she was a Slayer,
an adult and she was supposed to be a role model for
the younger girls in her care. But, damn she wanted a
smoke and a drink or three and she was going to have
them.

Forty five minutes later she had downed two beers and
spent at least half that time on the dance floor. The
place had a variety of men and she had danced with
most of them. She was headed out of the rest room
when she collided with someone. She looked down at a
dark curly head that was emitting a hearty guffaw at
his predicament.

She reached a hand down to offer him help to stand
back up. He raised his head and she gasped. She
found herself looking into eyes she had only seen this
close twice before. His laughter petered out and he
cocked his head to the side to look at her.

Faith finally found her voice. "Spike!?!"

Next Chapter