Rating: ? R
Pairing(s): ? Spike/Xander
Genre: ? AU
Beta(s): ? Unbeta'd but Proofread
Prompt(s): ? Prompt #283 : Masterpiece @
tamingthemuse
& Highlight here to see other prompt although potential spoiler
=> Suicide @
angst_bingo.
Disclaimer: ? ME and Joss own them - I just take
'em, make them do dirty/bad/wrong things then sneak 'em back
while no-one is looking!
Summary: ? Together, one way or another...
A/N: ? Written for my day @
noel_of_spike
on 26th December 2011 – not your typical Christmas
cheer.... Main/implied character death
It took him years. There had been so much to learn – all
the technology was a tad bewildering to start with, and turning a
geek or two into vampires didn't help as much as he had initially
thought as they turned into blood thirsty minions rather than
willing tutors. Trying to read up on stuff on his own was a
complete waste of time – he spent more time trying to
decipher what was being talked about than anything else and it
was all so incredibly frustrating.
However, the one thing he had in abundance was time.
Time and motivation.
The rest of the Scoobies decamped to the UK and he was invited
along but couldn't muster up the interest. The pouf even invited
him to come fight the good fight in L.A. And although it was nice
to be asked, even the call of family wasn't enough to drag him to
L.A when he wanted – no needed to learn this stuff,
and no one else seemed to understand just how important it all
was.
So for the first time in years, he cracked open the books and
studied. And studied. And discovered that he was far from stupid.
He lost interest in mayhem and bloodshed – the lack of chip
didn't return him to his bloodthirsty ways and had nothing to do
with any lingering feelings about the Slayer. Not after -
But that was all beside the point. He poured his time, energy and
brain into learning everything he could, everything he needed to
learn to make this very thing come true. That dark haired sod had
made it seem so easy – he'd even cursed Red a time or two
for turning him inside out because it would have been so much
easier if he could have turned the job over to someone with
experience – but in the end he found a great deal of
satisfaction in doing it all for himself.
From the skeleton upwards, it was all his own work. He
experimented with different demon skins, tested hair fibres, even
considered trying cloning when he found a box of stuff that
included hair brushes and combs that would have provided more
than sufficient DNA (but that would have taken even longer) until
he had the 'body' right. The face gave him fits – depending
on how he was feeling, what face he was going for. In the end he
settled for the 'middle' years. And then he had to move on to how
to make the thing work. How to make it live and breathe and
become.....
He realised that he hadn't spoken to any of his old 'friends' in
quite some time. They used to call him to help out with the odd
apocalypse – he helped Angel defeat the Black Thorn, and
the Scoobies handle a minor demon incursion over in Scotland
– but apart from that, he seemed to be out of the business.
All of his previous fire for the dance was consumed by this new
obsession. The bleached hair was a thing of the past – who
cared about that superficial stuff when he finally succeeded in
cracking some intense lines of code? Become Master of the
Hellmouth? Not an area of interest when he could sit and program
with some of the best hackers online about ways to do the things
he wanted to do.
A visit from Red and he was shocked when he saw her – she
had aged so very much. How long had it actually been?
“Hey Spike!” He hugged her carefully – she was
so thin, almost gaunt and fragile; her hair was more grey than
red, the power fairly crackling around her even in her advanced
years although he could sense a weakening around the edges.
“It is so good to see you. We missed you, you know?? We
could have done with you a time or two.”
“Sorry, Red. I kinda got carried away, you know? Every time
I thought I had it sorted, technology would move on a bit,
something new and improved would hit the market and I had to
incorporate it. But I'm close – in fact, I think I may well
be finally ready.”
“Oh Spike! I didn't realise you were still trying to
– look, we just thought you didn't want to be part of the
fight anymore. I mean, after everything that happened –
everything you lost, we understood that. But to find out that all
of this time you have been trying to build this... this
thing - I don't know, I'm just really shocked you
know?!”
“What's so shocking? O'course, you lot never believed how I
felt did you? Thought it was a passing fancy – a way to get
one over on the Slayer. Well you were all wrong. Totally wrong.
What we had was real – more real than you will ever know.
An' just because you didn't understand it, you kept me away
– stopped me from - “
“He never would have wanted that! Not ever! I don't care
what you thought the two of you had, but being turned was his
absolute worst nightmare! We did the right thing – I know
we did the right thing. You had no right to - “
“No right? Boy was mine weren't he? Him and me – we
talked it through. Had it all planned. He even made a living
will. But we knew you lot wouldn't respect it – wouldn't
understand. Did you know he got it all sorted – made sure
he could keep his soul and everything? He wasn't gonna come back
some raging minion with nothing but blood-lust – wouldn't
have wanted him like that anyhow. He was coming back as himself.
And we were going to have forever. But you lot got in the way
– kept him away from me, and by the time I found out it was
too late. You wouldn't know the right thing if it jumped up and
sank it's fangs into your neck.”
She gave a sigh, sitting down heavily in the armchair and burying
her face in her hands. They had had this conversation so many
time before the Scoobies had left, and they never reached
anything resembling a settlement. How could they? Not when they
had cost him an eternity with the one person he loved who loved
him back with the same intensity? Not when they let their
narrow-minded, all demons-bad mentality stop him from turning his
boy when he was injured so badly; not when he didn't even get the
chance to say goodbye...
“You can't do this. It's obscene!! You claim to have loved
him yet want to replace him with this.....
this....thing!!”
“You know NOTHING! Was nice to see you, Red, but I think
it's time you left.” He knew his pain and vulnerability was
plain to see, but he didn't care. She didn't understand and she
never would. And he wasn't going to try to explain it to her.
They had taken away his life with his boy – they knew
nothing. He suffered through the hug she inflicted, for a moment
breathing in her scent – mothballs, incense, familiar but
no longer infused with the scent of his boy. She was just another
human to him now – there was nothing for him in knowing her
any longer. “Take care love. Bye.” He didn't even
watch as she left, instead heading down into the basement where
his masterpiece awaited him.
Everything was in it's place. He'd even foregone his normal
hatred of mojo to learn the spell, working to ensure he got the
incantation absolutely right. Expensive, that type of magic, but
it was well worth it. To him at least. He looked it over one last
time, seeing the fine grain of it's skin; the vitality of the
dark brown hair; the baggy clothing hiding what he knew was an
amazing body. He knew this creation down to the last millimetre,
exactly as he had known his boy before he was taken away from him
all too soon. It had taken him six months just to get the body
temperature right – first too cold and metallic smelling,
then too hot and demon smelling. But now it was spot on –
it was all absolutely perfect. It just needed that spark of
life.
Tracing the beloved face, unusual in it's stillness, he took a
deep, unneeded breath. It was now or never. Cupping his hand
around the smooth skin at the nape, he reached just beneath the
hairline for the 'on' switch. A nearly silent whirring sound and
he could hear the processors kicking in, the chest taking it's
first breath of 'air'. The strong arms came up around him,
pulling him in tight and he savoured that long-lost feeling,
before leaning back and looking up into the hazel eyes.
“Missed you Pet – so much every single day.” A
small flash of light in the depths of the eyes heralded the final
part of the spell kicking in; a tightening of the embrace as the
once-beloved lips touched his once more just before the stake he
had placed in the strong, hard hand was shoved into his heart
through his back and he was free to join his Xander for eternity
at last....