ONE NORMAL LIFE / TWO EXTRAORDINARY LIVES
folder
BtVS AU/AR › Het - Male/Female › Buffy/Spike(William)
Rating:
Adult ++
Chapters:
210
Views:
11,824
Reviews:
182
Recommended:
0
Currently Reading:
0
Category:
BtVS AU/AR › Het - Male/Female › Buffy/Spike(William)
Rating:
Adult ++
Chapters:
210
Views:
11,824
Reviews:
182
Recommended:
0
Currently Reading:
0
Disclaimer:
I do not own Buffy the Vampire Slayer (BtVS), nor any of the characters from it. I do not make any money from the writing of this story.
CHAPTER 122 - NORMAL ASEBASEBALL AND APPLE FREAKIN� PIE
CHAPTER 122 - NORMAL AS BASEBALL AND APPLE FREAKIN’ PIE
“To answer you question, I saw the article on campus back then tried to find Professor Lipton. I found out that he was in Egypt on a dig, so I emailed him and he emailed me back, agreeing to meet with me in Chicago when he returned. However, when Dawn and I got to Chicago and went to his apartment, his assistant said that he’d died in Egypt a few days before, from supposedly natural causes.”
“What makes you say supposedly?”
“Because his apartment had been ransacked from top to bottom, a few days before we got there.”
“And you think that and his death had something to do with the dig in Sunnydale?”
Buffy nodded, “Yes, I don’t think it, I know it, in my gut. Only the stuff he’d dug up wasn’t at his apartment anymore, it had been sent to The Field Museum in Chicago. His assistant told us that.”
“Including the amulet?”
“Yes.”
“And you saw it, then?”
“No, I never did see it, not exactly. When we went there, they couldn’t find anything under his name, not in his former office, not in the museum’s warehouse.”
“I don’t understand then, how do you know it was there? That it hadn’t been stolen?” Giles asked, confused.
“Before we go on, I want to show you something,” Buffy said, opening up her purse and taking out her wallet. She pulled out a photograph that John had taken of her, William, Dawn, and Willow all sitting on the couch on Christmas Eve.
She started to hand him the photo, then hesitated. She looked at the picture and hugged it to her chest, "Before I do, you must promise me something."
"What is it?"
"This is my life Giles, mine and William's. It's private, shared only with a few close people. It's not to be dissected, speculated upon, written about, or otherwise discussed with anyone, understood?"
"Of course, Buffy, why would you think...?"
"Promise me Giles, no matter what! This is 150% non-negotiable, believe me, and I will do what I have to, in order to keep it this way. Just so we understand each other."
Giles was now on full alert. Never before had Buffy spoke to him like that, so he knew it was both important, and likewise, he was being asked to set aside any interest in whatever she was about to share with other than personal. She was asking him to consider what she was about to tell him as a friend, nothing more, nothing less.
He looked at Buffy; "You have my solemn oath Buffy, as your friend. I shan’t break your confidence or your trust."
She slowly nodded, then taking one more look at the picture, she handed it to him; "It's from Christmas."
He took it from her and looked at it, "Ah, there's Willow, Dawn, you...is that William?" he asked, the man looking vaguely familiar to him.
Buffy didn't say anything and he kept looking. The man, William, had what seemed to be light to medium brown wavy hair, he was laughing, as he looked at Buffy, obviously fond of her. He could see the man had a chiseled looking face, high cheekbones, and a...
He jerked his head, looking over at Buffy suddenly, as realization dawned on him, "No! It can't be! It simply can't be! Is this...?" Giles sputtered, William, William, Spike’s given name. "My God, Buffy! How? This is Spike?"
Buffy nodded, "William," she corrected.
"How long?"
"Since last May. I didn't find him until June, and he's been back home with me since last July."
“Buffy, that’s...how? Nothing could have survived that devastation...how did Spike...?” Giles asked, dumbfounded.
“He didn’t survive it, Giles. He died.”
“But clearly, he’s not...”
“He was, until last May when he Shanshu’d or whatever it’s called.”
“Did you say Shanshu? You mean the prophecy?” Giles asked, racking his brain to remember what he’d read.
“That be the one.”
“I’m only familiar with the name, Buffy. Please fill me in; ever since the council was destroyed, I don’t have all the old texts that I used to.”
“According to Willohe phe prophecy stated that a vampire with a soul would ‘shanshu’ once he completed his destiny, including trials, an apocalypse, various evils, yada, yada. And, when worn by a champion, the amulet was the instrument used not only to fight the evil, but to bring forth the shanshu five years later.
“He’s back,” Giles whispered, hardly believing it, “that’s...I’m speechless, Buffy.”
Giles looked at the picture again; "He looks so different,” Giles mused, “I see he’s quit bleaching his hair, changed his clothes, too.”
“Well, William has never bleached his hair, though he did get a haircut and we did have to change his style of clothes, seeing that I don’t even think they sell the kind he was used to wearing, anywhere other than at a period costume shop,” Buffy said.
Giles looked at her, not fully comprehending, “What do you mean, he never...Spike never...William...William?”
Buffy nodded, "Yes, Giles, you’re looking at William, not Spike. Well, pre-Spike,” she said, not without a bit of nostalgia, “he's human Giles, as human as you or I are."
“Th...t...that’s remarkable, more than...I don’t think I have words. What does he say to all this? He must be terribly pleased with himself, I should think, insufferable, even,” he said, chuckling, “I should love to talk to him...”
“No you can’t! And no, he’s neither terribly pleased with himself nor insufferable, Giles! You don’t get it! William has no memory of this, of any of it! He has no memory of ever having been Spike, though he knows that’s what he used to be called when we knew him in Sunnydale. But he doesn’t remember anything from the past 120 years, when I say he’s William, I don’t just mean that Spike has decided now that he’s human to go by his given name, I mean he is William! “
“When I found him, his only memories of his life were from 1880 and prior. Except for the past 8 months that we’ve been together, those still are his only real memories,” she said, feeling guilty, “and he doesn’t believe those.”
“What do you mean?”
Buffy took a deep breath and started telling him the whole story. From her slayer dream prior to finding Spike, to Angel’s involvement in trying to hurt William and kidnap him. From their rescue to their road trip, all the way up to the present day.
Giles listened while for the next hour, asking for clarification here and there, as Buffy told him most everything of what it had been like for William and for her since he’d been back. She left out the very personal stuff, yet still enough for him to know how it was between them.
“So, from not knowing what a car is, to driving one now...using a computer, going to school, working? How remarkable,” Giles said, wishing he had a tape recorder on him, wishing he could record all the things that she’d told him.
“Yes, it is remarkable, he’s remarkable Giles,” Buffy said, smiling, as she thought of William. “He’s warm and funny, sensitive and kind, smart, loving...have I left anything out?”
“No, Buffy, I do say you’ve...”
“Oh, did I tell you he’s a poet, too? And he writes. Writes all the time, both in his notebooks, but on the computer, too.”
Giles smiled at Buffy, “Quite remarkable.”
“This must be hard on you,” she said, after considering him for a moment, “I know you, Giles. Know that, that brain of yours is just itching to put it all down, try to figure it all out, research it...but you can’t. You swore to me. William is a ‘real boy’ not a lab rat and I won’t allow him to be dissected for the sake of the future line of slayers or watchers or whatever. You promised.”
“You’re right,” Giles said, regarding her solemnly, “there is that part of me, which would like nothing better than to record this for posterity’s sake. However, I did promise you that I wouldn’t be involved in this in any way other than as your friend, and I intend to keep that promise. Unless you need me to be, that is.”
“Thank you, I appreciate that...what do you mean, if I need you to be?”
“Well, I was just thinking, when you tell him about the past, then there might be issues that come up that I could help him with.”
“I’m not going to tell him.”
“You’re not going to...” Giles repeated, “ever?”
“At this point, no. I originally was going to, but now...How can I, Giles? It would tear him apart. Do you remember what I told you happened at the Grand Canyon, when he thought he was back at the Hellmouth? And that he had nightmares at first? Well, he hasn’t for a long time, and I think he’s just accepted our story about things, and he’s happy. He’s got a life, a good life. He loves me, Giles, he trusts me...I just can’t take that away from him.”
“I think you’re wrong, Buffy. I don’t think that’s something that you can withhold forever from him. It goes to the very issue of his trust in you. Eventually, secrets have a way of coming out, and if it does, it could be worse for both of you, than how you think it would be, if you told him yourself.”
“Then I’ll deal,” Buffy said, growing irritated.
Giles ignored the tone and went on, “What if his memories come back all of a sudden, or over time? He’ll be left wondering why you didn’t tell him the truth.”
Buffy shook her head, “No, he’ll know why, same reason that he doesn’t insist on knowing certain things now, the way he asks about things, but is happy to drop the subject before it gets too complicated. I don’t think he wants to know Giles. Would you, if you were William? Would you want to know that you’d been a demon, a vampire who caused the deaths of thousands of humans over 100+ years?”
“No, I should think you’re probably right, but that doesn’t mean it’s the right thing, anyway, no matter what you or he wish, the fact remains that you’re not just two normal people...”
“Yes Giles, we are. We’re as ‘bloody’ normal as baseball and apple freakin’ pie! I don’t fight demons anymore, I fight illiteracy! And William...he’s just William. Can’t you understand that? He’s just a man, a beautiful, sensitive, loving...”
“Buffy, let’s say that’s true, have you considered where the amulet came from and what that implies? There could be conditions you don’t even know about, there could be...”
“NO!” Buffy said, standing up and facing him. “There are NO conditions! He earned this, Giles. He damned well saved the world! That’s enough. Obviously, The Powers that Be thought he was worthy. But he doesn’t owe them anything else; doesn’t owe anything to anyone! His reward was to come back human. And he came back to me, after five, long years. He’s his own man, Giles. He’s my man, Giles,” Buffy said, visibly upset.
“You’re right, Buffy,” he said, standing up, “I’m sorry, I shouldn’t have upset you, I was just speculating, like you warned me against. I’m sure everything is just as you say it is.”
“That’s right. It is,” Buffy said, wiping at her eyes, as she turned to see Dawn walking towards them.
Because it just has to be, she told herself.
END CHAPTER 122
“To answer you question, I saw the article on campus back then tried to find Professor Lipton. I found out that he was in Egypt on a dig, so I emailed him and he emailed me back, agreeing to meet with me in Chicago when he returned. However, when Dawn and I got to Chicago and went to his apartment, his assistant said that he’d died in Egypt a few days before, from supposedly natural causes.”
“What makes you say supposedly?”
“Because his apartment had been ransacked from top to bottom, a few days before we got there.”
“And you think that and his death had something to do with the dig in Sunnydale?”
Buffy nodded, “Yes, I don’t think it, I know it, in my gut. Only the stuff he’d dug up wasn’t at his apartment anymore, it had been sent to The Field Museum in Chicago. His assistant told us that.”
“Including the amulet?”
“Yes.”
“And you saw it, then?”
“No, I never did see it, not exactly. When we went there, they couldn’t find anything under his name, not in his former office, not in the museum’s warehouse.”
“I don’t understand then, how do you know it was there? That it hadn’t been stolen?” Giles asked, confused.
“Before we go on, I want to show you something,” Buffy said, opening up her purse and taking out her wallet. She pulled out a photograph that John had taken of her, William, Dawn, and Willow all sitting on the couch on Christmas Eve.
She started to hand him the photo, then hesitated. She looked at the picture and hugged it to her chest, "Before I do, you must promise me something."
"What is it?"
"This is my life Giles, mine and William's. It's private, shared only with a few close people. It's not to be dissected, speculated upon, written about, or otherwise discussed with anyone, understood?"
"Of course, Buffy, why would you think...?"
"Promise me Giles, no matter what! This is 150% non-negotiable, believe me, and I will do what I have to, in order to keep it this way. Just so we understand each other."
Giles was now on full alert. Never before had Buffy spoke to him like that, so he knew it was both important, and likewise, he was being asked to set aside any interest in whatever she was about to share with other than personal. She was asking him to consider what she was about to tell him as a friend, nothing more, nothing less.
He looked at Buffy; "You have my solemn oath Buffy, as your friend. I shan’t break your confidence or your trust."
She slowly nodded, then taking one more look at the picture, she handed it to him; "It's from Christmas."
He took it from her and looked at it, "Ah, there's Willow, Dawn, you...is that William?" he asked, the man looking vaguely familiar to him.
Buffy didn't say anything and he kept looking. The man, William, had what seemed to be light to medium brown wavy hair, he was laughing, as he looked at Buffy, obviously fond of her. He could see the man had a chiseled looking face, high cheekbones, and a...
He jerked his head, looking over at Buffy suddenly, as realization dawned on him, "No! It can't be! It simply can't be! Is this...?" Giles sputtered, William, William, Spike’s given name. "My God, Buffy! How? This is Spike?"
Buffy nodded, "William," she corrected.
"How long?"
"Since last May. I didn't find him until June, and he's been back home with me since last July."
“Buffy, that’s...how? Nothing could have survived that devastation...how did Spike...?” Giles asked, dumbfounded.
“He didn’t survive it, Giles. He died.”
“But clearly, he’s not...”
“He was, until last May when he Shanshu’d or whatever it’s called.”
“Did you say Shanshu? You mean the prophecy?” Giles asked, racking his brain to remember what he’d read.
“That be the one.”
“I’m only familiar with the name, Buffy. Please fill me in; ever since the council was destroyed, I don’t have all the old texts that I used to.”
“According to Willohe phe prophecy stated that a vampire with a soul would ‘shanshu’ once he completed his destiny, including trials, an apocalypse, various evils, yada, yada. And, when worn by a champion, the amulet was the instrument used not only to fight the evil, but to bring forth the shanshu five years later.
“He’s back,” Giles whispered, hardly believing it, “that’s...I’m speechless, Buffy.”
Giles looked at the picture again; "He looks so different,” Giles mused, “I see he’s quit bleaching his hair, changed his clothes, too.”
“Well, William has never bleached his hair, though he did get a haircut and we did have to change his style of clothes, seeing that I don’t even think they sell the kind he was used to wearing, anywhere other than at a period costume shop,” Buffy said.
Giles looked at her, not fully comprehending, “What do you mean, he never...Spike never...William...William?”
Buffy nodded, "Yes, Giles, you’re looking at William, not Spike. Well, pre-Spike,” she said, not without a bit of nostalgia, “he's human Giles, as human as you or I are."
“Th...t...that’s remarkable, more than...I don’t think I have words. What does he say to all this? He must be terribly pleased with himself, I should think, insufferable, even,” he said, chuckling, “I should love to talk to him...”
“No you can’t! And no, he’s neither terribly pleased with himself nor insufferable, Giles! You don’t get it! William has no memory of this, of any of it! He has no memory of ever having been Spike, though he knows that’s what he used to be called when we knew him in Sunnydale. But he doesn’t remember anything from the past 120 years, when I say he’s William, I don’t just mean that Spike has decided now that he’s human to go by his given name, I mean he is William! “
“When I found him, his only memories of his life were from 1880 and prior. Except for the past 8 months that we’ve been together, those still are his only real memories,” she said, feeling guilty, “and he doesn’t believe those.”
“What do you mean?”
Buffy took a deep breath and started telling him the whole story. From her slayer dream prior to finding Spike, to Angel’s involvement in trying to hurt William and kidnap him. From their rescue to their road trip, all the way up to the present day.
Giles listened while for the next hour, asking for clarification here and there, as Buffy told him most everything of what it had been like for William and for her since he’d been back. She left out the very personal stuff, yet still enough for him to know how it was between them.
“So, from not knowing what a car is, to driving one now...using a computer, going to school, working? How remarkable,” Giles said, wishing he had a tape recorder on him, wishing he could record all the things that she’d told him.
“Yes, it is remarkable, he’s remarkable Giles,” Buffy said, smiling, as she thought of William. “He’s warm and funny, sensitive and kind, smart, loving...have I left anything out?”
“No, Buffy, I do say you’ve...”
“Oh, did I tell you he’s a poet, too? And he writes. Writes all the time, both in his notebooks, but on the computer, too.”
Giles smiled at Buffy, “Quite remarkable.”
“This must be hard on you,” she said, after considering him for a moment, “I know you, Giles. Know that, that brain of yours is just itching to put it all down, try to figure it all out, research it...but you can’t. You swore to me. William is a ‘real boy’ not a lab rat and I won’t allow him to be dissected for the sake of the future line of slayers or watchers or whatever. You promised.”
“You’re right,” Giles said, regarding her solemnly, “there is that part of me, which would like nothing better than to record this for posterity’s sake. However, I did promise you that I wouldn’t be involved in this in any way other than as your friend, and I intend to keep that promise. Unless you need me to be, that is.”
“Thank you, I appreciate that...what do you mean, if I need you to be?”
“Well, I was just thinking, when you tell him about the past, then there might be issues that come up that I could help him with.”
“I’m not going to tell him.”
“You’re not going to...” Giles repeated, “ever?”
“At this point, no. I originally was going to, but now...How can I, Giles? It would tear him apart. Do you remember what I told you happened at the Grand Canyon, when he thought he was back at the Hellmouth? And that he had nightmares at first? Well, he hasn’t for a long time, and I think he’s just accepted our story about things, and he’s happy. He’s got a life, a good life. He loves me, Giles, he trusts me...I just can’t take that away from him.”
“I think you’re wrong, Buffy. I don’t think that’s something that you can withhold forever from him. It goes to the very issue of his trust in you. Eventually, secrets have a way of coming out, and if it does, it could be worse for both of you, than how you think it would be, if you told him yourself.”
“Then I’ll deal,” Buffy said, growing irritated.
Giles ignored the tone and went on, “What if his memories come back all of a sudden, or over time? He’ll be left wondering why you didn’t tell him the truth.”
Buffy shook her head, “No, he’ll know why, same reason that he doesn’t insist on knowing certain things now, the way he asks about things, but is happy to drop the subject before it gets too complicated. I don’t think he wants to know Giles. Would you, if you were William? Would you want to know that you’d been a demon, a vampire who caused the deaths of thousands of humans over 100+ years?”
“No, I should think you’re probably right, but that doesn’t mean it’s the right thing, anyway, no matter what you or he wish, the fact remains that you’re not just two normal people...”
“Yes Giles, we are. We’re as ‘bloody’ normal as baseball and apple freakin’ pie! I don’t fight demons anymore, I fight illiteracy! And William...he’s just William. Can’t you understand that? He’s just a man, a beautiful, sensitive, loving...”
“Buffy, let’s say that’s true, have you considered where the amulet came from and what that implies? There could be conditions you don’t even know about, there could be...”
“NO!” Buffy said, standing up and facing him. “There are NO conditions! He earned this, Giles. He damned well saved the world! That’s enough. Obviously, The Powers that Be thought he was worthy. But he doesn’t owe them anything else; doesn’t owe anything to anyone! His reward was to come back human. And he came back to me, after five, long years. He’s his own man, Giles. He’s my man, Giles,” Buffy said, visibly upset.
“You’re right, Buffy,” he said, standing up, “I’m sorry, I shouldn’t have upset you, I was just speculating, like you warned me against. I’m sure everything is just as you say it is.”
“That’s right. It is,” Buffy said, wiping at her eyes, as she turned to see Dawn walking towards them.
Because it just has to be, she told herself.
END CHAPTER 122