ONE NORMAL LIFE / TWO EXTRAORDINARY LIVES
folder
BtVS AU/AR › Het - Male/Female › Buffy/Spike(William)
Rating:
Adult ++
Chapters:
210
Views:
12,159
Reviews:
182
Recommended:
0
Currently Reading:
0
Category:
BtVS AU/AR › Het - Male/Female › Buffy/Spike(William)
Rating:
Adult ++
Chapters:
210
Views:
12,159
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.
UNHINGED
CHAPTER 204 - UNHINGED
Reality came crashing back, awakening them with a jolt. Instinctively, Buffy’s hand -- the one not still tightly clasped to William’s -- went to her throat.
“Elizabeth…? Oh, God…what have I done? What have I done! I’m so sorry."
Frantically, William tried to disentangle himself from her. With his pants still down around his ankles, he stumbled off the bed backwards, knocking over the bedside table and its contents, as he scrambled away from her as quickly as he could.
“Sp…,” Buffy started, then caught herself. Hope had stirred in her breast from the simple fact that in the midst of a nightmare, he had started to call her by her given name. In that moment, she knew he had really seen her -- all of her, if only for a mere two seconds. Pushing that hope down, she rose from the bed and hurriedly followed him across the room to where he stood against the wall, panting heavily.
“William, I’m okay. I’m not hurt.”
Trembling, he shook his head rapidly as she approached.
“Look at me. I’m not hurt. It was only a…” Buffy said, as she reached out towards him.
“Don’t touch me! Get away from me!” William bellowed, backing further away from her.
Buffy stopped, taken aback.
“William, please…don’t do this, It wasn’t…”
With an anguished cry, he seized a nearby chair and hurled it across the room. Roughly, he grabbed her by the upper arms and shook her. “Wasn’t real? Is that what you were going to say - that it was only a nightmare?" he yelled, his eyes full of pain and fury.
“Don’t lie to me! Don’t you dare! You were there! Oh, God…you were there,” he said, releasing her.
“I was,” Buffy said softly, her eyes filling with tears.
“You were there,” William repeated, as he walked over to the wall and slumped against it.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
One floor down, Giles was awakened by the sounds of objects falling and breaking above him. Still groggy, he at first attributed the noises as the goings on of his guests – obviously, quite rambunctious ones -- that he neither wanted, nor, God help him, needed to know about. However, the frantic yelling he heard a moment later, convinced him otherwise. Wide-awake now, he reached for his robe and headed for the door. His hand was almost to it when he stopped. Going to his closet, Giles pulled down a small case from the back of the top shelf. For emergencies only, he had never wanted to have the need to use this. He still hoped he wouldn’t. More yelling, and another crash from above, though, left him little other options, than to be prepared for the worst. Opening the case, he took out a cartridge, and loaded it into the chamber. With a sigh, he dropped it into the pocket of his robe.
Willow was already in the hallway, when he came out of his bedroom.
“Giles, what’s going on?”
“That’s just what I’m about to find out.”
“I’m coming with you,” Willow said.
He was about to argue, then thought better of it.
“Very well, just be careful. William sounds…”
“Unhinged?” Willow volunteered.
He gave her a terse nod. “Yes, quite.”
With Giles in the lead, they started up the stairs.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
“Now you know; now you must know,” William said, as much to himself as to her.
“Know what?” Buffy asked, his words eerily reminiscent of her earlier exchange with Dru.
“What I am, what I’m still capable of…the darkness... the evil still inside me.”
“It’s not you!”
“Really?” William said, with a mirthless, bitter laugh. “Felt like me hitting you, biting you, defiling you.”
Buffy shook her head, as he walked up to her. Gently he took her head in his hands, his eyes wandering to the lovebird necklace he’d finally returned to her only a couple of days ago. Now it felt like a lifetime ago. His heart felt like it was being torn to pieces from the inside out.
“Please Elizabeth, don’t make this harder. You’ve got to let me go. Surely, you must see this now. Please, luv…let me go.”
“No! They’ll be no goddamned going! We’re in this together; we’re…wait! Is that what your car and hotel reservations were about? Going?”
Guiltily, he turned away from her eyes.
“You weren’t just going to get away from me, or Giles, or your problems, were you? You were going to…” Buffy swallowed, unable to say it.
“You don’t understand, luv…”
“William…
“Every night I kill you,” William said softly, as he looked into her eyes. “Or at least it was every night until you came a few days ago. Then it stopped -- blessedly, miraculously stopped. I thought they were finally over, that somehow I’d overcome them just by your being here with me. Until today that is, and tonight, of course. But now I know, and now you see, too, don’t you? It will never stop. Every night, I kill you.”
Buffy stubbornly shook her head, even as the tears rolled down her cheeks.
“William, you’ve got to listen to me. It wasn’t you doing those things. You’re being played, controlled,” Buffy said.
"No, that’s not possible,” William insisted, a sick feeling beginning to take root in his stomach. “If it wasn't me, then who else could it have been? You saw me there...I'm the one who hurt you, I'm the one who almost killed you. Dru may have been there, but it was I who..."
“No, not Dru. She really is dead -- as in dead-dead. That wasn’t her, not even a nightmare her.”
“If that wasn’t Dru, then who the hell was it?”
Unnoticed, Giles and Willow had entered the room during this exchange.
“Buffy? What is it?”
Startled by Giles’ voice, they both turned to see him and Willow standing by the door.
Buffy took a deep breath, then turned back to William.
“It’s The First.”
END CHAPTER 204
As always, my sincere thanks go out to my beta, Judy.
Reality came crashing back, awakening them with a jolt. Instinctively, Buffy’s hand -- the one not still tightly clasped to William’s -- went to her throat.
“Elizabeth…? Oh, God…what have I done? What have I done! I’m so sorry."
Frantically, William tried to disentangle himself from her. With his pants still down around his ankles, he stumbled off the bed backwards, knocking over the bedside table and its contents, as he scrambled away from her as quickly as he could.
“Sp…,” Buffy started, then caught herself. Hope had stirred in her breast from the simple fact that in the midst of a nightmare, he had started to call her by her given name. In that moment, she knew he had really seen her -- all of her, if only for a mere two seconds. Pushing that hope down, she rose from the bed and hurriedly followed him across the room to where he stood against the wall, panting heavily.
“William, I’m okay. I’m not hurt.”
Trembling, he shook his head rapidly as she approached.
“Look at me. I’m not hurt. It was only a…” Buffy said, as she reached out towards him.
“Don’t touch me! Get away from me!” William bellowed, backing further away from her.
Buffy stopped, taken aback.
“William, please…don’t do this, It wasn’t…”
With an anguished cry, he seized a nearby chair and hurled it across the room. Roughly, he grabbed her by the upper arms and shook her. “Wasn’t real? Is that what you were going to say - that it was only a nightmare?" he yelled, his eyes full of pain and fury.
“Don’t lie to me! Don’t you dare! You were there! Oh, God…you were there,” he said, releasing her.
“I was,” Buffy said softly, her eyes filling with tears.
“You were there,” William repeated, as he walked over to the wall and slumped against it.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
One floor down, Giles was awakened by the sounds of objects falling and breaking above him. Still groggy, he at first attributed the noises as the goings on of his guests – obviously, quite rambunctious ones -- that he neither wanted, nor, God help him, needed to know about. However, the frantic yelling he heard a moment later, convinced him otherwise. Wide-awake now, he reached for his robe and headed for the door. His hand was almost to it when he stopped. Going to his closet, Giles pulled down a small case from the back of the top shelf. For emergencies only, he had never wanted to have the need to use this. He still hoped he wouldn’t. More yelling, and another crash from above, though, left him little other options, than to be prepared for the worst. Opening the case, he took out a cartridge, and loaded it into the chamber. With a sigh, he dropped it into the pocket of his robe.
Willow was already in the hallway, when he came out of his bedroom.
“Giles, what’s going on?”
“That’s just what I’m about to find out.”
“I’m coming with you,” Willow said.
He was about to argue, then thought better of it.
“Very well, just be careful. William sounds…”
“Unhinged?” Willow volunteered.
He gave her a terse nod. “Yes, quite.”
With Giles in the lead, they started up the stairs.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
“Now you know; now you must know,” William said, as much to himself as to her.
“Know what?” Buffy asked, his words eerily reminiscent of her earlier exchange with Dru.
“What I am, what I’m still capable of…the darkness... the evil still inside me.”
“It’s not you!”
“Really?” William said, with a mirthless, bitter laugh. “Felt like me hitting you, biting you, defiling you.”
Buffy shook her head, as he walked up to her. Gently he took her head in his hands, his eyes wandering to the lovebird necklace he’d finally returned to her only a couple of days ago. Now it felt like a lifetime ago. His heart felt like it was being torn to pieces from the inside out.
“Please Elizabeth, don’t make this harder. You’ve got to let me go. Surely, you must see this now. Please, luv…let me go.”
“No! They’ll be no goddamned going! We’re in this together; we’re…wait! Is that what your car and hotel reservations were about? Going?”
Guiltily, he turned away from her eyes.
“You weren’t just going to get away from me, or Giles, or your problems, were you? You were going to…” Buffy swallowed, unable to say it.
“You don’t understand, luv…”
“William…
“Every night I kill you,” William said softly, as he looked into her eyes. “Or at least it was every night until you came a few days ago. Then it stopped -- blessedly, miraculously stopped. I thought they were finally over, that somehow I’d overcome them just by your being here with me. Until today that is, and tonight, of course. But now I know, and now you see, too, don’t you? It will never stop. Every night, I kill you.”
Buffy stubbornly shook her head, even as the tears rolled down her cheeks.
“William, you’ve got to listen to me. It wasn’t you doing those things. You’re being played, controlled,” Buffy said.
"No, that’s not possible,” William insisted, a sick feeling beginning to take root in his stomach. “If it wasn't me, then who else could it have been? You saw me there...I'm the one who hurt you, I'm the one who almost killed you. Dru may have been there, but it was I who..."
“No, not Dru. She really is dead -- as in dead-dead. That wasn’t her, not even a nightmare her.”
“If that wasn’t Dru, then who the hell was it?”
Unnoticed, Giles and Willow had entered the room during this exchange.
“Buffy? What is it?”
Startled by Giles’ voice, they both turned to see him and Willow standing by the door.
Buffy took a deep breath, then turned back to William.
“It’s The First.”
END CHAPTER 204
As always, my sincere thanks go out to my beta, Judy.