The room was swathed in greenery, not the deck the halls type of greenery, but the living, growing type. Tree branches and limbs had sprung up from the tables and chairs and even the floorboards had flourished. Buffy’s eyes scanned the room, seeing Giles and Willow apparently unharmed and in each other’s arms with a glow gently surrounding them brought a measure of relief. She tried to peer through the veritable forest surrounding her. The limbs that she brushed up against bended willingly to let her pass and she finally found the animal that she had been hunting.
Angel struggled against the wooden bonds. Wood was weak he should have had no problem shattering himself free. The limbs that held him had adapted rapidly and another limb wrapping itself tightly around him met each movement he made to get free. Desperate he had torn at the slender bonds managing to free one of his arms. The magical growth had responded fiercely sending shoot after shoot into his flesh, digging in deeply where each limb touched his body. Still reeling from the unending pain of the wood entering his flesh, Angel finally screamed out in agony. He could feel the slow forced entry all along the length of his body.
Screaming out curse words at Giles and promising him more torment, Angel realized that he had better play along right now before Giles’ elemental began torturing him on a deeper stake-like level. Feeling the resistance drain, the limbs slowly stopped their growth and stayed anchored within Angel’s flesh.
She moved closer to Angel making sure that he had no way of escape. Two feet in front of him, she stumbled over Spike’s prone form. A soft moan passed his lips, alerting her of the severity of his injuries.
Immediately dropping into a crouch she snapped, “Illyria, watch him. Make sure that he doesn’t try anything.”
Illyria stood motionless in front of Angel trying to discover what was different in the half-breed that made the others fear him so. He was a warrior but so many of the others were too. The spark was screaming again. Why must it always scream? She focused on her inner spark letting it have its say.
Leaning down, Buffy moved away the vegetation that had disguised him. Tearing clumps of greenery away from Spike’s form, she saw the gaping hole where Angel had injured him. Feeling something akin to hysteria rise within her, she forced back the panic and focused on his face.
‘He’s not dust. It’s okay. He can heal from this. Oh God, he’s so still. There’s so much blood.’ She looked in horror as she raised her hand away from his chest and saw that it was coated in blood.
‘I just got him back... No. This is not happening! He’s going to be fine.’ She leaned closer to him. It always freaked her out whenever he was still like this. His normal vibrancy made her forget sometimes that he was one of the undead. For him this utter stillness was unnatural.
His eyes flickered open. He saw Buffy hovering over him, her eyes misted over and a look of pure terror in them that he had never wanted to see there again. He reached up and gently stroked her face. The movement caused his body to feel an agonizing, searing pain from the torn muscles of his chest. Buffy grasped his hand and laid it on his chest, tears falling unheeded down her face.
“You’re going to be fine! I love you,” she whispered fiercely. The severity of his wound making her realize that she still hadn’t said it to him enough. A lump forming in her throat she pulled herself up into a semi-crouch. Anger evident in the rigid stance of her body. She meant to do harm. Lots of it.
Angel watched the pained looked on Buffy’s face and relished it. Slowly flexing his bonds, he tried to loosen them as gently as he could. He groaned as the wood bit deeper into his flesh in some places touching the bone. He felt the pain as if it belonged to another person as he calculated his best chances at survival. He put on his best puppy dog face and hoped that he could stir up a glimmer of compassion from the enraged slayer.
~~~~~~~~~~
Wesley opened the door to the last bedroom in the hall and found Gunn lying motionless in the bed. Fearing the worst he crept to the side of the bed, and with a shaking hand he put two fingers on the side of his neck. He felt a faint pulse and sagged against the bed in relief. They hadn’t had the best of relationships but he truly didn’t want anything bad to befall him. They had been good friends at one point and he was certainly a better friend than the one out there killing whatever he came across. His anger at Angel surged to the fore as he positioned himself on the far side of the bed with the door in plain view, just in case Angel tried to come back and finish what he had started.
Gunn deserved better than this. They had all followed him so blindly, seeing what they had wanted to believe shining through in the idealized image of their leader. The faint misgiving grew and multiplied over the years that he had spent working closely with Angel. It had all gone away in those months in Wolfram and Hart and they had once again fallen in line
after him. Never once had they questioned his motives or actions until he had smashed the illusion that Angel had decided for them. Invading their memories and changing their perceptions. Part of him wished that he could forget those terrible months that he had been left on his own but; another larger part of him wanted and needed to know how the blind choices he made had destroyed a baby’s life and what had been left of the man within the vampire.
Gunn’s eyes fluttered open and darted around the room to make sure that he wasn’t going to be attacked again. He settled his eyes upon Wesley and felt a sense of calm envelope him. Wesley would have done the right thing if he had been turned. The mere fact that he was sitting sentinel over him brought a slight grin to his face.
Wesley saw that Gunn was awake and marvelled that at a time like this he was smiling. Feeling an answering smile upon his lips, he realized that if he didn’t start laughing he was going to cry. A strange strangled laugh escaped him and Gunn looked up in alarm.
“I thought you were dead!” another bark of laughter.
“I thought I was turned...” a small chuckle escaped him.
Their eyes locked. “That fucking bastard.”
Wesley reached for his hand and Gunn held on tight.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Willow felt Giles begin to falter. The immense mental effort he was putting forth to control the elemental was extraordinary. She hadn’t thought that Giles was capable of this level of control. She leaned in closer to him and funnelled more of her energy into his spell casting. She knew how draining these transformography spells were and he had called upon an elemental to reinforce the strength of his attack. Without the fury of the elemental, Angel would have long ago torn apart the fragile wooden bonds.
The fact that he had taken her unawares, once again, made her sick to her stomach. The attack from so many years ago in the high school still sometimes woke her up at night. She had mistakenly thought that this time, with her powers, she would be more of a match for him and ended up a means to hurt Giles. She sent another wave of energy towards Giles and hoped that Buffy would figure out what to do with Angel soon.
Giles felt a bead of sweat trickle down his forehead. The steady influx of energy that Willow had been sending him was most welcome. He was starting to feel the burn. If Angel guessed the strain that he was under trying to hold him, he would renew his attack upon the bonds.
He prayed that Buffy would be sensible about what she had to do. It was Angel though and her sensibilities usually went out the window when he was involved. The fact that he was killing again had to make an impression on her. Plus the fact that Spike was laying in a heap on the ground cleared things up for her a bit.
Giles focused on controlling the elemental who was becoming enraged that it was being held back from destroying everything in the room. Angel had blessedly stopped struggling against his bonds. It gave him a moments rest from restraining him as well.
Thinking of Willow trapped by the wanker made him send a tendril of new growth into Angel’s arms and legs. Hearing him scream was music to Ripper’s ears.
Buffy stood before him her body trembling from the force of her anger. Bits and pieces of her past came back to her making this moment all the more painful. She knew what her inaction in the past had caused Giles and she had seen enough of his victims here to make this a reality. The blood on his hands was not something that she could overlook and push out of her mind as a product of him not having a soul. He was doing these things and some part of her had known that without a soul Angel had let himself have free reign to the impulses and desires that he had always felt coursing through him. She gripped
the stake and positioned it perfectly. Angel was going to die but she needed to know...
“Why?” All the heartache and loss was in that one question.
A grim smile crept over Angel’s face, seeing her standing there in front of him so smug and self-righteous made him want to tell her the truth. Nothing hurt quite as much as the truth did. The words came tumbling out in a heated rush gaining momentum and getting louder with every word uttered.
“What do I have left to fight for? I have nothing. It means nothing to me anymore. Why try to fight my nature? I can’t be saved. The things I did, the lives I destroyed, and that is all that’s ever going to count. It’s what I am. I pretended that it wasn’t but it was just a lie. To be a champion of good... Y’know, I am a champion but it's really just for myself. You wanted me to toe the line. Kept dangling yourself in front of me as a reward if only I kept fighting the good fight. What do I get for all of the years I have been off doing your bidding?
Angel’s cold facade broke and they all could see the glitter of hatred in his eyes. His mouth twisted bitterly as he continued, “You, getting fucking claimed by my childe. The sorriest excuse of a vampire...my real son is stolen from me and when I finally get a measure of peace for him, it is destroyed by the memories I tried to keep from him. That was done by my best friend, Wesley, who knows what the right thing to do is in every situation...” He struggled against the bonds welcoming the pain that came with that motion.
“You tell me Buffy, what is there left for me? I have no soul anymore I signed it away to get the wasted memories for my son. There is no shanshu either I signed that away also. All in the fight against evil. It was in the middle of my last grand fight that I realized that I was still doing this for you. My last grand gesture since I expected to go down fighting. Well I didn’t go down and I came out of it with nothing. I drained Rona before I even knew what I had done. I was burned by dragon fire and instinctually I killed her. All of that repenting and do gooding gone in a single action. When it comes down to it, I am a killer. I can’t change my nature and frankly why try? Do what you want Buffy, I am done...”
Angel gauged the reaction to his speech and knew that he had touched a nerve. It was his only hope that she would come at him blindly, rage leading the way. It would make her reckless and it would leave opportunities open for him. Giles continuous Latin was driving him insane. He struggled against the bonds testing them for any weakness. The bonds just tightened in response drawing a soft moan out of him before he could stop it.
Buffy couldn’t believe he actually had the nerve to try to blame what had happened on her. Did he actually believe that crap? He was never going to accept any sort of responsibility for his actions.
Her words were low and meant for his ears only. Knowing that Spike would be able to hear everything that was said, “Angel there was a time that I thought that the very ground that you walked on was blessed. That you could do no wrong, and that you truly were the knight in shining armor that all girls dream about. That was so long ago, I woke up and saw you, as you really are, years ago, but clung to the false image of you. Afraid to pull you down from your pedestal.”
She took a deep breath to steady herself and started back in, “I was given real love before and I almost lost it. You know when you came to me with the amulet I honestly thought for a moment how nice it was to be around you again. You were comfortable and I cared for you but it was different. I told you that night that Spike was in my heart and now you act all surprised that I am with him? As I went home, I realized that I had chosen him and that it had been goodbye for you that night. I love him and I almost lost him because of you. There is nothing that you can do or say that is going to change my mind about him.”
“All of your posing and posturing, your noble actions and self denial it all was an act to hide a selfish little soul. You can never measure up to anything that Spike was or is yet to become.”
Her voice shook and broke as she forced out the words that had been clambering in her head, “You killed innocents and friends that came to help you and cared enough to fight for you. I don’t know what you did to the Coven but Giles and Willow will fix it. You are the most worthless piece of trash.” Tears fell from her eyes for the victims, her friends.She felt anger replace all of the feelings she had toward him. Anger was safe she knew how to deal with that emotion.
She steeled herself to do what she had to and raised the stake for the final blow. Angel’s eyes widened imperceptibly and Buffy thought she saw relief flash in them. Her arm came straight down. Mere inches away from its target, halted in its progress as Illyria’s hand firmly grasped hers.
“The spark has spoken. There is a better way.”
Buffy tried to shrug her off but couldn’t break the grip on her wrist.
They didn’t have time for the two powerhouses to fight this out. Willow felt the strain that Giles was under and urged, “Buffy, please... just listen to what she has to say.”
Illyria stood with Buffy’s wrist in her hand and cocked her head as she listened to a voice that only she could hear right now.
“Please Buffy...”
Buffy relaxed and pulled back slightly.
Illyria had come to some sort of decision and dropped Buffy’s wrist. She turned toward the rest of the group and spoke in her loud, brash tone, “Drogyn was my keeper for eons. I was the only old one to ever escape. He was bound to find me and bring me back. Even before Angel attacked and finally killed him. Before Drogyn was taken from my pet’s dwelling, he gave me these. He wanted to make sure that the Well would be guarded.” She reached to her wrist and unsnapped the manacle that
had been placed there. Holding it in her hand as if it weighed a lot more than it did, the faraway look reappeared in her eyes.
“I told the keeper I would go back and stand sentry there. I had nothing in this world. I was diminished. Who better to guard the others? We are close to the well I can feel its pull. I do not wish to go back. This shell has awoken to Wesley. I want more.”
Buffy was the only one in the room that could fully understand what Illyria wanted.
Giles soft Latin had become raspy and Willow started to counterpoint it with some words of power of her own. Angel had renewed his struggle against the bonds when he realized that Buffy wasn’t going to stake him. It had cost Giles to keep the elemental from tearing apart the room and everyone in it. He focused all of his energy in bending it to his will.
Willow was so in tune with him now that she encouraged the wood into even more foliage. She interjected a cautionary word here or there to the elemental when it started to stray out of line.
Illyria’s words came at them staccato, “This foolish half-breed took the life of the keeper. It should be his fate now to guard all against the old ones being taken and made to see what this realm has become. The manacles will bind him and make him belong there. He will be half in this world and half within the Well, for all eternity. A champion for good once again. The spark wishes to speak...”
Her image softened and became Fred once again. The one manacle within her hand would have fallen if she hadn’t grabbed it and held on to it with both hands. “Angel?” She turned toward the man she had once loved and adored.
Angel looked at the miracle that was before him. Fred had come back to them. He could tell in her scent, her heartbeat, her soft little voice... He never saw the blow coming; her hand snaked out and slapped him hard across the mouth. He had been hit a million times harder but no hit had ever stung quite as this one did. It brought back the shame of what he had done. He tasted blood in his mouth and knew it was the stolen blood of the coven and slayers that he’d killed. Even a little of Drogyn’s blood.
“I guess I deserved that...”
“You deserve that and so much more.” Her voice had lowered and each word came out sharp and raw all of her emotion behind them.
“Do you know what it has been like to be trapped inside and not be able to do anything that you want to do? To see everything that is going on around you and to not be able to affect it? I was a prisoner in my own body for three months it was all that and more. Now you will have to fulfill Drogyn’s destiny. You took his life so now his life becomes yours. Forever at the Well, compelled to stay there and forced to keep them safe from harm, from you or others. You will be able to see life as it passes by you but you will never even be a small part of it as you are now. You’ll be like I was trapped without a way to work your will. After what you have done here Angel I think that this is the most fitting end.” Her sweet face was lit up by her smile as it slowly was absorbed back into the cold features of Illyria.
Buffy looked at her for a moment and reached toward the manacle. Hefting it into her hand she closed the distance between them.
Angel’s struggled against his bonds in full fury. There was no way that he was going to let them place him within a prison like that.
Giles let the elemental have its fun in reattaching the torn branches by sticking them back into Angel, only restraining it when it tried to go too deep. The elemental kept up easily with all of Angel’s attempts at freedom. A frenzied glee overtook it as it went about its work. Willow’s words kept the wood growing and strong but the spell was finally weakening the both of them. They had to end this soon or the two of them wouldn’t be able to hold off the elemental, let alone banish it back to its plane.
Illyria reached up, unlatched the other manacle, and stood at the other side of Angel. The two women brought up the manacles and Illyria never hesitated and clamped the manacle over Angel’s wrist. The wood at the wrist had melted away right before the manacle had snapped shut. Illyria stepped back and looked at Buffy in confusion.
Angel seized this moment to beg her, “Buffy don’t do this... Please Buffy. You sent me to Hell once already, please don’t do it again...”
“That was a different... You and I were different.” She watched in fascination as the manacle stretched to fit over his meaty wrist.
“At least now we know that you are forever going to fight for good...” her voice trailed off. The manacle snapped shut.
Angel felt a searing pain as the manacles pulled his arms together in front of him. The wood holding him shattered and exploded off his arms. Buffy and surprisingly Illyria jumped in front of Spike’s prone body to protect him from being hurt.
Willow screamed as the psychic backlash of the destruction of her magical creation completely caught her off guard. Giles immediately began the chant that would send the elemental back to its own plane of existence. His arms holding her still within the protective ward. Putting back the elemental where it came from was proving to be an easier task that he had dared to hope for. The intelligence of such beings was, at best, equivalent to a one-year old child and the presence of a powerful witch and a warlock had spoiled all of its fun here. It had wanted to go back.
The two manacles started to glow and raised Angel up and off the ground. Pulsing pain shot down his arms and into his dead heart. For one moment making him feel like it was beating. Every fibre of his being was fighting against the compelling bind that had been laid upon him. He was as helpless now as he was that long ago day that had cursed him with a soul. Feeling his will slip away, he knew that he was bound to serve out his time as the new Guardian of the Well.
Buffy watched Angel try to fight his fate. She saw the malevolent glare that he had sent her just before surrendering into acceptance of his fate. The monster before her was nothing to her now. He was already dead to her. She turned away to see how she could help Spike.
Reaching his side, she cradled him gently and gently moved away his shirt to see the extent of the wound. She smothered a gasp when she saw just how much damage Angel had actually done. If it had been five inches lower, he would have been nothing but dust. She put a gentle hand on his face to reassure herself that he was still here with her.
Spike’s eyes opened a fraction trying to stay focused on what was going on around him had taken its toll. He covertly stared up at his love, saw the shattered bits of wood clinging to her hair, and embedded in her leather jacket. The weak scent of her blood forced his eyes fully open and he half sat up in concern. “Buffy, luv, you’re alright?” He groaned and fell back into Buffy’s lap hating how weak his body was.
Buffy smiled, ‘How like him to be more worried about me than his own sorry self.’
“I’m fine....Spike you heard me tell Angel that we are together right?
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