Second
Chance
– The Shanshu Prophecy
Darkness
embraced him.
The
last thing he could remember was himself and Buffy, together with
Angel, Gunn
and Illyria fighting against the horde of demons that were coming their
way.
He
opened his eyes and sat up, and discovered that his whole body ached.
He looked
around, and tried to figure out where he was, but all he could see was
a
dazzling light that seemed to have a magic pull on him. As he slowly
stood up,
he thought that all his bones in his body must have been broken. He
slowly made
his way towards the light.
With
every step the fog lifted that little bit more, swirling within the
light. He
saw a big white door, and went straight to it, opening the door with a
squeal.
He
closed his eyes tightly and opened them slowly to get used to the
radiant white
light.
“Hey
Spike”, he heard a voice behind him. “We've been
waiting for you."
Slowly
he turned around and saw a blonde girl that seemed very familiar to
him, but he
couldn’t remember where he knew her from.
“Where
am I? What happened to Buffy and the others?” Spike wanted to
know. “And who
in the blue hell are you?”
A
faint grin appeared on her face, as she slowly approached Spike.
“I think
someone else should answer these questions for you”, she said
and pulled at
the sleeve of his leather coat, to show him that he should follow her.
They
walked down a long hallway, passing hundreds of doors on both sides of
it. At
the end there was a wonderful door with wood carvings and the girl gave
him a
sign that he should enter.
As
he stepped into the room, he saw an old man that sat at a large desk
and was
apparently absorbed in some papers.
For
a little while Spike stood there, waiting, and looking around the room.
“Be
right there for you”, the man said out of the blue.
“Lately I've had quite a
lot of newcomers. Sit down and make yourself comfy.”
Spike
looked at him and said nothing, before he sat down in the black leather
armchair.
The
man laid down the papers on a pile of other documents, and turned
around to
Spike. “Now I have some time. We have waited a long time for
you.”
Spike
looked at him disbelievingly. “How long?” he asked,
leaning back into the
chair.
"Technically….you
should have come here about a half year ago, but something went totally
wrong…but
now, here you are." The
old man
searched through the pile of documents. “Where is it?..
Ahhh…here it is.”
He pulled out a paper and handed it to Spike.
He
read it thoroughly and as he finished, he looked in puzzlement at the
old man.
“I thought that Angel would be the one who was designated for
the Shanshu
Prophecy?” he said and couldn’t believe that he was
the chosen one. He would
go back to earth as human….HE would.
Not
Angel.
The
Man rose from his seat and comes around his desk. “Angel was
never designated
for the Shanshu Prophecy. That was never the question. You sacrificed
yourself
for the world…not he. You watched over Dawn…so
far as it was possible…and
you were always there for her and for her sister. I could add a lot
more reasons,
but I think to go into this in detail would take us too far afield."
Spike
still didn’t believe it. As the old man sat down on his desk,
a thought went
through Spike's head. He must know if Buffy was alive, because if she
was dead
he doesn’t have a reason to go back. “Buffy? How is
she? What happened to
the others?”
“Angel…didn´t
make it. Gunn lies badly injured in a hospital and Buffy is doing
well…but she
mourns…again!" the
old man
said, and sighed. “Do you know how much she mourned over you
the last time?
Spike
couldn´t say anything…he swallowed hard and nodded.
“I
will send her a Slayerdream, if you decide to go back to her. So she
knows that
you're coming back.”
The old man
went over to the door and the blond girl came into the room.
“Cassie will take
you to some people who would like to see you.” With these
words he took leave
and sat down on his desk.
Spike
got up and approached Cassie. As they leave the room the old man had
something
to say. “Before I forgot…I’m always
here, just in case you want to leave.”
The
door shut behind the two blondes and they both started off down the
hallway
again.
“You
are the one, who told me that Buffy would tell me, aren’t
you?” he asked
Cassie.
She
looked at him and nodded. “And did she tell you?”
she asked and smiled,
because she knew the answer.
Spike
looked down at the floor before he looked at her. “If you
meant that she would
tell me that she loved me…Yeah she did…and not
only once since then.” A
careful smile appeared on his face as they entered a large room and he
became
still as a woman approached him. “Joyce?” he asked
warily.
She
only nodded and wrapped her arms around him. He was so dumbfounded that
he
couldn’t react immediately. In the corner of his eye he saw
another woman who
came directly to him. She had tears in her eyes and don’t
know what she should
do, as Spike turned to her. “Mother?” he asked and
fell on his knees. He put
his arms around her waist and sobbed like a baby. “Please
forgive me, Mother…I
was not myself.”
His
Mother laid her hand on his head and stroked his hair.
“It´s okay William. I´m
good here, and I have a lot of friends. Joyce is always there for
me.” Anne
said and pulled her son to his feet.
“I
want to thank you for all the things you have done for Buffy and Dawn,
and I
hope that you will go back to them," said Joyce, looking at him
hopefully.
“Buffy loves you…but you know that. Right now
she's going through a lot of
pain, because you are gone. Please promise me that you will be there
for her.”
She
took Spike in another tight hug and said goodbye to him and promised
him,
together with Anne, to watch over him and her daughters.
Anne
didn’t know what she should do, because she hadn't seen her
son for about
hundred years. Anne had seen all the bad things he had done and all the
good.
She always knew that he had a huge heart and that he would be rewarded
for that.
“Goodbye
William…I will be waiting here for you, when your time has
come.” With these
words she kissed his forehead and left.
Cassie
pulled at his sleeve as he looked behind his mother. “Do you
have some time?
Or would you like to go now?” she asked.
He
shrugged and smiled at her. “I think I have a little
time.”
They
walked through the room and sat down in a couch. “How is
Dawn?” Cassie asked
him and Spike looked at her in surprise.
“I
thought you could see her?” he asked in return. She shook her
head. “We can
only watch our own families…the big boss can see all of
you.”
Spike
looked at her. “Dawn is doing well. She lives in Rome
now…with her sister
and studies Mythology.”
Cassie
looked at him and nodded. “I always wanted to be an author.
Stories and poems…your
mom told me that you've written poems, is that true?”
Spike
laughed. “Unfortunately, yes…they were so bad I
think my mother only said
that they were good because she didn’t want to hurt
me.”
He looked at her and asked himself if he could do anything
for her. “Do
you want to know something else? About Dawn or something
else?” he asked
Cassie and she shook her head.
After
a long pause he laid an arm around her shoulder. “Can I do
something for you?”
Cassie
looked down at her hands, playing with the hem of her shirt.
“I want to know
how it feels when somebody takes care of you.
You would do everything for Buffy, don’t you?
You would go to hell and
back again for her if you had to. Did you lie to her in the last couple
of years?”
she wanted to know.
Spike
became thoughtful. Had he lied to her in last couple of years? Not that
he knew
of. He had been holding the eggs of the Suvolte Demon for a friend, and
although
nobody had believed him, he
never
had expected that anybody would have. “I never could lie to
her, because I’m
sure that she would know it right away, but I asked you what I could do
for you
and I meant what I could do when I’m back on
earth,” he said and tilted his
head, before looking her straight in the eyes.
A
little ashamed, she looked to the side. “I wanted to be a
famous author, you
know. I know that my mother is still running my website and put
everything on it
that she could find, but my biggest dream was that I had my own book of
poetry,
but that...that could never happen.” The last part of the
line she said almost
noiselessly…so that she was hard to understand.
Spike
thought for a moment, and then he had an idea. “I will fulfil
your Dream. We
will both release a joint book of poetry, and if I have to do it all by
myself…I
will make you famous.” Spike smiled at Cassie and she
returned it.
“I
think it's time to get moving. I cannot let Buffy mourn for
ever,” he said and
stood up. He made his way slowly to the room where the big boss was
working.
“Spike?”
he heard Cassie's voice again and he turned around. “Tell
Buffy that I’m
grateful to her for trying to save my life.”
Even
though he hadn’t known her that long she had found a way into
his heart.
“Will do…and I promise you that I will release
that book.” She still sat
on the couch and looked up to him. Spike leaned down and dropped a kiss
on her
forehead.
She
looked after him, as he entered the office. “I wish you many
wonderful, happy
years, Spike”, she whispered as the door closed behind him.
***
*** ***
A
flash of light lit up Mulholland Drive and a man, dressed in black,
stepped out
of a portal.
Buffy
ran out onto the street and flung her arms around Spike's neck. The old
man sent
her a dream, like he promised and she knew that he would be back.
“You…you're
back!” she whispered in his ear and held him tight. As she
lowered her head to
his chest she could hear his heart beat. She looked up at him and tears
were
glistening in her eyes. “How?” was the only thing
she could ask.
“That's
a long story," he told her, and kissed her lips as he walked with her
to
the house. “I'll tell you over a cup of tea.”
Buffy
listened to him as he told her everything about the Shanshu Prophecy,
and that
he was the chosen one and not Angel. As Spike told her that he had seen
Joyce,
her eyes filled with tears and he wrapped his arms around her and
stroked her
back to soothe her. “She looked over you and Dawn. She told
me that I should
take care of you both and I will never disappoint her.”
He
drank his tea with gusto, as he remembered something. “Can
you remember Cassie
Newton?”, he wanted to know.
Buffy
looked at him and nodded. “Of course…did you meet
her, too?”
“Yeah…I
did. In the library, in Sunnydale, she told me that you would tell
me…I
thought she was out of her nuts at that time, but when I met her in
this Heaven
Dimension I knew right away what she meant.” Spike looked at
Buffy and his
eyes were full of unspoken endearments.
Buffy
returned his look. “She meant that I would tell you that I
love you?” she
wanted to know. He
nodded and she
cupped his face with both hands and pulled him to her. “ I
love you….William.”
“I
love you, too”, said Spike and they both got lost in a
passionate kiss.
***
*** ***
Next
day, he began work on Cassie's dream.
In
co-operation with Cassie's mom, who didn’t understand why he
wanted to do that,
but was quite willing to help, and Buffy, he collected all poems and
stories of
hers that he could find. It
was hard
work, but he had promised it to Cassie and he knew that she was relying
on him.
After
one year that book of poetry came out and became a bestseller.
In
the heaven dimension three people stood around a well, and they all
looked down
to earth. Cassie had tears in her eyes and whispered, “Thank
you, William….you
have fulfilled my biggest dream…now I will fulfil
yours.” With these words
she left the two other women and went to the office.
***
*** ***
“Pregnant!!!”
Spike shouted and looked at Buffy with huge eyes. He shook his head.
“You are…no…”
“Yes,
I am," said Buffy, trying not to laugh, and laid her arms around his
neck.
“I’m in the ninth week,” she added and
tilted her head. “Aren't you
happy?”
Spike
was speechless. He wrapped one arm around her hip and laid one hand on
her belly,
looking down at it. “In there is MY baby?” he asked
disbelievingly.
For
over a hundred years he'd wanted a baby, but Vampires cannot have
children. But
now he had been a human for over a year and with Buffy's pregnancy all
of his
dreams had come true.
Buffy
laid one finger under his chin and tipped his face up. She looked him
deep in
the eyes. “We're gonna be parents.”
“It
looks that way.” Spike replied with a smile.
“Buffy?”