A Grain of Sand now complete
Mon, Apr. 12th, 2010 09:44 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
alwaysjbjAuthor: Always_jbj
Title: A Grain of Sand
Character/s: Spike/Buffy mainly + ensemble
Chapter: 21/21
Rating: M15+
Summary: Set in Season 6 somewhere around 'Life Serial' and goes very AR from there as slayer and vampire find themselves scouring dimensions. Will their search be in vain? And what will they learn along the way?
Previous chapters can be found HERE at my site or HERE at the Bloodshedverse.
Chapter 21 HERE or beneath the cut.
This time they stepped out of the absolute darkness of their journey into the night-darkened sky of a large city. Rain fell in relentless sheets between the buildings, but the air was warm and oppressive. The usual scent of ozone that accompanied their dimensional shifts was stronger, hanging heavily in the air. Lightning flashed across the sky in twisting forks, illuminating the debris littered about the dim alley in which they'd landed. Spike squinted, shielding his eyes from the rain with one hand as he stared out into the night.
Ahead through the rain he could make out two forms; the demon hunched over Dawn, holding her hands, palm to palm, in his as they faced each other. They appeared to be conferring about something, his Bit's face earnest as she looked up at the monster and nodded.
With a roar he took off, Buffy falling quickly into step at his side, his coat flapping in the breeze behind her as they surged up the alley toward Dawn and her kidnapper.
“Spike, no!” Dawn screamed as Spike slammed the demon against the wall. “Buffy, please? Nish'tar won't hurt me. Please...” Dawn begged, pulling helplessly on Spike's arm.
“What do you mean he won't hurt you?” Buffy asked, frowning and wondering if her sister had that stock-thingy that you hear about on crime shows. “He kidnapped you, dragged you across countless dimensions, and...and I don't actually want to think about what 'and's there could be...”
“She,” Dawn corrected with a huff before deflating. “Okay, yeah, I was scared when she took me. And maybe it wasn't the best way of going about it, but there was a good reason. Any minute now the world is gonna end if I don't stop it. And it's something only I can do. Not the Slayer, or a witch or a vampire...me.”
Dawn looked over to where Spike still had Nish'tar pinned by the throat, waiting calmly to hear her out before either twisting sharply and ending the demon's life, or releasing it. “I could have gone home anytime I wanted. And I'm really sorry I worried you guys, but I knew you'd try to stop me doing this if you knew... and I have to. If I don't, the world—every world—will be swallowed up.”
“Dawn...” Buffy reached for her sister, her head shaking in denial.
“It's started,” Dawn said, staring up at the sky where a newly-formed tumult of black and purple boiled against the chaos of the storm-ridden night sky, “and that portal is just gonna keep getting bigger and sucking everything into it; first this world, then the next closest dimension, then the next and the next. I'm the Key, Buffy—I'm the only one who can close it.” Her voice had dropped to little more than a whisper, and they strained to hear her over the howl of the wind and the sharp crash of thunder as another bolt of lightning crackled overhead.
Dawn glanced at the P'lontus demon who smiled encouragingly. “Nish'tar has been teaching me how to control my powers,” she added, her voice shaking slightly as she dropped her gaze to study the small stream of water running across the bitumen towards the drain. “I can do this, Buffy.” She swallowed hard and raised her head once more, her chin jutting stubbornly as she looked her sister in the eye. “I have to at least try.”
Buffy closed her eyes for a moment, fighting down the urge to grab Dawn and run. “Alright,” she said finally, glancing at Spike and seeing the slight nod that said he'd back her, whichever way she chose to play this. “What do you need?”
“I have to get close enough to close the portal.”
~*~
Buffy had quickly shed her extra layers, stripping down to just jeans and t-shirt in anticipation of the battle ahead. They'd made their way through a series of alleys toward the portal. As they reached what Dawn decreed to be close enough, creatures—demons, Buffy assumed—began to spill from the ever widening rift, and Buffy had surged ahead, leaving Spike to protect Dawn and Nish'tar.
The sky continued to darken with each passing moment, the rift widening to allow more, and larger, demons to pass through. Buffy stabbed once more and another demon fell; her arm was beginning to ache from the constant supply of enemies.
A screech sounded and a large, ugly winged-lizard burst through the portal. “Huh, always thought you guys were meant to be pretty,” Buffy muttered, pushing a sopping strand of hair out of her eye and tightening her grip on her sword. “Looks like I get to play Saint Peter and slay the dragon.”
“George, love.” Spike stepped forward, sword swinging in lazy circles as he stepped up to her left.
“Spike, what are you doing here?” She glanced back up the alley to where she'd left him guarding Dawn, but the steady stream of rain and the ever decreasing light meant visibility was down to a minimum and she could make nothing out in the darkness.
“Could ask you the same question, Slayer,” he responded. “Last person I expected to see tonight. Watch out,” he added before throwing himself sideways to avoid the gush of flame that lit the alley where the two warriors had just been standing.
“What do you mean?” Buffy asked, kipping quickly to her feet from where she'd landed on the far side of the alley. “I'm fighting the monsters, you're meant to be guarding Dawn, remember?” She lashed out, catching the dragon's underside with the tip of her sword as it passed. The creature screamed, flapping hard to gain height before spinning on one wing and diving towards them once more.
“Dawn?” Spike asked, grabbing Buffy's arm and dragging her behind a dumpster as another jet of flame lit up the alley. “What's the bloody hell is the Bit doing here?” he demanded.
“Wha...” Buffy stared at him for a moment. “Oh, okay, you're another one.”
“Another...?”
“No time,” Buffy told him, dragging him back out from behind the dumpster as the dragon turned for another pass. “Give me a hand.” She took a few steps backward and indicated up to where the dragon was swooping toward them. Spike nodded and lifted Buffy as she completed a quick run-up and stepped into his linked hands. She somersaulted through the air, thrusting upwards with two hands. Her sword sliced neatly through the dragon's soft underbelly as she completed the arc. She landed hard but rolled in time to avoid the gust of flame that accompanied yet another angry screech. The creature continued up the alley toward the portal, listing badly as it struggled to remain aloft.
“You know Angel's gonna be pissed. Had his eye on that.” Spike indicated the still-retreating dragon.
“Angel's here too?”
“Figured that's why you were here. Come to save your honey-bear.”
Buffy glared. “Angel is not my... Or at least, I don't think he...” She sighed; she was really getting sick of all these dimensions. “Is he?” she asked.
Spike shrugged and turned away, sword lifting once more. “Got company, pet”
“Stop being avoidy,” Buffy snapped as she stepped to his side, her own sword raised to meet the new wave of demons.
“'m not.” Spike slashed, slicing a demon that looked a lot like Gollum in half.
“Are too,” Buffy responded. “Queen of avoidy here, Spike, I should know.”
“What do you want me to say?” he asked, continuing to stab and slice. “I was dying, you threw me a bone. Only problem is, I came back—don't expect you to...”
“Gaaah,” Buffy growled. “Look, I know this is gonna be hard to believe, but I'm not Buffy...or not your Buffy,” she added. “I'm from another dimension, I don't know what you're talking about, or what I'm supposed to have said or not said, so how about you cut me some slack and start from the beginning.”
“Another dimension?” Spike asked, one brow quirked in surprise.
“Yep,” Buffy replied, popping the ‘p' as she stabbed another of the small hunch-backed demons.
Spike filled her in as they fought, starting with his unrequited crush on her counterpart and hitting the highlights—or lowlights—of their relationship between his disastrous declaration of love in his crypt, to him standing in a rain-soaked alley in LA fighting the hordes of hell in Angel's war against Wolfram and Hart and the Blackthorn.
“You're an idiot,” Buffy concluded as he finished his tale.
“I'm a wha...”
A deafening pop accompanied a blinding flash of light as the portal collapsed rapidly in on itself before winking out with a last loud pop and the stench of burning flesh as those demons caught halfway through were sliced in half and cauterised, most were dead before they hit the ground. A shock wave accompanied the final pop, spreading rapidly outwards and knocking anything left standing to the ground.
Spike crawled over to where Buffy lay. “Buffy?” He reached out, touching her shoulder hesitantly. “You alright, love?” he asked as she groaned and climbed slowly to her feet.
“I think so,” she replied. “Spike,” she said more firmly, “go to her. Tell her—well, I'd start with a big ass apology for letting her think you've been dead all this time. But then, just tell her how you feel.”
“She's moved on.”
“Maybe. Maybe not. Maybe she's just trying to not hurt. I'd be willing to bet that if she said she loved you, she meant it. I...we...she...it's not something I'd say lightly, Spike—not even to a dying man.”
‘Buffy?” Spike's voice echoed down the alley along with the loud thud of his boots.
“I'm here,” Buffy replied, running to meet him.
He caught her up, spinning her once before kissing her breathless. “You're alright,” he said, and Buffy wasn't sure if it was a question or a declaration.
She nodded. “I had help,” she said, indicating the other Spike who now stood open-mouthed in the middle of the alley watching their reunion with a mixture of hope and longing shinning in his eyes.
“Dawn?” she asked.
“She's fine. Exhausted, but fine. Nish'tar's takin' care of her. Says she can take us home,” he said looking dubiously from his slayer to the alternate version of himself. “Whenever we're ready, that is,” he added. “No rush, if you're not done...”
Buffy smiled, shaking her head. “I am so done. Let's go.” She slid her hand down his arm, linking her fingers with his before turning back to look at the other Spike. “Go,” she said. “Tell her!” Then she smiled and turned away, walking hand in hand up the alley with the vampire she loved toward her sister, a strange red demon, and home.
the end
![[identity profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/openid.png){kind=small}
no subject
Date: 12/4/10 12:22 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 12/4/10 09:14 am (UTC)Cowbag!
I'm really happy for you scoring one WIP off of your to-do list, even while I'm insanely jealous that I can't do the same.
no subject
Date: 12/4/10 09:17 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 12/4/10 01:07 pm (UTC)I haven't been reading much fanfic in the last two years or so. I got really tired of reading wips, many of which never get finished. I will put this work on my read list.
no subject
Date: 13/4/10 12:03 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 15/4/10 01:02 am (UTC)A happy ending after so many adventures.
no subject
Date: 16/4/10 06:54 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 16/4/10 06:57 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 16/4/10 06:58 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 16/4/10 07:00 am (UTC)I hope you enjoy the story!
no subject
Date: 16/4/10 07:03 am (UTC)and my recalcitrant muse, and that you enjoyed the ride!no subject
Date: 16/4/10 07:06 am (UTC)I'm glad you enjoyed the story.
Thank you.