One Last Time

By Linda C.

Spoilers: Series Finale

Pairings: Spike/Angel, Xander/Graham

Rating: PG13

Warnings: none

AN: Just didn't like the ending. Who says we can't rewrite the past?

Summary: Spike says goodbye - or is it?


One Last Time
By Linda C.
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Spike looked over at Angel, seeing the man he considered to be his Sire look upward toward the flying dragon above their heads. He could smell the blood pouring out of Gunn and the anguish streaming off Illryia. Hard to believe that blue bitch had compassion in her, but she had grown close to Wes in the last weeks and was taking his death hard. Lorne wasn't coming back, Spike knowing the low-handed killing of Lindsey was weighing on his conscience. The little prick wasn't the nicest shit in the world but even he didn't need killing. The one thing he and Angel had disagreed on this time. He didn't necessarily like Lindsey after he had tricked him but he had to admire his stones. Hoodwink a Master Vampire! Not too shabby for a human. Now it had come to this, the four of them against the horde of demons heading their way. Even the heavens were frowning, rain pouring down, lightening and thunder crashing in the skies above.

"Sod this." He strode over to Angel, moving in his arms as Angel opened them. "Love you always, Sire. Always. In this life and beyond." He pulled himself up and pressed a hard kiss on the wet lips, meeting dark brown eyes that shuttered close as they exchanged their first kiss in over a hundred years. That first time had lead to a spectacular fourteen hour lovemaking session, ending with them both collapsing for a day to recover. Angelus, before the soul took him away from his Childe and made his heart break. For all their fighting, Spike's sniping remarks, Angel's thinly veiled need to pretend to be aggrieved with his recalcitrant Childe, and their constant battling, both men loved each other. Had for years, only the Slayer coming between them, and even that ending with their combined hatred of the Immortal.

Spike leaned back, water soaking his white hair, Angel's fingers running through it gently. "Love you my Will, always have and always will, even when Death takes us. Wait for me, will you?" A gentle kiss and the men turned to fight, Illryia taking Angel's back, and Gunn, Spike's. They all trembled as the screaming horde came toward them, Angel raising his sword and yelling out a Gaelic curse as he charged.

The battle continued for over an hour, bodies falling around them, Spike slashing and stabbing, Angel fighting like a man possessed as he tried to get to his Childe. Illryia began to glow, her power that Wes had drawn from her replenishing itself from the fallen enemies around her, absorbing it into her powerful and ancient soul. A quick touch to Gunn and he straightened, bleeding stopped as the blue glow ran over his body. A snarl and he once more joined the fray.

A loud yell startled them all as the demons turned to see the new enemy approaching them from the rear. A tall, well-built man surged through the crowd, battleaxe gleaming as he slashed and chopped his way through, demons dropping at his feet. Several men followed him, swords and machine guns causing equal havoc.

"Hey, Deadboy, heard you could use some help!" Angel grinned as the happy grin of Xander met his, brown eye gleaming in the streetlight, black patch rakish over his eye, hair shoulder length now and whipping about his head in the strong wind blowing in the alley. "Bleached Wonder, glad to see you too!" Xander grabbed Spike in his arms, the vampire's game face pressed into his neck and Xander offered his blood to replace what was streaming down the vamp's arm from a large cut in his shoulder. Spike drank, feeling his strength return as he pushed his ex-roommate away, Xander moving to Angel next, the same tilt, offering his gift of life. Angel took a little, not wanting to weaken the man too much.

"Brought a few friends with me. Riley was dying for a fight, along with the missus. Graham's here, along with a bunch of the old Initiative guys that weren't all bad. Willow is up above us, ready to cast when you give the say-so. We all figured you'd want to take out a few baddies first, being Angelus and all that, the Scourge of Europe. By-the-by, we found Wes and he's been put in stasis. Willow can bring him back after this is all over. Now let's say we go kill us some demons!" Xander pulled his friends along, studying the blue lady, knowing from his intelligence gathering that this used to be Fred. Her eyes met his, a nod. Understanding the nature of their inner battles. Friends live. Enemies die.

Once more joining the fight, Angel stayed by Spike, seeing Xander move toward Graham and give him a quick kiss and exchange a glance of love. Riley was fighting alongside a dark-haired woman, presumably his wife, and the rest of the uniformed men were an organized killing machine.

A very loud battle cry sounded as an Irish accent sounded an ancient Gaelic battle cry. Angel whipped around, seeing Duncan MacCleod join the fight, katena slashing through demon bodies like a knife through soft butter. He and Spike looked at each other, matching sneers on their faces. "Bloody Immortal!" A blond head popped up behind the tall Irishman, Buffy swinging a matching sword, taking a precious moment to wave at her former lovers. "Sodding git - thinking he can join our fight!" They grinned at each other, moving as one man, killing and maiming, Riley's men finishing off the wounded with a bullet.

The battle raged for over four hours, Angel making the final killing blow as the dragon swooped down, his sword disemboweling it as it tried to rake its claws over his body. Spike pulled him away, pushing him down to the ground as the great winged body fell to the alleyway. They looked up, along with the rest of the forces as an eerie song drifted on the beckoning air. A plaintive chant and a sprinkling of orange powder filled the street, drifting down and settling on the wounded warriors and the dead. Sizzles of flame engulfed the bodies of the evil dead, incinerating them instantly. Injuries began to heal, blood stilling, bodies rising to join their comrades.

They all stared as the white-haired girl in the blue gown drifted down toward them, the rain stopping and the clouds blowing away as a gentle breeze brought a scent of roses and jasmine to them all. Buffy and Duncan embraced, moving toward Spike and Angel, Xander pulling Graham along with him as they walked toward the central group of heroes. Riley and his wife were blood-soaked, mouths wide with grins from a well-fought fight, Gunn pumping his fist in the air as the last demon disappeared. Illryia looked with interest on the witch, feeling her power, knowing it was as ancient as her own. Her equal and not to be trifled with. Ever. She knew she could go to Wesley now and be complete. Her friends, and she now knew what that word meant, had a very powerful ally in the Wiccan woman and would no longer need her. She moved stealthily away, scenting Wesley in the air. He was not yet alive but his aura was still bright. She would revive him herself - she knew the words and had the ! power once more. She would not be missed.

Angel and Spike flinched as they saw the rising sun, searching with their eyes for hiding spots. Willow shook her head and chanted an incantation. A large scroll appeared in front of her, drifting in the air as she read from it in Sanskrit. A puff of smoke, a wave of her hand, and both men wore matching Rings of Amara on their hands, the sun gleaming on their bodies as they soaked in the sun.

"I know you willingly sacrificed your Shanshu, Angel, to gain the confidence of the Circle, so I can give you this. And I know you would not live without Spike being by your side. He is your soulmate, Liam, and will be with you until Death parts you many years hence. Buffy has met her true love and I will gift her with the life cycle of her mate. I am also bringing Lindsey back. His was not an honorable death and I will not have it sit on your conscience. You did not want to kill him, but it was necessary, or so you thought at the time. Lorne will return, given time and healing. Wes will be with Illryia for the rest of his life, his timeline joining with her for over a hundred years, give or take a few!"

Spike turned to Xander, lifting his arm as the tall man moved into his embrace. "Whelp, I've missed you. Glad to see you've found someone, even if it is an Initiative git!" Xander laughed, bopping Spike on the head, then leaning down to give him a quick smooch, hearing Angel growl low in his throat. He let go, Spike being taken into Angel's arms for a hug and a hard kiss. Buffy cleared her throat, breaking up the very long kiss at last, grinning as both men frowned at the man at her side.

"Immortal, you bloody pain in the ass, should know you'd interfere with our business yet again!" Spike snapped at the man, infuriated to see the grin spread over the handsome face as his arm came around the Slayer, knowing the two men in front of him had been her lovers but lost her. She was his now, and they would be wed soon, or as soon as the current mess was cleaned up. He also knew his woman would help out her friends, which these men were, and would be, for life. And his now too, damn it.

"Shut up William! You know I love him now. I'm happy and that's what counts. You're with Angel, you're both invulnerable, Xander has Graham, Riley is happily married, and we should all count our blessings that we've made it through yet another apocalypse! Now, let's go get breakfast!"

Arm in arm, the couples walked down the sunny alley, talking and catching up, the armed men moving to the front and rear as guards, still on the alert for strays. Willow changed back to her old self, arm slung through Buffy's and Xander's on either side of her.

Life was once more right.

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"Hmmm. Perhaps we should revise our opinion of Angel after all. We can negate his signature and reinstate his original prophecy. Give the Shanshu to both he and his mate, William. Or perhaps they are better suited as they are. We shall continue to observe and decide - oh, in about a hundred or years or so. When they've had time to adjust to their bond and to the new job we have for them all."

The Powers That Be nodded, moving away from the glowing crystal orb and smiling at the sight of their champions once more brilliant in success.

There was time.


End