Title: In the Interim 

Author: Sweetness

Rating: R 

Pairing: None really (but references to X/D & B/S)

Disclaimer: It all belongs to Joss Whedon and Co.

Distribution: BTVS Inspiration, & my site (http://fanfiction.angel-buffy.com) otherwise ask.

Notes: Set after the fifth season, but very alternate universe. Also it’s a sequel to The Game (which was a sequel to Donuts) 

Warning: It’s a very dark fic… I have changed some major plot elements. Also there is going to be another sequel following this one. 

Feedback: Yes please :)



Part One – the beginning 


A part of Xander’s soul was fighting the monster he was slowly becoming. It didn’t want to be an enemy to Willow or Giles or even Buffy. His soul recognized an equal pureness and darkness in those three souls and it did not want to succumb to the darkness that was slowly eating away at it. It was repulsed by the evil acts Xander had taken delight in, but it was thankful, if souls could be thankful, that he had not quite crossed the line and had taken an innocent’s life, or had tortured an innocent. For some reason, unbeknownst to Xander, all of the victims Drusilla had chosen had betrayed mankind in some way, which meant the soul, was still safe from complete destruction. But it was hanging by a very precarious thread. 



* * * * * * * * * * * * 



Xander was lying on black satin sheets in the nude. He was lonely and angry. Drusilla had offered him a life that had failed to materialize. He was still a mortal, as she had not turned him yet. Whenever he would press her about it, she would tell him that she adored his warmth buried deep inside of her whenever they had sex. Then she would babble about the stars, the wind, Miss. Edith, and other such nonsense. Xander was extremely frustrated because Drusilla hadn’t looked at him in days, and about six months after leaving Sunnydale, she had sunk back into her former insanity. He wanted to go back home, but he couldn’t until she had turned him. But she wasn’t going to do that. He was pretty sure that it was to prevent him from controlling her like Spike and Angelus had done. He didn’t want to control her; he just wanted to be released from this limbo she had him in. 



Part Two – A year earlier. 



Giles looked at the body in front of him on the discarded building materials. He could hear the sobs from Anya and Tara from behind him as they looked at the broken body in front of him. He heard Spike stumble and fall in his grief, and he realized that everything they had all tried to do to stop Glory and protect Dawn had all been for nothing. They had failed in the long run. They had managed to stop Glory and she would never be able to open the portal to her dimension in their lifetimes. But it had come at a price, a price that none of them should have to pay. However, they hadn’t had a choice, it had been presented to him. He heard Willow mumble the words that would close the worse of Buffy’s wounds, but it would not awaken her from her catatonia. The Slayer had once more gone catatonic when she had seen her sister jump from the platform when she had been paralyzed with fear when the first dragon had flown out of the portal. Despite Spike’s best efforts to prevent the ritual from being started, he couldn’t fly and had been out for the count when Doc had thrown him off the tower. Doc had then cut the girl, and the blood that had poured from her wounds had ripped apart the gentle fabric that was preventing Glory from escaping this world. The thing that made the situation that much more painful for Giles, was just as Doc had done that act that would seal the fate of the beautiful and broken girl in front of him, he had killed Ben, destroying Glory’s human host. They had all made sacrifices, at such a horrible price, and it had all been for nothing. Buffy had raced up to the platform, seconds too late, and had managed to push Doc off of it, but by the time she had turned back to Dawn, the blood had worked it’s magick. Buffy had untied the girl, and no one knew what Buffy would have done next, because at that moment the dragon had flown out of the portal. Willow had climbed up the tower, leaving Tara in the care of Anya, and had seen the horrible event take place. Buffy froze in fear as the dragon flew out of the portal, Dawn took one look at Buffy and one look at the dragon, and realized that the portal had to be closed. She kissed her sister, and told Willow that she loved them all, and with tears streaming down her face she ran off the length of the portal and sacrificed her life to make sure that theirs would continue. When Buffy would have followed the girl that had become her real sister in such a short time, Willow had restrained her. How Willow had managed to get her down, with Buffy in her catatonic state, Giles had no idea, but the witch had managed. No doubt she was burnt out the most. She had cast a very powerful spell that had allowed Buffy to defeat Glory but it had been for nothing. And now Buffy was all alone, she had lost her mother, and her sister, and she was frozen in some world where they could not reach her. And Giles blamed himself, and he knew the others blamed themselves just as much as he did, but he knew that no matter what, Buffy would blame herself the most, if she ever woke up. He sighed the sigh of an old man as he moved towards the body; they couldn’t leave her there. Who knew what other minions of Glory’s were about and they might attempt to re-open the portal. Dawn had sacrificed herself and Giles was not about to take the chance that the sacrifice would be for nothing. 



Part Three – Spike’s Plea (the present)



“Look Red, you, the girls, and the Watcher, don’t patrol with her every night. I do. You don’t see how reckless she has become.” Spike said as he took a drag on his cigarette. 

“No, we don’t because she won’t allow us to help her.” 
”She doesn’t want to lose another person, she’s lost Xander, her mother, and Dawn. Nor does she want you to see how reckless she’s become. She’s invited Death to fight her, and she’s going to lose that fight sooner or later.”
”Maybe Giles could talk to her?” Willow suggested and sighed. 

“And tell her what, pet?” Spike asked gently. 

“To be more careful?” Willow asked, slowly realizing the truth. 

“For what purpose? She will smile and nod but she won’t actually listen.”
”She has to realize that what happened to Xander, her mother, and Dawnie weren’t her fault.”
”Yeah I know that, Anya and Tara and Giles do to. She won’t listen to that either.” Spike glared at her. 
”It’s never going to be enough is it?” 
”Not for her.” 
”But she.” 
”Pet, I know.” 
”Dawnie wouldn’t want her to be this way.” Willow said as tears started to come out of her eyes. 
”The dead have no real place in her world anymore. It broke her soul to lose her.” Spike looked away, unable to comfort the witch. 
”Giles and Angel won’t agree to this.” 
”The Watcher can be made to see reason. What does the Pouf have to do with this?” 
”What you are asking me to do for you, involves me going to L.A.” Willow sighed and started pacing. 
”Look if he ever gave a damn about her, he would be here helping her instead of reforming Faith.” Spike growled as his eyes flashed yellow. 

“Faith deserves a chance of redemption. We gave you one.”
”Only because of the fucking chip.”
”I seem to remember that Giles and I helped you to get rid of it. You don’t have a soul but you fight good. Why?” Willow looked at him with her piercing green eyes. 

“This isn’t about me.” Spike turned away from her. 
”If you want me to do what you ask of me. I need to know.” 
”I can’t betray Dawn, I think the bloody monks enchanted me so that I would protect her too. It’s like they gave me a bit of a soul. Even though she’s gone now and I can do what I bloody like, I can’t betray her. She saved me too when she jumped in that portal.” 

“I understand, I just needed to hear it from you.” Willow reached out to touch him. 

“Why so you see how weak I’ve become? I’m evil, pet, pure fucking evil. Yet I kill my kind and help you lot and Buffy.” Spike pulled his hand out from under her’s.

“I have a feeling that you are not more evil than I am.”
”Save your pity and your theories.”

“Fine.” 

“Just tell me, will you help or not?” 
”One last question.” 
”What?” Spike growled. 

“Why?” 
”Do you think Buffy would appreciate it? What about Giles and Angel? It’s the only way to save her. I love her, and I am not going to lose her because she can’t get over this guilt.” 

“But you know how painful the soul is for Angel.” 
”Yeah and I can’t lose her, Willow, it’s the only thing that is keeping me from letting the demon in me go.” 

“But…”
”If she keeps up, she’s gonna die, and I will turn her before that happens. But without the soul she won’t be your Buffy anymore, and I am willing to take that chance. Are you?” 
”I will do what I can.” Willow sighed in resignation. 



Part Four: Xander 


He was alone yet again; she had gone out to find something for her to eat. She would no longer bring her kills home for them to play with. He had given up hope that she would ever turn him. It really was only a game for her. He was going to die and never have a chance to experience the immortality she had tempted him with. His betrayal of his friends and everything he had been, had been for nothing. She had played him false, and he had believed her lies. Now he had nothing but this emptiness inside of him. He clenched his fist and slammed it down against the softness of the bed. It was a futile gesture but he had nothing left. She walked into the room. 

“We’re going back to Sunnydale.” 
”I don’t wanna go.” 
”There’s no choice in this my lovely dark haired boy, we’re going and that is it.” 





** End **