Necessary Evil
May. 12th, 2006 09:36 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
lit_galUm... this is a first for me. I was doing a bit of manipping and I created an elf Spike with an angel Buffy. Big old Spander girl me then got a big old Spuffy bunny. Yeah, surprised me too.
Title: Necessary Evil
Pairing: Spike/Buffy
Rating: Safe
Chapter: 1/1
Warnings: VERY AU
Summary: Once again, Buffy is pulled from heaven
Spike stirred the embers again, watching spirals of fire reach up into the dark. A bright flare dressed the trees in orange light, and Spike pulled back a little. He wore his battle scars with honor, but he didn't need his ears singed. The embers flashed with green, and Spike used a crooked stick to push his lode stone closer to the fire. He needed magic for tonight's task.
Spike moved back again when the fire flashed green from the wormwood he had added earlier. Standing up, he stretched his back like a cat, feeling his joints pop after hours of tending the magical fire. Ironically, he had less talent with--and less patience for-- magic than most of his clan. He preferred to fight with staff and sword. Given a strong weapon, he would fly into battle with ogres or dark elves or even bloody dragons. But as he watched the sky, he knew what he had to do.
A breeze tangled his long hair, making the pointed tips of his ears itch as the fire reached up toward the stars. Spike hissed in surprise as the red glow of the fire reflected off the underside of pale wings.
"Bloody hell. Can't even wait 'til I'm soddin' finished," he cursed softly as he used the carved shoulder bone of an ox to scoop sand over the fire. Another downdraft from wings sent the fire scuttling along the ground to a tuft of grass that exploded with yellow flame. Spike grabbed his cloak and threw it over the burning grass as a trill of mad laughter filled the night.
"Daft bint," Spike complained as he finished putting out the fire, and that cloak would never keep him warm again. With a sigh, Spike tried to remember why he had come out here in the first place. A branch above him snapped and then fell through the trees with a rattle that sent birds soaring into the night air, complaining with shrill whistles. Oh yes, the insane angel.
Spike sent a silent curse to the young ones who had called the angel to help in their battle with the hell god, but unlike the elders who would ignore their mistake, or the young ones who were blind to the harm they had done, he wouldn't turn his back on the creature. He'd seen her in the middle of battle, her wings shining like the shells of sea creatures as she ripped through the evil ones who had flowed from the ground. She'd been their avenger. Delicate hands had ripped heads from bodies with a brutal grace that made Spike gasp for breath.
The others had cheered; Spike had watched the wings grow tattered and the angel's eyes wander the battlefield in confusion and fear. When she'd grabbed Lontra and ripped his chest open, the cheers had ended. Standing in the shadow of a fallen dragon's body, Spike watched as she snatched at anyone who moved. Her wings dragged in tatters, and red stained the bottom of her golden dress, but she still struck out.
Eventually, everyone had retreated. The hell god called his minions back into the crevasse, and Spike's people had sought the safety of the trees. Now she wandered the forest with only her own mad laughter and sorrowful cries as company.
Spike snatched up his lode stone and tossed it from hand to hand as the heat stung his fingers. At first he feared he'd bungled the spell, but then the power center began to glow a soft red that illuminated the small clearing he'd chosen for his trap. Giles had accused him of being an idiot, and a suicidal one at that, but Spike smiled at the challenge. He'd come out of a battle against a cockatrice with little more than a scarred eyebrow, so he trusted his instinct—instinct which told him the angel wanted to get caught.
The laughter of earlier now gave way to a keening howl that sent cold shivers down Spike's back. The high-pitched wails of pain seemed to echo through the forest as though every tree and rock added its own pain. Like on that day when he'd watched her righteous battle turn to confusion and fear, Spike could feel an answering pain in his own chest.
"Bloody wankers. They pulled ya out of heaven and never thought about what to do with ya after," he whispered as he set about tracing runes in the sand as he knelt on the earth. His curving staff and a charmed rope lay next to him, but he had to set the bait before springing the trap.
His lode stone pulsed and pushed out sparks of red and gold that gathered into the form of a girl that shimmered in the darkness. "Right then. Know you won't ignore the bit, now will you?" Spike asked himself as he sent the image of the child to wander the woods. Returning to the sand, he worked quickly by the fading glow of the stone. The troll wasn't nearly as convincing, with a face that kept disintegrating to a scattering of stars. Then again, the angel wasn't exactly sane, so he could only hope she wouldn't notice.
Spike sent the second image lumbering after the first, and he picked up his staff and rope. The child wandered around the trunk of an oak, and the troll mindlessly stumbled right through the middle of the tree with halting steps that ignored physics. The troll's black hair flared with red and gold threads.
"Bloody buggin' hell," Spike snarled. For the first time in his life, he wished he'd paid more attention to studying magic and less time inventing creative ways to drive Master Liam insane. His practical jokes had certainly made lessons less god-awful boring, but he couldn't afford to let his incompetence condemn the creature he sought to a life of loneliness and pain.
The phantom child ran with floppy arms and legs flailing as the troll wandered after. White shimmered in the air above Spike. He clutched his staff and rope as he raced along the ground with all of his elfin grace. Flowing around trees, he watched her reach with delicate hands toward the child. Her feet touched the ground and her wings rose straight up from her back as she eluded trees with a movement half-flight and half-sprint.
As she reached out to touch the girl, her hand passed through the girl's arm, leaving a shower of sparks and a girl-illusion that continued to run without an arm. The angel wailed and threw herself backwards, colliding with the illusion troll so that he disintegrated into a glittering shower.
Knowing that he would either save her or have his guts torn out, Spike leapt on the angel's back. He wrapped his legs around her waist and held on as she screamed her anger. Fingers grabbed at his knees, and Spike slipped the rope around her neck before she had time to pull his legs off him the way young Xander had once pulled the legs from a trundle beetle.
The hands left his legs and pulled at the rope, but Spike pulled the loose end so that she couldn't pull the loop open again. The spell started settling into her body, making her wings sag so that their weight rested against Spike's back, holding him to her body as she slowly sank to her knees.
Wordlessly, she worked fingers under the rope and weakly tugged without any success.
"Shhh, pet, you're alright," Spike promised as he held the rope with one hand as he backed out of the cave formed by her body. Coming around to the front, he knelt in front of her and saw the confusion in her face.
"I hurt her," the angel whispered, her voice lost and laced with guilt and shame.
"No, she's fine," Spike promised as he held up a hand and cupped the angel's face. "She's right as rain."
The angel stopped and truly looked at Spike then, and he could feel the weight of that gaze. Even without her physical strength, her eyes ripped him open and looked inside to all the bits he normally didn't show to anyone, at least not since Dru died. The angel lifted a hand and touched the fist where Spike held the rope.
"Just a bit of magic my Dru left me. She used it once to play with a unicorn. It makes it easier for ya to focus on me," he explained. She turned her head and opened her mouth to say something, but the call of an owl sent her eyes dancing off to the dark forest.
"Pet, focus here," Spike said. Eyes turned back to him.
"What's your name?" Spike asked carefully. He'd practiced for years with his Dru, who would often lose herself in her own magics even if she was the most powerful enchantress the clan had ever known.
The eyes that focused on him wandered down to look at the rope, and Spike wondered if she could even understand the question.
"Buffy," she finally whispered as she started wiping at her dress. Long, slender fingers rubbed at the fabric, pushing it away from her so that the dress rippled.
"Buffy? What are ya doing?" Spike asked as he watched her movements become more and more frantic.
"Blood. So much blood. Why is there so much blood?" she asked as she attacked the dress, as though wanting the stains to go away would make it magically happen. Not even Dru had that sort of power.
"Hush. Leave it. We'll get you something else to wear," Spike promised. Her hand reached out and grabbed his wrist with a strength that made him grit his teeth against the pain.
"Something else?" she asked, her voice much softer than that of the creature whose wails had left elves shivering in their beds at night.
"Yeah, pet. I've got some lovely things from Dru, and we'll get rid of that if it bothers you."
"There's blood," she whispered. Spike reached over with his free hand and gently stroked the back of her fingers until she loosened her grip on him.
"Doesn't matter. We'll get you a new dress and the blood will be gone," he said as he stroked past a wrist and up to a strong arm.
"The blood. I killed." She started making a small keening sound of grief, and Spike wrapped his free hand around the back of her neck and tightened his grip on the rope as he put every bit of conviction into his next words.
"You did what you had to do in order to save the clan, and not just our clan, but dozens of them. Ya stopped evil from getting into this world, and you did a good thing for children who would have ended up troll food if that damned god had his way," Spike said firmly. "You did good, and that's what you have to remember."
Her wings rose from her back and made a rustling sound before they settled back onto her body.
"Who are you?" she asked. Spike smiled.
"Thought you'd never ask, love. I'm Spike, William the Bloody, warrior of the tree elves of the Dark Forests and defender against the forces of the Hellmouth. And as long as that rope's around your neck, I'm your lord," he finished. "So, since I can't very well have you tryin' to push your clothes off in the middle of the village, let's get you cleaned up, rested, and maybe even get a little food in ya," Spike suggested.
Spike had expected a reaction. He had prepared himself for tricks and guile and a desperate struggle to get the rope off before Spike could order her to stop. He didn't expect her to slowly stand, her wings curving over her head as she held out her hand for him. Even though that arm had the power to rip him apart, Spike didn't hesitate when he put his hand in hers and allowed her to help him up from the ground.
Without any more words, Spike started walking through the forest, leading them back to the village. The entire time, her fingers curled around his own as they walked hand-in-hand.
Title: Necessary Evil
Pairing: Spike/Buffy
Rating: Safe
Chapter: 1/1
Warnings: VERY AU
Summary: Once again, Buffy is pulled from heaven
Spike moved back again when the fire flashed green from the wormwood he had added earlier. Standing up, he stretched his back like a cat, feeling his joints pop after hours of tending the magical fire. Ironically, he had less talent with--and less patience for-- magic than most of his clan. He preferred to fight with staff and sword. Given a strong weapon, he would fly into battle with ogres or dark elves or even bloody dragons. But as he watched the sky, he knew what he had to do.
A breeze tangled his long hair, making the pointed tips of his ears itch as the fire reached up toward the stars. Spike hissed in surprise as the red glow of the fire reflected off the underside of pale wings.
"Bloody hell. Can't even wait 'til I'm soddin' finished," he cursed softly as he used the carved shoulder bone of an ox to scoop sand over the fire. Another downdraft from wings sent the fire scuttling along the ground to a tuft of grass that exploded with yellow flame. Spike grabbed his cloak and threw it over the burning grass as a trill of mad laughter filled the night.
"Daft bint," Spike complained as he finished putting out the fire, and that cloak would never keep him warm again. With a sigh, Spike tried to remember why he had come out here in the first place. A branch above him snapped and then fell through the trees with a rattle that sent birds soaring into the night air, complaining with shrill whistles. Oh yes, the insane angel.
Spike sent a silent curse to the young ones who had called the angel to help in their battle with the hell god, but unlike the elders who would ignore their mistake, or the young ones who were blind to the harm they had done, he wouldn't turn his back on the creature. He'd seen her in the middle of battle, her wings shining like the shells of sea creatures as she ripped through the evil ones who had flowed from the ground. She'd been their avenger. Delicate hands had ripped heads from bodies with a brutal grace that made Spike gasp for breath.
The others had cheered; Spike had watched the wings grow tattered and the angel's eyes wander the battlefield in confusion and fear. When she'd grabbed Lontra and ripped his chest open, the cheers had ended. Standing in the shadow of a fallen dragon's body, Spike watched as she snatched at anyone who moved. Her wings dragged in tatters, and red stained the bottom of her golden dress, but she still struck out.
Eventually, everyone had retreated. The hell god called his minions back into the crevasse, and Spike's people had sought the safety of the trees. Now she wandered the forest with only her own mad laughter and sorrowful cries as company.
Spike snatched up his lode stone and tossed it from hand to hand as the heat stung his fingers. At first he feared he'd bungled the spell, but then the power center began to glow a soft red that illuminated the small clearing he'd chosen for his trap. Giles had accused him of being an idiot, and a suicidal one at that, but Spike smiled at the challenge. He'd come out of a battle against a cockatrice with little more than a scarred eyebrow, so he trusted his instinct—instinct which told him the angel wanted to get caught.
The laughter of earlier now gave way to a keening howl that sent cold shivers down Spike's back. The high-pitched wails of pain seemed to echo through the forest as though every tree and rock added its own pain. Like on that day when he'd watched her righteous battle turn to confusion and fear, Spike could feel an answering pain in his own chest.
"Bloody wankers. They pulled ya out of heaven and never thought about what to do with ya after," he whispered as he set about tracing runes in the sand as he knelt on the earth. His curving staff and a charmed rope lay next to him, but he had to set the bait before springing the trap.
His lode stone pulsed and pushed out sparks of red and gold that gathered into the form of a girl that shimmered in the darkness. "Right then. Know you won't ignore the bit, now will you?" Spike asked himself as he sent the image of the child to wander the woods. Returning to the sand, he worked quickly by the fading glow of the stone. The troll wasn't nearly as convincing, with a face that kept disintegrating to a scattering of stars. Then again, the angel wasn't exactly sane, so he could only hope she wouldn't notice.
Spike sent the second image lumbering after the first, and he picked up his staff and rope. The child wandered around the trunk of an oak, and the troll mindlessly stumbled right through the middle of the tree with halting steps that ignored physics. The troll's black hair flared with red and gold threads.
"Bloody buggin' hell," Spike snarled. For the first time in his life, he wished he'd paid more attention to studying magic and less time inventing creative ways to drive Master Liam insane. His practical jokes had certainly made lessons less god-awful boring, but he couldn't afford to let his incompetence condemn the creature he sought to a life of loneliness and pain.
The phantom child ran with floppy arms and legs flailing as the troll wandered after. White shimmered in the air above Spike. He clutched his staff and rope as he raced along the ground with all of his elfin grace. Flowing around trees, he watched her reach with delicate hands toward the child. Her feet touched the ground and her wings rose straight up from her back as she eluded trees with a movement half-flight and half-sprint.
As she reached out to touch the girl, her hand passed through the girl's arm, leaving a shower of sparks and a girl-illusion that continued to run without an arm. The angel wailed and threw herself backwards, colliding with the illusion troll so that he disintegrated into a glittering shower.
Knowing that he would either save her or have his guts torn out, Spike leapt on the angel's back. He wrapped his legs around her waist and held on as she screamed her anger. Fingers grabbed at his knees, and Spike slipped the rope around her neck before she had time to pull his legs off him the way young Xander had once pulled the legs from a trundle beetle.
The hands left his legs and pulled at the rope, but Spike pulled the loose end so that she couldn't pull the loop open again. The spell started settling into her body, making her wings sag so that their weight rested against Spike's back, holding him to her body as she slowly sank to her knees.
Wordlessly, she worked fingers under the rope and weakly tugged without any success.
"Shhh, pet, you're alright," Spike promised as he held the rope with one hand as he backed out of the cave formed by her body. Coming around to the front, he knelt in front of her and saw the confusion in her face.
"I hurt her," the angel whispered, her voice lost and laced with guilt and shame.
"No, she's fine," Spike promised as he held up a hand and cupped the angel's face. "She's right as rain."
The angel stopped and truly looked at Spike then, and he could feel the weight of that gaze. Even without her physical strength, her eyes ripped him open and looked inside to all the bits he normally didn't show to anyone, at least not since Dru died. The angel lifted a hand and touched the fist where Spike held the rope.
"Just a bit of magic my Dru left me. She used it once to play with a unicorn. It makes it easier for ya to focus on me," he explained. She turned her head and opened her mouth to say something, but the call of an owl sent her eyes dancing off to the dark forest.
"Pet, focus here," Spike said. Eyes turned back to him.
"What's your name?" Spike asked carefully. He'd practiced for years with his Dru, who would often lose herself in her own magics even if she was the most powerful enchantress the clan had ever known.
The eyes that focused on him wandered down to look at the rope, and Spike wondered if she could even understand the question.
"Buffy," she finally whispered as she started wiping at her dress. Long, slender fingers rubbed at the fabric, pushing it away from her so that the dress rippled.
"Buffy? What are ya doing?" Spike asked as he watched her movements become more and more frantic.
"Blood. So much blood. Why is there so much blood?" she asked as she attacked the dress, as though wanting the stains to go away would make it magically happen. Not even Dru had that sort of power.
"Hush. Leave it. We'll get you something else to wear," Spike promised. Her hand reached out and grabbed his wrist with a strength that made him grit his teeth against the pain.
"Something else?" she asked, her voice much softer than that of the creature whose wails had left elves shivering in their beds at night.
"Yeah, pet. I've got some lovely things from Dru, and we'll get rid of that if it bothers you."
"There's blood," she whispered. Spike reached over with his free hand and gently stroked the back of her fingers until she loosened her grip on him.
"Doesn't matter. We'll get you a new dress and the blood will be gone," he said as he stroked past a wrist and up to a strong arm.
"The blood. I killed." She started making a small keening sound of grief, and Spike wrapped his free hand around the back of her neck and tightened his grip on the rope as he put every bit of conviction into his next words.
"You did what you had to do in order to save the clan, and not just our clan, but dozens of them. Ya stopped evil from getting into this world, and you did a good thing for children who would have ended up troll food if that damned god had his way," Spike said firmly. "You did good, and that's what you have to remember."
Her wings rose from her back and made a rustling sound before they settled back onto her body.
"Who are you?" she asked. Spike smiled.
"Thought you'd never ask, love. I'm Spike, William the Bloody, warrior of the tree elves of the Dark Forests and defender against the forces of the Hellmouth. And as long as that rope's around your neck, I'm your lord," he finished. "So, since I can't very well have you tryin' to push your clothes off in the middle of the village, let's get you cleaned up, rested, and maybe even get a little food in ya," Spike suggested.
Spike had expected a reaction. He had prepared himself for tricks and guile and a desperate struggle to get the rope off before Spike could order her to stop. He didn't expect her to slowly stand, her wings curving over her head as she held out her hand for him. Even though that arm had the power to rip him apart, Spike didn't hesitate when he put his hand in hers and allowed her to help him up from the ground.
Without any more words, Spike started walking through the forest, leading them back to the village. The entire time, her fingers curled around his own as they walked hand-in-hand.
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no subject
Date: 2006-05-13 05:03 am (UTC)I love this!
no subject
Date: 2006-05-13 02:57 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2006-05-13 05:09 pm (UTC)I was very freaked out to start my own very different Savannah. Like I resisted for months, because it was so different and I'm just jaded now about trying new ships, despite how lovely the spangel shippers are. But I've been welcomed amazingly. And I think for work such as this you would be too.
You are I are very different, but I just thought I'd share that experience.
no subject
Date: 2006-05-13 10:41 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2006-05-13 11:38 pm (UTC)That's wonderful, and I'd love to be nommed. If you guys want anything, help with graphics or admin stuff, give a holler.
no subject
Date: 2006-05-13 11:56 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2006-05-13 11:58 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2006-05-13 05:14 am (UTC)just.. wow
*stares and re reads*
that was absolutely amazing and spellbinding.. *shivers hard and sighs*
beautiful
no subject
Date: 2006-05-13 02:59 pm (UTC)Thank you so much.
This story really did almost tell itself, I was just the one typing.
no subject
Date: 2006-05-13 05:17 am (UTC)*chants* more, more, more! :)
no subject
Date: 2006-05-13 03:00 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2006-05-13 03:48 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2006-05-13 05:25 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2006-05-13 03:01 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2006-05-13 05:26 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2006-05-13 03:03 pm (UTC)Thank you for letting me know that you enjoyed my first foray into Spuffy-land
no subject
Date: 2006-05-13 05:35 am (UTC)okay...must...have...more! More I say! This is so wonderfully amazing!!! I'm just floored by it...really!
truly fantastic job!!
no subject
Date: 2006-05-13 03:05 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2006-05-13 07:09 am (UTC)I had tears for the second time tonight, and for a totally different reason.
Loved it.
no subject
Date: 2006-05-13 03:08 pm (UTC)And I'm so glad I could make you tear up... that's the greatest compliment.
no subject
Date: 2006-05-13 07:24 am (UTC)-Eddie =)
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Date: 2006-05-13 03:09 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2006-05-13 09:00 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2006-05-13 03:11 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2006-05-13 09:02 am (UTC)Lovely--a fairy tale, but one with the bloodiness of the Grimm Tales (I hate that Disney sanitizes everything) and yet the loving/loveliness which attracts us to more modern versions like The Lord of the Rings. Add to that the fact that you get right to the heart of the Spike/Buffy dynamic, with all those rich threads of love and need and blood and duty . . . once again, a fantastic piece.
While I too would doubtless enjoy more, this works perfectlly as a stand-alone. So do as you will! And thanks!
no subject
Date: 2006-05-13 03:14 pm (UTC)And I did want this to have a very dark fantasy tone, so I'm glad to hear that it reads like an original Grimm. There isn't much of Disney here, but there is love and magic and lots of blood. It seemed right for these two.
I really don't know whether this will remain a stand alone or turn into something more. Even if I don't write more though, you can imagine Spike will take care of his angel.
no subject
Date: 2006-05-13 02:10 pm (UTC)I am engaged.
Would love more should you are to continue. And thank you for this.
Love the manip, too. I'm a huge fan of Royo.
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Date: 2006-05-13 03:17 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2006-05-13 05:01 pm (UTC)Thank you for posting, you certainly can turn your hand to anything and make it an enjoyable read.
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Date: 2006-05-13 05:18 pm (UTC)And thank you so much for following me through this unexpected turn.
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Date: 2006-05-13 06:30 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2006-05-13 07:00 pm (UTC)Somehow, I think if I wrote more of this, it would go Spuffy, so no Elf!Spander in the future. Sorry.
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Date: 2006-05-13 06:56 pm (UTC)That? Was absolutely gorgeous. I loved the images you painted. I'd love to see more of this!
*hugs* Wonderful job sweetie.
~Nebula
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Date: 2006-05-13 07:06 pm (UTC)However, I am finding myself really enjoying this little fantasy where they are themselves without the history of abuse from the show.
*hugs back*
thank you so much for the support, hon.
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Date: 2006-05-13 09:57 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2006-05-13 11:41 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2006-05-13 11:51 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2006-05-14 12:10 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2006-05-14 12:07 am (UTC)The manip is gorgeous as is the imagery in your story. Thank you for trying something different and sharing it with us!
no subject
Date: 2006-05-14 12:11 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2006-05-14 02:33 am (UTC)Lovely images abound here. You've writing is well worth it no matter what pairing you write.
no subject
Date: 2006-05-14 03:25 am (UTC)necessary evil
Date: 2006-09-08 06:26 pm (UTC)Re: necessary evil
Date: 2006-09-09 11:34 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2007-04-09 03:36 pm (UTC)You really managed to tell a very deep and complex story in very few words. Loved it.
no subject
Date: 2007-04-24 04:18 am (UTC)