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janedavitt Nov. 20th, 2003 10:42 pm)
janedavitt Nov. 20th, 2003 10:42 pm)I most likely won't finish this. The original vision of the story, which was all hot and incandescently blazing is now grey ashes. There; that was nicely poetical and despairing :-(
The plan was that Wes and Spike came back for Giles. No, originally came back and told Giles stuff and went back to the future, leaving Giles with S4 Spike in his bathtub and Giles would start something with that Spike and...something.
Then I got all ambitious and decided Wes would be a vampire/human hybrid; something Fred had invented in the lab; all the advantages, none of the disadvantages, so Wes and Spike and Giles could be together (this is set post S5 Angel, AU S5 too; Giles came to visit L.A and ended up with Wes and Spike. I mean; why not? ::grin::). But Giles wouldn't do it. No loss of soul, still warm, because not dead, but with the vampire strength, living off blood, sensitive, if not vulnerable to sunlight. Giles thought it was too risky, too good to be true, price had to be paid etc. So Wes did it anyway and Giles left them, furious, just went.
So Spike and Wes are upset, worried, can't find him...then they discover he's in danger (not worked that out). He's dying, or it's a mystical threat, blah, blah. Something that happened in the past, something that he has to do/not do. So they get Fred to build 'em a time machine (this was never intended to be all that serious a fic; more of an adventure, yes?) and go back to persuade Giles to do/not do it. Then just as they're trying to figure it out, or maybe just as they're umm, wrapped around each other, the time limit expires and all three are dragged forward. Eep.
And...Future!Giles and Past! Giles meet and don't get on and yes, too right there'd have been a foursome because it's so twisted it would have been inevitable. And lots of paradoxes and Giles having to go back and...
God, sometimes I worry about me ::grin:: Is it now glaringly clear that I don't plot in advance and make it up as I go? Thought so.
This is what I did before I gave up. Sorry. Really, really sorry. I can't even chop it back to the original version; it's being about as cooperative as a two year old who doesn't want to go in a car seat.
This is a lesson to me; never have two long fics on the go with the same characters. Never leave a fic for this long; it'll go stale . Never post a WIP. ::cries some more for what might have been::
Oh; WARNING this is AU and what happens is based on me speculating and not spoilers but you need to have watched S7 finale of BtVS and the first two episodes of this season's Angel to not be spoiled at all. Wes has to tell Giles what happened, you see.
Part one and two are here
http://members.rogers.com/jdavitt01/Retro1.html
Wesley stared at him anxiously. It wasn’t an expression that seemed to fit a vampire somehow and Giles felt a bubble of amusement, inappropriate and ill-timed, swell and burst in his chest. He bit his lip and looked silently at Wes.
“You’re entitled to an explanation but it’s the end of a rather long story and I’m not sure how much of it I can tell you,” Wesley said finally. “I’m sure you appreciate the paradoxes inherent in this.”
Spike sighed with impatience. “We’ve come back and we can’t tell him why? Makes no fucking sense.” He held up a hand as Wesley began to protest. “Yes, I know what I just said about not telling him, but I’ve changed my mind. I didn’t get it when Fred burbled on about changing things, and don’t you start in on it either. If we changed it, we already did, right? So let’s do it and catch up.”
Giles knew exactly what both of them meant and found himself wondering which viewpoint was correct. Time travel paradoxes had featured in so many books, but it was all theoretical of course. He found himself locked in indecision. He had no doubt that he could get a full account from them both, by a combination of threats and cunning, but did he want to? Would he literally regret it in the future?
Wesley and Spike were hissing fierce questions at each other, speaking in the shorthand lovers are adept at, that was as baffling as it was annoying. Wesley had reverted to his human face, which was making Giles wonder if he’d really seen – oh, he must have been dreaming! A few familiar names were mentioned, bringing with them an unconscious leap of relief that they had survived at least a few years more, but Giles found himself floundering to make sense of it all. It wasn’t an emotion he enjoyed.
“That will do,” he said. Two heads turned and he smiled pleasantly. “If I’m to be told anything, I insist that it be done when we’re all dressed, free to move, and with something to drink. I haven’t had breakfast yet. I’m hungry.”
“We don’t have time for that,” Spike said. “Could get pulled back any moment.”
“Fred guaranteed us at least three hours,” Wesley objected. “She’s utterly reliable when it comes to this sort of thing.”
‘She’? Giles adjusted his thinking. A nickname or shortened form of a name. It didn’t seem important. “Three hours? Then please get on with it!” He let his voice harden appreciably and was gratified by Wesley’s reaction. The man didn’t flinch but he came to attention and began to reach for the cuffs that held Giles in place.
Spike’s hand flashed out and locked around Wesley’s wrist. “Hold it. This isn’t your Giles; this is the guy who stakes vampires first and doesn’t bother with questions. He thinks you’re evil.”
“No, I don’t,” Giles objected. “Wesley is warm to the touch and,” he felt almost embarrassed but it had to be said, “he’s souled. I can tell by looking at him. I wouldn’t stake either of you until I’d heard you out, probably not then.” Regaining his composure, he glared at Spike. “The fact that a version of you is currently hogging my bathroom, should prove that I’m not stake-happy!”
“That’s wonderful,” Wesley said gently, resting his hand on Giles’ leg, “but we still haven’t established how much –”
“Oh for fuck’s sake!” Spike exploded. “Tell him, or I will, and if our grandfathers die, so what?”
“After you get these cuffs off,” Giles said, not letting a trace of compromise enter his voice. Spike growled and freed him, muttering dire warnings under his breath as he did so.
Giles flexed his arms, settled down comfortably, tugging the quilt over him, and gave Wesley an expectant look.
“Right. Well, as you know, I set off on my own. After some time, my path crossed that of Angel and Cordelia and I joined their ...”
Wesley’s voice flowed like wine poured with a lavish hand; sometimes steady, sometimes gushing out too fast as emotion robbed him of precision, finally slowing as the last words reluctantly fell from his lips. Giles listened, the urge to interrupt fading as shock and sorrow struck him dumb. So much to take in....
Finally, Wesley fell silent. “I can’t – Giles, are you coping with all this? You’re so quiet...”
Giles stared at him. “You’ve told me things - deaths, loss – terrible things. I’m finding it a little hard to accept.”
“Suck it up, Giles,” Spike said, his tone kinder than his words. Giles glanced down and realised that at some point Spike had taken his hand and he’d been gripping it tightly, their fingers interlaced. He took his hand away, but did it after an almost involuntary squeeze of acknowledgment.
Giles’ gaze moved around the room. “All this...gone?”
“I died, too,” Spike reminded him. “And Anya.” His eyes went distant for a moment and then he shrugged. “But I came back.”
Giles looked at him. “You seem solid for a ghost. So; you were all employed by the law firm?”
Wesley nodded. “Things were difficult at first. We didn’t realise quite why, of course. Angel was distant, Spike a ghost ... then it all got resolved very quickly. So much so that I think we were all a little stunned for a long time.”
“A feeling I can fully sympathise with,” Giles remarked. “So, what happened?”
“Cordelia woke up,” said Spike. “And she wasn’t happy.”
Giles frowned. “She was in a coma, I got that, but you never quite explained why.”
“Until she woke up, we didn’t know why, not really,” Wesley replied. “Angel had arranged for our memories to be affected; similar, I imagine, to the spell used to create the false memories of Dawn.”
“Dawn...” Giles murmured. “You know, that’s the most difficult part of this for me. Buffy with a sister...”
“I can imagine,” Wesley said. “It’s decidedly unnerving to have one’s memories tampered with. What can one trust?”
“Speed it up,” urged Spike. “Cordelia woke up, still a higher power or whatever – never got that bit – and went spare. Rocked the building, she screamed so loud. Never seen Angel move so fast.”
“Why?” Giles asked curiously.
“Was screaming his name, wasn’t she? He went in there and didn’t come out for hours. When he did, he got us all together and she reversed the spell. People threw things – ”
“_You_ threw things,” Wesley said, giving Spike an affectionate hug. “I was impressed. What was it? Two pencils and a cell phone?”
“Huh. Feelings were running high and you can’t deny it. Anyway, she laid it on the line. Connor was to stay where he was. Lad was happy and she was watching him. Angel got offered a choice; turn human, or stay a souled vampire with no catches.”
“Really? Which did he choose?”
“Brooded for ages; you know what he’s like –”
“Only too well.”
“But he’s learned some sense in his old age –”
“Meaning?”
“He asked Buffy. They’re still discussing it. He’s with her in England at the Watchers Academy, helping her train the new Slayers.”
Giles waved a vague hand. “I feel like a soggy sponge. Finish telling me. I cannot believe I’m doing this before breakfast.” He gave then both a resentful look. “Still think I’m dreaming this.”
“Want me to convince you we’re here?” Spike said, his voice as insinuating as his fingers. Wesley smiled and moved closer and Giles sank back as they began to kiss him, Wesley capturing his mouth, Spike pulling back the covers and running a line of kisses over Giles’ stomach. He yelped as Giles grabbed him by the hair and tugged hard, breaking free of Wesley’s kiss as he did so.
“Do you bloody well mind?” he said. “We just – and I’m not ready – ”
“So?” said Spike, looking puzzled.
“You are,” Wesley said at the same time, glancing down with a slight smile.
Giles rolled his eyes. “Keep your distance and finish this improbable, implausible tale. Please.”
“Oh, fine! Cordelia made me solid. Said I’d earned it for saving the world –”
“Every time you say that, I get a sharp, stabbing pain behind my left eye,” Giles said. “You just don’t strike me as the world saving type.”
“Helped stop Acathla,” Spike said succinctly, with a look that dared Giles to argue. “Anyway, she did the job and I stuck around to help out, as Angel had done a runner. That's when me and Wes got together; everyone paired off one way or another, you see; Fred with a nerd, Gunn with Little Miss Sparky –”
“Who – oh, forget it. What about Cordelia? Did she go back to heaven? Or hell?”
Spike snorted. “Did she buggery! Who do you think’s running the show now? Should see her power dressing, doing lunch with Harmony, getting heads chopped off – ”
“Queen C,” Giles murmured.
Wesley looked startled. “Her personalised number plate? I’d forgotten that!” He looked wistful. “Simpler days.”
“I’m starting to think so,” Giles said tartly. “Which leaves me with a thousand questions but I’ll settle for three, if you give me clear, short answers.”
They nodded, Wesley cautiously, Spike impatiently, and he took a slow breath before speaking, his gaze flicking between the two waiting faces.
“Why are you a vampire, Wesley? Spike, when did our relationship begin? And finally, what did you hope to achieve by coming back here?”
“I memorised lottery numbers for the next three weeks for nothing?” Spike said. “Typical.”
The plan was that Wes and Spike came back for Giles. No, originally came back and told Giles stuff and went back to the future, leaving Giles with S4 Spike in his bathtub and Giles would start something with that Spike and...something.
Then I got all ambitious and decided Wes would be a vampire/human hybrid; something Fred had invented in the lab; all the advantages, none of the disadvantages, so Wes and Spike and Giles could be together (this is set post S5 Angel, AU S5 too; Giles came to visit L.A and ended up with Wes and Spike. I mean; why not? ::grin::). But Giles wouldn't do it. No loss of soul, still warm, because not dead, but with the vampire strength, living off blood, sensitive, if not vulnerable to sunlight. Giles thought it was too risky, too good to be true, price had to be paid etc. So Wes did it anyway and Giles left them, furious, just went.
So Spike and Wes are upset, worried, can't find him...then they discover he's in danger (not worked that out). He's dying, or it's a mystical threat, blah, blah. Something that happened in the past, something that he has to do/not do. So they get Fred to build 'em a time machine (this was never intended to be all that serious a fic; more of an adventure, yes?) and go back to persuade Giles to do/not do it. Then just as they're trying to figure it out, or maybe just as they're umm, wrapped around each other, the time limit expires and all three are dragged forward. Eep.
And...Future!Giles and Past! Giles meet and don't get on and yes, too right there'd have been a foursome because it's so twisted it would have been inevitable. And lots of paradoxes and Giles having to go back and...
God, sometimes I worry about me ::grin:: Is it now glaringly clear that I don't plot in advance and make it up as I go? Thought so.
This is what I did before I gave up. Sorry. Really, really sorry. I can't even chop it back to the original version; it's being about as cooperative as a two year old who doesn't want to go in a car seat.
This is a lesson to me; never have two long fics on the go with the same characters. Never leave a fic for this long; it'll go stale . Never post a WIP. ::cries some more for what might have been::
Oh; WARNING this is AU and what happens is based on me speculating and not spoilers but you need to have watched S7 finale of BtVS and the first two episodes of this season's Angel to not be spoiled at all. Wes has to tell Giles what happened, you see.
Part one and two are here
http://members.rogers.com/jdavitt01/Retro1.html
Wesley stared at him anxiously. It wasn’t an expression that seemed to fit a vampire somehow and Giles felt a bubble of amusement, inappropriate and ill-timed, swell and burst in his chest. He bit his lip and looked silently at Wes.
“You’re entitled to an explanation but it’s the end of a rather long story and I’m not sure how much of it I can tell you,” Wesley said finally. “I’m sure you appreciate the paradoxes inherent in this.”
Spike sighed with impatience. “We’ve come back and we can’t tell him why? Makes no fucking sense.” He held up a hand as Wesley began to protest. “Yes, I know what I just said about not telling him, but I’ve changed my mind. I didn’t get it when Fred burbled on about changing things, and don’t you start in on it either. If we changed it, we already did, right? So let’s do it and catch up.”
Giles knew exactly what both of them meant and found himself wondering which viewpoint was correct. Time travel paradoxes had featured in so many books, but it was all theoretical of course. He found himself locked in indecision. He had no doubt that he could get a full account from them both, by a combination of threats and cunning, but did he want to? Would he literally regret it in the future?
Wesley and Spike were hissing fierce questions at each other, speaking in the shorthand lovers are adept at, that was as baffling as it was annoying. Wesley had reverted to his human face, which was making Giles wonder if he’d really seen – oh, he must have been dreaming! A few familiar names were mentioned, bringing with them an unconscious leap of relief that they had survived at least a few years more, but Giles found himself floundering to make sense of it all. It wasn’t an emotion he enjoyed.
“That will do,” he said. Two heads turned and he smiled pleasantly. “If I’m to be told anything, I insist that it be done when we’re all dressed, free to move, and with something to drink. I haven’t had breakfast yet. I’m hungry.”
“We don’t have time for that,” Spike said. “Could get pulled back any moment.”
“Fred guaranteed us at least three hours,” Wesley objected. “She’s utterly reliable when it comes to this sort of thing.”
‘She’? Giles adjusted his thinking. A nickname or shortened form of a name. It didn’t seem important. “Three hours? Then please get on with it!” He let his voice harden appreciably and was gratified by Wesley’s reaction. The man didn’t flinch but he came to attention and began to reach for the cuffs that held Giles in place.
Spike’s hand flashed out and locked around Wesley’s wrist. “Hold it. This isn’t your Giles; this is the guy who stakes vampires first and doesn’t bother with questions. He thinks you’re evil.”
“No, I don’t,” Giles objected. “Wesley is warm to the touch and,” he felt almost embarrassed but it had to be said, “he’s souled. I can tell by looking at him. I wouldn’t stake either of you until I’d heard you out, probably not then.” Regaining his composure, he glared at Spike. “The fact that a version of you is currently hogging my bathroom, should prove that I’m not stake-happy!”
“That’s wonderful,” Wesley said gently, resting his hand on Giles’ leg, “but we still haven’t established how much –”
“Oh for fuck’s sake!” Spike exploded. “Tell him, or I will, and if our grandfathers die, so what?”
“After you get these cuffs off,” Giles said, not letting a trace of compromise enter his voice. Spike growled and freed him, muttering dire warnings under his breath as he did so.
Giles flexed his arms, settled down comfortably, tugging the quilt over him, and gave Wesley an expectant look.
“Right. Well, as you know, I set off on my own. After some time, my path crossed that of Angel and Cordelia and I joined their ...”
Wesley’s voice flowed like wine poured with a lavish hand; sometimes steady, sometimes gushing out too fast as emotion robbed him of precision, finally slowing as the last words reluctantly fell from his lips. Giles listened, the urge to interrupt fading as shock and sorrow struck him dumb. So much to take in....
Finally, Wesley fell silent. “I can’t – Giles, are you coping with all this? You’re so quiet...”
Giles stared at him. “You’ve told me things - deaths, loss – terrible things. I’m finding it a little hard to accept.”
“Suck it up, Giles,” Spike said, his tone kinder than his words. Giles glanced down and realised that at some point Spike had taken his hand and he’d been gripping it tightly, their fingers interlaced. He took his hand away, but did it after an almost involuntary squeeze of acknowledgment.
Giles’ gaze moved around the room. “All this...gone?”
“I died, too,” Spike reminded him. “And Anya.” His eyes went distant for a moment and then he shrugged. “But I came back.”
Giles looked at him. “You seem solid for a ghost. So; you were all employed by the law firm?”
Wesley nodded. “Things were difficult at first. We didn’t realise quite why, of course. Angel was distant, Spike a ghost ... then it all got resolved very quickly. So much so that I think we were all a little stunned for a long time.”
“A feeling I can fully sympathise with,” Giles remarked. “So, what happened?”
“Cordelia woke up,” said Spike. “And she wasn’t happy.”
Giles frowned. “She was in a coma, I got that, but you never quite explained why.”
“Until she woke up, we didn’t know why, not really,” Wesley replied. “Angel had arranged for our memories to be affected; similar, I imagine, to the spell used to create the false memories of Dawn.”
“Dawn...” Giles murmured. “You know, that’s the most difficult part of this for me. Buffy with a sister...”
“I can imagine,” Wesley said. “It’s decidedly unnerving to have one’s memories tampered with. What can one trust?”
“Speed it up,” urged Spike. “Cordelia woke up, still a higher power or whatever – never got that bit – and went spare. Rocked the building, she screamed so loud. Never seen Angel move so fast.”
“Why?” Giles asked curiously.
“Was screaming his name, wasn’t she? He went in there and didn’t come out for hours. When he did, he got us all together and she reversed the spell. People threw things – ”
“_You_ threw things,” Wesley said, giving Spike an affectionate hug. “I was impressed. What was it? Two pencils and a cell phone?”
“Huh. Feelings were running high and you can’t deny it. Anyway, she laid it on the line. Connor was to stay where he was. Lad was happy and she was watching him. Angel got offered a choice; turn human, or stay a souled vampire with no catches.”
“Really? Which did he choose?”
“Brooded for ages; you know what he’s like –”
“Only too well.”
“But he’s learned some sense in his old age –”
“Meaning?”
“He asked Buffy. They’re still discussing it. He’s with her in England at the Watchers Academy, helping her train the new Slayers.”
Giles waved a vague hand. “I feel like a soggy sponge. Finish telling me. I cannot believe I’m doing this before breakfast.” He gave then both a resentful look. “Still think I’m dreaming this.”
“Want me to convince you we’re here?” Spike said, his voice as insinuating as his fingers. Wesley smiled and moved closer and Giles sank back as they began to kiss him, Wesley capturing his mouth, Spike pulling back the covers and running a line of kisses over Giles’ stomach. He yelped as Giles grabbed him by the hair and tugged hard, breaking free of Wesley’s kiss as he did so.
“Do you bloody well mind?” he said. “We just – and I’m not ready – ”
“So?” said Spike, looking puzzled.
“You are,” Wesley said at the same time, glancing down with a slight smile.
Giles rolled his eyes. “Keep your distance and finish this improbable, implausible tale. Please.”
“Oh, fine! Cordelia made me solid. Said I’d earned it for saving the world –”
“Every time you say that, I get a sharp, stabbing pain behind my left eye,” Giles said. “You just don’t strike me as the world saving type.”
“Helped stop Acathla,” Spike said succinctly, with a look that dared Giles to argue. “Anyway, she did the job and I stuck around to help out, as Angel had done a runner. That's when me and Wes got together; everyone paired off one way or another, you see; Fred with a nerd, Gunn with Little Miss Sparky –”
“Who – oh, forget it. What about Cordelia? Did she go back to heaven? Or hell?”
Spike snorted. “Did she buggery! Who do you think’s running the show now? Should see her power dressing, doing lunch with Harmony, getting heads chopped off – ”
“Queen C,” Giles murmured.
Wesley looked startled. “Her personalised number plate? I’d forgotten that!” He looked wistful. “Simpler days.”
“I’m starting to think so,” Giles said tartly. “Which leaves me with a thousand questions but I’ll settle for three, if you give me clear, short answers.”
They nodded, Wesley cautiously, Spike impatiently, and he took a slow breath before speaking, his gaze flicking between the two waiting faces.
“Why are you a vampire, Wesley? Spike, when did our relationship begin? And finally, what did you hope to achieve by coming back here?”
“I memorised lottery numbers for the next three weeks for nothing?” Spike said. “Typical.”
