A/N - This story is based on the song “One Thing” By Finger Eleven. I’m not taking any credit for coming up with the title or the lyrics here within the story. It’s not really much of a song fic though, as you’ll find in reading. This story was written for Stephen, he told me about this song, and I’ve been listening to it on repeat for about an hour and half now. Also because he’d do anything to make me happy, this story is based on that. In other words, the theme is: sacrifice.
Disc.- I own nothing, unfortunately. I’d love to own Spike ;)
Reviews- Always wanted, positive or negative.
~*If I traded it all
If I gave it all away for one thing
Just for one thing
If I sorted it out
If I knew all about this one thing
Wouldn't that be something*~
Spike had done a lot of thinking ever since Red and the others had brought Buffy back from the grave. He and Buffy would talk sometimes, and she would tell him how much she wanted out of this life again, and to be put back in heaven. Spike would comfort her most times, hold her, tell her it would all be ‘okay’ if he had anything to do with it.
It was around midnight, and Spike had decided that he was going to make things better for the slayer once and for all. He loved her, after all, and would do anything in the world to help her. Which he intended on proving tonight.
He walked down the dark streets and past the Magic Box where he paused at the window and saw the slayer inside, sitting at the table reading a book. Red and Dawn sitting at the table with her. “If only I could tell them...” He said to himself.
Spike continued on his way. But was soon disrupted when he heard a small voice call out his name.
“Spike...” Buffy said, having stepped out of the shop after seeing him at the window. He turned, looking back at her. “You...wanna come in and help out? We’re in research mode.” Actually she just wanted him there, she didn’t care if he helped or not, he was the only one she felt comfortable with these days.
He looked at her, and he almost decided against what he was originally out for that night and followed her back inside, but something deep inside his deadened heart told him he needed to do what he set out to do. “Sorry, Luv. I’ve got something I need to do.” He walked over to her and tucked her hair behind her ears. “Go home, alright? Get some rest.”
She nodded then walked back inside, grabbed her coat and left. She walked home slowly, just letting her mind wander. She liked walking in the dark, it gave her solace for some reason. During the day, she would just pace, awaiting the night. Awaiting to talk to Spike.
~*Restless tonight
Cause I wasted the light
Between both these times
I drew a really thin line
It's nothing I planned
And not that I can
But you should be mine
Across that line*~
The vampire walked until he found his destination. A set of stairs behind a run-down old building that looked as if it’d fall over in an instant. He descended down the concrete stairs and opened the door to a lair that belonged to a demon.
This demon he was seeing was a good demon. One who made trades for the good. To create better from worse. The price wasn’t always easy to pay, of course. But Spike had made arrangements a few nights earlier and planned to stick to them.
He knew deep down inside that what he was about to do would be incredibly worth it. The deal was that if he could make Buffy happy, make her and everyone else live peaceful lives where vampires and demons did not exist, he would have to give up his current place as a vampire. Which he had no idea what that meant, whether it meant he’d be killed or something else, he didn’t really care. As long as she was happy.
~*If I traded it all
If I gave it all away for one thing
Just for one thing
If I sorted it out
If I knew all about this one thing
Wouldn't that be something*~
“Have a seat in the chair and close your eyes.” The demon motioned for Spike to sit in an old wooden chair with black painted symbols all over it. “You’ll have to concentrate hard on what you really want, or this wont work properly.”
Spike did as he was directed, closed his eyes and thought of nothing but Buffy being happy. The demon put his hand on Spike’s forehead and suddenly everything went bright white in Spike’s mind, and he was lost.
The next morning, Buffy woke up to the sunlight streaming in her window. She sat up in bed and stretched. She got up out of bed and looked out the window and smiled. She felt absolutely wonderful.
Spike on the other hand, woke up in his dark and dank crypt, draped across a sarcophagus. “Bloody hell...” He rolled right off onto the floor and it all came rushing back to him... the oxygen, the warm blood, and the...heartbeat? That’s when he remembered what he did the previous night. “Christ almighty...Buffy!” He jumped up and ran out of his crypt.
The sunlight hurt his eyes slightly. He wasn’t use to it, he took in the warmth and the natural brightness as he made his way to Buffy’s house. When he arrived there, Buffy was sitting on her porch steps, drinking coffee. “Buffy!” He yelled as he ran up to her.
She gave him a strange look. “Can I help you?”
She didn’t even know him anymore. The trade was complete. She was happy, living a normal life, and he wasn’t a vampire in this world because vampires no longer did exist. So therefore, she didn’t remember him. “You ..don’t remember me...of course you wouldn’t.”
She shrugged a bit. “I’m sorry I can’t place you. You have a sense of familiarity, but I can’t say I really remember you, no.”
“Oh...well, it’s alright. I um... I’ve gotta be going, maybe we’ll cross paths again someday.” He knew he couldn’t explain to her what had happened or who he was. She’d never believe him. She’d never believe her whole life had been made better because of him.
~*I promise I might
Not walk on by
Maybe next time
But not this time*~
“Maybe we will.” She replied. He flashed her a smile and walked back down the sidewalk and onto the street. He needed to find a place with books. So he went to the library. Searching nearly every shelf and skimming every book title, he found nothing. Not a single book hinting about the Sunnydale-that-was.
Then the idea struck him. The Magic Box and if it still existed. Walking quickly out of the library and to the location where it should be, he found it. He walked inside and much to his surprise, Buffy was there, standing by a table, with a book in her hand and a look on her face. She knew there was something familiar about him...
~*Even though I know
I don't want to know
Yeah I guess I know
I just hate how it sounds*~