Xander's Apple 8/8
The demon was full of hunger, lust, and evil. However it was a young demon, and also had an ingrained desire to please its sire. The inability to get to the body that was waiting for it made the demon anxious, sure that its failure would not please the sire. Xander could sense this anxiousness, and knew that the sire was Spike. Spike who he loved, and who loved him. He didn’t want this demon to have Spike, Spike was his!
He shoved images of himself and Spike together at the demon, claiming ownership of sire. He and Spike on one of their lazy Saturday mornings, having breakfast in bed. Times he had made Spike laugh, his face transforming into an expression that looked too joyful to belong to a demon. Flashes of Spike nursing Xander back to health when he’d been sick, the look of concern unmistakable.
The images made the demon angry. Who was this human soul who thought to claim his sire? The sire was his! The demon sent back pure possessiveness at Xander, telling him in no uncertain terms that sire would never belong to a pathetic human soul.
Xander responded with memories of Spike patrolling with him and the Scoobies. Dusting other vampires side by side with the Slayer. Running to Xander’s rescue whenever he got into trouble.
The new images distressed the demon; the sire was killing its own kind. The sire was choosing this human over his brethren. Sensing the demon’s confidence wavering, Xander pressed his advantage, shoving even more images at the demon with the thought that Spike would not accept the demon without Xander. That sire didn’t want him. Sire wanted the human, and the demon should give sire what he wanted. Sire wanted the human soul, sire wanted Xander.
Under the onslaught of Xanders memories and emotions, and due to its own desire to please its sire, the demon capitulated. Sire wanted Xander, so Xander would be in charge once they entered the body.
*~*~*
The crowd around Xander’s body saw none of the action on the spiritual plane. The simply watched the corpse, and waited. The amount of time a new fledge took to rise varied greatly, dependent upon many factors. When Xander didn’t rise that night, everyone went their separate ways as vampires never rose during the day.
Spike didn’t leave though; he kept vigil by the body. Willow brought him some blood to drink, and he absently sipped at it, lost in his thoughts. Dawn came by and tried to talk to him, to get his mind off of his fears that Xander would not win his battle with the demon spirit. Or worse, that he didn’t want to stay with Spike enough to fight to stay. Intellectually, he knew that Xander loved him, and would fight for him, but the longer it took for his childe to rise, the more his uncertainty grew.
When sundown rolled around again the room was once again full of Scoobies. As the last bit of sunlight disappeared they all watched Xander’s body expectantly, but were disappointed when he didn’t stir even a little. They settled down to wait another night.
Around 2:55am Xander opened his eyes. Spike was the first one to notice since he had hardly taken his eyes off Xander since the whole thing began. He sat up and went immediately to Xander’s side, knelt next to him and took his hand. “Luv?” The rest of the group was alerted by Spike’s movement and watched anxiously from the sidelines.
Xander smiled up at him and replied, “Sire.” At that Buffy stood up, her grip tightening on her stake. Spike swiftly moved to stand over Xander, a growl in his throat. Buffy wouldn’t stake him without a fight. “No, guys, it’s okay, it’s me.”
Neither of them backed down, but Dawn squealed “Xander!” and darted over to give him a hug hard enough that it was a good thing he no longer needed to breathe.
Buffy asked calmly, “how do we know he’s telling the truth, that’s it’s really our Xander?”
“Because he said so!” Spike didn’t move from his spot, still guarding Xander, who at this point was sitting up with one arm around Dawn’s shoulders.
Willow stepped up, “hey, guys, you didn’t think that I already thought of that?” She held up a vial of white liquid that seemed to shimmer. “This is an animus ostendo sum* potion, when ingested by someone with a soul it makes their eyes glow. If they don’t have one, their eyes turn black.” She held out the vial towards Xander and he stood up to take it.
He lifted the potion up briefly as if in a toast and said “bottoms up.” He poured it into his mouth and swallowed it all in one gulp. A few seconds later his eyes started to emit a soft glow, and Buffy dropped her stake with a clunk and grabbed him in a big hug. She was followed by everyone else and the group hug went on for a good five minutes with several tears being shed.
Finally Spike had had enough of everyone else horning in on his time with Xander, and kicked them all, politely, out of the room with a shouted “Oi, get out!” He did give Willow a kiss on the cheek in thanks though. Once they were gone he turned to Xander and touched his face with his hands, bringing their foreheads together. “Forever pet, now we have forever.” With a grin he drew back to look Xander in the face. “Where do you want to go first?”
With an extra glint in his glowing eyes Xander said, “Bed.”
*Soul reveal
He shoved images of himself and Spike together at the demon, claiming ownership of sire. He and Spike on one of their lazy Saturday mornings, having breakfast in bed. Times he had made Spike laugh, his face transforming into an expression that looked too joyful to belong to a demon. Flashes of Spike nursing Xander back to health when he’d been sick, the look of concern unmistakable.
The images made the demon angry. Who was this human soul who thought to claim his sire? The sire was his! The demon sent back pure possessiveness at Xander, telling him in no uncertain terms that sire would never belong to a pathetic human soul.
Xander responded with memories of Spike patrolling with him and the Scoobies. Dusting other vampires side by side with the Slayer. Running to Xander’s rescue whenever he got into trouble.
The new images distressed the demon; the sire was killing its own kind. The sire was choosing this human over his brethren. Sensing the demon’s confidence wavering, Xander pressed his advantage, shoving even more images at the demon with the thought that Spike would not accept the demon without Xander. That sire didn’t want him. Sire wanted the human, and the demon should give sire what he wanted. Sire wanted the human soul, sire wanted Xander.
Under the onslaught of Xanders memories and emotions, and due to its own desire to please its sire, the demon capitulated. Sire wanted Xander, so Xander would be in charge once they entered the body.
*~*~*
The crowd around Xander’s body saw none of the action on the spiritual plane. The simply watched the corpse, and waited. The amount of time a new fledge took to rise varied greatly, dependent upon many factors. When Xander didn’t rise that night, everyone went their separate ways as vampires never rose during the day.
Spike didn’t leave though; he kept vigil by the body. Willow brought him some blood to drink, and he absently sipped at it, lost in his thoughts. Dawn came by and tried to talk to him, to get his mind off of his fears that Xander would not win his battle with the demon spirit. Or worse, that he didn’t want to stay with Spike enough to fight to stay. Intellectually, he knew that Xander loved him, and would fight for him, but the longer it took for his childe to rise, the more his uncertainty grew.
When sundown rolled around again the room was once again full of Scoobies. As the last bit of sunlight disappeared they all watched Xander’s body expectantly, but were disappointed when he didn’t stir even a little. They settled down to wait another night.
Around 2:55am Xander opened his eyes. Spike was the first one to notice since he had hardly taken his eyes off Xander since the whole thing began. He sat up and went immediately to Xander’s side, knelt next to him and took his hand. “Luv?” The rest of the group was alerted by Spike’s movement and watched anxiously from the sidelines.
Xander smiled up at him and replied, “Sire.” At that Buffy stood up, her grip tightening on her stake. Spike swiftly moved to stand over Xander, a growl in his throat. Buffy wouldn’t stake him without a fight. “No, guys, it’s okay, it’s me.”
Neither of them backed down, but Dawn squealed “Xander!” and darted over to give him a hug hard enough that it was a good thing he no longer needed to breathe.
Buffy asked calmly, “how do we know he’s telling the truth, that’s it’s really our Xander?”
“Because he said so!” Spike didn’t move from his spot, still guarding Xander, who at this point was sitting up with one arm around Dawn’s shoulders.
Willow stepped up, “hey, guys, you didn’t think that I already thought of that?” She held up a vial of white liquid that seemed to shimmer. “This is an animus ostendo sum* potion, when ingested by someone with a soul it makes their eyes glow. If they don’t have one, their eyes turn black.” She held out the vial towards Xander and he stood up to take it.
He lifted the potion up briefly as if in a toast and said “bottoms up.” He poured it into his mouth and swallowed it all in one gulp. A few seconds later his eyes started to emit a soft glow, and Buffy dropped her stake with a clunk and grabbed him in a big hug. She was followed by everyone else and the group hug went on for a good five minutes with several tears being shed.
Finally Spike had had enough of everyone else horning in on his time with Xander, and kicked them all, politely, out of the room with a shouted “Oi, get out!” He did give Willow a kiss on the cheek in thanks though. Once they were gone he turned to Xander and touched his face with his hands, bringing their foreheads together. “Forever pet, now we have forever.” With a grin he drew back to look Xander in the face. “Where do you want to go first?”
With an extra glint in his glowing eyes Xander said, “Bed.”
*Soul reveal