Fanfic: Of Gems & Riches, 1/?, S/X/Dru (BtVS, Adults Only)
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(Disclaimers and warnings can be found in the Intro.)
Previous chapters here.
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Of Gems & Riches
By Vigdis
A Quantum Xander Spin-off
QX1, Chapters 28 - 34
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Chapter 1
Spike sat alone, on a decorative cast iron bench under the stars in a lovely garden. The scent of night blooming jasmine filled the air. If he listened, he could almost hear the stars. He wondered if he was going as mad as his sire.
He was doing something he rarely did. It just wasn’t in his nature.
He was brooding.
The Gem of Amara was almost within his grasp. He knew where it was. Now he just had to figure out a way to get to it without getting dusted. The problem with that was, the damn thing was in Sunnydale.
And he wasn’t welcome there.
The Master of Sunnydale was Drusilla’s other childe. And Xander would as soon dust him as look at him. And worse, his dark princess would let the little brat do it.
So he brooded…
“Master?” came the hesitant voice of one of his few remaining minions. He’d gone on an enraged dusting spree when he found out the location of the Gem.
“Yeah, what is it?” Spike asked, distracted.
“A letter, Master,” the minion said quietly, shifting back and forth on his feet, holding an overnight mail envelope in his hand. “I had to sign for it.”
Spike frowned in confusion. ‘What the hell?’ he thought. ‘Who would write to me? Dru chose the brat and Angelus is dust.’ He stuck out his hand and waited. The minion stared. “Well?” Spike demanded. “Are you gonna give it to me or just stand there starin’ all night?” The minion handed him the large, cardboard envelope as quickly as he could and stood back waiting to be dismissed. Spike snatched the envelope out of his minion’s hand. “Fine. Now go away.” To his smug satisfaction, the minion dashed out of his sanctuary as quickly as his feet could carry him. Spike smirked and turned his attention to the envelope. He examined it carefully. His eyebrows lifted in surprise at the return address.
Sunnydale. The Crawford Street mansion. He didn’t recognize the handwriting. ‘Must be the boy’s.’ He tore it open and looked inside. Two formal vellum envelopes. He took them out and inspected them as well. One had “Spike” scrawled across it in the same handwriting as the address label. The other had “For My William” written on it in his sire’s elegant script.
“Well now…” Spike muttered. He opened the one from Drusilla first. The thick vellum pages had a post-it note stuck to them. Her elegant script just looked wrong on the little yellow square. *Read the letter from my dark kitten first.* He sighed, stuck Dru’s letter back in it’s envelope and opened the other, longer, letter.
It read:
Dear Spike,
That’s the way you’re supposed to start a letter, right?
Anyway, we had a visit the other day. I haven’t been able to stop thinking about it. And Dru… She just says the stars are singing. Apparently they like my idea.
Don’t worry. I’ll get to that. But first I have to tell you about the visit and what I learned.
You know how there are all those alternate realities and everything? Well, Dru and I had a visit from one of them. My alternate and yours. My alternate was still human. I got to see what I would have looked like if I had lived. Cool, huh?
Dru didn’t stay for the conversation. I sent her off to play with her dolls after she hissed and said that he - your double - wasn’t her golden boy, that he was an imposter - wrong and artificial. Stuff like that.
But I talked with them. I told them all about how we worked together to dust Angelus and what I did to the girls and Giles and all.
My human-self was deeply disturbed by it all. I could see it on his face. It was really funny. I went into a lot more detail than I really needed to because of it. Damn, but it was great! You would have enjoyed it.
Are my emotions always so easy to see? Do I show them all on my face like he did?
The weirdest part, though, was that my human alternate was your alternate’s Consort. See? Weird.
It seems they are skipping around the dimensions because alterna-me got cursed by a vengeance demon. Apparently, he left her at the altar. Can you believe that? My very human alternate was gonna marry a vengeance demon but he chickened out and left her at the alter. I mean how stupid was that?
They also told us about this government group that came into Sunnydale and started capturing and torturing demons. Running experiments on them and all. According to alterna-me, they were doing things that would have turned *my* stomach.
I laughed at that… until *your* alternate said something that actually scared me. He said that when Angel found out what they were doing - that’s ANGEL, not Angelus, soul-having and all - he rescued him. Him. Spike. Your alternate.
Apparently, these *humans* made most demons look soft and fuzzy.
Not *me*, of course.
According to our doubles, these *Initiative* guys put some sort of behavior modification chip in your double’s head so that he can’t hurt humans. He can still kick demon ass with the best of them, though. So *that’s* why *my* double is still human.
I offered to turn him. Or even have Dru do it. They both refused. Alterna-Spike wants to do it personally and Alterna-me wants that too.
Can’t say as I blame them. They appear to be head over heels in love.
Crazy, huh?
I don’t think they had planned to tell me about all that government stuff, but Alterna-Spike was worried that it might happen here and he wanted us to be ready. Alterna-me got this really haunted look on his face when the other you said that, too. Like he blamed himself or something. It was weird.
The way they were together was amazing. It was like they could read each other’s minds or something. Beautiful. Not like with Dru where everything has to be deciphered. Just complete connection, you know? I love Dru, but still, I was more than a little jealous.
So, finally, we come to the plan.
I want you to consider very carefully before you decide, because if it blows up in our faces… It would be very, very bad…
How do feel about coming back to Sunnydale? We could try a threesome thing. I mean, the reason you and me had so much trouble getting along before was because we both wanted Drusilla. We thought it had to be one or the other.
Now, though, I can see that there is a third possibility. Maybe with Angelus it wasn’t possible to share, but with us…
I mean, if our alternates could be that much in love when one them isn’t even a demon…
Maybe we could make a go of it?
Here’s hoping…
Xander
Spike’s immediate response was simply, ‘What the fuck?’
Then he realized this would get him safely into Sunnydale.
Assuming Xander was on the level. Best to read Drusilla’s letter before he assumed anything. He knew his sire wouldn’t try to lure him to his death. As long as he played by the rules where she was concerned he was safe. But until now, those rules had included staying clear of Sunnydale and her new childe.
He pulled out the pages of her letter back out of their envelope and unfolded them carefully. Drusilla’s words leapt out at him.
My dearest Spikey,
You are always my golden prince just as dear Xander is my dark kitten. I love you both. It was wicked of you to make me choose between you and now the stars have seen fit to rectify the situation. They sing of a great romance between the golden prince and the dark kitten. I wonder… Will there be room for me at all?
You both love me, I know. So perhaps we can learn to share love, we three.
I hurt you, my William. I hurt you when I chose my kitten. But I miss you. I had so many lovely years with you, and I long for your presence. I chose Xander for two reasons, my dearie. First, my kitten was new and exciting and I had so much to learn about him. I needed the time to learn to know him. Second, I was angry because you killed Daddy. I’m still upset about that, but I have forgiven you.
My kitten can be just as cruel and vicious as Daddy ever was. He hurts me and makes me like it. But I miss your sweet touch. You were always so consumed with my pleasure. Such a treasure, you are, my lovely boy. Even when you hurt me you did it because it pleasured me. You enjoyed hurting me, of course. No doubt of that. But you hurt me more for my pleasure than for yours. My kitten is the opposite.
I need you both, Spike. I need you here and I need him here and I want you both in my bed. I want to watch my boys play together. It would please me to see you so, beloved. Each taking the other in turn. Oh, the image of it in my mind’s eye. So luscious. So beautiful, the both of you. And in each other’s arms. Caressing, stroking, kissing, sucking, thrusting. Ah, my sweet prince, I imagine it and I need to breathe. Then I see you hurting, love, so sweetly. Blood and pleasure and pain. The whip in your hand or his. Both. For my pleasure and yours and his. Together.
Will you come to me, my prince? Will you play for me and love for me and learn to love each other for me?
Come home, Spike.
Love always,
Your dark princess,
Drusilla
Spike sighed. He was surprised that steam wasn’t coming off the pages. But perhaps that wouldn’t be appropriate when all concerned were basically room temperature. Even in passion.
“Dru, love,” he said softly, “you certainly have a way with words.”
He thought about it long and hard. He could go to Sunnydale and find the Gem of Amara and leave. Or maybe he could stay. Either way, he knew he’d be spending some time in bed with not only his sire, but with Xander as well. The words in the letter - Drusilla’s description - had made him hard just to read them. Maybe it would be fun. Maybe he wouldn’t want to leave. Maybe he would be hurt again.
Or, maybe… just maybe… Xander was on the level. Maybe he actually wanted to try a triad. Spike wondered if Xander realized how much power a true triad could wield. If he did, that might be one reason to trust the offer. Power. The three of them together, in harmony with each other - joined - would be far more powerful that the three of them individually. Add the Gem to the mix and things got really interesting.
Spike smirked.
“Let’s find out.”
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
(Disclaimers and warnings can be found in the Intro.)
Previous chapters here.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Of Gems & Riches
By Vigdis
A Quantum Xander Spin-off
QX1, Chapters 28 - 34
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Chapter 1
Spike sat alone, on a decorative cast iron bench under the stars in a lovely garden. The scent of night blooming jasmine filled the air. If he listened, he could almost hear the stars. He wondered if he was going as mad as his sire.
He was doing something he rarely did. It just wasn’t in his nature.
He was brooding.
The Gem of Amara was almost within his grasp. He knew where it was. Now he just had to figure out a way to get to it without getting dusted. The problem with that was, the damn thing was in Sunnydale.
And he wasn’t welcome there.
The Master of Sunnydale was Drusilla’s other childe. And Xander would as soon dust him as look at him. And worse, his dark princess would let the little brat do it.
So he brooded…
“Master?” came the hesitant voice of one of his few remaining minions. He’d gone on an enraged dusting spree when he found out the location of the Gem.
“Yeah, what is it?” Spike asked, distracted.
“A letter, Master,” the minion said quietly, shifting back and forth on his feet, holding an overnight mail envelope in his hand. “I had to sign for it.”
Spike frowned in confusion. ‘What the hell?’ he thought. ‘Who would write to me? Dru chose the brat and Angelus is dust.’ He stuck out his hand and waited. The minion stared. “Well?” Spike demanded. “Are you gonna give it to me or just stand there starin’ all night?” The minion handed him the large, cardboard envelope as quickly as he could and stood back waiting to be dismissed. Spike snatched the envelope out of his minion’s hand. “Fine. Now go away.” To his smug satisfaction, the minion dashed out of his sanctuary as quickly as his feet could carry him. Spike smirked and turned his attention to the envelope. He examined it carefully. His eyebrows lifted in surprise at the return address.
Sunnydale. The Crawford Street mansion. He didn’t recognize the handwriting. ‘Must be the boy’s.’ He tore it open and looked inside. Two formal vellum envelopes. He took them out and inspected them as well. One had “Spike” scrawled across it in the same handwriting as the address label. The other had “For My William” written on it in his sire’s elegant script.
“Well now…” Spike muttered. He opened the one from Drusilla first. The thick vellum pages had a post-it note stuck to them. Her elegant script just looked wrong on the little yellow square. *Read the letter from my dark kitten first.* He sighed, stuck Dru’s letter back in it’s envelope and opened the other, longer, letter.
It read:
Dear Spike,
That’s the way you’re supposed to start a letter, right?
Anyway, we had a visit the other day. I haven’t been able to stop thinking about it. And Dru… She just says the stars are singing. Apparently they like my idea.
Don’t worry. I’ll get to that. But first I have to tell you about the visit and what I learned.
You know how there are all those alternate realities and everything? Well, Dru and I had a visit from one of them. My alternate and yours. My alternate was still human. I got to see what I would have looked like if I had lived. Cool, huh?
Dru didn’t stay for the conversation. I sent her off to play with her dolls after she hissed and said that he - your double - wasn’t her golden boy, that he was an imposter - wrong and artificial. Stuff like that.
But I talked with them. I told them all about how we worked together to dust Angelus and what I did to the girls and Giles and all.
My human-self was deeply disturbed by it all. I could see it on his face. It was really funny. I went into a lot more detail than I really needed to because of it. Damn, but it was great! You would have enjoyed it.
Are my emotions always so easy to see? Do I show them all on my face like he did?
The weirdest part, though, was that my human alternate was your alternate’s Consort. See? Weird.
It seems they are skipping around the dimensions because alterna-me got cursed by a vengeance demon. Apparently, he left her at the altar. Can you believe that? My very human alternate was gonna marry a vengeance demon but he chickened out and left her at the alter. I mean how stupid was that?
They also told us about this government group that came into Sunnydale and started capturing and torturing demons. Running experiments on them and all. According to alterna-me, they were doing things that would have turned *my* stomach.
I laughed at that… until *your* alternate said something that actually scared me. He said that when Angel found out what they were doing - that’s ANGEL, not Angelus, soul-having and all - he rescued him. Him. Spike. Your alternate.
Apparently, these *humans* made most demons look soft and fuzzy.
Not *me*, of course.
According to our doubles, these *Initiative* guys put some sort of behavior modification chip in your double’s head so that he can’t hurt humans. He can still kick demon ass with the best of them, though. So *that’s* why *my* double is still human.
I offered to turn him. Or even have Dru do it. They both refused. Alterna-Spike wants to do it personally and Alterna-me wants that too.
Can’t say as I blame them. They appear to be head over heels in love.
Crazy, huh?
I don’t think they had planned to tell me about all that government stuff, but Alterna-Spike was worried that it might happen here and he wanted us to be ready. Alterna-me got this really haunted look on his face when the other you said that, too. Like he blamed himself or something. It was weird.
The way they were together was amazing. It was like they could read each other’s minds or something. Beautiful. Not like with Dru where everything has to be deciphered. Just complete connection, you know? I love Dru, but still, I was more than a little jealous.
So, finally, we come to the plan.
I want you to consider very carefully before you decide, because if it blows up in our faces… It would be very, very bad…
How do feel about coming back to Sunnydale? We could try a threesome thing. I mean, the reason you and me had so much trouble getting along before was because we both wanted Drusilla. We thought it had to be one or the other.
Now, though, I can see that there is a third possibility. Maybe with Angelus it wasn’t possible to share, but with us…
I mean, if our alternates could be that much in love when one them isn’t even a demon…
Maybe we could make a go of it?
Here’s hoping…
Xander
Spike’s immediate response was simply, ‘What the fuck?’
Then he realized this would get him safely into Sunnydale.
Assuming Xander was on the level. Best to read Drusilla’s letter before he assumed anything. He knew his sire wouldn’t try to lure him to his death. As long as he played by the rules where she was concerned he was safe. But until now, those rules had included staying clear of Sunnydale and her new childe.
He pulled out the pages of her letter back out of their envelope and unfolded them carefully. Drusilla’s words leapt out at him.
My dearest Spikey,
You are always my golden prince just as dear Xander is my dark kitten. I love you both. It was wicked of you to make me choose between you and now the stars have seen fit to rectify the situation. They sing of a great romance between the golden prince and the dark kitten. I wonder… Will there be room for me at all?
You both love me, I know. So perhaps we can learn to share love, we three.
I hurt you, my William. I hurt you when I chose my kitten. But I miss you. I had so many lovely years with you, and I long for your presence. I chose Xander for two reasons, my dearie. First, my kitten was new and exciting and I had so much to learn about him. I needed the time to learn to know him. Second, I was angry because you killed Daddy. I’m still upset about that, but I have forgiven you.
My kitten can be just as cruel and vicious as Daddy ever was. He hurts me and makes me like it. But I miss your sweet touch. You were always so consumed with my pleasure. Such a treasure, you are, my lovely boy. Even when you hurt me you did it because it pleasured me. You enjoyed hurting me, of course. No doubt of that. But you hurt me more for my pleasure than for yours. My kitten is the opposite.
I need you both, Spike. I need you here and I need him here and I want you both in my bed. I want to watch my boys play together. It would please me to see you so, beloved. Each taking the other in turn. Oh, the image of it in my mind’s eye. So luscious. So beautiful, the both of you. And in each other’s arms. Caressing, stroking, kissing, sucking, thrusting. Ah, my sweet prince, I imagine it and I need to breathe. Then I see you hurting, love, so sweetly. Blood and pleasure and pain. The whip in your hand or his. Both. For my pleasure and yours and his. Together.
Will you come to me, my prince? Will you play for me and love for me and learn to love each other for me?
Come home, Spike.
Love always,
Your dark princess,
Drusilla
Spike sighed. He was surprised that steam wasn’t coming off the pages. But perhaps that wouldn’t be appropriate when all concerned were basically room temperature. Even in passion.
“Dru, love,” he said softly, “you certainly have a way with words.”
He thought about it long and hard. He could go to Sunnydale and find the Gem of Amara and leave. Or maybe he could stay. Either way, he knew he’d be spending some time in bed with not only his sire, but with Xander as well. The words in the letter - Drusilla’s description - had made him hard just to read them. Maybe it would be fun. Maybe he wouldn’t want to leave. Maybe he would be hurt again.
Or, maybe… just maybe… Xander was on the level. Maybe he actually wanted to try a triad. Spike wondered if Xander realized how much power a true triad could wield. If he did, that might be one reason to trust the offer. Power. The three of them together, in harmony with each other - joined - would be far more powerful that the three of them individually. Add the Gem to the mix and things got really interesting.
Spike smirked.
“Let’s find out.”
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