banner by Dawnofme


Chapter 17: Wishes

Buffy yelled for Willow as they ran into the house. Xander and Dawn stared at Spike worriedly as he stood in the hallway, looking down at the lamp. They couldn’t pry it from his hands. It was as if his hands, his heart and soul, were frozen and only the warmth of the lamp was keeping him alive.

“Willow?” Buffy yelled again.

Xander jumped. He looked over at Spike, the vampire hadn’t flinched. He simply stared down at the lamp, his face calm and contemplative.

“Spike,” Xander said gently.

He didn’t look up.

“Spike, why don’t you put that down on the table here,” Xander said, pointing to the hall table.

“No,” he murmured. “She’s singing to me.”
Xander’s eyes widened and he looked up at Dawn in worry. “Singing? Oh God. This can’t be good. Singing is never good!”

Spike shook his head. “Devi Bhuta. She’s singing this beautiful song to me, I don’t recognize the words or the melody, but it’s gorgeous.”

Buffy grimaced, her eyes filled with anger and fear. “Willow!” she yelled again. “Christ, where the hell is she?”

“I’m right here,” Willow called out as she came hurrying down the stairs. “I was on the phone with Andrew. What’s wrong?” She paused on the bottom step as she took in everyone’s frightened faces and Spike’s hypnotic gaze. “Oh hell,” she muttered.

Buffy quickly explained what had happened in Bianca’s dressing room.

“The good news,” Buffy finished, “We got the genie away from the crazy rich bitch with delusions of grandeur. The bad news, we forgot that last bit you told us and Spike got a hold of the lamp as we were making our escape. Now he won’t let it go.”
They looked over at him.

“Spike?” Willow called out softly. When he didn’t look up, she frowned. “This is powerful magic, centuries old.”

“He said that she was singing to him,” Xander said. “Sounded spooky and not in a spookilicious sort of way. Spooky in a big cosmic crappilicious sort of way.”

Willow stepped down into the hallway and went to Spike. “She’s calling to him,” she murmured. “Weaving a spell and seducing him with dreams and visions of wishes coming true.”

Buffy’s eyebrows shot up. “Seducing him? Listen here, Will, you need to stop this right away. No one is seducing him but-“ She glanced around, shrugging. “Well, you know what I mean.”

Willow shook her head. “She’s not seducing him in a smoochie sort of way, Buff. She’s seducing him with promises of a different future. She’s selling him a dream of a happily ever after future.”

Buffy frowned. “But, how would that work? Spike’s happy now, what else could he want?”

Willow shrugged. “I don’t know, Buffy.” She looked over at her friend. “But the genie knows and she’s selling it for all she’s worth. See, if Spike buys it, then he lets her out and she grants him a couple of those wishes and he pays her in kind and she gets to play around and wreak havoc. It’s her nature.”

“Then maybe we should stop standing around here gabbing about it, and drop the curtain on this rousing operatic symphony she’s got going on,” Xander exclaimed worriedly.

“You guys go and get changed. I’ll do what I can to break the spell and reseal the lamp.”

Buffy shook her head. “I want to be here with him.”

“No,” Willow said firmly. “I can’t have anything here to distract him or anything that she might use against him. His feelings for you make him vulnerable to her.”

Buffy looked like she wanted to protest more, but Dawn took her hand. “Let’s go and get cleaned up and changed. By the time we’re finished, Willow will have Spike back to normal.”

Dawn dragged Buffy upstairs and Xander stayed behind. He looked at Spike, then at Willow. “Will, can you fix this?”

She nodded. “I can.” She hesitated for a moment and then looked over at him, her eyes wide with fear. “I think.”

“I liked your first answer. I think I’m going to stick with that one.” He looked at Spike, his face filled with worry. “Don’t – don’t let anything happen to him.” Then he turned and hurried upstairs.

Willow smiled gently at his departing back, and then she turned to the vampire who hadn’t moved nor spoken during the entire conversation. She reached out and took his elbow and directed him to the family room. “Spike, let’s take the lamp in here where it’ll be safe.”

“Okay,” he said.

She sat him down on the sofa.

“What are you thinking about?”she asked him.

He looked up at her helplessly. There was a part of him that knew that what he wanted was wrong. “I want her. I want to call the genie out.”

Willow shook her head. “Don’t. Please don’t do that.”

“But then I could give everyone what they’re wishing for.”

Willow closed her eyes. “Spike, there is always a price to pay for this sort of wish fulfillment.”

He stared at her, entreating her to believe him. “But wouldn’t it be worth it? I could give Harris his eye back. I could bring Joyce back for Dawn and Buffy. I could find Sam her soul mate.” He paused and looked at Willow. “I could give you back Tara.”

She froze and stared at him. “What are you talking about?”

“I know, Willow,” he murmured. “I know what you feel inside. That no matter how much you love Chantal, she isn’t Tara. Losing her meant losing a part of yourself. I know that, because it’s how I feel about Buffy. But –“ His face brightened. “I could change all that!”

She shook her head in sorrow. “You can’t bring them back, Spike, the cost would be too high.”

“But how do you know that?”

“Because with magic,” she said sadly. “It always is. You and I both know that. It’s why you’ve always hated magic.”

He shook his head. “I know I could fix everything with the genie. She’d fulfill my wishes but my wishes would all be for the rest of you.” He looked back up at her. “That’s got to outweigh the dangerous part of all this, wouldn’t it?

Willow stared at him. She knew that part of this was the influence of the genie. Devi Bhuta had had thousands of years to learn how to manipulate men and women. She knew how to tap into their fears and their desires and use them against them to convince them to release her, to do her bidding. And in this case, Devi had one hell of a soul and a life to play with and manipulate. Spike had a century of emotions, desires, guilt and wishes for the genie to call upon and play with. It wouldn’t be difficult for her to find the right combination of elements to convince him to release her.

“What about you, Spike?” Willow asked. “All your wishes would be for us, but what about you?”

He looked up, his face ashen, his blue eyes glowing like gas flames. “I’d do anything to make the rest of you happy.”

“You don’t have to do anything to make us happy. We’re responsible for our own happiness.”

He shook his head. “I’m responsible for Buffy’s happiness. I hurt her so much, now I’m responsible. And I could make her happy. The genie could make all her wishes come true.”

Willow shook her head. She had to get that lamp out of his hands before he did something truly stupid. “Spike, the only thing that makes Buffy happy is you. You’re the sum total of all her wishes and dreams.”

“She wants a husband and a baby.” His gaze met Willow’s and she saw past the magic to the truth that ate away at his soul. “She wants a normal life, Red, she always has. Before she was chosen and after. She wanted to be a normal girl who went to school, dated, and went to college. And now, all these years later, she wants to be a normal woman, with a husband to grow old with and a job and children. I can’t give her that.” He stared at the lamp in his hands. “But the genie could give it to her.”

“How?” Willow asked softly, determined to make him see the danger.

Spike looked up at her. “I could ask the genie to make me human,” he whispered.

Willow’s heart sank. That bitch of a demon had hooked into the heart of the matter fast, Willow thought. The reality was, that although Spike had Buffy back, they were together, and they were happy, there was one small inevitable truth that no one ever mentioned. He was immortal and she wasn’t. Where could their relationship ever, ever go? The genie knew exactly how to get to him. If he were human, he would no longer be immortal. Problem solved.

Willow reached over and covered his hand with her own. She had to convince him that magic wasn’t the solution to their problem. “And then what Spike? Make the genie give you inhuman strength? Speed? Save you when a bullet or knife hits too close to a vital organ? When would it stop? You would just go through your entire human life begging the genie to give you things. You’d be a slave to her. Is that what you want? What Buffy would want?” she said.

“But it wouldn’t be for me. I would do it for Buffy.” Spike thought back to the mission the PTB had given him. Save Buffy. Help her find herself and give her her life and her heart’s desire. And here in his hands, was the key to fulfilling Buffy’s every desire.

“Devi B-“

“No!” Willow shouted. She reached out and grabbed his hands. The lamp fell to the table and lay on its side, undisturbed. She released a sigh of relief.

Spike’s hands felt cold. He looked at the lamp in yearning. It was over. As soon as the lamp had fallen from his hands, he’d lost that connection and reality had come crashing in on him. He knew that Red would never, ever let him near it again. He would never have the opportunity to mend all those broken fences by playing Santa Claus and giving everyone that bright, sparkling Christmas morning. No eye for Harris, no Joyce for Dawnie, no soul mate for Sam, no Tara for Willow and no wedding and baby for Buffy. He closed his eyes. God, he was exhausted.

“Spike, look at me,” Willow commanded. He looked up. “Regardless of what Buffy thinks she wants, you are what she needs.”

“Willow, she’s said it, she’s mentioned getting married, being a mother.” He looked down at his now empty hands. “She’d be an incredible mother and how can I get in the way of that? I can’t be her husband. I can’t stand in a church and marry her. I can’t give her babies. Even if I could, how the hell would we explain that to the PTA? Little William’s daddy sure looks good for his age!” He shook his head in frustration and slammed his fists against his knees. “I love her with every single fiber of my heart and my soul. I love her more each and every day. But how can I watch her grow old and childless while I stay the same?” He looked up at her, beseeching her to understand. He found only tears and pity. “It was one thing when I thought that it didn’t matter to her. She’s the slayer, her life expectancy is what? Another ten years, maybe? I figured we’d have a hell of a time for the next decade and both of us would go down in a blaze of glory. But now, now she’s talking about retiring and planting gardens and white picket fences.” He shrugged. “What are my choices? I stay around for the next few years and then leave, breaking her heart again? At least with the genie, I could make everything right for everyone.”

Willow shook her head, tears pouring down her face, her heart aching. She reached for his hands. “I can’t, Spike. I can’t let you release the magic.”

Spike stared down at their hands. There was one more choice, one more possible way he could give Buffy the future she desired. He just didn’t know if he was strong enough to do it.


“Angel is alive,” he whispered.

Willow dropped his hands and stared at him.

“What?”

Before he could change his mind, Spike was telling her everything. The final battle, the court room, the Goddess, the choice she’d given him, the choice he’d made.

“Angel fulfilled the Shanshu prophecy. He’s human. He can give Buffy what she wants. He can walk in the sun with her, marry her, give her children, and grow old with her. He can fulfill her in ways that I can’t, no matter how much she loves me. She loved him once, when she sees what he is, what he can be for her now, she’ll love him again.”

Willow’s eyes filled with tears. “Oh God, Spike,” she whispered. She drew him into her arms. “We’ll figure this out,” she murmured. Over his head, she looked at the lamp. Such a beautiful, innocent looking piece of art. Could it be that awful? Let him make his wishes and then she’d reseal it and hide it. Everyone could have what they wanted. It could be so easy...

Tara...

Willow closed her eyes and bit her lip. Goddess, she prayed, help me.

A memory took the place of the beautiful image of Tara she held in her mind. It was the memory of standing on the cliffs overlooking Sunnydale and preparing to destroy the world. She remembered the wind, the smell of the sea, and the power coursing through her veins. She remembered the darkness that had eaten her soul. That darkness was the price. There was always a price to pay for using magic, Willow remembered, her body trembling as she fought the urge to give in to Spike and to the genie. She breathed in deeply; refocusing, remembering Tara, and she found the strength to resist. She’d lost Tara because she’d chosen magic over love. Willow would never do it again, nor would she let anyone she cared about do it.

Quickly, before she could change her mind, she murmured the incantation that would seal the genie in its lamp for forever and a day.

As if he felt that last connection break, Spike collapsed in exhaustion. Willow laid him back on the couch and pulled the blanket over him. “I’ll figure this out, Spike,” she whispered again, brushing his hair back. He looked like an angel sleeping there and she knew that he was the guardian angel that Buffy needed. No matter what he thought, Willow knew that Buffy would never turn her back on him. She needed him like air and like water. But Willow had to find a way to convince him of that, or they would never have peace in their relationship.

With a sigh, she stood up and grabbed the now ice cold lamp, and carrying it upstairs, she put it where no one would ever find it. Then, regardless of the time of night, and the woman lying in her warm bed waiting for her, Willow turned on the computer and got to work.