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Long Black Veil by Coquine
Long Black Veil
Title: Long Black Veil
Rating: PG-13
Disclaimer: The only thing that’s mine is the story. Everything else, All Hail Joss.
WARNINGS: This fic is not a happy one. Why? Two words: Spike dies. I’m serious.
Author’s Notes: Before anyone asks, no, I actually don’t like to read stories in which Spike dies. I hate it, in fact. But the idea grabbed hold of me and wouldn’t let go, and I’ve decided to try curing my writer’s block by writing every last thing that occurs to me write…whether it’s a fic I’m already posting, one I’m working on but not yet posting, or a brand-new, random and rabid plot bunny.
This fic was inspired by the song “Long Black Veil,” by Johnny Cash, though the version I’m working off of was a cover by Dave Matthews Band, from their live album “Listener Supported.” All lyrics belong to them.
Also, this fic is un-betaed, because she hates to see Spike die as much as I do, and I didn’t feel like inflicting this on her. So if it sucks, it’s all on me. And if you hate it because Spike dies, and you read it anyway after I warned you, it’s all on you.
*~*~*~*~*
Ten years ago, on a cold, dark night, someone was killed beneath the town hall light.
*~*~*~*~*
Buffy and Giles had just finished an early morning training session in the backyard of her house when they heard the front door burst open. They exchanged concerned glances as they rushed inside, and found Xander, Riley, and Willow dragging a struggling Spike into the living room.
“What on earth is going on?” Giles yelled over the ruckus.
Buffy gasped when Riley whipped the still-smoldering blanket off the vampire, revealing his bloodied face and beaten form.
*~*~*~*~*
There were few at the scene, but they all agreed that the slayer who ran looked a lot like me.
*~*~*~*~*
“You’ll never believe who we saw last night, Buff,” Xander began. “Or I guess, you’ll never believe what we saw.”
Buffy’s eyes found Spike’s, and didn’t waver. “What?”
“Spike,” Riley continued the story. “We saw him downtown while we were patrolling. We thought we’d stop and say ‘hi’ until we realized he was killing someone!”
Buffy’s eyes flew to Riley. “What?”
Giles frowned, sending the vampire a cautious glance. “Are you sure of what you saw?”
Xander nodded. “It was him, all right. Short, bleached blond vampire in a long black coat. Not a lot of them running around Sunnydale, believe it or not. And, oh yeah, he was biting the neck of a pretty young coed.”
“I don’t know how, but he’s obviously done something to the chip,” said Riley coolly.
Buffy frowned, once more looking to Spike. “That doesn’t necessarily mean--”
“Buffy,” Willow interrupted softly. “When I called out his name, he dropped the girl and ran away.”
“He was too fast to catch,” Riley added. “And we needed to get the girl to the hospital.” He turned hard eyes to Spike. “She didn’t make it.”
*~*~*~*~*
The judge said, “Son, what is your alibi? If you were somewhere else, then you won’t have to die.”
*~*~*~*~*
Giles approached them. “Can you account for your whereabouts last night, Spike?”
Spike’s eyes left Buffy’s long enough to meet Giles’. He clenched his jaw, turned his chin up, and returned his gaze to Buffy’s. He said nothing.
*~*~*~*~*
Well I said not a word, though it meant my life, for I had been in the arms of my best friend’s wife.
*~*~*~*~*
Buffy moaned sweetly as they rocked together, both of them warm under the cocoon of her blankets. Spike leaned down to kiss her as the feeling of her beneath him, surrounding him, overwhelmed his senses.
“Spike,” she gasped out in climax. “I love you…”
“Love you!” The words spilled from him as he spilled into her.
*~*~*~*~*
When Spike refused to answer, Giles turned to Buffy with a look akin to compassion. “I’m afraid it’s for you to decide, Buffy. You’re the Slayer.”
“What’s to decide?” Riley asked, incredulous. He gestured to Xander and Willow. “We all saw him.”
Xander nodded solemnly. “With all six of our eyes.”
Willow, too, nodded. Though she looked like she desperately wanted not to.
Buffy and Spike’s eyes met once more. They stood silently for several moments, seeming to communicate with each other in ways beyond those around them.
It ended when Spike uttered the first words he’d spoken since arriving.
“All right, then.” His voice was uncharacteristically soft, tinged with a sad kind of acceptance and, strangely, warmth.
They all watched as Riley raised a stake, and took aim at Spike’s chest.
*~*~*~*~*
Well, now, the scaffold is high, eternity is near, and she stood in the crowd, and shed not a tear.
*~*~*~*~*
“Wait.” Buffy’s quiet command stayed Riley’s arm.
Slowly, she approached Spike, circling around behind him. She reached up to his shoulders, and began sliding the heavy leather duster down his arms.
“Spike told me he took this coat from the second Slayer he killed,” she said evenly. “Seems only fitting for a Slayer to take it back.”
None of the others noticed the way she clutched at his shoulders before grasping the duster, or the way her hands lingered as she slid it down, or the way her fingertips gently grazed the soft skin of his arms, stroking all the way down to the palms of his hands.
She came back around to face him, his duster fisted in one hand. And after a single, frozen moment, Buffy snatched the stake out of Riley’s hand, and plunged it directly into Spike’s heart.
Her eyes never left his face as it crumbled to dust.
*~*~*~*~*
Oh, but sometimes at night, when the cold wind blows, in a long, black veil she cries over my bones.
*~*~*~*~*
Her life went on, as it always did after tragedies. And their love was tragic. That had been the hell of it, you see. They’d known they were doomed from the beginning. Perhaps it made their time together, however short it had been, all the sweeter.
Yes, her life went on. She gained a sister. She lost her mother. She fought a god, and lost.
And every night, up until the one she jumped, she would clutch at the locket around her neck that she never removed--it held his ashes--and she would wrap the comforting leather around her shoulders, and weep to the heavens for her lost love.
*~*~*~*~*
She walks these hills in a long, black veil. She visits my grave when the night winds wail. Nobody knows. Nobody sees. Nobody knows, but me…
END
Rating: PG-13
Disclaimer: The only thing that’s mine is the story. Everything else, All Hail Joss.
WARNINGS: This fic is not a happy one. Why? Two words: Spike dies. I’m serious.
Author’s Notes: Before anyone asks, no, I actually don’t like to read stories in which Spike dies. I hate it, in fact. But the idea grabbed hold of me and wouldn’t let go, and I’ve decided to try curing my writer’s block by writing every last thing that occurs to me write…whether it’s a fic I’m already posting, one I’m working on but not yet posting, or a brand-new, random and rabid plot bunny.
This fic was inspired by the song “Long Black Veil,” by Johnny Cash, though the version I’m working off of was a cover by Dave Matthews Band, from their live album “Listener Supported.” All lyrics belong to them.
Also, this fic is un-betaed, because she hates to see Spike die as much as I do, and I didn’t feel like inflicting this on her. So if it sucks, it’s all on me. And if you hate it because Spike dies, and you read it anyway after I warned you, it’s all on you.
Ten years ago, on a cold, dark night, someone was killed beneath the town hall light.
Buffy and Giles had just finished an early morning training session in the backyard of her house when they heard the front door burst open. They exchanged concerned glances as they rushed inside, and found Xander, Riley, and Willow dragging a struggling Spike into the living room.
“What on earth is going on?” Giles yelled over the ruckus.
Buffy gasped when Riley whipped the still-smoldering blanket off the vampire, revealing his bloodied face and beaten form.
There were few at the scene, but they all agreed that the slayer who ran looked a lot like me.
“You’ll never believe who we saw last night, Buff,” Xander began. “Or I guess, you’ll never believe what we saw.”
Buffy’s eyes found Spike’s, and didn’t waver. “What?”
“Spike,” Riley continued the story. “We saw him downtown while we were patrolling. We thought we’d stop and say ‘hi’ until we realized he was killing someone!”
Buffy’s eyes flew to Riley. “What?”
Giles frowned, sending the vampire a cautious glance. “Are you sure of what you saw?”
Xander nodded. “It was him, all right. Short, bleached blond vampire in a long black coat. Not a lot of them running around Sunnydale, believe it or not. And, oh yeah, he was biting the neck of a pretty young coed.”
“I don’t know how, but he’s obviously done something to the chip,” said Riley coolly.
Buffy frowned, once more looking to Spike. “That doesn’t necessarily mean--”
“Buffy,” Willow interrupted softly. “When I called out his name, he dropped the girl and ran away.”
“He was too fast to catch,” Riley added. “And we needed to get the girl to the hospital.” He turned hard eyes to Spike. “She didn’t make it.”
The judge said, “Son, what is your alibi? If you were somewhere else, then you won’t have to die.”
Giles approached them. “Can you account for your whereabouts last night, Spike?”
Spike’s eyes left Buffy’s long enough to meet Giles’. He clenched his jaw, turned his chin up, and returned his gaze to Buffy’s. He said nothing.
Well I said not a word, though it meant my life, for I had been in the arms of my best friend’s wife.
Buffy moaned sweetly as they rocked together, both of them warm under the cocoon of her blankets. Spike leaned down to kiss her as the feeling of her beneath him, surrounding him, overwhelmed his senses.
“Spike,” she gasped out in climax. “I love you…”
“Love you!” The words spilled from him as he spilled into her.
When Spike refused to answer, Giles turned to Buffy with a look akin to compassion. “I’m afraid it’s for you to decide, Buffy. You’re the Slayer.”
“What’s to decide?” Riley asked, incredulous. He gestured to Xander and Willow. “We all saw him.”
Xander nodded solemnly. “With all six of our eyes.”
Willow, too, nodded. Though she looked like she desperately wanted not to.
Buffy and Spike’s eyes met once more. They stood silently for several moments, seeming to communicate with each other in ways beyond those around them.
It ended when Spike uttered the first words he’d spoken since arriving.
“All right, then.” His voice was uncharacteristically soft, tinged with a sad kind of acceptance and, strangely, warmth.
They all watched as Riley raised a stake, and took aim at Spike’s chest.
Well, now, the scaffold is high, eternity is near, and she stood in the crowd, and shed not a tear.
“Wait.” Buffy’s quiet command stayed Riley’s arm.
Slowly, she approached Spike, circling around behind him. She reached up to his shoulders, and began sliding the heavy leather duster down his arms.
“Spike told me he took this coat from the second Slayer he killed,” she said evenly. “Seems only fitting for a Slayer to take it back.”
None of the others noticed the way she clutched at his shoulders before grasping the duster, or the way her hands lingered as she slid it down, or the way her fingertips gently grazed the soft skin of his arms, stroking all the way down to the palms of his hands.
She came back around to face him, his duster fisted in one hand. And after a single, frozen moment, Buffy snatched the stake out of Riley’s hand, and plunged it directly into Spike’s heart.
Her eyes never left his face as it crumbled to dust.
Oh, but sometimes at night, when the cold wind blows, in a long, black veil she cries over my bones.
Her life went on, as it always did after tragedies. And their love was tragic. That had been the hell of it, you see. They’d known they were doomed from the beginning. Perhaps it made their time together, however short it had been, all the sweeter.
Yes, her life went on. She gained a sister. She lost her mother. She fought a god, and lost.
And every night, up until the one she jumped, she would clutch at the locket around her neck that she never removed--it held his ashes--and she would wrap the comforting leather around her shoulders, and weep to the heavens for her lost love.
She walks these hills in a long, black veil. She visits my grave when the night winds wail. Nobody knows. Nobody sees. Nobody knows, but me…
END
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