Hard Times for Spike and Xan chapter 14

~.~.~.~.~.~.~

Spike gasped as he stood up quickly and lifted Xander up, tapping his face, "Babe, wake up. Please. What test? Is this about PtB?" He worriedly set down Xander on the bed and kissed his forehead, "Please... please, wake up..."

Xander was awake, he just couldn’t move or speak. He continued to try to until he felt pain down his back and arms and on his shoulders. He gasped and the feeling and sat up, finally being able to move. Looking down at his arms, to see what was hurting, what he saw made him swallow hard. Something long and hard was growing from his elbow and pushing out of the skin. The same thing was happening to the back of his wrists and, by the feel of it, his shoulders and each vertebra on his back too. 

He ripped off his shirt to see if he could get a better look.

Spike swallowed, "What the fuck is happening?" He saw what was going on with Xander's skin. "W-What does it feel like is happening?" He whispered, gently rubbing his lover's wrists, hoping to ease the pain.

Xander didn’t know what to tell Spike. He just continued to watch and grit his teeth at the pain. He screamed when all of a sudden dark grey spikes pushed through his skin, making him bleed. When they finally stopped growing he looked over his body, panting, to see what the fuck just happened. 


He had spikes coming from multiple places. His elbows had a spike each, same with the back of his wrists. The ones on his wrist curved down to almost rest against his hand. If he made a fist, the spike would stick out a little further. 


He also had spikes sticking out of his shoulders, three on each side. They looked the same as the spikes that stuck out of each vertebra on his back. 

Unknown to him, his eyes had turned violet. 

"What I wasn’t a big enough freak?" was the only think he could think to say.

Spike opened and closed his mouth, "Wow... Xan." He tilted his head and chuckled, "You’re not a freak, babe. You’re just different. How… are we gonna do stuff with the spikes?" He smiled inwardly, still loving his baby no matter what. "I am here for you. You will always be my cute Xan."

"Yea, cute." Xander looked himself over again. 

"Umm I think I can, like... retract them or something," he closed his eyes and focused on what it might feel like to pull them back in. That seemed to be the trick because they got sucked back into his body. He yelled again and arched his back, then fell to the bed. 

"God, that hurt.” His skin didn’t seem to have any evidence that spikes just popped out of his body though so he let out a slow breath. "How much more can you possibly do to me?" he asked as he looked up to the ceiling.

Spike covered his mouth, as he sat down on the bed by his lover. "We can make it through this, pet. Both of us together." He kissed the top of Xander's head, "I love you so much, pet. I can't live without you, and I don't care if you get a few extra appendages, I will be there with you no matter what." He smiled shyly at him.

Xander turned his head to look at his lover and smiled. "I know. I love you too. Just kinda scares me. I mean, what are they making me ready for?" He grabbed one of Spikes hands and brought it to his lips.

Spike looked upwards and frowned, "I hope something that can't kill you... Did you know, that if you die, I would probably die from insanity?"
 He nodded to himself and sighed, "Whatever it is, I will be there with you."

Xander growled at the thought of his love dyeing just because he did and that he thought Xander would allow him to be in such danger. "You wont be if I say you wont be,” he said in a voice that made the discussion final.

Spike frowned, "What is wrong with you, Xander? You keep changing and I am getting so confused. I can't stand it!"


He started walking back and fourth across the room, looking at Xander then at the floor. "What the fuck are they doing to us?"

"I keep changing because there are like 20 different people in my head!" he took a deep breath and then let it out. "They didn’t say. They just promised to leave you alone and that’s all I cared about. I told them that they could do whatever they want to me in exchange for not touching you. I don’t know if they accepted that part though. Don’t worry, you’re safe."

Spike ran his fingers through Xander's hair, "Luv. You need to just... talk to them. I can take it! I'm not a baby. I don't want you suffering everything here. I want to take some of it away for you!" He straddled Xander's waist and glared down at him. 

"Too late. The Powers can’t go back on a deal and the only way to change it is if I want too, which I don’t." He smirked knowing that this would piss Spike off, but there really was nothing he could do. Spike could try and talk to the Powers himself but Xander made a deal first, so Spike can’t make a new one to try and change it. "So sorry, he said sarcastically.

Spike let out a yell as he jumped off of Xander and stood in the doorway, "You better do something, or I will walk outside into the fucking sun and become dust. Unless you think fucking dust is a kink of yours," he taunted, his eyes flashing yellow, then blue.

Xander wasn’t the least bit impressed with this threat. He folded his arms behind his head, crossed his legs at the ankles and looked up to the ceiling.


"Let me get this straight. You're going to dust yourself because you don’t like how things aren’t going your way. Hmmm. Its kinda hard to believe that you’re 100 something considering that that’s what 5 year olds do." He turned his eyes to Spike, one eyebrow raised.

Spike looked at Xander with a hurt expression, "Who the fuck are you and where is my Xander?" He whispered, shaking his head. He walked out of the room, "By the way. 5 year olds don't talk about killing themselves. Sorry you got your ages wrong." He spat out as he stormed to the kitchen.

Xander got off the bed and followed the vampire into the kitchen. He jumped up on the counter and pondered Spike's question. "I'm still Xander. Just... more? Its like all the Xander's combined. Problem is, most of them are assholes," he laughed.

Spike refused to look at Xander, "Well… I don't want a Xander that is an asshole and it isn't funny," he yelled the last bit in Xan's face. "It's not fucking funny! What the fuck is wrong with you now!" There was tears rolling down his cheeks, "Where is the Xander I fell in love with?" he pleaded, falling to his knees.

"Vacation?" Xander managed to get out before he burst into fits of laughter. He gripped his sides when they started to hurt from laughing so hard. This was too funny to him. He almost fell off the counter he was laughing so hard. When he finally managed to calm down he wiped the tears from his cheeks and took deep breaths.

Spike couldn't help but look up at Xander with a gobsmacked expression. He looked down then gasped, when he looked back up he was blushing and shaking his head, "I want Alexander," William whispered quietly, looking at Xan with a pout, tear streaks down his cheeks.

"Alexander? Oh, I'm sorry, but Alex can’t come to the phone right now. If you would like to leave your name and number we'll make sure he gets it," Xander started to laugh again at the look on Williams face. "Hey, Willy, what are you doing here anyway?" He jumped off the counter and squatted in front of the form on the floor.

William moved back and started to scramble out of the room, "Who are you?" He whimpered as he stared at Xander in shock and pain. "Please, help!" He yelled, hoping someone can help him in some way.

"Willy! I'm hurt! You can’t even recognize your true love?" he stood and followed William out of the kitchen. "Oh and no one will help you. So go ahead and yell all you want," he smirked.

William refused to look at Xander anymore; he just covered his head, "Stay away." He moved so he was in the corner of the couch and hid under the blanket, "Don't touch me... don't hurt me... leave me alone!" he cried. "I want Xander... or Alexander, or Princess!!! I want the ones who love me!"

"You want to see the ones that love you?" he asked with a sneer. "Fine." 

Closing his eyes, he let his powers emerge, combining the vampire, hyena, and some type of demon, to his body. The spikes grew out of his body, his fangs grew longer than a vampires, his nails turned to claws, the ends of his ears pointing, and his eyes swirled yellow, green, and violet. 

"This is what fucking loves you!" he yelled as he ripped the blanket off of William.

William looked up at Xander in shock, and started crying. "I never judged you by your looks baby... I loved you for you," he sobbed, tears rolling down his cheeks and sighed. He reached up and caressed Xander's cheek. "I love you... always."

Xander looked down at the hand on his cheek and then the eyes of the owner. He felt a pain in his chest when he realized what he did and what was going on. He reached up to the hand on his face and took it in him own. He squeezed it briefly before he returned it to William’s side. Then he turned and ran from the apartment, barefoot and only wearing a pair of jeans.

William closed his eyes and buried his face into the couch and cried for the loss of his loved one. "Why??" He yelled. "Fucking Powers that Be! Screw you!" he yelled, Spike's eyes bloody red from the tears, instead of clear tears, he got the bloody tears.

Xander’s feet were bloody and he was completely out of breath, but he kept running. He was in the woods somewhere and had a few coyotes following him. When he came upon a lake he stopped and sat at the shore. The coyotes sat around him, as if protecting him. At the realization that that was what they were in fact doing, he let himself break. He howled up at the sky in anguish and the coyotes around him joined in. When his voice was sore he stopped and began to sob. His pack moved closer so they were touching him and comforting him. He started to pet them and hug them, knowing that he was thankful and needing to know they where there for him. 

'What am I?' was the question that kept running through his mind.

A bright light flashed in front of Xander and then he was where he met the Powers that Be before. 

There was a sad sigh, "Xander Harris, what we have given you, you have not been using wisely. You have been using it to taunt the one person that loves you more than life itself. You are making us think about the promise, and if you ever do this again. We will take the promise back. You had failed to hide what happened to Spike. You have hurt him deep inside. The gift we gave you didn't do anything to change your personality in a crucial way. Just a new one that was a little different then before. You are now part vampire/hyena/demon. If you want...we can also make you part werewolf!" he yelled, not angrily, but exasperatedly. "Please don't make us regret doing this to you. We gave you these gifts to help you save the world, which will be soon. But the only way you can fully do that is have your love at your side. You have to have him forgive you for the pain you caused."

Xander looked down in shame. "He deserves better than me though. He deserves to be happy and I can’t do that! Not while I'm this... Thing!"

The Powers looked at him angrily, "This 'thing' that you are was a gift! We found you and Spike worthy enough, but maybe we were wrong. Just know this, if its not you, it wont be anyone."

"Okay," Xander said in a low voice.

"Good. And good luck."

Xander looked up and found he was back at the lake with the coyotes.

Spike crawled to their room and got on the bed and under the covers, "Please... bring my love back the way he was. Please," he begged, and there was a soft light that entered the room… almost caressing his cheek in sympathy, 'don't worry' the voice whispered calmingly, and then Spike knew no more, his eyes drifted shut and he was asleep.

Xander entered the apartment after walking home slowly. He winced with each step and left a trail of blood because his feet were torn to shreds.

When he couldn’t find Spike anywhere else he walked into their bedroom. There, asleep on the bed, was Spike. He let out a breath he didn’t know he was holding and made his way to the bed. 

On his way though, he stepped on a piece of the broken alarm clock. "FUCK!" he yelled and then fell to the floor, even more blood pouring from his feet now. "God dammit!"

Spike jerked up from the bed, and grabbed onto Xander and hauled him into the bathroom and into the tub, "I'm sorry..." he whispered as he pulled out all the objects that were sticking into his feet, and washed them off, and proceeded to clean them. He even leaned forward and licked them, since he vampire spit had healing qualities.

Xander groaned as Spike licked his feet, feeling the cuts start to heal. "Thanks." he said when he leaned his head back against the tub. He just wanted to sleep, but he knew he couldn’t. "Spike, I'm sorry. I don’t know what came over me."

Spike shrugged, "It's all done and forgotten," he sighed, looked at Xander, deep in the eyes. "I think you owe me a real apology though," he grinned a little, hoping to cheer Xander up just a little bit as he stood up and lifted Xan into his arms and set him on the bed.

"Maybe later," Xander mumbled before he rolled over and pushed his face into the pillow. "So tired." Feeling his eyes shut and not being able to stop them he forced his tired brain to say one last thing, "I love you, Baby." He was asleep by the time he finished saying 'Baby'.

Spike nodded, giving a sad smile before gently rubbing Xander's back for him even though he was asleep. "I love you too, pet. So much." He sighed, his fingers rubbing out the knots in Xan's back.

TBC…
READ & REVIEW!!!