Quantum Xander II: In Wake of the Curse

Part 45

Xander was smiling and whistling a happy tune as he answered the door and let Willow and Tara into his apartment. He had just watched as Spike roared off down the street on the motorcycle in broad daylight. He had been kissed so hard his lips were bruised. It was totally worth the physical exhaustion he felt, just the look on Spike’s face when he stepped out into the sunshine and then turned his face to the sky. Xander had only seen such a beautiful sight once before in his life, and that was when he’d given the same gift to his other mate.

“Xander? Are you okay?”

“I’m great Wills, never been better!”

“Good, so what do you want us to do? Spike wasn’t very specific.”

Xander grinned stupidly at the sound of his lover’s name and led the girls into the kitchen where he had the spell and the supplies laid out on the table.

“I’m going to need some help getting everything ready, plus, I might need some extra oomph in the casting department. I kinda overexerted myself earlier. The girls both blushed and he laughed at their misconception.

“Not doing that! Geez, Wills. I did something… I’m not even sure what or how, but I made a copy of something - an exact duplicate - it drained me pretty good.”

“What did you copy?”

“The gem of Amara. For Spike.”

Both girls looked at Xander in awe. Tara blinked and then smiled at Willow.

“He’s a born mage - wizard, warlock, whatever you want to call it, Xander is one. He was born to it, like my Grandmother was. You remember I told you about her?”

“Yeah, but Tara, you said that only women were born to the power.”

“No, I said it’s almost always women. I haven’t heard of a man being born with the power for centuries. In fact, I think the last one was almost a thousand years ago. Xander?”

Tara turned old, knowing eyes on him and seemed to look straight into his soul.

“You do realize that this power comes with great responsibility. You have to make a choice, and soon. If you continue to use your gift, you will change; in a way, you’ll ascend. Become something other than a regular human being. The power you have, it’s too much for a human body to withstand. You have to decide if you are willing to accept it. If you can’t, you have to stop using it.”

“What happens if I can’t accept the changes, I mean, if I continue to use the power but don’t accept the changes?”

“It will kill you. If you’re lucky.”

Xander swallowed and nodded his understanding. There were a lot worse things than dying, after all. Willow looked at Xander with wide eyes and began to cry. Xander and Tara sandwiched her between then and tried to soothe her tears.

“Hey, none of that now. I’m not going to die, and I’m not going to do anything stupid, either. I’m an accepting guy, Wills. I accepted that I’m Bi, that I’m hopelessly in love with not one, but two vampires, two Spikes - of all vampires, and that I’m apparently some kick-ass warlock dude. I’m all for changes, if they bring about good. Well, so long as I don’t sprout horns.”

Xander raised an eyebrow and looked questioningly at Tara.

“There won’t be horns, will there?”

Tara giggled.

“No, Xander. No horns.”

Willow breathed a sigh of relief and the three separated. Tara winked at her lover and then turned a sly gaze on Xander’s bum. Xander noticed where here eyes were and cleared his throat.

“Is there a problem?”

“No, I was checking to see if your tail was coming in yet.”

At Xander’s startled look, both girls burst out laughing. Xander joined them for a minute and then shook his head.

“Alright, enough of the messing around; let’s get down to business ladies, I have a vampire to resurrect.”

For the next hour the threesome carefully measured ingredients, crushed herbs, chanted, and double and triple checked until they were sure everything was in place. Xander retrieved the urn of ashes from his bedroom and carefully poured them out onto the floor inside the circle Tara had set up. He poured the combined blood of himself, Angel and Spike into the center of the small mound of dust and sprinkled the crushed herb mixture over the top.

After closing the circle, he was joined by Tara on one side and Willow on the other. Xander would draw strength from the two wiccans to replenish his own so that he could cast the spell without faltering.

“You guys ready?”

Willow and Tara nodded.

“We’re ready.”

“Hang on to your hats then.”

Xander closed his eyes, took a deep, calming breath and began to chant. It felt like he was on one of those gravity-inducing rides at the yearly carnival. His body felt unusually heavy and he had trouble forcing his lungs to work, but he pushed on. He could feel Willow and Tara’s strength seeping into him and he was glad that he hadn’t tried this on his own without them. After several minutes of chanting, he could barely stay on his feet; Willow squeezed his hand, letting him know that she was still there, and that he could draw more strength from her if necessary. He did so, and felt instantly better.

There was a soft gasping sound and Xander opened his eyes to see that the dust had begun to move. It filled out and slowly took on a distinctively humanoid form. Willow and Tara watched with him as it became clearer and clearer. Bone formed and then muscle covered the skeleton. Eyes filled previously empty sockets and skin started to grow.

Throughout the entire thing, Xander never faltered in his chant. His voice was a steady accompaniment to the miracle they were witnessing. Hair and nails completed the picture, and Xander watched as stunning blue eyes flew open and locked on his. The chant stopped. He held his breath. The girls blushed at the picture of a naked Spike sitting up in the circle. Xander dropped both their hands and stepped forward. He stopped at the edge of the circle and waited.

“Xander?”

“Spike.”

Xander smiled and broke the circle before grabbing the naked vampire and pulling him into his arms. He held him tightly and then as two strong, pale arm came around him in return, he wept.

“Shh, love, it’s alright. I’m here now, and I’ll never leave you again.”

Willow and Tara smiled at the dark-haired version of Spike and then gathered their things. Willow quietly got Spike’s attention and motioned that she would call Xander later. Spike nodded once to let her know he would pass it along and then turned his attention back to his mate. He lifted Xander’s chin and placed a soft, reverent kiss on his mouth as he heard the apartment door closing behind the two witches.

“Thank you, love.”

Xander just shook his head and hugged him again; he was too overwhelmed to form words. Spike lifted him into his arms and carried him to the bed. He undressed him slowly and then crawled in beside him.

“You’re exhausted, love. Sleep. I’ll still be here when you wake up.”

Xander nodded his head, wrapped his tired body around his mate and drifted off to sleep. Spike smiled and held Xander close. He wasn’t tired, but he couldn’t think of any other place he’d rather be than right where he was. In bed, surrounded by his mate.

“I love you, Xander.”

He whispered to him softly and pressed a kiss to his temple.

“And when you wake up, I’m going to show you just how much.”