Thank you for all of your wonderful, kind reviews. Without your support, I wouldn't be encouraged to write!

Extra thanks to my beta Meli for doing a great job with reviewing this.

Here is what you have all been waiting 20 chapters for. I'll warn ya, it's a little dark, but enjoy!

*Hugs*
Opal

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*Banner By Ariel Dawn*
Thanks AD! Hugs~Opal

Story Dedicated to Meli!
Thanks for being a great Beta. Hugs~Opal



Chapter 21 - Vengeance





*Single Quotes = thoughts to oneself or between Buffy & Spike



William was pleased his dad was not upset with him. He was pleasantly surprised to see that his dad was much different from the man he had become, but he would never tell his father about that. He was prepared to provide an explanation without revealing all of the ugly details.

And ugly they were.

“I had to stop her. This was the moment, the moment that broke her,” William whispered, “And it was my fault. I asked Aunt Willow to teleport me back into time to fix everything.”

Spike looked over at his son, and gently wiped the tears from Williams’ eyes. “In this time, your just a little sprog, how could this be your fault?”

“Because I marked him, and her instinct to do her job as a mother and fulfill the call for vengeance; it consumed her and prevented her from thinking rationally. After she killed him, the call for vengeance lifted and her rational returned. When she realized what she had done, she couldn’t handle it and went insane.”

Spike mentally kicked himself for letting his demon instincts get the best of him. “Son, this would have been my fault, I thought about what it would do to her for a moment, but I let my demon win out.”

William looked to his father with kindness. Of all the years, that he had heard from his father that it was his fault that Buffy had gone insane, he finally knew why his father sought solace with JD all day.

“No dad, not your fault. You were just as consumed by the call for vengeance as mum. Everything will be ok now. She’ll live and be sane. You’ll both be happy.”

Spike tightened his hold on his family, “What do you mean she’ll live?”

William looked down at his mom and realized he had to be truthful with his father. After all, the future could not be made better if he did not reveal everything.

“You couldn’t handle her mental state, so you made yourself numb. This further drove her insane because she could feel your pain through the claim. The breaking point was when I was seven. You went out and got drunk one night and didn’t come home to us. It wasn’t that you didn’t come home though, after all that was nothing unusual, but it was that you broke your fidelity to mom with Drusilla that night.”

Spike was furious with his future self, for not being there for Buffy and then breaking her heart. He swore to himself that he would never betray his golden goddess.

William could sense that his words had affected his father, but still felt he had to continue with the dreadful events of that night.

“It was so sad to watch her cry out in pain. She just kept saying it was all her fault over and over again. Finally, she stood up and kissed my forehead. She said she was sorry, but she had to do this before she drove me away too. She said she just couldn’t handle the fact that someday, like every man in her life, I would be destined to leave her too. Then she walked outside and staked herself in the heart before I could stop her. Just before she passed, she whispered to tell everyone she was sorry, so sorry for the pain.”

Everyone in the room was silent. Their Buffy, their hero, their friend would go on to have such a miserable life and an unfit ending. William gestured to Willow to come over and take Buffy upstairs. He whispered the words she needed for the spell that would make the small slayer light and easy to carry. Before Willow walked further away, he gently kissed her head and told his mom he loved her one last time. As soon as Willow and Buffy disappeared behind the elevator doors, he stood up in game face and looked directly at Riley.

“Now as I said, I came here to stop her. The only way I can do that is to stop the call for vengeance. There is only one way I can do that Riley.” William sneered, just like his father.

Riley was shaking at his knees. Clearly the outcome of events from what he though was doing the right thing had turned into one very bad future. Now, he was going to pay the price for that.

Drusilla began clapping her hands with glee and dancing around. She sang aloud her own little tune, which really made no sense except that she was pleased that the torture was about to begin. All of the vampires in the room were in game face and ready to participate in the torture. William held his hand up to stop them.

“No, since I experienced the pain that this bastard started first hand I must request that you allow me the pleasure of being his executioner.”

Each of the master vampires in the room nodded in agreement. They stepped back and allowed William to approach Riley. William stopped only to grab the stake that was on the floor. As he began to rise, he looked up at Riley and inhaled the scents of fear.

“Apparently, the Initiative didn’t teach you how to not shit your pants in fear,” William teased.

Riley looked at William with a mixture of fear and disgust. He defended his integrity the only way he could. Of course, he did not think before he spat on William’s face that this might make his death that much more painful. William wiped his face clean and looked at the human with anger. Riley was so shaken about what was about to come, he did not even notice that William had moved to strike him with the stake.

The blood-curdling scream that echoed through the lower level of the casino brought pleasure to Spike’s ears.

“Now that you don’t have the balls any more, since I drove my mother’s stake through them, I don’t think you’ll be disrespecting me by spitting in my face again,” William spoke into Riley’s ear. “There is no one here to help you. No one here that cares that you’re screaming in pain all night long.”

William took the stake out of Riley and aimed for the next best spot. As the stake pierced through Riley’s manhood, his arms strained against the restraints to move his hands to protect what was left. Tears of pain from the soldier fell down his face and mixed with the blood that was pooling on the floor below him. William pulled out the bloody stake and walked away.

“That was for my mum,” he spoke. He quickly turned around and threw the stake in the air. Riley screamed in pain as the stake impaled him just inches from his heart.

“That one was for my dad.”

William left the stake in Riley and sauntered up to him. William pulled out of his coat a weapon, which looked like a knife. Its handle was made of ivory, with red jewels inlayed. On one end was a long, sharp blade. The other end had a short pointed spike. William raised the weapon and pushed the pointed spike through Riley’s right eye.

“That was for you being too blind to see that demons have feelings.”

Riley screamed in pain, but he managed to let out grunted “fuck you” through his cries.

William responded by saying, “Well, if you insist.”

He pushed Riley’s ass away from the wall and swiftly inserted the sword end of the weapon up it.

“Hope it was as good for you as it was for me,” William sneered. He glanced over at his father. William was so pleased to see how proud his father was of him. William knew then that he had changed things for good. His father had never once looked at him with such pride before. He removed the sword end of the weapon from Riley’s ass, and quickly sliced an “X” through the skin of the crying human’s chest.

Riley braced himself for the next blow, but it did not come.

“Dad, you know the best way to make sure someone cannot be resurrected?”

Spike caught on to exactly what his son had planned. He could not be happier to have the pain in the ass soldier boy gone once and for all.

With venom and malice in his voice, Spike replied, “Burn them.”

William smiled at his father. “Lighter please Dad?”

Spike tossed the lighter to his son. William easily reached out and caught it in the air. He clicked the lighter several times in order to scare Riley, and with each click of the lighter, Riley jumped in his chains. Finally, William held the lit lighter under the soldier’s nose.

“Smell this soldier? This is the last thing you smell before you smell your burnt flesh.”

William moved the lighter to Riley’s tattered clothing. Riley lit up like a starter log in a fireplace. His screams went on and on until his vocal cords melted away.

Finally, all was silent except for the sounds of four vampires purring in satisfaction.