Chapter 1
John Stewart had fought his
last battle. He knew this, the yellow knife sticking from his stomach was
testament to his soon-to-be demise. The only thing left was to pick his
successor. He looked down at the ring that had made him a hero and gave it
perhaps his final order. Find the “One” - the man without fear, the hero without
corruption.
The ring, responding to its
owner’s final unspoken command, sent out green tendrils to search for the
“One.”
~*~*~*~*~
Harmony opened the box, and a
rush of bright white light erupted from it, swirling around Spike before quickly
disappearing.
“Well, that was a slap and a
tickle,” Spike snarked. Things in the office started going a tad wonky and he
shrugged his shoulders and walked away from the small gathering, leaving the
others to deal with the mess. “Anymore fireworks for me, I’ll be in here telling
your miserable—”
Spike stood staring at the
closed door he’d just slammed into for a moment, not comprehending why it was
that he’d not passed through its barrier so easily. When he did, he started
touching things: himself, Gunn, the weird-looking mail boy.
Behind him, Angel’s office door
opened, and Angel stepped out into the reception area to complain about his
phone acting crazy, only to witness Spike inappropriately touching a member of
his team.
“Get off me, man,” Gunn griped.
Spike ignored him, however,
gripping the man’s upper arms as if to prove to himself that he held something
tangible. “I’m back… it’s me! I’m… I’m...”
“You’re green, man,” the lawyer
announced. “You… your eyes… they’re green.”
“Wha? Huh? Green??” Spike
glanced down at himself, noticing the green outline. “Bugger.”
Then, Spike suddenly faded from
view.
The LA gang concluded that
Spike’s latest condition had something to do with the box Harmony had opened, so
despite Angel’s protests to the contrary, they began to research.
“It’s just Spike. What’s the
big deal?” Angel muttered to their retreating backs. When none of his gang -
his gang - acknowledged his statement, he slipped into brood-mode and
stalked back into his office, the force of his door slamming rattling the smoky
glass that cordoned off his executive suite from the lobby. He marched over to
the window overlooking the city - his usual spot for a good broodfest - and
caught a glimpse of Spike as he sailed through the air, and how the green force
field kept him from spontaneously combusting.
~*~*~*~*~
Spike found himself floating
through the air in the bright sunlight and was panicky at first. But as time
passed, he began to enjoy the sunlight and the flying; by the time he reached
his destination, he was downright giddy. He knew who the man was even before he
was close enough to actually see him, even if he didn’t actually believe
it, the green from his costume and the fading green glow surrounding the man was
more than enough to piece everything together. It was a Green Lantern. Like a
kid, he caught himself going over all of his recent actions, anything that would
rate an appearance of one of the World’s Finest. A member of the bloody Justice
League.
“You’re not supposed to be
real,” he muttered almost to himself as he landed on the ground a few feet in
front of the dark-skinned man. John Stewart - Green Lantern - coughed around a
fractured laugh, and just barely managed to suppress an eye roll.
“Right,” he gasped out. “And
there’s no such thing as vampires either.”
“Uh... yeah. Guess you got me
there. You wanna tell me what I’m bloody doin’ here?”
The man before him appeared not
long for this world; Spike could see his powers dwindling and suddenly yelped as
the green shield that covered his body slipped a little, allowing the sun’s rays
to singe his backside.
“The ring chose you.”
John was coughing up blood now,
and he knew without the ring’s support he would have been dead already. “You are
the man without fear. You are the next Green Lantern.” He held his right hand up
and the ring slid off his finger to float between the two and slip perfectly
onto Spike’s left middle finger.
Spike nearly shook with the
desire to cry like a bloody poofter. He had never met the man, but in death John
had done what no one else ever had. He had chosen Spike – over everyone else.
Not because he happened to be there, not because he was convenient. Today,
William the Bloody had been judged by one of the greatest heroes to ever live,
and had been found more than worthy.
The infusion of power was like
nothing he’d ever felt before. More powerful than the Gem of Amara. Stronger
that Sire’s blood. Even stronger than that of a slayer’s - and he should know,
having had both. It was power in its rawest form. It fed off him, guided him,
secretly showed him how to use it. For good. When the moment was over, Spike
glanced down at himself. Gone was the retro 80’s look he’d been sporting since
he’d bagged his second slayer. In it’s place.... spandex. Black spandex that
molded his frame and showed off every single muscle in his compact form.
Spike reached down with a smirk
and adjusted his body’s reaction to having such power infused into his being,
and having accomplished that, his fingers came up to slowly trace the outline of
the Green Lantern on his chest; rather large it was, but tastefully understated
because the green of the lantern was nearly as dark as the black on the rest of
his costume. Only one more thing was needed to perfect the package. He
concentrated for a second and his duster reappeared over his new uniform.
Looking at the dead hero that
lay at his feet, he murmured, “Right, mate, we need to get you somewhere your
friends can see to you.” Spike looked skyward. This wasn’t something he was
going to bloody enjoy.
Pointing his ring at the former
“Lantern”, Spike concentrated until green shot out and enveloped the body of
John Stewart, while at the same time it wrapped around his own. Then, they were
skybound, flying higher and higher until they’d cleared the earth’s atmosphere
on an intercept course with the space station that orbited the earth. He wasn’t
sure what kind of reception he’d be receiving since he’d be pretty much invading
their territory while carrying the dead body of one of their friends - one of
the original members of the Justice League. They must have seen his approach
because as he neared their headquarters, a bay door opened, and he guided
himself and John towards it. A few “bloody hell’s” managed to escape his lips as
he was confronted by no less then ten pissed off superheroes the moment the
doors closed and the cabin re-pressurized.
“I didn’t bloody do it,” issued
forth from his lips before he could think to say otherwise, and despite his
efforts it sounded rather “Dawn-ish” in its whine.
“We know,” said a man tucked in
a corner, his face covered by a black mask with pointy ears.
“He was fighting just outside
the Watchtower when it happened,” said a man in a Blue suit with a red “S”
emblazoned on the front.
‘He wasn’t supposed to
exist,’ Spike thought. ‘Bloody
buggerin’ hell! That’s Superman!’
“We had hoped to find him in
time.” Superman walked forward to relieve Spike of his precious burden.
“How did you get his ring?” a
blonde man with a hook for a hand questioned as he moved towards Spike, but
whose progress was halted by another, an alien named The Martian Manhunter.
“Arthur, the ring chose him.
John chose him. We shall respect his wishes.”
Spike backed away as a woman,
garbed in a
“The ring may have chosen him,
but we haven’t. You’ve brought us his body. You can leave now,” the
scantily-clad woman announced, a frown on her face.
Spike didn’t know whether to be
pissed off or hurt. But, before he could escape her harsh stare, a blur of red
brought his departure to a halt. Then, there was this angel... only...
Shayera. Hawkgirl. Some lingering aura of the ring’s former owner
disclosed her identity to him. She flew towards him, the wind as her wings
allowed her to land before him sending a gentle caress across his face.
“That’s rather harsh, don’t you
think, Diana? That should be a choice for the whole League to decide. Not just
one member.”
Shayera wasn’t intimidated by
the woman, that was obvious. Before either could say more, the man in the red
bodysuit with a lightning bolt across his chest – “Wally” the ring echoed in his
mind with equal parts annoyance and affection – spoke.
“Diana, the guy can’t help what
happened. It could have been anyone.”
Spike understood the feeling;
the kid was obviously nervous, and rather young, to be among such august heroes.
Diana seemed to tilt her head
back until she was glaring down her nose at Spike. “He is a vampire.” She
dropped the word like a lead weight on the room.
“With a bloody soul, you silly
cow.” As usual, Spike’s undecided emotions gave way to anger at the signs of
Diana’s greater-than-thou attitude. A chuckle from behind him surprised the
vampire.
The voice of the one called
Arthur spoke up. “I like him already.”
Shayera bit her lip to keep
from laughing, but between the vampire’s attitude and the cow remark, she was
hard pressed to hold it in. Ended up turning to the side and coughing heavily.
When she got control of her emotions, she turned back to see Diana glaring at
her now.
“Look, ’m sorry. But you
touched on a sore spot, yeah? So, I’ll just be leaving and gettin’ out of your
soddin’ way,” Spike announced. He turned and headed towards the door and away
from yet another group that didn’t seem to want any part of him. A hand on his
shoulder stopped him just as the green from his ring enveloped him.
“Stay.” A simple word really.
Made more so by the man that uttered it.
Superman knew what it was like
to be considered a freak, the outsider. He didn’t want this man – this vampire –
to be made to feel like that.
Spike looked back at Superman
and saw kindness and understanding in his eyes and again he felt as if he had
been chosen. “Bloody hell…” His shoulders slumped, unable to say no to the man.
“Has the killer been caught?”
Spike asked after a moment.
“No, William.” The voice from
the shadows again, which soon revealed the superhero called Batman. “The killer
escaped and seems to be heading towards the
“He’s a vampire—” Wonder Woman
began.
“Diana!” The name wasn’t spoken
loud, but The Bat’s voice seemed to carry an authority that even Spike
respected. “Six months ago you informed us that the Hellmouth in Sunnydale had
closed for good?”
At the woman’s nod, he added,
“You may thank William the Bloody, this vampire, for that. He gave his
life to save us all.”
“So,” she argued, crossing her
arms over her ample chest. “We do it every day too. Those out of control robots
ring any bells? Not to mention me having to carry The Atom inside my brassiere
to do it.”
“Well, ’f I promise not to
climb in your brassiere, will you cut me some slack?” Spike snarked,
adding, so as not to burn his bridges, “no offense, Batman.” Truthfully, though,
he’d had about enough already. Maybe once the group had settled down he’d think
about returning. Right now, he had a murderer to track down. “Look... would
y’all min’ clearin’ out? I need to be goin’ and I can’ rightly do that with you
standin’ here.”
“You’ll need this,” Batman said
as he handed Spike a rather large folder. “And if you need help, use the ring.”
The group of heroes moved back
out of the area, but Spike could still hear the Wonder Bint – what he’d silently
dubbed her – muttering about him taking John’s ring. Spike never had been much
for research, but he knew who was. The thought produced a smirk. Peaches was
gonna bloody hate this.
“I’m going with you.” The
angel, no, Hawkgirl, he reminded himself, called out before he could leave. He
looked into her eyes and nodded. He understood. Pain gazed back at him. Pain
barely masked by her need for revenge.
“Alright, luv. Hang on.” He
pointed his ring and a green beam shot out and enveloped both of them, then the
cargo bay doors were open and they were flying out through space back towards
Earth. And Wolfram and Hart.
“You know, if you let it, you
don’t have to use the doors.” Shayera said to him quietly as they flew through
space. “John never did.” The hurt in her voice shook Spike to the core. He
nodded, then couldn’t help the grin that came over his face.
“Ya don’t mind if we scare the
poofter, do you, luv?” he asked, trying to cheer the woman up.
“Poofter…?” Shayera went
through the earth slang she knew, her eyes dawning with understanding. “You want
to surprise your lover?”
Spike actually accidentally
dropped them both, and Shayera was lucky they were in the Earth’s atmosphere. A
second later, Spike recovered even as he sputtered out, “Bloody hell! No, he’s
my bloody grandsire and thinks he’s the reason the bloody earth turns.”
Neither spoke after that as
they flew rather quickly towards
“Ummmm, luv, don’t rightly
think they’re gonna let you in the buildin’ with that thing.”
“I’d like to see them try and
stop me,” she growled, palming the mace suggestively.
“Yeah, wouldn’t mind watching
that m’self. Alright, stay behind me, and we’ll see if my being with you has any
pull. Would hate to have to mess with any of Angel’s mindless minions. Hell,
what am I saying??! Of course I wouldn’t.”
Just before they walked through
the revolving doors, Spike realized that it would probably be easier for the two
of them to slide through the atoms of the roof and float through the air till
they landed in Angel’s office.
~*~*~*~*~
“Well, Peaches, me an’ a real
angel here need your help catching a murderer.”
The look on Angel’s face was
priceless.
“Spike!” Angel growled
struggling to gain control of the situation.
“Is he always like this?”
Shayera asked.
“What with the big forehead and
the brood?” At her quirked brow, Spike answered, “Yeah, he’s always like that.”
“Spike.” Harsher, more of a
warning. Spike just grinned. It wasn’t like Angel had a chance of beating him
now. He was the Green Lantern, or, one of them. He wasn’t quite sure what
title he wore now. But, he’d been chosen.
Spike threw the folder on
Angel’s desk. “This guy killed the former owner of this ring.” Spike held up his
hand to show off the ring. “And that file contains everything the Justice League
has on him.” Spike plopped down in a chair and propped his feet on Angel’s desk.
“He was also the lady here’s former honey. So get to redeemin’ yourself and help
us find him.”
Before Angel could ground out a
nasty retort, his office door opened and Fred walked in, followed closely by
Wesley. The two were talking and failed to notice Hawkgirl as she stood in the
corner.
“Fred!” Spike called out. “Just
the bird I was lookin’ for!”
Fred glanced up and saw Spike
reclined in one of the chairs in front of Angel’s desk.
“Oh, hey, Spike. Gunn told us
the good news. Congratulations!” She turned to Angel and spoke. “Uh, Angel, I
think the sensors in the lab are going wonky. I’ve been getting some strange
readings that aren’t making any kind of sense.”
“You can thank Spike here for
that... and his new friend too.”
The word friend was voiced in
such a way that Shayera bristled and moved forward... mace at the
ready. “Beheadings kill a vampire, correct?” Shayera asked in an aside to
Spike.
“Yeah, luv.” Spike said as he
watched the two. “But Peaches isn’t worth it.”
“Uhmmm, guys?” Fred called out
as she thumbed through Spike’s file. “Who is Marcus Aurelius Immortalis?”
At that both vampires froze and
looked at each other for a minute.
“Why, Fred?” Angel asked. “Is
he perhaps in
“Ummmm... I’m not sure. This
file had him in the States not long ago, but he’s since moved on towards...” She
read a bit, turning the page. “Says here,
“Nothing, Fred.” Spike couldn’t
keep the grin from his voice. “Is the killer this Immortalis gent?”
“No, he is a known contact and
possibly a co-conspirator.” Fred was devouring the file quickly. “The guy we are
looking for is a metahuman, but he is Italian.” She looked up hoping the two
vampires would like her findings.
“You think me and this bloody
ring could—?” Spike asked looking at his grandsire.
“Oh yeah, but I wanna watch,”
Angel answered.
“You know of this Immortalis?”
Shayera interrupted the two vampires.
“Oh yeah, luv. We go way back.
Jus’ didn’t think he’d stoop to murder though. And, the Lantern? Takes a lot to
bring somethin’ like that down.”
“Well, what are we waiting
for?” she demanded. Killer or not, co-conspirator or not, they had an
appointment to keep with one Marcus Aurelius Immortalis! She was ready to hit
something, and this looked like a perfect opportunity for her.
A lantern appeared near Spike,
and without thinking, he placed his ring hand near it to recharge. “In the
darkest day, in the brightest night. No evil will escape Spike’s right.”
Angel snickered.
“Wot?” he asked sheepishly.
“Escape Spike’s right?” Angel’s
mirth was annoying. “Bloody Awful Poet still.”
“Why do you put up with his
ridiculing?” Shayera asked conversationally. “You’re ten times the person he’ll
ever be.”
Hawkgirl had taken an instant
dislike to the broody vampire; something about his persona just didn’t sit well
with her. Whereas when she looked at Spike – now the new Green Lantern – she
could see the goodness emanating from him.
“Well, luv, this ring here? It
chose me. And knowing the Poof like I do, that will eat him up more than
anything I could ever do to him.” Spike smiled as Angel lost every bit of his
humor.
“How do we know it chose you,
Spike? You could have just stolen it.” Angel walked forward as if to take the
ring.
“Let him have it,” Shayera
announced. “If he is unworthy it will burn him alive.” Her smile towards Angel
was truly evil.
Angel stopped in his tracks,
hesitating.
“The ring cannot come off his
hand unwillingly,” she added. “Only the ring can choose where it will go, and
only upon the bearer’s death will it decide.”
“Sorry, Peaches, guess you
lose. But don’t worry, you don’t want to be a superhero. You want to work
towards that Shanshu thing you’ve got goin’. Of course...” Spike scratched his
chin and pretended to ponder a bit. “…being a superhero might help a bit with
the Shanshu thing. Oh well.”
Angel seemed ready to choke on
his own tongue, and he turned whiter than usual.
“Fred, you got us a location
yet?” Angel barked out the question rather harshly, taking his anger at his
grandchilde out on the Texan girl.
“Yeah, Hawkgirl needs to work
off a bit of tension,” Spike added to soften Angel’s question, giving a glare in
Angel’s direction.
“I don’t know what you’re
asking me for,” she told them both. “This stuff is hours old. Don’t you have any
contacts from whom you can get more up-to-date information? I mean, we’ve only
got Wolfram & Hart at our disposal. You’ve got the Justice League.”
“She’s got a point,” Spike told
Shayera. “Why don’t we head in that general direction and you can put in a call
to your buddies and see if they’ve got anything new for us.”
“They’re not just my buddies.
You’re one of us now, whether you like it or not.”
“Doubt that, luv. But, it’s
nice of you to say so.”
“I’m not just saying so. Look,
we may bicker amongst ourselves, and who wouldn’t when your only companions are
those just as freaky as you? But, try to come between us and you’ll feel the
weight of the Justice League descend.”
“Then why....?”
“Because they knew it was
personal,” she answered softly. “That you wouldn’t... that I wouldn’t...
want any help.”
Want to leave a REVIEW?
