399 - Threadbare - And If My Love Had Never Let Me Go - dragonyphoenis - BtVS

[dragonyphoenix.livejournal.com]

Title: And If My Love Had Never Let Me Go 2/15
Fandom: BtVS
Prompt: 399 - Threadbare
Warnings: None
Rating: PG
Summary: Trekker wrote a series called In Another Life where Rupert went back to the Council but never broke up with Ethan. In the chapter “The Dark Age, Postscript”, Ethan is drawn into a universe where his and Rupert's relationship had ended. It was such a fascinating idea I couldn't help but play with it. This is a remix of that chapter.
Note: The story shifts between the two verses but headers are included to orient the reader.
Note: It's easier to read in AO3. LJ messes up my paragraphs.
Previous scenes:

1. http://tamingthemuse.livejournal.com/2608767.html

Whedonverse scrying in on In Another Life verse

None of the accommodations in Sunnydale stood up to Ethan's standards. Even its most expensive hotels were mundane at best. Unfortunately setting up that spell for Halloween – renting the shop, purchasing supplies, et cetera, et cetara – had left him rather on the broke side. Sunnydale was full of odd jobs but there were plenty here who knew how to work magic. They didn't pay as well as they would elsewhere. Hence the dump of a motel he'd been forced to settle for.

He rose to his feet and thought about the altar. If he was going to answer Rupert's question, he'd have to look across alternate universes. The scrying bowl could stay, but it wouldn't be enough. Ethan pulled the statue of Janus and set it down on the far side of the bowl. Janus, representing chaos, was the Lord of the Realms of Possibility. She / he could show Ethan how their lives would have played out if Ethan hadn't left that night.

Ethan sat before the bowl and lit the incense. Images began to form. Randall dead. Ripper, at the funeral, telling Ethan he was leaving, was returning to the Council. “Don't try to contact me,” he'd said. Ethan hadn't, not for years, and by then it had been too late. The Council had stultified Ripper and transformed him back into Rupert. But in this universe, Ethan waited less than a week and found Rupert in the library.

“Hello Ripper.” Gods, had he honestly worn a psychedelic vest bringing together those shades of green and orange? Had he actually allowed his jeans to become that threadbare? Ethan winced to defend himself against his younger self's taste.

Rupert slammed his book shut and jumped as the sound echoed around all three stories. “What are you doing here?” he whispered.

“I came looking for you.” Ethan hadn't diminished his voice at all, in fact it sounded as if he'd raised it a bit.

“Do you mind? This is a library.”

Ethan waved that off. “It's not as if I'm disturbing anyone, other than you of course, and I hope that's in a good way.”

Rupert looked over to see an older man slumped against a desk. He grabbed at Ethan's vest and shook him. “What did you do?”

“Relax. He's just asleep. They're all asleep. I thought it'd be nice to have a spot of privacy.”

“I told you to leave me alone.”

“And I didn't,” Ethan replied. “Can you say that you're honestly surprised?”

“I can say I'm disappointed.”

“As am I,” Ethan added. “This scholastic life, rather dull and drab, doesn't suit you, not at all. I found a new book, one to replace the tome you destroyed. Come play with me. It'll be ever so much fun.”

Rupert slammed Ethan onto a table. “The last time we played, Randall died.”

Ethan rolled his eyes. This didn't seem to be going anywhere interesting. He fast-forwarded through the inevitable beating. This one was different though. It was so brutal that Ethan couldn't even crawl away. Rupert called some of his Watcher pals who came and carted Ethan away.

Ah, this was new. Ethan slowed down out of fast-forward and then wished he hadn't. He looked dreadful. The bruises hadn't formed yet but his hand was broken and a bone pushed out of his arm.

The two Watchers met a third out, a slightly heavy man, somewhat older than the other two, in the parking lot. “Mr. Travers, sir.”

“Is this the one who's been causing trouble for our Rupert?”

“Yes, sir.”

“He's not to cause trouble again. Do you understand me.”

The two stood up straighter. Ethan, on the cart, must have understood as well. He started to speak a spell of protection but the closer man reached a hand around his throat and squeezed.

Ethan turned his head away. He didn't need to see more. “That didn't go quite as well as planned.” Still, there had to be someplace where he and Rupert were together and happy. How hard could it be to find?

Rupert, once he'd returned to the Council, never let Ethan back in to his life. There wasn't even one universe that supported what seemed to be a perfectly likely option to Ethan. There ware universes where Randall died but Rupert stayed. In every one of them, Rupert drowned in his guilt. He killed himself. He recklessly hunted vampires until they killed him. He sank into a haze of drugs and alcohol until he became so pitiful that even Ethan wouldn't stay. In no universe where they invoked Eyghon did somebody not die. Rupert's deaths, which tended to involve Watchers, were particularly messy. In no universe where they invoked Eyghon did Rupert and Ethan stay together. The best that came from those universes was the life Ethan had now. On the rare occasions that he did manage to bring a bit of joy and interest into Rupert's life, Ethan got beaten for his troubles. It was hardly satisfactory. It was time to step out of the box. He'd have to search through universes where he and Ripper had been so mundane that they'd never dared to draw a demon down into themselves.

Ripper, it seemed, grew bored with nothing more than sex and drugs and magick. Ethan couldn't see why. They certainly amused him well enough. He did remember that though. Ripper bored had been a Ripper on the verge of returning to the Council. It's why Ethan had suggested Eyghon in the first place. He'd thought ramping up the danger would keep Ripper interested. That line was closed though.

In all of the universes where Rupert returned to the Council and Ethan followed after like an obedient stray, Rupert asked Ethan to get a job. Something to do with not starving which wouldn't have been a problem if Rupert would have been willing to knock a few heads in and snatch a few wallets. Most of the jobs involved Ethan working in a magic shop, one he bought out, cheaply, after the owner had died, boringly and of natural causes. Of those, the only universes that brought them to Sunnydale were the ones where Rupert was called to become the Watcher of a Slayer. “Let's see where that takes us.”

This Ethan wore blues and greens, colors he'd always associated more with Rupert, and Ethan's hair was long but tied back in a pony tail. The other Ethan owned a magic shop, two actually, one in England and the other in Sunnydale. Both shops bore his name – Ethan's – so that hadn't changed. The Sunnydale shop was in the same location as his own store and did quite as well as his own costume store had. It seemed he was still quite the businessman no matter what the universe. He looked in closer.

Ethan felt a shiver run down his spine. He glanced about the shop only to see the usual customers. Miss Maggie was busy measuring herbs but he didn't need to be concerned there. She practiced a form a Wicca with a strong belief in the Law of Returns, that any negative actions would come back threefold. He knew she would be scrupulously honest with her purchases. Three people browsed the bookshelves and another sniffed at incense but there didn't seem anything untoward there. Ethan expanded his senses but couldn't feel anything unusual, only his own magic. He resolved to keep an eye out. Here on a Hellmouth, who knew what it might portend.

The bell jangled as the door opened. Ethan didn't necessarily feel the need for a bell but Rupert had brought it in as a gift a few days before he'd opened the shop. “Every proper shop needs a bell.” He'd done the same thing with Ethan's shop in London, looking so pleased that Ethan hadn't had the heart to say no.

Ah, UPS, finally. Beth, over in the London shop, had shipped over some books, tomes Rupert had wanted. Ethan had expected them yesterday. When he opened the box, there was a letter on top, written in Beth's hand. Found this. Thought you'd like it. - B

Underneath was a photo, black and white, from more than twenty years back. Ripper in that godawful orange vest he'd thankfully left behind when he'd returned to the Council and Ethan decked out in much the same hippie style – if one could call it style – but at least in maroons and browns that didn't glare quite so loudly. Ethan smiled down fondly. Those were, well, days if not the days. He couldn't say he missed squatting or starving. They'd been freer then, or had thought they were, but life was more satisfying now, or would be if Rupert didn't throw himself into danger on a regular basis. Still, it had been over a week since anything frighteningly deadly. Perhaps it was time they had a night to themselves. Ethan gave Rupert a ring.

“Hello?” Ah good, not too distracted which meant nothing deadly had come up since this morning.

“Dearheart.”

Rupert's voice took on an affectionate purr. “You sound happy.”

“You're picking up take-out on the way home. Make it something nice.”

“Why?”

“We're staying in.”

“Don't we usually?” Now Rupert sounded completely befuddled.

“Honestly Rupert, has it been that long since we've” He let his voice drop down to a husky tone. “stayed in?”

“Oh.” Have to give one thing to Rupert. He did catch on quickly. “You know, if you really wanted to make it a special night, you could cook.”

“Ha ha. Keep it up and you won't be getting any.”

“As if you could deny me.” Rupert sounded confident, not without reason. “How late does the shop close tonight?” Ethan almost gasped at the rough edge of lust in Rupert's voice.

“Six, as you well know.”

“We could play hookey,” Rupert encouraged. “I'll give up the library for the afternoon if you'll close shop early.”

“I am a responsible businessman. Unlike some.”

Ethan sat back in shock, barely aware of the scratchy motel rug he was sitting on. His other self put business before pleasure, before pleasure with Rupert? Were there no universes outside of this one where he was happy? He was tempted to give up on this universe but the chance to see himself, even if it was his other self, and Rupert together was too strong. He scryed into the bowl again.

Ethan closed the shop up fifteen minutes early. If any customers came this late, they were just going to have to understand. Perhaps he should get an assistant, someone like Beth in London. Then he'd be able to take Rupert up on his offers without closing the shop. Not that Rupert had ever made any offers of the kind. Perhaps it was something they should try working into their relationship.

Their home, at least the downstairs, was lit by candles. Ethan knew there would be candles upstairs as well, in the bedroom, unlit at the moment but a simple spell would take care of that when the time was right. There was an album on the stereo. Ethan took in the eclectic jazz of King Crimson. “Red?”

Rupert's tweed had given way to a pair of casual slacks and a green turtleneck. Damn, that wasn't playing fair. Rupert knew how deadly attractive he was in a turtleneck. Not that he believed it, but he knew Ethan's feelings on the subject. He gave Ethan an abashed grin as he handed over a glass of wine. “I was feeling nostalgic.”

“We're thinking as one.” Ethan handed over the photo. “Beth sent it. That's what got me thinking we needed a night in.”

Rupert barked out a laugh. “Good Lord, we look …”

“Young. Naïve. Like idiots?”

Rupert looked up from the photo. “Like we were meant to be together.”

“Oh, that's much better,” Ethan purred.

“And you look …”

“Yes.”

“Positively kissable.”

On the record player, as “Providence” gave way to “Starless” Rupert started shifting in time to the music, drawing Ethan further into their home, past the dining room table and until they were dancing together, wrapped in each others arms. “Dinner's going to get cold,” Ethan smirked.

“I decided to cook.”

Ethan kept dancing but allowed a properly shocked expression to cross his face. “After I told you to get take-out?”

“It's just pasta with veggies and chicken, Ethan. Everything's chopped and ready to go. The actual cooking will be minimal, once we're ready to eat.”

Ethan pulled Rupert closer. “And you don't think I'm desperate now?”

“Oh, I believe you're quite desperate, just not for dinner.” Their lips came together in a rough kiss.

Ethan sat back and dismissed the scryed image. How dare that domesticated, tamed Ethan be happy when he couldn't have his Rupert? It wasn't going to stand. He'd show him. He'd bring the creature here and let Rupert see what he was missing. The creature couldn't stay of course. He'd have to limit the other Ethan's time here. He wouldn't want Rupert to grow too accustomed to that timid, domesticated Ethan.