Wow. Where did that last five years go?
I last updated this story in early 2009, and even before that my writing had slowed to a trickle, just a chapter a year for several years. But I never quite admitted to myself that I had abandoned this story; I kept thinking "
someday, maybe, I'll finish it."
I have finally admitted to myself that I'm not going to finish it.
And having done that, in some sense, I finished it.
Here's what I'm posting tonight:
First, what I'm calling chapter 14, which was originally meant to be the first
half of chapter 14 and which has actually been sitting on my hard drive for the past five years.
Second, a summary of what would have happened in the rest of the story, and indeed in the rest of the Fragments-verse, had I ever managed to write it. I wrote this summary in the last two days, based on my notes from 2005-2009 and on the version of the story which has lived only in my head for the past five years. This summary ... well, it turned out to be 4000 words long. It is not a story, but in the end it took on some story-like qualities. You'll see.
I'll start with my "previously" bit, which might be helpful if you haven't looked at this story in five years.
( Previously in the Fragments-verse.... )And now, the conclusion!
Title: That Good Night (parts 14 and 15 of 15, more or less)
Rating: NC-17 overall (barely)
Pairing: Spike/Xander, ensemble
Summary: A couple of years post-NFA, Spike is human, and it isn’t working out so well. He and Xander are currently in Sao Paulo, where Willow has just had a baby and a new vampire problem is looming.
Warnings: For earlier parts, I warned: "This story will get dark at times. Definitely angsty, h/c with lots of hurt. Character death will most definitely be threatened, and I'd rather not say what comes of it (though if you're terribly worried, ask me privately)." To this part, I append the warning that the author stopped writing this story before it was finished, and then five years later sort of summarized how the story would have ended if she'd ever finished writing it.
Length: 1000 words for chapter fourteen. 4000 words for the ending summary. 49,000 words for the whole story from the beginning.
Disclaimer: They're not mine, and I'm not making any money.
( Chapter 14 )Huge thanks to
![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
yourlibrarian, who beta-read this part back in 2009, who over the course of the beta-reading became a friend, and who still to this very day says encouraging things about my prospects for writing more Buffyverse fic!
And now ... the end. Such as it is. This 'verse began in fragments and it will end in fragments. Here's what would have happened, plot thread by plot thread.
( What Would Have Happened Next )And that's how the story would have ended. If I'd ever written it.
So, wow, now that that's over ... I'd like to thank everyone who ever sent me encouraging feedback over all these years. And I'd like to apologize to everyone who read the story in hopes that it would have a proper ending sometime in their, or my, lifetime. I really am sorry! I hope that if you're still around, and still care about this story, at least this ending-ish thing will give you some closure.
ETA: I've now uploaded this story, in all its quasi-finished imperfection, to AO3. So, if that's a more comfortable place for you to read, feel free to go there!
That Good Night on AO3![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
