The world felt completely new and full of possibility. He could move things, interact with the world again. He wasn’t limited to being some unseen spook – he could make a difference! This was one of the best things to happen to him since, well, since he’d gone all ghostly, David thought with a grin. Now, what to try first... Picking up a cup was fun and all, but there’s only so long that you can hold the thing before the novelty wears off. Then the boredom kicks back in, only now you're left craving a nice cuppa that you can't drink without leaving a puddle on the floor. Next, he tried picking up various office supplies, moving them about. One of his first tasks was to shift so that he was invisible and rearrange Angel’s desk, chuckling cheerfully as he carefully placed a few thumbtacks in the vampire’s plush office chair. He wouldn’t do it to a human, but for a vamp, it was more an annoyance than anything. That done, he carefully removed Angel’s appointment book. Now, he thought, where to hide this? He thought for a moment. The women’s lavatory? Nah, too obvious. Instead, he buried it at the back of the third-floor supply closet, behind several boxes of feminine hygiene products. He amused himself for a bit floating various objects around the lobby, pretending they were model airplanes. Then he spotted the stress ball in Lorne’s office. Taking it down into the lobby, he practiced throwing and catching the grey ball. He sent it sailing into the air with a flick of his wrist, diving across the lobby to catch it like he’d seen in baseball games on tv. What I wouldn’t give for a proper football, he thought, as he paced while trying to toss a ceremonial knife he’d found in Angel’s desk drawer, wincing when he missed and heard the crack of a computer monitor. All too soon, he was bored again. After all this time, I can move things around and I’m bored this quickly? What’s wrong with me? He wondered, laughing at himself as he imagined how William or Maddy might have answered that question. He shook his head and sighed. It was no use. He wasn’t just bored, he was lonely. Spike was around somewhere, but he’d made it plain he didn’t want David’s company.

  When Fred got to work the morning after the Pavayne incident, she was still feeling defeated. Despite Spike and David reassuring her that they would rather remain ghosts than become obsessed with escaping their fate, and their repeated assurances they’d rather have her in the world than be corporeal, she was struggling to let her disappointment go. She’d managed to solve one of the trickiest challenges she’d had in a while, and it felt like it had led to nothing. As she walked up to the door of the lab, David appeared in front of her with a big grin on his face.

  “Good morning, luv,” he said and bowed to her. She couldn’t help but chuckle and smile back. He looked downright excited to see her.

  “Good morning, David. What’s up?”

  “Got something to show you,” he said and waggled his eyebrows at her. She laughed and rolled her eyes good naturedly. He took a deep breath and then opened the door for her, making a sweeping gesture with his arm to invite her into the lab. “Milady,” he said, bowing his head to her, in an English accent that sounded far more like Wesley’s than his usual way of speaking, which closely matched Spike’s. She laughed with delight at the pride that glowed in his eyes.

  “Why thank you kind sir,” she said with a small curtsey as she entered the lab. He walked through after her, beaming with pride. “Have you been practicing all night?” He nodded, excitement radiating off him in waves of childlike enthusiasm.

  “I stand by the fact that, while things didn’t end as ideally as they could have, learning those tricks from Pavayne was the best thing to happen to me in ages. And again, still wouldn’t change my choice to save you for all the world. I’d rather have you as a friend and be a ghost than have a normal body again. And I’ll remind you anytime I see you frown,” he fixed her with a serious look, but the gleam in his eyes showed the humor he was trying to hide. She shook her head and smiled at him.

  “Ok, ok. You’ve made your point,” she agreed.

  David nodded and gave her a crooked grin. “Good! Did you eat breakfast this morning?”

  “Hmm?” Fred asked, confused at the change of subject.

  “Breakfast? Did you eat?” David repeated.

  “Oh, no I wasn’t hungry,” she waved her hand at him. “I’ve got so much to do, I think I’ll just get to work.” Right then, her stomach took the opportunity to let out a loud gurgle. David frowned and raised an eyebrow at her.

  “Not that it’s healthy, but someone brought in donuts this morning. Come on!” he said. He tried to grab her hand, but his hand went right through hers. He frowned. “Still have to practice that. But here, I’ll open the door for you!” He ran ahead, beaming as he proudly opened the door and gestured for her to follow. She laughed.

  “Let me at least put my stuff down first David,” she chided him. He rolled his eyes and let the door swing shut and waited. “You just want an excuse to practice opening the door for someone again, don’t you?”

  He looked at her sheepishly and shrugged. “Well, that too. Been paying attention you know. You keep busy, but you don’t take breaks. Figure if I’m not going to hell anytime soon, and I can touch things again, might as well make myself useful.”

  “I’m not a project David,” she started to say. He just smiled at her, and all she saw reflected back was caring.

  “Not a project. Just a friend,” he said. “Haven’t had one in a very long time. What you tried to do for us was … well, words can’t capture how much it meant to me. Just showing my appreciation.” She studied him for a moment but only saw genuine consideration coming from him. “Now come on. Before all the good donuts are all gone!” He whined.

  Once they’d gotten back with her donut, he finally worked up the courage to tell her what he’d been nervous to tell her all night. “Fred?” he said anxiously.

  “Mmhmm?” she said absently as she took a big bite out of her chocolate donut.

  “I might have broken your radio last night. I’m sorry!” he said, the words tumbling out of his mouth quickly.

  “What? How’d you break the radio?” she turned to him confused.

  “I was trying to turn it on and I think I zapped it. Looked like lightning sparked from my fingers. And, well, there was a little smoke…” Fred’s eyes widened, and she walked over to the radio. Sure enough, she could see a small burn mark. She looked back at David who was grimacing. “I really didn’t mean to. I just wanted to turn on the radio. Been afraid to touch any other electronics since.” He decided not to mention Angel’s computer. While they’d been getting donuts, he’d heard Angel roar as he sat down, and he knew that he was still looking for his appointment book. David’s mouth twitched in a smile again as he thought about it. Angel had immediately blamed Spike, who’d been laughing too hard to argue. David had nearly lost his composure completely when he heard the exchange.

  Fred raised her eyebrows at him, then looked back down at the radio considering the implications of what could have caused the electrical charge. “How do you make objects move?” she asked as her brain started to spin on all the different ways he could have produced electricity.

  He shrugged. “I just do it. I think about what I want to do, and I reach out and do it. Imagine it happening, and then it happens. So, if I want to pick up the cup,” he said as he stepped over to her cup of coffee, “I imagine it in my hands. Believe I can pick it up. Believe that if I want to bad enough, I can make it happen. Then I just do it. But if I think about it too hard, I keep reaching through it. I have to be Zen about it.”

  “Zen, huh?” Fred asked and David nodded.

  “Gotta just be. If you stay too stuck in your head, then you can’t do it. Because you’re too busy thinking about how to do it.”

  “I thought you just figured this out last night. Were you practicing all night?” Fred suddenly wondered if perhaps Spike hadn’t been to blame for Angel’s missing appointment book after all.

  “Well, I don’t sleep, so yeah. Guess it’s like how I can change my clothes or move around. I just do it. Imagine it and make it happen.” He thought for a minute, trying to come up with any better way to describe what it was like.

  “You imagine it?” Fred prompted.

  “Yeah,” he chuckled. “Like dreams in real life, I guess. Or making daydreams into reality. Pavayne talked about using his will to manifest things in the world, which got me to thinking about how the mind works. How dreams work. How the imagination works. How you can be in two places at one time, where your body is and where your mind is. If I can bring them both to the same place, at the same time, without one tripping up the other one,” he chuckled, “then I can do it.” He grabbed the cup and went to take a drink. “Unfortunately, there are limits,” he said as he handed the cup back to her with a grin. “Don’t want to make a mess on your floor, for instance. I can’t actually hold the liquid inside my body. At least, not for very long. Though I suspect I could probably pretend to drink it, it would end up on the floor…” Fred listened. The man was able to manifest his will in the plane he was currently occupying and allowing it to cross over into their reality.

  “Incredible,” she said. One of her assistants knocked on her door. “Oh shoot. I have to cut this short David. We’ll talk more later, ok? I want to hear more about this. Maybe test the limits on what you can do, if you’re willing?”

  David grinned and nodded, excited by the idea of a project with Fred and spending time together. “Yeah. Sounds like fun!”

  He made his way up to Wesley’s office. He wanted to find out more about this prophecy Fred had mentioned. He wanted to read. “Morning David,” Wesley said, with a friendly smile. David was a little surprised. Before last night, Wes had seemed to tolerate his presence more than anything. He’d suspected that Wes just didn’t know what to make of him, or his ghostly existence. “What can I do for you?”

  “Was hoping to pick your brain, actually. Fred mentioned something about a prophecy involving Angel turning human?” David studied Wes’s face as he spoke, and noticed something he couldn’t put his finger on quite yet when he said Fred’s name.

  “Ah yes. The Shanshu Prophecy. It states that Angel will play a pivotal role in the apocalypse and be rewarded by being turned human again.”

  “And it named Angel?”

  “Well, it stated that a vampire with a soul…” Wes tried to continue.

  “So, not Angel. Just a vampire with a soul?” David interrupted.

  “Well, yes. But I’m fairly certain it’s still referring to Angel since Spike isn’t exactly corporeal. Why do you ask?”

  “Curious is all. What, erm, languages has it been translated into?” he asked hesitantly.

  Wesley studied him curiously. “You want to read the prophecy?” David nodded. “Well, I do have some books that can help with the translation. You can read them in English. I just don’t have time to sit and turn pages for you or anything…”

  “Oh, that’s ok. I can handle that now. That’s why I came up, actually. I was hoping to find some reading materials,” he chuckled.

  “Really?” Wesley asked, and David laughed at his surprise.

  “Yeah. Picked up a few ideas from Pavayne. That blighter’d been knocking around for a few hundred years figuring out how to manipulate reality. Gave me some things to think about. Check it out!” He said as he went to pick up a pen off Wesley’s desk. He missed the first time but managed to grasp it the second time he pinched his fingers together. He lifted it to demonstrate.

  “That’s incredible! And you just figured this out? You couldn’t do it before last night?”

  “Well, actually that’s a good question. Never really thought it was possible, so it wasn’t.”

  “What do you mean?”

  “Pavayne was talking about the power of will. Claimed he was some kind of god,” David rolled his eyes. “But, he did talk about how he’d managed to strengthen his power over time in the ghost realm. Watching him work made me realize how much is actually possible for a ghost like me, if that’s what I am. Still not entirely sure on that point. But regardless, I picked up a few new tricks. Thought I’d try to put them to good use.” He set down the pen.

  This content has been misappropriated from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.

  “Fascinating. So Spike can do these things too?” Wesley continued to study him, his head slightly tilted.

  “He, erm, can pick up a cup!” David said, realizing he wasn’t sure what else Spike might be able to do. “I really don’t know if he’s figured out anything else. We don’t really spend much time together…”

  “Still. This is an interesting development. What else can you do?”

  David forgot for a moment that he wanted to stay hidden. How important it was that he kept his secrets. Wesley was interested in him and what he could do. He seemed genuinely curious, and David felt comfortable around him. He found himself wanting to share. He could share a little, right? David smirked and let his clothing change to dress slacks and a dress shirt, matching Wesley’s clothing exactly.

  “Incredible. You can change your clothing at will? Just your clothing or…” David let his hair shift to match the same length, cut and color as Wesley’s hair. “Fascinating. Can you change your height or anything else?” Wesley marveled at the man. It was almost like looking in a mirror. Not for the first time, he wondered who David had been before he became corporeally challenged.

  “Well, I’ve actually never really tried to make myself taller, or change the shape of my face. It would be like making myself a different person,” he thought aloud. “It’s like … it’s a reflection on who I am inside, I suppose. How I see myself? To change the shape of my face would make me an entirely different person. And I’m still me. At my core. Even if I’m pretending to be you,” he said and grinned as he let his other clothes return. Wesley nodded while he considered this.

  “But you can change your hair and clothing? Change how you project yourself in the world to an extent.” David nodded. “Have you been able to do this the entire time too or did you learn that from Pavayne as well?” Wesley asked thoughtfully.

  “No, that I’ve been able to do for a while.” David smiled, remembering the first time he’d played dress-up with Dru.

  “Can Spike do that too?” Wes asked, and David’s mind flashed to them standing naked in the basement, and then Spike remanifesting his clothing.

  “I haven’t seen him pick different clothing, but he’s projecting an image of himself too. Just simply existing as he is.”

  “Interesting. So you just imagine that you’re dressed differently and it happens. Were you able to do that before you entered the amulet?” Wesley asked, hoping David stayed willing to share. David frowned a little. He should have known it would go this way. He looked at Wesley. He’d been trying to ignore it, but the man really reminded him of someone, and he couldn’t put his finger on who it was. David made a split decision. Will had always said he ought to trust his gut. The men he’d worked with ages ago said the same thing. He wanted to trust Wesley.

  “Yes.” He confirmed.

  “How long ago were you trapped in the amulet?” Wesley was watching him closely now, his gaze still calm and measured.

  David chewed on his lip, unsure of how much to share. “Same amount of time as Spike. We went in at the same time.”

  “Spike said he didn’t know you though…” Wesley let the sentence hang, hoping that David would trust him, would let him in.

  “He doesn’t. I was a ghost. He… never knew I was there.” David looked down at the floor, remembering the long, lonely years.

  “Hmmm. And why were you there David?” Wesley asked, still with that same neutral expression.

  David swallowed. Well, that’s a loaded question. Where do I even begin? “Just was. Was in Sunnydale. Wanted to help.” I wanted this whole thing to be finally done. Wanted this existence to be done. I was tired of being stuck, and unseen. But I wanted the Hellmouth to close too. All those blasted monsters destroyed. David started thinking about those last moments again when they’d activated the amulet. Touching Buffy after she’d fallen. How the monsters had looked as they burned. The look of shock on the First’s face.

  “You were a ghost and wanted to help Spike?” David was startled out of his memories and realized he could practically see the wheels turning in the ex-demon hunter’s head.

  David looked back down at the ground, nodded and shrugged. “Wanted to help stop the First from rising. Stop those proto-vampires or whatever they were from coming out. There were so many of them…. I wanted the Hellmouth to stay closed. For those demons to stay where they belong.” Wes waited as David wrestled with himself, wanting to say more, but finally deciding to hold back. “It was the right thing to do,” he said, then looked up at Wesley.

  “Indeed. How did you wind up as a ghost at the Hellmouth anyway?”

  David chuckled. “That’s a story for another day I’m afraid.” His mouth felt very dry and his stomach was churning. He was scared he’d said too much already.

  “Another day it is,” Wes said, and David sighed in relief. Wesley smiled, his face showing genuine gratitude. Who does he remind me of? David wondered again as he smiled back. “Thank you for sharing, David. Thank you for trusting me.” David nodded, unsure what else to say. He hoped he wouldn’t regret sharing that much. “So, you wanted some reading materials and you thought that translating ancient prophecies was the way to go?”

  David laughed. “Honestly, I came looking for any kind of reading materials and remembered what Fred said as I walked in. Figured I might as well ask while I was here.”

  Wesley laughed and waved for David to follow him. He led him to a room with a series of books on a table. He picked one up, and spoke to it, “Shanshu Prophecy, English” and handed it to David.

  David looked at the book. “It isn’t electronic, is it? I mean, that’s magic it’s working, right?”

  Wesley laughed again. “Yes. It’s using magic. Why do you ask?”

  “Well, I accidentally fried Fred’s radio last night when I tried to turn on the music. Didn’t want to break your fancy books.”

  “You … fried her radio? However did you manage that?”

  “I just …” his eyes unfocused as he recalled the night before. “I wanted to turn it on. I was thinking about how radios worked, how the electricity runs through the insides, the way the sounds work and then zap. And then there was smoke,” he laughed. “Probably should have concentrated on hitting the button and not letting my mind wander on how the darn thing worked, if I’m being honest.” Wesley continued to study David as he picked up the book and started to read. Wesley wished he had more time to spend talking to David. He suspected there was a lot he could learn from the man.

  David absently started walking towards a chair and sat down as he continued to read. Suddenly he looked up, “does this translate into any language? Like, if I were to ask it to be in Latin, it would?” Wesley nodded. “Bloody brilliant. Think it would show me the latest Harry Potter book too?” Wesley laughed loudly.

  “Well, it’s not exactly made for that. But I think we could find the actual book.”

  David grinned. “Really? I heard the latest one came out over the summer but … we missed it with everything else going on. Been dying to find out what happens next for years.” He laughed at his own bad joke.

  “I’ll see what I can do,” Wesley said and chuckled again as David’s face lit up even further. “Let me know if you have any questions. I’ll be right out here, alright?”

  David nodded and went spoke to the book. “Shanshu Prophecy, Latin translation.” He glanced up at Wesley, feeling the need to explain himself. “Different languages translate differently. Reckon it’s older than Latin, but I didn’t study Classics much at uni.” Wesley just smiled and nodded and went back to his desk. He managed to get a copy of the fifth Harry Potter book brought up to his office and brought it to David who was still studying the book intently. As Wesley got close, he realized that David now had the prophecy in Ancient Greek.

  “Bloody fantastic!” David cried out and closed the prophecy book quickly. It dropped down through his hands to the floor. “Oops. Sorry. Got distracted.” He bent over and picked up the book and handed it back to Wesley. He took the other book and looked at it almost reverently. “Oh, I’ve been waiting for your secrets for over three years!” he spoke to the book, grinning. It was times like these that he missed having a sense of smell. There was something so tactile about a book, and he found himself suddenly missing being able to touch and smell a book again. “Do you want me to stay nearby? I can find another chair. You probably want to close up this room, yeah?” David asked Wes without looking up from the book.

  “It’s up to you,” Wesley said. “You can sit in my office if you want to, or you can just bring the book back later.”

  “Really? Thanks. Think I’ll try and take it down to the lab. Practice concentration while I carry it,” David laughed at himself, excited at the idea of having a challenge. “Seriously, thank you mate. You just made my day!” He waved and walked out quickly, concentrating on holding the book in his hands all the way down to the lab, whispering to it excitedly. Fred still didn’t have anything for him to do, so he sat on the small couch in her office. He looked at the clock. It was barely mid-morning. I’ll check to make sure she eats something in a few hours, he thought to himself and then worked on trying to open the book and turn its pages. It took a lot of practice, and he thought about giving up several times. But he wanted to know very badly how things were about to go with his wizarding world friends and managed to make it through a couple of chapters after a few hours of struggling. He prodded Fred to eat something and then sat back down to read some more.

  Spike walked in and saw David sitting on the couch with the book in his hands. “What? You’re reading a book?!” He asked incredulously. David looked up, trying not to smile.

  “Harry Potter book 5. Order of the Phoenix. Came out this past summer. Been dying to read it, no pun intended.”

  Spike raised an eyebrow but didn’t laugh. “But you’re able to hold the book and turn the pages? Already? I can barely hold a cup for more than a few moments!”

  “What? Like it’s hard?” David shrugged and tried hard not to smile. Spike scowled at him. “You want to share?” David went to hand him the book. Spike rolled his eyes and went to leave. David couldn’t hold back his laughter anymore. “I’m sorry. Here. Come sit down. I’m not that far into it. I could read it aloud if you want. Might be a little slow. Sometimes have trouble turning the pages,” he shrugged and smiled then patted the couch next to him. Spike stopped and looked at him. “Seriously. It’s … something to do. Trying to pass the time some way or another. And I want to read the book badly enough that I’m able to hold it and mostly turn the pages.”

  Spike sighed and sat down on the opposite end of the couch. “You’re seriously already able to do that?” He frowned, a thought occurring to him as he jumped back up. “It was you, wasn’t it? You’re the one who put the tacks in Peaches’ chair? Bloody brilliant that!” He cracked up again, thinking of Angel’s expression when he’d sat down and found the surprise waiting for him.

  David grinned, chest puffing a little with pride that Spike had gotten such a kick out of it. “What can I say, if you want something bad enough, you find a way,” David shrugged. “I really, really want to find out what happens. Three years is a long time to wait you know.” David tried to open the book. He was able to hold it but was now struggling to open the book after all his bluster.

  “Thought you really, really wanted to read the book, mate,” Spike teased and smirked at him.

  “Sod off,” David said laughing. Spike sat back. No one had read to him since his mother when he was a child, and he wasn’t sure how he felt about this. But he also wanted to find out what happened next. He waited patiently, feeling a little better as he watched David struggle to get the book open again, and then to flip through the first few pages to the actual start of the book. “Finally!” David declared triumphantly. Then the book fell through his hands. “Bugger!”

  Spike laughed and leaned over. “Let me try.” He concentrated. How badly do I want to read this book? More like how badly do I want something to do? He reached down and after a few swipes was able to pick up the book. After watching how hard it had been to turn pages though, he handed the book to David. David bit his lip and opened the book, concentrating hard and managed to turn to the right page much more quickly this time. He nodded and started to read.

  “Dudley Demented. Oh, that doesn’t sound good at all,” David remarked, reading the chapter’s title aloud.

  Spike shook his head. “Really doesn’t, does it?”

  “Bugger. Alright. Here we go. The hottest day of the summer so far …” he started to read. David’s mind wandered a little bit since he’d read these pages already. For a moment, he was back in the library, leaning back on the sofa. The fire was blazing and he was curled up under a blanket next to Will as he read to them both. It was one of his favorite ways to pass the evenings after a long day. He’d lean back and close his eyes, often awoken by Will shaking him awake to get into bed. David couldn’t believe he was sitting here, next to Spike of all people, sharing a story again. He’d read the books over Spike’s shoulder years ago, but this was different. They were actually sharing a moment together.

  Spike listened, and scooted closer to try and see the words. He wanted to try and follow along. David was doing fairly well turning the pages, and didn’t have to stop very often. Spike let his mind wander as he listened. He was back in his bed, leaning up against his mother as she read to him. Every night. Even today, reading books brought him comfort. It was one of the reasons he’d chosen to study Classics in school. The written word had captured his attention early on. He closed his eyes and tried to imagine the story unfolding before him. He felt safe next to David in that moment. They’d fought off the Reaper and Hell wasn’t trying to take them down anymore. He could enjoy this moment.

  David suddenly felt Spike’s head on his shoulder. He turned and realized that the man had fallen asleep. I guess ghosts can fall asleep? Actually, yeah. I should have guessed Spike might fall asleep. Will always did, if he wasn’t the one reading, David thought. He hesitated, unsure what to do. He wanted to keep reading, but he didn’t want to leave Spike out if he was asleep. David hadn’t slept in a long time. He didn’t need to as a ghost and had been worried about his nightmares returning if he tried. The memories overcoming him were bad enough. He didn’t need to add nightmares to the mix. David tried to turn the page but couldn’t get a hold of it. He tried a few more times but kept failing. Guess I don’t want to go on without him, even now, David realized. Well now what? He sighed. It had been so long since he’d been close to anyone. He leaned his head onto Spike’s head, gently. Nervous that Spike would wake up. It was a little like leaning against Will again, just without the soft curls. How David used to fall asleep on the sofa, listening to him at night. Lulled to sleep by his voice. David missed it so much, his throat ached and his chest felt heavy. He closed his eyes and let his head fully rest on Spike’s head. He just wanted to enjoy this feeling, even if only for a moment. He let himself relax, and for the first time in his ghostly existence, fell asleep.

  ****

  Fred walked into her office and was startled to find David and Spike asleep on her couch. Spike sitting next to David, slumped onto his shoulder. David had his head resting on Spike’s head. A book was sitting on the couch, mostly shrouded by David’s form. He must have dropped it when he’d fallen asleep. I thought David said he didn’t sleep. Or was it he didn’t need to sleep? Fred wondered. They looked kind of adorable. David sighed in his sleep and nuzzled into Spike. Spike’s body adjusted a little, shoulder sliding farther behind David’s arm and the two fell into each other a little more. Fred stood there and smiled at them for a moment before quietly gathering the papers she’d come in for. She very quietly shut the door to her office and went to work at a workstation across the lab. That was adorable, she thought to herself.