Joss Whedon and Mutant Enemy.

Episode 3: Happy Birthday by Wendy

Buffy was happy—happier than she had been since she died.

It was a relief to have given up the pain, the anger following her

rebirth. It took some time—a girls' night in with Willow, eating ice

cream and watching bad 80s movies; a few long talks with Xander and

Giles. And every day was an affirmation of her love for Dawn. The

simple things like cooking dinner together, making sure Dawn did her

homework, staying up late after a night of Slaying to watch tv and

giggle over fashion magazines--they made her happy. They didn't seem

like burdens any more.

Tonight was Dawn's birthday, and the whole gang was gathered in the

house on Revello Drive, watching the birthday girl open presents. Dawn

cooed and squealed— along with an envious Anya—over her gifts: CDs,

clothes, a book from Giles (who was in England finally giving his

report to the Council of Watchers), a bracelet from Buffy, and

surprisingly, a box of chocolates from Spike, which sent Dawn into

giggles for reasons neither teen nor vampire would admit to.

Now they were all sitting around the living room, comfortably trading

demon-fighting stories. Xander was in an armchair, Anya curled in his

lap, relaxed now that the excitement of gift-opening was over. Dawn and

Tara were sitting on the sofa, Tara braiding Dawn's hair, and Willow

was on the floor leaning against Tara's feet. Buffy was in the other

armchair, and Spike, as usual, was prowling the periphery of the room,

occasionally stopping to lean against the bookcase and drink from his

bottle of beer.

Xander was telling a particularly funny story about the time he and

Spike had fought a Joksa demon. The rest of the gang had heard the

story several times already but Buffy, of course, hadn't heard it yet.

"So, Spike and I are whaling on this demon with axes, and Spike keeps

saying `Take the left!' I don't know why, but I do what he says,"

Xander was barely containing his mirth so he could tell the story.

"Ends up this demon has a particularly charming defense mechanism—it

pukes on you. But it can only puke on you from its left mouth."

Dawn looked over at Buffy. "Really, it gets less gross, more funny."

"Well, Bleach Boy here is setting me up big time. Except that what he

doesn't know," and here Xander couldn't restrain himself and began

laughing, "is that this Joksa demon is pals with a Chaos demon—who's

standing just 10 feet away! We just couldn't see him in the trees—you

know, they have that antler thing going, look like branches. And the

Chaos demon does some sort of Chaos mojo, and all of a sudden this

Joksa demon starts upchucking from his right mouth—all over Spike!"

Everybody laughed except Anya, who patted Xander on the arm and said,

"That wasn't any more boring than the last time," and Spike, who was

looking as though he hated this story more with every retelling.

"Bloody Chaos demons," he muttered. "Never give me anything but

trouble."

"On that extremely appetizing note," Buffy said, "I'll go into the

kitchen and bring back something chocolate-y and sparkle-y."

"Need help, Buff?" Willow asked.

"Nope. Domestic Buffy has everything covered," she smiled.

Spike's eyes tracked Buffy as she left the room, and with a look of

resolve, he drained the beer bottle and followed. When he entered the

kitchen, she looked up from the cake she was contemplating and arched a

questioning brow at him.

"Need another drink," he said, lifting the empty bottle to show her.

She nodded and shifted her attention back to the cake, which she was

decorating with candles.

He returned to the doorway with a newly opened beer, then paused and

watched her for a moment, all golden warmth against the backdrop of the

white appliances and brown wood cabinets. She was wearing a taupe

sweater and pants a shade darker. Her hair was clipped back from her

face with two barrettes, and he thought he could detect a smudge of

chocolate icing on her cheekbone.

"What do you want?" Her voice came out more snippy than she intended.

Old habits died hard. She looked up again and smiled more warmly,

trying to take the edge off. "Don't watch me. I'm not exactly Emeril

Lagasse here."

He said nothing, just tilted his head as he gazed at her.

"What? You're starting to bug me in that stake-y kind of way again. I

thought we were past that."

"Just … you remind me of Joyce right now."

"Oh." He couldn't have said anything that would have pleased her more,

but she'd be damned if she told him that.

"Way to court a gal, Spike. Tell her she looks like her mother. You

read that in the vampire version of The Rules?"

Spike moved over to the counter and put the beer down. "She'd be proud

of you, pet. Taking of care of Dawn, making people feel good. That was

just the kind of person Joyce was. The same kind of person you are."

She was too moved to say anything, so she concentrated on sticking the

candles into the cake, not looking at him.

"So, that what I'm doing? Courting?" He moved closer to her, not

touching her, but close enough for her to know that that was precisely

he wanted to be doing. It was way too close for her comfort. She stood

back a step and looked him in the eye.

"No, no courting, Spike." Because it was for the best, she ignored the

way his face changed slightly, the way the heat in his eyes cooled,

even as she felt a pang of regret. "Spike," she said gently. "I'm still

trying to work on some sort of relationship between us that doesn't

involve one of us becoming vamp chow or dust. I thought friends would

be a much better start."

His jaw worked a little, and he stared into her eyes a minute. She

could sense when he came to a decision.

"Right then," he said. "Friends. Sure. I can do that." His eyes

flickered over her face. "You change your mind, you know where I'll be,

won't you, luv?"

"Uh, in a dark, dingy crypt watching soaps?"

He smiled again, the heat back. He reached out and brushed the brown

smudge of icing from her cheekbone. "I'll be here." He backed up and

turned away in one fluid motion, heading for the living room.

"Spike, wait!"

He paused at the doorway and turned back. The momentary look of hope

that flashed across his face tugged at her heart.

She swallowed. "I could use some help bringing out the cake and stuff?"

He didn't look happy. She looked away and saw the cake knife lying on

the counter. A devilish idea struck her, and she picked up the knife

and suddenly spun it through the air toward him.

His eyes on hers, he reached up his left hand and caught the knife

cleanly at the handle. His lips quirked.

"Just don't ask me to carry the plates like a soddin' bus boy."

****

They were gathered around the living room singing "Happy Birthday" as

Buffy brought in the cake, aglow with the light of 16 candles—15 plus

one for good luck.

"Make a wish, Dawnie!" Willow said excitedly.

"Wish for lots of money!" Anya said.

"Be careful what you wish for—you might get it," Xander said.

Dawn smiled widely, then got serious a moment, staring at the candles.

She took in a deep breath and blew—but instead of the quiet whoosh of

her breath, they heard ringing.

Buffy looked around at the shocked faces and laughed. "It's the

doorbell. I'll get it."

Must be one of Dawn's friends, she thought. Smiling, she opened the

door.

"Hello, Buffy."

It was Angel, holding a brightly wrapped gift in his hands, a curiously

blonder Cordelia beside him.

"Buffy! Nice to see you looking so … alive again. So, where's the

birthday girl?" Cordy said, grabbing the gift from Angel's hands and

pushing past her to enter the living room.

Buffy's smile fell.

"I called Angel yesterday and invited him and Cordy up for Dawnie's

party." Willow appeared behind her, leaning closer to whisper in

Buffy's ear. "He wanted to see you. He took your death really hard."

Buffy smiled again. "Of course," she said. "I'm glad to see you, Angel.

Come on in." He stepped in, and she reached up and kissed him gently on

the cheek.

Her Slayer senses went instantly on alert. There was a very angry

vampire in the area, and it wasn't Angel.

"Will," she groaned. "Did you forget about … our other guest?"

"Well, no," Willow said. "But I figured, hey, we're all adults here—

except for Dawn, I suppose—and we could all have a nice civilized

social event. I mean, it's been almost two years since Spike killed

anything other than demons or vam—oops." She looked at Angel,

crestfallen.

"Spike's here?" Angel looked puzzled.

"Yeah, Peaches, and hello to you too." Spike walked up to them, chin

raised defiantly.

"Spike," Buffy said with a warning note in her voice.

"What is he doing here? I thought he would have left after you died,"

Angel said coldly.

"I was invited—how else did I get in here? I'm a special guest of the

birthday girl herself." As if to confirm his words, Dawn came up behind

him and put her hand on his arm protectively.

"You let him near Dawn?" Angel was incredulous at the sight of Dawn and

Spike standing together. " Buffy, how can you trust him near your

sister? Are you sure he wasn't behind this whole Glory thing from the

beginning? You died—that was probably what he wanted all along."

With a roar, Spike hurled himself at Angel, and they crashed back

through the door into the front yard, the others following close

behind. Buffy stood with her arms crossed, a look of annoyance on her

face as she watched the two vampires brawling, while Willow worked on

summoning her magic to separate them. The others gathered on the front

steps to watch.

"Well, it wouldn't be a visit to Sunnydale without a big old demon

fight, would it," Cordy said with a sigh.

"We're rooting for Angel, right?" Anya asked Xander, matter-of-factly.

"Eh, if you ask me they can both dust each other," Xander said,

shrugging.

"Angel better not get dusted. I think he has my car keys in his

pocket," Cordy said.

"Tara, do something," Dawn said, anxiety in her voice.

Tara went up to Willow and grasped her hand. As the witches chanted a

spell, a golden light shimmered into place above Spike and Angel, then

flung itself between the combatants, the force throwing them apart.

Tara and Willow smiled at each other. "That was harder than I expected.

There's a powerful energy between those two," Willow said. "Thanks for

helping." Tara kissed her sweetly, and they retreated to the porch,

their work done for now.

Dawn ran over to where Spike had fallen when the force field hit him.

"Spike! Are you okay?"

Spike pulled himself into a sitting position, wiping blood from his

mouth.

"I'm fine, Nibblet," he said, as she helped him to his feet.

Buffy walked over to where Angel sat, staring at Spike and Dawn as if

their closeness offended him. She held out a hand and pulled Angel to

his feet, then turned toward Spike and Dawn.

"That's enough. I expect the two of you to behave for Dawn's birthday,"

Buffy said. "Now, we're going to go back inside to have cake and make

merry and not…"

She was cut off when Cordy cried out in pain.

In a flash, Angel had left Buffy's side and was cradling a writhing

Cordelia.

"Visions," he explained. "She gets them from time to time."

"Visions of what? The latest sale at Fred Segal?"

"I heard that." An annoyed Cordelia opened her eyes and glared at

Buffy. "You're not the only one with superpowers anymore." She looked

up at Angel. "Six demons in a circle, chanting, around two women."

"Where?" Angel asked.

"They're near a cave. Looked like it had two openings, sort of like

sunglasses. Ow, that one hurt." She held her hand to her eyes.

"Cordy, can I get you something--water, aspirin?" Xander knelt down at

her side and touched her shoulder.

"Yeah," she smiled at him sweetly. "A glass of water and an aspirin."

She winced. "Make that about 10 aspirin."

"Sure." Xander went inside, Anya following as if she weren't sure she

should let him out of her sight.

"Cave with two openings, huh." Spike spoke up.

"You've seen it?" Buffy turned to him.

"Yeah, there's one out a half-mile from where Harmony's lair used to

be. Used to go wandering a bit at night. Good way to avoid the pillow

talk, if you know what I mean."

"Pillow talk?" Cordy's ears perked up at this. "You? And Harmony? May I

take this opportunity to say `Eww'?"

"Didn't notice her complaining any, blondie," Spike snapped back.

"So," Cordy said. "You're the boyfriend she was talking about. The one

who was so devoted to her that he smothered her…." Her voice trailed

off as she noticed six faces staring at her, eyebrows raised.

"You mean, she was lying to me? About boyfriend stuff? Now that's

evil!"

"I told you, Cordy. She's a vampire. They betray your trust. That's

what they do." Angel glared at Spike to make his point.

Buffy closed her eyes in frustration as Willow came up to her and

patted her shoulder.

"I guess this wasn't such a good idea, then, huh?" she said.

"We'll live," Buffy said. Xander came out with the aspirin and a glass

of water, which Cordy gratefully accepted.

"There's not much time," Cordy said. "We have to find these demons and

stop them before they finish that ritual. I have a feeling that killing

humans comes after the chanty part."

"Spike, you'll have to show me where the cave is. I'm not familiar with

that area," Buffy ordered. He nodded.

"Cordy and I are coming too," Angel said. Buffy opened her mouth to

argue, but Angel interrupted her. "We do this all the time. You need

our experience. Besides, Cordy will know whether it's the right cave."

Buffy closed her mouth and nodded.

"You might also want to know about the ritual," Cordy said. "I remember

a few of the words: Lucem annihila, tenebras fer. Noctis entes clamant

ad deam. Hanc hostiam damus."

Willow quickly translated: "Nullify the light, bring the dark. The

creatures of the night call upon the goddess. We offer this sacrifice."

She sighed. "Sounds like you'd better get there before their little

phone call to the dark side works."

****

It had been a stressful and mainly silent car ride out to the caves.

Buffy sat in front with Spike. Cordy had made it clear she was not

going anywhere near the vampire when she pointedly stood by the back

door of the DeSoto, and Buffy figured if she let Angel sit in the front

with Spike, they might not make it to the site of the demon ritual in

one piece.

Spike parked far enough away so that the car would not be heard, and

they walked the rest of the way in silence, carrying axes and

crossbows. As they approached the caves, Cordy's eyes lit up in

recognition.

"That's it!" she whispered. As they neared the cave opening, they could

see a clearing where six demons stood in a ring holding torches and two

women were huddled at the center of the circle.

"Do we even know what kind of demons these are?" Spike muttered.

"I'm guessing big scaly ones with bad teeth," Cordy said. "In other

words, the usual."

"We'll do what damage we can and save those women," Angel said. Spike

rolled his eyes.

"Six of them, four of us…." Buffy said.

"Three – I'll do crossbow duty, but I don't do hand-to-hand combat if I

can help it," Cordy intervened.

Buffy started again. "Six of them, three of us. Those are pretty good

odds, don't you think?"

"If we use the crossbows first, we can take out two of them, then deal

with the others," Angel said.

"Sounds like a plan. Okay, everyone. On my signal, we …" Buffy stopped.

Spike had begun striding towards the demon circle, duster billowing

behind. With a shout, he vaulted into the clearing and swung his axe,

beheading one of the demons.

"Damn it, Spike!" she ran after him, furious. Angel and Cordy aimed the

crossbows and let the arrows fly, but Spike's early entrance had

alerted the demons, and both arrows missed in the ensuing chaos.

"Re-draw, Cordy, and see if you can get another shot!" Angel said as he

followed Buffy into battle.

Spike was fighting two demons, his eyes smoldering with bloodlust.

While he kept them both at bay, Buffy managed to knock one demon

unconscious, but was well matched by the other, who seemed to be the

leader. She heard Cordy call out, "Buffy, down!" so she ducked, then

heard the whirr of an arrow as it found its target. Pushing the impaled

and dying demon to the ground, she moved over to help out Spike, who

had killed one demon and was dancing around the other.

"These guys aren't so tough," Spike said brashly to Buffy, who'd come

up behind him. While his head was turned, the demon grabbed a branch

from the ground and with a deft movement swung it at Spike's head,

knocking him backwards into a tree. Spike's head hit with a loud thud,

and he fell unconscious to the ground.

"Thanks for saving me the trouble of knocking him silly," Buffy said,

"but you really shouldn't have." She swung her axe and decapitated the

demon then turned to see what Angel was doing.

Angel had killed his demon and was now untying the captured women. One

of the women squeaked in fear, and he looked up to see the previously

unconscious demon bearing down on Buffy. With preternatural speed, he

pushed Buffy to the ground, rolling to his feet with an axe in his

hand, and letting the blade fly through the air so it struck the demon

right between the eyes.

Buffy looked up from the ground. "Thanks," she said.

"My pleasure," Angel smiled down at her, holding out his hand to help

her up.

The two women had found their way to Cordy, who was reassuring them

that the demons were dead and that they would be okay.

The sound of a groan caught their attention. Buffy marched over to the

tree where Spike was regaining consciousness.

"What the hell were you thinking?" Buffy asked coldly.

"Was thinking it was time to stop yammering and start killing," Spike

growled back at her. "Didn't think there was a lot of time to sit

around drawing diagrams." He lifted himself to his feet gingerly.

"That was a dumb move," Angel said, coming up behind Buffy. "You could

have …"

"Not again, you two. Spike, drive these women back into town and take

them to the hospital if they want to go," Buffy ordered.

Angel looked at her, aghast. "Buffy, you can't let these women go with

him. Who knows what he could do to them?"

Buffy sighed. "Cordy's going with him. Here, Cordy." She flipped her a

stake, which Cordy neatly caught. "If he annoys you, stake him."

"His fashion sense annoys me," Cordy said. "I mean, hello, leather is

so last year. I don't suppose I can stake him now and put us all out of

our misery?"

Spike's expressive face was registering his disgust with this whole

turn of events.

Buffy walked up to him and touched his arm gently. "Please, Spike. No

argument?"

Angel watched in alarm as the bristling vampire turned into a pussycat

at Buffy's touch. Spike's face softened, and he looked over at the

women.

"Car pool's leaving soon, kiddies. Hop in now, or you're walking back

to Sunnyhell," he said, and he turned and strode away in the direction

of the car, picking up a few axes on the way. Confused, the two women

followed.

Cordy paused and looked at Angel and Buffy.

"I guess you two will walk back to town and spare us the usual angsty

Poor Us conversation, huh?" Neither spoke. "Yeah, guess so."

Cordy picked up the crossbows and followed Spike and the women.

"How long has he been hanging around Sunnydale?" Angel asked.

Buffy shrugged. "Almost two years now."

They started walking back through the woods.

"He's bad news, Buffy," Angel said.

Buffy stopped. "You think I don't know about Spike? He tried to kill me

how many times? Back off, and let me handle him." She walked away

again, her gait revealing her heightened emotions.

"You think he's changed," Angel said, walking faster to catch up

"I know he has," Buffy countered. "You … you don't know about a lot of

stuff."

He reached out his arm and stopped her, turning her to him as she

avoided his intent gaze. He thought about how Spike was acting, and

realization dawned.

"He thinks he's in love with you." Angel spat out the words as if they

were clotted blood.

Buffy nodded, her face averted.

"What is going on here?" Angel was raising his voice. "Why are you

acting so calm about this? Doesn't it turn your stomach? It's

unnatural!"

"A vampire falling in love with a Slayer? Yeah, that's one I never

heard before," Buffy said wryly.

"We're different! I have a soul. He doesn't. He can't love, Buffy,"

Angel said, incredulous. "What he feels is sick, some sort of

sociopathic obsession. It's not like what I feel for you."

"No, it's not." A look of pain crossed her face. "I never said it was.

It's different. And it's between me and Spike, not you or anyone else."

"Buffy, what's happened to you?" Angel asked. "I can't believe you

would allow him into your life, on any level."

Buffy's head snapped up.

"You're right, Angel. Something did happen to me. I'm not the same. I

died—remember? I got a new life. A clean slate." She stepped closer to

him. "I wanted to die. I was so tired of life. It had treated me so

badly. I'd lost you, I'd lost my mother, I was faced with losing Dawn.

I felt so alone. And so I jumped. I died."

She sighed and looked down. "And then I was miserable after I came

back. I looked at it as going back to my old life, the old pain, the

old loneliness. But I was wrong." She raised her face to his. "I was

given a second chance, a rebirth—for a reason. I can't live in the past

any more, wishing for what might have been. Alone because I'm holding

on to the past. I wasn't meant to be alone in this. And I'm not better

off alone."

"Buffy, you're not alone," Angel began.

"No, I'm not. But I was, Angel," she said. "You left me alone, to deal

with all of this, the slaying, the apocalypses, the deaths. And when I

asked you if you could stay forever, I … I meant it. And you left

anyway."

Angel reached out his hand and lifted her face up to his. "Buffy, I had

no idea you felt that way. I'm … I'm sorry."

"It's okay," Buffy gave him a small, sad smile. "I thought – I guess I

thought I was supposed to be alone. That to be a Slayer meant I had to

give up love. And that was why it was impossible for us to be

together." She took a deep breath and looked him in the eye. "But I

don't think that any more. I think I have to find a way to love and to

be the Slayer. I think that's why the Powers That Be sent me back, so I

can find out how to do this, how to balance the two sides of myself,

the side that loves and the side that kills. And I can't love you any

more—or, I can't love you the same way. The way that cuts me off from

anyone else since I can't have you. My spirit guide told me that I need

to risk the pain. I don't think she meant that I should shut myself off

from the world because I can't have you."

She tilted her head to look at him. "You don't think she meant we

should get back together, do you?"

In his eyes, fear and horror warred with hope—and won. He wouldn't take

the risk.

"I thought not," she said softly. "Angel, you have people who love you,

people you can love. I saw how you were with Cordy—of all people! You

care about each other. You have a great life. I don't hate you for

having that."

She spoke slowly, deliberately, as if she were hearing these ideas for

the first time—and perhaps she was. "I have people who love me, too.

And I'm not going to turn away from them—any of them—because I'm sad I

couldn't have you. I'm going to accept their love, and hope maybe

things will be different this time. "

"You seem so different, so …"

"Mature? I've grown up, Angel. Having Dawn in my life—it's changed me.

I love her more than anyone—even you. And when I died, it was because I

didn't want to live any more in a world where I had to make choices

between loving and killing, being Buffy and being the Slayer. And I

think the Powers sent me back so I could do both."

"Buffy, I will always love you."

"Angel, I will always love you too. But for the first time since I've

loved you, I think I can love other people too." She put a hand up to

his cheek. "This thing with Spike--him loving me--I'm not sure what it

means. But I do know that I can't just pretend it's not real. Spike and

I will figure out what it means eventually."

After driving home the two women, who said they didn't need medical

attention, Cordelia insisted that Spike take her to the Bronze to

revisit the past.

They sat at a table near the dance floor, Cordy perched on a stool as

far from Spike as possible while still sitting at the same table.

"This place has really changed," she marvelled.

"Redecorated it after the troll incident," Spike said, raising his beer

to his lips. "Say, you want to order some wings? I'm feeling peckish

after all that demon-killing."

Cordy raised her eyebrows at him. "Since when does lying on the ground

unconscious count as demon-killing?"

"At least I was in the thick of it for a while. Who was in the

background fretting about chipping her nailpolish?"

"I paid good money for this manicure, and besides, I'm Vision Girl, and

I get the pain before the actual demon attack." Losing interest, she

continued to look around.

"I can't believe I used to think this place was cool. There are much,

much better places in LA. I know this great karaoke place—you'd like

it, Spike. It caters to Evil Dead people like you."

"Dancing on the dark side, Cordelia? Didn't know you had it in you. I

mean, you dated Harris, for crying out loud."

"I'll have you know, you peroxide-brained bloodsucking .. thing, that I

once loved a noble warrior, the Grooselug! And he loved me!"

"The Groose-wha? What's that, some professional wrestling type from the

WWF Smackdown?"

Cordelia didn't have a chance to answer because Angel and Buffy came up

to the table.

"I can see you two are getting along splendidly," Buffy said. Spike

eyed her and Angel warily. "You two have a nice … walk?" he said

acidly. Buffy shot him a look, and he retreated into his beer again.

"Thanks for letting Willow know where you were, Cordelia" Angel said,

pointedly ignoring Spike. "I picked up the car at Buffy's. We can leave

for LA from here. If we head out soon, we'll make it back before

sunrise."

"Soon isn't soon enough for me," Cordy said. "Let's go." She picked up

her purse and stood. "Bye Buffy. It's been the usual Hellmouthy fun.

Give my best to Dawn and the others." She turned and left in a cloud of

perfume.

Angel turned to Buffy. "Goodbye," he said. "Take care of yourself."

Spike averted his eyes.

"Goodbye, Angel," Buffy replied softly. "I'll be seeing you."

Angel nodded, looked over at Spike once, then left.

"Well, glad you two lovebirds patched things up" Spike said, suppressed

pain in his voice. "Must be good to have Angel the Bloody Hero back

again to fix everything."

Buffy sighed and sat down.

"You got a chip on your shoulder to go along with the chip in your

head?" she said. "Why do you let Angel bother you so much? He has

nothing to do with you any more."

"He's still in your life, luv. That means he's still in mine."

"He's not …," Buffy cut herself off and looked down at her hands.

"He's not what?" Spike asked. "Not sticking around to clean up his

bloody mess for the millionth time? What else is new?" He scowled into

his beer.

Buffy's head snapped up. Unable to speak for a moment, she swallowed

and took a deep breath.

"No, he's not in my life any more. He's my past—and a very important

part of my past. But he's not part of my new life."

The scowl slowly disappeared as Spike took in that information,

studying her face. They stared at each other a moment, her face

unusually open and vulnerable to him.

"You okay, luv?" he finally said.

She smiled. "I'm fine. It's like I'm a whole new Buffy--Happy birthday

to me."

Spike smiled too. "So," he said smoothly, "Can I buy the birthday girl

a drink?"

"With what?" Buffy asked, skeptical.

Spike shrugged, reached into his pocket, and threw something on the

table.

"Nicked Angel's wallet when he wasn't looking.