Life without Spike. It was going to be rough. Spike had been in her life, good or bad, for six years. As they drove away from the gaping hole that was her old town, Buffy could no longer smile. Her last words to Spike were that she loved him. She finally admitted it after all this time of feeling it and being too afraid and he didn’t believe her. How could she blame him though? Everything she’s ever done to him has showed that she didn’t love him, but it was all a lie. She loved him so much and if she could she would go back and pull him out of the Hellmouth before it was too late. But she couldn’t. Their time had passed. He was gone. Giles made the decision to head to L.A. to see Angel and regroup. Robin and some of the girls needed medical attention also so a place to rest for the night was the best bet for everyone. Buffy had been stabbed but she could no longer feel physical pain. Her heart hurt too much. Xander was sitting in silence barely moving. She noticed Anya wasn’t on the bus. That could only mean one thing. Buffy got up and moved to sit next to him. He glanced up at her silently giving her permission to take the seat next to him. She sat down next to him and put her hand on his. They had both lost someone in this fight. Someone they loved. Someone they hurt. Someone they both had so much more to say to.
The ride over was pretty quiet. Vi and Dawn were helping some of the girls with minor cuts and scrapes. Robin was in faith’s arms trying to remain conscious. Kennedy was holding Willow while she slept off the power rush and Giles had taken the wheel. Buffy and Xander sat in silence together, hand in hand. By the time the three-hour ride was over they had been directed to somewhere other than Angel’s hotel. Some place called Wolfram and Hart. Apparently, Angel was taking over this company, becoming the CEO. Giles was in disbelief because Wolfram and hart was an evil law firm that served dark forces. The law firm was a rather large building. It seemed like it went on forever with all glass windows. They all piled out of the school bus and went in the building. Of course they were stopped and they had to explain who they were and why they wanted to see the “big man.” They had gone through security and all of their weapons were taken away. They passed vampires, demons, and a lot of things that were just too ugly to have a name but the man escorting them to Angel strictly said they were not to be harmed. The elevator seemed to take forever but they finally reached Angel’s floor. Buffy saw Angel immediately after she stepped off the elevator. He was in a suit and was directing people with extravagant furniture into his office. Buffy could tell he felt her presence and within seconds he stopped what he was doing and hurried to her. He hugged her instantly.
“Buffy, thank god you’re ok,” Angel said, still holding onto the tiny Slayer.
“Yea, yay me!” Buffy had a hard time getting excited at a time like this. She then remembered Angel wouldn’t be here right now if he had been the one to wear the amulet. But Spike would be here. Angel released her and looked around.
“How many did you lose?’ He asked Buffy softly. He looked to Faith, acknowledging she survived.
“Well before we get into that, I think some people could use doctors.”
“Oh right, of course.” He called random workers over and they quickly took Robin. Faith insisted on going with him. All of the girls refused attention, as did Buffy.
“So?” Buffy realized Angel was still waiting for an answer to his earlier question.
“Um, we lost a decent amount of girls. There were just so many of them…” Angel brought Buffy and Giles into his massively big office while everyone stayed in the lobby to give them privacy.
“I’m sorry Buffy. Did the amulet help at all?”
Buffy thought back to Spike clutching his chest before it turned him into flames. She remembered holding his hand as it caught fire. Her hand was still burnt and it actually looked like it would scar with the shape of his fingers. Like he would forever be holding her hand. She knew she wouldn’t mind that scar.
“Yea, um, it’s the reason we’re alive. It fried them all extra crispy. All of them. Gone.”
“Oh, that’s great. Who…um…who wore it? Angel already knew. Spike was nowhere to be seen. And Buffy looked…well she looked heartbroken. The tears were slowly welling up in her eyes as she tried to answer his question. Giles couldn’t help but notice either and stepped in for his Slayer.
“Spike did. He didn’t make it out Angel.”
“What happened?” Giles couldn’t answer this question for Buffy because honestly he didn’t know. Only Buffy was down there with him, so he looked to her.
“Well, I personally wasn’t down there, no one was, well except for…”
“Me.” Buffy looked Angel dead in the eye with her statement.
“Oh, well, I mean was he…did he…?”
“Yea, he knew it was happening and he was okay. I tried to make him leave but he wouldn’t. He said he had to finish it.” Buffy felt like she couldn’t breathe as she relived the experience through words.
“Oh.” Angel said. He wanted more detail. He needed to know what went on there between the two of them. What they shared in Spike’s last seconds. Giles attempted to break the silence.
“Angel, I must say, this company isn’t quite what I expected out of you.”
“It kind of just came up. An opportunity to take over, after all we have been going up against this company for years.”
“So you decided to take up with it?” Giles asked.
“It’s not exactly like that. I’m not evil or anything. It’s more of an inside job now.” Angel could tell Buffy wasn’t listening in the slightest bit. She had gotten up and was now staring out the window.
“I see,” Giles took off his glasses and cleaned them.
“Why aren’t you on fire?” Buffy came out of nowhere with her absent minded question, it took Angel a second to even process what she asked.
“Well, it’s a special kind of glass. The kind that wont fry me extra crispy.” Angel smiled at her and she just nodded her head.
“Almost like you’re human.” He began to lean closer to her as she looked up at him.
“Well not really but…” Angel kept getting closer, so Giles interrupted.
“What kind of glass you have here isn’t important! You should not be here Angel.”
“Look, Giles, I have to do this. I don’t need you coming here and passing judgment. If you need a place to crash for a night or so you are welcome to stay here. Buffy, I want you to get to know this place and see that I’m going to do good because you’d be a lot of help here if you decided to stay.” Angel hoped she would stay. Giles however protested instantly.
“No! Buffy will not be staying here.”
“It’s her decision!”
“Can I get some water?” Then Buffy collapsed to the floor in front of Angel.
squawks
05/18/17 04:16 am
pj! I remember wishing one of your stories would be finished seriously about a decade ago. Amazing. I just tried an old password I used to use and amazingly got in too. Memories!
pj
03/20/17 01:20 am
10 yrs later, i finally rem my username and password. Pari, you rock. Hope you are well.
Rabbit_moon1
12/23/16 01:12 pm
I donate every month. Please donate to keep this site up!
AudryDaluz1
10/06/16 08:34 am
Great post.
Chrissel
08/31/16 03:45 pm
And anyone else who loves this site, it's worth mentioning there's a nifty little "Donate" option just below the shout box here! ;)
Chrissel
08/31/16 03:43 pm
Just wanted to take a moment to thank Pari and all the mods for maintaining such a great site!
05/18/17 04:16 am
pj! I remember wishing one of your stories would be finished seriously about a decade ago. Amazing. I just tried an old password I used to use and amazingly got in too. Memories!
pj
03/20/17 01:20 am
10 yrs later, i finally rem my username and password. Pari, you rock. Hope you are well.
Rabbit_moon1
12/23/16 01:12 pm
I donate every month. Please donate to keep this site up!
AudryDaluz1
10/06/16 08:34 am
Great post.
Chrissel
08/31/16 03:45 pm
And anyone else who loves this site, it's worth mentioning there's a nifty little "Donate" option just below the shout box here! ;)
Chrissel
08/31/16 03:43 pm
Just wanted to take a moment to thank Pari and all the mods for maintaining such a great site!