Chapter 1
"We need the Crystal Heart," Giles announced to his audience. "It is the only way to clean up the mess Angel left behind with the Circle of the Black Thorn."
"Where is this Crystal Heart thing?" Faith asked. She looked around the table at her friends and family; Willow, Tara, Xander, Anya, her sister Hope, and the last remaining member of Angel's team, Charles Gunn.
"It is hidden in a different dimension unfortunately." Giles opened the book lying on the table in front of him. "We have a big problem."
"What kind of problem?" Xander asked. He grabbed a donut out of the box on the table.
"The Crystal Heart can only be retrieved by a Slayer and the vampire who loves her."
"But Buffy's been dead for seven years, and Angel's dust now," Willow protested. "I don't think we have the kind of power to do any resurrections anyway."
"You could pull them from another reality," Anya said. "Similar to how we got vamp Willow that time."
"Hmm, that has distinct possibilties, but how can we find such a reality?" Giles asked Anya.
"We have the Key." Anya indicated Hope. "Just a few drops of blood to open a small portal, and a few more to close it."
"I don't know about that," Faith said warily. "I don't want Hope to get hurt."
"She wouldn't be," Anya reassured the Slayer. "No harm would come to your sister."
"Well, let's hope this works," Gunn said. He was slowly healing from the gaping wound left in his guts by the Senator's vampire lackeys.
The others nodded in agreement. Things were looking pretty bad since Angel had tried to take down the Senior Partners of Wolfram & Hart. Demon hordes had shown up in every city that the law firm had a branch office.
It took the gang a few days to assemble all of the ingredients needed. At last the group gathered at the Magic Box. Willow, Tara, and Anya prepared the viewing pool while Faith reassured her sister.
"I don't know why we have to wear these robes," Xander complained. He felt weird wearing nothing but a plain white robe.
"Shut up," Anya growled. "Sit here, Xander, and be quiet."
"Okay. Sheesh." Xander sat down in the indicated spot.
The witches and the ex-vengeance demon started the ritual. When they found Buffy in the pool, Hope opened a portal and the Buffy they saw appeared.
Buffy blinked once in surprise when she found herself in the Magic Box. A place she knew had been destroyed.
Willow quickly put her hand over the bowl of water and chanted, "Bring forth the vampire who loves this slayer."
"Bloody buggerin' hell."
"That's not Angel," Xander sputtered.
"I should hope not, Harris," the bleached blond vampire grumbled.
"Spike?" Buffy whispered. "Is it really you?"
"Oh, hey, Slayer." Spike rubbed the back of his neck in a sudden bout of bashfulness. "Long time, no see."
"You're alive." Buffy raced across the room, and she launched herself at Spike. Their lips met in a scorching kiss. Then, just as quickly, Buffy leaped back and slapped Spike openhandedly across the face before she stormed off to the back room.
Spike watched in awe with his hand rubbing the red spot on his cheek. "She really does love me," he whispered.
"How can you say that?" Faith asked. She'd heard Scooby tales about the master vamp, but he had been long gone to greener pastures by the time she'd hit good old Sunnydale. "She just smacked you a good one."
Spike gave Faith a besotted grin. "Yeah, she slapped me. Usually the Slayer goes for the nose. Girls slap, Slayers punch." He looked Faith over. "Lookin' good, Rogue."
"You know Faith?" Giles asked.
"Hey, Rupes, nice seein' you," Spike muttered.
"You know Faith?" Giles repeated.
"Sure, she's the rogue Slayer." Spike studied the others in the room. He wasn't sure what was going on, but he was happy to stick around long enough to find out. "Well, I recognize the wicca lovers, Harris, demon girl, and Gunn, but who's this?" The vampire pointed at Hope who had just closed the portal.
"That's my sister." Faith stepped between Spike and Hope. "I won't let you hurt her."
"Not plannin' on it." Spike smiled when Tara approached him. "Hi, Glinda. I sure have missed you."
"It's beautiful. Where'd you get it?" Tara asked quietly. The vampire's aura was like nothing she'd ever seen before.
"It's his." Buffy's voice sounded from the back room. "He won it."
"Buffy," Spike whispered in a voice filled with reverence.
"Anyone want to explain how I... we ended up in a place that I know is at the bottom of a big crater?" Buffy asked carefully.
"We need the help from a Slayer and a vampire who loves her," Giles said. "Our Buffy is dead and Angel's dust. We were expecting Angel to come through the portal, not William the Bloody."
"Well, you wanted the vampire who loves me," Buffy replied. "That's Spike." She went over to stand by the vampire. "Now, why do you need us?"
"How can we expect an evil, soulless vampire to save us?" Xander sneered.
"But he..." Tara stopped speaking when Buffy held up a hand to quiet her.
"Because he's a good man." Buffy grabbed Spike's hand.
"He's not a man," Xander scoffed. He'd looked forward to seeing Buffy again, even if Deadboy was around, but this was total bullshit in his opinion.
Buffy rolled her eyes at Xander. "You know what? You're not my Xander. I don't give a shit about what you think. Actually, I don't give a shit what any of you might think. If you try and hurt Spike in anyway, I'll make you pay."
"I can take care of m'self, Slayer," Spike protested. "There's no chip holding me back."
"I know. I just want Xander to understand I'm not the sixteen year old Buffy he knew, and that I don't need his approval or friendship," Buffy assured the vampire. "Now, Giles was about to tell us why he needed us."
"Of course." Giles motioned the blond Slayer and the vampire to the table. "When Angel took on the Senior Partners, he unleashed hordes of demons on the earth. We will soon be overrun."
"Since we're here in good old Sunnyhell, I guess that means there's no extra Slayerttes?" Spike asked.
"Extra Slayers?" Faith asked. "How many extra Slayers?"
Spike and Buffy answered together, "All of them."
"How?" Giles asked.
"Long story involving resurrections and other fun stuff." Buffy smiled sadly. "Okay. So, you need us to clean up Angel's mess. How?"
Giles handed a book to Buffy. "The Crystal Heart. I've been reading this book, but I'm not sure what this symbol stands for." He pointed to a glyph that Buffy knew represented the Slayer's scythe.
"I do, Giles."
"Then, there is supposed to be a gem that makes vampires invulnerable, but it's just a legend," Giles continued. He was startled when Spike chuckled.
"Think you can find it again, hot shot?" Buffy asked.
"If it's there, I can get it. It should be easier this time because I don't have to guess on where it's located." Spike smirked at Buffy. "You gonna steal it from me again?"
"Nah, gonna see if you freckle."
"The Crystal Heart lies in another dimension," Giles said. "There will be several trials to complete before you can retrieve it."
"Great. Trials," Spike muttered. "You get the bugs crawling inside you this time, Slayer."
Buffy patted Spike's arm in sympathy. "It'll take a few days to get the items we need. Is there someplace Spike and I can stay?" She wrinkled her nose. "I'm pretty sure Spike's crypt is really icky."
"We got you an apartment in Giles' complex," Willow said. "Tara and I live there too."
"Cool." Buffy grinned. "Lots of fun memories involving Giles'."
"Maybe for you, pet." Spike gave Buffy a grimace. "You weren't the one shot full of arrows or chained to the tub."
"I don't know. I thought for sure you had fond memories of Xander with mystical syphilis and the Slayer taunting." Buffy tilted her head, and she ran a finger down her neck.
"Tease!"
"How could you be involved with him?" Xander sneered.
"It's very easy, Xander," Buffy replied. "There were a lot of things that made it possible. You know, Hope isn't the only Key in existence. I got the Key too. My sister's name is Dawn." Buffy smiled. "I mean, Spike's done some pretty stake-worthy things in his day, but taking a beating from a hell-god and not telling her Dawn's identity rates up there with conking Angelus on the head and getting the ho-bag out of my hair."
"What time is it?" Spike asked suddenly.
Anya glanced over at the clock. "12:05. Why?"
Spike reached into his pocket, and he pulled out a small gift wrapped box. "When this lot zapped me here, I was at the bar down the street from your apartment working up the courage to come see you. Happy Birthday, Slayer."
"Oh gimme, gimme. Buffy likes presents." Buffy snatched the box from the vampire.
"There are a few more gifts, but they're back home in the trunk of my car."
"You got me weapons?" Buffy asked eagerly.
"Of course, luv." Spike shrugged. "I figured if you're gonna kill me for not telling you I was back, I might as well make sure it's a clean kill."
"When you say apartment, what apartment?" Buffy asked, her fingers fumbling with the paper.
"The one in Rome, luv."
"Oh, that wasn't me. I heard through Clem that Giles set up a decoy to keep Angel from realizing I had left them all." Buffy looked at the vampire. "That was right after Andrew went to L.A. to get insano-Slayer."
"Yeah, the little runt was there," Spike growled.
"Insano-Slayer?" Faith asked. She wondered if they meant her.
"Yeah, a potential that was tortured and had her family killed in front of her when she was a kid." Spike shuddered as he thought about how the demented little bint had chopped off his arms.
"He got you a bell?" Willow gasped when Buffy opened the box.
"Where's the nice leather collar?" Buffy asked, remembering the long ago Halloween conversation.
Spike smirked, his tongue curled behind his teeth. Before he could answer, the door of the Magic Box slammed open, and the gang was astonished to see who was standing in the doorway.
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!