---

“So, where are we off to?” Giles asked, after everyone got onto the bus. The fight was done, one might expect celebrating, however, the silent, somber behaviour held no course of pulling out the champagne and the singing of We are the Champions.

“Only places where there are people we know is London and Los Angeles.” Willow replied with a frown. Everyone was realizing the impact of the situation they were in at that moment. Buffy’s house wasn’t totalled, like some of the many fights had left it in. The whole town was now covered by the disturbed ground in the crater below.

“Let’s go to Los Angeles. We should probably tell Angel about what happened.” Buffy suggested. She had to face him and explain to him that she wouldn’t need backup after all since the threat of the First had been eliminated.

“Ok then. L.A. it is.” Faith started the bus and drove towards the city of Angels leaving the memory of the town behind buried over the now closed hellmouth.

---

A couple of hours later…

The bus came to a stop in front of the Hyperion. It gave the whole surviving Scooby gang a feeling of a haunted hotel with no indication of anyone living there.

“This is strange. Nobody seems to be living here anymore. Did Angel say anything about moving to a different location?” Buffy questioned Willow, who had been the one to recently pay the Los Angeles gang a visit.

“I have no idea...” Willow stated, not recalling Angel mentioning anything about it.

Both women walked into the room that used to be Angel’s office. All the files and folders were missing. Some notes were left lying on the ground, scattered in a mess, appearing as though whoever left them had been in a hurry. Buffy took a note that was left there on the table and read the contents.

“Do you know anything about a firm called Wolfram and Hart?” Buffy asked the rest of the gang, who entered the room at that moment.

“They are an evil law firm that Angel has been fighting against for a while now. Wonder why Angel would have a phone number of that firm in his desk if he is fighting against them.” Faith explained, recalling the mention of the familiar name and her own past with them.

“We can call the number and see whom it reaches. We may be able to find some clue as to what happened here” Giles suggested. He didn’t like not knowing what was going on.

Buffy nodded and went to the phone. It was still working. She dialled the number and waited for a response.

“Hello. This is Angel speaking.” The voice on the other end answered.

“Angel?” Buffy was surprised. She was not expecting him to answer.

“Buffy? How did you get this number?” Angel’s surprise was noticeable in his voice.

“We’re at your hotel and found a note with this number on. Where are you now?”

“I’m at my new place. Wait there. I’ll send someone to pick you up.”

“Send something big. Like a bus. Well, we’ve already got a bus but it’s, you know – kinda bloody from the- from the fight,” she sighed. “We’ve got a lot of survivors here. Just send something – something big.” Buffy asked him after looking at the crowd of people who had made it through the battle.

“Yeah. They’ll arrive within an hour. I’m glad you survived the battle.” Angel’s tone indicated his relief knowing Buffy had survived.

“Speak to you soon.” Buffy hung up the phone and turned to the others.

“Angel’s sending transport to take us to his new place. This is his new phone number, I think.” She informed them, yet was still puzzled as to why he moved to a new place, and why the number had been on a note with a law firm that was supposedly evil. Things definitely didn’t seem right.

“Wonder what Angel’s doing with those evil guys.” Faith voiced the question that was in everyone’s minds.

“You don’t think he’s gone all evil do you?” Dawn asked Buffy, hoping she would know. Dawn had memories of Angel becoming Angelus and she didn’t want to go through that again.

“I didn’t get that vibe when I met him last time, and that was only a few nights ago. We’ll find out soon enough.” Buffy replied cautiously and turned towards the door to wait for the transportation.

As Angel had said, two vans arrived within an hour at the hotel. Everybody got into the vehicles and it took them to the Wolfram and Hart building.

“Wow. This is quite a big place. Deadboy must have won the lottery or something.” Xander commented on the building in front of him. The architect within him was impressed with the construction, momentarily forgetting who owned the building.

“Welcome everyone to Wolfram and Hart. I’m Fred, and Angel sent me to welcome all of you.” Fred appeared at the entrance. She was smiling pleasantly at Faith and Willow who were familiar to her.

“Hey!” Willow called out and went to hug Fred who returned the hug, ignoring the curious stare that the rest of the group was sending her way and missing the jealousy sparked in Kennedy’s eyes.

“Some of us need medical attention.” Buffy informed Fred.

“Of course.” Fred waved her hands over to someone standing in the distance and they came running quickly. “Take them to the medical ward immediately and give them the treatment they need.” Fred instructed with authority.

The person in charge guided the injured towards the medical ward. Fred turned around and glanced at the rest standing there.

“What about you Buffy? Do you need some medical attention too?” Fred asked looking at the barely visible wound on Buffy’s stomach.

“I’m good. Slayer healing. You know.” Buffy dismissed Fred’s concern casually.

All of them moved to the floor where Angel’s office was located.

“This is quite a big place.” Buffy stated, trying to start a conversation with Fred. She wanted to find out what was going on before she met with Angel.

“Yes it is. We were offered to take over this place and Angel accepted. I lead the science division and Wesley takes care of the research department. Gunn is in charge of security and Angel is the boss to all of them and us.” Fred summarized.

“Hold on… I know Angel and Wesley, but who is Gunn?” Buffy asked.

“He’s another friend of Angel’s. Lorne is here too, also a friend, so don’t be surprised when you meet him.” Fred spoke to Buffy while getting out of the lift.

“Why would I be surprised by him?” Buffy questioned Fred, who seemed harmless to her. But Buffy knew that appearances could be deceiving and Buffy was still on guard.

“Because Lorne is a demon… but a good demon and you don’t have to kill him.” Fred explained. She was well aware how Slayers felt when they encountered a demon, this having been explained by Wes.

“I don’t slay all the demons I come across. Actually I do have a few friends who are demons.” Buffy remembered Clem who was completely harmless and someone she considered a dear friend. Memories of Clem brought memories of who introduced him to her and that distracted her mind from analyzing the current situation. A morose expression marred Buffy’s face as she recalled that the bleached vampire was nowhere in the group with them, that he had been gone for the past couple hours, making something ache deep within her.

“So where is Cordelia? I thought she worked with you guys as well.” Xander spoke up, realizing what Buffy was going through and not wanting to let the stranger know that Buffy was distracted.

Fred’s smiling face showed sorrow for a moment. In a low voice she spoke to Xander. “Cordelia had an accident and is in a coma.”

“Oh,” was all Xander said to Fred. Even though they were not together and had not been in contact for years, she was still someone special to Xander, one of the first real relationships he had been in. The possible loss of her only reminded him of the loss of Anya just hours before. This time it was Xander who took on a grim expression.

Angel was in his office, anxiously waiting for everyone. When they entered, he welcomed them, giving Buffy a hug. She returned it and settled down on the couch close to Dawn. She wanted to be sure if there was any threat, she could protect her sister.

“So, I guess everything went well with the battle at the Hellmouth.” Angel started the conversation after realizing everyone seemed to be occupied in their thoughts.

“Yeah. We had to close the Hellmouth and bury it along with the whole town. Sunnydale is a huge crater in the middle of the desert.” Buffy explained the results of the battle. Short and sweet, not wishing to go over the details of what exactly had happened. That Spike, someone she had only admitted her love for just before he died, had sacrificed himself to not only save her, but the world.

“Any casualties?” Angel asked, knowing there must have been a few. And he couldn’t sense his grandchilde anywhere near the crowd.

“A few of the Slayers died. Most of us were injured. Anya and Spike didn’t survive.” Buffy spoke the last part in a low voice, still haunted with the memories from before, but she knew Angel heard her.

“I’m sorry.” Angel murmured and looked at Fred.

“Arrange medical attention for all the injured.”

“Already took care of it.” Fred replied. She had been expecting him to instruct her to do that, so she’d done it in advance.

Angel turned towards Buffy again with a confused look. “You said Slayers. As far as I know, you and Faith are the only Slayers…. and both of you are here, a little dinged up but nothing that I think you need medical attention for. So, who is injured?” He was not aware of the other Slayers and since they were not near him, he couldn’t sense them either.

“We had to build up an army to fight the First. So I had Willow do a spell that turned all the potentials into Slayers so that we could defeat the First’s army.” Buffy explained. She was proud of their achievement. Without it, she would have surely lost the battle. “Willow said that not only the Slayers that fought became activated… but potentials all around the world.” Buffy said the last part mostly to herself, taking in the complete calibre of the situation. It wasn’t just her and Faith as the Slayers anymore, something that had always been difficult to cope with, but every potential was a Slayer. She doesn’t have to bear the responsibility of the Slayer alone anymore.

Angel simply nodded his head. He didn’t have a good feeling about having so many Slayers running around within Wolfram and Hart, but he said nothing.

“So what’s up with this firm, Angel? I thought it was supposed to be evil.” Faith asked him since nobody had raised the question. She gave Angel a daring glance that only told everyone in the room that she was sketchy about him now.

“It was. Now they handed it over to me and I’m in control. I’m changing the system from the inside.”

“It is impossible to change the system. Evil will always be evil. You will be pawns in their game.” Giles spoke his thoughts loudly. Giles knew Angel was not thinking deep enough to realize the truth.

“We can handle it. Besides, you guys and Buffy can join us if you’re interested.” Angel offered. He wanted to prove to them that he made the right decision in taking over Wolfram and Hart.

“I need some time for myself. So I’ll be going out of country for a while.” Xander answered. He couldn’t be involved in hunting demons and killing vampires. He had to mourn his loss of Anya who he’d thought he had a second chance with. Plus, he didn’t feel good about working alongside Angel who he truly disliked.

“I need to get hold of my powers. I need some training for them. I heard there’s a coven in Brazil where I can learn to control them. I need to go there before I lose control again.” Willow replied, supplying her own reason for not taking up the offer. She was feeling the euphoria that was the result of the power drive she went through when releasing the power of the Slayer. She feared of becoming addicted to it like before. She had to protect herself before anything bad happened again.

“I will be taking all the Slayers to England. Since the Watcher’s Council has been destroyed, I need to rebuild it to help the Slayers. And we must find as many as we can. They need someone to guide and watch over them. Andrew will be coming with me, as well.” Giles told his plan to the others. In truth, he wasn’t sure how much Angel would successfully change Wolfram and Hart, and he wanted to have some kind of backup plan in case things went wrong.

“Me and Robin will be going to the Hellmouth in Cleveland. Like Giles said, it’s the only one left and needs an experienced Slayer to take care of it. And I think B should get a break. So I volunteer to be the one.” Seeing the approval from Giles and Buffy, Faith smiled. She had finally found a place where she was accepted and she was willing to roll for the good guys.

Buffy looked at Dawn who nodded her agreement. She turned towards Angel and gave him her decision. “I think we will stay. But we’ll be staying in the Hyperion. Living here will just give me the creeps.” She didn’t feel it wise to mention that she also wanted to keep an eye on how things were in case Angel lost his focus. Buffy still didn’t really understand how Angel could be successful and she wanted to be able to stop it before things got worse.

Seeing Angel smile, Buffy knew he believed her explanation. She was glad that the rest of them would be away and would be safe in case things went wrong in L.A.

---

The rest of the week went by pretty fast. All the injured Slayers and Robin were treated and were ready to travel. The day before everyone left, Willow came into Buffy’s room to talk to her.

“Hey Buff. Can we talk?” Willow asked upon entering the room. Buffy was lying down in her bed just staring at the ceiling.

“Sure Will. What’s up?” She sat up and made room for Willow to sit down. Willow locked the door to avoid interruptions before sitting down on the bed.

“You’ve been very quiet lately. Not like yourself. Granted, you talk when you have to, but you’ve said very little. What’s wrong Buffy?” Willow knew what Buffy was going through and she wanted her to talk it out instead of bottling it in. Willow had gone through losing someone she loved and she knew Buffy needed her best friend to confess to.

“Nothing’s wrong Will. I’m myself, like always.” Buffy gave Willow a smile, which faded away when she saw her friend not believing it. She didn’t want to open herself up partly because she knew how others might feel if she expressed her feelings for a certain vampire who was not with her anymore.

“I know you, Buffy. You know I’m your friend. Tell me what’s wrong. I’ll listen to whatever you want to say. No judging here.” Willow wanted Buffy to talk and she was willing to let her.

Buffy sat on the bed taking a moment of silence to try and decide if it would be the wise thing or not. Willow sat beside her, waiting for her to open up.

“I miss him a lot.” Buffy spoke up, breaking the silence. She decided she could not hold it within her any longer. She felt suffocated with the tandem of emotions running through her and since Willow was here to listen, she was going to talk.

Willow knew immediately who Buffy was talking about. She had noticed them in the last year and she knew how Buffy felt. Willow had never heard Buffy confess her feelings for Spike to anyone before, but it was apparent in the morose behaviour that Buffy had exuded since Hellmouth, something more than deep care for Spike was there.

“I know. We’re all shocked and surprised at what he did.” Willow said, expressing her surprise at Spike’s actions in the Hellmouth.

“I’m not. I knew he had it in him. He was always different. Even when he was annoying and being a pain in the ass, he was willing to help us. We just failed to notice it.” Buffy voiced the guilt that had been eating her from the inside.

Willow didn’t say anything.

“When I came back, he was the only one who understood me. He was the one I could talk to without any problem. He loved me even without his soul and I used him like he was nothing. I wish that I had the chance to do it differently. Treat him properly, like he deserved.” In the last year, Buffy had come to accept her responsibility in the mistreatment of Spike.

“Come on Buffy. Don’t blame yourself. He didn’t have a soul back then. He could have killed you if he had the chance. You had every right not to believe in him.” Willow didn’t want Buffy to put all the blame on herself because of the guilt she was feeling now. She didn’t want Buffy to become depressed, it would only kill her slowly.

“That’s the difference. He did have the chance to kill me. He had the chance to hurt me and kill me ever since I came back from the dead. But he never did. He never even tried. Even when I beat him up for trying to help me, he didn’t fight back. I didn’t want to believe that he could be good. I didn’t want to believe that he could really love me. If I accepted that, it would have changed how I felt and I didn’t want to do that.”

“We know he was obsessed with you. It couldn’t have been love. Like Giles said, a soulless demon cannot love, Buffy. So stop beating yourself up about it.” Willow believed in Giles. He was the one who had saved her from herself. She didn’t want to believe that Giles could be wrong.

“They can love Will. They truly can. Why else would he be trying to do the right thing? He was not on the road to redemption or anything like Angel. But he was there helping all of us all the time. He was there to protect Dawn from Glory. He was there to help you guys during the summer I was gone. He didn’t have any need to do so. If it was out of obsession, I wasn’t there for him to obsess about.” Buffy told Willow what she had come to accept herself. “He had no idea that I was going to come back, so what he did… protecting Dawn wasn’t something he did in the hope of winning me over. He made a promise and because of his love, he was hell bent on making sure he fulfilled it to me, even if I was dead.”

Willow couldn’t respond. She’d never gave much thought to what Spike did for them all that time. They were used to him helping; they never noticed the good things he did without his soul. He was just there, doing things when they wanted him to. They never wondered why he did it or what he got out of it. And after Buffy returned, he became someone who could be kicked out of the team since he was not a Scooby. Willow felt guilty for her mistreatment of him back then. She was too power obsessed to notice others around her.

“The funny thing is, I had feelings for him too. After I came back, I started to see the real person inside him. And it terrified me. I couldn’t accept the fact that I may have feelings for a soulless vampire. So I beat him up and I used him. I thought that having feelings for him made me wrong somehow. Just another feeling within me to remind me that I came back wrong. I didn’t want to believe that it was right to feel something for Spike. And when he got his soul back, I realized how much he meant to me. What lengths he would go just to be with me. Or for me to simply accept him. He was the only one who understood who I was and accepted me for who I am. And that meant to me more than anything. I never got the chance to tell him that, at least not enough time to.”

Willow kept silent. She had seen Buffy defending Spike during the last year. Even when the First had control over him, Buffy hadn’t allowed anyone to kill him. She got in Giles’ face for attempting, threatening Wood that she would let Spike kill him if he tried again. And Buffy regarded Giles as her own father. That was saying something.

“When I fell in love with Angel, I believed in the fairytale romance. And when he turned into Angelus, it hurt so much. Angel had me believing that it was Angelus and not himself who did all those crimes. He made all of us believe that both of them were different.”

“But they were different, Buffy. Angelus was cruel but Angel isn’t.” Willow interrupted. She didn’t understand what Buffy was trying to say.

“I thought so too. But Spike was the same person before and after the soul. Maybe not as cocky and arrogant but he was still himself, just with a heavier conscience. If Angelus and Angel are two different people, shouldn’t Spike’s personality change as well? How was Spike able to love me just the same with a soul and without?” Willow had no answer to that. “I thought love was supposed to be the way it was with Angel. That’s why I couldn’t let myself completely love Riley. And that is why I believed Spike’s feelings for me couldn’t be love. But I realized something this year. Spike’s love for me was more real than what I had with Angel. What Spike felt for me was something that can only happen when you accept them completely. He loved me for who I am as a Slayer and as a person.”

Willow sat there listening to Buffy explaining what she was feeling. She could see the difference between how Spike loved and how Angel loved. Angel had tried to get Buffy to be the Slayer that he thought she should be. He’d never allowed her to have her normal life, treating her, as every Slayer should be. Spike on the other hand stood by her and let her be herself, whilst always being there when she needed him.

“I couldn’t understand it when Angel left me saying it was for my own good. He made me think that I shouldn’t be with a vampire but only with a human. How was him not being there to lend me a hand when I needed, a good thing? Spike on the other hand was always there, even when we didn’t want him. He was always willing to put himself at risk to help me. Isn’t that what you should do for someone you love? Protect them at any cost instead of staying away and letting them go through the hurting?”

Willow could understand what Buffy was saying. She had had the same questions herself when Angel left after the graduation. She knew she would have protected Tara any_way she could instead of staying away if she had the chance.

“When I finally realized what love is, it was too late. He was burning up. I was so stupid to wait all this time to tell him that. I should have told him a long time ago. Maybe then things would have been different.”

“Told him what, Buffy?” Willow asked calmly. She knew Buffy had to confess everything or it would be boiling up inside her.

“I told him I love him. I do love him, Will. I thought what I was feeling wasn’t love because I was comparing it with what I felt for Angel. But in the last few days I realized that what I feel for Spike is what true love is supposed to feel like. He is the constant in my life. He is the one supporting me when I need it and standing by me regardless of what I go through. When I finally put a word to what I felt for him, it was too late. I don’t know what I would have done if I hadn’t said it at all. But he didn’t believe me. He said I didn’t because he couldn’t believe me.” Buffy started to sob.

Willow embraced her friend. She knew how Buffy always tried to be the tough one but she had a very tender heart. And she knew Buffy had to cry it out or else she would never be able to move on with her life.

“Buffy…” Willow started to speak softly. “I know it hurts but we can’t change what happened. We have to move on with our lives. I was lost when Tara passed away, too. I still miss her every single day. But I know she would want me to live my life. Just like Spike would want you to.”

Buffy kept on sobbing, wetting her friend’s shirt.

“We are here in L.A. now with Angel who you will be working with. Maybe he has changed too. Maybe he will be able to acknowledge both sides of you just like Spike did. See if there is any hope for that still. Maybe everything happened is for a reason. Maybe you are destined to be together in L.A.”

Buffy didn’t respond. She kept holding onto her friend, crying.

“He has been asking about you and he obviously still cares about you. Take your time but don’t give up on love. Because love will find you one way or another.” Willow, always the optimist, believed that Buffy would find love again one day.

Both friends held onto each other comfortingly.

---

Meanwhile in the next room…

“Hey Dawnie! You in here?” Xander entered the room, knocking on the door.

“Hey Xander. Where are you going tomorrow?” Dawn asked.

“I’m thinking of going to Africa. Heard there are some tribes in the jungle that I could go visit.” Xander replied. He wanted to go somewhere far away from others.

Hearing Africa, Dawn’s face fell. Xander noticed it too.

“What’s wrong Dawnie?”

“Spike went to Africa too last year.” Dawn said. Xander went quiet hearing the vampire’s name.

“I know you don’t like him, Xander. I hated him this past year, too. I hated him for what he did to Buffy. But I hated him more for leaving me. He was always there whenever I needed him and suddenly when Willow went crazy, he wasn’t there. When I found Tara… he wasn’t there. I kept myself away from him when he came back. I didn’t even try to talk to him or listen to his side of the story. And now he’s gone again and this time, there’s no chance of him coming back.” Dawn was on the verge of tears. She missed her best friend and protector who was there for her when Buffy wasn’t.

“I know how you feel Dawn. I may not have liked the guy but I didn’t want him dead. Especially in the last year. He grew on me a lot and I sort of understood him. And he did defend all of us against the First and sacrificed himself. I would say that puts him in my good guys list. And I know how much you must miss him. I miss Anya too. I messed us up and I never even tried to understand her point of view. I was so angry with her; I didn’t try to mend things between us. And when we did, it was too late. And now I have to live with it knowing I should have done something sooner.”

Xander was emotionally overwhelmed after his long speech. Both of them kept silent remorse for their mistakes.

“Call us whenever you can, ok? Don’t be a stranger.” Dawn spoke up after controlling her tears.

“You know I will. Be safe, Dawn and take care of your sister for me. She needs you now more than ever.”

Dawn nodded in silent agreement.

The next day, everyone, including Giles and the other Slayers, got ready to take their trips to their destinations. They had first- class seats on their planes courtesy of Wolfram and Hart. Buffy and Dawn were emotional when they had to say goodbye to Giles and the rest of the gang. They watched in silence as all the others boarded the planes that took off after a few minutes.

---

Buffy stepped into Wolfram and Hart for the first time since her gang left L.A. She’d kept herself and Dawn busy with settling into the hotel and going shopping with the money Angel provided them with. Now that summer was over, Dawn enrolled at the local high school and Buffy thought it was time for her to get back to work. Angel had been trying to have a conversation with her, but Buffy had been avoiding him as much as she could. She didn’t want to get emotional so soon. Her emotional conversation with Willow helped her a little, but not enough for her to open up to others. She remembered Angel’s reaction back in Sunnydale when she had chosen Spike as her champion over him. He had played the poor sport of it with his infamous brooding, and breaking the news that she loved Spike could only mean worse to come in the brooding track record.





Buffy got in the lift, heading up to Angel’s office. Once it stopped, she kept walking straight to Angel’s office without looking at the surroundings. A sudden screech, one that reminded Buffy of nails on a chalkboard, made her stop walking. She turned around to look at the blonde staring at her.





“Harmony?” Buffy asked, confused.





“Yu-huh. Please don’t stake me. I’m only Angel’s secretary. And I haven’t killed anyone for a long time now. I drink pig’s blood everyday.” Harmony kept rambling in panic.





“Shut up, Harmony. I’m not going to kill you.” Buffy turned to walk back into the office.





“Err… Buffy!” Harmony called out.





“What?” Buffy asked irritated.





“Do you know where Blondie Bear is? I know he had that obsession with you and you would have probably kicked his ass. I just want to know where he went after that.”





Buffy felt the emotions she had been trying to keep under wraps so far begin to boil up. She didn’t want to show her tears to anyone, especially not Angel and Harmony. She took a moment to compose herself.





“He’s dead.” She answered simply.





“You killed him?” Harmony gave a surprised shriek. She knew Spike and Buffy were always beating each other up but they’d never managed to kill one another before. She never expected him to die, and at the hands of Buffy none the less.





“No.” With that, Buffy went into Angel’s office leaving a confused and shocked Harmony outside.





When Buffy entered the room, she saw some rich guy on the couch threatening Angel. They ended their conversation when Buffy was close enough to hear them. The man left Angel’s office with a huff, making a comment over his shoulder that he’d be in touch.





“What’s happening?” Buffy asked Angel.





“Seems like we gotta represent him or else California will be full of dead people.” Gunn commented.





When Buffy looked confused, Angel spoke to his team.





“We need to find out what he was talking about. You guys go and research in your departments while I speak with Buffy alone.”





When everyone left, Angel took a seat opposite Buffy and explained what was happening to her.





“So let me get this straight. He wants you to win his case or else he will kill everyone in California?” When Angel nodded, Buffy continued. “Nice clients you have. So this is what you are going to do from now on, huh?”





Angel got up and took a piece of paper from his desk. “I’ve got a clue regarding this guy and I’m going to check it out. Do you want to join me?” When Buffy shook her head, Angel exited his office and went towards the lift.





“I’m just going to stay and look around. I should get myself familiarized if I’m going to be working here from now on.” Buffy said, and walked towards the corridor to the other halls. Truth be told, she didn’t want to be alone with Angel for too long. She knew he would bring up their relationship when he had a chance and she was not looking forward to having that conversation yet.





She walked down until she heard someone singing from behind a closed door. She pushed open the door and walked in to see a figure with his back towards her. She moved closer and he turned around.





“Wow.”





“Whoa.”





Two surprised voices rang at the same time. Buffy regarded the very green demon in a very bright suit in front of her.





“Hold on there Honeybumps. I’m Lorne. I’m one of the good guys; if you’re in the mood to kill someone.” Lorne spoke quickly.





“It’s ok. I’ve got a demon friend too. I was just surprised for a second there.” Buffy felt the need to explain her reaction.





“So you are Buffy, huh? You look so much better than I imagined.” Lorne complimented. He reached out to pinch Buffy’s cheek and smiled.





Buffy stood there, surprised. “You know me?”





“Of course I know you. Angel’s mentioned you before. I used to see you when he sang to me.” Buffy was surprised at that.





“Angel sings?”





“Of course he does. It’s hard to tolerate though especially when he sings Barry Manilow. But that’s the only way I could read him.” Seeing Buffy’s confused expression, Lorne continued to explain. “I’m an Empath demon. I read people’s souls and future when they sing to me.”





“Oh.” Was the simple reply Buffy gave Lorne.





“I can see something troubling you. Do you want to sing for me? I may be able to help you.” Lorne offered.





“Maybe later. I’m not in the mood right now.” Buffy could clearly remember what happened the last time she sang. And it brought back memories Buffy was trying to avoid. A flash of her and her bleached vampire standing in the alley of the Bronze having gotten their tunes out of them and becoming rather intimate flared in the back of her mind. The Slayer took in a deep breath, feeling her heart clench.





“Okay, Cupcake. Let me know when you are ready.” With that, Buffy left the room to walk down the hall. She went down other corridors, meeting Fred in her lab and Wesley in his research room. She also met Gunn getting ready to leave somewhere. All day long she went around the place trying to remember which door led to where.





She passed by Angel during her journey through the building, and tensed. She was going to say ‘Hi‘, but seeing the look on his face, she knew he wanted to be alone. She walked down the corridor until she met someone else, who she had seen Angel speaking to earlier.





“Hi. I’m Buffy.” She extended her hand, trying to be friendly.





“Oh. So you are the famous Slayer. I’m Eve. I’m the liaison between Angel and the Senior Partners.”





Buffy was confused. “Senior Partners?”





“Yeah. They are the ones who offered Angel the position to run this place. And it seems like Angel has everything under control already.”





“Oh.” Buffy didn’t know what to say. She was still trying to understand what went on around the office to decide whether Angel had it under control or not.





“So you are the one both vampires fell in love with, huh? You must be really special to make both of them to fall for you. Especially the last one… Spike wasn’t it? William the Bloody?”





Buffy didn’t speak. She was not getting a good vibe from the woman in front of her and wasn’t about to spill her guts about the feelings she had for both vampires.





“I guess it must be difficult now, working with Angel. Don’t worry though. There’s no competition for you here, anymore. Cordelia is in a coma.”





Buffy’s head perked up. “Is she in the same building?” Regardless of how she felt towards Cordelia back in Sunnydale, she was still a familiar face and Buffy wanted to see her if she could.





“Yeah. A couple of floors down. You can visit her if you want.” When Buffy nodded, Eve took her to Cordelia. Buffy spent the next few hours telling Cordelia about what happened in Sunnydale while she was in L.A.

---

That evening, Buffy decided to go and pick Dawn up from school. She hadn’t made any progress in the office since they seemed to operate without telling her anything unless she asked, most of the time. Whilst everyone else was working on the case of the lunatic-who-wants-to-kill-everyone, she decided it would be better if she went and fetched her sister. With the time Buffy had spent learning to drive properly in the past year, she was confident that she wouldn’t cause a car pile up... much.





When Buffy arrived at the school gate, Dawn was just about to leave. She seemed happy at the new school and she was walking with a few girls to the gate. Buffy was glad that Dawn seemed to have adjusted to the change easily and was moving on with her life. Seeing Buffy by the gate, Dawn waved enthusiastically.





“Hey Buffy. I didn’t expect you to be here. Wanting to test your driving skills, huh?” Dawn winked.





“I wanted to pick up my little sister from her first day at school. Is that a crime?” Buffy responded.





“So, how was your first day at work?” Since the Sunnydale fiasco, Buffy and Dawn had been talking about the bad things that happened around them. Buffy realized that letting Dawn in was better than hiding her from the violence that always seemed to surround their lives.





She had started to expose Dawn to it last year with the slaying and now that Dawn was living a normal life, Buffy wanted her to at least be aware of what was happening.





“Pretty boring. Wandered around the building trying to get to know how it all works. Saw some client of Angel’s threatening to kill everyone in California. The usual.” Buffy said, disregarding the seriousness. Dawn was flabbergasted but didn’t say anything.





“I don’t know if staying here is a good idea. I don’t feel right about it but then if nobody keeps an eye on Angel, it will be too late to stop him if he goes downhill.” Buffy said, voicing her concerns to Dawn.





“Do you think he will go bad? He still has his soul.” Dawn reasoned.





“The soul is not everything. He might turn bad even without losing it.” Buffy replied.





“Huh.” Was the only response from Dawn.





“What is it? What does that mean?” Buffy was confused by Dawn’s lack of response. She was always forthcoming.





“Nothing. I don’t think you would have said something like that a few years ago. You were adamant that the soul is what makes a person good or bad.”





“I couldn’t let myself believe that at the time. Everything has to be black or white for a Slayer. If I let myself think otherwise, then I’d have to worry about the demons I kill every night. Dawnie, the things I’ve seen in the last few years have changed me. I can see the differences in demons and understand that a soul is not everything.” Buffy explained. Both sisters knew who Buffy was really talking about, but neither one wanted to bring up his name in the conversation.





“Are you okay, Buffy?” Dawn asked worriedly.





“I’m fine. Just a bit worried about the current situation, I guess.” Buffy changed the subject. She was plagued by memories and didn’t want her sister to worry.





They spent the rest of the ride towards the Hyperion in silence, the only sound the music from the radio.

---

When Buffy returned from dropping Dawn off at the Hyperion, the office seemed to be in a state of panic.





“What happened? Did that guy go through with the killage?” Buffy asked the first person she came across, which unfortunately was Harmony.





“Huh? What guy?” Harmony blinked for a second. “She’s crazy and I hate the way the stupid bleached vampire obsesses over her. Makes sense ‘cause Drusilla was crazy too, but even then, I’m like, totally better looking than her. Ugh.” She murmured in a low voice knowing that saying all that to the Slayer’s face would result in an immediate stake to the heart.





Buffy, hearing little of what Harmony said, ignored her and continued on looking for someone who could explain the rise in activity.





“Wesley.” Seeing he hadn’t heard her, she called out louder, “Wesley!” He stopped moving and turned as Buffy rushed to catch up to him.





“Everyone seems to be hurrying around. Did anything big happen? Do I need to make with the slayage?”








“Oh Buffy. You’re here now,” Wesley responded, enthusiastically. “Good. Maybe you can help me understand it in detail. Please follow me to my office.”





Buffy was confused about what was going on, but followed him nevertheless.





After entering the office, Wesley closed the door and he and Buffy took a seat at his desk, on top of which was a box. Wesley reached out and opened the box and Buffy looked at the contents. Inside, laid carefully on a velvet cloth was the same amulet Spike wore in the Sunnydale battle.





“Is that what I think it is?” Buffy asked in a whisper. Seeing the amulet brought back memories that she had been unsuccessfully trying to suppress.





“Yes. It’s the same amulet from Sunnydale. Somebody sent it to Angel today, in the mail. If we can understand what exactly it is, then we can figure out how to release him.” Wesley continued on. He’d forgotten that Buffy was not aware of what had happened a little while ago in Angel’s office.





“Him? Who’s him?” Buffy asked. Truthfully she was afraid to ask but her curiosity overpowered her fear.





“Oh Gosh. I forgot that you didn’t know. My apologies. When Angel opened the envelope, the amulet fell out, exuding a lot of smoke. When the smoke cleared, Spike was standing there. Appearing to have come from the amulet, you see. “





“Wh... who?” Buffy was in shock.





“Spike. William the bloody. He has returned from the dead. Apparently his essence was held up in the amulet and when Angel opened the envelope, he got released. However, for some reason he was not released completely.”





“What do you mean? How can he be back but not here completely?” Buffy was confused.





“Spike is incorporeal. His essence has been released but his physical self seems to be stuck in a parallel plane, somewhere between our world, and who-knows-where. We are trying to figure out if there is any way to release him from the amulet completely. Right now he’s well, he’s kind of a- a ghost. The can’t touch, going through the walls type.”





“Are you sure it’s him? I mean really him? It could be the First. It had the power to pretend to be other people.” Buffy suggested. She was afraid to get her hopes up only to discover it was not him. She needed to be sure before she would let herself believe he was back. After everything that had happened in her life, she was afraid to believe that good things could happen to her.





“I did have my doubts. But then I thought it through. The First didn’t have the strength to appear over long distances before. And as you prevented it from gathering its army, it will not have enough power to come this far. I believe the amulet was meant to be used by the powers of good and I do not believe it was meant to capture the essence of the First.” Wesley reasoned.





“Where is Spike now?” Buffy wanted to see him. Even though Wesley had explained everything in detail and seemed sincere; part of her mind doubted that it was true.





“He and Angel had a fight and Spike walked off. For some reason Angel didn’t mention you being here. I didn’t want to interfere because it was not my place to say anything.” Wesley said apologetically.





“I need to go and find him.” Buffy said and got up off the chair, getting ready to leave.





“Wait, Buffy. Where are you going to look for him?” Wesley asked.





“I don’t know. Anywhere. I can’t sit around and wait for him. I need to see him myself. I need to know!” Buffy’s voice faltered with the emotion that she was feeling.





“Calm down Buffy. Spike cannot go anywhere.” Seeing Buffy’s questioning stare, Wesley continued. “Spike is bound to the amulet and he cannot go long distances from it. So he is going to return very soon because he cannot do anything else. So why don’t you sit down and wait for him? Maybe assist me in understanding Spike.”





“Damn Angel and his stupid vampire jealousy. Every time someone falls for me, he interferes.” Buffy seethed.





“I knew there was some animosity between the two of them. Angel is not forthcoming about it, however, and he brooded for some time after he returned from Sunnydale. And I haven’t had the time to speak with you about Spike since you arrived here. Do you feel like talking? I would like to hear about Spike from a different perspective other than Angel and the council books.” Wesley asked encouragingly. He knew Buffy would be willing to explain more about what Spike had claimed about his soul after his appearance from the amulet.





“Angel and Spike have been jealous of each other for a long time now. I think it goes way back, long before me, but lately they both seem to be more competitive with each other and I am caught in the middle of it.” Buffy explained.





“What made Spike change? According to Cordelia, last time Spike visited Angel in L.A., he was all evil, trying to be violent. He came after the gem of Amarra and they had to trick him to escape. This time around, he claimed to have a soul and saved the world. I just don’t understand what made him change.”





“Love. Spike was always motivated by love. And after the fiasco with the gem of Amarra, he was caught by the Initiative.” Buffy paused. “Did you ever hear about them? Bunch of government soldiers and scientists experimenting on demons and vampires. Anyway, they put a chip in Spike’s head. Stopped him feeding.”





“How awful!” Wesley exclaimed. Even though he was a Watcher, he would never consciously do any sort of experiments on demons whether they deserved it or not.





“Yeah. Spike had to survive on pig’s blood ever since then and he worked for us to earn money. He could hurt demons so he helped us out when we needed. And then all of a sudden, he fell in love with me.”





“But Buffy...” Wesley interrupted, “forgive me for asking but how can he have loved you when he had no soul at the time? Vampires are incapable of love.”





“I thought that too, Wes. He did some crazy things back then but he also protected Dawn and my mother. He genuinely seemed to care for them and me. We went through some good and bad times since then but he genuinely loved me in his own way.” Buffy said with a small smile. Memories from back then were haunting before but felt pleasant now knowing that Spike was back. “He showed his willingness to change through his actions. He did make a lot of mistakes but the important fact is that he was willing. And when one of his mistakes became unbearable for him, he sought out his soul so that he wouldn’t ever hurt me again.”





“He sought out his soul willingly?” Wesley was surprised. Seeing Buffy’s nod, Wesley was genuinely impressed. “Good grief.”





“Yeah. I couldn’t believe it either. He went to this massive extreme to change what he was and all he needed was the chance to show that he could change,” Buffy said. “And then in the hellmouth, he wore that amulet. It was meant to be worn by a champion, you know? And he won the battle for us.” Buffy said, proudly.





“I’m simply amazed. An unsouled vampire who fell in love with the Slayer and willingly sought out his soul ended up saving the world by sacrificing himself. I don’t understand how a vampire could go to such lengths for an emotion that is deemed not possible for them to feel.”





“We don’t know the honest truth, Wes. All we know is from the Council’s books and Angel,” Buffy replied. “You know what the Watcher’s Diaries are like and I don’t have to tell you how not-forthcoming Angel is when it comes to his own flaws.”





“To tell you the truth, I am amazed at your own maturity, Buffy,” Wesley said, looking at her from above his glasses. “the last time we met in Sunnydale, you were in love with Angel and I cannot fathom you disagreeing with anything Angel said or did. After all, you quit the council because of your relationship with Angel.”





“A lot of the things I’ve seen and done have made me realize some hard facts in life,” Buffy replied. “The Buffy you saw back then was naive and did not know how to face the harsh reality of life as the Slayer.” Pausing for a second, “Also, don’t forget the fact that the council men were all jerks.” Buffy spoke with a smile.





“As it is, I am honoured to have known you back then and now,” Wesley said, respect clear in his voice. “I do not think any other Slayer has done the amazing things you have and still lived to talk about it.”





“Thank you Wes. You’ve changed a lot from then. I guess all of us have matured over time.” She looked at her watch. “I want to stay and wait for Spike, but Dawn will be wondering where I am. I should go and tell her what's happened, you know Dawnie, she hates to be left out,” Buffy said “Call me if Spike gets back before I do, okay?” She started to get up.





“I promise. Oh. Before you go, I forgot to ask the question I wanted to ask about the amulet. Can you tell me what exactly happened when it was powered?”





“I don’t know the exact details. All I saw was a beam of sunlight hit the amulet and it reflected everywhere in the cavern and killed all the uber-vamps in its way. The cave started to tremble and Spike told me to leave.” Buffy paused for a minute, trying to control the emotional pain that was brought forth by the memory. “He stayed in there as it collapsed.” Buffy finished in a low voice.





“Thanks. I think that will be helpful in working out what the amulet does and maybe give me an idea on how to reactivate it.” Wesley said, and settled in to work on the item.





“Bye Wes.” Buffy said and left the office, making her way towards the garage.





On her drive home, she was haunted by her thoughts. ‘This has to be a dream. I must be dreaming that Spike is back. But then why would I imagine him coming back as a ghost? When I saw him in the basement after the soul, I thought that was my imagination too, but it wasn’t. So maybe this is real.’ Buffy pinched herself to see if it felt real.





‘Ouch. That hurts. It feels real. So this must be real. But how is it possible? How did Spike come back? Does he still have his soul? Does it matter if he has his soul or not? Does he still love me like he used to? When Angel came back from hell, he was crazy. Spike isn’t crazy or Wesley would have told me. Maybe he was not in hell. He could have gone to heaven. After all, he did save the world. That has to count for something, right? Did someone rip him out of heaven? I know too well how that feels. Does he feel the same? Should I feel sad about it or should I feel happy that he is back here with me?’ Buffy’s thoughts were overwhelmed with questions that she didn’t have the answers for.





‘God. Now I know how Spike must have felt when I came back. What should I do? Think, Buffy, think. No. That won’t work. You’re an action girl. Only thing you can do is ask him yourself.’ Buffy convinced herself and decided to talk to him when she could without others present. Satisfied with her decision, she drove faster towards the Hyperion.

---

---

When Buffy reached the hotel, Dawn was already in the kitchen, cooking.

“Hey Buffy. Made dinner for you. Nothing fancy. Hope it’s okay for you.” She knew her sister was still hurting and she was trying to make her feel as comfortable as she could.

“Hey Dawn. We can eat later. We need to talk.” Buffy said. She wasn’t sure how she was going to explain this to Dawn.

“Okay. Whatever the school told you about me, nothing is true. I didn’t do anything.” Dawn replied, petrified. Oh God. Please tell me they didn’t tell Buffy about me getting caught in the supply room with Johnny. She said a quick prayer.

“What? School? Why would they call? Dawn…” Buffy felt a lecture coming on. Even though Dawn had grown up in the last year; she was still someone who needed to be guided in the right direction. And after the tragedies they had faced, Buffy expected her to act out at times, which was why Buffy was being extra careful about Dawn’s behaviour at school.

“Later with the advice. What’s the what?* Is anybody hurt? Is Giles okay?” Dawn looked alarmed. She had wanted to distract Buffy from her slip up, but she realized that any news Buffy may have other than the regular lecture on proper behaviour must be due to a life threatening situation.

“Everyone’s fine.” Buffy saw her sister relax. “Something happened at Wolfram and Hart when I was out picking you up and I think you should know.” Buffy hesitated, not knowing how to proceed.

“What else is new? It’s an evil law firm. Whatever happens there must be evil too.”

“Yeah. Mostly, you’re right. But this is a surprise. Something we wouldn’t have predicted in a million years.” Buffy replied with a smile. Even now, she still couldn’t believe that Spike was back. However if it was expected of anyone, Spike would be it. The vampire could never stay away for too long.

“Out with it, Buffy. Got loads of stuff to do.” Dawn replied, impatiently. She couldn’t wait to find out what could be considered a good surprise at an evil law firm.

Buffy looked at her sister, who she had started to trust more and more in the past year. She could talk to her about anything and didn’t have to worry about upsetting her. After a moment, Buffy decided to tell her sister straight.

“Spike’s back,” she said, in a calm voice, trying to control her excitement about the news.

Dawn didn’t say anything for a moment. She just stared at her sister’s face, emotionless. When she didn’t see any sign of a practical joke or delusional behaviour, she asked, “What did you say?”

Buffy, expecting this, replied in a calm voice. “Spike’s back. He came back to Wolfram and Hart whilst I was gone.”

Dawn shook her head disbelievingly. Seeing the way her sister looked and sounded, she knew it must be true.

“How is he? How did he come back? What happened?” She started to ask all the questions that Buffy had expected from her sister at a mile a minute.

“The amulet. It trapped him inside. It was sent to Angel’s office today and when Angel opened it, Spike popped out of the amulet. But…” Buffy paused, wondering how to tell Dawn the rest.

“But what?” Dawn asked, impatiently. She wanted to see him right that moment. But she knew Buffy had left something out. So she waited patiently.

“He’s kinda a ghost. Can’t touch, going through the walls type.” Buffy repeated as much as she could remember from what Wesley had told her.

After a moment of silence, Dawn asked, “Did he say anything? Did he ask about me?” She looked at her sister hopefully.

“I don’t know, Dawnie. I haven’t seen him yet. Apparently, he had a fight with Angel and Spike walked off. I’m going to go back and wait for him.”

“I want to come with you,” Dawn begged. “Please Buffy, I want to see him.”

“Not today, Dawn. I’ll see him first and talk to him and after that, I’ll take you to him. I need to make sure it is definitely Spike and not the First pretending to be him.” Buffy hoped that would satisfy her sister.

“Oh. Okay then. But promise me you’ll take me first thing tomorrow morning.” Dawn asked.

“Definitely. Tomorrow morning, first thing.” Satisfied that her sister wouldn’t sneak out and go to Wolfram and Hart by herself, Buffy sat down to eat her dinner.

When she’d finished eating, Buffy got ready to go back to the office and face Spike.

“Lock the door and windows,” Buffy ordered, “this is a big place, so be careful.”

---

When Buffy arrived at Wolfram and Hart, most people seemed to have gone home. It was relatively quiet except for some of the staff who were working late. She walked around the halls, mindlessly looking at the people who were still around, although her main focus was on one particular person – or rather, ghost - at the moment.

The only person she knew who was in his office, was Wesley. He seemed to be researching, as always. Buffy knocked on the door, and waited for Wesley to invite her in.

“Hey Wesley.” She greeted.

“Hello Buffy. Have you just got back from the Hyperion?” Wesley smiled as he welcomed her in.

“Yeah,” Buffy replied. “Dawn was making dinner when I arrived, and I explained about Spike and his magical return from the dead. She wanted to come back with me but it’s too late. I promised to bring her tomorrow.”

“How did she take it?” Wesley asked, curiously.

“As well as I thought she would. She was excited about his return. They had a good friendship for a long time.”

“A vampire befriending the Slayer’s sister. I still can’t wrap my mind around it.” Wesley confessed, guiltily.

“That’s Spike for you. Walking, talking contradiction. Speaking of Spike, where is he?” Buffy asked. “He must have come back by now.” She looked around, as though hoping he would suddenly appear in the room.

“Actually, he hasn’t shown up yet,” Wesley said. “But I did find out something more about the amulet.”

“What did you find out, Wes?” Buffy asked. She could see Wesley hesitating to tell her and a sudden chill ran down Buffy’s spine.

“After a fair amount of reading about the amulet in Wolfram and Hart’s records, I concluded that he is bound to the amulet for eternity. He will remain as a ghost for the interim until he is either released from its confines or the amulet is destroyed.” Wesley summarized.

“So? All we have to do is release him from the amulet and everything will be fine.” Seeing Wesley’s guilty look, Buffy asked loudly, “What are you not telling me Wes?”

“When he came out of the amulet, Spike was furious about his ghostly state,” Wesley began. “He said that he didn’t want to be a prisoner of the amulet, unable to interact with anything. He confessed his desire to move on. Having concluded that we won’t be able to find a way to release him, I suggested to Angel that letting Spike move on would be the wisest decision.”

“What? No. We haven’t tried everything. There must be something else we can do. There has to be.” Buffy was crumbling inside. She’d finally got a second chance only for it to slip away.

“No, Buffy. I’ve looked up everything,” Wesley said. “Nothing magical that we know of can release him from its hold. The only way to release him is by breaking it which will then force him to move on. I’m sorry but this is the only way.”

“No. There must be something we can do.” Buffy refused to accept what Wesley had told her. She had a sudden thought, and smiled.“Willow! She’ll be able to do something. She released the power from the scythe, she might have the power to release him.” Buffy was proud of herself for coming up with a solution.

“I rather doubt it. The amulet is ancient magic unknown to any practicing witch or wizard. Even if Willow finds a way to help, it’s too late. Angel has taken the amulet to the cemetery to destroy it. It can only be destroyed on hallowed ground.”

“No. No!” Buffy uttered, while moving toward the door. Once out of the office, she took off like a bat out of hell. Her feet barely touched the steps as she flew down the staircase, reaching the bottom in record time. She ran towards the cemetery faster than she’d ever run before, faster even than when she’d tried to stop Riley from leaving with the army. The cemetery was close by and she didn’t bother driving to end up caught in the traffic.

---

When Buffy reached the cemetery, she saw Spike and an older man standing over Angel. She hid behind a tree, and watched. She saw them carrying Angel towards a nearby crypt. From the outside, it looked very much like Spike's Sunnydale crypt. She followed them from a distance and went into the crypt without making a noise.

When she entered the crypt, she saw Spike standing close to the old man, who in turn, was taunting Angel. She was shocked and disappointed. She didn’t believe that Spike would betray anyone, including Angel, to get what he wanted. ‘Maybe I don’t know him as much as I thought I did.’

She saw the old man stick his hand into Angel’s belly, who was wincing in pain. She was about to interfere when she saw Spike getting sucked through the man’s other hand. She didn’t know how to stop it or what to do to help. She moved closer and closer when she suddenly saw the old man twitch.

The old man seemed to struggle with himself and she saw Angel taking advantage the situation. They traded punches with each other, and Angel threw the old man to one side, sending him crashing into a table. The man quickly stood up and started to attack more furiously. For an old guy, he seemed to be quite forceful until Angel threw a plate that cut his head clean off.

Spike was inside the man’s body, his ghostly head sticking out of the neck. Buffy gasped; seeing him up-close for the first time was a shock, and almost too unbelievable to be true.

Angel and Spike were talking when Buffy decided to intervene.

“Oh come on. Had to get a few licks in, didn’t I?” Spike said smiling to himself about the situation.

“You sure are lucky you’re a ghost, bleach head.” the voice came from behind and both Spike and Angel whipped their heads around to see the Slayer standing before them with her arms crossed.

“Buffy. What are you doing here?” Angel asked surprised.

“Buffy?” Spike’s eyes widened when his eyes landed on the person standing before him. He had been hell-bent on finding her in Europe and now here she was, his golden angel standing right in front of him. She looked pissed off which, in his eyes, made her look even more beautiful.

“I went to Wolfram and Hart to find Spike. Wesley told me that you were going to kill him. I arrived to see you being taken by Spike and that old guy.” She pointed at Hainsley on the floor. “And when I come here to find out what’s happening, both of you are at it again, fighting like kids.”

“Hey. I didn’t try to kill him. He told me to do that. And it was part of the plan. A plan to get rid of Hainsley.” Angel explained, quickly. He knew very well that Buffy harboured feelings for Spike and if she thought he was trying to kill him, he would have a pissed off Slayer on his hands.

“You could have told Wes that in the first place. I wouldn’t have had to come running like a crazed woman.” Buffy said, still looking angrily at both of them and Spike tried very hard not to smirk at his grandsire who was getting chewed up by the Slayer.

Angel was looking uncomfortable at Buffy’s tone of voice. He knew he was still in the hot seat even after his explanation. He didn’t know who had told Buffy about Spike’s return but he was sure that Buffy wouldn’t like the fact that he had tried to keep her away from him.

“Can you leave us alone for a minute? I need to talk to Angel.” Buffy asked Spike, politely.

“Yeah. Right. It’s always the same.” Spike said disapprovingly and his demeanour changed from pleasant to angry and he stormed off.

Buffy looked at the angry vampire-ghost as he left the crypt before turning towards Angel. She had to talk this out with Angel before she chased after Spike.

“I know all this was part of a plan but in the future, whether it’s a plan, or if it’s real do not do it. Don’t even try to break that amulet. Because if you or any of your goons do, I swear to God all of you will end up dead or a pile of dust.” Buffy warned. “And you won’t be coming back, again.”

“Buffy. I was only trying to defuse the situation and Spike offered to be the pawn.” Angel tried to make the slayer see reason.

“And what ever reason could you have for not telling him I was here?” Buffy asked.

“The matter never came up. We were too busy trying to figure out what he is.” Angel tried to hide the fact that he had said she was in Europe.

“Don’t even. I know that vampire like I know myself. He would have asked about me first thing. I know you purposely hid it from him.”

“I was just trying to protect you.” Angel tried to justify himself. “If you found out that he was a ghost, and he faded away completely, it would have upset you. You would have suffered.”

“Angel. Please... Stop trying to protect me. Stop trying to make decisions for me. I can take care of myself. I’ve done it for a long time, now. I’m not the same girl you knew when you were in Sunnydale. I’ve made my own decisions about my life for years. Some of them were good, and some of them were bad, but all I know is that I made them and lived with them. If you try to interfere again, I will leave L.A. with Spike and Dawn and will never look back.”

Angel stood, silently trying to understand what had happened a moment ago. She was definitely not the Buffy he used to know.

---

Spike was storming away from the crypt angrily when he heard his name being called. Knowing there could only be one female who would be calling his name, he slowed down for her to catch up.

“Spike… wait.” Buffy called out, running towards him, standing next to him catching her breath.

“What is it, Slayer?” Spike was glad to see her again but with Buffy wanting to talk to Angel alone when he was standing right there pissed him off. Flashbacks of the time when he saw her kiss Angel when she went to fight Caleb came back to haunt him.

“I don’t know… I just—” Buffy was having a hard time trying to put what she was feeling into words.

Seeing the various emotions running through Buffy’s head reflecting on her face, Spike’s anger melted. “I missed you, love.”

“I missed you, too. I missed you more than you can ever imagine.” Buffy was glad he had eased up and started the conversation.

“Angel told me you were in Europe. I was all set to go find you only to realize I was stuck in his hell hole with the bloody amulet.” Spike shook his head dejectedly.

“I knew it,” Buffy seethed. “I knew he hadn’t told you the truth.”

“Bloody poof. Always sticking his nose in where it doesn’t belong.” Spike stopped suddenly, mid-ramble and focused on Buffy. “Hold on, love. If Angel didn’t tell me about you, how did you find out about my return from the dead?”

“I—” Buffy shifted around uncomfortably. “I sorta work for him.”

“You bloody what?” Spike yelled out loud. Never in a million years would he have believed that Buffy would be dumb enough to be fooled by Angel’s plan to beat the evil from the inside.

“Don’t tell me you believe in his idea as well?” He asked her, still not willing to believe it was true. “Can’t you see what’s happening here?”

“I need to be with him to make sure he doesn’t fall to the dark side.” Buffy said softly. She knew it sounded lame but it was all she could say.

“Oh, yeah. That’s right. He’s Peaches after all. Of course you’re with him.” Spike replied accusingly. He’s the big love of her life ain’t he? She’ll always stay with him. What am I to her now that the big evil is gone?

“It’s not like that.” Buffy tried to explain frantically. He was taking everything she said the wrong way. She knew from the hurt way he was looking at her that he misunderstood the situation, like always.

“Save it, Slayer.” Spike started to walk away angrily, towards the car.

Buffy walked towards the car dejectedly. She knew that anything she tried to say now would be useless. That stupid vampire always jumped to the wrong conclusions and got irrationally angry. She knew he wouldn’t listen or believe anything she said until he cooled down. She just needed to give him space to vent his anger before she tried to explain again.

Angel walked over after a little while and saw both the ghostly vampire and the Slayer standing apart as though they were avoiding each other. He got into the driving seat and Spike sat next to him while Buffy sat in the back seat. The ride back to the office was spent in silence.

---

When they reached Wolfram and Hart, Buffy decided to talk to Spike once they had a moment to themselves. Once the elevator opened onto the office floor, Spike walked away quickly. Buffy tried to follow him only to see him disappear into thin air. She panicked at what she’d seen and looked back at the only person around, who happened to be Fred.

“What happened?” She asked, frantically.

“Oh, he’s done that before,” said Fred, casually. “He comes back after a little while. We just have to wait for him to show himself again.”

“Where did he go?” Buffy asked.

“We don’t know. Don’t worry, Buffy,” Fred consoled. “He’ll come back eventually.”. Inwardly, she was worried about it too. She didn’t understand what was making him disappear but she didn’t want to show her worry, as it would surely escalate Buffy’s current anxiety.

“Why don’t you go back to the Hyperion,” she suggested. “Spike will probably be back when you come in tomorrow.”

“Right. If you see him before then, please tell him that I’m worried and want to talk with him?” Buffy asked.

“I promise.” Fred assured.

“Thanks. I’ll see you tomorrow. Good night.” Buffy walked back to the elevator to go home. The sooner she went to sleep, the sooner it tomorrow would arrive and she would be able to talk to Spike again.

Fred looked around one last time for Spike’s appearance before she went to lock her office and go home.

Disclaimer : Joss Whedon owns the characters. Atleast most of them. I'm continuing the story which didn't end when he finished. Just want to have an ending.

---

Buffy and Dawn walked into W&H building anxiously. Both sisters were feeling differently when they enter. Dawn is excited since she woke up that morning. She couldn't wait to see the blonde vampire she missed so much. She was practically dragging her sister by her hand into the building. Buffy on the other hand was still unsure on how to act around Spike. She knew she had to talk to him openly about her feelings but she didn't know how to start. They didn't have a good start last night and Buffy didn't know how the vampire is going to react today.

"Come on Buffy. We must hurry." Dawn said while dragging her sister.

"Ease up Dawn. He's around here somewhere. You have plenty of time to see him."

"I can't wait any longer. I want to see him now."

"Well, we'll have to look around the building. He can be anywhere. He just walks through the walls you know?"

"Let's go ask Angel or his friends. They might know where Spike was seen recently."

Mentally agreeing that her sister was right logically, Buffy let herself be dragged towards Angel's office.

They both walked into the office to see the whole gang sitting there talking about something.

"Hey guys. Does anyone know where Spike is?" Buffy came straight to the point knowing Dawn will not want to sit around waiting.

"Hey Dawn. Welcome to W&H. Do you want a tour?" Angel asked Dawn who shook her head.

"Maybe another time. I want to see Spike now." She replied resolutely.

"I saw him last in my lab. He was hanging around in there. Might be there still." Fred answered helpfully to Buffy's question.

"Thanks" with a nod towards the others, Buffy walked out of the door with a hyper-energized teenage bomb.

Both sisters moved towards the lab and found it empty. They checked the rooms nearby and saw no sign of Spike anywhere. They started to move towards the quarters one by one and in one of them, they saw the blonde haired vampire sitting by the window looking outside.

"Spike!" Dawn squeaked and flew towards him not hearing her sister's warning.

Spike turned around to see a blur of an image running towards him and right through him. He turned around to see Dawn looking shocked and surprised after going through him.

"Hey Nibblet. Didn't your big sis tell you about yours truly being all ghost almighty?" He chuckled.

"Sorry" Dawn replied sheepishly. "She did tell me but I forgot. I just missed you so much. You don't have any idea how happy I am to see you here." She was positively glowing with a bright smile. It was definitely a better greeting than the one he received a year ago.

"It's ok Bit. No harm done. I'm glad to see you too. I missed you a lot for a while now." his head hung down in shame when he said that.

"I'll leave you two alone." Buffy said knowing both of them need to talk things out and walked out of the room closing the door. She knew they both were not on speaking terms last year and after everything went down, they need the space to talk with each other.

"I'm sorry Spike. I should not have behaved the way I did with you in the last year. I was just so angry at you; I didn't realize what it would be like to lose you." Dawn apologized.

"Don't be sorry Bit. I deserved it. I did a terrible thing and I don't expect you to forgive me for it." Spike turned away from Dawn. "I didn't realize what I was doing and after that, I couldn't live with what I did. I can understand your anger and I fully deserve it."

Dawn walked around Spike to face him face-to-face.

"I was angry at you for abandoning me. I always expected you to be there to protect me and then you weren't. That's what hurt me the most. And what you did to my sister made me question about my opinion of you. I always believed that you were a good guy when everyone said otherwise and when I heard what you tried to do to my sister made me question whether everyone was right and I was wrong."

Seeing Spike cringe inside, Dawn softened. "But when you came back with a soul, I did realize how much it must have hurt you too. I know how much you mocked Angel for having a soul and how you liked the way you were. So I can understand how much you must have hated yourself to willingly get a soul. I was still angry for abandoning me but also a bit ashamed to talk to you. Then the First came in and everything became a big mess."

Dawn captured Spike's guilty glance. "I just wish everything to go back to how they were. I want you to be there to protect me. I want you to cheer me up when I'm down and I want you to do silly things with me and call me by your silly names." After pausing for a moment, she continued. "I want you to be part of my life Spike. Can you promise me that?"

Spike simply nodded his head in response. When he looked at her again, there were tears in his eyes. "I don't know what's there left for me Nibblet. But I promise you that I won't leave you willingly. And I will always be there for you no matter what."

Dawn nodded in understanding. After taking a moment to calm down, Dawn asked cheerfully.

"So what's new happening in here? Anything exciting?"

"Well, the gang is searching for a girl who just turned into a werewolf." Dawn's eyes widened at that. "They're pretty strong let me tell you. I had a wee spat with a werewolf myself once. Fought for over an hour. Brutal, vicious."

"Really?"

"Oh yes. Almost lost my-" Spike was interrupted by a voice from the door.

"I hear Angel killed one with a pen last night." Buffy walked in.

"Oh great. Came in to rain in my pride parade did you?" Spike asked with disappointment while Dawn and Buffy tried to hide their laughter. After seeing Spike pouting like a kid, they couldn't hold it anymore and they broke into laughter.

"Great. Not only am I a useless ghost; I can't even try to be a big bad now." Spike said shaking his head disapprovingly at the laughing girls in front of him.

"Admit it Spike. You haven't been the big bad for a long time now. Give it up will ya?" Dawn replied back trying to control her laughter.

"Whatever. You Summers can laugh all you want, but this ghost is going for a walk." and Spike walked away into the wall.

"Spike, wait." Dawn called behind him. Seeing him disappear, she turned to Buffy.

"He didn't take it seriously now did he?" She asked in fear. She just patched things up with him and she didn't want a misunderstanding to ruin it again.

"Relax Dawn. It's just Spike being Spike. He'll be ok like always. He'll be coming through the wall anytime soon." and both sisters left the room to roam around the building.

---

When Buffy and Dawn reached Angel's office, they heard arguing voices. Both sisters looked at each other and sighed. They know the voices and they expected it to happen often. They entered the room to see Spike pointing out something to the rest.

"I'm just saying, the girl's a killer. Maybe not tonight or tomorrow, but she will get out of that cage."

"Not if she doesn't want to." Angel replied.

"I guess they are still dealing with the werewolf case." Buffy explained to her sister who just nodded in agreement.

"Oh, she'll want to. It's unfortunate, but..." Royce was interrupted by Spike.

"And when it's not that time of month? She'll be wracked by the guilties. What with a soul and all."

"Didn't seem to bother you." Buffy wanted to interfere at Angel's lack of compassion but Spike was quicker.

"Oh, it's been nothing but a pain in my..." and he vanished again in the midst of his sentence.

"Finally. I'll take Nina by her house." Angel said to his team careless about Spike vanishing.

"Wait a minute. What the hell happened?" Buffy asked the people in the room while Dawn looked alarmed by Spike going away.

"What? Spike? He does that sometimes. Side effect of being a ghost I guess." Angel replied impassively. Buffy looked at the other members of his team. Wesley and Gunn seemed to disregard what happened while Fred looked like she was panicking inside. Buffy didn't want to create a scene so she kept quiet.

"Angel, it's the middle of the day. Unless you plan on waiting in the car..." Fred said to her boss.

"Take security. In case she changes her mind." Angel replied.

Buffy decided to wait until Fred returns to ask if she knew anything more about Spike's vanishing acts since last night. She was comforting yesterday while she looked panicked by his disappearance today. Her Slayer instincts were telling her that it was something serious and Fred knew about it. She looked at her sister who was looking around for an explanation from someone, and Buffy decided to distract her until she knew what was going on herself.

"Dawnie. Why don't I take you to school? We can come back later after your school is over to see him." Dawn was not convinced by Buffy's act but she kept silent knowing what Buffy was trying to do and followed her sister to the lift. After getting into the lift, she asked her sister the question that was plaguing her mind.

"Does he do that often?"

"I've only saw it once before and that was last night before I came back home. Other than that, this is the second time I saw it too." Buffy explained in her calm voice. Inside, she was panicking at what she saw too. She didn't know what to make of it.

"Where does he go?"

"I don't know Dawnie. I really don't know." Buffy couldn't hide her concern in her voice at that answer.

---

Buffy came back to the building after dropping her sister at school and spent the entire day walking around the building. It's a pretty big place and she spent all afternoon going around partly to get the feel of the place and the rest looking for Spike.

When she didn't find him anywhere and it was time for her to go pick up Dawn, she left quickly so that she can come back as soon as she can.

Both sisters returned to the office when they saw Fred coming out of the conference room calling out for the same ghostly vampire they were expecting to see. They started to chase after her.

"Spike. Spike, wait! Spike!" Fred followed him through the lobby.

Spike kept on walking down the hall, seemingly unable to hear Fred's calls to him. He just kept walking.

"Spike, stop! Spike?" Spike walked through the wall.

Buffy and Dawn kept their pace and followed Fred without losing her. Fred followed Spike by going through the adjacent door into an office.

"Spike, wait!" Spike went through the wall in the end of the room. "Spike, wait!" Fred ran to catch him but knocked out over a trashcan. "Ohh! Oh, damn. He's walking away like he can't hear me. Just whoot! Right through the—"

Fred stopped to put the trash back into the trashcan that she has split during her pursuit, but stopped when she noticed something peculiar. Just then, Dr. Royce walked into the office.

"Were you looking for me?" Royce questioned Fred.

"Oh, is this your office? I'm so sorry. I was following Spike, and I—I kind of made a mess. He just went right through the wall." Fred got up from the floor. Royce looked at the wall Spike went through. "It's so annoying when he does that, 'cause there's nothing you can do to..." Fred clubbed Royce with his lamp, knocking him out "stop him."

Buffy and Dawn entered the room at that moment and saw Fred clubbing the guy.

"Whoa!" both exclaimed in surprise. "What happened here?"

"He's the traitor." She showed the vial to Buffy. "How did you know to come here to find me?" She asked.

"We followed you. We saw you going after Spike and we tried to follow you. We took a wrong turn and when we came here, this guy is knocked out onto the floor." Buffy explained.

"Oh. Spike went through that wall. You try to find him. I'll have to show this to Angel."

"Ok then. But we need to talk soon." Buffy told Fred and walked out with Dawn beside her to find the other side of the wall Spike went through.

---

After solving the mystery and rescuing Nina, Fred walked towards her room to see Buffy and Dawn still in the building looking around.

"Did you find Spike?" She asked the Summers women. Both shook their head in disappointment.

"Don't worry. He will be fine. He always is." Fred comforted them.

Buffy turned towards her sister. "Why don't you go wait for me near the lift? I'll be with you in a second." Dawn walked away grumbling. She knew Buffy was going to ask about Spike and she wanted to know too. But sadly Buffy will not do it with her present.

Buffy turned her attention to Fred. "Do you know what is happening to him?" she asked looking deadly into Fred's eyes.

"He asked for my help to make him normal again." Fred told the truth partially.

"It's not like Spike. He doesn't ask for help from anyone." Buffy shook her head disbelievingly. "Something else is going on."

"He will be alright. I'll ask him to talk to you when I see him again." Fred comforted Buffy. She knew Buffy was worried about Spike and without breaking his confession, she was helpless.

Buffy nodded her head and mumbled a "Thanks" before walking towards the lift. Dawn kept quiet and didn't ask any questions after seeing Buffy's face. She knew her sister was not happy about whatever she heard from Fred and she didn't want to antagonize her by asking questions.

Fred walked down the hall toward the laboratory alone. When she entered her lab, she was blindsided by a lab-tech assistant.

"Oh! Good night."

"Good night." the man replied and walked out of the lab.

Fred stood by a lab desk reading papers in her file when she sensed something or someone behind her. Startled, she gasped and turned to see, but there's no one there. When she turned back around, she saw Spike standing right in front of her. Fred let out a little scream and dropped her papers.

"How long did you know I was there?" Spike seemed defeated by her pretence.

"Uh, just since the lobby. But that popping up behind me was really scary. Look, I dropped my papers." She picked up the papers from the floor.

"Nice touch."

"Thanks."

"I'd give you a hand with that, but..." Spike ran his hand right through some science equipment to show her he still can't touch anything.

"Still no interaction?" She asked sympathetically.

"Not a twinge. Can't spirit the knickknacks about. Can't willie the locals. Bloody sad ghost I turned out."

"I've told you before you're not a ghost."

"Chipper. Give us a hug." Spike spread his arms out as an invite for a hug.

"You know what I mean. You're more than a common spectral disturbance. I've never seen anything like you." Fred scanned Spike with a beeping instrument.

"Bet you say that to all the spirits."

"Oh, your radiant heat signature's dropped another .02 degrees." She said looking at the measuring instrument she held in her hand.

"Thought it was a bit nippy."

"Is everything... are you..." Fred couldn't say it. She understood what Spike was going through and saying it out loud will make it more real.

Spike crossed his arms. "Feeling the tug of eternal damnation? Maybe that's why I can't touch anything. Using all my mentalies just to keep from slipping into hell."

"I won't let that happen. I've been working on a theory. Well, more of a hunch, actually, but I think I'm getting close." She informed him positively. She wanted him to hold on and not give up.

"To making me a real boy again?"

"Heh. As real as a vampire with a soul can be. It won't be like Angel's thing with the prophecy, but..."

"What prophecy?" Spike looked surprised at what Fred said. He didn't know there was any prophecy about a vampire with a soul.

"The shan-shoe-ha something or 'nother. Says that if Angel helps enough people, he gets to be human again." She explained.

"Oh. Really." He nodded his head. "Goody for him." Mentally, Spike contemplated at the situation. He knew prophecies are always turn bad and he wondered how this was going to turn out.

"Ah! That totally makes sense." Fred exclaimed suddenly.

"What does?" Spike questioned her sudden revelation.

"The fluctuations in your readings. Lack of particle cohesion. It's almost as if your essence is straddling a dimensional void, which may be the key, assuming that the amulet you used to save the world is some sort of trans-reality amplifier capable of focusing massive quantities of mystical energy." Fred rambled on with her scientific explanation.

"And what in the King's English does that mean to the dearly almost departed?" Spike asked confused. He didn't understand the gibberish she was rattling about.

"It means that if I can defy most of the laws of nature, there's a good chance I'll be able to anchor you to this plane and make you corporeal." She explained enthusiastically.

Spike gave her a big sweet smile. "Well... might be a hug in your future after all." He tried to lean into a table but slipped through and disappeared.

"Spike?" Fred looked alerted at his sudden disappearance.

---

Spike fell through the floors all the way to the basement, landing flat on his face. He laughed out loud.

"Brilliant."

Spike stood, hearing a repetitive chopping sound nearby, and walks down the hall toward it. There's a man at the end of the hall, sitting at a table, chopping something with his back to Spike.

"Don't mean to interrupt the sitting in the dark basement, mate, but could you point the quickest way back to the lab? As the ghost flies?" He asked the busy man.

As Spike walked closer to the man at the table, he could see that the man is chopping off his own fingers one by one. The man turned to face Spike, and revealed his lipless cut-up face with gashes all over his eyes and cheeks. Spike did a double-take and the man at the table has disappeared.

"Take that as a ‘No' then." Spike felt fear at the unknown situation.

---

Buffy walked into the building as always. She went straight towards Angel's office to know that day's situation and if anyone require her assistance. Ever since she joined the gang, she didn't do anything else but wait in the building. She didn't mind though as she had someone important to think about in there.

When she walked in, Angel was having a discussion with Fred. Eve was standing in the corner of the office. The bleached blonde was missing in action which made Buffy worry. She hasn't seen him yet since his vanishing act after Nina.

"Look, I- I know it sounds like. I mean, it is a lot of money, but I- I'm trying to do something that's never been done before. So, yeah, attempting to recorporealize Spike is gonna cost."

Buffy instantly knew what they were talking about. She didn't interfere or announce her entrance. She knew Angel would have sensed her so she kept quiet and stood close to the door.

Angel raised his hands to stop Fred's flow of speech. "Whoa! Trying to do what?"

"Make Spike corporeal again like you asked." She clarified.

"Uh, no, what I asked for was for you to try to find a way to get Spike out of Wolfram & Hart."

Buffy looked at Angel disbelievingly. Angel sensed her stare and didn't dare to look at her. He knew what her response would be. Before Buffy could say anything, Fred spoke first.

"Angel..." Fred paused to stand up. "We accepted the offer to take over the L.A. Branch of an evil, multi-dimensional law firm because we thought we could make a difference. Use the resources of Wolfram & Hart to do something decent."

"And how does that have anything to do with Spike?" Angel responded.

"He just saved the world. Vampire with a soul fighting for the good of humanity. Ring anything? He's just like you, a champion." Fred explained.

Buffy just kept silent watching Fred argue. She was surprised one of Angel's team members is arguing for Spike's sake. She didn't know the girl had the courage to stand up to her boss. Fred was surprising Buffy by standing up for what was right.

Angel crossed his arms and said "God, I really hate that word."

"Think of what an asset he'd be fighting on our side." She tried to convince him to agree.

"Except he won't be. I know Spike better than anyone, and he only cares about himself."

"And Buffy." Fred pointed out to Angel. She didn't know the person was standing right close to her. Angel shifted in his seat uncomfortably. He didn't want to get into this situation right now. Eve on the other hand was interested.

"Well, this is getting interesting." Eve said. Buffy turned her gaze at the woman.

"You're right. He does care about Buffy. So, what do you think he's gonna do as soon as his fresh, new feet hit the ground?"

"Angel." Buffy interfered this time with a calm voice. Fred was surprised and jumped a feet at Buffy's voice sounding close to her. Buffy didn't notice as she was looking directly at Angel.

"Spike has been helping me and my friends for a long time now. I can put my life in his hands to protect me. I have confidence of him doing the good thing whether you like it or not. He has changed. More than you are willing to accept."

"I just want Fred to be careful, because I know how charming Spike can be." Buffy smirked at that.

"He is quite the dish, with those eyes..." Eve spoke out. Buffy felt jealousy burning inside her at Eve but didn't want to expose her feelings in front of them. She just saw her for the first time and she already started to dislike Eve.

"And the hair and the cheeks and? What do you think I am, stupid? I know he's been playing me with the looks and the smiles. I'm not some idiot schoolgirl with a crush." Buffy turned her eyes to Fred and stared. Fred gave her an apologetic look.

"Then what is it?" Angel asked missing all the eye interaction.

"It's about doing what's right. Remember?"

"Your department. Your call. Just don't be disappointed if it doesn't work. Some people can't be saved."

Fred walked out of the room and Buffy followed her. She knew she can get more details from Fred than Angel who will not willingly give information on Spike to her. She caught up with Fred in the hallway.

"Where is he now?"

"I don't know. He disappeared in my lab today morning."

"That vampire is really going to get from me. He's been avoiding me for a while now. Do you know why?" Buffy questioned.

"No. Sorry. I'll tell him to talk to you if I see him." Fred answered avoiding Buffy's stare. Buffy looked at Fred for a moment then walked away looking for the ghostly vampire. She knew Fred was hiding something and no matter how hard she tries, she knew Fred will not give out the secret. So she had to get the truth straight from the horses' mouth.

---

Spike reappeared in the laboratory, but it's empty.

Sighing Spike said, "Never a fetching mad scientist about when you need one." He saw Fred's notes lying in the lab desk, "Whatever you're cobbling together, pet, I think you better hurry it along."

Spike noticed a desk lamp blinking and buzzing across the room and walked towards it. A dark shadow passed quickly behind him.

"Done chopping your feelers off in the basement? Floating upstairs for a few chuckles now?"

Right outside the lab, another light started to blink on and off and made a buzzing noise.

"Right. Vampire ghost here, ya sod. Bloody well invented afraid of the dark." Scoffing, Spike walked towards the light. He didn't want anyone to know he was feeling scared at this mystery ghost that is trying to spook him.

Now in the hallway, Spike saw a row of ceiling lights going off one by one, seemingly directing him down the hallway.

"Bugger this. I'm not playing follow the blinking light for the rest of the-" There was a woman crying at the end of the hall. "All right. Lured me here with the creepshow. Now what?"

Spike walked up to the woman, who was crouched on the ground crying. She's dressed as a maid from the late 19th century with a frilly white hat and an apron. When he got near, she stood and held out stubs of what once were arms.

"Please- hold me- Hold me, please. It's coming."

Spike did a double-take at the sudden creepiness, and the woman was gone.

---

Angel walked out of the elevator into his office, where Spike was standing, waiting for him.

"So, what's on the 'genda? Rousting a nest of venomous retirement plans?" Spike asked.

Rolling his eyes, Angel poured a drink of blood for himself. "Shop's closed, Spike. Come back and haunt me tomorrow."

"Air's too rarefied up here for my taste, anyhows. Down with the dregs is where I belong, isn't it?"

"And yet he's still here." Angel walked towards the window.

"Just thought we could hang is all. Couple of vampires from the old days doing our... hangy thing." He said casually trying to hide the fear he was feeling inside.

"You're starting to feel it, aren't you? How close you are now- to hell?" Angel could see the torment in Spike.

"What if I am? Not like it's such a big, bleeding deal, is it? If a ponce like you could break out?" Spike replied back outraged. He doesn't like anyone feeling sorry for him especially Angel.

"I never escaped from hell. All I got was a short reprieve. Not even sure how I managed that."

"Oh, put your martyr away, Mahatma. Fred told me all about your great, shining prophecy. Pile up all your good deeds and get the big brass ring handed to you like everything else." Spike scoffed at Angel.

Angel turned around to face Spike. "Except for one small catch. The prophecy's a bunch of bull. They all are. Nothing's written in stone or fated to happen, Spike. You save the world, you end up running an evil law firm."

"Or playin' Casper with one foot in the fryer."

Angel walked close towards Spike, whispering in his ear. "You think any of it matters? The things we did? The lives we destroyed. That's all that's ever gonna count. So, yeah, surprise. You're going to hell. We both are." He sat on the couch.

"Then why even bother?" Spike asked with discontent. "Try to do the right thing, make a difference-"

"What else are we gonna do?" Angel interrupted.

"So that's it, then. I really am going to burn." He said desolately.

"Welcome to the club." Angel raised the glass high up.

Sighing, Spike took the seat beside Angel in the couch. "Least I got company, eh? You and me, together again. Hope and Crosby. Stills and Nash. Chico and the-"

"Yeah, are we done?" Angel interrupted Spike's charade of partners.

"Never much for small talk, were you? Always too busy trying to perfect that brooding block-of-wood mystique. God, I love that."

"Not as much as I loved your nonstop yammering."

"The way you always had to be the big swingy, swaggerin' around, barkin' orders..."

"Never listening..."

"Always interrupting..."

"And your hair. What color do they call that, radioactive?"

"Never much cared for you, Liam, even when we were evil."

"Cared for you less."

"Fine."

"Good." Angel took an un-needed breath. "There was one thing about you..."

Spike looked interested at the prospect. "Really?"

"Yeah, I never told anybody about this, but I- I liked your poems."

Spike frowned. "You like Barry Manilow."

Spike turned away from the conversation all of a sudden when he noticed a man hanging from the ceiling. Angel noticed Spike's distraction.

"What is it?" he queried.

"Don't you see it?" Spike asked in response.

"See what?"

"Nothing. Too much talk of fire and brimstone." He looked over Angel's shoulder and saw the hanging man standing there.

Angel looked confused at Spike's sudden behavior asked the only thing he can. "What?"

---

After Angel's urgent call, the rest of the gang entered the room. Buffy was with them and when she saw Spike, she was relieved to finally see him there still his ghostly self.

"Spike."

Spike who was agitated by the creepy experience he had calmed a little bit after seeing her. "Buffy." He said in a soft voice.

"What's wrong Angel?" Wesley asked.

"Spike says he's seeing dead peoples' ghosts." Angel pointed out.

"What?" all of them exclaimed. Buffy was shocked at first and then panicked.

"Is it the First?" Buffy asked Spike. Spike looked around for a moment then shook his head. "They look different. And we closed the Hellmouth. First cannot travel this far."

"Then what is it?" Buffy questioned in confusion.

"How do I know? They are here talking." He was getting agitated again.

"Right now?" Angel asked.

"Yes. Right now. Right here." Spike turned to the ghosts. "Piss off! I'm trying to have a conversation here! Shut up!"

"Who's he talking to?" Wesley asked Angel.

"Ghosts."

"Where?" Fred asked. A ghost walked behind Fred, unnoticed.

"Everywhere. The blighters are coming out of the woodwork!" He looked at the ghosts. "No, I am not talking to you! Go away!"

Gunn and Eve entered the room.

"We just checked with security." Gunn said.

"They do hourly sweeps with the mystics to secure against spectral intrusion."

"So how many are we dealing with?" Angel asked.

"None. Last sweep was 10 minutes ago. Spike's the only non-corporeal in the building." Gunn stated.

Armless ghost woman whispered to Spike while circling him. "It's coming for you."

Spike turned to the Gunn and said "Check again."

"Maybe we should go back to the lab?" Fred suggested.

Spike saw ghosts all surrounding him. "No, I'm telling you, they're here. You have to check again. Something's happening."

"What is it Spike?" Buffy asked alarmed. She never saw Spike this panicked before. And it was freaking her out too.

"It's...here." Hanging ghost man said.

Spike exhaled loudly. "Fred, please, you have to use that perfect brain of yours and get me the hell out of here." And he faded away.

Buffy and Fred called out in unison. "Spike?"

"Where'd he go?" Eve asked.

"It's OK. He does this sometimes." Angel replied.

"Does what?" Spike asked.

"We should spread out, see if we can find him. We just need to find him." Fred suggested, Buffy nodded and hurried out. The rest of them exited the room.

"What are you going on about? I haven't gone anywhere. Fred? I'm here. I'm-I'm still here! Fred! Buffy!" Spike walks out after them.

Chuckling, a male voice said "She can't help you now, William. No one can."

---

Spike stood in the lobby, looking over his shoulder, talking back to the voice that just spoke to him.

"Is this the part where I say, "who's there?" And something creepy happens?"

A black shadow glided quickly across the balcony.

"Thought so."

Spike walked up the stairs toward the shadow, when the elevator bell dings, the doors open, and the light shows it's going down.

"Oh, no. Haunted lift. Take a slice more to wet my knickers." Sighing, he walked into the elevator.

---

Buffy walked into Wesley's office and found Fred and Gunn were there along with Wesley.

"I couldn't find him anywhere." Buffy said disappointingly.

"Angel does have a point. Spike has been unintentionally disapparating more and more frequently." Wesley said.

"Give him 20 minutes. He'll be popping up next to you in the bathroom, making cracks about your-" Seeing everyone's confused faces, Gunn looked at Wesley. "Am I the only one he does that to?"

"I know he's done this before, but you saw the way he was acting. Something's different this time. He's agitated, hallucinating."

"Ghosts can do that?" Gunn questioned.

"We are dealing with a unique case here as far as manifestations go. Dementia isn't completely out of the question." Wesley replied.

"Is there any chance he was telling the truth Wesley?" Buffy asked.

"I don't think so Buffy. If he was, the mystics would have found about it." Wesley explained.

"What if they are involved in this too?" Buffy doubted.

"I don't think so Buffy." Gunn told Buffy. "I was there with Eve when they did the sweep and it didn't seem like they were hiding something."

"I just have a bad feeling about this." Buffy said dejectedly.

"He's not crazy." Fred stated.

"Screaming about people who aren't there? That's grounds for involuntary committal under the Lanterman-Petris-Short Act which states- Oh, sorry. Sometimes the law they stuffed in my noggin just clicks on." Gunn said apologetically.

"You don't know what Spike's dealing with, where he goes when he disappears. He told me. It's hell." She paused for a moment. "He's slipping into hell."

"Kinda figured." Gunn said.

"Of course." Wesley agreed.

"Where else would he be headed?" Gunn asked.

"What?" A yelled voice silenced them. Everyone turned to see a shocked and angered face of Buffy.

"You told me you didn't know what was happening." Buffy accused Fred.

"He wanted me to keep it as a secret. I couldn't tell you. I'm sorry. I tried to get him to tell you but he refused." Fred explained in a low voice.

"That vampire better have a good reason for this." Buffy turned her anger towards the vampire. The others kept in silence. They knew it would be stupid to say anything right now and to face the angered Slayer.

---

The elevator dinged, the doors open, and Spike stepped out into the basement.

"Had to be the basement." Spike said to himself. He heared the chopping sound again.

"I already played this one out. Not like another round's gonna rattle my knobs."

Spike walked toward the table at the end of the hall, but the man isn't sitting at the table anymore. His chopped-off fingers are still there, twitching. A business-woman appears out of the corner. She's got a shard of glass sticking out of her left eye.

Glass ghost woman singsonged "It's gonna get you." and giggled.

"What exactly would it be, love?" Spike enquired.

"Reaper's gonna take you." She responded still giggling.

"The Reaper? Tall, grim fellow with a scythe? Is that what all this boogie-boogie's been about?"

"It hurts..." glass ghost woman changed her tone of voice from giggling to pained.

"I have been knocking around the land of the lost for months now, pretty as you please. Slipped through the cracks, did I?"

Glass ghost woman pulled the shard of glass out of her eye. "Don't worry, William. Haven't forgotten you." She sliced Spike's face with the sharp glass.

---

Buffy was sitting in one of the quarters' bed silently thinking. Spike appeared behind her in the room.

"Buffy luv, I think its time for me to go. I'm expected in hell. Guess this is the last time I will ever see you. I didn't want to leave without seeing you for the last time." He came close to Buffy and kneeled in front of her.

"I know who I am and what I did. I have done some awful things in the past and it is time for me to suffer for it. But I want you to know that the one thing I ever did right in my life is falling in love with you. You changed my life into the good side. I did some things I can feel proud of because of you. You are my eternal light and I am lucky to have loved you even if you didn't. I don't deserve your love. Your love deserves a pure soul and that certainly isn't me. I just wish you know how much I love you. And I wish I could see the Nibblet one last time. No matter where I am, I will always be with you my love. Be safe and live your life." Spike pretended to touch Buffy's cheek with his hand. It glided along her cheek and his finger touched her lips. Tears dropped from Spike's eyes and he got up and walked away. He went through the door along the hallway.

After Spike left, Buffy laid in the bed with her eyes closed. When she opened them again, she had tears in her eyes too. She murmured "I love you Spike" in a low voice.

---

Fred was working hard on equations in her lab.

"Carry the quotient load across the remainder... support the imbalance with Lumirea's fourth constant..." She was talking to herself.

Spike apparated near her and talked to Fred. "Think I know what they are... the things I been seeing. They're the welcoming party. Guess hell got tired of waitin'. Reaching out for me now. Sent their boy around to collect me."

Fred looked at her papers, "I knew it."

"Knows my name. Knows how to hurt me. I wanted to thank you, pet. How you tried to help. Wanted to tell you what that meant to me before I-" Spike was interrupted by Fred.

"Damn, I'm good!" She exclaimed with joy.

Spike shook himself to reality. "You are?"

"Frickin' genius! Just cancel out the radical..." Fred kept on mumbling to herself.

Spike looked up, gives the finger, and chuckles victoriously. "Thought you had me, didn't ya?"

"Which causes a feedback wave that liquefies half of Los Angeles." Fred finished her mumbling disappointedly.

"What?" Spike looked shocked.

"Oh! I'll never figure this out!" Fred said frustrated.

"Yes, you will! Genius, remember? Don't throw in now, Fred. Please!" Spike sounded desperate.

Spike reached out emphatically toward Fred, and his hand created a spark of electricity near Fred's shoulder, making her jump.

Fred gasping looked around. "Spike?"

"That's right, love. You felt it, too, didn't you? I'm here! I'm still here. No! She can feel me. You're not taking me yet! You're not taking me!"

"Spike, if it's you, give me some sort of-" Fred looked around the room, startled when she saw Angel standing there. "Oh! Would everybody please stop doing that?"

Angel looked apologetic. "Sorry. I just wanted to let you know-"

Fred interrupted him. "Angel, something was in the lab. It… it touched me. I think maybe it was-"

"Fred, we did another sweep with the mystics. They didn't find anything." Angel stated.

"Screw the mystics. I know what I felt. We have to find a way to contact him before he's really gone." Fred was on a mission to save Spike and she will not give up until she saved him.

---

Wesley and Gunn are sitting at the conference table with Buffy, Fred and Angel.

"Perhaps we should reconsider this." Wesley said. Two disapproving female voices came against his suggestion.

"You think? Seen enough horror flicks to know these things always turn out ugly." Gunn said.

Just then the door opened and in came Dawn.

"Dawnie?" Buffy asked dumbfounded.

"Hey Buffy." Dawn addressed her sister while looking around.

"What are you doing here Dawn?" Angel questioned.

"I came to spend time with Spike. He told me to come today." Dawn explained distractedly. "Do you know where he is?"

Buffy couldn't tell anything to her sister. She didn't want to lie to her again. But she couldn't explain the truth either.

"We have a situation here Dawn. Maybe it's not the right time now." Angel stated.

"Don't worry. Spike and I will be somewhere private. We won't interfere."

"I'm sorry Dawn. Spike is not available right now." Wesley said.

"What is it? What's going on? Does this situation have anything to do with Spike?" Dawn started to fire her questions.

"Sorry Dawn. I can't-" Angel was interrupted by Buffy. "It's ok Angel. She has the right to know." Buffy turned towards her sister. "Spike has disappeared and he was seeing ghosts before he disappeared. Fred said Spike was slipping into hell. We are trying to save him before it happens." Buffy explained. Dawn was wide-eyed and didn't say anything for a moment.

"Wh- What? Hell? No. It can't be. I mean how could it be? He saved the world. He was a hero. He cannot go to hell. I won't believe it." Dawn was becoming fanatic.

"It's true Dawn. Spike said it himself." Fred acknowledged.

"What are you going to do to save him?" Dawn asked Buffy.

"We're trying to find him first." Buffy said.

"Can't we call in Willow? She's good with Magical stuff. She might be able to do something." Dawn suggested.

"Already tried. I couldn't reach her. She was in a mission or something like that." Buffy said weakly.

Eve escorted a pretty blonde woman in a red dress into the room.

"All right. Let's get to it. Eve tells me that you've lost a ghostie." Psychic said.

"You better go Dawn. We'll tell you after this is over." Angel told Dawn.

"No." Dawn said simply. She took a seat next to Buffy. "I'm staying." Angel looked at Buffy who nodded to go ahead. Angel turned towards the Psychic. "We're ready."

Psychic took a seat at the head of the table. "Now, I have pilates at the crack of why-am-I-awake? So we're gonna move this right along. I will mutter a few calming words to get us into the zone, and then we'll see if we can scare up your missing spook. OK. Clear your minds- which, judging by the looks of you, won't be that hard."

"Should we hold hands?" Fred asked.

"Only if you're lonely. Now, zip it and let me do my sweet funky." she took a deep breath and exhaled.

"I call upon the guardian of souls, the keeper of the passage. Let our breath flow from what is to what has passed. Bless us with the presence of the lost. Grant us communion with the world beyond our reach. Give voice to those who can no longer be heard. I beseech you, open your gates- reveal your secrets." her eyes open with a start "I sense a presence."

"Damn right you do." Spike said standing next to her.

"Very close" Psychic stated.

"Skip the claptrap and tell them to get me out of here." Spike said.

"So much pain-" Psychic paused.

"He's in pain?" Dawn asked holding Buffy's hand tightly. Buffy squeezed Dawn's hand back in assurance.

"The dark soul- so much suffering." Psychic continued.

"Dark. Pain. Suffering. They've got it. Now tell them to help me!" Spike tried to tell.

"It's coming-it's coming-" Psychic was shaking.

"I'm already here. What are you going on about?" Spike was confused.

Psychic was frightened by what she saw. "Oh, God. I can feel it. The dark soul-it's here. It's- it's the R-" she couldn't finish the sentence.

"The Reaper! The bloody freakin' Reaper! Go on, tell 'em!" Spike was shouting now.

"It's the-" the woman grabbed her own throat, trying to pull at her necklace. "Aah!"

"Whoa!" Gunn exclaimed.

"What's happening?" Fred dreaded.

The psychic woman is choking.

"Spike, stop it." Angel ordered.

"It's not me, you git." Spike bit back at Angel.

"Let her go." Angel stood and went to the woman.

The woman sat up, gasped as if she's regaining her composure. She has a slight nosebleed. She exhaled.

"Are you all right?" Fred asked.

The psychic woman's head exploded with blood spilled all over Fred, and then collapsed.

Dawn closed her eyes and held onto Buffy tightly.

---

Gunn and Wesley along with Buffy and Dawn walked out of the conference room into Angel's office to talk alone.

"OK, what the hell was that? I know they used to call Spike "William the Bloody," but why would he go all Scanners on her?" Gunn questioned.

"It wasn't Spike." Buffy stated. Dawn nodded in agreement still shaking from the event.

"Buffy is right. He wouldn't. No advantage in it to kill someone trying to help him." Wesley agreed.

"You saying it was an accident?" Gunn raised a question.

"Or whatever she contacted wasn't the "dark soul" we were expecting."

"So if she wasn't talking about Spike-" Gunn dragged on the sentence.

"Then there's something else here at Wolfram & Hart. Something else a hell of a lot worse." Wesley finished it.

"We must help him Buffy." Dawn spoke softly.

"We will Dawnie. We will." Buffy comforted Dawn. But she had no idea how or what to do.

---

The sound of running water can be heard as the camera goes through the lab toward a shower. Fred is in a steamy shower. Spike stood there, outside the shower stall, talking to himself.

"Why did it kill her? Reaper's supposed to take souls, not make 'em. If it's come for me-couldn't have been worried she was gonna help. She didn't even know I was there. Unless it wasn't about me."

Spike looked at Fred in the shower.

"Fred, I think I know why it killed her. It was trying to hide something, something it didn't want you to know because-"

Spike reached out and touched his hand to the glass. He's surprised that he can do this, and he tried again, this time his hand goes through the glass.

"Come on. Just-reach out."

Spike tried again, concentrating, and managed to write in the condensation on the shower stall glass. When Fred finished her shower, she started to walk out and noticed the word "REAPER" in the mist on the glass. As she notices it, the glass shatters and Spike is pulled through the wall out of the lab and into the lobby.

---

Spike is lying on the floor as a man in a business suit walked up the stairs. Spike stood up to face him.

"Come on, then. No more games. No more hiding in the shadows. Let's do this- right and proper." Spike got ready for a battle. He was shocked to see the person who came through. "A lawyer?"

The lawyer looks fairly normal until he turned to walk toward Spike, revealing that one side of his face is bashed in and bloody.

The bloody ghost lawyer whispered "William-" and walked past Spike.

The armless ghost woman reached out for Spike with her stubs. "Please-"

Spike turned, walking away down the stairs. "No!"

The Glass ghost woman moaned as he walked past her on the stairs. "It hurts-"

Spike standing in the main lobby floor now, said "No! I'm not talking to flunkies anymore! You hear that?! Got your number, don't I? You're sending in third-rates to rattle my chains. You're just some little twit of a spirit trying to have a go at me, aren't you? Big bad reaper, come to take me to hell. Not bloody likely." He fell to the ground suddenly as he has painful visions of torture. "Aah! Aah!"

Reaper said chuckling "Oh, yes. Take you screaming. An eternity of suffering for your sins."

The Reaper appeared to Spike for the first time, standing over him, dressed in a cloak reminiscent of Jack-the-Ripper, speaking in an English accent.

"But first… I get to play." he fondled his torture instruments. "Let's get started, then- shall we?"

---

Everyone including Dawn gathered in Wesley's office going through the books.

Gunn going through a book called out "Got it. The dark soul." Everyone turned around to look at him.

"What's it say?" Angel asked.

"A lot. There are over 3,200 different references. 4 of them are about you." The others looked at Angel.

"What? Give me that." Angel took the book from Gunn.

"This is getting us nowhere." Buffy said frustrated.

"Let me see this. Well, that's not fair. I didn't even have a soul when I did that." Angel was talking to himself and the others ignored him.

"There has to be a way to narrow down the search." Wesley said.

Fred ran into the room, her hair is still wet. "Reaper. Cross reference with the word ‘Reaper.'"

"Where'd you pull that?" Gunn questioned.

"It came to me in the shower." Buffy looked questioningly at the sudden wisdom but didn't say anything.

"Here it is. Matthias Pavayne, dark soul number 182." Angel announced.

"Pavayne-" Wesley got up and walked towards his computer.

"Well, there's not much here. European aristocrat, 18th century. He was a doctor, nicknamed ‘The Reaper' for performing unnecessary surgery on his patients." Angel read from the book.

"Well, what kind of surgery?" Fred asked.

"The kind you don't recover from. There's a file on him in internal archives, classified histories." Wesley told.

"He worked for Wolfram & Hart?" Gunn was surprised.

"Not exactly. Word spread of his unorthodox practices- fled to California, still under Spanish rule at the time. His arrival coincided with a rash of brutal, ritualistic murders. Pieces of the victims placed in a manner suggesting an intimate knowledge of the dark arts." Wesley read from the computer.

"Pieces?" Dawn asked.

"The slaughter continued for the better part of 20 years. The perpetrator was never caught. At least- not by the authorities" Wesley finished.

"What, you're saying Wolfram & Hart took this guy out?" Angel questioned.

"Why would they do that?" Buffy asked.

"Sounds like their idea of employee of the month." Gunn stated.

"Because they needed his blood. Representatives from Wolfram & Hart were looking to build a new branch in what would eventually become Los Angeles. Unfortunately a Spanish mission was already resting on the site their seers recommended. They needed an appropriate sacrifice to deconsecrate the grounds." Wesley continued to read from the computer.

"So this place is built on the blood of a mass-murdering psychopath?" Fred sounding scared.

"It would appear so." Wesley confirmed.

"But if Pavayne's half as bad as he sounds, he should've been roasting his chestnuts in hell centuries ago." Gunn noted.

"You said something about the dark arts, right? Maybe he knew enough to figure out a way to stick around." Angel suggested.

"That might explain why the mystics can't get a bead on him, too." Buffy agreed.

"What I still don't get are all the ghosts at Wolfram & Hart."

"But there aren't any." Wesley said.

"That's what I mean. High-risk employment. People die here all the time. This place should be full of spooks. So what happened to them?"

"Maybe this Pavayne character's munching on them."

"Oh no." Dawn sounded terrified at that thought.

"Whatever he's doing to them, we need to get Spike back- before he's next." Buffy said to the gang.

---

Spike is face-down on the lab floor, clawing his way across the room, trying to get away from Pavayne. There are cuts all over his hands and face.

"Vampire soul- watch it struggle. More fun than the others." Pavayne was enjoying it.

"Go to hell." Spike looked up to see Pavayne in front of him.

"Your journey, not mine." Pavayne noticed Fred walk back into her office. "Oh, the pretty. Still trying to save you. Such passion, so-wet and sweet. Perhaps I'll have a taste one day."

Spike got up off the ground and threw a punch at Pavayne's head, but his fist goes right through it.

Pavayne laughed at Spike's attempt. "Still thinking like meat and bone. None here, boy. In this place-" and suddenly Spike and Pavayne are no longer in the lab and appear in the basement. "-all rules are mine. Reality bends. My desire. The way it was meant to-"

"Bending reality? I didn't just fade away. It was you. That's why they can't see me anymore." Spike finally understood it.

Pavayne's voice spoke out. "Parlor tricks. To amuse- like your blood." Spike's wounds disappeared, Pavayne chuckled. "Oh, yes. Nothing here without the will. Your voice- your body-"

The glass ghost woman appeared and said "Clothes you think you wear-" Spike's clothes disappear, and he stood there naked, being circled by the ghosts.

Pavayne's voice still echoed. "William the Bloody. Scourge and destroyer. But scratch the surface-"

The armless ghost woman appeared. "Little nancy, still crying for his mother."

"Know all your hiddens, dirty red things you've done. Then fell in love. Won himself a soul. No more dirty things. Thinks himself special." Pavayne said.

"Thinks it matters." Glass ghost woman said.

"Hell still waits." Hanging ghost man said.

"Knows he deserves it, like all the others." Pavayne's voice was heard.

"You killed them." Spike stated.

"No. Died themselves. Here, in the service of Wolfram & Hart. Little ants, scurrying from the flames."

"Their spirits hung on. Tried to keep from tumbling into hell. Till you gave 'em a shove." Spike was understanding what has been happening all along.

"Burning now. Screaming forever. Like you'll scream."

"If they're in hell, they can't be here then, can they? Just more of your tricks. They aren't real."

"Real enough."

The hanging man attacked Spike, driving a knife into his back. "Hunh!" Spike cried out.

"Hell always hungers for the wicked, boy, and its feeding time."

---

Wesley, Gunn, and Angel walk into Fred's office, and saw her writing formulas on the windows.

"That's never good." Wesley said.

"What's never good?" Buffy asked Wesley catching up to them where they stood staring. Then she saw Fred. "Oh." was all Buffy said.

"What? Oh, no, I- I just ran out of white board. I'm not crazy. Again." Fred explained.

"Just scary smart." Gunn stated.

"You really think this will bring Spike back?" Angel asked.

"Well, I had to extrapolate a new variation on interdimensional plasma dynamics on the fly, but- if the math holds-" Fred was mumbling.

"She reminds me of Willow." Dawn said to Buffy who nodded her head.

"All right. First we'll try to get Spike back, and then we'll deal with Pavayne." Angel said.

"Wait. For this to work, it's going to require a massive surge of dark energy to catalyze the process." Fred looked worried.

"How massive?" Angel asked.

"The equivalent of nuclear evil."

"Well, where the hell are we supposed to find that?" Buffy questioned.

"Well-there is a legend that tells of a volcano deep in the forbidden jungles of South Africa-" Wesley started with the history.

Gunn cuts Wesley off. "Or- I might know a place a little closer to home." Everyone looked at Gunn.

---

A completely naked Spike is lying on the floor of the basement, cringing in the fetal position, as Pavayne leaned over him taking mad joy in torturing him.

"Disappointing." Spike shuddered in pain. "I expected more from soul of vampire. Too much conscience, perhaps, weighing it down."

A portal opened up in the basement right in front of Spike. It's black and slick like oil. The portal has a deep hole in the center, and long black tentacle-like arms reach out toward Spike threatening to pull him in.

"Look- hell knows you're ready, plump and ripe. Beginning to understand, aren't you? The soul that blesses you-" Spike has flashes of a vision of someone being tortured. "-damns you to suffer forever."

Pavayne held Spike's head up toward the portal.

"You go now, William, so I can stay."

Spike struggled to get out of Pavayne's grip.

"Yes, squirm, boy. It won't make a difference. Getting what you deserve."

"You're right. I do deserve to go to hell. But not today."

Spike squirmed free from Pavayne's grip and knocked him off of him. Spike stood up, and looked at Pavayne who was on the floor on his back staring in surprise.

"You dare!" Pavayne challenged. As Spike stood, the portal behind him closed.

"Quite a bit, mate. Reality bends to desire. That was it, right? That's why I could touch Fred, write your name in the glass. All I had to do was want it bad enough." Spike looked down at his naked body and clothing appeared on him again. An angry Spike glared at Pavayne. "And guess what I want to do now, you prissy son of a bitch!"

Spike punched Pavayne through a wall, and they are now standing in an office instead of the basement.

"Keen little racket you've got carved out for yourself, prying off spirits and sucking them down the chute. Kept your own toasties out of the fire, didn't it? 'Til now."

Spike punched Pavayne, who fights back, but not too well. Spike beat him up over and over again.

"Not so much fun when we hit back, is it?"

Pavayne punched back, stronger now. "Starting to be."

---

Fred, Wesley, Buffy and Dawn are working in the lab on an elaborate machine when Gunn and Angel walk in.

"Make sure it's calibrated to minus .058." Fred said to Wesley. Turning towards Gunn, she asked "Did you get it?"

Gunn handed Fred the flask containing about a liter of a dark liquid. "Make it count. Told me we ain't getting anymore."

"It talks? I didn't hear it talk." Angel said.

"Maybe you weren't listening right."

Fred puts the flask in the machine. "All right, I think we're almost ready."

"How do we let Spike know?" Buffy asked.

Wesley standing at the controls of the machine told "Won't have to."

Fred starting the machine explained. "This baby puts out enough juice to light up ghost city. Anything remotely spectral around here is about to get the tinglies."

A ring on the floor, painted with symbols around the edge was visible. The machine controls are hooked up to the ring.

---

Spike and Pavayne continued fighting, and Pavayne seems to have control now. Spike just landed on the floor and Pavayne is standing over him, panting.

"Learned a few of my tricks. Means nothing, does it?" Pavayne said and kicked Spike across the room. "I've cheated hell for hundreds of years. Fed it other dirty little souls. Left me alone, let me get stronger. Now, this realm- I am God. And you-" picked Spike up by the collar. "-wood for the fire."

An energy burst goes through the lobby, and both Spike and Pavayne notice it. Spike took this opportunity while Pavayne is distracted, punched Pavayne, and ran away towards the lab.

"This won't do. This won't do at all." Pavayne followed Spike.

Everyone was in the lab waiting for the machine to do its magic.

Fred read her scanner, which beeped. "He's here." she said. Still unable to see Spike, she yelled out to the room. "Spike, step into the circle! Hurry! We've only got one chance at making you corporeal again."

Dawn started to choke at that time. She put her hands to her throat. Pavayne was grasping her throat with his hand.

"Why ever would I want to do that?" Pavayne asked.

"Dawn" Buffy yelled.

"It's Pavayne!" Wesley said.

"He's killing her." Angel concluded.

Everyone charged towards Dawn to try and help her, but Pavayne knocks them all across the room.

Pavayne saw Spike in the room. "Decisions. The girl- heh- or the flesh. There's no time for both."

Spike stared at the machine's ring which is ramping up, clearly almost ready to do it's magic, and then he looked at Dawn across the room.

Pavayne grinning said "There's hope for you yet, boy."

Spike disappeared, and reappeared beside Dawn. "Not really."

Spike knocked Pavayne into the machine's ring just as it activated. The ring glow for a moment and the figure inside became visible. Pavayne is now corporeal. Angel and Buffy got to their feet and walk up to the machine's ring, while the others go to Dawn's side.

Pavayne stood, looking at his body, growled. "No. No! Defilers! I'll-cut you into nothing! I'll feast on your brains. I'll swim in lakes of your own blood."

Buffy punched Pavayne as hard as she could knocking him down. "You'll shut the hell up"

Spike reappeared in the room. "Don't kill him. If he becomes a spirit again, we'll never stop him."

"Fine. No killing. Just a whole lot of bruisin'." Angel tried to punch Pavayne but Buffy beat him to the punch. "Get in line." Buffy punched Pavayne's face into a pulp. Pavayne tried to defend himself but he got his wrist broken as a result. Buffy took out all her anger and frustration on Pavayne. Everyone took a step back from the angry Slayer.

"Remind me never to get into the bad side of Buffy ever." Gunn whispered to Wesley.

"That's enough luv. He might die if you continue." Spike told Buffy who calmed after hearing Spike's voice.

"Are you alright?" She asked.

"I'll be alright luv. You better go have a look at Nibblet. Pavayne is pretty strong." Buffy turned her focus to her little sister who was coming out to conscience.

"Are you alright Dawnie?" Buffy asked kneeling next to her sister.

"I'm ok. Spike?" Dawn asked looking around.

"I'm right here Bit." Spike said from behind. Dawn turned around and tried to touch Spike but her fingers went through him. She dismayed at that.

"I'm sorry." Dawn apologized.

"Don't be. Not your fault." Spike turned towards Fred who was next to Dawn. "Don't suppose you built a spare?" he inquired.

"Most of the pieces I used on this one were practically nonexistent to start with. Even if I could replace them, the chances of finding another power source are- I'm sorry." Fred answered apologetically.

"Don't be, love. Being corporeal or Dawn's life. Not a choice if you ask me. Wouldn't change it for the world."

Fred and Buffy gave him a small smile. Dawn still looked upset.

"There are other things we could try. They're a little riskier, but -" Fred was suggesting when Spike interrupted.

"No. I'm not gonna end up like Pavayne. Cheating hell any way he could, no matter who it hurt."

Fred smiled at his response. "Just proves what I've been telling everybody."

"That I'm a handsome devil who brightens the place up?" Spike smirked.

Fred smiling told him. "That you're worth saving."

Buffy nodded and smiled in agreement. "Definitely worth it."

Spike's face brightened at Buffy's response. "Don't have it so bad, really. Plenty of room. Good company. Even picked up a few new tricks."

Spike reached out and touched Buffy's cheek with his hand. This time he managed to touch it and Buffy felt his hand and melted in it. Her eyes glistened with tears. She gave a laugh filled with happiness and Spike smiled at her. Dawn looked better seeing Spike and Buffy. Spike reached out with his other hand to touch Dawn. Dawn felt his fingers and she gripped it tight with hers.

"I've got my girls with me here. That's good enough for me. I guess there are worse things-than being a ghost."

Fred gave a smile to the happy threesome. She walked back to her friends to help out in the cleaning.

---

Pavayne is in a restraining cell only a few feet wide. He's standing in it, strapped in by metal bars, with electrodes attached to his head. Angel and Eve are standing in front of him, looking at him.

"Sure it'll hold him?" Angel asked Eve.

"Permanent storage. If there's anything Wolfram & Hart excels at, it's keeping their unmentionables unmentioned." Eve explained.

Angel turned towards Pavayne. "Congratulations. You get to live forever, unable to move, to touch, or to feel- or to affect anything in the world around you. But don't worry? I had 'em give you a window." He shut the door, revealing a brick-sized window cut out of the cell door right at eye-level.

"Welcome to hell." Angel walked away with Eve.