Hellbent
by lovesbitca37

Resting on the hot dusty ground, Buffy stroked Drusilla’s hand rhythmically, watching as the two alpha males attempted to work together. They had been lumbered with one another’s constant company for over a year and had argued and fought over everything imaginable. After a century of disliking someone, it apparently didn’t matter how dire the situation, Spike and Angel were going to disagree about it.



It was always enjoyable for the ladies to sit back watch their partners bicker and argue like school children over the simplest of tasks. Except this task wasn’t simple at all. This was the hardest thing Buffy had ever experienced and she knew that her old life was waiting for her somewhere up ahead.



Somewhere up there was her friends, her Watcher and most importantly, her Mom.



The cavernous shell of a building they were digging themselves out of was simply enormous. She had never realised just how big the library was when there were no stacks or books in it. She really hoped this was the right Hellmouth, it didn’t look like this last time she saw it.



Watching as the vampires in front of her showed off their muscular bodies she smiled at Dru, licking her lips in anticipation.

Freedom was just around the corner, she could almost taste it.



“Oi!” Spike caught sight of Drusilla and Buffy relaxing and ogling his half naked body while he and the poof worked themselves stupid shifting rubble. “Get your pretty little arses over here and help.” He grumbled, chuckling and poking his tongue out at Buffy.



Taking her time getting up and pitching in, Dru dragged Buffy with her, ignoring the grumbling and complaints she muttered perfectly audible for all three vampires to hear.



They had been digging their way through tonnes of rubble for days, working their way upwards, huge lumps of charred fleshy substance and chunks of concrete filled the hole that was the entrance to the Hellmouth.

The last leg of their never-ending journey was finally over. They were free of hell, free of the endless rigmarole of fighting and hiding. Free to live their lives once more.



Finally breaking free of the rubble constricting their path, the two sweaty and filthy vampires led their ladies through the opening in the wall where a door used to hang and into the school, rushing to Buffy’s aid as she choked on the fresh air. The sweet sensation of cold refreshing oxygen breathed in for the first time in over a year was simply too much for Buffy’s lungs to take. She had been breathing in stifling hot sulphur poisoned air for so long. The charred smell of the air was nothing in comparison to the nauseating scent where they had come from.



Pushing away their attempts to help her, Buffy snarled in warning. Both males knew not to invade her personal space uninvited.



Leading the way down the charred corridors, Buffy gazed in amazement at their surroundings. When the hell did the school get burnt down?



“Pet?” Spike stepped into line with her, keeping her pace, “Isn’t this your school?”



“Looks like when I burnt down my last school.” She mused, stepping over more chunks of rubberised charred flesh.



“Smells disgusting.” Angel groused, stepping through what used to be a doorway and into the night. Following the Poofter out, Spike escorted the ladies across the wild unkempt grass and towards the town.



“Where is everyone?” Angel wondered aloud, scanning the streets for a sign of life.



The entire town seemed to be deserted. There were no people, no cars, no anything. It was eerie to see the place so silent.



“Oooh, pretty little girl.” Drusilla giggled, rubbing circles on her temples as she danced along the street in front of them. Coming to the corner the foursome stopped, slinking instinctively into the shadows as a group of soldiers complete with camouflage gear and weapons ran across the road. A group of people walking round a deserted town at night dressed in scraps and rags would stand out like a sore thumb if there were anybody around to notice them.



“What the-?” Buffy was cut off by Drusilla’s excited squeal. Peeking her head around the corner to see if she had spotted anything anyone else could see, Buffy frowned at the sight before her. Zombie creatures loped across the grass that surrounded the college campus, freaky looking demony dead people floated after them at such a sedate pace that she had to rub her eyes to make sure she wasn’t seeing things.



“Gentlemen.” Angel whispered, stepping up behind her to watch. Pulling Dru back gently, his brow knotted in deep thought.



Brooding was what Spike called it, Buffy giggled softly. It certainly was a very appropriate word. Smiling, she tried to focus on the problem at hand.



“Who’s a gentlemen?” She asked, confused.



“It’s the name of them.” Spike clarified, indicating with his thumb as they floated past in the same direction as the soldiers had gone.



“What the hell has happened to my town?” Buffy growled, taking in the deserted streets and silent night. She remembered people going to the Bronze, and hanging out late at night, was this actually Sunnydale?



“It’s quiet because the Gentlemen steal people’s voices.” Angel told her as they began to walk again, following the only things that they had seen tonight seemed a logical idea. Explaining how they stole voices and hearts made him wonder just what else had happened while Sunnydale was without a Slayer. The place could be overrun with demons and the like, with no one there to protect the mouth of hell it was a tourist attraction for anyone even remotely evil.



“Giles.” Buffy announced suddenly, stopping in the middle of the path. “We should go to Giles’ place. He’ll know what to do.”



“Think we should kill them first.” Spike muttered, pointing to the creepy Gentlemen shadows in the town clock tower.



“Check, save the day, go see Giles.” She beamed proudly, “See? I can still do it.”



“Never doubted you for a second sweetheart.” Was the only response she got as the vampires began to make their way to the clock tower.





Leading the way up a rickety wooden staircase, Buffy kicked open the door to see a dark haired girl, a camouflaged soldier, zombies and a bunch of Gentlemen things all fighting one another. Slipping through practically unnoticed she spotted the box that Angel had told her would contain everyone’s voices.

Smashing it against the wall certainly got their attention. She grinned when they rounded on her, enjoying the freeing sensation of the fight. It was the one constant in her life and she was in the best condition she had ever been, fitter than ever having spent so long honing her skills in fight or die situations.



Knocking a Gentleman away from her and waving Angel and Spike into the fray she stuffed her fingers into her ears hurriedly trying to block out the sound of Drusilla screaming.



Apparently, screaming was more effective than fighting because the heads of the Gentlemen immediately exploded leaving the walls splattered with gunk while Spike and Angel made quick work of finishing off the zombies.



“Screaming?” She questioned, slightly bemused.



“That’s why they steal the voices Buffy.” Angel repeated wearily, sitting down on a dusty box. The day she listened would be the day he took a midday stroll in the park. Seeing her from a different point of view had shown him just how infuriating she tried to be. He knew damn well there was an intelligent girl underneath the blonde exterior, just trying to prove herself to the world.



“Buffy?” An unfamiliar voice repeated. Turning her head, Buffy frowned at the brunette. She didn’t remember her at all. Watching for movement out of the corner of her eye she pivoted on the spot, knocking the weapon out of the soldier’s hand she twisted his arm until it snapped.



“Nobody messes with my guy.” She told him as he cradled his arm to his chest. “And you are?”



“You’re Buffy?” The brunette questioned, looking the small blonde girl up and down.



Seeing her nod she broke out into a grin, “G-man is totally gonna wig!”



“G –Man?” Buffy spluttered, ignoring the whimpering soldier behind her. “Who are you?”



“Faith.” The brunette replied, “The Vampire Slayer.”



“Vampire Slayer?” Angel repeated, echoed by the soldier, sizing up the girl before them.



“Yeah, and you are?”



“That’s Angel, Spike and Dru.” Buffy answered for them, taking a second to remember Kendra and finally turning around to face the soldier, “And him?” She jerked her thumb in his direction.



Shrugging her shoulders, Faith explained the difficulty the gang had been having tracking elusive military demon hunters. Pulling his balaclava away from his face she gasped.



“Riley?”



“Faith.” He nodded; his eyes round with the pain of his broken limb.



“Buffy.” She joined in, looking at Faith. “Now we’re all acquainted, can we tell me what’s going on?”



“He’s my Psych TA at college.” Faith told her, earning a raised brow from Spike. “Hey, did you say Angel, Spike and Dru?” She turned to them ignoring Riley the Psych TA slash soldier as he escaped from the tower. “As in Angelus, William the Bloody and Drusilla?”



Nodding at their monikers, the vampires stood to leave, waiting for Buffy to follow.



“Oh man!” Faith exclaimed, “G-man is gonna blow a fuckin’ fuse!”



“G-man?” Buffy repeated, not moving from where she stood while she waited for an answer.



“Giles, my watcher.” Faith grinned. Everything about the girl seemed to be enthusiastic Buffy noted dryly. “Your Watcher too.”



“Mmmm, I like Watchers.” Dru giggled, swaying side to side. Leaning against Angel’s naked torso she smiled dreamily, “Your watcher likes me.”



“I’m not sure he does.” Angel told her softly, his soul aching with guilt as he thought about the torture he had inflicted on Buffy’s watcher.



“To Giles’ place.” Spike announced a little too perkily. Grinning at his bare chest, Buffy wrapped her arm around his back, snuggling into him and walking away from the exploded Gentlemen, the ever-cheery Faith falling into step with the foursome, chattering all the way.



Promising to answer all of her questions later, Buffy found herself wishing Faith would just leave them alone, her enthusiastic questioning and bouncy personality were just too much for anyone. Especially someone who had been stranded in the bowels of hell for more than a year with just three notoriously evil vampires for company.



All she wanted was to see her mom and to sink into a deliciously hot and luxurious bubble bath. Voicing that thought aloud, Buffy blushed when Spike decided to join her, flirting shamelessly, his hands roaming under her shirt, teasing her breasts before she could shove them away in wide eyed innocence.



“You guys always walk around half naked?” Faith eyed the vampires appreciatively, licking her lips.



“When you’ve been through hell for as long as we have, having any scraps of clothing on you is nothing short of a bloody miracle.” Spike groused at the dark Slayer. She was much too forthright for his liking. He was an old-fashioned guy when it came to girls, he liked them to retain some of their mystery rather than flaunt their goods for the world to see.

Holding her hands up in mock apology, Faith continued to chatter about demons and slaying as they neared Giles’ apartment.



Slowing her pace as they descended the concrete staircase leading to the courtyard and the apartment, Buffy turned to her companions for support. She had been forced to trust them, undergoing a radical change of opinion without even realising it. And not one of her friends was going to believe her, let alone understand her.



Looking at the front door Faith was banging on she hid against Spike’s chest, grappling to hold on when he spun her around to face the bleary eyed, unshaven form of her Watcher.



“Good God. Buffy?”


Blinking at the spectacle before his eyes, Giles frowned. Was he really seeing what he though he was?

“Hey?” Buffy said shyly, shoved forward unceremoniously by what appeared to be Spike.

Spike, standing in front of Angel and Drusilla wearing practically nothing.

Like hell he was seeing this. It had to be another nightmare. His illusion was shattered when Faith barged past him into the apartment and sensing something important happening, she fled to the kitchen, watching from the doorway. This was too interesting to miss.

“Buffy?” His hand stretched out as if to touch her. Stepping forward and into his touch she smiled nervously.

“Hey Giles.” Her voice came out a croak, a lump rising in her throat and tears escaping her eyes.

Seeing his girl crying Spike growled at the git that upset her. He knew it was simply an emotional overload at being back in her world, but he couldn’t help the possessive streak that had taken over him since he fell in love with the Slayer. Well, the original one anyway.

“Buffy?” Giles repeated in disbelief. She really was here and she was alive and well. But if she was here, then so was the fiend that murdered Jenny and tortured him mercilessly along with Spike and Drusilla. What was Buffy thinking, consorting with these demons? Unless Buffy had been turned, which he highly doubted as she had arrived with Faith.

Turning to see Faith lounging against the doorframe a thin smile graced his lips. He had lost one surrogate daughter and gained another, and while he found himself fond of them for different reasons, he was proud of how he was faring when it came to the control of his second Slayer. She reminded him of the rebellious phase of is own youth, her spunk and determination alone set her apart from Buffy.

Turning back to the strange visitors in the courtyard he frowned,

“I’m sorry.” He found himself saying, “But I cannot allow myself to talk to you at this time. If you’d like to come back tomorrow?”

“She’s human you nit.” Spike growled, seeing straight through his excuse.

“Of course she is.” Giles continued to talk. His emotional distance making it hard for Buffy to stand on her own two feet. She was his Slayer, the daughter he never had and he was talking about her rather than to her. “Yes, well.” Giles blustered on, as if Spike had never opened his mouth. “Your blatant disregard for any feelings I may have no longer surprises me.”

“Giles?” Buffy’s voice was close to breaking point. She had been replaced. A new Slayer for her Watcher to, well, watch. She wondered if her mom had forgotten her as well. “I’m back.” She whispered, a lump in her throat painful and tear jerking as she considered her options.

She had never given any thought to what Giles would do when she returned. She had assumed she would be welcomed with open arms after finally escaping from hell.

It wasn’t like she had run away, or even chosen to go to hell. She had been sucked through Acathla along with Angel, closely followed by Spike and Drusilla. Forced to coexist with the vampires as she nursed her own broken heart, finding friendship and solace with Spike when it became obvious that Drusilla had claimed back her daddy.

Her tentative exploration of the vampires, their family ways and Spike’s true personality sucking her in until she had fallen fast and hard for the annoying bleached one without even realising it.

And she wasn’t even going to get a chance to explain it all.

“Giles?” She tried again, seeing through the mask of indifference that failed to hide his anguish. Watching as the door began to close she tried again, “Giles? My mom?”

Temporarily stopping her former Watcher from shutting her out she smiled gratefully at his stony expression, “Is she okay?”

“I think you had better take the time to see for yourself.” Came the hostile reply before the door was firmly shut in place, effectively shutting Buffy out of her old world, casting her away into the night with her vampire companions.

Seeing the way that Buffy had been treated by her former Watcher made Spike want to hurt the human in any way possible. The stupid bloke was far lower on the food chain than the strange family that stood before him, yet he dared to cast away his Slayer as if she were a mere annoyance in his schedule. He had stood by silently as previously requested by Buffy, but the lack of respect given to his Slayer was eating him inside, taunting him to demand the level of respect she deserved. He almost let himself act upon his annoyance until she turned to him, tears glistening in her eyes as they walked away from her Watcher, back into the night.



“Harsh.” Faith commented casually, helping herself to a packet of cookies and leaning through the serving hatch.

Ignoring his charge, Giles poured himself a large whisky, swallowing it in one large gulp he refilled his glass, allowing himself to enjoy this one.

“I suffered tremendously at the callous hands of those vampires.” He said slowly, savouring the flavour of the whisky, “I would appreciate it if you learnt the facts before you so tactlessly start endangering people’s lives and passing judgement.”

Tossing the cookies onto the counter, and not even dignifying her Watcher with a response, Faith stormed up the stairs and threw her door shut behind her as loud as she could without breaking it.

She didn’t care if she was acting like a spoiled thirteen year old, no one told her what to do. She was her own person, always had been and always would be.

She had worried briefly on the way home that she would be cast out now that the infamous Buffy had returned- but from the not so warm welcome she received, she now found herself pitying the smaller girl.

She knew all too well how gut wrenching it was to have people that you loved cast you away, to not care. She had spent a great portion of her life convincing herself that she was cared for and now she knew the brutal truth. No one ever truly cared, not really.

The Slayer in her commiserated with the other girl, she had gone missing over a year ago after a vampire ex boyfriend had reverted to his former evil and soulless self, but from the way she talked, it was not her own choice to go away. She had mentioned being dragged into hell and although Faith herself had often referred to places as ‘hell’, she was sure the older Slayer was being honest when she mentioned the hellish year she had experienced. Faith wasn’t to blame for befriending the other Slayer, the way the Scoobies talked about her she must have been up there with Mother Teresa at the top of the do-gooder’s list.

It wasn’t like she had endangered anyone, if a Slayer as good as people made Buffy out to be was snuggling up with these vampires, then it really wasn’t going to be Faith who went in guns blazing trying to kill them. She trusted the other Slayer, feeling like she knew her already from the Scoobies constant praise and casual mentions in chats. And the company she kept seemed to be pretty well house trained in the not killing the Slayer department. That was always a mark in the plus column.

Plus, those vamps looked damn fine if she did say so herself.



Listening to his charge stamping around above his head Giles sighed, sinking down further into his chair, his whisky in one hand while he held his head up with the other.

What on Earth had happened in the last twelve months to make him turn away his Slayer? He loved her like a daughter, he had been there for her like a father and her disappearance had hit him hard, making him turn to the bottle for comfort just as her mother had.

Joyce had turned to him for answers when the children had run out of excuses, not telling her anything that she wanted to hear.

When those answers had finally sunk in, she had been so far gone that she couldn’t bring herself to care. It had taken the arrival of Faith to kick start everyone into accepting that Buffy was gone.

They had all slowly accepted that she would come back when she was ready and until then, they all had lives to live and demons to fight.



The children would soon know that Buffy had returned along with the vampires that accompanied her. Faith was never one to keep a secret and he was thankful for a second that it was not him who would be forced to tell them. They would be able to make up their own minds and talk to her if they wished. He just hoped that Buffy was still on the side of good. It wouldn’t look good on him if the Slayer he lost had turned rogue and it would just about kill him if she had.

Pouring himself another drink, his eyes settled upon Willow’s purple notebook. Picking it up and idly flicking through it, he scanned the notes of all the attempts to locate Buffy, skimming past the attempts of mind control and telepathy that had not worked, stopping at one particular spell.

The young redhead had become quite adept at witchcraft over the long months that Buffy had been gone, practising anything and everything she could get her hands on. The locator spell she had attempted several months back had been unsuccessful in pinpointing anything, let alone the location of the missing Slayer. It was as if she had completely vanished off the face of the Earth.

Giles knew all too well from his Watcher training that locator spells needed to be very precise in which dimensions they searched, but the attempts of the young witch had been futile. Buffy had been in no known dimension and her friends had slowly reduced the amount of time they dedicated to finding her, finding themselves with new lives and increased responsibilities now that their Slayer was MIA. Even when Faith had arrived, ready to take on her role, the Scoobies had been insistent on helping, ‘fighting the good fight’ as Xander put it.

But now she was back, and Faith was almost certain to announce it to everyone when they met up at midday.

Checking the clock and finding the time an ungodly hour of the morning, Giles knocked back the remnants of the bottle and grimaced. He would need to write this up in his diaries before the children arrived, but before that, he wanted some much needed sleep for his mind to try to make sense of the events of the night. So many questions he wanted answers for, so many things he wanted to do over, to take Buffy into his arms and tell her how much she had been missed, to stake Angelus and the other two vampires, to make it so that she had never run away.

He had spent many nights agonising over the small things that he could never undo, things that would bring him his Buffy back, and now she had finally returned and been ready to face him and he hadn’t even asked her where she had gone to. He had taken one look at the company she had kept and had turned her away like the prejudiced old man he swore he would never become.

It was definitely time to get some sleep.

Smiling ruefully at the shut door that meant Faith had sneaked out the window, he made his way to his own room. The alcohol was fuelling his brain to come up with more and more things he regretted, replaying tonight’s events over and over until he was no longer sure of the distinction between fact and fiction. Sinking onto his bed he was asleep within seconds, dreaming of the much-awaited return of his beloved Slayer.


Wandering slowly up the moonlit driveway, Buffy glanced up at the house that loomed in the distance. Unlike the buildings either side, there were lights on and there were shadows moving across the windows.

Buffy knew there was no sure way to know how the reception from her mother would be, unless she simply went ahead and let her mother know that she had finally returned.

After being turned away from Giles’ so coldly, Buffy had wanted to slink away and nurse her battered ego before anyone could hurt her more.

Spike had refused to let her do this just yet and had picked her up and carried her halfway across town, depositing her where they now stood in front of her mother’s house.

She hated the fact that he was right. She did need to face this tonight before she could imagine the problem blowing up out of proportion.

It was only by facing her problem that things could be figured out.

If her reception with her mother was anything like her reception from Giles then she would take Spike up on his offer of fleeing the country.

She couldn’t imagine living in the place she used to call home if her mother couldn’t bring herself to want her back.

Spike was home for her now and she desperately needed to be able to tell somebody that. To hear somebody tell her that she was not crazy or possessed and to make her feel as if she was wanted and welcomed.

Rapping softly on the door she hoped that nobody heard the knock. Sadly, her prayers went unanswered as a light suddenly illuminated the porch they stood on and the door swung open to reveal a rosy cheeked, haggard looking Joyce, dressed loosely in a bath robe and clutching a bottle of sherry.

Mother and Daughter regarded each other for a long moment, each taking in what they saw in mirrored silence.

Joyce fought the urge to peer into her bottle as she swayed in the doorway. Surely she must be seeing things because her Buffy was gone. She’d run away after being told not to return in the heat of an argument over a year ago.

“Mommy?” Buffy whispered softly taking in her dishevelled appearance and her mother’s state of undress.

“Buffy?” Joyce found her voice wavering as she swallowed back the hot tears threatening to stream down her cheeks. She gulped, dropping the bottle onto the bureau behind her and reaching out a hand to stroke her baby’s matted golden locks.

As her mother’s warm hand came into contact with her hair, Buffy let loose a strangled sob and fell across the porch into her loving embrace.

This was what she had been longing for for so long.

This was everything she had dreamed about these past long months.

She was finally home, safe in her mom’s arms with her family around her.

All that was needed to complete her picture was her friends, yet she was neither naïve enough to believe or foolish enough to consider that her friends or mother would so readily accept her new vampiric family or the irreversible changes in herself.

Stepping back from her mother’s arms she smiled thinly at the clearly inebriated woman before her.

“I’m back.” She whispered half to herself. “I’m really back.”

“And your friends?” Joyce asked politely peering out into the darkness at the vampires that surrounded her porch. “Do they want to come in too?”

“That’d be lovely thanks.” Spike said softly, stepping up into the light, his sinewy, muscled frame similar to that of the young girl he wrapped his arm around. She was young and she was human, but they both knew that being accepted as a couple was the first step to getting people to understand what they had been through and what lay ahead for all of them.

“Do I know you?” Joyce slurred slightly, the daylight was fast approaching and these people didn’t look very familiar to her at all. Rupert had warned her not to invite strange people into the house if it wasn’t light outside, but surely he didn’t mean Buffy as well?

Buffy wasn’t a vampire. Was she?

“They’re my friend’s mom. You remember Spike?” She smiled gently, holding on to Spike and her mother at the same time, trying to coax her into the house, away from the coming dawn. “Spike was here before, before I-”

“Before you ran away?” Joyce laughed, a strange high pitched, humourless cackle that seemed to come from all around. The bitterness was creeping back into her voice as she muttered to herself, clearly unaware that everyone could hear her as she continued to chunter under her breath, leading the foursome into the house with her mumblings of ‘come in, come in’.

“Ran away?” Buffy was demanding as they sat down together. Joyce merely shrugged, taking in the strange appearances of her guests.

“Are you ok dear?” She asked Drusilla quietly, the strange looking dark haired woman seemed to be as drunk as she was. She was talking to her hands and gesturing wildly around the room, stopping every so often to stare at the large dark haired man next to her, as if to reassure herself that he was still there. The darker man looked strangely familiar but she could not put her finger on where she had seen him before so she continued her scrutiny of Buffy’s friends, smiling politely as they looked right back at her as if examining her as she was examining them.

She remembered that scruffy looking lean man from the night Buffy had run away. He was the vampire that Rupert had uninvited from her house after Buffy had left.

It all came back to that point in her mind. Buffy had left and now she was back with dangerous vampires for company.

“Are you a vampire?” Joyce asked seriously, staring her daughter up and down where she sat with the apparent Slayer killer.

“Mom!” Buffy was stunned. Her mother had taken it seriously after all. She had thought that she would simply deny anything ever happened like she had done so often in the past, but it seemed that she had finally learnt to embrace the truth. “No.” She said after a long pause, “I’m not.”

“Then why are you with them?” Joyce was starting to tire of this now. She just wanted to go to bed and sleep off the effects of the sherry, wake up in the morning and have her little girl back where she belonged. That’s all that she had wanted every night since she had realised that Buffy was not coming home.

“A lot has changed. They’re my family now.” Buffy said softly, not wanting to discuss it at five thirty in the morning when they had been awake for more than thirty-six hours. “I need them.” Her voice was louder, clearer and held the confidence she wished she had.

“You need them?” Joyce was confused, and for the first time in months, it wasn’t due to her binge drinking.

“I need them mom. I’ve changed. Can we talk about it later?”

“Changed? I’ll say.” Joyce muttered sarcastically, nodding in the direction of the windows. “Are they staying all day?”

“No, we’ve got somewhere to stay, thank you.” Spike interjected before Buffy had a chance to think about it. He was quite keen to get back to the mansion before the sun could rise over the horizon and crispy fry them.

“We need to be going. We’ll be back later, is that okay?” Buffy felt silly for feeling so insecure about being around her own mom, but couldn’t bring herself to think about what would happen if her mother decided she wasn’t who she wanted her to be?

“Fine, fine.” Joyce smiled widely. “I’ll let Willow and Xander know shall I?”

“Please.” Buffy said softly. “We’ll be at the old mansion on Crawford Street all day. We’ll be back when we can.”

She couldn’t wait to see her friends again, to have the chance to take part in a normal teenage conversation and just forget about the hardships and horrors of the past year. Someone to gossip with about all the things that she had seen and done and to hear how things had been on this side of Hell.

“Buffy?” Joyce swallowed hard, her mouth suddenly dry and her heart beating so loud and fast she was afraid the vampires would hear it. “I love you.”

“I love you too mom.” Buffy whispered, a lone tear streaking through the grime on her face.

Kissing her daughter goodbye, Joyce watched, with a numb sinking feeling inside her chest as Buffy and Spike wrapped their arms around each other, keeping in perfect synch with the other, darker couple as they disappeared into the darkness as the sky steadily began to turn orange.

Something told her that her daughter was a completely different person now, that she would never be little Buffy Summers again. She just hoped she was wrong.

She couldn’t bear it if she had been offered her daughter back different to how she had been before all of this Slayer business. It was Faith’s job now, Buffy was free to come home and be normal again.

Yet she knew in her heart as she finally lost sight of the foursome that there were some things that you could never walk away from. And sadly, saving the world seemed to be one of those things.

Shutting the door softly, Joyce sank to her knees, holding her head in her hands as she gazed upwards to the small, framed photograph that graced the wall behind the door. Buffy was smiling back at her, frozen on celluloid forever, the perfect image of a perfect child.

Her green eyes were wide with innocence and her blonde bouncy hair fell loosely around her shoulders. The same shoulders that now slumped with the weight of the world resting on them. Her eyes held no sparkle; her innocence was gone, replaced with a weary tiredness. Her slim figure had been replaced with unfeminine rippling muscles. Her once blonde hair tattered and ragged, an unkempt shade of straw. Her clothes had been ripped and frayed by god only knew what kind of demons she may have been consorting with.

The very same outfit she had been wearing last time she was seen.

Joyce froze, cold realisation sinking like a lead weight into the pit of her stomach.

She had been wearing the same clothes every day she had been gone. She had been missing since Tuesday, May 19th 1998 and it was now December ’99. She had been missing for 19 whole months without the slightest hint of a trace, presumed runaway by all that knew her. And nobody had bothered to question why she had felt the need to run away. They had all assumed the worst, and been wrong. Very wrong.

Buffy hadn’t run away. She hadn’t chosen to leave behind her family and friends without as much as a goodbye.

Buffy Summers would never have left home without a change of clothes and a hair brush, let alone without a note or a goodbye.

Something had forced her to stay away from her family and as her fists clenched around her sherry bottle, Joyce vowed never to drink again.

She was on a mission to find out what had happened to her baby girl.

To get answers for all the questions she had never managed to ask Mr Giles and to solve the puzzle that was her daughter- The Slayer.

The baby girl who was now a fully-grown adult, consorting with dangerous, supernatural creatures in the middle of the night and wearing the scars on her neck like medals of honour.

Yet, deep down, Joyce knew she would always be her baby.

tbc

Forcing away the ivy that had grown across the doorway to the mansion, Angel held the door open for Drusilla and Buffy to enter, leaving it to swing in Spike’s face had it not been for Buffy holding it still for him. Scowling at his grandsire, Spike had to chuckle when he saw Buffy’s grimace.

She was obviously disgusted at the smell in the disused building and Spike couldn’t blame her. Her heightened sense of smell was something she had often insisted she could live without. It smelt like several things had crawled in here and died. It smelt just like the hell they had left behind and he was loathe to causing her anymore pain, but this was the safest place for them at the moment and the sun coming up gave them a chance to get some well deserved rest.

Taking Buffy’s hand in his own, the blonde duo watched in silence as Drusilla twirled around, giggling madly and blowing kisses at the gargoyle they had been sucked into so very long ago. She had been dying to see it again and give her thanks for bringing her Daddy back to her. The rest of them had no such glee when seeing it again, all the painful memories resurfacing and stunning them into revered silence.

“Dru?” Angel grasped hold of her arm firmly, leading her away from the statue and out of sight, giving Buffy and Spike some time to adjust.

They knew that was not the reason he had left the room, but were grateful all the same that the shame and guilt he felt presented them with a chance to consider all that had happened since the last time they stood here.

Each wondering if the other regretted all that they had lost while rejoicing in their own gain.

“Spike?” Buffy whispered, unable to take her eyes off the concrete hulk that stood towering before them.

“Yeah pet?” Came the whispered response. They knew not why they were whispering, but could not bring themselves to disrupt the eerie silence of the mansion.

“Do you- do you wish?” She paused, fiddling her fingers in between his and holding on as tightly as she could.

“Do I wish what?”

“Do you ever, just wish, that it never happened?”

Turning her in his arms he gently placed his fingers beneath her chin and tilted her head to look him in the eyes.

“I wouldn’t change these past few years for anything sweetheart.” He said softly. “I promise.” He gazed into her eyes, the love that reflected in her eyes humbling him even after all this time.

Pulling her gently away from Acathla, Spike led the way through the maze of dusty corridors until he came across the bedroom he used so very long ago. This was somewhere he had no good memories, just pangs of distant heartache. Something he knew would never happen again. Buffy was his sunshine, his reason for existence after all these years and he knew in turn, that he was just as loved.

He was finally ready to confront all the memories that Sunnydale had to offer and to make a new start with his family. With his new and extended family and the children Buffy remembered.

This was it. This was where they had been heading for so long. They had devoted their lives to getting back the Hellmouth and now they were finally here and yet, they stood in the doorway of disused and dusty room, thinking about what lay ahead of them.

Pushing Spike over the threshold, Buffy shook the blankets that lay haphazardly over the bed, spreading them over the sheets and slipping between them. Waiting until Spike had done the same, she curled into his side, burying her head under his neck and slipping into an instant slumber.

Feeling Angel and Drusilla calm and safe, Spike grinned at the blonde nestled in his embrace. They had really done it. They had escaped with more than ever expected.

And now the angel in his arms was fast asleep, safe and sound at last. With no need to watch over her as she slept, Spike finally found his own peace, closing his eyes and drifting off to sleep.



Putting down the receiver, Joyce stared blankly at the telephone. Faith had seen Buffy and the vampires, and so had Rupert. They were all coming here to meet and discuss what they knew before Buffy and her friends had chance to get ready and return.

Just like that, she felt her control slipping away. Just like every time she felt that she understood what was happening, these people came along and pulled the rug out from under her feet. Upsetting everything she knew and turning it upside down.

She had often thought had this was why Buffy had run away. To escape the way these children and their mentor felt the need to be in command of everything that happened.

But now she knew better and she got the strangest feeling that she was the only one.

Vowing to the empty room that it would not be her who would spill Buffy’s secret, she turned to prepare herself for the emotional onslaught that she knew would be coming.

Taking a quick shower, Joyce smiled at the closed door where her baby’s stuff resided. Her baby was home, and she was coming back in just a few endless hours.

Making herself presentable and tidying her home seemed to take up most of the day and before she knew it, the doorbell was ringing to announce her visitors. Welcome or not, they were coming in and there was nothing she could do to stop them.

“Joyce.” Willow greeted softly. She had been the only one to check in on Joyce and to listen when she needed to talk, to give answers whenever necessary and for that Joyce was eternally grateful. Willow had been the voice of reason within the group and seeing Buffy again would be the best thanks Joyce could imagine.

“Nice to see you.” Joyce greeted, smiling at the redhead’s boyfriend as he nodded in her direction. Stretching her face into a twisted mimicry of a smile as she greeted Xander, Anya, Faith and Giles.

This was going to be a long night.

“I presume Buffy came to see you?” Giles said, taking his usual seat in the armchair beside the coffee table. Joyce nodded, her smile never faltering as she met his eyes.

“She’s here?” Xander cried, jumping up and starting towards the staircase.

“No.” Joyce said softly. “They left again.”

“They?”

“Her vamps.” Faith explained casually, strolling to the kitchen to get herself a drink. She had been practically living here most of the time Buffy was missing, bunking in the spare room and helping Joyce out whenever she could.

Lonely hearts seeking comfort from one another long into the early hours of the morning at first. But now she had gained the trust of the elder woman and in turn, gave her respect.

Not waiting for Faith to return, Xander turned to Giles for answers.

“We don’t know why she’s with them.” Giles repeated himself to the young boy for what felt like the millionth time.

“She went to Hell with them.” Faith called, making her way into the room with a tray full of goodies. At the blank looks she was receiving from the Scoobies, she frowned. “Well, that’s what they said.”

“I’m sure she wasn’t being literal.” Giles assured the open mouthed teenagers.

“Do you even know what you’re talking about?” Joyce snapped, making everyone turn to her in curiosity.

“Look, I’m sorry Mrs Summers, but Buffy ran away because she couldn’t handle the fact that her honey was an evil demon. And now she comes back and expects things to be the same?” Xander was prevented from continuing his rant by Anya pulling him back down onto the sofa by the front of his shirt.

“But Angel is back too.” Willow added slowly, “Do you think my spell worked?”

“Of course not.” Xander told her quickly. “If he was good, she wouldn’t have run away.”

“Maybe they ran away to be together?” Willow defended, disappointed that no one believed the power she felt when she performed the re-ensouling spell.

“Or maybe she didn’t run away?” Faith mused, looking at Joyce pensively. “Why don’t we just ask her?”

“Maybe because she’s not here?” Xander snapped, his restraint crumbling at the thought of Buffy with the same demons that ruined everyone’s lives.

“She will be.” Joyce told them quietly, not wanting to get involved in the bitter accusations being slung about by those who called themselves her daughter’s friends.

Hearing Joyce’s muted comment, Oz held his hand up in the air, waiting for silence before speaking.

“Just wait for Buffy to be here to get the facts.”

“And how long will that be?” Giles demanded of Joyce, his glasses in his hands as he glared across the room.

“Well since vampires are pretty flammable, I’d say when it’s dark.” Faith chuckled, pointing out the window at the darkening skyline.

“How do we know she’ll come?” Willow asked uncertainly.

“She’ll come.” Joyce told the room, the confidence in her voice convincing everyone that she would not proved be wrong. “Snacks?”

“Pizza?” Xander piped up hopefully.

“I’ll order.” Willow offered, desperate for something to keep her busy while she waited for sun to sink behind the distant hills. It was worse than ever before. Her best friend was gone, but now they knew she would be back and they just had to wait. In some twisted logical part of her mind, Willow found herself wishing that Buffy hadn’t come back last night, so that they wouldn’t have to sit around and guess what she had been doing for a year. To completely skip all of the awkward, infuriating moments that she knew were still to come.

Watching from the perspective of an outsider, Faith frowned as the very people who had been singing the other Slayer’s praises since she had known them, now bitched and groused about her lack of compassion and bad judgement. These people were so hypocritical it was incredible.

“I’m out.” She said, standing up and stretching her spine into place. “You guys are just unbelievable.”

“Who invited you anyway? You didn’t even know Buffy.” Xander snapped angrily.

“You invited any of you?” Joyce said calmly. “I certainly didn’t. But for Buffy’s sake just shut the hell up and wait until they get here.”

“I’ll just do a quick patrol.” Faith assured Joyce with a heartening smile, shutting the door softly behind her leaving the sounds of the Scoobies bitching and speculating about what tonight had in store for them.



Slipping out of bed, Buffy quickly traced a note in the dusty surface of the mirror with her fingertip to tell Spike where she had gone and tiptoed from the room. Smiling at the thick curtains that covered every window she made her way through the darkness and down to the entrance hall. Throwing one last look of contempt at the statue that stood behind her, she stepped out into the sunlight for the first time in nearly five years.

Basking in the brilliance of the naturally sunny Californian skies, Buffy felt a smile creep across her face.

Sunnydale Mall- here I come, she grinned, making her way down the street with a skip in her step. She had found a large stash of cash in a drawer next to the bed and planned on spending the rest of the daylight buying new clothes and toiletries for herself and her family.

Spike would probably spend half the evening grousing about what she had bought, but it would be worth it when he saw herself and Dru in nice, clean clothes again. She knew that both Angel and Spike would do anything for their ladies, and couldn’t wait to see what shops were at the mall and if there were any sales.

Staring up at the entrance to the mall, she grinned.

“Welcome home me!”

Thank you for all the reviews!!! Things will start to explain themselves soon!!!

.5.
 
Stumbling through a haze of thick, foul smelling, smoky mist, Spike felt himself gasp for air in tune with Buffy. Her need to breathe forcing Spike to long for the sweet taste of oxygen as he followed her through the pit.

Reaching the shelter of a secluded cave, Spike pressed himself against Buffy, pinning them both to the walls, mourning the loss of the dream he had been enjoying before the hunting hell hounds had disrupted his slumber.

It wasn’t an unusual occurrence to be woken by Buffy or Angel and forced to run for their lives, or unlives as the case may be, but it was the first time his dream had progressed that far.

He had been back in Sunnydale with the Slayer on his arm. The twin punctures on her neck a neon sign for all demons to see, warning the hazards of trying to take out his Slayer. He would protect her life with his own and the demon community knew it. What was unusual about this particular dream was the fact that the humans knew it also. Every human along the street would greet them in an awed fashioned, clamouring to shake hands or even get a rare smile from the Slayer or himself. Demons and humans alike were honoured to be in the couple’s presence and Spike’s demon was immensely satisfied at the worship it was rewarded with.

Pressing Buffy deeper into the narrow recess in the wall, he sighed in relief when they made it through to where the gap in the rock face suddenly opened into a colossal cavern. It’s ceiling could not be made out, even with the elder vampire’s enhanced vision, the walls sparkled with millions of different crystals and gems, each embedded so firmly that one would become insane with determination before a stone was even half way loose.

Following the Slayer across the dry, remarkably undusty floor, Spike sank to his knees on a pile of furs, the demons they had belonged to long since drained dry and roasted for food.

Growling at Angel and Drusilla who were still intertwined under their own pile of furs, hidden by a convenient curve of the wall, Spike was immediately distracted by the Slayer pouncing on him, adrenaline pumping through her system, demanding release in the only way she knew how to these days.

Being straddled by the Slayer was enough to make Spike all but forget about the dreams that had been plaguing him for countless hundreds of nights. She was an expert at making him forget the hell that surrounded them, and he in turn, gave her the refuge she sought and gave promise after promise of returning to her life as soon as they could.

Taking his time in teasing his Slayer, Spike lazily ran his hands across her practically bare back, eliciting a growl of her own as she writhed for the friction Spike was denying her. He had all the time in the world and was determined to make her last.

Time moved faster down here, he was sure of it, for all he knew, a month down here could only be a day back in Sunnydale. They had taken to sleeping in turns as couples, as within the space of a single day in this place, they found themselves wide awake and unable to get any proper rest. It had been Spike and Buffy’s turn to guard the cave and hunt for food. The food that would surely slink by in the next few hours before the fires began to burn, signalling a new day. By night, the ground released sulphuric smoke clouds, each hanging low above the hot barren lands and choking those who needed to breathe clean air. Each day the smoke would evaporate into the acrid stench of what passed for air and geysers of fire would shoot out of cracks, burning up anything that dared to stand within its path.

This place truly was Hell, and the only sanctuary they had was the cavern they had made their home for the past few weeks while they regained their strength and resolve.

Strength to make it back to Sunnydale and to Buffy’s life as the Guardian of Good for the world.

Not that she was doing much in the way of good while they were trapped in this place. She had been through so much in the past few years they had been here that Spike doubted she would ever be able to return to her Slayer duties and her Watcher.

How the hell would she explain what she was currently doing Spike wondered, his head falling back in delight as Buffy used her sharpened canines to rip through the skin on his neck, her vaginal walls clenching around his cock as she rode him, urgency lost along the way when fangs had come into their play. Lazily sliding up at down his shaft she licked sloppily at the blood that ran freely from her lovers neck, fast healing bite marks ensuring that they never took too much of each other.

Opening his eyes slowly, Spike looked around the room in a daze. He must have been dreaming, for he was no longer in hell, but his girl was most definitely suckling on his neck while she rode his cock. They were in the mansion where they had sought refuge as the sun came up and he guessed it was just setting in the sky as they shagged.

Rolling Buffy over in one smooth movement, Spike began to pound in earnest, his desire for her lingering from his dream and pushing him towards the edge faster than Buffy was getting there.

There was no way he would ever climax before his girl, it was his life’s mission to keep her satisfied and that’s what he would do. Angling his hips so that he ground his pubic bone against her clit with every forward surge, Spike slammed into her, over and over, until his name tumbled from her bloodstained lips as if by repeating his name she could somehow convey the immense pleasure coursing through her body.

Growling at the knocking on the door, Spike frowned when Drusilla ignored his warning, waltzing in to give Buffy a hug, mindless of the Slayer’s lack of clothes or the blood that stained her lips.

“You’re welcome.” Buffy told the vampiress with a smile, returning the hug and watching as she flounced from the room.

“Welcome for what?” Spike asked curiously, his eyes darting around the room and coming to settle on the mountain of bags stacked beside the bureau.

“I bought you some too.” Buffy was saying as he made his way over to her goodie bags and tipping them onto the bed. Glancing at the clothes and toiletries that tumbled from the bags Spike began to chuckle. She had been nervous about telling him she’d been shopping. Probably because she took the money he had set out for leaving Sunnydale with Dru the night they had been sucked through Acathla.

“These for me pet?” He grinned, holding up the black items she had purchased with him in mind. Nodding at the colourless clothing, Buffy pulled out a fresh set of clothes for herself, dressing quickly to beat the sinking sun. She wanted to get back to her mother’s as quickly as possible to fill her in on what had occurred in the time they had been gone before she had a chance to catch up with her friends.

She was longing to see her friends and couldn’t wait to go and see them after speaking with her mom. Spike, Angel and Dru would be able to go with her to the Bronze, to experience the world in which she had been longing to live. She was determined not to let anything ruin tonight for her. Not even Giles’ disappointment would stop her from celebrating her return with her family and friends.

“Ready kitten?” Spike held open the door, watching with interest as she bounded past him, linking arms with Drusilla as they met in the hallway and skipping down the stone staircase and out into the night, not waiting for him or Angel to keep up.

Keeping close enough to protect their ladies, Spike and Angel followed the two across town into the residential areas, keeping an eye out for threats as neither Buffy or Dru seemed to care if the whole world had turned to stare at them. They were dressed in new, unripped clothes, their hair was brushed and tied back and they were out for a good time.

That was until the door to the home in front of them was wrenched open by one of her young friends, spitting and snarling insults for all he was worth.

“Hello Buffy. How are you? I’m glad you’re back.” The Slayer grumbled, perfectly audible for the boy to hear as she made her way up the wooden steps and onto the porch.

“What?” Xander repeated, incredulously. He had positioned his body to block the entrance to the house but was quickly shoved aside by Buffy, who entered the house followed by her vampiric companions, taking a seat in the empty armchair while the vampires stood behind in a silent show of solidarity.

“Just who do you think you are?” Xander cried, looking from one to another of the visitors in disgust.

“She’s my daughter.” Joyce said firmly. “This is her house too.”

“She ran away for over a year!” Willow piped up, unable to take her eyes off the blonde girl that sat before her.

“I ran away?” Buffy questioned, her eyes firmly meeting her mothers as she spoke. “I got sucked through that damn demon into hell and you guys just assumed I’d run away?” She chuckled pitilessly, “Fuck it, I may as well have ran away right?”

“Silly dolly.” Dru muttered softly, patting her head softly. “They can’t see truth when tales blind them.”

“I know.” Buffy said gently, “I know.”

“You understand that crazy bitch?” Xander cried, wringing his hands in desperation while his girlfriend looked on in amusement at the drama unfolding before her.

“Hey.” Oz said sternly, taking in the hurt on the Slayer’s face. It was obvious to him that Xander was probably going to be eaten by someone in this room if he didn’t learn to control his mouth and his temper.

“Hey what?” Xander was yelling even Willow and Joyce’s pleas falling on deaf ears as he continued to rant.

“How ‘bout you shut that trap ‘fore I do it for ya?” A rich Boston accent drawled from the kitchen doorway. “Hey B.” The dark Slayer nodded a welcome and took a seat next to Joyce on the arm of the sofa.

“Faith.” Buffy smiled in greeting. There was something soothing about the other Slayer’s presence that somehow eased Buffy’s worries about the future. There was another fighter on the side of good, one that was strong enough to be a real asset and Buffy was grateful for that.

“Slayer.” Spike grinned, watching as she eyed up Angel in his poncy new skin tight shirt.

“Spike.” The dark Slayer teased right back, letting him know she had no fear of him.

“Can we please begin to discuss your absence?” Giles groaned from his seat on the other side of the room, getting everyone’s attention immediately.

“Sure.” Buffy muttered. “How long have I been gone?”

“Nineteen months.” Joyce was the first to answer. “Was it the same for you?”

“No.” Spike replied, looking at the Watcher intently. “It was much longer.”

“One thousand, seven hundred and ten days.” Buffy whispered to the horror of the occupants of the room.

“How long?” Giles queried, his glasses once again between his fingertips, hoping that his visual impairment had temporarily affected his hearing too. There was something terrifying about his Slayer being trapped somewhere for that long with her present company.

“Fifty seven months. Four years and nine months. One thousand seven hundred and ten days.” Buffy’s voice began to waver. “Half a decade stuck in hell and you all assumed I’d run away from home?”

“We thought you’d left to be with Angel after I gave him his soul back.” Willow couldn’t resist slipping that titbit into the conversation.

“Angel?” Buffy gave another hollow laugh. “I’m not with Angel.”

“So why the hell is he here now?” Xander demanded, pointing at the offending demons as if no one else realised they were there.

“Because they’re my family.” Buffy told them stiffly, watching reactions as she spoke. “I love them”

.6.



“You can’t love them. They’re demons. They have no souls.” Willow argued.

“I can love them, they don’t need souls. I’ve got more than enough soul to share.” Buffy argued,

“You cannot share a soul Buffy.” Giles told her wearily, “It’s impossible.”

“Spike shares my soul.” Buffy pointed at the lean vampire to her left. “They share my life so that I can share their death.”

“What?”

“We keep each other alive.” Buffy tried to explain simply, not wanting discuss the details of her relationship with Spike with everybody present. She wasn’t a seventeen year old girl anymore; she was soon to be twenty-two while her old friends would be turning nineteen. She was more mature than she had ever imagined getting the opportunity to be and she was eternally grateful that she no longer had an expiration date.

“How?” Faith asked curiously. She knew the other Slayer wasn’t a vampire, she could sense it, but she was intrigued as to how a slayer and a vampire could keep each other ‘alive’.

“It’s private.” Buffy said softly, a faint blush stealing across her pale complexion.

“Private?” Giles demanded angrily. “Explain yourself.”

“You’re not my Watcher anymore. You made that plain last night.” Buffy replied firmly. “It’s not important at the moment.”

“Not important?” Willow queried, looking from one vampire to the next.

“It’s important to me.” Buffy clarified, “But there’s no need to go into it now.”

“Oh. You’ve been missing for all this time and now we’re not even important enough for you to tell us what happened?”

“Was I important enough for you to care what happened to me? Did you even wonder where I was or did you just wait for the next Slayer to come along for you to hang with?”

“What?” Xander spluttered, leaning forward to shout once more.

“Hey.” Oz and Faith beat him to it. Sitting back against Anya quickly, Xander watched with interest as Buffy apologised to Faith for her outburst, and motioned for Oz to speak.

“You can’t blame Willow for wanting to know what you went through. We’ve got all night.”

“All night?” Joyce agreed, her eyes resolutely staying away from the familiar liquor cabinet.

“We’re going to dance with the stars.” Drusilla told them firmly, her eyes flitting to each person in the room. She had been promised a good night with plenty of dancing and a hunt before dawn.

“We’ll still dance pet.” Spike promised, his hand squeezing Buffy’s when she looked up at him hopefully.

“So what do you want to know?” Buffy asked with a sigh, resigning herself to the fact that she would be here for most of the night answering the questions they were bound to fire at her.

“How did you get sucked through Acathla?” Joyce asked before anyone could make a sound. Her burning desire to understand what her baby had been through had not been satisfied with the knowledge she had gained so far tonight.

“That was my fault.” Angel spoke for the first time, the guilt weighing down his soul more than ever now that everyone’s attention was focused on him.

“Angelus had-”

“Angel, we know it was you mate.” Spike interrupted with a grin.

“Okay, I had just opened the portal when Buffy tried to stop me. The portal kept growing as we fought and by the time we noticed it to try to escape it, it sucked in everything in the room.”

“It was that simple?” Willow questioned, the intricately detailed plans that she had concocted in her head falling flat with this insight.

“That simple.” Spike confirmed. “Everythin’ in the bloody room went with us.”

“And then?” Giles asked, looking up from his notepad.

“How should I know?” Buffy grumbled, looking down at her feet.

“Slayer was knocked out, Angel was all soul havin’ again and me and Dru were bloody confused.” Spike grinned. “T’was dark, smelt fuckin’ awful and bloody dangerous for anythin’ that weren’t a true demon.”

“A true demon?” Joyce queried, the only one unafraid to pose a question to the vampire they didn’t know.

“One that’s not tainted with humanity.” Anya supplied helpfully from her seat to Xander’s astonishment. He had conveniently dismissed the idea that his girlfriend was a former demon. It was all in her past and they were moving on now that she was human and no longer an evil soulless creature.

“S’right.” Spike agreed. “So we were fucked no matter how you looked at it.”

“Spike!” Buffy chastised, for her mother had raised her eyebrows in shock every time he had cursed.

“Sorry love.” He smirked, running his tongue over his teeth as he concentrated on their blood-link, sending his emotions coursing through her body.

Blushing, Buffy straightened in her seat. “We were in some kind of hell where everything wanted to kill us, the air was unbelievably hot and smelly and it was pretty much every other cliché you can think of.” She paused for effect. “Any more questions?”

“When did you get your soul back?” Willow asked Angel shyly, desperate to know the answer and no longer afraid to pose the question now that someone had confirmed it.

“His eyes.” Dru murmured softly, “The faeries burn bright in his eyes.”

“Just as we were sucked through the vortex.” Buffy added. “So what about you? When did you realise I was gone?”

“We went back to mansion that afternoon when Joyce let us know that you hadn’t been home.”

“And?”

“And we searched it for any trace of you or your companions.” Giles felt peculiarly small having to explain their actions to his former charge, it was usually him demanding explanations for immature or reckless behaviour, even with Buffy, and he was the one with the control and the maturity to reprimand the children. He suddenly felt rather like a child himself. It was discomfiting to say the very least.

“And when you figured she’d pulled a Houdini?” Spike asked, his eyes glowing amber as he glared at his fellow Brit.

“What’s it to you?” Xander ignored Angel’s warning growl, staring straight at the youngest vampire.

“She’s my mate you wanker.” Spike growled, all warnings Buffy had given him about letting that slip shoved to the furthest recesses of his mind as the young imbecile provoked him even further, demanding Buffy explain herself and what he had meant.

Stepping in front of his small family, Angel could do nothing to prevent the protective roar that resonated from his chest. This was his family being threatened by this impudent slip of a human.

Beginning to growl softly, the four seemed to converse in this strange, almost feral way, until Oz gently growled at them, startling them out of their trance like conversation.

“English?” He smiled, having understood the general idea of the reassuring words exchanged by the strange family unit. That was something he knew would come out in it’s own time. When this strange group were ready for the repercussions that it would surely bring from both friends and family.

“Sorry.” Buffy, looked anything but sorry, but she felt it was probably better to apologise for excluding everyone else before they all started to argue again. “So you all looked for me?”

“Yes.” Joyce assured her daughter, the display of affection between the foursome had slightly unnerved her and she was dying to ask what it had been about. “We never really stopped.”

“Even after all this time?” Buffy asked, sceptically.

“They never stopped.” Faith assured her, suddenly unsure of her place within the group. She had already done one patrol tonight, there was no need for another so soon, yet she was itching to get out and fight something, to reassure herself that this was where she belonged, doing what she did best.

“How long have you been the Slayer?” Buffy asked quietly. “Since Kendra?”

“Since you went.” Faith held her head up high. She did belong here, just as much as anyone else did.

“Thank you.” Buffy’s voice was barely more than a whisper but she needed to express her gratitude to the other Slayer or sticking around to protect her family and friends.

“For what?” Giles queried, looking from Slayer to Slayer.

“I know.” Faith muttered. “It don’t need to be said.”

“So what happened in hell?” Joyce asked, trying to move things on before anyone could begin to argue all over again.

“We survived.” Buffy replied, a smile ghosting across her face as the memories flooded through her, the good times and the bad. They had survived and now they were back to show it. “We fought, we hunted, we were hunted, we fell in love, we became a family.” She looked up at her now silent audience. “We had an adventure.”

“An adventure?” Giles was the first to break the silence; the outrage that a Slayer would enjoy a trip to hell with notorious vampires for company was just plain absurd.

“Problem?” Spike enquired genially.

“I dare say I’m not the only one.” Giles retorted, “A Slayer should always be on her guard against vampires and demons. One should never fool themselves into thinking demons can have feelings. When your back is turned, they’ll turn against you.”

“Don’t be silly.” Joyce scoffed, offended for her daughter at the ignorance Rupert was insinuating. “I hardly think they would have returned to Sunnydale with Buffy in tow if they were enjoying themselves in hell, murdering my baby girl.”

“Mom!” Buffy was shocked. Who knew her mom would have accepted what it meant to be a Slayer in the time she had been gone? “Giles, if you think I’m so stupid then why are you here? Why are any of you here when you don’t care what happened to me? You just wanted to judge me when you saw Spike, Angel and Dru. Isn’t that right?”

“Of course not.” Willow pleaded with her former best friend. She wanted to hear all the gossip about her friend and her life since she had been gone, but asking questions like that in front of the adults just seemed strange and rude to Willow. “We’re your friends. We love you. We wanted to know you were safe and well.”

“And if you were gonna tell us what the heck those vamps are doing walking free after what they did?” Xander sniped, still pinned down by the arm Anya had lay across him, preventing him from moving at all.

“Walking free?” Spike chuckled, “It’ll be a damn sight more than you’ll be doin’ f’you don’t shut up.”

“Spike.” Buffy warned sternly. He knew there would be no threatening of her friends, even if she had already figured that she wouldn’t be keeping in touch with said friend anymore.

“Sorry love.”

“So are you two crazy kids together then?” Faith asked, desperate for something to talk about that interested her. She didn’t know the vampires, she had no clue exactly what they’d done that was so bad, but she wasn’t getting bad vibes off any of them so they were safe and she felt that she was safe.

“Forever.” Spike said proudly, perching on the arm of the chair, his arm around his girl’s shoulders as they watched her family and friends try to understand the situation. The marks on their necks were completely visible to anyone who cared to look, but so far none of the occupants in the room had understood the significance of the fang marks on their necks. Even the Watcher was having problems with the word, staring blankly at them, his face an amusing mixture of horror and revulsion.

“Forever?” Willow was shocked. She had thought Oz and herself were in a long term, serious relationship for she had agreed to move into a small apartment off campus with him, but to pledge yourself to someone forever? It was like something from a romantic movie and she found herself trying to ignore the twinges of envy she felt when she saw how close Buffy and Spike actually were as they sat quite innocently. How had she not seen it before? And were those?

They were.

Both Buffy and Spike had violent looking fang wounds on their necks. Ones that looked completely fresh.

If Spike had bitten Buffy to leave marks, who had bitten Spike? Buffy didn’t have fangs.

Did she?

Return to Bloodshedverse Home
 Use scroll bars to see reviews