Disclaimer: Joss is God, blah blah blah. I really don't need to hear it again. Because he is way too destructive and abusive a god. And besides, I like playing with these people, I'll give them back after I'm finished with them, so what's the bad?
Summary: Another post-gift how Buffy comes back one.
AN: I would like to dedicate this to my very good friend Daze, who looks at all my fics before they are revealed and plays the role of beta, ego-booster, and friend all at once. And of course, to everybody out there who feedbacks me, I love y'all! :P

Part 1

Dawn sighed. Three months. Already three months had passed. The world didn't change. It didn't crumble and down and collapse because she wasn't there. Everybody just kept on living. Living a life she was not there to enjoy. It wasn't fair. Dawn shook her head.

"Hey! Time to slay!" The Buffybot bounced in, smiling. Spike stood up.

"Alright, Buffy. Let's go." He turned back to face Dawn. "You stay here and don't do anything stupid. I'll come back for you and we can go home."

Spike was living with Dawn and the Buffybot these days. Taking care of her. To keep a promise he made to a lady. The look in his eyes when he had told everyone he was going to take care of Dawn had forbidden protest, even from Xander. The Buffybot acted in place of Buffy for all the legal stuff, and made it look like Dawn was still in "Buffy's" care. But they spent most of the night at Giles's place, because Dawn found it hard to stay at home alone at night. Dawn nodded and Spike left, the Buffybot following. Dawn sighed again.

Spike watched the Buffybot walk and talk and fight. She was so much like her. But she wasn't her. Spike sighed. They went to the cemetery where Buffy rested. Angel was there, leaning on her headstone. He was down here almost every other night. Spike stopped to listen. "So, can I just get drunk and pick a fight with a demon twice my size at a bar at 3 am? Or better yet, just stay here until the sun rises?" He stopped, as if listening. "I knew you wouldn't let me." He sighed. "Well, how are all the people up there? You did say you go to visit sometimes."

Spike didn't notice the Buffybot until it was too late. "Angel." The Buffybot was programmed to be extra friendly these days and every time she saw someone she recognized she went up to say hi. Angel looked up. "Oh, hey." Angel smiled at her. He had been infuriated at Spike's making something like that at first, but he'd come to accept it. Both it and Spike's infatuation with Buffy. And the fact that Spike was actually as much human when it came to his feelings as any regular Joe walking around. He looked as if he was listening again. "Yes, you look better than her." He whispered to the grave, but Spike's vampiric hearing senses picked it up. It was like he was talking to her. Spike wondered if his grandsire had finally lost it, but it didn't look like it. That made him wonder if she was really there. Angel looked back up at the Buffybot. "Look, I'm really sorry, but I'd kinda like to be alone right now." The Buffybot nodded. "OK. Goodbye." The Buffybot answered cheerily and bounced back in the direction of where Spike was hiding. "She does look just a tiny little bit like you, Buffy." Angel said after a moment of silence. "Alright, alright, I take it back!" He laughed, holding his hands up in surrender. Spike left, feeling as if he was horning in on a private conversation.

Spike looked at the girl in front of him. She wasn't too tall, maybe 5' 6" or so? Brown hair, brown eyes, more of Faith's build than Buffy's. "New Slayer?" He asked, lighting a cigarette. "Not that it's any of your business, but yeah. Who the hell are you?" The Slayer asked coldly. "The name's Spike. Friend of the old Slayer. And this is Buffy. She's a robot clone of the old Slayer. She's helping around with the slaying lately. C'mon. Follow me." The Slayer didn't move. "You're a vampire." She stated. Spike sighed and threw down his cigarette, stamping on it. "And you're a bloody genius. If you don't wanna meet Giles, a former Watcher, who can tell you all about this place, then fine. Do it on your own." "Mr. Giles? Mr. Rupert Giles? He's my Watcher, or supposed to be. They told me to come here to find him." Spike smiled, but it was cold and mirthless.

"They made him your Watcher? After all they did, they think they can just order him to be your Watcher just like that?" He paused, calming himself. "He won't wanna be. C'mon, let's go meet you *Watcher*." He sneered and walked away, the Buffybot following at his heels. He stopped. "*Her* Watcher." He said softly, then continued to walk.

"Spike! You're back!" Dawn jumped up, all ready to go. "Uh, who's she?" She asked upon seeing the new girl. "New Slayer. Took her sweet time getting here." Spike answered, throwing his coat off. "There was work in Cleveland." The girl defended herself. Giles, Willow, Tara, Xander and Anya came out from their various positions in the house. "New Slayer?" Giles asked. Spike smiled. "And you're her Watcher. Or at least the Council says so." He smirked. Giles didn't want to be her Watcher. To him there was only one Slayer and she was gone. "I don't want to be..." Spike cut him off. "I know. But... I think she'd want you to be." He sat down next to Dawn, putting a protective arm around her shoulder. It was a new habit of his. "I'm Elizabeth Corring. The new Slayer." Eliza said, feeling uncomfortable. The seven people stared at her. The same words were ringing in all their heads. "The new Slayer."

"So, Buffy's dead, and Spike, vampire with a chip in his head, and a robot that looks just like Buffy's doing the slaying? Well, you don't that piece of junk anymore since I'm here." Eliza said, feeling that the entire robot thing was slightly ridiculous. She stepped towards the Buffybot. Spike moved too fast for even Eliza to see and placed himself between the two. "You touch a *hair* on her body, and I will kill you." He snarled. "She's one of the only reasons I keep going at all." The others didn't say anything, but inside they felt the same way. Watching her kept them from losing their minds. Eliza stepped back. She looked around at all of them, trying to find some support. It wasn't there. She shook her head. "Fine. I'll leave. For tonight." She turned and left. Nobody stopped her. They couldn't accept Eliza as the Slayer, though they tried. Buffy was the only Slayer. They still believed that, irrational as it was. It was as if they waited everyday for her to just show up and say it was all a bad dream. They couldn't let go. "Dawn, let's go." Spike picked up his duster and turned to leave. All the others picked up their various things and got ready to go as well. Spike left with Dawn and the Buffybot following at his heels.

Part 2

Eliza patrolled the streets. They didn't accept her, none of them. She could feel it. It made her angry, and yet a bit sorry for all of them as well. "Restfield cemetery." She read outloud. It seemed to be the largest one in Sunnydale. She could use a little action, to vent all her feelings, and she cautiously entered. She couldn't find any vampires, but she heard talking. "So, Cordelia maxes out my credit card and then refuses to pay me back. And the worse thing is, I can't just even fire her." The voice belonged to a hot guy leaning on a headstone. He was alone and he was a vampire. He seemed to be talking to the grave. The man chuckled like he'd heard something funny. "Yes, maybe strike would work, but I personally don't think so. Cordelia's mind doesn't work like a normal human one." He paused, listening to something intently. A something she didn't hear. And that creeped Eliza out more than she liked. "Yeah... Anyway, have you seen Doyle?" There was another pause. "Well, they're both nice, optimistic people. They'd be happy most anywhere." The man suddenly looked... guilty? Sad? "It was my fault. He shouldn't have died." He paused again.

That was it, Eliza couldn't take it anymore. She launched herself at him, stake in hand. The man looked at her, surprised, and moved quickly out of her stake's way. He stood up and dusted himself off, while Eliza looked at him warily. He didn't seem to want to fight, so she decided to wait for him to make the first move. "I'm fine, Buffy. I'm fine." He told the grave reassuringly. Eliza couldn't believe her ears. "Buffy? You mean the "Buffy Summers the Vampire Slayer" Buffy?" She asked. He raised an eyebrow. "I take it you're the new Slayer?"

Spike suddenly appeared out of nowhere, once again positioning himself between the Slayer and her prey. "What the hell do you think you're doing?" He snarled. "In front of her grave?" He asked, enraged. He didn't look exactly sober. "Chill, Spike. I'm a vampire, she's a Slayer, she only did what was natural." The man put a hand on Spike's shoulder. Spike turned to face him. "Angel, she tried to kill you." "What about Dawn?" Angel, as Spike called him, asked, changing the subject. Spike dropped his guard and sighed. "Sleeping. And Buffy... the robot's with her." Spike answered. "I just thought.. you'd be gone by now, and I just.. came to say hi." Eliza felt very annoyed, they were talking like she didn't even exist. "Hello, can anybody explain what the hell's going on here?" Spike turned to her. "Angel¡®s a good guy, you're not going to kill him, and you're leaving. That's what's going on." Spike spat out. Eliza shook her head and left.

Spike sank down on the ground, Angel right next to him. "Thought you'd be gone by now." Spike sighed. "The whole sunrise thing." Angel smiled slightly. "I can break a few laws at 4 am." Silence reigned, only Angel seemed to hear something. "Can you hear her?" Spike asked suddenly. Angel didn't need to ask who "her" was. "Yeah." He answered simply after a moment's pause. "How? You're not just imagining it?" Angel chuckled. "She's offended you would think so, Spike." Spike smiled a little and looked down. "Why can't I hear her?" He asked, his voice barely above a whisper. "I don't know." Angel answered truthfully. "She's babbling some gibberish about reaching out to the mind and how you should try to reach out with yours and something like that. I don't know how, but I heard her from the minute she got here, and I don't question happiness that's come my way anymore."

Spike closed his eyes and concentrated. Suddenly he could really feel her presence. It was something he hadn't noticed before. Buffy.. her essence was really here. He tried to reach her. Suddenly it was like he'd been plunged into cold water, his whole body was encased in something cold but then it became warm, like a blanket. "Spike, can you hear me?" It was Buffy's voice, the one he had longed to hear all summer. Spike slowly opened his eyes. "Pet? Is that you?" He asked, his voice hoarse with emotion. "Yep! Me! Wow, you can hear me? I'm getting good at this connecting thing." Buffy said cheerily. "Welcome to our world." Angel said with a smile. He'd accepted the new and improved Spike. He was a person now. It hadn't been easy, but in time he had learned that. Spike was crying now. "God, Buffy, I.." He couldn't speak. Only cry on his sire's shoulder. "Spike, c'mon. Don't cry, it's a good thing." Buffy hovered over the two of them worriedly. "I'll leave you two to talk. It's already 3:30 anyway." Angel rose to his feet. "Good night, Angel." Buffy's voice called after him. "Good night, Buffy. I'll be back tomorrow. Sleep well, Beloved." Angel blew a kiss to the headstone. "OK. Now I'm blushing. We have visitors, remember?" Buffy said playfully. Angel only grinned and walked away. His car, parked outside the cemetery roared to life and started going 100 mph.

"The guy pushes his luck, doesn't he?" Spike said, after calming down a bit. "He does. He needs to start leaving earlier but I don't let him go, he doesn't wanna go.. it's all bad." Buffy's voice grinned. It was weird. Spike couldn't see her, but you could *tell* she was grinning, just from her voice. It was almost graphic. "How come you're down here instead of in heaven?" Spike asked. "Heaven's NOT all it's cracked up to be, believe me. Roads of gold, pearly gates, mansions and treasure everywhere.. please. It's not true, any of it. It's just like the world down here, except everybody's see through, and there are a lot less troubles. Like, there's television, and the internet, and when you're up there you can see everything down here if you really want it. You have to concentrate hard, but it's possible. Like, when I got there, Mom said hi and then just turned back to watch Passions. It's just really annoying to think that while we were all mourning for her and grieving, she was up there getting antsy because she was missing Passions." Spike knew Buffy too well to take her seriously. She had taken it very hard when she lost Joyce and seeing her again had probably made her cry like a baby then shriek for joy. "You're loving it. Seeing her again." He said, matter of factly.

"Every single minute. Well, that I'm up there. I usually go up during the day and come back for Angel at night. And you won't believe how many people I've met. I mean, there are tons of people up there, think how many people died for the last, what, maybe ten thousand years? I mean, I haven't seen any Neanderthals, and I'm not sure when they were around, but anyway. I've met Socrates, Homer, Plato, Einstein, Newton, and all those people, you'd think they'd be selective about who they meet, but they aren't. I met Hitler! I think he's still a little loony, but he's not homicidal or anything anymore. But he and Einstein still don't get along. I met Dave, and Eddie, and Larry and all the people I knew who died. And you know, Maggie Walsh, and Forrest, and all those people. They didn't really like me, but I think when people die, they all learn the truth of life or something, cause they were all good. Repenting their sins and all that. But eventually, after about two weeks, I came back down here. Angel was here. I don't know how, but I connected with him instantly. I didn't have to try. Cause sparring off with Hercules is great, and talking to Mom is a blast, but eventually most of the people I really love are down here. Angel, Will, Xand, Dawn, Giles, you, Tara, and I can't believe I'm saying this, but Anya and Cordy and everybody. So I came back down here. I think the PTB aren't that pleased, but I've been their slave while I was alive, so I'm not gonna listen to them now." Buffy stopped, out of breath. Spike leaned back on to the headstone and sighed, half sad, half happy. "I've missed you so much, Pet." He said. "Me too. You know, I've changed too, haven't I? You suddenly seem so nice. When I was alive, I couldn't stand you." Spike smiled sadly. "Yeah.." "But it's not like that anymore." Buffy hastened to assure him. They spent hours talking. All too soon, it was almost sunrise. "Go! I don't want one of my best friends being christened Mr. Big-Pile-of-Dust." Buffy ordered and cut the connection. "C'mon, Buffy, don't.. Alright, I'll come back tonight." Spike raced away to the Summers house and managed to dive in just before the first rays of sunlight peeked out over the hills.

Part 3

Cordelia pounced on Angel as soon as he walked in, half an hour before sunrise. "Angel, you can't go on living like this!" She cried, worried for her friend. Angel sighed, shrugging off his coat. "Like what?" "She's dead, Angel. I know you loved her, I know you still do, but she's *gone*. Please. You have to accept that." Cordelia said. Angel sighed. "Cordelia, can we please not talk about it right now? I'm tired, I'm going to bed." And without another word, he walked up to his own room. "Angel!" Cordelia shouted after him, but it was no use. Cordelia was afraid he was close to losing it, and she didn't want to lose her best friend.

"Princess." Buffy opened her eyes. She'd been enjoying basking in the sun by her grave, lying on the soft grass. Doyle was looking down at her. "Oh, hey. And isn't that Cordelia?" She teased slightly. Doyle smiled, just a hint of sadness showing. "Well, there are many princesses in this world." Buffy sat up. "So, whatcha doing down here?" Doyle laughed, his voice still sad. "You'd think they'd let me go if I died.. I always have to bring bad news.. and my mother always told me that I shouldn't." Buffy frowned. "Bad news?" "Your time's up, Princess. It's time to go back up." He said sadly. Buffy shook her head. "No, I'm not going back."

"You have no choice. They've decided." Doyle said gently. "So? They decided everything for me when I was alive, I sure as hell ain't gonna listen to them now I'm dead." "It doesn't work that way." Doyle said softly. "I'm so sorry. If I could, I'd let you stay. But.." He turned away. Suddenly Buffy was pulled away, by an invisible force. "ANGEL!" Her last cry resonated in the ears of a messenger and a vampire.

"Buffy!" Angel screamed, bolting up in bed. He'd been sleeping dreamlessly, until her voice penetrated the black oblivion around him. She had screamed his name, but nothing else. Only one thought dominated his mind. To get to Buffy. But it was still light outside, and it would be several hours before sundown. "DAMMIT!" He screamed, launching the lamp to the other side of the room. "Angel!" Cordelia, Wesley, and Gunn came running into his room. "Angel, what happened? Are you alright?" Cordelia asked hysterically. "I'm fine." Angel said, trying to calm himself. "I'm fine. It's not me." The others exchanged worried glances.

The second the sun fell down, Angel's car tires were screaming as they shot down the road to Sunnydale. "Please tell me everything's ok, please." Angel prayed, harder than he ever had in his life. Well, excluding the time he prayed she would come back after she died.

Spike also dashed out of the house as soon as it was dark, and Dawn was pissed that he wouldn't explain why. But he couldn't care about that right now. He was going to meet Buffy. But when he got there, she wasn't there. Her essence was nowhere to be seen, well, felt. "Pet? Slayer? Buffy?" He called out, but she just wasn't there. He sat down, miserable, but he decided to wait. He was still there when Angel came running into Restfield. "Is Buffy..?" The question died on Angel's lips when he saw Spike's dejected face. The two vampires stared at each other.

"Let me out! Let me out, dammit!" Buffy had heard her soulmate's cry as well, and she needed to get to him. "You are disrupting the order of nature. It cannot be." A voice from somewhere came. It wasn't human, of that she was very sure. "Order of nature be damned, I need to be down there!" She shouted. The voice was silent. "Dammit, I need to be down there.." Buffy broke down sobbing. Doyle appeared out of nowhere. "Buffy.." Buffy only cried and curled up into a protective ball. Doyle knew that talking to her would be no good. He only sighed and silently retreated out of the room.

Angel and Spike stayed by her grave all night. Neither said a word, neither moved a muscle. Spike knew that the others would probably be worried about him by now. He didn't care. Angel knew the others probably thought he was crazy. He didn't care either. Dawn was fast approaching. "You should go." Spike said, his voice dead. Angel replied in the same tone of voice. "Yeah.. Maybe.." He stood up. "See ya, Spike." He said, his voice void of any emotion. Spike only nodded and returned to his staring out into space. Angel heaved a great, heavy sigh and left. Spike stared at her headstone.

Buffy couldn't see him. They wouldn't let her. But she could feel him, and she knew he was taking it worse than she was, if that was possible. "Please.. God, for him. For him.." She begged, expecting it to be futile as it had been for the past week. Instead the presence of the voice was there. It was silent, but it was there. "Why?" It finally asked. "Because I love him. He needs me. Please.. just once. Let me tell him I'm ok." The voice seemed to be considering. "It shall be done." It boomed and her world went black.

When she woke, she panicked. She was in a dark.. box of some sort? It was pitch black all around here, she couldn't see anything because not even the slightest light penetrated through the walls that held her. She realized where she was. "My coffin." She laughed, but soon realized that her air supply was less than abundant. She broke through the lid, but the real problem was clawing her way up to the surface, when she was buried 6 feet under. Finally, her hand shot through up into the cool night air. With renewed hope and strength, she managed to pull herself up completely.

Angel was staring at her like he'd seen a ghost, which, she thought wryly, she guessed she was, or at least she had been. Now she was back from the dead for the second time. "Buffy?" Spike wasn't there. She guessed Angel had forced him to go patrolling. "Me." She said simply, then looked down at her clothes. She was dirty, disheveled, although thankfully not decayed, and her clothes were awful. *I am gonna kill Dawn for burying me in this* She made a mental vow. She looked beautiful to Angel. Angel pulled her into a fierce hug. "Buffy, I.. I heard you calling me, and I.. are you ok?" He finally said.

Doyle popped up next to her. He had form now. "Yeah, she is." Angel stared at Doyle this time. Buffy wryly noted that he seemed to do that a lot these days. "D-Doyle?" Angel's voice cracked as he said Doyle's name. Doyle smiled sadly. "Yeah, it's me. And as you can see, I'm still a messenger for the PTB's. Once a messenger, always a messenger. I just came to tell you, she's as alive as you or me.. I guess that's not a very good expression, huh?" He smiled. "She's alive. Heartbeat and everything. But she's still the Slayer. The PTB just thought that you two loved each other enough to deserve a.. uh, how many times have you screwed up again?" He asked, looking at Angel. Angel was still speechless. "Anyway, she really cares for you, man, so don't let her go this time. When she kept begging for a week, they finally relented and let her come back to earth. Besides, she's like, the best Slayer since ever, and they liked her on our side." "Doyle." Angel finally managed to make his voice work again, but all he could say was Doyle's name. "Yes, we established that, Angel." Doyle grinned, albeit sadly. "God, Doyle." Angel pulled the Irishman to him. "Your embraces are bestowed more worthily on the lady next to you." Doyle said as he pulled away after a moment. "Cordelia... she's doing alright?" He asked finally, unable to keep himself in check. Angel smiled sadly. "Yeah, she's doing fine. I think she still misses you though." Doyle sighed. "Well, my message had been messaged, so, I'll be seeing you two around. You seem to get into an awful lot of scrapes." Doyle smiled and disappeared.

Angel turned back to Buffy. "I'm never letting you go again." He whispered in her ear as he pulled her close. "Good." She whispered back, hugging him back just as fiercely. They had a lot of explaining to do to the others, a lot of catching up, and they'd all work it out, but right now, surely for one moment, they could just be Buffy and Angel, right?

Epilogue

With three Slayers around, because the Council had pulled a few strings when Buffy died, and let Faith out, patrolling was much easier. Buffy had actually bonded a lot with Faith and Eliza, much to the jealousy of Willow and Xander, but she'd managed to include Faith and Eliza whenever she was with Willow and Xander, drawing Willow and Xander closer to her two sister Slayers as well. Eliza had been hard to get to, at first, but eventually, with a newfound patience that she had lacked before, Buffy managed to break through her shell and become friends. And everybody had a hard time accepting Faith, especially Willow and Xander, but Buffy had explained patiently that if she could accept Faith again, then Willow and Xander should have no problem doing so. From then on, Willow and Xander had tried too, and now they didn't shoot icy glares at Faith all the time, they actually laughed together, and awkwardly, Faith made her way back to the world. Eliza still jumped whenever Angel or Spike came around, and Buffy had put the Buffybot into the deepest, darkest corner of the basement she could find, and Dawn still almost cried whenever Buffy was around, and Spike was still being unnaturally nice and it was freaking everybody out, and Buffy and Angel's constant PDAs were driving everybody crazy, and the long distance relationship was driving Buffy and Angel crazy, Willow and Tara were making mistakes with lots of mistakes with magic again(one time resulting in Angel's hair lying down flat), and Giles was hired by the Council again, much to everyones distress, and the demons didn't respect that Buffy had come back from the dead at all, and Anya and Xander were married and squabbling all the time, and Anya was still as blunt and tactless as before, Xander still goofy and immature, and the world was filled with troubles, but somehow, in Sunnydale, to the people who protected the world, the world they had saved time and time again, was beautiful.

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