Chapter 15 - Heavenly

Giles held his breath as he leaned out the window to see Dawn freefalling to her death.

“DAWN!” he yelled, outstretching his hand in an instinctive but feeble attempt to save her.

His heart seemed to freeze in his chest at the sight of her body suddenly being engulfed in a thick blue cloud of smoke, which broke her fall. Only then did his brain seem to assimilate Willow’s chanting coming from behind him.

He watched her closely; her eyes were closed, her body shook slightly as she used all of her energy to maintain the mystical cloud just long enough to get Dawn closer to the ground. Slowly, the smoke drifted down the building, carefully carrying its precious cargo to safe shores. His gaze drifted back to Willow as he noticed her unsteadiness and shakiness increasing exponentially as her strength was being drained out of her.

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She felt her legs buckle under her when his hand snaked its way under her drenched shirt and his lips grazed down her neck. Her mind wandered, her fingers clung to his black t-shirt, pulling it upwards, desperate to feel his marble skin.

“Ah!” he hissed in pain and she immediately pulled away from him.

“Are you-“ she began asking but he silenced her by capturing her mouth with his.

“Mmmm…” she tried to speak and eventually pushed him far enough to let out: “Are you ok?”

He answered by vehemently nodding before smashing his mouth to hers. His skilful fingers found their way to her shirt and proceeded by undoing her buttons. He broke the kiss for a second, his forehead rested on the hard wooden surface of the tree, as he looked down at the white lacy braw she was wearing.

“God I missed this.” He mumbled drunkenly with a satisfied grin over his lips.

She smiled, the rain bathing her features as she stared up at the sky. A chill ran down her spine as his tongue glide over her neck down her collarbone. Sluggishly, his mouth dipped between her lace-covered breasts, taking in her scent as he hungrily sipped the drops of rain that nestled there. His fingers ran over the tender skin of her bare stomach down to the waistband of her jeans. She held her breath in anticipation as he slowly unbuckled her belt and, as he proceeded with undoing her denims, his mouth returned to hers.

Buffy jumped up as a deafening thunder roared above and around them, however Spike remained oblivious to it all as he concentrated on disposing of her shirt.

“Spike…” she tried to speak but at the feel of his tongue sliding around her earlobe she lost her trail of thought. She swallowed hard and struggled with semantics and syntaxes as she attempted to construct a phrase with a minimum amount of logic. The pathetic result was: “Rain… bad…” she paused and swallowed breathless once more: “Cave… now.”

The vampire remained unaware of his surroundings as her shirt dropped flimsily to the muddy floor and his hands now focussed on unclasping her braw.

“Sp...Spike…” She pulled on his hair, forcing him to look up drunkenly into her eyes as she breathed: “Cave. Now!”

He gave her one last intoxicated look before his hands slid under her thighs and lifted her, her legs enveloping his waist.

“Spike, you’re wounded, you-“ Buffy held her breath as the vampire stumbled his way to the mine under the pouring rain. “I can walk.” She insisted but he shook his head and when she attempted to speak again he sealed her lips with his own.

His tongue plundered its way into her mouth, exploring it with desperate hunger as his fingers dug into her thighs with bruising force. Buffy opened her eyes dreamily for a second and noticed the vampire was moving in the wrong direction. Reluctantly she broke the passionate kiss and breathed:

“The mines are…” she paused to take in much needed air: “are that way.”

“Uh? What?” Spike looked in the direction her small index finger was pointing and nodded. “Oh, right!” And once more he pulled her in for a kiss but as he tried simultaneously to walk he tripped on a tree root sending them both tumbling to the muddy ground.

Buffy let out a small cry as she felt his whole weight fall on top of her but she soon forgot it as his tongue grazed over hers feverishly inviting her to a primitive dance which she gladly accepted. Soon her small hands joined in as they slid under his shirt and pulled it over his head exposing his marble chest to the crystal raindrops and the mucky brown ground. Buffy couldn’t help letting out a content sigh at the feel of his cool skin against her burning one. She opened her eyes as his mouth drifted south, down her neck and over her collarbone, his slick fingers pulling at the straps of her now brownish braw as his teeth grazed over the sensitive skin of her shoulder.

Between moans and satisfied sighs their hands hastily hovered over clothes desperately trying to dispose of them. Soon Buffy’s braw abandoned near a tree was closely followed by her denims. In the meantime, she struggled with the buttons of his jeans, but the vampire came to her rescue, quickly disposing of the black/brown pants. Now, the only thing between them and pure bliss was a thin lay of cotton she was wearing, which a normal person would call underwear, but right then, they considered it to be an annoying and useless piece of clothing. Without warning and in a blink of an eye the vampire ripped the offending item off her, replacing the soft fabric with his experienced fingers as they moved up her thigh.

A wicked grin spread across his face as he noticed her catch her breath in anticipation to his touch. Purposely, he delayed the inevitable, tracing circles over the sensitive skin of her inner thigh as his lips played with her collarbone. Instinctively, she bucked her thighs upwards, her body begging him for his touch. In his mind he imaged how long he could keep her in that agonizing wait but when he heard a moan coming from her he found his finger plunging deep inside her heat.

Buffy threw her head back and let out a strangled cry, thrusting her hips against his hand. A second sob followed as his lips trailed their way down to one perfectly shaped breast and took her erect nipple into his mouth. Her hand instinctively came to rest over his head; her fingers losing themselves in his thick, nearly white, hair while his own fingers explored her long neglected depths.

She could feel it building inside of her and the more it grew the closer she wanted him to be. It was too much to bare and she moved his hand away from her centre. Spike was stunned for a second, not understanding what he had done wrong. He sighed in relief as he felt her legs encircling him, her hands resting over his hips pushing them against hers.

“Please…” she moaned, the desperation thick in her voice but she didn’t care, if begging was what it took, then that was exactly what she would do.

She looked up at him with supplicant eyes and met two electric blue ones staring back at her. Silently he positioned himself at her entrance; she held her breath in anticipation, but never broke eye contact, even as the raindrops fell over her face. Slowly, he moved between her feminine folds, gently pushing them apart as he prepared to delve into her. His head moved over hers, effectively protecting her from the heavenly tears that bathed her perfect face and then he slowly moved into her. Her heat instantly enveloping him, pulling him into his own private concept of perfection.

“Ah!” they both let out in pure bliss as their bodies fused together.

Buffy’s eyes shot open at the intensity of the contact as did his, just as it had happen almost a year before, in an abandoned and nearly demolished building.

Spike swallowed hard as he tried to concentrate, to make this last an eternity, but the way she was moving, the way her walls clung around him, surrounded him, squeeze him, it seemed an impossible task. “God, so tight!” was the mantra that invaded his mind and that he desperately tried to push away along with the primitive moans coming from the wildcat under him.

Composed and concentrated, he began to move in and out of her and the entire world seemed to break and crumble around them, leaving them alone in a cloudy and heavenly world of their own.

Laying in a bed of grass and mud the two lovers remained oblivious to the storm and the sopping dirt that covered their naked bodies. As the rain continued to pour over them, the thunder roaring in the skies masked the loud and frenzied cries, sobs and moans of their frantic lovemaking.

Giles let out a loud sigh as he saw Dawn being safely dropped on the wet asphalt of the street before the mystic cloud disappeared.

“Thank God!” he whispered to himself as he turned to see a drained Willow sprawled on the floor. “Willow!” he called out, coming to kneel next to her unconscious figure.

Anger boiled inside of the madman.

“How dare- Ahhhhhhhhh!” he wasn’t able to finish his sentence as the same intense and excruciating pain seemed to take him over.

Giles jumped up at the inhuman scream and even Xander was brought back from his momentary coma, sitting up and staring at the sight of Ethan, clutching his head between his strong hands, covering his face as he continued to howl in pain.

“We have to get out of here.” Giles warned the younger man.

Xander nodded, snapping out of his fear struck daze and coming to kneel next to Willow.

“What happen?” he asked.

“There’s no time for explanations now.” Giles’ strong voice hovered over the savage screams of the madman. “Willow!” he called out, but had no response. He tapped lightly on her face, trying to bring her back to consciousness. Thankfully, after a few more tried the reborn witch opened her eyes.

“Giles?” she asked confused as he helped her stand up.

Suddenly, Ethan began to move erratically, stumbling over furniture, tipping over a large vase sending it crashing to the floor with a loud thud.

“Can you walk?” Giles asked Willow, trying to ignore the madman.

“I think so.” The witch answered.

“Good. Let’s go.” He ordered as he moved to take Clem’s arm and placing it around his neck as he pulled the demon to his feet and attempted to drag him out of the apartment. Seeing the strain the librarian was under, Willow came to his aid, taking Clem’s other arm as they moved toward the door.

In the meantime, Ethan continued his rampage, destroying everything in his unpredictable path.

“Come on, honey.” Xander spoke to the unconscious vengeance demon, taking her into his arms and lifting her off the couch, closely following the others.

Before crossing the threshold he looked back. What he saw would keep him up for a few nights at least. Ethan’s hands moved, revealing his disfigured face. It was then that the young man realised that Ethan Rayne had already died, probably a some time ago, the only thing left was a thousand imprisoned demons fighting for dominance over a human shaped carcass.

Part XVI - Mayhem and Chaos

Title: Grey Lines
Pairing: B/S
Rating of the entire story: NC-17
Rating of this part: NC-17
Spoiler: Up to the end of Season 6.
Disclaimer: I don't own them. Not mine.

Author’s Note: Sorry it took so long to update, it’s just that I’ve been having major computer probs, but I think that’s fixed. ;) Thanks for reviewing the story, you guys are great!!! ;) And don’t worry DE this story is not over yet. I’ll have to remember to add TBC after each chapter. ;) Now on with the show! Happy Reading!

Previously on Grey Lines:

Willow saves Dawn from certain death by using magic to create a mystical cloud that breaks the young teenager’s fall. In the meantime, in the woods, Buffy and Spike finally give into their temptations and… well, I’m sure you remember what happened. Back at Xander’s, Ethan prepares to strike when the demons, fuelled by his growing anger, take over and he begins to howl in pain. Xander wakes up to find an unconscious Willow. Giles tell him they have to get out of there, which they do.

Part XVI - Mayhem and Chaos

They ran as fast as they could in the pouring rain. Their drenched clothes, which stuck to their tired bodies, seemed to hold the weight of the world. Willow faltered in her stride as her legs protested against the extra burden of carrying an unconscious demon.

“Are you ok?” Giles asked.

“I-I’m fine.” She breathlessly struggled to speak.

“I can help.” Dawn offered moving to place Clem’s arms over her back.

“Thanks.” Willow said stopping for a second to catch her breath.

“What are you guys doing, we have to move.” Xander’s hoarse voice hovered over the loud thunder as he shouted over his shoulder at the rest of the group.

“I think we better find shelter somewhere.” Giles suggested as he came closer to the young man.

“Where?” Xander asked as he looked around.

They were in the middle of a street, all the light were out, all the doors closed, a haunting silence broken only by the familiar sound of rain falling and the occasional roaring of thunder as the electric currents cut through the dark skies. Thankfully they had got far enough not to hear the inhuman howling of that madman.

Giles pondered over Xander’s question. They were already drenched, Dawn had already sneezed a couple of times and Clem was getting heavier by the minute. They needed to find shelter quickly, but where?

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Her numb fingers drew eclectic geometrical shapes over the cool ivory skin of his back using mud as her paint, but the rain soon washed away all her artistic efforts. She could feel him smile against her neck and as he spoke the cool air that flowed from his mouth sent a chill down her spine.

“How’s the finger painting going, luv?”

“Not good, the rain’s washing it away.” She answered. “Plus the fact that I can’t see what I’m painting isn’t helping.”

He looked up at her, his lean chest now hovering over hers. He remained silence, looking at her with that intense gaze which always managed to leave her breathless; as if she had just ran a marathon. Her clean hand moved around his shoulder, pass his neck and settle over one chiselled cheek. As he closed his sapphire eyes and leaned into her touch, Buffy found herself staring blindly at him. She was about to say something when she felt him move his hips between hers and place himself at her entrance. He opened his eyes, as if asking for permission and she gave him her answer by closing hers and holding her breath.

Slowly he pushed between her inviting folds, entering her. Her eyes shot open as she felt him inside of her.

“God.” She couldn’t help letting out as he began to move in and out of her.

Looking up at him she found him with his eyes closed once more, his mouth in a straight line as he clenched his eyes, trying hard to keep his emotions under control. It was nearly impossible. He had dreamt about this for four months, being with her, surrounded by her body, her scent, her spirit.

Her hand dropped from his cheek back to his shoulders, clinging to him as her hips moved in time with his, meeting every thrust with the same urgency and desire.

“Ah…” she cried out as he plunged deeper into her, feeling her, stretching her from the inside. She could feel she was close to the edge and so was he. With one swift and fluid movement she made them roll over and she found herself sitting on top off him.

If Spike were human he would have been in deep trouble. The mere sight of her would have been enough to make it impossible to breathe. She sat up, slowly moving snake like up and down, impaling herself on him, her hands sluggishly travelling over her stomach, up between and around her breast as the rain bathed her naked form. She threw her head, allowing the crystal drops of nectar to run down her face. Spike’s eyes focused on one particular drop as it made its ways around the corner of her mouth, over her chin, down her neck to join its companions to form a small pool in the hole between her collarbones. As it overflowed, a small stream trailed into the valley between two perfectly shaped round globes, down her lean stomach, around her small navel and finally it died in a nest of dark curls where his and her body came together.

Entranced by this spectacle, one hand travelled up her side and round her breast, cupping it gruffly causing a muffled cry to come from her. Expert fingers circled her dark, erect nipple, pinching, teasing, provoking and sending Buffy into a frenzy causing her to move faster and faster, thrusting her hips against his with bruising force.

“Bloody hell! Fu…” Spike roared into the night as he felt her inner muscles clamp around him, squeezing the unlife out of him. He knew he was close, too close. Instantly his other hand dove between their bodies quickly finding her tender nub of nerves, his fingers curled around it, pulling at it, rolling it in just the right way to send her over the edge.

Soon, Buffy was screaming her pleasure for the entire world to hear. Her head thrown back, her mouth wide open, letting in the small drops of rain, while her inner muscles rippled and contracted as powerful spasms took over her whole body.

The sight and the feel of her sent him tumbling over the growing precipice and he let out a savage roar as his orgasm tore its way through him.

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As they stumbled into the abandoned mansion, Giles felt a chill run down his spine remembering everything he had endured the last time he had been there. It seemed a lifetime ago. He forced the memories of Angelus and the elaborate torture items out of his mind. There wasn’t anytime to think about that now. Ethan was bound to find them sooner or later.

“This place gives me the creeps.” Dawn interrupted Giles’ thoughts. As she twisted her hair a large pool of water formed at her feet.

“We’ll have to spend the night here.” Giles said in a low voice as he and Willow placed Clem on the couch.

“Do you think Angel left some firewood?” the redhead asked, looking around, but before anyone could answer her question, her gaze fell over a small pile of logs.

While Willow and Giles tended to the fire, Dawn paced around the large empty room. She frowned as she noticed all the windows where still neatly covered with long, dark and opaque curtains.

“Guess Angel forgot these.” She said to herself.

“There we go.” Giles announced as he successfully lit the fire.

All four sat in deafening silence for a while. Slowly, Willow leaned in and whispered to Giles.

“About what happen…” she said with a faltering voice, but the ex-watcher cut her off.

“You did what you had to do.” His eyes never left the faint flame burning in the fireplace.

“But…” she tried to speak.

“Maybe I was wrong. Maybe I was just afraid you might…” he paused and finally looked at her. She was surprised by what she found in his eyes - understanding. “Maybe you are ready.”

She searched her mind for some answer, but there was nothing to say so, instead, she gave him a soft smile and nodded her head slightly.

“AHHHHHHHHHHHHH!” the scream cut its way through the howling night and into the old abandoned mansion.

“What was that?” Xander asked, but before he had finished his question he already knew the answer.

“Ethan.”

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Buffy’s eyes shot open as the most intense howl reached her ears. A bit dazed she looked around, soon her surrounding began to register. Dark, cave, strong arms around her body… correction, around her naked body.

“Did you hear that?” a voice with a strong British accent came from behind her and she felt him move to sit up. She turned to face him and sit next to him.

“It’s Ethan.” Her voice was hoarse. Well, no wonder, with the whole laying in the mud in the middle of a storm while moaning and screaming the entire time.

“We better go.” Spike went into autopilot. Picking up his and her clothes they had brought in from the storm. Before Buffy could say anything he already had his jeans on and was now working on his T-shirt.

Without a word she put on her own muddied up clothes and they made their way through the forest as the rain continued to pour around them.

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“We have to do something.” Willow stated the obvious.

Giles scratched his head as he tried to figure out what to do and finally said:

“We don’t know where Buffy is, but we need to do something.” Turning toward Xander and Dawn he continued with a strong and reassuring tone. “You two stay here, you’ll have to look after Clem and Anya. Willow and I will go to the Magic Shop and see if there is a spell we can use.

“Wait a minute, I thought Willow was…” Xander paused to measure his words. “You know… quarantined when it came to magic.”

“If you had seen what she did back at your place you wouldn’t think that.” Dawn said with a gentle smile as she stared at the reborn witch. Remembering she still hadn’t thanked her for saving her life she mouthed the words: “Thank you.”

Willow nodded and answered the teenager with a shy smirk.

“What about Ethan, he might come here.” Xander continued.

“I don’t think so. The demons are still fighting for dominance inside of him and even if he was sane enough to control his own actions, he would probably go after me.” Giles explained.

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Buffy ran through the thick bushes trying to block out the excruciating howling that roared through the stormy skies. Her eyes focused on the moving figure in front of her. His nearly white hair glowed as the rain kept it wet and shiny. Her mind raced as her senses picked up all that surrounded her. The raindrops that marred her face, the sound of thunder mixed with that inhuman scream, the feel of gushy, slippery mud under her pounding feet, the scent of wet grass and… what was that? She asked herself. Under the fresh, cool fragrance of stormy rain there was something else.

“What is that smell?” she asked herself as she got closer and the odour became clear. “Oh my God! Fire!”

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As they exited the mansion the smell immediately hit their noses.

“Fire!” Willow breathed.

Without another word they ran towards the centre to Sunnydale. Soon it was in sight, but what they saw made their breaths catch at the base of their throats - the entire town was in flames. As they approached the burning buildings another, even scarier spectacle awaited them. The streets where packed with a raving multitude of demons, very similar to the crowd that gathered at the clearing except they were all awake.

Mayhem and chaos ruled the city. It reminded Willow of the devastation they had witnessed just before Buffy came back. Human screams of fear and pleas for mercy mixed with daunting snarls and roars of the raging demons that plagued the streets. And all the while, in the background, that ungodly howl of pain and rage brought the symphony of horrors to completion.

They walked slowly, carefully avoiding calling any attention to themselves. Willow felt Giles nudge her slightly with his elbow. When she looked at him she saw him pointing ahead. She gasped when she turned and saw what he was pointing at.

A large circle of light, the size of a small building, pulsated in the middle of the street. Around it gathered an even larger multitude of demons and between them and the light was Ethan. His arms raised to the thunderous skies as he wailed his pain for the whole world to hear.

“It’s growing.” Willow heard Giles say from behind her.

As they looked on, the demons around the circle, that until now had remained calm, contrary to the ones further away from it, began to move. At first it seemed an erratic movement of dispersion, but soon the two realised there was a goal behind it - they were searching for humans. Eventually their behaviour became the same as the others.

“It’s the circle that’s making them act this way. It’s the circle that’s making them kill humans.” Willow stated the obvious.

“How?” Giles asked in a low voice. “It’s not supposed to do that.”

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“I’m worried. Maybe I should go with them.” Dawn suggested.

“Right so afterwards, if we survive this apocalypse, your sister can kill me. Brilliant idea!” Xander mocked as he knelt down next to Anya and caressed her hair.

“I never get to go.” Dawn pouted as she walked towards the window. She pushed the curtains apart and leaned into the glass to have a look. She was surprised when she found it was painted with black opaque paint. “That’s strange. I didn’t know Angel painted his windows black.”

“He doesn’t. He likes to pretend his human, remember. Thinks painting the windows is too obvious, so he prefers to use curtains instead.” Xander explained.

“Well, then why are these windows painted?” she asked chipping away a bit of paint and outstretching her arm to show it to him.

Xander frowned, but before he could say anything he felt a distinct chill run down his spine. The kind of chill you develop after six years of fighting alongside a Slayer.

“Dawn!” he shouted as he saw a dark figure slither its way out of the shadowy corner of the room and grab the teenager from behind.

TBC

Part XVII - Battles

Dawn screamed as she felt freezing fingers creep up the side of her face to cover her mouth, while a strong arm slithered its way around her waist. Xander stared blankly as the gruesome and deformed features of a vampire came into view just above Dawn’s shoulder.

"Let her go." Xander tried to sound confident and strong but his voice faltered.

"Or what?" the demon asked tilting the young girl’s head, successfully exposing the tender skin of her neck to his sharp teeth. Disgustingly, the vampire dropped his tongue to her flesh and licked her from collarbone to earlobe.

Xander instinctively jumped up in Dawn’s direction. Her eyes widened as she saw two other vampires approach the young man from behind. When he noticed her reaction it was already too late. The last thing he heard before falling unconscious to the floor was Dawn’s strangled scream.

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Buffy and Spike ran for a while before reaching the outskirts of town. Screams and roars plagued the silence of night time as humans and demons mixed in a savage dance for survival.

The Slayer immediately took over and Buffy fell into fighting position. Soon three demons lay lifeless on the muddy ground. Her heroic rampage came to a halt as she felt Spike’s strong grip around her arm.

"What?" she asked outraged and breathless.

"You just slayed a Myhan and two Lyourt demons." He tried to explain.

"And?"

"Well, on the demon scale of predatory evilness they’re just below cuddly little baby seals." Seeing the confused look on her face he added: "They’re bloody harmless. Something is making them act this way."

"Oh."

"Yeah, oh. We have to find out what is causing this." Spike said in a strong tone, looking around, trying to ignore the mayhem that surrounded them in order to identify the real source of that chaos.

It didn’t take him long. Soon another piercing howl cut through the skies. In a flash they were punching and pushing their way through the crowd and found themselves face to face with a bright pulsating circle of light. Around it a small crowd of demons gathered as if worshiping it, the spectacle eerily resembled the calm in the eye of the storm. From behind the brightness they could hear Ethan’s ungodly screams.

"We have to get to him." Buffy ordered, but as she looked around she noticed the circle occupied the entire street, there was no way they could pass without touching it. Realising what she had to do she began walking back where they came from. "We have to go around, I will take some time but-"

She stopped speaking as she felt Spike’s strong grip around her arm. She refused to turn around, face him and look him in the eyes. She knew what he was going to say but she really didn’t want to hear it.

"Buffy…" his voice was soft, a mere whisper that she almost couldn’t hear from under the pandemonium that surrounded them. She remained still, her back turned to him while he held onto her outstretched arm. "Buffy…" he tried again pulling slightly at her arm, but still no answer. "Buffy…" this time his tone was strong and cold, as he pulled her to him, forcing her to face him.

He caught a needless breath in his throat as he saw her liquid eyes, her gaze fallen to the muddy ground, her face flushed from the recent fight and the turmoil of emotions that took over her.

"I-I have to do this." He said simply as his cool fingers trailed the contours of her cheek, coming to rest under her chin and tilting it upwards, forcing her to meet his gaze.

She swallowed hard and rolled her eyes as she desperately tried to push back the tears.

"Why?" she forced the word out and it seemed to burn her throat in the process.

He gave her a tender smile and whispered: "You know why. There is no other way to destroy this thing. You heard Giles."

"But-but he could be wrong, he-he… sometimes he’s wrong." She babbled incoherently as desperation took over her lungs, making her words come out in gasps and the tears began to flow freely down her cheeks.

"He’s right about this one." Spike felt something seize his chest, pressing down on him, making it impossible to breathe and even though he didn’t need to, he felt the frightening sensation of suffocation.

"No-no he-he can’t be! He’s wrong. He’s wrong!" she cried out pulling at his arms, trying to keep him close to her. As she broke down she leaned her forehead on his chest, her fingers drawing incomprehensible shapes over the soaked fabric of his t-shirt. "Please let him be wrong about this." She whispered.

Spike gasped at the sensation of her forehead hitting his chest. The desperation in her words and action brought actual physical pain to his body. Slowly, he caressed her wet hair leaning in, as if trying to protect her from her stormy rain.

"Everything is going to be ok." He whispered as he rocked her body into tranquillity.

They stood there, in the middle of a mutinying town, surrounded by their own private circle of peace and protection. Slowly, she looked up into his eyes and with a trembling pout she dared to ask:

"What if-"

But before she could finish he bent down and swallowed her blasphemous question with a kiss.

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"Giles, we have to do something." Willow once more stated the obvious.

"We can’t get to the Magic Box, the circle is in the way." Giles noted as he continuously stared at the raging madman howling at the full moon. "The only way to stop this is by destroying the circle then we’ll deal with Ethan."

"But how? We can’t just throw a human being into the circle."

Giles remained silent as he pondered what to do. As he looked around him he wondered how was it that someone could cause so much destruction. Granted that he was dominated by all sorts of demons battling for dominance inside of him, but he was still a human being, he still had a…

"That’s it!" Giles yelled out as the epiphany hit him.

"What?" Willow asked confused.

"Ethan."

"What about him?"

"He’s human." Giles tried to make her understand.

"Yeah, so?" Willow asked as she remained confused. Giles gave her a look, widening his eyes. "Sorry, Giles, I quietly remain east of Eden on this one."

"He’s human, therefore he has a soul."

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"Now, what is a fine little girl like you doing here, in my humble home?" Dawn felt the vampire’s cold breath graze over the exposed flesh of her neck.

She pushed down the fear that was creeping up her throat and spat out in an overconfident tone.

"I don’t know. Stormy night, nothing on TV, I guess I just felt like kicking some vampire ass." And without another word she brought her right leg up as high as she could, hitting the vampire right smack in the face.

Before the other vampires could react she threw herself between the two, causing them to run into each other as they tried to catch her. Before the three vampires could regroup, she rolled off the floor and landed right in front of the fireplace. Quickly she grabbed a smaller, half burnt wooden stick and hid it behind her.

"The little girl wants to play does she?" the vampire that had been holding her and that appeared to be the leader asked in a mocking tone. He moved cat like towards her as the others took their place behind him, their formation resembling the tip of an arrow with the leader in front. "I think I’m gonna enjoy this." He continued as he rubbed his hands together and closed the distance between him and Dawn while the other remained in their places.

Suddenly, he lunged at her but she easily blocked his blows. Soon he realised he had greatly underestimated her as he found himself face down on the floor.

"What? No more playing?" Dawn mocked breathlessly but she wasn’t able to enjoy her victory for long as the other two vampires immediately jumped at her, cornering her.

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"You know what to do, don’t you?" Giles asked for the second time.

The witch simply nodded before making her way to the other side of the street. Giles sighed, swallowed hard and stood up taking a few steps in Ethan’s direction.

"ETHAN!" he called out.

Slowly, the madman turned to face the librarian. Giles felt his breath catch in his throat at the sight of Ethan’s face. Something seemed to move under his skin, like a snake crawling, mercilessly tearing its way through muscles and nervous tissue. Any trace of humanity was gone from the now completely white orbs that had once been his eyes. It was the most gruesome thing he had ever seen in his life.

"Well, well, well. You decided to join us, uh?" The sound seemed to come from Ethan’s distorted mouth but it wasn’t his voice. It sounded like an ungodly, off key orchestra of demons howling in unison.

As Giles distracted the madman, Willow carefully approached him from behind and, as she stood just inches away from him, she made her move to push him into the circle of light. Suddenly, out of nowhere, she felt a strong hand grip her by the throat and the next thing she knew she was lifted off the floor, franticly kicking her feet much like Dawn had done a few hours before.

"Tsk-tsk-tsk. You should have known better, old man." Ethan screeched in a mocking tone. "I have the powers of countless demons in me, do you think we couldn’t feel her from a mile away? I mean, I can feel you’re little Slayer from the other side of this circle. She and that vampire are thinking about destroying it, but they’ll soon see what’s coming." He paused for a second before adding absentmindedly : "Oh! Did you know she’s all fluffy-woffy over that bleached vampire?"

Seeing there was no change in Giles’ expression, Ethan felt a bit disappointed, but he soon found a way to turn the game against the ex-watcher.

"You knew, did you? And you let her get down and dirty with-"

"Shut the fuck up, Ethan. I’m sick of hearing your voice." Giles said cool and calm.

The knowledge that his Slayer was on the other side of the circle actually calmed him. Willow on the other hand was speechless, for a moment she forgot the situation she was in and the only thought going through her mind was - "Giles said the F word, Giles said the F word."

"You’re an idiot you know?" Giles began. He really hoped this would work, otherwise they would be lost. "Actually no, you’re pathetic, you always were. Remember back in the day. You’d skulk around, always trying to be cool and hip, but the truth was you we’re always the weakest of us all. I mean even with Mary, remember Mary?" Giles knew he was on the right track when he saw the rage cover Ethan’s face. "You were always after her like a lost little puppy but in the end she always preferred me, didn’t she? She always-"

"SHUT UP!!!!" The inhuman howl ripped through the skies as the demons took over Ethan once more.

His hands immediately came to clutch his head as a dilacerating pain took over his entire body. Willow fell to the floor with a loud thud, her own hands gripping at her throat as she desperately coughed and gasped for air.

"Willow!" Giles called out.

Hearing her name brought her back to reality and she scrambled to her feet making her way into Giles’ open arms. From a safe distance they watched as the madman mindlessly drifted and wobbled erratically in the middle of the street.

**********************************************************

She closed her eyes and took in a deep breath as she felt his fingers trace the edges of her cheeks. When she opened them, she found pure crystal blue eyes staring deep into her and a new wave of panic took over as she felt him pull away from her and move towards the circle.

"No-no, don’t go. Please!" she begged him, the tears overflowing as she pushed and pulled at his t-shirt.

"Buffy, Buffy!" he called her, but she refused to hear him. She vehemently shook her head, trying to block out everything he had to say to her.

"No! If you go, you’ll die!" she screamed; anger and fear ruling over her emotions.

"Buffy, there is a chance nothing will happen to me. I-" he tried to reason with her but it was no use. All logical thought had left her, she was ridding on pure emotion.

"No!" she yelled. "I’m telling you, I can *feel* it." She said pounding her chest. "Something bad is going to happen. I-I don’t… I-I can’t…" as the anxiety became too powerful to handle she began to stutter, her sentences constantly interrupted by small gasps and nervous hiccups. "Please." She begged once more, her face wet with a strange mixture of raindrops and salty tears. Her eyes seemed to glow while her mouth took the shape of a painful pout; her lips trembling. "I can’t-I can’t let you go. Not now. Not now that..."

"Buffy!" he tried to calm her down, but his own tears now flowed down his chiselled cheeks.

"Spike…"

"I have to go."

They stared at each other for what seemed like an eternity. Slowly, he leaned in and pressed his lips over her forehead in a chaste kiss. Then, without a word, he pulled away from her and walked towards the circle.

Buffy felt a pang in her chest as she loosen her grip on his t-shirt and let him go. As she saw him drift away from her all the moments they had shared flashed through her eyes. She remembered the first time she had seen him, he seemed so sure of himself, so obnoxious and full of himself. A ghost of a smile spread over her trembling lips as she remembered Spike and her mom sitting in the living room while she went upstairs and got her weapons to fight Angelus. The memory of him coming back to Sunnydale drunk and heartbroken, seeing him so thin and weak when he escaped the Initiative, feeding him in Giles’ tub, going patrolling with him. She felt small butterflies as she remembered the day she found out he loved her, the day she went to him after Glory had beaten him up to a pulp, the first real kiss they had shared, the sight of him for the first time after she had come back, the conversations, the banter, the night in the crumbling building, the days and nights that followed. Everything, everything came rushing at her.

"SHUT UP!" the ungodly scream snapped her out of her thoughts and brought her back to reality.

She looked up at Spike. He now stood inches from the circle, his hands coming to touch it. Instinctively, she lunged at him, dropping him to the ground and landing on top of him.

"Buffy? What?!" he asked confused.

"I love you!" she blurted out and before he had anytime to respond she smashed his lips with hers in an urgent and bruising kiss.

Chapter XVIII - The Lights Go Out

Title: Grey Lines
Pairing: B/S
Rating of the entire story: NC-17
Rating of this part: PG
Spoiler: Up to the end of Season 6.
Disclaimer: I don't own them. Not mine.


Previously on Grey Lines:

As Dawn struggles with the vampire, Xander gets knocked out from behind. Spike and Buffy reach Sunnydale to find it in chaos, they soon realise it’s the Foris Caliga that is making the demons violent. They find the circle of brightness but Ethan is on the other side of it and they can’t reach him. Spike realises what he has to do - throw himself into the Foris Caliga. In the meantime, Giles realises that Ethan is still human, which means he has a soul and they can use him to destroy the Foris Caliga. Dawn kicks some serious vampire booty. Giles talks Ethan into a fit of rage and the madman goes all psycho again. Not knowing what is happening on the other side of the circle, Spike decides that the only way to save them is to throw himself into it, Buffy however, stops him, throwing herself on him and telling him she loves him. ;)

Author’s Note: Sorry for the huge hiatus but, unfortunately, my "wonderful" computer went all wonky, AGAIN!!! Grrrr! I had the chapter almost complete and I had to rewrite it AGAIN!! Thanks for the great feedback, which kept me going. I was almost thinking of just quitting, that’s how angry I was !!! GRRRR!

Chapter XVIII - The Lights go Out

The words rang in his ears and as the entire world seemed to fade into nothingness, they remained protected from the surrounding chaos in an invisible cocoon. He felt her heart slam against his chest and for an instant he thought it was his own, brought back to life by the words he had waited an eternity to hear from her.

As she broke the bruising kiss she stared down into his glassy eyes; her breathing coming in shallow and urgent gaps.

*****************************************************

Giles and Willow watched from afar as the madman howled at the full moon; pale white hands, tracked with a maze of blue veins, clutched his throbbing head as he stumbled and mindlessly zigzagged his way through the street.

"He’s walking away from the Foris Caliga. We have to get him closer to it." Giles noted as he realised the pulsation of the circle was getting wider and wider by the minute.

Willow remained frozen, as if entranced by Ethan’s soaring screams.

"Willow!" Giles shouted snapping the redhead out of her daze. "The Foris Caliga," he continued pointing to the growing light. "It’s unstable. We have to hurry."

*********************************************************

Slowly, the dull sound of punching and kicking combined with short gasps of pain seeped into his ear and consciousness came crashing down on him along with a throbbing headache. His eyelids seemed to hold the weight of the world, but eventually he managed to open them. He was greeted by the sight of Dawn back kicking a vampire while simultaneously smashing her fist into another one’s deformed face. As the memory of what had happen earlier came back to him, Xander scanned the room, looking for any other enemies. Soon enough, his gaze feel over a third vampire, the same who Xander had seen grabbing Dawn from behind. He was now laying unconscious on the floor, a few feet away from where the battle was ensuing. When his eyes drifted back to Dawn, he found her in a much less favourable situation than just seconds before. One of the vampires had managed to grab a hold on her and now held her in place while the other stumbled to his feet and walked towards her.

"Party’s over, darling." He hissed as his hands slithered behind her neck and violently yanked her head back, successfully exposing the tender skin that covered her jugular to his sharp teeth.

"Back off!" Xander ordered as he stumbled to his feet and limped his way towards Dawn.

"Xander!" Dawn whispered breathless from the fight.

"And hence, sleeping beauty awakes." The vampire who had been closing in on Dawn’s neck mocked, turning to face the barely standing young man.

"Let. Her. Go." He breathed the words between clenched teeth.

"Or what?" the vampire continued in an annoying tone.

Xander carefully closed the distance between himself and Dawn, jumping over the seemingly unconscious body of the leader of the gang.

**********************************************************

As the pulsating light grew, it appeared to climb the walls of the surrounding buildings as well as crawl over the wet asphalt of the street, consuming everything in sight.

Willow felt her heart leap to her throat as the chaos and disorder built up around her; the demons grew more and more restless and violent, destroying and pillaging, attacking and devouring. Taking a deep breath, she forced her mind to block out the horror around her and her heartbeat to slowdown to an acceptable rate.

"You can do this!" she coaxed herself as she followed Giles.

As the two approached the raving lunatic, the librarian came to a complete stop causing Willow to bump into him.

"Giles, what’s-" The redhead wasn’t able to finish her sentence as she looked over Giles’ shoulder and saw it.

In the middle of all the confusion one of the many demons which surrounded them bumped into Ethan. In a mater of seconds the demon was reduced to a oily puddle in the middle of the street.

"Giles?" Willow asked wide-eyed, her hands shaking uncontrollably.

"Kahlan demon." Was the librarian’s simple answer, but before she could ask him he explained: "He has the features of all the demons that were consumed by the Foris Caliga. He must have taken a Kahlan demon. They have the ability to transform any living creature into…" he trailed off as it became clearly obvious what was the effect of a Kahlan demon’s touch. "We can’t touch him."

**************************************************************************

Spike and Buffy remained silent, oblivious to the rain, the mayhem and the rapidly approaching circle of light.

"Buffy…" his voice was barely audible, a dreamy look pooled in his eyes as he stared up at her.

**************************************************************************

"We can’t touch him? How are we suppose to get him… you know… over there?" Willow pointed toward the growing light.

Giles remained silent, pondering what to do while Ethan continued to move through a melting crowd, away from the Foris Caliga.

"Giles?" Willow asked once more, but he seemed to be out of it. "Do you think we can get a pole and just shove him towards the light?" When she saw the disapproving look on the ex-watcher’s face, she added with a bowed head: "Ok, shutting up now."

"Willow, you are going to have to push him."

"What?" she asked in a frightened tone, looking up at him. Seeing no change in his expression she continued in a martyred tone: "You’re right. I think I should. I’m the one who should do this, after all I tried to-"

"What are you talking about, Willow?" it was Giles’ turn to look confused.

"Well, pushing involves touching and touching, in this case, involves turning into a big pool of yucky…yuck on the street." Willow explained with a deep dramatic frown over her eyebrows.

" Willow, I think you’ve been spending a little too much time with Xander. You’re picking up his knack for martyrdom and over-dramatising. I was talking about magic. Do you think you can do it?" Giles explained giving her a light tap on the shoulder.

"Oh-oh!" she inhaled sharply and a huge smile settled over her lips as a wave of relief washed over her. "You want magic. I’m you’re girl." And she stood there, grinning wildly at the librarian.

"Well… Now would be a good time to have a go at it, seeing as the Foris Caliga doesn’t seem to be slowing down. We are a little short on time." Giles almost begged as he tilted his head slightly.

"Oh, magic, right." And she turned around to face the zigzagging madman in the middle of the street.

As she began chanting a strong breeze passed by her, causing her wet and heavy hair to float in the air. Slowly, she raised her hands, arms stretched out in Ethan’s direction, eyes closed, mouth humming in a long forgotten language.

Ethan’s deformed body rose among the crowd and hovered over it. It slowly moved towards the circle of light and Giles seemed to sigh in relief, but suddenly, it stopped its smooth motion and the madman was thrown to the floor. Next to him, Willow’s worn out body tumbled to the hard asphalt. In a blink of an eye, Giles was on his knees, next to her.

"Willow! Are you alright?" he asked as he pushed her wet red locks away from her pale face.

She blinked hard and with shallow breath whispered: "I can’t do it.".

"Thought you’d get rid of me that easy, hey Ripper old friend?" A cold shiver trailed down Giles’ back as he heard the inhuman voice from close behind him.

******************************************************************

"Let her go." Xander repeated, this time in a stronger, more confident tone.

Dawn struggled against the strong grip of the vampire, kicking and pushing him, but failing miserably at it.

"I said-" he was cut off as he felt five cold fingers clutch his throat making him gasp.

"Don’t you just love it when food develops a sense of heroism?" he heard a sharp hiss from behind his hear.

The two other vampires let out an idiotic laugh as the leader continued to squeeze the life out of the young man.

"Let…" Xander gasped as he struggled to breathe.

"Ah-ah-ah." The leader singsang, shaking his head before violently gripping Xander’s hair and yanking it back, exposing the young man’s neck. "Eat now, act brave later." He hissed, opening his mouth in a gruesome grin before burying his sharp teeth into Xander’s rapidly pulsating jugular vein.

*********************************************************************

Giles could distinctly hear the sluggishly approaching footsteps, while he remained knelt next to a worn out Willow.

"Did you really think you could beat me?" the anger grew in the madman’s voice as he took one last step and hovered over the knelling librarian, who remained with his back turned to him.

Willow eyes glowed with fear as she looked up at Giles’ equally scared ones. Her left hand instinctively grabbed his as she watched Ethan’s arm reaching for the librarian’s shoulder for a deadly touch.

"ANSWER ME!!!" the ungodly scream cut through the thundering sky as Giles felt Willow reassuringly squeezing his hand.

As the two exchanged an accomplice look they knew what they had to do. In a blink of an eye, just as Ethan’s fingers grasped the librarian’s shoulder, Giles moved out of the way and in one last effort, Willow brought her hands up, pointing towards Ethan. Powerful electric currents, born in her shoulders, travelled down her outstretched arms and shot out of her fingers hitting the madman and propelling him into the growing brightness.

A thunderous silence took over the entire town as the ball of light stopped pulsating for a second before exploding.

*********************************************************************************

Spike gazed at her for what seemed an eternity. As his hand reached up to push back a rebellious string of soaked blonde hair, something broke through the barrier of silence that surrounded them. It was a faint echo when it reached his ears:

"Answer me!!"

Suddenly, the world of chaos which had been pushed back into a murky, slow-motion background came rushing back at him and the first thing he saw was the rapidly approaching circle of light. He had seconds to react as his gaze drifted from the brightness to her, laying on top of him, still oblivious to the danger. Instinctively, he pushed her off of him, away from the Foris Caliga.

Reality seeped in as she saw the fear in his eyes. "Why is he scared?" she asked herself as a frown settled over her forehead. She wasn’t able to answer her own question as she felt herself being propelled across the street. She hit the hard asphalt with a pang, her mind still in a daze as she looked up to see him being engulfed by the exploding brightness.

"SPIKE!!!!"

Title: Grey Lines

Pairing: B/S

Rating of the entire story: NC-17

Rating of this part: PG-13

Spoiler: Up to the end of Season 6.

Disclaimer: I don't own them. Not mine.

Author’s Note: The lyrics used in this chapter are from Fisher’s "I will Love you". If you want to get the full effect of this chapter I would advise to you play this song (lop it) while you’re reading. ;)

Chapter XIX - Till My Body is Dust

"SPIKE!" the sound of her own voice echoed in her ears.

She remained motionless, knelt on the hard asphalt, scattered remains of something broken, destroyed floating all around her, covering her torn, muddy, soaked clothes. Her breathing now came in short, shallow gasps, her fingers shivered slightly as reality viciously seeped into her, cutting its way through her gut and stomach, slashing everything in its path until she was numb to all of her surroundings.

The dust and smoke blew in the street, past the broken parking-meter to crudely caress her marred skin and settled over her long eyelashes, but she remained unaware of every and anything, even as the shattered pieces of glass bit and cut into the tender skin of her knees.

As the smoke cleared, her glassy eyes witnessed, unresponsively, the chaos and destruction that spread before her. In the middle of the street, a large gapping hole now took its place, the blackness irradiating from it crawled over the asphalt making it even darker, rose up the building were a few flames still licked there way up the wooden doors.

In the distance, she seemed to hear her name being called out, but it was far, far away. It sounded as if she was underwater and the clear sound of the world had become dull and weak as it hit the crystal water before it reached her ears.

"Buffy…"

It was a familiar voice, a safe voice. A new gush of wind licked her face causing her hair to float up for a second and the dust, which had fixated itself over her pale skin, to blow away. Suddenly, the numbness was gone and her senses came to such a heightened level of attention that it became inhumanly painful.

Someone was shaking her, violently. Shaking her into a consciousness she didn’t want, she couldn’t bare. Then she saw her - flaming red hair, pale white skin, large desperate eyes begging her for something, small delicate mouth shouting her name in an unyielding mantra- Willow.

"Buffy, Buffy, Buffy." The redhead repeated unrelentingly as she shook her best friend.

A gasp of hope escaped her lips as she saw her friend blink for the first time and swallow hard.

"Are you ok?" Willow asked as she stopped shaking the bruised Slayer.

For the first time that night the horrible odour of fresh blood reached her nose, she looked down and remained unresponsive as she saw the cuts in her knees.

"Buffy, you’re hurt." Willow noted as she followed her friend’s gaze to the ruined denims.

"I’m ok, Willow." Buffy finally spoke in a hoarse voice. She swallowed hard as she felt the blood crawl up her throat. She felt as if she had been screaming for hours off the top of her lungs until the flesh that covered her larynx was sore and raw.

"Are you sure?"

Buffy nodded calmly.

"Where’s Spike?" she heard Giles’ familiar voice from behind her and she turned to look up at him.

She swallowed hard once more, the question seemed to cut straight to her heart and rip it apart.

She closed her eyes for a second and with a new found strength the said plainly:

"He’s dead."

She stumbled to her feet as an amazed Willow helped her up. The redhead’s first reaction was to ask her: "How? When? How?" but she held herself and fell into stride with the Slayer as she limped up the street.

****************************************************************************

Xander felt his eyes turn in their sockets as the sharp, deadly fangs broke his skin. As the blood flowed into the hungry demon’s mouth, images of his life, of his memories with the Scoobies, with Anya assaulted his mind and he knew it would soon be over. Slowly, he realised his legs were buckling from under him, his arms became weak and the reassuring numbness of eternal sleep spread from his punctured neck down his entire body. He was ready; he knew it. Suddenly - PANG!

He was now on the hard wooden floor. As he struggled to open his eyes, he first saw a large pile of dust, behind it two delicate feminine feet.

"Leave my man alone!" it was her - Anya.

Dawn gasped in relief as she saw the vengeance demon bury the piece of wood in the vampire’s back. In seconds, he was dust and Xander lost all the support he had and came tumbling to the floor. Noting the other two vampires that held her were distracted by the turn of events, the young girl immediately elbowed the one who was holding her from behind and punched the other square in the face. Her small hand reached for the piece of firewood she had taken out of the fire moments before and soon the two gruesome demons joined their leader in a large pile of dust.

Dawn breathed heavily, gasping uncontrollably from the combination between the rush of adrenaline surging through her veins and the effort of the fight. As she settled down, her gaze fell over the wounded Xander and the crying Anya, kneeling next to him.

"Honey, honey, are you ok? Please don’t die. You can’t die. I… I…. I’ll kill you if you do." She babbled nervously.

"We have to get him to a hospital." Clem’s sweet voice came from behind the couple.

************************************************************************

The florescent lights burned her eyes as she looked up from the young woman who was cleaning her wounds to gaze in the direction of the door.

"Hey, Buffy!" Dawn whispered as she stepped into the green painted room.

"Hey!" she whispered back, in the same melancholic, tired tone.

"They say he’s going to be ok." The younger girl explained.

"Well, you’re done miss Summers. Next time be careful when you go running around." The nurse said as Buffy hopped off the bed and walked toward the door.

"Thanks you." She said plainly and exited the room with Dawn close behind. Soon, Giles, Willow and Anya were standing next to them.

"How long is it gonna take?" Anya whined, pouting, but before she could say anything else she felt a light tap on her shoulder and when she turned around she was greeted by a tall, thin man, dressed in white, with a stethoscope hanging around his neck.

"Miss Anya?" the man asked as he looked at the chart he held in his hands.

"Yes, that’s me. Is he ok? They said he was ok, but I know how these things are, one minute you’re fine, the next you’re in a coma for three or four days, like a zombie, and then you wake up to find the person you love being - Auch!" Anya cut short her rambling as she felt Willow squeeze her hand.

"He’s fine. He’s just got a case of anaemia. But he’ll be fine. You can see him now, he’s in room 308." The doctor informed before greeting everyone and excusing himself.

"Right, Xander’s got anaemia, Buffy fell and cut her knees… I wonder how they are going to explain the big gapping hole in the middle of Roosevelt Drive." Willow mumbled to herself.

As they walked around the narrow corridors of the hospital, Buffy and Dawn fell behind.

"So, how’s Spike?" Dawn asked with a small smile on her face. "Is he a bit bummed about losing his soul?"

Buffy remained in silence for a second and simply nodded.

"So, why didn’t he come? I mean, I know he doesn’t like Xander all that much, but he could’ve at least bothered to see if I was ok." The younger girl crossed her arms over her chest and sulked.

"He… He was tired. And it’s close to sunrise. He didn’t want to risk it." Buffy lied.

"What do you mean close to sunrise, there are still three hours to go." Dawn protested.

"Dawn… We’ll talk about this later." Buffy cut short the conversation as they entered the room.

Xander lay on the bed; all sorts of tubes and devices attached to him and an annoying, constant beeping sound in the background attested to his heart’s well being.

"Honey, are you ok?" Anya immediately lunged herself at him, covering his face with suffocating kisses. Suddenly, she stopped and stood up. "I’m still mad at you." She said in a serious tone.

"Anya, I-" Xander began but was forced to stop as a wave of coughing and gasping came over him.

In a blink of an eye, Anya was on her knees, next to his bed, her hands gently stroking his tussled hair.

"Are you ok? I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to, I’m not angry anymore. Please don’t die!" she said dramatically.

"I’m fine, Anya." He smiled as he ran his hand over her blond hair. He looked up from her to meet the others. "You guys are ok. How did you do it? Is Ethan… You know?"

"He’s dead." Giles said, as he pulled his glasses and began cleaning them with a handkerchief.

"Willow, used magic to throw him into the Foris Caliga." Dawn said with a great big smile.

"Well, and how did you destroy the Foris Cal… thingie?" Xander asked.

"We threw Ethan into it. Hello, he was human, hence possessor of a soul. " was the first thought that ran through Willow’s mind. But that wasn’t what they had agreed to tell Dawn, not yet, at least. It had been a long night and Buffy didn’t want to have to tell her what really had happen.

"Spike destroyed it!" Dawn immediately stepped in, huge grin of pride still plastered all over her face.

Xander ‘s ghost of a smile crumbled as his gaze fell over Giles and Willow’s expression. The two seemed to have faded into the background; head bowed, stare buried in the white floor. There was something wrong with this picture. He was about to speak but Buffy cut him off:

"We should be going. Xander needs to rest." She said in a cold tone and walked towards the door. Before leaving she turned to the man laying in the bed and breathed: "I’m glad you’re all right." And she left.

***************************************************************************

"What happen to Buffy?" Dawn asked suspiciously as she took another big bite of her tuna sandwich, spilling a little on the kitchen counter.

"Just tired I guess." Willow avoided the subject. "Come on, you have to go to bed. You’ve got class tomorrow."

"What? I get thrown out of a window, almost get bitten by vampires under the impending threat of an apocalypse, I fight the vampires, actually kick some major ass, if I may say so, all in one night and I still have to get to class the next day? It’s not fair!" she pouted.

"One of the many advantages of being a Sunnydale City resident and the Slayer’s sister." Willow smiled lightly as she made her way upstairs behind Dawn.

******************************************************************************

She sighed as she entered her room, pulling the thick robe tighter around her small figure. Automatically, her hand went for the comb that lay on her nightstand and began to brush her wet hair. She paced slowly around her bed, from one side to the other, her mind blank, her eyes glassy and lifeless.

Taking in one long breath, she pushed her pillow aside and looked for her pyjamas, when she failed to find them there she remembered she had changed the sheets last time. Silently, she moved to the wooden wardrobe. Opening it, she bent down and quickly looked through one of her drawers, picking up her long white nightgown. Her long fingers slipped between the knots that tied the robe in place, undoing them. The rough fabric slid down her shoulders to the floor and was replaced by the pure silky texture of her nightdress. Bending down once more, she picked up the robe and turned to place it over the hook on her wardrobe’s door when she saw it - just hanging there, motionless, dark and shiny, the scent of alcohol and cigarettes still oozing from it.

Suddenly, all the memories came flooding back to her and she forced her eyes shut to pushed them back, back to the obscure places of her mind where they couldn’t hurt her anymore, but it was no use. A door had been open, a wound which would take too long to heal. With bloodshot, glassy eyes, she took a step closer, her fingers lingering over the leather material of the coat.

She felt her throat close up as the tears streamed down her cheeks, her nose buried in the shiny leather as her body moved instinctively, even with tightly shut eyes, her arms melted into the coat as she put it on.

With heavy breathing, racing heart, she made her way downstairs, out the door and onto the street. She walked oblivious to the pouring rain, to the darkness of the night, to the feel of cold cement under her bare feet.

As she reached her destination, she fell to her knees; her white nightgown slowly taking in the darkness of the dirty asphalt. Pulling the coat closer to herself she tried to protect herself, not from the pouring rain outside, but from the emptiness and the coldness that burned her from the inside.

"Buffy…" a mere whisper of the wind. "Buffy…"

Her eyes shot open.

"Spike?" her heart leaped to her throat. It was coming from the hole in the middle of the street. She knew it! She knew it! He was alive!

Clumsily she stumbled to her feet as the long soaked nightgown and coat got in the way.

"Spike!" her voice was hoarse and her throat hurt, but she didn’t care. "Spike!"

She wandered blindly through the foggy and stormy night, oblivious to the pieces of shattered glass that cut deep into the soles of her feet.

"Buffy…"

"SPIKE!" she was now screaming, a scared smile growing over her wet lips. "SPIKE!"

"Buffy! No! Buffy!"

Buffy felt someone yanking her hard away from the large hole.

"Spike?" she asked uncertain.

"Buffy. It’s me, Willow!"

"Spike?" she insisted, looking left and right, but refusing to see the soaked redhead that held her tightly by her arms and was standing right in front of her.

"BUFFY!" Willow shook her violently and it seemed to work. Slowly, blue eyes focused into green ones and she seemed to be back.

"Willow?"

"Yes, it’s me!" Willow forced a smile to cover her worry. Seeing Buffy like this, hair dishevelled, soaked to the bone, walking blindly over shattered glass with a blank and yet painful expression on her face made her remember the time they all thought she had gone made and had tried to kill them, only moths before.

"He’s here." She said, suddenly energetic, full of life and hope. Her fingers trembled as she pushed her hair away from her face and restarted walking around.

"Who’s here?"

"Spike! I heard him. He-he’s down there." She said as her hands travelled wildly from pointing at the hole and back to fussing with her hair.

"Buffy…" Willow stared at her pain stricken friend.

"I’m telling you. I *heard* him, he was calling my name. We have get him out of there before sunrise. He can’t stay down there. We’ve got to help him." She rambled on and on, as she moved like a wounded animal between the debris and the mud.

"Buffy…" As she followed her friend around the chaos, Willow felt her heart being crushed. She knew what it was like to lose someone you love in a heartbeat. To have someone there and then… not. She had refused to let her go too, just like Buffy was doing now. "Buffy. Buffy." She called out, but she refused to listen. "BUFFY!" she finally shouted and it caught her attention.

Buffy stared at her wide-eyed. Bloodshot, large eyes, pleading not to take this illusion away from her. Seeing the pain on her face, Willow lowered her voice to a mere whisper as she continued: "He’s gone." She stated simply.

Immediately, Buffy began to emphatically shake her head: "No, no, no. I heard him, I know I heard him. I’m telling you he’s down there." She desperately pointed to the black hole.

"Buffy…" Willow whispered once more as she closed the distance between the two of them. "Buffy…"

"No, no! He-he’s here, I know he-he…" Buffy gasped and struggled with her throat as it closed up and made it impossible to breathe.

"Buffy, let it go."

"NO!" she eventually shouted. "He-he, he’s…"

"Buffy…" Willow breathed as she settled her hand over Buffy’s wet cheek.

"He-he’s…"

"Gone, Buffy. He’s gone." Willow finished the sentence for her and suddenly it seemed to dawn on Buffy, it was true, he was gone.

"Oh, God…" she whispered, breaking down. Her legs gave way beneath her and she fell to her knees, taking Willow with her. Buffy’s hands came to cover her face as the tears finally spilled freely, ready to grieve. "He-he’s…" she tried to say it, but she couldn’t. "Oh, God, Willow. I-I…" she stuttered as the hiccups took over. "I-I love him."

"It’s ok… it’s ok…" Willow’s soothing voice hummed in her hear as the witch’s long arms folded around the Slayer’s tiny figure and rocked her into quietness.

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