“We have to find Buffy. Something terrible’s happened. Just kidding. Thought I’d give you a scare.”

****

With my life she thought, realising for the first time that she meant it. She had trusted Spike with the one thing she loved most in the world. The one thing she would die for; had died for. Dawn. She hated the thought that she would never be able to tell him, to thank him for everything he had done, to tell him she l…

“Spike.”

“Buffy?”

“Spike?” The voice broke as it called his name and he reluctantly dragged his gaze from Buffy, to find Willow watching him warily, her eyes tired and disbelieving.

“Will? You ok?” The vampire immediately found himself surrounded by three clinging feminine forms as Willow, Tara and Anya all rushed at him simultaneously.

“Spike! Oh, thank God you’re alright. We thought you were dead.”

“You turned to dust. What happened? What’s going on?”

“Are you hurt? Are you ok? Where have you been?”

The panic he felt at this barrage of affection must have shown through on his face, as Xander, rather kindly, took pity on him. “Hey girls. Back off ok? Give the vampire a little space to… do whatever vampires do. In the strictly non-eating people way of course.”

Spike met his look and gave a small nod of gratitude as the two Witches and former demon stepped back slightly. “’S good to know you all missed me.”

“Missed you? Hey buster, you died! In the middle of grieving for you here,” Willow smirked, only half joking. Her eyes flicked past him to where Buffy stood in the centre of the beam. “Some of us more than others.”

Spike followed her gaze and one eyebrow quirked in surprise. “Didn’t know she cared.”

“Yes you did,” the redhead answered him quietly. “You know she’s…” She stopped and frowned, her eyes fixed squarely on Buffy. “Spike.”

The vampire’s entire being was focused on his Slayer. She had stopped at the middle of the wooden bridge and was swaying dangerously where she stood. Without a second thought Spike stepped onto the beam, ignoring the startled shouts of Willow, Giles and Wesley. He moved along the makeshift bridge as quickly as he could

He was there. Spike was there, standing in front of her just as she’d imagined. His head was tilted to one side and his expression was half worried, half amused.

“Happy to see me then love?”

In answer Buffy threw herself into his arms, holding him as tight as she could, as her hands searched his body, trying to prove that he was real and actually standing there.

“Take that as a yes, shall I?” he joked, but his face and voice held nothing but pure contentment. He was alive and Buffy was safe in his arms. Nothing else in the world mattered.

“Spike! Oh God, thank you, thank you,” Buffy whispered over and over, her face buried in his neck, finally letting go the emotions that built within her since his disappearance. He held her as she shook, silent tears of relief and happiness running down her face. “If you ever scare me like that again, I’m going to kill you,” she murmured, making him smile.

“I’m never leaving you again baby.”

“Where were you?”

“Long story,” he sighed, drawing a raised eyebrow from the Slayer. Not really wanting to answer any questions about his little voyage of discovery just then, he continued, “I saw Dawn though.”

Buffy’s mind instantly cleared of everything except Dawn. “What? Is she ok? Where was she? Are you sure it was her?”

“She was fine, she was with me and yes I’m sure it was her. She must have been sent back the same time I was. She’ll be up there. Waiting for us.”

“Got back from where?”

“Ahem,” Cordelia interrupted non-too subtly. “Do you think you could continue this later? Some of us want to get home.”

“Fine,” Buffy agreed. “But don’t think we won’t do this later mister. I want to know where you were and what you were doing,” she assured him, jabbing her finger at his chest. Then, with a genuinely happy smile, she made her way past her friends, to the door. “This had better work.”

“You guys are just wigging me out!”

****

“I hope this works,” Faith murmured to herself as the Scoobies gathered around Giles, talking animatedly about Spike’s return.

“It will,” Wesley answered her softly, and she noticed for the first time how close he was standing to her. She raised her head and glared at him.

“Don’t you know it’s rude to eavesdrop?”

The Englishman bristled at her harsh tone. “Sorry for wanting to make you feel better. I’ll just leave you to your nervous breakdown shall I?”

He turned away and Faith automatically put out her hand to stop him, grabbing his arm and pulling him back to face her. “Wait! I’m sorry. Just a little jumpy is all.”

Wesley’s face softened as he watched her. She was biting her bottom lip nervously, her attention fixed squarely on her shoes. “It’s ok.”

She looked up at him and smiled. “Thank you. For saving me.”

“Yes well,” the former Watcher said, tilting his chin and affecting his most pompous voice. “All in a days work for Wesley Wyndam-Pryce, Demon Hunter.”

Faith snorted, trying and failing to control her laughter. “What?”

Wesley dropped the arrogant manner and his eyes twinkled as he shushed her. “For God’s sake, not too loud. I’ll never hear the end of it, if Cordelia hears.”

“You? A demon hunter?

“For a while yes.”

“What, did you wear a lot of leather and drive a motorcycle?”

“How did you…?”

The Slayer’s eyes grew huge. “Oh my God!”

“It’s not that funny.”

“It is if you’re me.”

They stood smiling at each other for a moment, happily sharing something besides the pain and violence that had gone before. A shout from the other sound of the room made them both turn.

“Come on B. Get us out of here.”

“Dammit!”

“Buffy?” Spike was immediately beside her. “What’s wrong?”

“It won’t open.”

“What?”

“The key won’t turn,” Buffy explained, frantically twisting the key back and forwards. “It won’t open. How are we going to get to Dawn if it won’t open?”

Spike placed his hands on her shoulders and gently eased her away from the door. “Angel,” he said curtly, his eyes still trained on Buffy. The elder vampire stepped towards the door and continued to work on opening it.

“Spike…”

“Calm down sweetheart. You’re going to make yourself ill.”

Buffy gave a shout of near hysterical laughter and then clamped her hand over her mouth with a sob. “Buffy?”

“Make myself ill? Are you insane? Do you know what I’ve been through? I lost you and I couldn’t get to Dawn. And every step forward I took just seemed to take me further and further away from where I wanted to be, with the people I love…” Spike inhaled sharply but Buffy didn’t notice as she continued. “And then you come back and that’s so amazing and miraculous and I feel almost complete again. But I want Dawn back. I need her. It may sound weird but, every second I’m away from her there is this physical ache inside me. And it just keeps growing and growing and threatening to devour me.”

“It doesn’t sound weird,” he told her softly, pulling her close and kissing the top of her head. “I feel the same way. About both of you.”

As they neared the top of the tower Spike stopped allowing Buffy to continue up to where he could feel Dawn was waiting. Angel stopped next to him, his expression questioning as he watched his Childe. “What’s wrong?”

“Rayne.”

Angel sniffed the air around them as they followed the man’s scent to one of the doors that led off to the left. Spike threw the door open, revealing a long corridor with several doors and halls leading off from it.

“Split up?”

“Shout if you find anything interesting Grandpapa. Don’t want you having too much fun all by yourself.”

“Spike!” Buffy’s scream stopped them in their tracks.

The two vampires glanced at one another and Angel nodded. “Go. I’ll find him.”

“Get some, get gone.”

****

Ethan gripped Angel’s hands, trying to keep the Master vampire from strangling him. His mouth opened and closed a couple of times and Angel moved closer, tilting his head as though trying to hear. “What? Sorry you’ll have to speak up. Not as young as I used to be.” He squeezed a little tighter and then released the man who collapsed back against the wall, sucking in deep breaths of air.

“You can’t kill me,” he croaked eventually, his voice thin and raspy due to the pressure on his throat.

“And why is that?” Angel growled.

“You can’t get home without me.” He smirked a little at the look of rage on the vampire’s face, but it was soon replaced with a look of fear as he was hauled upright again and Angel’s fangs settled over his neck. “The first group to reach Dawn wins, so when we get to Dawn, we’ll all get home. Buffy’s up there with her right now.”

“Then Buffy won and she and Dawn are on their way home as promised.”

Angel drew back to stare Ethan in the eye. “What?”

“I’m sorry, I thought I’d made it clear,” Ethan explained, feeing more in control. He pushed Angel away from him slightly. “Whoever gets to Dawn first wins. If Buffy got there first, alone, then only she will be transported home with Dawn.”

“And the rest of us…?”

“Can’t get home without me. Quite.”

Unable to stop himself, Angel attacked, knocking the man to the ground. Following him down, he delivered a succession of blows to Ethan’s face, unleashing all of his anger and frustration. Raising his fist to strike once more, he sensed a presence behind him and turned to see Cordelia standing a few steps away, watching the scene impassively.

Immediately Angel stopped and stood, moving closer to her. “Cor, I…”

“Don’t,” she said sharply. “Just don’t say anything. You can’t kill him.”

The vampire hung his head in shame, closing his eyes to Cordelia’s disgust. Ethan had dragged himself to his feet and shuffled closer to the young woman. “Thank you. He was going to kill me, I…”

Cordelia ignored him, her words cutting off his thanks, as her eyes remained fixed on Angel. “You can’t kill him, because Spike and Giles will probably want to hurt him a bit first.” The vampire’s eyes shot to hers and he realised that her hatred was not directed at him, but at the man standing next to them.

The blonde vampire looked up and shook his head, unable to answer Wesley’s question. Cordelia stepped closer to him and haltingly touched his sleeve. “Spike?” she asked softly, “What happened?”

“They uh… Buffy came up to get Dawn but Angel and I… we stopped. And then she shouted, so I ran… but when I got here, they just uh… they vanished.” No one made a sound as they all took in what had happened and tried to make some sense of it.

“Where is Angel?” Cordelia asked suddenly, realising he was also missing.

“Ethan. He went to find Ethan!” Spike immediately started for the door but Wesley intercepted him.

“We’re going to need him alive if we’re going to find Buffy and Dawn. Cordelia, go and find Angel.”

Wesley and Faith shared a worried look as Spike began to growl unconsciously, his anger eventually overcoming his shock. “Spike?” The vampire stalked across the room and snatched up a china vase from the dressing table. Both humans flinched as it shattered against the wall.

“Spike!”

“I feel better.”

For a moment Xander thought Spike would actually punch him. They continued to hold one another’s gaze, neither one backing down. A smile caught at the corner of Spike’s mouth and his lips twitched. “I’ll take a rain-check on that thanks Harris.”

Xander shared his grin. “Anytime.”

“I still don’t like you.” Spike repeated Xander words from a few days earlier.

“And the feeling is more than mutual.”

“As thrilling as this is,” Ethan broke in, causing everyone to turn, disbelieving, in his direction, “I rather thought you wanted to get home.”

“Where are Buffy and Dawn?” Willow asked coldly and Ethan felt a frisson of fear. Suddenly he was immensely pleased he had prevented the young Witch from using magic while inside the game.

“At home, or at least, they should be. In L.A I would think. Somewhere safe.” The Scoobies continued to stare at him. “Buffy won the game. She reached Dawn first.”

“It was the team that reaches Dawn first,” Anya pointed out, but Ethan shook his head.

“She disbanded the teams. I took that to mean ‘everyone for himself’.”

This time Giles and Faith stepped when Spike did, but all three were restrained.

“Now, now, Ripper,” Ethan teased, looking uncomfortable. “Not in front of the children.”

“Ethan!”

“We’ll have to go downstairs,” he explained, backing down when he saw the dangerous light in Giles’ eyes. “There’s a crystal. I don’t have it with me.”

“We better get moving then.”

“Love isn’t brains children, it’s blood. Blood screaming inside you to work it’s will.”

Spike - ‘Lover’s Walk’

****

The Watcher smiled menacingly. “Yes. But the children aren’t here anymore are they.”

Ethan glanced up from his position outside the circle suddenly nervous. “Look, old man, I’m sure the threatening behaviour goes down very well with the demons of Sunnydale, but please try to remember that you need me to get back home.”

Giles stepped into the circle and snatched up the crystal. “Afraid not, old man.”

“Giles…”

“Rupert, please…”

“Hmm? Well maybe you’re right. Where’s the fun in doing it this way?” He dragged Ethan to his feet and knocked him down again immediately, the force of the blow sending the other man sprawling. Dragging himself to his feet Ethan swung at Giles, only to find himself trapped, with his arm twisted round behind him. Maintaining his hold with his left hand, Giles attacked with his right. Ethan brought his right leg up behind Giles’ and forced them both to the floor. The two men continued to struggle, with Giles causing the most damage as Ethan tried to defend himself from the assault, while also battling to retrieve the crystal from the Watcher’s coat pocket.

The noise brought Fred and Gunn running from the office. They stopped short when they saw Buffy and Dawn daring to hope that all of their friends had been returned to them. A quick glance around the lobby informed them that this was not the case. Fred rushed forward, eager to help them, while Gunn began questioning. “What happened? Where’ve you been? Where’re the others?”

Neither Buffy nor Dawn felt ready to answer any of the young man’s questions and so remained silent. They assured Fred that they weren’t hurt and meekly accepted her offer of a drink.

“Dawn are you sure you’re ok?” Buffy asked as Fred backed away from them towards Gunn.

“I’m fine. I mean my head feels funny from all this jumping around from place to place, but apart from that…”

“I was so worried about you.”

“I know,” Dawn told her seriously. “But he didn’t hurt me, except at the end, and I was with Spike for some of the time. He did get back to you didn’t he? That’s why you shouted for him right? He was with you?”

“Yeah, he was there. Is. Was… Whatever. And you will be telling my everything about this little adventure the two of you took later.” Buffy smiled at her sister and hugged her close.

“Oh God Buffy!” Dawn exclaimed, pulling sharply away from the Slayer. “What if Spike can’t get back? What if the others are trapped there forever? What are we going to do?”

“Dawn, calm down,” Buffy said, sounding more confident than she felt. “Willow and Giles and Tara will figure out a way to get everyone home. You’ll see. Before you know it, Spike’ll be standing there in front of you, calling you Nibblet and cursing up a storm.”

Dawn giggled. “I don’t think those will be the first things on his mind. I think ‘Kiss Buffy’, will be number one, followed by ‘Kill Whoever’; insert as applicable.”

“I…”

The sound of he name made her heart pound faster and she slowly turned to find Spike at the other end of the room. “Spike?”

The vampire crossed the room in three steps and grabbed Buffy to him. They clung to one another for a moment, both closing their eyes, happy to be lost in the others embrace. When they pulled apart it was only far enough to allow Spike to run his hand over Dawn’s hair.

“You ok Nibblet?”

Dawn nodded, looking tearfully at her sister and best friend, realising that their ordeal was over.

Fred ran forward to greet Angel, Cordelia and Wesley and hugged the three of them enthusiastically. Gunn followed at a more sedate pace, hugging Cordelia and shaking hands with the two men. “Where’ve you guys been?”

“We were really worried about you.”

“It’s a really long story,” Cordelia told them, stepping closer to Angel and taking his hand. Fred watched the two of them with a smile and casually pulled Gunn to one side to talk to Wesley giving Angel and Cordy some privacy.

Before either of them could speak Faith appeared at the vampire’s side. “Angel? Can I talk to you for a minute?” He looked down at Cordelia and squeezed her hand, smiling when she nodded in response. Releasing her, he and Faith moved away from the others to a more private area on the other side of the lobby.

“You ok?” the vampire asked as he spotted Faith’s nervousness. “You seem a little…”

“You have to call the police,” Faith interrupted in a rush, glancing over to where Wesley stood with Fred and Gunn.

Angel frowned. “Why do I need to…?” The Slayer looked up at him and understanding blossomed in his eyes. “Oh. You sure?”

Faith nodded. “Part of the whole redemption thing. You have your soul, I have my cell.”

“Is it working?”

“Well, I didn’t try and kill any of the Scoobies the minute I saw them so… yeah, I’d have to say it was working.” They shared a grin at that. “Look let’s not have that whole ‘I care about you because you’re just like me’ discussion. I’m already dreading the, ‘I’m sorry Buffy/I love you Faith’ talk that’s brewing with B. Just call the damn cops and I might be able to get out of here without any more meaningful conversations.”

Angel walked purposefully back across the room and into the office, Faith trailing behind him. Closing the door behind them, the Slayer leaned back against it, while Angel picked up the phone and called the police.

“Hello… yes. I’m calling from Angel Investigations. I have information about the whereabouts of Faith Walker who I believe escaped from the Northern California Women’s Corr… What? Faith Walker. No Faith. She’s been there for… No, I’m not. Ma’am, I think…” Angel blinked as the woman abruptly ended their conversation. He turned to Faith who had advanced towards the desk throughout the phone call. “They’ve never heard of you,” Angel told her in answer to her unspoken question. “They have no record of Faith Walker and no one has escaped custody within the last month.”

“But…”

“It must have something to do with Ethan’s spell. He got you out of prison. You just disappearing would be a little hard to reconcile so…”

“He just wiped me from the files and their memories. Neat.” Faith slumped down into a chair facing Angel. “What do I do now?”

“This is the part that isn’t any fun, if there isn’t any screaming.”

Evil-Willow - ‘The Wish’

****

“Hey.”

“Hey.”

“You ok?”

“Fine. You.”

“Fine.”

“Good.”

“You and Buffy really need to talk.”

“Dawn…”

“No listen to me,” the teenager interrupted. “I don’t know what’s happened between you since you got sent back to that game. What with the kissing and stuff, I’m inclined to say it was of the good. But I’ll bet you haven’t talked about it. And if you don’t…”

“Nibblet…”

“If you don’t, nothing’ll ever get resolved and you’ll go back to how it was before. Believe me. My stubborn streak, I get from my parents.”

“I have to go Dawn,” Spike told her quietly, wiping the smile from her face.

“What? No you don’t. Where are you going? What do you mean you have to go? Why?”

“Dawn, sweetheart, calm down.”

“No! Buffy!!”

The Slayer looked up at her sister’s shout and made her way swiftly to the girl’s side. “What? What’s wrong? Dawnie are you ok?”

“He’s leaving,” Dawn told Buffy, tears in her eyes. “Tell him he can’t leave.”

Buffy looked stunned. “What?”

“Bloody hell Dawn,” Spike muttered, shaking his head at his girls. “I’m not leaving,” he told them firmly. “I just have to go somewhere. Got a few things to do, is all. No need to make it sound like I’m moving to China.”

Both Buffy and Dawn relaxed slightly. “What things do you have to do?”

“Just things. Nothing important.”

The Slayer frowned but didn’t push for an answer. “Well how long is it gonna take? We were going to head back to Sunnydale.”

“Yeah, you do that. Go home; get some rest. I don’t know how long I’ll be.”

“Spike…” Buffy began, but stopped when she saw the determined look on his face. She had a feeling she knew what he had to do. She just hoped they’d be able to talk about it later.

Stepping closer to her, Spike cupped her cheek with his palm. “Nothing’s going to keep me away from you for long.”

“I know,” Buffy sighed, leaning into him.

Leaning forward slightly Spike kissed her gently, not moving to deepen it, just holding their lips pressed softly against one another.

“So…” Wesley said taking a seat beside Faith.

“So…” she replied, swinging her legs playfully as she avoided looking at him.

“What are you going to do now?”

Faith sighed. “I don’t know Wes. I guess I’m a free woman now. Any suggestions?”

“One thing does spring to mind.”

“Yeah but Sunnydale’s not as much fun as it used to be. All the hot demons are taken.”

Wesley chuckled. “It always has to be difficult with you doesn’t it?”

“You wouldn’t have it any other way.”

“No. I wouldn’t,” he said seriously and turned her to face him. “Faith…”

The Slayer pushed away from him and walked away from him to the other side of the courtyard. “Wes, don’t do this.”

“I wasn’t aware I was doing anything.”

“Whatever it is you’re feeling it’s because of that damn game. Trust me, I feel it too. One day in reality and you’ll be wishing me a million miles away.”

“Rubbish!”

“No, it’s not. What’s really changed between us huh? Apart from the fact that you saved my life?”

“What’s changed is that we’ve both grown up!” Wesley shouted, advancing on her. “You feel it too. You just said you do.”

“And what do you want me to do about it?” she screamed back. “Stay here and shack up with you? Two rogue demon hunters together?”

“Would it be so bad?” he asked gently as he drew up next to her.

“Wesley…”

“Just answer the bloody question!”

“No of course not,” Faith practically sobbed, defeated. “Of course it wouldn’t be bad. It would be amazing.”

Wesley pulled the Slayer towards him and tipped her head up to face him. “So what’s the problem?”
”I’ll screw it up. I always do. I’ve disappointed or hurt everyone I ever cared about. I don’t want to do that to you again.”

“Then stay here with me.”

“Are you even listening to anything I’m saying?”

“I’m listening, I’m just not paying attention.”

“Why not?”

“Because you’re an idiot.”

“And this is supposed to attract me how?”

“Faith for once in your life. Shut. Up.”

“You’re still number one with the guilt trip mom.”

****

“Are you sure you’re going to get back before sunset?” Buffy asked as Angel pulled up in front of her house. Giles had decided to spend the night at the Hyperion so that he could make arrangements to go home to England, but he had promised Buffy he would spend a few days in Sunnydale before he left. Willow and Tara had been dropped off at the college, and Xander and Anya at their apartment, leaving only Buffy, Dawn and Angel in the car.

“Yeah, I’ll be fine. It’s only a two-hour drive.”

Dawn glanced between them and rolled her eyes. “Thanks for the ride Angel. Hope we’ll see you again soon,” she said cheerfully as she leaned up to press a quick kiss to his cheek. “Don’t be too long Buffy ‘k?”

“Bye Dawn!” Angel called after her as she raced from the car into the house and she waved a hand in response, without turning to face him again.

The Slayer and vampire sat in silence for a few minutes, before they both started to speak at once.

“Buffy…”

“Angel…”

“No, sorry. You first.”

“No you. What did you want to say?”

Angel smiled. “I wanted to say, I hope Spike makes you happy.”

“He does,” Buffy responded simply. “I hope you and Cordy will be happy together.”

“We will. I mean, I think we will. There’s still that happiness clause.”

“Right. Well you know, I could get Willow to look into that for you.”

Angel nodded in acknowledgement and the pair fell silent once again.

“I better get going,” Buffy stated eventually. “Dawn’ll be waiting for me. We need some sisterly bonding time, you know.”

“It was good seeing you Buffy.”

“You too,” the Slayer told him honestly.

“If you need any help in the future…”

“I’ll give you a call.”

“Well that was short,” Dawn observed as Buffy entered the house. “I thought you’d be out there for hours having your conversation.”

Buffy frowned at her sister. “Our conversation?”

“Yeah, you know. ‘Oh Buffy,’” Dawn explained, affecting a deep tone to imitate Angel, “’I love you. But you know we can never be together.’ And then you say, ‘Oh Angel.’” Dawn switched to a higher tone to emulate her sister. “’How will I ever survive without you?’ Followed by either a big argument or five minutes of smooching.”

“Dawn…”

“Yeah, I know. So what happened to tonight’s conversation?”

“Didn’t need it.”

“No?”

“No.”

Without saying anymore Buffy stood and walked to the kitchen where she pulled a carton of orange juice out of the fridge. Dawn trailed behind her, taking a seat at the kitchen counter.

“Why didn’t you need it?”

“Because he’s in love with Cordelia.”

“And?”

Buffy sighed, but faced her sister head on. “And I’m…”

“Yes?”

“None of your business.”

Dawn smirked. “I knew it.”

“You don’t know anything.”

“Sure I do.”

“Dawn!”

“What?”

“Aren’t you tired?”

“Not really.”

“Dawnie…”

Suddenly Dawn’s face turned serious and she looked at her sister with some apprehension. “Buffy I have to talk to you about something?”

“About what sweetie?” Buffy asked, sitting down next to the younger girl when she noticed Dawn’s unease.

“About what happened. To me and Spike.”

“Ok.”

“It’s gonna be weird.”

Buffy swallowed uncomfortably, her own nervousness rising. “Alright.”

“We were going to tell you together. But I think it’ll be easier if it’s just me.”

“Dawn honey, you’re really freaking me out here.”

“Ok. Here goes. It started when Spike got staked…”

“Just so we’re clear; you guys know you’re nuts right?”

Oz - ‘Gingerbread’

****

The flare of a match briefly illuminated the sculpted planes of the man’s face and Darla gasped; part in fear, part in shock.

“Spike!”

“Ten out of ten Blondie.”

“No! It’s not possible. You’re dead.” Darla continued backing away from the figure before her.

“No need to get personal,” Spike answered the slight smirk on his face belying his offended tone. “You’re dead too.”

“No I mean… Dust dead. Eternal damnation dead.”

“Yet here I am.”

“You know,” Spike continued, continuing to walk slowly towards her. “Buffy doesn’t really believe I’ve changed all that much. She’s got a complex about what I’d do to her if I ever got this chip out.”

Darla felt the wall at her back and her eyes quickly moved around the room looking for someway to escape the predator before her. She wondered how he’d managed to out manoeuvre her like this but then he was talking again and she was drawn back to him.

Grabbing her by the throat he lifted her against the wall, her legs kicking beneath her as her hands naturally came up to try and stop him strangling her. “Over 200 years as a vampire and your body still doesn’t understand it doesn’t need to breathe,” Spike mocked her as she struggled against him.

“Spike,” she choked, “please.”

“Please? Already? It’s not fun if you start begging right away. Give me a chance to hurt you first.”

“You don’t want to do this.”

“No? You sure? I’m pretty sure I’ve wanted to do this for over a hundred and twenty years you malevolent bitch. Do you remember the torture you put me through? The things you did to me? The things you did to Dru to hurt me? Well you made me stronger alright. You taught me a lesson. Now lets see how much of it I remember. ‘S been a good few year since I put the old skills to the test. And I think it’s only fair that you be the one to tell me if I passed or failed.”

He reached into the pocket of his duster and pulled something out. The metal glinted in the moonlight streaming through the window.

“Oh God.”

“No point calling for Him luv. He doesn’t listen to us. I’m sure He’s got more important things to do than listen to the desperate whines of an evil, murderous whore.” He raised the metal spike in front of her face. “I know it won’t kill you. But I’m sure it’ll keep you in pain until I get bored.”

Suddenly something attacked him from behind, the force of the tackle knocking him to the ground. “You’ve been a bad boy. Mummy’s disappointed in you.”

“Dru?” He struggled beneath her, but she held him down.

“Not to hurt Grandmamma William. Shh, shh. Be good for mummy.”

“I’m sorry Dru,” he whispered, feeling around for the weapon he had dropped. She looked down at him, and their eyes locked. Making his decision quickly, he backhanded her away from him and jumped to his feet, reaching back inside his duster as Darla charged at him with his railroad spike. It was over in seconds.

Dru sat cowering in the corner, her wide frightened eyes fixed on her former lover. Spike rubbed his hands over his face. “Go away. Go far away, do you hear me Dru? And don’t come back. Because the next time I see you I will kill you.” He walked towards the door, needing more than anything to get home to his girls.

“Why?”

He stopped, but didn’t turn to face Drusilla as he answered her. “I don’t want to kill you. I never wanted to kill you. I loved you. It meant something to me.”

“And Darla?”

He snorted. “Well I guess you were right. Don’t really think I’ve got the right mentality for torture anymore.”

“I was wrong.”

He did turn around then and found her standing close to him, watching him. Her eyes, for once shone brightly in a brief moment of lucidity. “You are the strongest of all of us William. The strongest and the bravest. My knight. Never forget why you’re here William. Why you were chosen.”

“Dru?” He wanted to ask her what she meant. What she knew about him and why he was there. But her eyes dulled once again, and the all-knowing angel turned back into the frightened child.

“Spike?”

“It’s ok Dru. I’m not going to hurt you. Remember what I said. Leave town; leave California. Leave the States and don’t come back.” He turned away, reaching for the door handle.

“The Slayer and the vampire. It was written in the stars the night I made you William. They whispered to me when I saw you. I wanted to keep you for my very own. But they needed you. The green light from the gold and the blue. You’ll make her happy.”

Once again her words stopped him and he walked back to her, knowing that this chapter of his life was about to end. He kissed her forehead tenderly and then rested his head against hers. “It’s not easy is it?”

“No.”

They shared a sad smile and stepped back. “Goodbye Dru.”

“That’s beautiful. Or, taken literally, incredibly gross.”

Buffy - ‘Helpless’

****

He was just going to check that they were alright, all safely tucked up in bed like they should be. He forced himself to concentrate on smoking, emptying his head of all other thoughts for the moment.

“Psst.”

His head shot up at the hissing noise and he searched the front yard for any sign of danger.

“Hey. Spike!” His eyes flew to the doorway as Dawn’s voice drifted over to him.

Flicking the cigarette out of the window, he quickly got out of the car and made his way towards the young girl standing in the doorway. Her hair was pulled back from her face in a long braid and she was wrapped in the comforter from her bed. “What are you doing up Nibblet? It’s two a.m.”

“Buffy’s out back.”

“What?”

“Buffy is sitting on the back porch in her dressing gown with a mug of cocoa waiting for you to come home,” Dawn explained slowly with a knowing smile. “Go talk to her.” Spike nodded but didn’t move, his eyes remaining fixed on her. “What?”

“Nothing. ‘S just…” He ducked his head away from her questioning eyes. Why was this so hard now they were here when it wasn’t before?

“Yeah?”

“You know I love you don’t you?” He tilted his head up to look at her, wanting to see her reaction.

Her face lit up with the most beautiful smile he had seen from her in a long time. “I love you too.”

“Dawn…”

“Spike, I know there’s a lot you want to say. There’s a lot I want to say! We don’t know what this means yet or why it happened? And maybe we never will. But I didn’t need a ‘through the looking glass’ moment to know that you and Buffy are my family. And I don’t need you to convince me that you’ll never hurt us. That’s what trust’s about.”

“Thank you.”

“You’re welcome. Now, Buffy’s still waiting out back for you. If you’re going to have a deep and meaningful you better get started, or the mood’ll be ruined by your howls of agony as you run for cover from the rising sun.”

The vampire rolled his eyes and shook his head at the girl. “Go to bed Dawn.”

“Yes daddy.”

“Nibblet!”

“Read me a bedtime story?”

“Can I ground you as well?”

“Night!” Dawn called as she ran upstairs, hoping to hear some of Buffy and Spike’s conversation from her bedroom window.

“It’s about time,” she admonished lightly as he made his way towards her. “Your car pulled up ten minutes ago.” She didn’t turn to face him, her eyes remaining fixed on the stars. He sat down next to her with a smile. “Yeah, sorry about that. I just came to check you and Dawn were ok. Didn’t mean to disturb you.”

“I wanted to be disturbed,” she told him, finally turning to look at him. “I didn’t want to have to wait any longer to do this.”

“Dawn told me what happened?”

It took Spike a moment to realise what she was talking about, but when it finally hit him he turned her slightly so that he could see her face. “She said ‘we’ were going to do it.”

“She thought it’d be easier just coming from her.”

Spike frowned, wishing he’d been there to lend both of his girls support. “Are you ok?”

“She’s my daughter,” Buffy said simply, her eyes expressing no surprise or confusion at the thought.

“You knew.”

“Well no one told me or sent me on a voyage of discovery. And the whole you being the father thing? Big surprise there but… Dawn being mine? I’ve known that for… You know I’m not sure when I realised. I mean I knew she was part of me. It just sort of crept up on me that it was something more than sharing the same blood. They made Dawn out of me… and you. And maybe we’ll never know why but I think…”

“Yeah?”

“I think it’s because this is the way it was meant to be.”

They sat quietly again for a moment as Spike tried to understand what was happening. Once again Buffy interrupted his thoughts.

“I love you.”

He looked down at her and found her staring up at him, the look in her eyes giving him proof of her words. “Buffy?”

Instead of repeating what he so desperately wanted to hear the Slayer smiled and snuggled deeper into his embrace. “You know a couple of days ago I wanted the simple life. I wanted to be like that damn robot so that I didn’t have to worry about what anyone thought of me. But you know what I’ve learned since then?”

“What?” Spike asked confused by the abrupt change in conversation.

“I have the best friends in the world.”

The vampire couldn’t help but laugh.

“I’m serious.”

“I know.”

“They want me to be happy. And if you make me happy they are happy for me to be with you. Did you know that?” She looked up at him as she asked, smiling as he shook his head.

“Not until just recently.”

“Me neither.” She relaxed back against him.

“Do I?”

“Hmm? Do you what?”

“Make you happy?”

“Very,” Buffy replied, rubbing her face against his chest.

“I love you.”

“I told you I’d give in,” she told him later as they lay spooned together in Buffy’s bed. Spike grinned against her hair as he ran one hand down the length of her body, letting it come to rest on her hip.

“I didn’t think you meant this quickly though. I thought I’d have to do a bit of wooing first.”

“Wooing?”

Spike rolled his eyes. “Yes, yes, I was born in the nineteenth century. What’s wrong with wooing Miss Summers?”

“Absolutely nothing. If you’d like me to kick you out now so you can do the romantic courting part first that can be arranged.”

“You know, I can do both.”

Buffy smirked. “That’s very versatile of you.”

“Need to keep my lady happy.”

Turning to face him, she kissed the tip of his nose tenderly. “You’re doing a wonderful job so far.”