What if Dawn and Spike had been alone to deal with the newly resurrected Buffy? One possible scenario (but feel free to write your own): The ritual went undisturbed by the demonic motorcycle gang, but unbeknownst to the Scoobies, it had a time delay. They think it didn't work, leave the cemetery, and receive an urgent call from Angel asking for their help in LA. They leave almost immediately, Spike staying in Sunnyhell to look after Dawn who doesn't want to go.

Please try to answer the following questions:
How do they react to Buffy suddenly being alive again for no apparent reason (remember, they don't know about the spell!)?
When and how do they find out about the spell?
Does Buffy "come back wrong" in any obvious way?

Must have:
Spike taking care of Buffy's hands
Buffy or Dawn asking Spike to stay at their house
Buffy having nightmares and Spike comforting her
Spike telling Dawn how Buffy got the injuries on her hands

Returning Home

“Let her cross over. Osiris, release her.” Willow barely managed the end of the spell, she was so exhausted. She kept her eyes open long enough to see one of the demon bikies that had followed the Buffybot to the real Buffy’s grave run over the WEIRD POT THING. Oh no! That was one of a kind! If the spell hadn’t worked, there was no other way to get Buffy back, and all of her efforts had been for nothing.

Xander dragged her limp body to some bushes, hiding them from the group of demons who were still tormenting the robot. There was no way to save the imitation Buffy now. Great. That was two Buffys gone.

Tara and Anya had gone their own way, because as much as Tara loved her, Willow didn’t think the other witch would be able to carry her, and there was no way she’d be walking any time soon.

Xander kept his best friend hidden in the bushes until he was sure it was safe enough to come out. He wasn’t quite strong enough to take on a demon with a motorbike single handedly and Will wasn’t going to be much use passed out. Cautiously, he stumbled along in the bushes, trying to get as far away from noise as possible, which gradually made him more and more lost. Eventually Willow regained consciousness and Xander put her down.

“There’s a light up there,” Willow noted. “Hello?”

“We're being hunted and you're hello-ing a strange, fast-moving light in the dark?” Xander questioned

“Xander,” Willow replied calmly. “It's Tara.”

“And how long have you known that your girlfriend's Tinkerbell?”

They followed the little ball of light for what seemed like forever. When Xander had just made up his mind to tell Will to slow down, the Magic Box came into sight.

“Finally,” he muttered to himself.

They knocked on the door, eager to get inside and away from the hell breaking loose on the streets, and after being interrogated by their girlfriends, were finally let inside.

-MEANWHILE-

Spike and Dawn raced down the streets of Sunnydale on a stolen motorbike. Dawn was worried. The demons had somehow found out about Buffy being dead and that there was only a robot guarding the people on the hellmouth.

Spike sensed her nervousness and tried to reassure her.

“Don’t worry Niblet,” he said. “I'm not gonna let those buggers lay so much as a warty digit on you.”

It worked. She did feel safe with Spike. But Spike couldn’t guard the hellmouth. There was bound to be another apocalypse sometime and as much as he would hate to admit it, Spike just wasn’t strong enough to handle one of those. Plus, if there happened to be a gang of evil humans looking to rip Sunnydale apart, Spike wouldn’t have a chance. She loved Spike and knew he wouldn’t love her if not for the chip in his head, but there were times when it was a nuisance. You’d think he’d be able to hurt the evil humans!

Dawn didn’t even know where they were going.

“Magic Box,” said Spike, as if reading her mind. “When evil’s afoot the Scoobies always manage a conference in the magic store.”

Spike wasn’t wrong. He and Dawn found Xander, Anya, Willow and Tara crowded around the table in the middle of the room, Willow with cuts all over her.

“You look hell Red,” said Spike, trying and failing to mask the look of hunger at the blood covering her.

“Thanks,” she said sarcastically, slightly put off at the look he had given her. Sometimes she needed to remind herself Spike couldn’t harm anyone anymore. He’d done a lot of good since he’d gotten his chip, especially after he’d fallen in love with Buffy. He was helpful to her and her friends, and he protected Dawn above all else, but every now and then his vampire nature showed through.

“What happened?” Dawn asked.

Willow and Xander exchanged a glance.

“Nothing,” they said in unison. Dawn wasn’t fooled for a second. They were hiding something. She was about to ask what when Spike cut her short.

“Well something’s gotta be done about those bike-riding scum out there,” Spike said, pointing out the window at the mayhem that was Sunnydale.

“The Buffybot is as good as destroyed,” Anya stated. A grim silence fell over the group. The hellmouth was no longer protected by a slayer, real or not.

“Well, we’re it gang. We have to stop the evil in this town from now on,” Willow stood and faced her friends and Spike.

Chapter 2

Their plan was simple. The demons seemed to be congregating towards one particular spot. The gang followed one and soon came across their major set up.

About twenty-five demons surrounded a blazing fire, a demon that looked to be their boss, and the Buffybot.

“What do you know, she’s still alive... So to speak,” Spike noted.

“Not for long,” Xander replied. “Look.”

They had the robot tied between two vehicles. It was obvious they planned to pull away from each other and the tension would blow the Buffybot to wires and computer chips.

Quietly as they could, Xander and Spike neared the bunch and slit the throats of two demons soundlessly. Willow and Tara stayed where they were, using their minds to magically slit the throats of a few more near them. This plan was working great until Spike and Xander’s sixth demon cried out in pain, and their cover was blown. All eyes turned to the vampire and the human.

“Uh oh,” Xander whispered.

Both men tensed, axes at the ready, when the call rang out from their boss.

“Stop! Don’t kill them.”

“But boss,” a demon, eager for the kill, cried. “They killed six of ours!”

“They will get what they deserve.”

All the while, Tara and Willow were silently gutting more and more demons. There were now a grand total of eleven.

Deciding this method was taking too long, Willow decided to switch to the burning spell she had mastered for vampires. Tara understood exactly what her girlfriend thought, though no words were spoken. She let Willow start setting the demons alight while she worked on a protective barrier for Spike and Xander. When a blue glow surrounded the two, she went back to helping Willow.

The demons had finally realised their men were being set on fire and started panicking. The fact that they could no longer touch Spike and Xander without getting a small electrocution didn’t calm them in the least.

“Witchcraft!” exclaimed chief demon. “Search the perimeter. The witches have to be somewhere.”
Willow and Tara took off as fast as they could, leaving a safe Spike and Xander to free the Buffybot while the demons were absent.

The relieved robot, though desperately in need of repair, managed to scream a warning to Xander before the demon boss struck him with a crowbar. Willow and Tara’s barrier had disintegrated when they took off and Xander was now being held by Frankenstein’s ugly cousin.

“Leave now or your friend will die,” the demon threatened.

“Well first off mate, he’s more of an enemy,” Spike said, motioning to Xander, “and I’m not leaving without that robot.” The demon could hardly process this before receiving a fist in the face courtesy of the vampire.

Xander, released from the demon’s hold on him, grabbed the crowbar and started beating away while Spike set about freeing the Buffybot.

“I think he’s dead,” Spike said, infuriating Xander at making him look stupid.

“Not as much as you’re gonna be,” he argued.

“Let’s just go find Red and the other witch and get the bot patched up,” said Spike, not wanting to deal with Xander at the moment. That boy was just so annoying! He couldn’t understand why Buffy had ever let him hang around. He wasn’t much use.

Buffy. It was hard to go an hour without thinking about her, monsters or not. She’d never been his, of course; she would never lower herself that far; but he had loved her. And losing her hurt like nothing he’d experienced before. Physical pain wasn’t anything new to him; his whole un-life that was all he’d felt. But this pain was emotional, something he didn’t deal with very well. He missed everything about her. Her scent, her smile, her laugh, her eyes, even her resentment. He missed going out and getting kicked over a tombstone. He missed the way her body curved in all the right places. He missed loving her. He missed how she responded to his love. Enough of this. He was the Big Bad, he reminded himself. No time to waste on mourning and being all emotional like a certain ensouled-vampire-prick.

Willow and Tara were being pursued by at least 5 demons. One at a time, the witches could have taken them quite easily. But they advanced together, keeping in a group, as if sensing that doing that would keep them alive. The demons might have been faster, but the girls could magically sense the hiding places and corners they could take to confuse their enemies, at least until Xander, Spike or the Buffybot was able to help them out.

They managed to gain some height, so Willow could see the heads of their pursuers. She had time to set alight two of them, before the others got too close to comfort. Tara pulled her around a sharp bend and into a bush. The three monsters ran past them, two of them right into a tree the witches managed to conjure suddenly.

They sprung from their hiding spot, facing the last three demons. There were more than they’d originally thought but three should be easy enough.

A protective shield magically apparated in front of them, but when Willow and Tara started attacking the demons with their mind their magic was exhausted and it faltered and finally fell. Figuring being able to attack was better than having a shield, the witches grabbed each other’s hand and started backing away. The first two were set alight at the same time, writhing and screeching at the pain of their flaming bodies.

The last demon lunged for Tara, but even as her girlfriend screamed for her life, Willow managed to conjure herself a knife and plunge it into the heart of the beast.

“Thanks,” Tara looked at Willow with love and gratitude.

They turned to go, slowly with the all the energy their magic had taken out of them. Then they screamed as Spike came running at them with axe raised high. They figured he was evil again and after them, turned, and almost ran into the two demons Willow had let slam into her tree. Spike ran past them, taking the demons by surprise, and managed to decapitate one with the advantage. Then its buddy kicked its brain into gear and struck Spike back. Spike hardly noticed and leaped over his enemy, bringing his axe down into the demon’s chest.

“Spike!” Willow screamed. He turned to look at the uncomfortable witches.

“Thanks,” Tara managed. He smiled.

The Buffybot and Xander appeared through a gap in the trees.

“Did I miss anything? Are all the demons dead?” Xander was worried.

“Yeah, Spike just saved our lives,” Willow said, looking gratefully Spike’s way.

“Oh, he did hey…” Xander mumbled. “I guess… thanks.” Spike was surprised. He never thought Xander would appreciate anything he did.

“Let’s just all get back to the Magic Box,” Tara said. “Anya and Dawn will be wondering where we are.”

There was relief and much hugging all around when the group reformed at the familiar shop. The phone had to ring six times before anyone heard it.

“Magic Box,” Anya answered. “Yes, I’ll put her on.” Turning away from the phone, she said “Willow, it’s Angel. He wants to talk to you.”

“Hi Angel, what’s up?” Willow spoke into the receiver. The last time she’d seen Angel was in L.A, just after Buffy had died. He hadn’t taken the news too well.

After a few yes’s and okay’s, Willow hung up.

“He’s run into something big in L.A. Could be apocalyptic,” she said, turning to the group. “I told him we’d probably be able to help, if we leave the Buffybot back here to take care of the general baddies.”

“Is that such a good idea?” Xander asked. “I mean, last time we sent her out alone she ended up needing rescuing."

“Well I could always stay here, help her with patrol. Don’t think I’d be very welcome in L.A,” Spike said.

“I don’t want to go either,” Dawn whined. “I don’t like Angel.”

“That’s my Nibblet!” Spike and Dawn shared a smile.

“Well I guess if you’ll take care of her Spike, you and Dawn could both stay,” Willow suggested.

“Then it’s settled.”

Chapter 3

“Spike!” Dawn called from the living room.

“Yes Lil Bit?” Spike answered, coming in from the kitchen.

“Come watch TV with me,” Dawn demanded, a pouty look on her face.

“Sure Nibblet, I just got to finish the dishes.”

A few minutes later he collapsed onto the couch next to her.

“What are we watching?” he asked.

Dawn flicked off the TV with the remote she was holding.

“Nothing. Let’s talk.”

“About anything in particular, or am I missing Passions to chat about the weather?” Spike said, making Dawn smile.

“What’s going to happen now?” Dawn said, her smile vanishing. “I mean, with Buffy… gone; is there going to be a new slayer or is Faith going to come back, or what?” Spike opened his mouth to respond, but she cut him off.

“I mean, we do pretty well with vampires and demons and whatever… but what if something big hits? What if this thing in L.A. will cause an apocalypse? Can we handle one of those without a slayer?”

“I honestly don’t know, pet. Red and her little girlfriend are getting stronger every day, I’ve got vampire strength, and the poof could always drop in; but I guess we wouldn’t know until it happened.” He fell quiet.

“Spike?” Dawn said softly.

“Mm?”

“I miss Buffy.” Spike looked at her, emotion overflowing him.

“Me too, Nibblet. We never had to question anything with her here, did we? There’s an apocalypse, Buffy goes in strong, we win, and all is good. Now it doesn’t seem so simple.”

Another silence fell upon them.

“You can’t go away, okay?” Dawn broke it after a few moments.

“What’s that?”

“Everyone… goes away… or dies.” She looked up at him, tears forming in her big brown eyes.

“Angel, Riley…” Spike tensed at Buffy’s ex’s names.

“…Dad, Mom, Buffy…” she trailed off. “You can’t leave me too.”

“Oh pet, never. I’m gonna stay here and we can be strong together.” He took her in his arms and held her, watching as she drifted into sleep.

Hours later Dawn was home in bed and Spike and the Buffybot were headed out for patrol. It still hurt him, seeing the imitation Buffy. She’d never know how much losing her hurt. Dawn did. His thoughts flicked back to earlier, watching her sleeping. She’d lost almost everyone that mattered to her. Her mom, her sister… and her father was as good as dead. Spike had to be her family now. Buffy had trusted him with Dawn and he had made a promise to protect her until his end.

“… And so then I said ‘hello’!” The robot exclaimed between peels of laughter. Red had better teach her a better sense of humour if she was going to be his patrolling partner from now on.

Spike smelled a nest up ahead.

“Nest,” was all he needed to say for the Buffybot to be quiet.

As the twosome neared the cave, which smelled obviously of vampires, he heard the sound of a woman’s scream. He rushed in, followed closely by the Buffybot, and started dusting the vamps left and right. They hardly had time to register what was happening before all that was left in the cave were Spike, the Buffybot, the woman and a dust-strewn floor.

Spike neared the woman. She’d been beaten up badly. There were cuts and bruises all up her arms and rips in her clothing. She’d been lucky Spike and the bot had come when they had.

“Do you need help?” Spike edged forward, careful about how to approach her.

When she lifted her head Spike got the biggest surprise of his life. Buffy! It couldn’t be, he’d seen her grave! Hell, he’d wept on her grave! And yet here she was. All he could do was stare in disbelief.

The Buffybot rushed past him.

“Other Buffy!” she exclaimed. “You’re back!”

“Yes…” Spike mumbled.

Buffy merely stared up at him as if she’d never seen him before. When he reached out his hand to help her up she batted it away and ran out of the cave.

“Buffy…” Spike said, still in disbelief. The witches, he thought to himself. They must have cast a spell. But then why would they go off to L.A. and leave Buffy here like this? She’d obviously lost her strength, letting the vampires get that far with her. There hadn’t even been that many. So why had the witches left her here? And not told him?

Spike was thoroughly confused. One thing he was sure of though. Buffy was alive again. His mouth formed a grin. She was back!

Chapter 4

Dawn awoke to the sound of trees scraping against her glass window. It was a windy night.

“Spike?” she called out, although he was probably out patrolling with the Buffybot.

A loud bang made her start. She was the only one home, and something downstairs was making noises. Slowly, carefully Dawn edged out of bed. Grabbing the stake she kept on her bedside table for such times, she crept out of her room and down the stairs, cursing the steps as they creaked below her. Reaching the bottom, she peered around into the kitchen. The back door was unhinged and on the floor. She could hear more noises coming from the kitchen, but there were no lights on. Someone or something was in there. Dawn started moving towards the doorframe leading to the kitchen, scared but confident. This was her house, she had a stake and her sister was the slayer. She was as prepared to face whatever was in there as she could be.

As Dawn caught sight of blonde hair and a slender human frame she relaxed. The Buffybot. But what had happened? She looked horrible. Her hair was all matted and dirty, her clothes torn and she was covered in blood. She and Spike must have been in some fight. But where was Spike? Her heartbeat quickened. Why would the robot have returned home without him?

She was starting to get really worried when the vampire in question barged through the front door behind her, making her almost scream in fright.

“Spike!” She exclaimed and threw her arms around him. “Why’d the Buffybot come home before you?”

“What do you mean Nibblet? She’s right behind me.” The Buffybot came through the door.

“Then…” Dawn started to ask, but turned to face the kitchen. Creeping through the doorframe, she found who she thought had been the Buffybot crouched in a corner, looking extremely confused and frightened.

“Buffy?” Dawn whispered. Dawn now realised it couldn’t have been the Buffybot. She was dressed in the same clothes she’d been buried in and the blood she was covered in was her own, from cuts all over her body, her hands seeming to be the worst.

Spike came into the kitchen as well, staring at the woman he thought he’d lost forever.

“Buffy,” he said softly, moving towards her. She whimpered as he came closer. When he reached out to touch her she snapped.

“Ow!” Spike exclaimed as he went flying backwards into the island in the middle of the Summers’ kitchen.

Buffy was upon him before he had time to recover, kicking and punching him relentlessly.

Dawn didn’t know what to do. She stared, stunned, as Buffy released her unspent energy, fear and frustration upon Spike, who still couldn’t believe what was happening. Finally Dawn made a motion to reach an arm out to her sister but Spike grabbed her, even as he was being pummeled to a crisp, and stopped her. He had to let Buffy let go of her rage and fear, otherwise she’d never calm down.

After much bruising and bleeding on Spike’s part, Buffy relented. Coming to her senses, she stared at Spike, shocked at what she had just done. Dawn now moved forward. Slowly, she reached her arm out and hesitated before laying it on Buffy’s. Buffy flinched, but didn’t swat Dawn’s arm away. She moved away from Spike, leaving him bloodied and in a lot of pain, but grinning.

“Same old Buffy,” he muttered.

Dawn led her slowly into the foyer, up the stairs and into the bathroom. Getting out all the medical supplies stored, she started to clean Buffy up. At first, she flinched at every motion. But soon she got used to Dawn’s healing touch. The antiseptic stung, but compared to what she’d already been through, it was nothing. After dressing her in some clean clothes, Dawn led Buffy back downstairs, to where Spike was waiting anxiously.

He took Buffy’s hand, noticing the profuse bleeding covering it, and led her to the couch. Dawn followed them.

“Buffy?” Spike said slowly, trying to get her to focus on one thing instead of flicking her eyes about the room. It worked. Buffy stared at him, as if trying to remember who he was.

“It’s me, Spike. Are you okay?” Dawn peered over his shoulder, concerned for her newly arisen sister.

Buffy opened her mouth, trying to speak, but it was as if she’d forgotten that too. She took a few deep breaths and finally settled on nodding.

Dawn and Spike let escape breaths they didn’t know they were holding.

“Nibblet, could you make us some hot chocolate or something? Warm her up?” Dawn nodded and turned towards the kitchen.

Buffy struggled to speak. “Spike…” she managed.

“Shh pet, you don’t need to speak. What do you need? Food, drink, rest?” He looked at her intently, worried about the woman he’d thought he’d lost.

Buffy stood up. Each breath was painful, and trying to speak was horrendous. “Bed.”

Spike saw how difficult walking was, and he scooped her up in his arms and carried her up the stairs. Dawn came in from the kitchen with steaming mugs of hot chocolate to witness this event and smiled. She’d always known Spike had a big heart, and when it came to Buffy, he’d do anything.

Spike set her down on her bed, tucked her into the covers and turned to walk out the door again. He stopped at hearing Buffy’s voice; the one he thought he’d never hear again and had despaired over losing.

“Thanks.” He looked over his shoulder at her.

“I love you.” And he walked out the door.

Downstairs, he joined Dawn in the lounge room, picking up a mug. He sipped it slowly and tried to replay everything that had happened that night.

“I… I called Willow and the others,” Dawn said. “The crisis with Angel is over and they’re coming back the day after tomorrow. Until then… until then would you stay here?” Dawn lifted her eyes to meet his, and he couldn’t say no.

“Of course, Nibblet.”

“We can board up the windows or something, make it a totally sun-free house. The electricity bill will be huge but the benefits of having you here are worth it.” Dawn realised she was rambling and shut up.

After a few long moments of silence, she said, “Her hands were bleeding a lot. She wouldn’t let me touch them.”

“She had to claw her way out of her coffin.” Dawn was shocked at Spike’s response.

“She had to what?”

“I recognise the wounds Nibblet. I wore ‘em.”

Dawn was silent. She was exhausted.

“I’m going to go to bed. Do you want me to help you board up the windows in Willow and Tara’s room?”

“No, I’ll be right, get some sleep.”

Dawn trudged up the stairs. After a few minutes Spike followed her, but he didn’t go to the witches’ room. He entered Buffy’s noiselessly and set up a chair next to her sleeping figure. He sat there, just staring contentedly at her. He was overjoyed that she was back. When Buffy had died, when he’d seen her corpse, he felt like half of him had died. His love for her had grown steadily with every day and just seeing her had filled him with happiness and a will to do good. When that had gone, he felt like his life wasn’t worth living. She’d given him something to live for. So naturally, when she came back, he was too happy for words. But he couldn’t help the concern and uncertainty of her return. He was sure Red and her little girlfriend had cast a spell, even if he didn’t know why they had still left town, and magic tended to be unpredictable. There were big side effects to tiny spells, and he had the feeling a spell of this magnitude would cause some serious side effects.

Buffy’s heartbeat started speeding up, she was having a nightmare. When she was startled awake Spike was next to her on the bed in a second.

“Shh, shh, it’s alright love, it was just a dream, just a dream.” He held her in his arms and comforted her, and eventually Buffy went back to sleep.

Just before sunrise, Spike moved into Willow and Tara’s room and used some old shirts to cover the windows. He lay down on the bed, staring at the ceiling. He wondered where she’d been. Hell? Heaven? Someplace in between? Either way, going back to normal life would be tough. And any consequences the spell might have could just make it harder.

Chapter 5

He awoke to sounds from Buffy’s room. She might have been having another nightmare. He looked at Willow’s bedside alarm clock. He’d slept for just over two hours. Maybe Buffy was having another nightmare. He could go back in, he’d just have to avoid the patches of sunlight.

He stumbled out of bed, put some clothes on, and was heading down the hallway when he saw Buffy’s door open and she stepped out. Instinctively stepping back into the shadows, Buffy didn’t see him and she walked slowly down the stairs. He followed at a close distance. They’d gotten out the front door and past a couple of houses on the street before Spike stumbled over a rock. Buffy turned.

“Spike!” Uh oh. He was in for a beating now. He cursed himself for being so careless. It had been a while since he’d stalked someone, sure, but it wasn’t something you forgot.

“What are you doing? Following me?” At least she’d gotten her voice back.

“Just wanted to make sure you were safe love, you just got back,” Spike gulped. “I don’t want to lose you again.” Buffy’s face softened.

“Come here, walk with me.” Spike could hardly believe it. He thought for sure she’d be pounding him into the pavement about now.

The two walked in silence for a few minutes, both not knowing or caring where they were going.

“Buffy, I…” but Buffy cut him short

“I’m glad you’re here.” Spike was stunned silent. She’d never treated him better than dirt.

“You take good care of Dawn. And… me.” She turned to face him. And before Spike knew what was happening she was kissing him. Slowly, passionately. He returned the kiss with all his heart. It was probably the only intimate time he’d share with her. And any second now she was going to realise what she was doing and run off.

But she didn’t. Buffy slowly ended the kiss, and looked into Spike’s eyes. “Thankyou.”