This fic started out with the idea of megan_peta and schehrezade sharing a challenge fic, and then blossomed into what we are about to embark upon. The challenge was from Death-Marked Love.

Challenge 42

Shortly after Buffy's death, Dawn becomes increasingly worried about Spike's mental health. After the vampire attempts suicide she decides it's time for action and casts a spell that will make Spike forget that he loved Buffy. Unfortunatley things go awry and Spike wakes up with no memories of Buffy at all. Then the Slayer comes back....

So, the official summary....

Post The Gift, Spike becomes dependent on Scooby care to make it through the night. Buffy is gone, the bot is absent. When it seems the Hellmouth is deprived completely of a protector, Giles and the Scoobies take matters into their own hands, and unleash their worst nightmare.

Pairing: eventually Buffy/Spike

Rating: NC-17 for violence

Disclaimer: we don't own 'em, just play with 'em.
 

Many thanks to Megan for her betaing magic!

Italics= Thoughts
 

Chapter 17

"Scrambled or fried?" Spike asked as he rummaged through the fridge.

"Huh?" Buffy had missed his question as she ogled his cute butt in the low slung jeans. Her mouth watered at the sight of his back muscles flexing as he pulled things out and set them on the counter. He was utterly lickable, with his curls and partially unbuttoned jeans resting on his hips.

"Eggs, how do you want 'em, pet?" Spike grinned, realising she'd been checking his arse out. He turned and hooked a thumb in his waistband of his clean jeans and smirked sexily at her.

"Morning," Dawn and Anne chorused from the doorway, breaking the pent up sexual tension between them.

Spike nodded at the two girls and began to cook. Buffy's eyes narrowed at the look Anne shot Spike and folded her arms over her chest. Dawn brushed past her and started to lay the table.

Buffy watched as Anne, Dawn and Spike moved around the kitchen with practised ease, each anticipating the other and within minutes breakfast was underway. The prickings of anger scratched at her as she stared at Anne, hating her smug face and wanting to pull her braid out by the roots. She was too familiar with Spike, and Spike was hers. Buffy frowned and watched as the two of them talked, unaware of the discomfort Spike was emanating as he talked to Anne. Instead, jealousy showed her only that they were talking and smiling at each other.

"So Buffy, we're mall bound today?" Dawn poked her in the side, pulling her sister's attention away from the two friends who were serving up the eggs and bacon by the stove. Dawn was dying to hear what had occurred the night before and was counting on Buffy's much promised shopping 'expedition to be the perfect place for all the dish on Spike smoochies.

"Uh yeah, sure..." Buffy turned and smiled at Dawn, glad for the distraction from the oh so obvious flirtfest going on. Rage filled her again at the imagined flirting.

"Excellent." Dawn sat down next to Buffy and gave her a happy smile.

"Shopping together, my doves?" Spike dropped a platter of scrambled eggs on the island and then slid onto the stool next to Buffy, his jean clad thigh pressing against her leg.

"Yeah, Buffy so needs some new clothes," Dawn exclaimed as she squeezed maple syrup over her eggs, ignoring the gagging noises Buffy made at the sight.

"Meet up with us at the Magic Box after?" Spike chomped on a piece of crispy bacon, oblivious of the tension in Buffy's form.

Anne glanced up from buttering her toast, surprise evident on her face. She had accepted that now that Spike and Buffy were hooking up that she would be forgotten. Or at best, shoved aside. "Training?"

"Yeah." Spike refrained from adding how he wanted to discuss her attempt at kissing him while in front of Buffy and Dawn, wanting to save her the embarrassment.

"Sure." Anne shot him a tiny smile that wasn't missed by Buffy's sharp eyes.

"Good." Spike poured some juice and handed it to Buffy; he needed some time training to ponder over everything that had happened as well as talking to Anne. He wanted to see if he could find anything in the books at the shop about his memory loss and the pain that had crippled him every time he'd gotten close to recalling something.

"Oh, what about Willow and Tara? They must be hungry," Dawn gasped and slipped off her stool to go get the two wiccans.

"No luv, leave 'em be. Doubt Red's got an appetite, what with the vomitorium all night." Spike slathered some butter on a piece of toast and handed it to Buffy. She wrinkled her nose at the melting butter. "Eat it, love. I like a bird with some curves on her," he teased.

"What about Tara?" Dawn ignored the flirtfest.

"She'll be down when she can. I've left a plate in the oven for her." Spike reached up and tugged Dawn's hair gently. "Stop fretting, pet, and eat."

++++++++++

Buffy wrapped her arms around her waist and stared up at Spike. Something indefinable was making her stomach churn. After the snuggles and the... well... happies, and he was going off with Anne.

"Have a good time with the Pidge?" Spike smiled down at Buffy, aware of the other girl's eyes burning holes in his back, waiting to see the two of them kiss. He felt like the pair of them were pandas in a zoo, with all the keepers watching and making notes on the mating habits of the two of them. He brushed a chaste kiss on the tip of Buffy's nose.

"Sod it," he gasped and then caught her lips in a not-so-chaste kiss, sucking and nibbling on them. His body hardened at the memory of her blood seeping into his mouth from the small wounds earlier and he reached between them to adjust himself discreetly.

Buffy mentally stuck her tongue out at Anne and languidly wrapped her arms around his neck and pulled him closer, secretly revelling in the hardness of his muscled body pressing up against her. She sighed against his lips. When they were kissing and touching the anger in her stilled, she was at ease, and Buffy rocked her hips against his and moaned at the firm length of his cock pressing urgently against her belly.

Anne sighed as she watched the two of them kissing and realised that her childish infatuation was just that. An infatuation. It hurt deep down in her heart, but she realised that they were meant to be.

"They're perfect together, aren't they?" Dawn unconsciously confirming Anne's poignant thoughts.

"Yeah." Anne sighed morosely and picked up her workout bag. She knew that there was no way Spike was interested in her, not from the way he was devouring Buffy. When she'd tried to kiss him it had been nothing like this. Spike had practically shoved her off him. And yet here, in the hallway, he was curled around Buffy and purring. It hurt, but she was going to grit her teeth and be big about this-- she didn't want to lose Spike's friendship.

"Ahem." Dawn coughed loudly. "Break it up, guys. There's some stuff baby sisters don't need to see. Jeez, talk about Sex Ed in the flesh," she teased. Anne giggled beside her.

Spike reluctantly pulled away from his succulent Slayer's mouth. Resting his forehead on hers, he panted and then a soft gentle grin ghosted across his lips. "Nib, shut your eyes," he ordered with a laugh.

"Mannn, this is sooo gross." Dawn giggled as Spike nibbled Buffy's swollen lips and then kissed her again, his hands cupping her backside and pressing her against his cock. He tried to calm down, not wanting to come again in his jeans in front of an audience.

"Right, see you later, love?" Spike asked, his lips barely brushing hers as he spoke.

"Yeah..." Buffy breathed out, her eyes closed as she tried to steady herself.

"Bye, Buffy," Anne mumbled as she slipped past the entwined couple and headed out into the sunlit street, preparing to hold the manhole cover open for Spike for when he made his dash.

"Platelet, don't go nuts with your sis and her credit card," Spike called out as he ran to the manhole and dropped easily down into the darkness.

Buffy swayed, his absence already making her ache. She clutched her hands together and tried to ignore the waves of doubt that threatened to pull her under.

Behind her she could hear Dawn clearing up in the kitchen and oblivious to the rapidly building anger and jealousy boiling up in her older sister. Buffy wanted to cry; there was so many emotions running through her that it was confusing her. Going from the sublime heights of being in Spike's arms to the angry depths she was now in, all from just watching him jump into the manhole followed by that copy of her. A replica formed merely from a wish. Fake, yet real.

Buffy pressed her fist against her temple and tried to stop the insidious thoughts from multiplying even more. She was starting to shake from the ire that was building up, tremble from feelings that were foreign to her yet felt right.

A force that wore her face delighted in adding the insecurities, playing on her vulnerability. An invisible stalking force that dwelled beneath them, marshalling its power deep below the slayer's feet in the Hellmouth.

It stalked and played with the emotions and rational mind of the Slayer for sheer enjoyment, shrugging off other priorities.

This was not it's first objective—bugging the Slayer.

But hey, it wasn't complaining. It was fun.

++++++++++++++

"I really am not surprised, Xander. The sexual tension was evident from the moment they interacted with each other." Anya rummaged through her purse searching for the shop keys. "But we do need to establish what happened to Spike to stall the reunion of those two. I must say, I was getting tired of Buffy pouting because Spike was ignoring her."

Behind her stood Xander, juggling a tray of coffees and a box of donuts, one of which he had in his teeth.

"Ahn honey, we all know that the peroxided idiot had/has a yen for the Buffster," Xander mumbled around the donut and waited for his girl to get the door open so he could stop with the pack mule impersonation. "And at least he's an improvement on the last vampire." He held up a finger and waved it under her nose. "Don't you dare tell that pain in my ass I ever said that, he'd never let me forget it!"

"I really do wonder about you sometimes, Xander. I think you are really attracted to Spike. You have commented numerous times on his muscled body, maybe I should ask him if he'd satisfy that itch for you? "

"Anya!" Xander yelled. The donut dropped from his mouth and bounced off the box onto the sidewalk. "That's gross! Just because that one time I said he had a firm body doesn't mean..." He trailed off with a shudder.

"You do know most vampires are bisexual? They will usually stick their penises anywhere," she added teasingly.

"Ewww, now I have bad Spike images in my head. I need to soap my brain out! Ahn, why did you say that?" Xander wailed as he shook his head, trying to remove the images that way.

She giggled and reached over and patted him on the shoulder. "Don't worry, I won't tell him. I think at the moment he's more focused on Buffy's body and not yours."

"Yeah, and he can keep those peepers of his firmly on Buffy's bod!" Xander huffed at his fiancée. "Finally...wonder why he was all with the ignoring her for so long. I thought Wills and Tara were going to check that out? See if it was a spell." Xander looked sheepish, "Oops, my bad. I guess that Willow was too busy with the O.D.ing on magics."

"Yes, but something was interfering with him and that is not right. Spike is an ally and friend; we should have looked into this earlier. But I guess that the raising was dominating our thoughts for a long while. Yes...yes Xander, only a friend nothing sexual! But I think you protest too much sometimes. Is it just a game between you?" Anya cocked her head inquisitively.

Xander grinned around the new donut he'd fished out of the box, and didn't say anything.

"Ohhh! I'm right. It's a male testosterone thing, isn't it?" She waved a finger at him. She pushed the door open and clicked on the lights.

"Wot's a testosterone thing?" Spike asked as he held the door open for Anya. He and Anne had just arrived through the sewers. "Floppy boy has testosterone? Where?" He curled his tongue against the back of his teeth with a wicked grin. "Xanderbear, did you miss me?"

"Morning, Blondie. Man, is that some dark roots I'm seeing?" Xander reached a sugar-coated finger up towards Spike's hair. "Looks like you need a visit to the hair salon for some prettying up," Xander teased.

"Oi, no touching the barnet, you tosser!" Spike danced backwards and eyed the donut carrier. "See you're running true to form with the snack carrying."

"Yeah...yeah...yeah, mock all you want, Peroxide Boy, but I know you love me for my sugary sweetness." Xander sauntered past with a chuckle and tossed the box of treats on the research table. "And just for that, I'm keeping your caramel macchiato with extra shots."

"Come on, Bob the builder, don't deny a vamp his caffeine," Spike wheedled. He was secretly delighted that there were not angry recriminations, or pitchforks of blustering lectures about 'if you hurt her, we'll ram a stake through your heart' lectures.

Anne slipped past the two of them and headed for the training room.

"Anne, wait." Anya's thin fingers caught hold of the younger girl's elbow. "I got you a cappuccino." The ex-demoness thrust the coffee into the startled girls hand with an eager nod.

Anne stared down at the coffee and felt her eyes water. It was the first time any of them had gotten her a coffee in the morning. It was a small gesture, but to Anne, it was huge. It made her feel like one of them for the first time. "Thank you," she whispered shyly. Risking a look up from the covered cup, Anne saw the generous look in Anya's honey brown eyes. "Really...this is so kind."

"Sorry I never bought you one before, but from now on I will." Anya nodded decisisivly and then headed to the cash register and began to prepare for opening up.

Spike had watched the short exchange with relief; maybe the others were finally accepting Anne. It was about ruddy time. Spike had been sick of their self- absorption, ignoring the young girl they'd yanked over into this dimension to fight for them. He had been ashamed of their callous behaviour.

"Ahn felt bad about Anne, said she should've been more welcoming. That we both should've been." Xander looked down at his hands guiltily and then back up at Spike. "She deserved better."

"That she did, mate, but it's fixable." Spike clapped him on the shoulder.

"Anne, get kitted up and we can work on some hand to hand."

Spike sipped at the sweet coffee with a contented rumble.

++++++++++

"You're dropping your right shoulder on the swing. Sort it, Anne." Spike held the punching bag and braced himself for the flurry of blows.

"Thanks." Anne rolled her shoulders and shook out her taped hands. She bounced on the balls of her feet and flipped her braid over her shoulder.

"No probs, pet," Spike grunted as she swung a roundhouse kick to the bag.

"Spike, about the kiss—" Anne decided to grab the bull by the horns and go for it. "I'm sorry, I was kinda being the dumb kid there, wasn't I?" She avoided his searching gaze, his eyes saw way too much. And as much as she was all for building bridges and being a big girl, if she saw his baby blues Anne knew she'd crumble. Burst into tears and throw herself into his arms and beg him to chose her and not Buffy, even though she had accepted that he was Buffy's last night. It still hurt to let him go, her first love, letting him fall into the arms of her mirror image, the one without the scars on her mouth.

"Right, well..."Spike hadn't expected her to bring it up. He'd been wracking his brains for a way to chat it out with his fragile friend. He knew that the others only saw the scar and the slayerly muscles and not the wounded child under the tough exterior. He was aching for her, but had no idea what to say or do. He was usually the one being rejected or the one chasing after the object of his affections. He decided not to argue with her. Looking over at her pale face and the determined set of her mouth, Spike nodded and let it pass.

"I guess you and Buffy are all with the smoochies?" Anne tried to keep her voice light and happy for her friend. Internally she was screaming. 'Why not me? What's the difference? Is it the scar? Am I gross and ugly? Am I too unfeminine?' She stared down at her tightly muscled body and the sweat pants, wondering if she should try again with the feminine frills. But then she looked into Spike's dreamy eyes; they'd glazed over as soon as she'd uttered Buffy's name.

"Anne, luv, m'sorry...I just...well..."

"Look, it's okay, she's obviously the one for you. I can see it in her eyes and you looked so happy this morning," Anne gritted out as she pasted a bright smile on her lips. She was determined to be the big one about this and not cry again over him. She pressed her hand to her chest trying to ease the ache, her stomach tightening and roiling at the memory of the two of them kissing. She wanted to yell at him, 'why not me? It's not like she's any different from me.' But deep down Anne knew she was different. Buffy was prettier, stronger, a better Slayer, had friends and family and managed to keep them alive-- unlike her. And most importantly, Buffy had Spike, and he wanted her too.

"Well—" Spike would've blushed. Instead he gave her a boyish smile and his face brightened with joy. An expression she had never seen on his face, it made him look so different, almost alive. Anne took another deep breath, deciding that she wanted to see him this happy all the time and if it meant letting go of her own hopes and dreams, then so be it.

"I'm really happy for you, Spike. For both of you." Anne leaned over and hugged Spike tight, knowing that this was probably the closest she'd ever get to him. She squeezed him until she heard him grunt, then to her relief, Spike wrapped his arms around her and returned the embrace. Maybe everything would be okay, maybe he'd forget her attempt at seduction and they could be friends again.

"Thanks, Anne. You're a true friend." Spike's entire body slumped with relief. She had managed to help him avoid the whole 'lets be friends' talk. She was a bigger person than he was.

"Yeah, friends," Anne echoed as she pecked him on the cheek and pulled back reluctantly. "So, I was dropping my right shoulder."

The two blonds began to train again in earnest. The awkwardness had been dispelled and the easy friendship they had built over the months was back again as they sparred.

A slayer and a vampire engaged in a time old dance of fists and fangs – but with a subtle difference. They were friends.

+++++++++

The flames from the torches cast a golden glow on her blonde hair. The small woman stepped forward and reached over, rubbing the head of the Turok Han vampire that knelt at her feet. The cavern was filled with demons, hellhounds, zombies and the primordial vampires, all minions of the First Evil who controlled the Hellmouth and its denizens.

"Go after it, and make it bleed." The Buffy look-alike smiled cruelly. Flicking its long blonde hair over one slim shoulder, the First Evil urged its most trusted lieutenant to its feet. Her thin incorporeal hands tracing its gnarled fangs lovingly. Pouting up at the hideous face of the Turok Han, she smiled winsomely.

"Make that abomination bleed, but no killing. I have plans..."

The First Evil in the form of the fallen Slayer smiled cruelly, and licked its lips in anticipation. "This is so much fun. I love mixing it up."

tbc...