Title: Never Gave Up

Thank you all for all the great feedback! WOW, I never expected such a huge response from that first part, but I'm really glad that you all are enjoying it...just stick with me b/c now I have no idea what I'm doing! ;)

Oh, and keep in mind that I am not using a beta-reader, so mistakes are my fault. If I need it I'll get one later on in the story. Also, I'm not saying when the next part will be out because I don't want to give myself a deadline and rush and then not make the date. So just keep an eye out for me, or if you want to be notified of an update, e-mail me.

This part has heavy spoilers for "Touched." I'm sure my take on this certain scene will pale drastically in comparison to what the actual show will have Tuesday, but...I figured, hey, I can just have my own take on everything. :P

Never Gave Up

By: Rachel

See Part One for all the author notes. The part in bold is a flashback.

~*~*~*~

Has it really been less than a day since we managed to defeat the First? Buffy asked herself, rolling her neck back and forth to get the kinks out of it as she sat upright in the plush seat. The group of buses had sped out of Sunnydale as quickly as possible, only making one stop to refuel up the gas tanks before continuing the journey. After a short, and to the point talk at the gas station, Buffy and the core members of the gang decided that it would be a good idea to reach the California borderline before deciding what to do next. Their mutual feeling was to get as far away from Sunnydale as possible right now.

That gave everyone on the bus about four hours to rest up, calm down from the battle, and think back to everything and everyone they had lost.

It was a very dreary ride.

There was little conversation; little movement; little interaction between anyone.

Everyone was either too tired from the battle or too busy trying to forget what they had witnessed.

As Buffy sat in her seat at the back of the bus, she reflected on her feelings for what seemed like the millionth time that day. She felt...

Bittersweet.

Buffy was incredibly proud of her army for pulling through; and more importantly, blissfully happy that they had averted, yet again, another apocalypse and lived to tell the tale.

And yet...deep down in there somewhere, there was another part of her that was heavyhearted and emotionally destroyed. And she knew that part of her was because of Spike. I was stupid, she told herself, shaking her head in regret. I was too afraid of telling him my feelings, so I hid them the entire time. And when I finally got up enough courage to actually tell him, he didn’t believe me.

"Hey," a soft, calming voice began, breaking Buffy away from her thoughts.

Buffy turned to the voice and smiled when she saw her red-headed friend leaning over the back of the seat in front of her. "Hey, Will," she answered, before covering her mouth with her hand as she yawned.

Willow's eyes darted back and forth, not knowing how to begin. "How are you holding up?"

Buffy shrugged, managing to hide any emotion from appearing on her face. "Fine, I guess."

"Buffy..." Willow started, knowing when her friend was hiding something from her.

"What do you want me to say, Willow?" Buffy questioned. "Here we are, a bunch of homeless, under-aged, lost girls...no place to go, nothing to do. We defeated the First...so what next?"

"Do you want to talk about what happened there?" Willow suggested. "Maybe it'd be better if you talked to someone about it."

When Buffy's head lowered, trying to signal that the conversation was now over, Willow tried again. "Look, I just wanted to come back here to let you know that we're about thirty minutes from a rest stop. Xander, Faith, Dawn, and I figured we could all sit down and decide what to do next."

Buffy nodded, "Sounds like a good plan," she replied. She leaned back, turning her head away from the Wiccan. "You'll let me know when we get there, right?"

"Sure, Buffy," Willow assured her, turning around and heading up to the front of the bus.

"How is she?" Xander asked, worry evident on his features, as he looked to the back of the bus.

Willow shook her head, sighing, as she sat back down. "I don't know...She seems okay, but...there's just something..."

"Missing?" Dawn suggested.

"Yeah," Willow agreed. "Like..."

"Like Spike," Faith blurted out. At the looks from the other three, she held up her hands defensively, shaking her head a couple times back and forth. "Oh, c'mon, it's what we're all thinking, 's just that no one here wants to be the one to actually say it."

"Has she said anything about what Spike did? About what happened?" Dawn asked Willow.

"Why he didn't make it out?" Faith questioned.

"Not a word," she answered. "She's just staring out the window...an empty, sad stare."

Twenty seat-rows away, Buffy closed her eyes, listening to the murmur of her concerned and worried friends. She knew they were merely distressed and only wanted what was best for her.

But they would never know what it truly felt like.

To lose not one, but *two* lovers, because their death meant saving the world and averting the apocalypse, and have to go on living your life -- no one should ever have to feel what that was like. However, Angel came back. He wasn't gone for good, and he was currently in LA, still fighting the good fight. He was still alive.

But Spike *was* gone for good. Even if, for some miraculous reason the sunlight from the amulet had not destroyed him, the collapsed building had for sure.

And this time, he's not coming back, Buffy thought to herself, feeling her heart tighten at the very thought.

She wrapped her hands tighter around her arms, feeling goose bumps form as a chill ran through her suddenly. And wasn't it just a day ago that he was holding me? she remembered. Or maybe it was two? In all the worry over fighting Caleb and the Turok-Hans, she had lost track of the days.

He told me he loved me and held me as I slept, Buffy remembered. And it was my one night of solace and finding peace...that night in his arms.

Buffy thought back to the night at the abandoned house where she and Spike had slept...actually *slept*, nothing like what they had engaged in a year ago, but something meaningful.

While everyone else was out partying or spending one last night with their sweetheart, she and Spike had shared something...something unforgettable.

She still remembered what they had said to each other...

~~~

~~~

"Buffy?"

"BUFFY!"

Buffy jumped up at the sound of Dawn calling out her name and shaking her shoulder back and forth. "We're at the rest stop," she announced.

"Already?" Buffy asked. Apparently, she had gotten so lost in her thoughts and memories of that night, she hadn't even been aware that half an hour had already passed. "Thanks, Dawnie."

Wiping the tears that were threatening to fall from her eyes, Buffy slowly sat up and stretched her arms. She placed the memories of that night with Spike in the back of her mind, where she hopefully wouldn't have to think about them ever again.

However, before rising from her seat, she thought back to one last thing...

God, how she wished she had told him that night that she felt the exact same way.

~~~

Spike rolled onto his side, groaning when he felt his body protesting to every motion and movement. His ribs ached, his legs felt numb, hell -- even his finger joints felt sore, and his lungs burned.

Of course, the burning in his lungs might have had something to do with the fact that he hadn't taken a breath in over a century.

Gradually, taking it slowly and at a step at a time, he made his way to the staircase at the entrance to the basement. Several steps were missing as a result of the quake and cave in, but at least most of the stairway was intact. Holding tightly onto the railing, in case the remaining steps beneath him decided to give away, Spike slowly made his way to the top of the stairs and down the hallway.

Spike stood at the front doorway, less than another step away from where the beam of sunlight began, when he froze, old habits suddenly getting the best of him. The rational part of his mind told him everything was fine...he was breathing and had a heartbeat. For some unexplainable reason, he wasn't dead; in fact, he was human.

Therefore, there should be no reason to be afraid of stepping into the sunlight.

Gathering up his courage, Spike limped and dragged his way through the double glass doors, mow missing most of the glass, and into the sun that was now beaming down on him. Well, I'll be damned, he thought, squinting up at the brightness overhead of him.

He felt the warmth on his skin, something that he had all but forgotten the feel of. I'm going to need some bloody SPF 500, he swore when he looked down at his pale skin.

Spike took another deep breath, freezing, however, when he felt a rush of intense pain in his stomach. From the feel of it, at least two of his ribs must have been broken or bruised, probably more. It's been a while since I felt pain this great, he thought, now remembering that he would no longer have any vampire traits.

Buffy! he then remembered, forgetting about his pain for a moment. I've got to get to Buffy...see if she really meant what she told me back there, or... well, he didn't want to think about the "or."

Spike began trudging down what looked like Main Street, the road that was once the main road for traveling through the town that had been reduced to a worn and beaten path. He saw a deserted car, a Jetta, parallel parked on the other side of the street. Taking another breath and trying to ignore the pain, he drew closer to the car, noticing the broken windows. Please let there be keys somewhere in there, Spike thought.

A few seconds later, Spike carefully lowered himself into the driver's seat, letting out a sigh of relief when he saw the keys still in the ignition switch. Please start, he commanded silently, turning the ignition switch on.

The engine roared to life and Spike grinned.

Finally, something good happening.

Turning the car around, Spike began leaving the town that he had called home for the last four years.

Now Leaving Sunnydale

Come Back Soon!

~~~

Two and a half hours later, Spike finally made it to his destination.

He barely made it, however, having almost passed out twice from the pain, one time from what must have been a concussion, and coming close to getting a speeding ticket on the highway. Nevertheless, he had arrived in one piece. Spike pulled himself out of the car and walked up to the double door entrance. Pushing the doors open with a grunt of pain, he managed to smile at everyone inside.

Spike nodded once at the man standing a few feet in front of him, gawking at the very sight of seeing him.

"Hello, there, Peaches," Spike greeted.

Two seconds later, he was on the floor, unconscious.

~~~

TBC...

WOW! I'm really sorry about the lengthy time between parts. The past few weekends, which is when I usually have the most free time, have been really hectic. Anyway, even though the series finale has already aired, I'm sticking with what I've been planning to do all along. Angel came to Sunnydale with the Amulet but that was all...definitely no smoochies and no "cookie dough" speech.

Also, another reason for delay was that I had to wait to see the season finale of Angel to see what was going on over there before starting this part...I'm a week and a day behind the usual WB schedule because I don't have the WB, so I had to wait for the finale.

Anyway, I hope you all are still with me and hope you enjoy the new part! Thank you for all the reviews and support so far :)

Never Gave Up, part 3/?

By: Rachel

See Part One for all the author notes and disclaimer.

~*~*~*~

Fred walked to the other side of the office with a half-filled box of books in between her hands. She approached the front desk and set the box down before picking up the remaining books and papers from the desk and placing them inside the box.

"Hey. There you are," Wes spoke, sticking his head through the doorway and looking into the office. "Are you almost finished packing?"

Fred nodded and gave him a shaky smile. "Almost done." She placed a few more books in the box before placing the lid on top. Picking up the box again, she started heading out of the room along side Wesley, saying, "Gosh, I can't believe that we're moving out of this place."

"Well, I, for one, think it's great," Gunn said as he passed by Fred. "I think it's about time we all get a new start an' all, right?"

"Quite right," Wesley agreed.

"Oh, c'mon...you're just happy about getting a chance to read everything down there in that basement, aren't you?" Gunn asked, teasing his friend.

Wesley cracked a smile, unable to control his excitement about their new work place. "I admit, I'm looking forward to further exploring everything inside that building." After all, he spent all of his free time researching the information and many prophecies that he found in the back room at the law firm.

Almost a week had passed since Angel accepted Wolfram and Hart's offer. The crew, which now consisted of Fred, Wesley, Gunn, Angel, and occasionally Lorne, had spent the week packing up everything and moving out of the Hyperion Hotel. With their newly established bank accounts that Wolfram and Hart provided for each person, everyone had bought new and much more expensive apartments, including Angel who now had a direct route to Wolfram and Hart without risking possibly of running into any sunlight.

Even better was that Wesley was quickly becoming a member of the crew again. His friendship that he had once had with Gunn was slowly forming all over as well. The only thing no one spoke about was the never-ending awkward love triangle between Gunn, Fred, and Wes, which was fine for Wesley since he was just happy to have his friends back with him once more.

"So, do you think Angel made the right decision, then?" Fred asked the two men standing in front of her. "After all...he seemed so suspicious of them, I'm just-"

"I'm *still* suspicious of them," Angel interrupted, walking down the stairs with a couple duffle bags across his shoulder. "I don't trust them -- I probably never will, but I did what I had to. I did what needed to be done."

"Well, all I can say is, if they help get Cordy out of that coma...then I think it was a good move," Gunn explained.

"Yeah..." Angel agreed, avoiding eye contact with the rest of the people in the room.

It still hadn't fully sunk in yet that he was the only one who knew about his son, Connor. The only son he had ever, and might ever, have was nothing more than a figment of his imagination...just something else that he would have to bear on his shoulders alone.

But Angel couldn't think about that now.

He had to worry about what Wolfram and Hart were up to now. Saying that he was suspicious of the law firm was an understatement. Angel didn't trust them a bit.

After all, they were bent on destroying him ever since the very first case he had taken in LA and *now* they were offering him the entire business?

They had to be up to something.

But what that something was, Angel didn't know. All he knew was that he was determined to find out. He accepted the offer, planning to snoop around every corner and every nook and cranny of every room inside the building until he discovered something that would explain the reason why.

"Where's Lorne?" Angel asked, walking down the last few remaining stairs and into the main room.

"Oh, he's already at W and H," Gunn explained. "Been over there for a few hours by now."

"Yeah, he's getting a look around at a place he's got in mind to turn into a new karaoke bar," Fred continued. "You should have seen him...hasn't stopped talking about it all day."

"And everything else is already over there?" Angel asked, making sure that they weren't leaving anything behind.

"We've got it covered, man," Gunn assured him. "Anyway, it's not like anyone is going to be taking any of these books anytime soon. Who would want to move into this ol' place?"

"Shall we?" Wesley asked, picking up a crate and another bag filled with various weapons.

The other three grabbed what they could and started heading towards the double doors, taking one last look around the building they had called home for the last almost three years.

Before anyone made it to the steps, however, the doors flew open and a pale figure dressed entirely in black, stumbled into the room. He took a few deep breaths, groaning as he pressed a hand to his side, before raising his blue eyes to look around the room.

What the hell? Angel asked himself, his mouth falling open for a second. "Spike?"

"Hello, there, Peaches," the bleached-blonde haired man greeted with a smirk at his Sire.

Spike wobbled back a forth for a second, before slumping onto the ground with another groan escaping his mouth before falling into unconsciousness.

"Oh-my-gosh!" Fred cried, dropping the box she was holding and running up to the fallen man. She ran her hand down his side and pulled it away, gasping when she felt blood on her fingertips. "Angel!"

Gunn let the bags slide off his arm and onto the floor and hurried to Fred's side. "Angel, man, you should call the hospital," he announced when he looked at Spike's condition.

Wesley took a step towards Angel, lowering his voice as he spoke. "Angel? Isn't that...?"

A low, soft growl slipped past Angel's lips as he stared at his grand-childe laying on the floor. "Spike," he muttered, frowning.

"But -- But it's four in the afternoon," Wesley stated. "He just...walked inside?"

"Angel!" Gunn repeated. "You better step on that phone call, dude. The guy's heart beat is really faint, I think we're losing him."

Both Angel and Wesley's mouths dropped before exclaiming, "heart beat?!"

Angel was the first to regain his thoughts and crossed the room to the front desk. He picked up the phone, hoping that the line hadn't already been disconnected. Angel punched in 9-1-1 and waited for someone to pick up on the other line.

"Hello? Yes...we need an ambulance...the Hyperion Hotel, yes...4121 Wilshire Blvd. Sure -- that'd be great. Thanks." He turned to Gunn and Fred and nodded. "OK, they'll be here in about five to ten minutes."

"What do we do until then?"

"Just keep him comfortable, I guess," Angel answered.

Gunn removed his jean jacket and balled it up, using it as a pillow to prop up Spike's head. "Do you know this guy?" He asked Angel.

"Yeah," Angel began. "He's my...my childe."

Gunn's eyes widened and he shook his head. "You've got kids? Man, and here I was thinking that vampires couldn't have any--"

"He means childe as in when a vampire creates another vampire. The creator is the sire and the vampire created is its childe," Wesley explained. "Angel...or was it Drusilla?" He asked, looking over at the brown-haired vampire for a second before continuing. "Sired him back in the 1880s, if memory serves."

Fred frowned and placed her fingers at Spike's neck, feeling a faint, but steady pulse beneath her fingertips. "But Angel...this man is alive."

Wesley looked over at Angel for confirmation as he spoke. "Something must have happened in Sunnydale after you left. Something vitally important."

"Yeah..." Angel said once again. He had been hoping that Buffy would call him after the final battle was over. She must have lived through it, he swore to himself. I'd know if she hadn't. However, Spike showing up here...beaten and bloodied up, and...alive?

Yes, something *major* must have definitely happened after he left Sunnydale.

He turned back to the phone and dialed a new number. "Yeah, it's Angel...get me Lilah."

Fred, Gunn, and Wesley all turned to Angel when they heard him say the name of the boss of Wolfram and Hart.

"Lilah? It's Angel."

"Angel...well, what a pleasant surprise," her sultry voice greeted. "We're all expecting you and your friends over here any time now, and--"

"Save it, Lilah," Angel cut her off. "Look, I need you to meet us at the hospital. Something has come up."

"Sure thing," she agreed. "You're the boss."

Angel hung up as he once again wondered what Wolfram and Hart were really up to.

Outside, the shrill siren of an ambulance rang clear. The group heard doors open and close and voices grow louder as the EMTs approached the front door.

"Wes, I need you to drive me over to the hospital," Angel requested, grabbing his jacket and heading towards the basement to get out of the hotel without being exposed to the daylight. "You guys...stay with him."

~~~

After arriving at the hospital, Spike had been rushed inside and treated immediately. The doctor said that he had suffered a severe concussion, massive intensive bleeding in his stomach and chest, three broken ribs, a fractured arm, and other small bumps and bruises here and there on his body. The most dangerous thing was his internal bleeding, which the doctors, at that point in time, could only hope they were able to stop in time.

Ten minutes later, the entire crew had gathered at the hospital in the emergency ward. Angel stood outside in the waiting room, anxiously pacing back and forth.

"So, what's the deal with this Billy Idol wanna-be?" Gunn asked, looking up at the pacing vampire.

"His name is Spike," Angel began. "Drusilla, a woman I sired, made him, and, along with Darla, the four of us ran throughout Europe maiming and killing everyone in our path until I was cursed with my soul."

Angel continued to explain Spike's past as easily and best he could so Gunn and Fred would understand everything.

"Man...your entire family is just completely wack," Gunn muttered after hearing the entire story.

Before anyone could say anything else, a nurse walked into the room, saying, "Are you all here for Spike Williams?"

"Yes," all four replied.

"Is he awake?" Angel asked. Maybe he can explain what happened. Why he's suddenly human.

"Not really. He's drifting in and out of consciousness," she explained. "The doctors said he was muttering something about...Buffy? Is that one of your four?"

Everyone shook their heads. "No, it's a friend of ours, but she isn't here right now," Angel said. "Is that all?"

"No. There were some scattered sentences and fragments like...really love me..something like never giving up until he finds Buffy, something about being human, and something else about a poofer?" She asked, her tone confused since none of the muttered words made sense to her.

Angel smirked and shook his head. Typical Spike, he thought. "Are we allowed to go back there and see him?"

"Of course. But I can only allow two visitors at a time at the most," she told him.

"I'm going to go back there and check on him," Angel said.

"All right. Anyone else?" the nurse asked.

"I'd like to go," a woman's voice announced as she stepped into the room.

"Lilah," Angel greeted. "Nice of you to stop by."

"Sorry, Angel. I was detained. Everyone who isn't already assigned to a job has been spending the entire day looking into what happened down in Sunnydale," she explained. "For you."

As the nurse led the two down the hallway, Angel asked Lilah, "Anything?" about possible news from Sunnydale.

"Nothing," she replied. "Seems like everything was swallowed up in that town. Everyone had deserted their homes weeks ago aside from your little Slayer and her army...there wasn't anything left but rubble and decay when we sent people down there to check it out for you."

"Great," Angel sarcastically muttered.

"The news reporters are calling it a freak earthquake," Lilah continued, smirking at the pathetic excuse. "They said it happened so quickly that the seismograph just didn't have the time to pick up on it. Either that or the seismographs were malfunctioning."

"Sounds like something they'd come up with as an excuse for an apocalyptic battle," Angel sarcastically replied.

"So what was it that you wanted me to see?" she asked.

"I was wondering if you knew what happened here," Angel began as they neared Spike's room.

Lilah looked the blonde man over, unsure of what Angel wanted her to say. "Your bet is as good as mine. Who is he?"

"My grande-childe, of sorts..." Angel responded. "William the Bloody, also known as Spike. The vampire that rampaged through Europe along side Drusilla back during my Angelus days."

Lilah smirked and shook her head. "Doesn't look like a vampire anymore, does he?" She walked around the bed Spike lay in as she spoke, looking at him from every angle.

"You're telling me," Angel agreed. He began moving to the doorway to exit the room, Lilah following beside him. "So I need you to get another group of people to find out everything they can about a vampire turning human again. Research this, Lilah. Maybe the amulet you gave me had some mystical properties in it that we didn't know about. Maybe he said or did something wrong, or--"

"Or maybe it was the prophecy," Wesley interrupted from the doorway. He stood leaning against the side paneling, and nodded his head in a greeting towards the woman inside. "Lilah," he greeted.

"The prophecy?" Angel and Lilah asked together.

"You're going to have to get a little bit more specific than that," Lilah added.

"Don't you remember, Angel? The Prophecies of Aberjian," Wesley explained. "We stole it from their...well, our law firm years ago when you went in to get those files for Lindsey."

That thought obviously hadn't even crossed Angel's mind. "Oh, that prophecy. But I thought that you said it would be for--"

"For you...yes, that is what I thought at the time." One of Wesley's eyebrows raised as he continued to speak. "But when I translated it, you were the only vampire with a soul around at that time. Things can change over time, even ensouled vampires, apparently."

Lilah stood looking at the two men in front of her. "I'm sorry...the Prophecies of Aberjian? I don't think I'm familiar with that." She added sarcastically, "After all, it was stolen from Wolfram and Hart."

Wesley motioned them out into the empty hallway so they could be closer together to talk. "The Prophecies of Aberjian talked about a vampire with a soul, who, after fulfilling his destiny, would shanshu."

"Shanshu?"

"Become human," Angel explained, crossing his arms across his chest and frowning. For years he had always thought that prophecy was his. It had always been in the back of his mind, always been a possibility. But now it seemed that this possibility was becoming less possible the more Wesley explained it.

"The prophecy said there would be apocalyptic battles," Wesley began.

"I think The First pretty much counts as an apocalyptic battle," Lilah commented.

"...several other enemies that would show up," he continued.

"Your little Witch friend gone evil, Glory, the hell-god bent on destroying the world.," Lilah listed. "What do you know? Sounds like we've got a winner here."

Angel sighed, running his hand through his hair.

Was it really not meant for him then?

This prophecy was meant for, of all vampires...Spike?!

~~~

OK...there's part 3! Part 4 is already 1/2 written. Sorry there wasn't too much plot...just a filler part to get me to the next couple of parts. I really hope you enjoyed -- please review!

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