Buffy jackknifed straight up in the bed. The last visages of the dream threatened to escape her fully conscious self – she couldn’t let that happen. Closing her eyes, she forced herself to focus on what Faith had told her. She remembered the apartment and a cat jumping through the broken window. The rest, the important aspects of the dream remained out of focus. Damn the PTB’s and their self-righteousness. It would be just like them to prevent her from finding a solution to the problem of oh, nothing big…just saving the world. Buffy opened her eyes; she needed to find the apartment.

“There’s something I should be doing.” The thought came unbidden to her mind. She clutched to the thin thread of memory and hoped it would bring the rest of the dream back to her. She slid from the bed, not wanting to wake Spike who’d oddly remained asleep through her sudden awakening. Perhaps there was a spell that would allow her to remember the dream. Giles would know. He’d then go into a tirade about paying more attention during the lessons he’d undoubtedly given her on the subject in the past…but he was just so, so – British. It was hard to follow. Besides, normally her Slayer Dreams remained Technicolor clear.

“Pet, why you up so early? C’mon back to bed,” Spike said groggily from the bed.

“I need to talk with Giles. He needs to be with the research and the ‘splaining things to me,” Buffy answered as she reached for the phone.

“That why you scamperin’ out the bed without a morning snog?”

Buffy shook her head at her overly horny mate. “Faith sent me a dream last night. I just can’t remember it. Which means it’s all with the important to avoid apocalypse.”

Now wide awake, Spike lithely stood from the bed and pulled his trousers back on before throwing the Slayer a robe. Never get out of here if she didn’t quit parading around naked like that. “Get your Watcher called, luv.”

Buffy nodded and quickly dialed the familiar number. On the third ring, a groggy Giles answered the phone.

“Giles!”

“Buffy, it is quite early in the morning and you did leave it to me to explain to your mother and sister what transpired earlier. It would be greatly appreciated if you would wait until a decent hour of the day to ring a man.”

“Faith sent me a Slayer Dream. I just can’t remember it.”

The long pause on the other end of the line meant either Giles didn’t believe her, or he’d fallen back asleep.

“Giles!”

“Buffy – it is hard to comprehend. I have never heard of a Slayer being sent a dream by another Slayer.”

“Giles,” Buffy said, exasperated, “How many cases of two Slayers being called at the same time have you heard of? We aren’t exactly in Normalville, here.”

“Quite so, Buffy. Sorry. Why don’t we meet at the library and you will kindly tell me everything.”

“Make sure the whole gang is there, Giles. Important Scooby meeting.”

“Right, bye.”

Buffy listened to the dial tone for a moment before returning the phone to the cradle. She had a partial plan, but it was fuzzy…like her dream – “They’re never going to fix this, are they?” Not knowing what that meant, she filled it away to tell Giles when they met up later. For now she focused on the sound of the shower. Knowing there was nothing to do until the group met up, she decided to find out exactly what her Mate was doing in there.

“We need Willow.” She bent over and zipped up her boot. The day looked completely better after last night, and later that night, and earlier that morning. And at least once after the shocking wake-up Slayer dream. A hot, red blush colored her cheeks. Honestly, after everything that she and Spike had done, it was hard to imagine she could still blush.

“Why’s that, pet?” Spike called from the bathroom.

Buffy bit her bottom lip. “You’re not going to like it.”

Spike leaned out of the room. He quirked a brow.

“Magic. We need a spell.”

“Bloody hell, Slayer. ‘aven’t you had enough with the bloody magic? That’s what got you lot into this mess.”

‘Spike. Please, this is the only way I can think of to get her back.’

“Don’t do that, pet. No using the claim that way against me. I know how you feel. I feel what you feel. I want her back, too.”

She felt properly abashed. Of course Spike felt it. “Spike I – ”

“None of that, luv,” Spike said. He walked from the bathroom; towel wrapped around his hips, and sat down next to Buffy.

She nodded. He also knew her emotions were so way scattered. So many things happened in such a short period of time. Willow in the hospital, Dawnie having her powers and now…she couldn’t think about that right now. She couldn’t think about the fact that she’d nearly killed Faith; that she’d wanted to kill Faith. That Faith was now beyond her reach. Defiantly not focusing on any of that.

“Told you you wouldn’t like it,” Buffy changed the topic. Much, much safer than dealing with…everything else.

“Well?”

Buffy leaned against him, gaining strength from his solid frame and silent support. She also focused on not focusing on the naked almost still wet-ness that was him. Focus Buffy! “I so need to be with the whole Slayer Dream remembrance thing. God knows how Faith figured out how to do that one, and if she did…must be important.”

“You want Red to work some sort of mojo on your memory, luv?”

“I don’t know how else to remember the important parts of the dream, Spike. It’s all sorts of not cool to simply remember the broken window and the part where I’m supposed to be doing something. Cause I totally forgot that part.”

“Don’ suppose it’ll jus’ come on back on its own?”

“Don’t think it works that way. My Slayer Dreams are always vivid and I always remember them. Even if they are all with vague and cryptic. I still remember them and then Giles tells me what they mean. That’s the pattern, this one went wrong. Stupid PTB’s.”

“Don’ rightly like it, Buffy.”

“I know. I don’t know what else to do though.”

“Right then. First off, we get out of here and go meet up with your mates.”

Buffy’s face fell. She’d need to tell them all about Faith…explain how much she’d failed them. How she’d lost her sister and didn’t know if she’d get her back. Oh, she showed nothing but bravado on the outside all about kicking the PTB’s combined ass, but on the inside she wasn’t quite so optimistic. She might not be strong enough to do it this time. This time she might fail. This time it just felt wrong.

“They’ll understand, pet.”

Buffy’s eyes flashed up to Spike. She should’ve known she’d not be able to keep anything from him. Not that she really tried anymore, but it still caught her off guard sometimes when he looked at her like that. Like he knew that she would conqueror anything no matter the obstacles. It warmed her inside to know that someone had that kind of unwavering faith in her no matter how many times she screwed with the world’s natural order or whatever the PTB’s kept harassing her about; if it weren’t for Spike she would fail this time.

“What if they don’t?” Buffy asked in a barely audible voice, her eyes focused on her hands.

“Then I’ll eat ‘em,” Spike said as he vamped.

“Pretty sure they won’t freak on me?”

“Yeah, pet. I am.”

“How do you do it?”

“What’s that?”

“Believe in me…like always…without question.”

“Tha’s easy, pet. You’re incredible. You’re the one.”

“You’ve said that to me before.”

“An’ I’ll keep sayin’ it till it sinks into that noggin of yours.”

“No, in those weird flash thingys. You said that to me. The last part.”

“So you’ve always been stubborn, not exactly surprised here, pet.”

Buffy laughed, but the smile didn’t quite reach her eyes. Spike tilted his head, examining her face…attempting to suss out whatever bug got in her. He never knew quite what to do when she turned pensive on him. Gently, he lifted her into his arms and hoped that she’d figure it out and let him know what was going on in that head of hers.

She relaxed into him. She didn’t know what was going on, but it wigged her a bit. She hadn’t thought about those flash thingys in a long time. Now seemed a weird time to be remembering. Especially as she was going to have Willow cast a spell to have her remember the Slayer Dream.

“We need to get to the library. They’ll be waiting on us.”

“Plenty of time for you to tell me what’s going on in your head on the way,” Spike answered. He stood with her still in his arms and gently placed her on the ground. “Let’s go.”

Mutely, Buffy nodded. She allowed Spike to lead her from the room. With him by her side she’d be able to face her friends, to face the reality of Faith not being here. This was no time to indulge in self-pity. She’d figure out what Faith wanted to tell her, find a way to destroy the Mayor, have a grand old time kicking the crap out of him and get Faith back. No matter what it took. The PTB’s made a big mistake when the decided to take her away. A very big mistake.

“I keep feeling like something’s going to change. Something I can’t fix.”

“Slayer, it’ll all work out. Haven’t stood by your side for nothin’. Never quit believing in you, Buffy – never.”

“Those flash thingys. We never figured out where they came from. And I haven’t had one for a long time. My world’s a little too ‘It’s a Small World’ for me to not think it means something.”

“Doesn’t mean it’s somethin’ bad though.”

“You don’t even believe that, Spike.”

They lapsed into silence. Spike didn’t believe that, but he wouldn’t let Buffy succumb to whatever badness lay ahead of them either. He’d make sure she came through on the other end. No matter what it took. This life he had here was just too good for him to allow anything to muck it up for him. Even the soddin’ PTB’s. Their antics were enough to make even the staunchest white hat go bad. Made sense to him that a different Faith would go a little crazy. If it weren’t for her friends, Buffy’d go that way too.

He squeezed her hand as they drew closer to the school. He could tell that she wanted to take off in the opposite direction, but she determinedly walked through the front doors. That’s my girl. He followed a pace behind her, allowing her to be strong and make the decision to face her friends without his influence. She needed to know that she could do this without him. That she was as strong as he knew she was.

She only hesitated for a heartbeat before she pushed open the doors of the library. She looked around the room. Giles stood next to the door to his office. Willow and Oz were cuddled on the stairs. Xander and Cordelia stood next to the table. Dawnie flew from her perch on the edge of the table and nearly knocked Buffy to the ground. Buffy held her sister tightly.

“Hi guys,” she said in an overly cheery voice.

“Right then,” Spike said as he strode into the room. He took Dawn by the hand and they went to stand near Xander and Cordelia. Leaving Buffy to say what needed to be said.

“Faith sent me a Slayer Dream,” Buffy began, “but I can’t remember all of it.”

“How exactly did Faith send you this dream?” Giles asked.

“I don’t know. Since they still have her, maybe she did what they did – except not.”

“They? They who?” Xander asked.

“The PTB’s. They still have Faith. I mean, she’s still in a coma or whatever. They won’t give her back until I destroy the Mayor.”

Buffy ducked her head when she heard the collective gasp. She knew this would be bad; at least this way she didn’t have to see the disappointment in their eyes. A gentle hand on her shoulder forced her to look up. Willow and Cordelia stood in front of her, tears in their eyes.

“It’ll be okay,” Willow said.

“What can we do?” Cordelia asked.

Buffy gave a watery smile to both girls and stuck her tongue out at a smug looking Spike. “We need a spell. I need to know what I need to remember from that dream. I think they are somehow blocking it.”

“Ooooh!” Willow said excitedly, “That’s me. Just call me Sabrina.”

“Buffy, are you quite sure?” Giles asked as he polished his glasses.

“Do you know another way to make me remember my dream?”

“Um, no.”

“Then, let’s be with the spell finding.”

Clearly, there nothing remained to argue about, so the group dispersed to locate a spell to help Buffy. Xander left to find the much needed sugary goodness while Willow and Giles escaped to where the lesser known and usually more useful books lived. Spike went outside to have a smoke and to give Buffy the space she needed to remain strong. Oh, he hated that she felt the need to keep up the pretence in front of her friends, but that was her cross to bear. He knew that Red and the cheerleader would have her back…the others would come along soon enough.

Buffy wandered into the stacks. There really wasn’t much for her to do. This wasn’t her gig…she killed things. Tiredly, she set her head against the musty books. Only in Sunnydale would the school’s library be a place where no one ever came, leaving it a prime place for the Scooby gang to rally together and defeat the next apocalypse. Unfortunately, and probably a testament to her bad Slayerness, she didn’t really give a damn about the end of the world. Her world had been ending for the last few weeks. Just when she believed that things would even out, that she’d be able to handle her calling, the bottom fell out; reinforcing the abyss that she logically knew her calling was meant to be. One girl in all the world. Not one and a bunch of friends. Not two. One. One teenage girl to hold the weight of the world on her shoulders.

“Buffy?”

Buffy turned and looked at Cordy.

“I know it will work out – in the end.”

“You do?” Buffy raised her eyebrows.

“I know I haven’t always been the number one cheerleader of the group, and usually I just point out how stupid an idea is and how it won’t work…”

“No need to be all reminder girl now, Cordy.”

“Hear me out. That’s just it. In spite of how never going to work your plans are, it always works. You always win.”

“Not always.”

“Right. You’re here, now because of all your epic failures.”

Buffy grinned a bit at that. At least the biting sarcasm sounded like the Cordelia she knew. “I have failed. Huge, I was dead kind of fail.”

“But you came back. You kicked undead ass.”

“Xander saved me.”

“And?”

“And, I couldn’t do it alone.”

“Oh right, pity for Buffy. She’s the only Slayer again.”

Buffy’s hand tightened into a fist.

“Faith told you to come back. She believed in you. That should be enough. Get over it, whatever it is, and get her back like we all know you can.”

“I shouldn’t have left her there at all. It’s my fault she’s stuck there…alone.”

“No one blames you, Buffy. Faith doesn’t – so why should we?”

“No need to kick the Buffy?”

Cordy smiled. “Not this time. But, you really need to find a new moisturizer. Just because it’s the end of the world is no reason to ignore it.”

“Pep talks aren’t really your thing, ya know?”

“I’m much better at a pep rally.”

“Next time we could give you pom-poms.”

“Next time I might just smack you. This was tiring. And I’ll help you find that moisturizer. Honestly, it’s just sad.”

Buffy shook her head. Spike had been right, again. No one blamed her. Not even Faith blamed her; she knew that of course, but still it was hard to not feel responsible.

“Guys!” An excited Willow squealed.

Buffy and Cordy tore down the stairs.

“Well?” A rumpled Giles asked.

“I – I found it. The spell. We need some supplies though.”

“When can we do the spell, Wills?” Buffy asked, hoping for good news.

“Tomorrow.”

Buffy nodded. “Good.”