A/N: Thanks to Slaymesoftly for reading over this for me.



The day had finally come; the day she had been dreaming about since she was a little girl. In only a few hours she would be a married woman. So, why was she not more excited? And why did this dress seem to look all wrong? It was a beautiful gown, off-white in color, with beading in spirals down the front and back, but there was something off in the way it looked on her.

“Are you ready?” Dawn asked her sister.

Buffy stared at her reflection. “Just about.”

The younger girl walked up beside her. “Good. We need to take all of the pictures we can before the guests start arriving. And don’t worry; Angel isn’t even here yet, so he won’t see you in your dress.”

“Okay,” she replied, distracted.

“Buffy, are you sure about this? Getting married, I mean.” It was the question that she’d wanted to ask ever since she had seen her sister at the airport, but something had stopped her. Until now.

“What? Of course I’m sure. Why would you ask that?”

“Oh, no reason. And it’s definitely not because it’s your wedding day and you’re acting more like someone died.”

“I am not. I’m happy,” she replied, looking in the mirror once more. “I’m happy.”

Dawn was in no way convinced but decided to let it drop for now. After all, Buffy had been all psyched about marrying Angel a few weeks ago. Maybe that excitement would return in enough time for them to say their vows. And if it didn’t, well, she had a plan B. It involved something like a diversion and an escape plan.

“Then let’s go.”

Buffy took a step back and turned around to see Dawn leaving the room. Why couldn’t she just stay out of it? Why did she always have to bring Buffy’s doubts out in the open? That made them all the more real. The slayer knew it was natural to have wedding day jitters. It happened to everyone. But there was something different about the way she felt. It wasn’t that she was nervous about spending the rest of her life with one man and it wasn’t like she was afraid of commitment. It was something…someone else.

“Something wrong, luv?” he asked.

“No, nothing. I just…I’m not a fan of airplanes.”

“So don’t go.”

She wasn’t sure whether he had meant that the way it sounded or not, but it caught her a little off guard. “I have to.”

“Right. With the wedding and all that.”

“Yeah. And work,” she added, as if to make it sound like Angel wasn’t the only reason she was leaving.

He nodded. “I guess this is goodbye.”

“I guess so.”

In cliché fashion, Buffy took a step closer and put an arm around his neck, hugging him. He hugged her back for a little too long. She was starting to get that nervous feeling in her stomach. Pulling back and looking at him felt awkward and she wished she could be on the plane already.

“I’ll see you, Spike.”

“No you won’t,” he said, just loud enough for her to hear.

So she’d said goodbye to Spike for what would probably be the last time. She had a right to be a little sad about that, right? After all, they had been friends. Buffy closed her eyes and took a deep breath. She would not think about the vampire anymore.
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It was a quarter to two and Angel still had not arrived. A phone call from Xander a half hour before had let them know they were stuck in traffic. The wedding wasn’t until 2:30, but people were already showing up and he still had to get dressed once he arrived.

“Mandy, will you please call Xander again and see where they are?” Dawn asked the girl, who appeared to be bored out of her mind. “I really need to check on my sister.” The picture taking process had been hell and the photographer was insisting on taking eighty solo shots of Buffy, who, from the looks of things, had thought seriously about slaying the older woman.

“Sure.” She grabbed her cell phone off of the table and dialed.

“Hello,” Xander answered, sounding exasperated.

“How close are you two to being here?”

“About twenty minutes from the looks of things.”

“You know the wedding starts in less than an hour and Angel still has to get ready.”

“Yes, we are aware of that. But unless you want to use some magic spell to get us there faster, you’re just going to have to wait.”

“Alright, I’ll tell them,” Mandy replied.

“We’ll be there as soon as we can,” Xander said and then added, “And you know I was kidding about magic.”

“I know, I know.”

She hung up the phone about the time Dawn and Buffy re-entered the room.

“Did you get them?” Dawn asked.

“Yeah, he said they would be here in twenty.”

“Twenty minutes?”

Mandy shrugged. “That’s what they said.” She noticed how Buffy didn’t seem to be freaking out as much as Dawn was about this whole thing.

“They’ll be here,” Buffy said, not sounding as happy as was probably expected of her for today. She sat down carefully on the stool provided for her, determined not to wrinkle the dress. It was too warm of a day today, especially for taking photographs. She was beginning to sweat, which would do nothing for her hair, which was in an up-do twist style with a few ringlets hanging down.

“Could you give us a minute?” Dawn asked Mandy.

The girl nodded and walked out of the room.

Dawn sat down in a chair beside her sister. “Buffy, be honest with me. Are you okay?”

“How many times do I have to tell you that I’m fine?”

“As many times as it takes for me to believe you.”

Buffy sighed, but didn’t respond.

“Is this about Spike?”

“No, this is about me. I’m just nervous. It is my wedding day, after all. Now stop asking.”

Dawn bit back the words that she so badly wanted to say. “Plan B”, she wanted to tell her sister, “is we tell everyone the buildings on fire and then bolt for the car when they’re not looking.” But she knew Buffy would never go for that. She loved Angel and would end up marrying him today whether it was the right thing or not.

“Alright. So,” she said, deciding to change the subject, “do you have your somethings old, new, borrowed, and blue?”

Buffy looked down at herself. The garter she had on was new. She had on a bracelet that had belonged to her mom, one of the only things she gotten out of Sunnydale with, and shoes she’d borrowed from Dawn. She informed her sister of this.

“I guess you’re the something blue then,” she replied.

Buffy gave her sister a disapproving look. “I painted my toenails blue last night.” She’d thought in advance and figured it wouldn’t matter what color her toenails were because her shoes were closed-toed.

Dawn laughed. “Good. Now that we have everything in order, we wait.”
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Mandy leaned against the door to Buffy’s makeshift dressing room and sighed. Why did she always have to leave the room when people were about to have important conversations? It wasn’t like she was going to go blabbing her mouth all over town. And she might even be able to help. Now given, she and Buffy hadn’t exactly been on speaking terms since she’d gotten back from America. No big surprise there. Anyone would be mad if you’d teleported them across an ocean. But Mandy was beginning to get the feeling that Buffy was upset about something else. Probably this Spike guy.

Mandy remembered Angel’s anger that it had been Spike Buffy had woken up with, and despite a reassurance from even Buffy herself that the spell must not have worked, she still felt that it had and everyone was in denial. And if visiting this guy for a few days had made Buffy so frazzled, maybe this wedding was a bad idea. And she would love to tell them all what she thought, if they would listen.

Five more minutes had ticked by. Angel was going to be late for his own wedding and they all knew it. And despite all of the non-wedding like emotions Buffy seemed to be having, maybe even she would cheer up when Angel got here. Mandy had been there for their reunion when Buffy had returned and they had hugged and kissed like a couple in love, even if the spark didn’t seem as bright as before. Maybe if Angel was here, he could talk to Buffy before the wedding, something he wouldn’t get to do if he was late, and they could discuss some issues before walking down the aisle.

But he wouldn’t get here in time, not without help.

What harm would it do to cast a simple little spell? Yes, maybe Xander had said not to do that. But it wasn’t like she was sending someone across the Atlantic this time. Angel was only maybe five miles away. And sure, he would be mad, but wouldn’t that be overshadowed by the fact that he’d made it and had time to talk to his bride?

With her mind made up, Mandy closed her eyes and chanted the same Latin words as before, only this time changing the ending.

“Bring to me the man who Buffy’s heart most desires.”

A giant billow of smoke appeared in front of her, and she waved her hand in front of her face. Coughing of the male variety was heard from the smoke. At least the spell seemed to have worked. After a moment, the smoke finally cleared and he gave her a strange look.

“Who the bloody hell are you?”

“Crap.”
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The door to the room, where the two sisters were, opened.

“What the hell was that noise?” Dawn asked waving a hand in front of her face to clear some left over smoke.

Before Mandy could answer, Buffy had appeared in the door.

“What are you doing here?” she asked when she saw the vampire standing there.

“I…uhh….”

“It’s my fault,” Mandy told her. “Again.”

“What did you do?” Buffy demanded.

“If it means anything, I was trying to help.”

Buffy stared at the girl incredulously. “You did another spell? I thought we made it clear that you were on magic probation after your last mishap.”

“You mean the mishap that landed you with him? This is him, right? Spike?” When it was clear that the two women were too shocked to speak, she looked to the vampire, who nodded.

“And now, in a different spell designed to bring Angel here, to bring you what you most desired, I brought Spike here. Coincidence? I think not,” she finished in a huff.

Buffy took a deep breath and tried to get a hold of herself. Why was she even freaking out so bad? Oh right, magic probation.

“It doesn’t matter what you thought you were helping,” Buffy told her, trying to ignore her other words, “you are not supposed to be using magic. I think you need to go.”

“Go where?”

“Talk to Mr. Giles about your punishment.”

Mandy looked at her with her mouth hanging open. “Seriously?” Was this really the most important thing at the moment?

“Yes. Dawn would you please escort her?”

The brunette looked from her sister to Spike and took the words as a hint to get the hell out. She motioned for Mandy to follow her and though she mumbled words of anger on the way out, she followed.

When the door had shut behind them, the slayer turned back to face the slightly confused vampire. ‘He looks good,’ she caught herself thinking. Bad. Bad Buffy.

“I’m sorry. She never learns.”

“So that’s the girl who…”

“Yeah. That’s Mandy.”

Spike could still sense a little anger in her voice and wondered if she was really upset that Mandy had disregarded her punishment or that he was here. “You really shouldn’t be so hard on her, luv. I’m sure she meant well.”

“She always means well, but that doesn’t mean she should just keep popping people around the globe whenever the notion strikes her.”

He had to agree. He felt more than a little jetlagged from the transportation, something that never happened to him in normal circumstances.

“Maybe we should talk about the spell,” he said after a moment. After all, it was now two spells that had brought them together. Two spells about loving and desiring someone. It had to mean something, didn’t it?

“I really don’t have time right now. I’m getting married in half an hour.”

“We may not get another chance.”

Buffy had to admit he was right. They probably wouldn’t. Even if Spike stuck around for the wedding, which she was sure he wouldn’t do, and didn’t want him to, there would be the reception and then leaving for the honeymoon. And he couldn’t just wait around for her to return. He had a life to get back to. Or, actually he didn’t, thanks to her. But still, he would want to go home. They could send emails, but that would be too impersonal, and they could talk on the phone, but that would be very long distance, and also possibly monitored by the government. Wouldn’t want that. So as much as she didn’t want to, now was the best time they would ever get to talk about this.

“Fine. What do you want to talk about?” she asked, already knowing the answer.

“You said that the spell was supposed to send you to the person who loved you most, and it sent you to me. That means something.”

“Maybe…maybe it just means that since we hadn’t seen each other in a long time that what we felt was stronger. Absence right?”

“We?”

“I mean you.” Off his look she added, “I mean, I care about you, Spike. I may have even felt love for you once, but I’m getting married today. To Angel.” The words tasted bad in her mouth.

“Right. So that kiss, it meant nothing to you.”

Why was he bringing that up? “I didn’t say that. Yeah, okay, I felt…something. But whatever that was, it was a mistake.”

“Was it?”

“Yes,” she said as defiantly as she could, though she could feel her chest tightening with the words.

“What about this other spell? Marla said it was supposed to bring Captain Forehead here, but it brought me.”

“Mandy. And I know that. Probably because I felt like we’d left things unresolved. I desired to talk to you, that’s all.”

Spike was getting flustered now. He’d deceived himself into thinking that somehow if they talked about this that she would change her mind about marrying Peaches. It was a small and stupid hope, but it was hope none-the-less. And now it seemed that it was a wasted effort.

“Do you even want to get married?”

“What? Of course I do,” she said.

“It just doesn’t seem right to me, pet.”

“Well this isn’t about you, is it?” she said in the hardest tone she could muster.

He took a step closer. “It could be; if you give me a chance.”

She backed off immediately. “I can’t, Spike. I’m getting married. I made my choice. I’m sorry.”

“Right. You made your choice a long time ago.” She opened her mouth to say something but he continued. “When you decided you would never love anyone but him. And you did a real good job with that, too. Pushing people away every chance you got.”

“That’s not fair.”

“No, what’s not fair is that you never gave me a chance. And I know that I wasn’t much back then, but I would have done anything for you. And you knew that. Hell, Slayer, I got my bloody soul back for you. But that didn’t make a damn bit of difference to you. Cause it doesn’t matter what I do, I’ll never be Angel. So, stop worrying about it, go out there, get married, and live happily ever after. It’s what you deserve.” He said the last line much calmer than the rest of the rant had been.

The door to the room opened and the younger Summers entered with Mandy on her heels.

“You’ll be happy to know that I’m now on probation for six months,” she said to Buffy, but when she noticed the look on her face she quickly backed down. “Are you okay?”

“Are we interrupting something?” Dawn asked.

“I’m great. And Spike was just leaving,” Buffy said, her voice icy.

So the talk had not gone so well, Dawn concluded. And from the looks of both the vampire and slayer, it was not the time to ask. “Well, uh, Angel’s here.”

Buffy forced herself to look at Dawn. “Great.”

“And there’s someone who wants to talk to you. A woman. She says she’s a friend of Angel’s.”

“Okay.”

A silence overtook the room that had both Dawn and Mandy shuffling awkwardly. After a moment, “Spike, how are you getting home?”

“I don’t know, Nibblet.”

Dawn smiled at the nickname. It had been years since anyone had called her that.

“I could try and send you back,” Mandy offered.

Spike gave her a look that clearly said that was never going to happen.

“I’ll drive you to the airport,” she said in a disappointed tone. “I don’t really wanna be here anyway.” With Buffy, Dawn, and Giles all upset with her, not to mention Angel, who surely would be when he found out, Mandy didn’t find the idea of sticking around too appealing.

“Much appreciated, pet.”

He turned to follow her to the door, and Buffy knew this was it. And as mad as she was at him, she knew if she let him walk out of the room, she would never see him again. Spike felt a hand on his arm. He turned back to face her and looked down into her eyes. He saw mixed emotions in them and wasn’t sure what she was going to do.

“I’m sorry. Please don’t go,” she wanted to say, but all she could get out was “Be safe.” It was possibly one of the lamest things she could have possibly said.

He raised an eyebrow but only nodded in response. He was getting really tired of goodbyes. Buffy removed her hand from his arm and took a step back. Spike opened his mouth to say something but thought better of it. He gave her a final glance.

And then he was gone.
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