Author’s Note: Thanks so much to Kar for her fabulous beta work an encouragement. Thank you to Barb and zanthinegirl for all the advice. I think this version has legs.

Summary: Buffy’s already got the blues, and then various incarnations of Spike start mysteriously popping up all over her house. It’s less fun for our girl than you might think.


Chapter One

Buffy let the girls wander a few paces ahead of her. Letting them put themselves in danger was always a risk, but they'd never learn to be good fighters if she was always protecting them and rescuing them. Her job was to just watch them unless things turned really ugly. Lily was so new that Buffy was reluctant to add her to the group, but the Council declared her ready. Rose had been in training for a year. Soon she'd be off to partner up with one of the active slayers. Deirdre? Well, Deirdre was probably grateful for a little distance. She had been Octavia's roommate and even since she'd gotten up the courage to go to Giles and Buffy about what was going on with Octavia and David, she had been shy around the senior slayer.

David. She gently placed a hand over her belly, over the spot where the baby wasn't.

It still hurt to think about it. It was probably for the best, or so she kept telling herself. Slayers didn't make great mothers, and since David had turned out to be a lying cheating pervert it wasn't like he would have been much of a father either. But she had to admit that amid all the worry and hand-wringing, there had been a more than a little thrill.

The moment she saw that plus sign on the test, after weeks of denying anything was up, she'd started thinking about decorating the second bedroom, baby names and Xander building a crib. Knowing that her career wasn't exactly conducive to a healthy pregnancy, she'd had an excited, whispered conversation with Giles about temporarily retiring.

Then one morning she woke up knowing something was wrong. The doctor tried to comfort her by telling her that sometimes these things happened and showing her the statistics and assuring her that she was young and could start trying again right away. Two months later she was still waking up feeling alone and empty. Training the girls usually kept her mind off it, but Deirdre's solemn looks were bringing it all back tonight.

"Buffy!"

She snapped her head up to see a pack of vamps converging on someone taking a shortcut through St. John's. "Go!" she shouted to the girls, quickly catching up with them.

The battle was short and the girls fought well. Lily tensed at bad time, but she was still learning. In fact, the only one injured was Buffy when one of the freshly risen vampires managed to smash her into a headstone. Compounding the throbbing in her skull was Rose, who after a year still hadn't learned to just tell the victims to go home.

"I'm Rosie!"

"Um. Jean. Hi. Oh, and thanks?"

"It's cool. It's what we do."

"Rose..." Buffy cautioned

"Yeah, well, you do it good. Thank you."

"It's really Buffy you should thank, oh and Spike. He's the best trainer but he's never around enough because he also works for this guy in LA, and--"

"Rose!"

"... I wish he was here more often."

Buffy sighed. "We all wish there was plenty of Spike to go around," she said quietly. Even though he barely spoke to her and was still mad about a bunch of stuff that she hadn't actually done, she missed him too. How long since he'd last been in town? Before she lost the baby, before she even knew about the baby? The pounding in her head was too distracting to think through. She pulled herself up and smiled wryly at the cemetery-wanderer. "Look, Jean, it's really better not to take shortcuts through graveyards at night."

"Done," the girl agreed.

"Buffy, are you okay?" Deirdre sidled up to her as they started heading back toward the council dorm. St. John's made four cemeteries, which was enough for one night.

"Oh my god! Your face is all purple!" Rose informed her.

Lily looked horrified. "It's my fault. You had to pull that guy off me, and he hurt you. I suck!"

"You don't suck," Buffy assured her, but man, her head hurt. "Everyone needs a rescue now and then."

It seemed like hours before she got back to her little townhouse. It was really way more house than she needed since Dawn only stayed with her on mandatory school breaks, but Giles insisted on getting her something nice when they made the move to Cleveland. Occasionally visiting watchers or slayers would bunk in her spare bedroom. Buffy kicked off her boots and dumped her weapons by the door. She found a bottle of Advil in the kitchen cabinet and washed it down with some apple juice. Climbing the stairs just seemed like too much work, so she pummeled one of the throw pillows into shape and curled up on the couch, hopefully to sleep until noon.


-------


No such luck.

It was the sound of the coffee maker sputtering to life that woke her. She was pretty sure she hadn't opened the drapes or remembered to set up coffee the night before. Also, there was the day's paper and a bag from the bakery around the corner on the kitchen island. No way was Dawn home from school in the middle of April, but what kind of demon broke in to make coffee and bring her pastries?

He was sitting on the bench out back with mug in hand, sunlight streaming down on his pale face, glinting off the unnaturally blond hair. She stared at him.

Apparently she had hit her head a lot harder than she'd realized.

"Spike!"

The apparition turned and smiled at her and rose from his seat. She wished he'd hurry getting out of the light. It was freaking her out.

"Good morning, pet." He frowned at her. "What happened to your face? And what the hell did you do to your hair?"

Buffy wasn't really paying attention, because he was real; his fingers were on her face. They were too warm and there was a simple gold band on one of them. His ears were edged with pink from the sun and she could feel blood pulsing in his fingertips.

"You're alive," she managed.

His frown deepened. "How hard did you hit your head, Buffy?"

She stepped out of his reach. Something was wrong. How did he get inside her house? "Who are you? What are you?"

Spike grabbed her arm and marched her inside. She let him. After all, he was only human and she could overpower him if she needed to. Unless this was all some sort of weird trick. Had he gotten split in half or something, like that time with Xander? But the wedding ring... Why was he at her house? He seemed a little surprised by her too. Had she slipped into another dimension in her sleep, like the world without shrimp or had someone done a spell, like Jonathan? She really wanted some of that coffee.

He pushed her to sit at the kitchen table. "Alright, you just sit and rest, love. God, I wish you'd said something last night if you were that hurt. I'll go check on Celia and call Willow."

Willow? Celia? What the hell was going on?

A moment latter he came roaring back down the stairs. "Where is she? All of her things are gone."

Buffy shook her head. "Look, Spike -- or whoever you are, the only Celia I know is my dead cousin."

"We named our daughter for her."

A little whimper escaped her. "We don't... we don't have a daughter."

The Spike-shaped stranger glared at her. "Who are you, and what have you done with my wife?" He seemed so genuine, like a man really panicked to find his world changed on him. She didn't think it was a trick. She'd seen this sort of thing before, like when Willow's evil twin had shown up. He was from somewhere else, apparently somewhere happier.

Buffy laughed. It was all she could do really. "Look, one of us is in the wrong place. And I'm guessing it's you because everything looks normal to me here. Except you. Did you walk through a dimensional portal recently or anything?"

He made a number of faces, but finally took a heavy seat across from her at the table. "We should call Willow."

Her face fell further. Another thing that was different in his magic universe. "Giles. Here we call Giles."


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Feedback, please!

Author’s Note: Thanks so much to Kar for her fabulous beta work an encouragement. This chapter introduces a Spike that might be a little familiar to constant readers.


Chapter Two

Buffy poured herself a cup of coffee and joined not-Spike at the kitchen island to wait for Giles. She sat on one of the stools and watched him stir his own cup. They stared at each other over their mugs for long, silent minutes. Her coffee was getting cold and whatever was in the bag smelled good.

"So, the whole heart-beating thing… how did that happen where you're from?"

He smiled and handed her a paper-wrapped cinnamon roll from the bag. "I got captured by a bunch of government soldier types, and afterward I started working for you and the Scoobs." She nodded to let him know that was familiar. "Willow did her soul curse on me and after I helped you, or my Buffy rather, save the world from Adam, it fulfilled some prophecy and I woke up human."

Buffy blinked and took a bite of the roll to stop herself from saying anything stupid.

"I take it things went a bit differently here."

"You could say that," she agreed. "Willow didn't curse you. I mean, we never even talked about that. Is that when you two got together?"

He laughed and studied his cup. "Christ no. Couldn't stand me then. Started putting up with me better after that and I started carrying on like a mooning idiot, but it wasn't ‘til after her soldier took off and Drusilla came back to reclaim me that she admitted there was anything between us."

"So you guys got married?" It was still pretty hard to imagine. Being with Spike was one thing, but married?

He gave her a sheepish smile. "When Celia.... I wanted to do the right thing."

"How noble," she teased. Really, she was feeling a little jealous of this other Buffy. "How did my family feel about it all?" she wondered aloud.

He frowned. "It was after your mum...." She nodded her understanding, so he continued. "And your dad was scarce, so it really wasn't an issue."

"What about Dawn?"

"Dawn?"

Buffy felt a little dizzy. No Dawn? It was just one little difference, wasn't it? Only not so little. She couldn't imagine life without her sister, even if half the things she remembered about her sister were imaginary.

"Never mind," she managed. She stared up at the top of the stairs, at the door to the second room where Dawn's little odds and ends lived. Then, where a blink ago there had been nothing, there was another Spike-shaped guy wearing nothing but a towel and a silver chain. Before she could make a sound, he sauntered into her bedroom, like it was the most ordinary thing in the world.

"Did I just see..."

"Yes," she whispered. "He's a vampire. I can feel it. He--"

"Buffy! What the hell happened to all of my...." He stared at them from the landing. "What the hell is going on? Get away from that thing!"

She decided it was wiser to take a few steps away from the island. "Spike, it's okay. Just... you're probably going to want to sit down."

-------

Giles finally arrived and Buffy decided it to let him interview the two Spikes alone. Hearing about the vampire-Spike's home, where her mom was still alive and things were, if possible, seemingly more shiny-happy than human-Spike's home was just too much. She washed her face until her skin was red from rubbing, but at least the tear tracks were gone. Vampire-Spike was waiting in her bedroom when she came out.

She tried to think of something to say. "Do you want some clothes? I think I might have some stuff that would fit you." She knew it was a badge of serious sadness that she still had Spike's tiny bag from Sunnydale. Months after the hellmouth closed, she'd found it packed into her own larger bag with a stack of family photos and Mr. Gordo. Even when he'd come to Cleveland full of his accusations about Italy, even after she and David got serious, she'd still kept the stupid bag.

The Spike studied the clothes carefully. "You have some of this things?"

"Yeah."

"But he doesn't..."

"No."

"Did he ever..."

"Not here. Sunnydale. I... lost him after Sunnydale."

He gave her the most sympathetic look. She didn't want to cry again. "So, I'm dust here then?"

"Oh. No. You're just in Los Angeles. He comes up here to help train the girls sometimes, but he works for Angel's evil law firm-thingy most of the time."

His expression turned confused. "I'm not dust, but I'm not with you," he offered, as though this were the least likely thing possible.

She had to laugh at his tone. "It surprised me too, but no, he doesn't want to be here."

"You're sure."

She refused to cry again. "He made it pretty clear." His face was full of questions, so she tried to head him off. "We grew apart, I guess, okay? He was really angry about some stuff he thought I did, and when he found out the truth he was still angry. Or maybe he was embarrassed," she explained, which was what she secretly believed. He'd spent nearly an hour ranting at her and when she'd informed him that he was mistaken he'd had to stay angry or else look like an even bigger idiot in his own eyes. She had been angry too, then. Angry that he mistook some other blonde slayer for her. Angry that he hadn't even tried to contact her in a year. Angry that, like Angel, he had just decided for her what was best. But then he'd pointed out that she'd known about his return from the embers for a while and accused her of not caring enough to come get him either, and that had pretty much left them with nowhere to go.

By the time she was done telling all that to the other Spike, she was near to crying again. She hadn't meant to bare her soul like that, but he was stroking her hair and looking at her like Spike used to when she'd come back from the dead, wanting to know everything she was feeling. After a moment she realized that he was touching her and not wearing very much.

"I'll let you get dressed," she blurted and stepped into the hallway to compose herself. When he walked out into the hall he was dressed, looking like a walking memory of their last night together all those years ago. It was deeply unsettling.

"L-- Buffy, you alright?"

"This is going to sound so stupid. You look just like him."

He smiled. "Let's go downstairs and see if old Rupes has come up with anything."

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Author’s Note: Thanks so much to Kar for her wonderful beta work and encouragement.


Chapter Three

When it became obvious that none of Giles's simple spells were going to pinpoint where the Spikes belonged, he volunteered his guest room for human Spike. Vampire-Spike wanted to stay with her though, and after a long talk with Giles she decided that might be a good idea in case any more doppelgangers arrived. Besides, she was lonely.

"Giles doesn't seem too happy about this."

"Yeah, well, there are some trust issues with him and this universe's Spike." She shrugged. "They both have their reasons, frankly." He didn't say anything, just watched her fidget with her laptop. The whole thing was pretty awkward. She should have just sent him home with Giles too. Did she really want a big Spike-shaped sounding board?

"Do you want to order a pizza or something?" She opened the fridge and rummaged around. "I don't think I have any beer though," she babbled, trying to cover her nervousness. "If I do, it's way old. I don't buy it anymore, since..."

"Since?" he prompted.

Buffy turned to face him. "I was seeing someone for a while."

He nodded. "Didn't end well."

It wasn't really a question, but she answered anyway. "Really no." Her relationships were always doomed anyway, weren't they? Even when the guy wasn't a freak? "It didn't really begin well, either. I mean, I'm sure it looked fine from the outside, but I think I just felt like I should be dating someone normal. That's what everybody seemed to want for me. It's even what Spike told me I should do."

"Is that right?"

She smirked at the skepticism in his voice. "I was more like a dare, you know? He was all 'you thought you wanted normal, give it a try and see if it's half so comfy as you think' or something. Anyway, I was mad, and... I'm sorry. I shouldn't be telling you all this. This has to be really bizarre for you."

"No, I'm curious."

"Well, anyway, David turned out to be not so normal and it didn't work out in a really big way." He had seemed so normal too, at least for a Watcher, which was as close to normal as she could reasonably get without either lying or being accused of massive insanity. So David liked her to wear her hair in pigtails and call him 'Mr. Addison' instead of 'David' in bed. That was far from the kinkiest thing she'd ever done. Or so she'd thought at the time. And if the frequency of their bedroom boughts was low, well, he was only mortal.

God, she was so stupid.

"I'm sorry, Buffy."

She shook herself out of the queasy reverie and forced a smile. "Don't be. David was... a big mistake."

"Not that." He lowered his eyes. "The other."

"Oh." She rubbed her hand across her flat stomach. "That. Yeah. It's okay. I mean, no, it's not okay, but it just is."

"She can't, you know," he blurted into the thickening silence.

Buffy knitted her brows. "Huh?"

"Buffy, my Buffy. She can't. None of the slayers can, not where I'm from."

Buffy struggled to absorb that. No babies. Not ever. His Buffy still had her mom, but the other her would never be able to feel what she had felt for those precious few weeks. She hadn't planned on getting pregnant, she'd never even thought about it in anything but an extremely theoretical way, and there was no way of knowing if it ever would happen again. But once it did happen... Would she rather be his Buffy? Have her mom but never be a mom?

"You! What the bleeding fuck did you do, you miserable cunt?"

Buffy spun around to see a seething Spike puffing at her. Before she could move, the other Spike insinuated himself between her and the new Spike.

The new Spike laughed a really nasty laugh. "Commissioned yourself a robot then, slayer? Told you you'd miss me."

"I say we kill him," the other Spike suggested calmly. "He reeks of human blood."

The new Spike sneered. "Got my chip out, didn't I? Been making up for lost time ever since," he bragged. "So if you brought me here for a showdown, slayer, I say we get started."

"Right then," the other Spike agreed. In a blink he pounced on his less friendly counterpart. She heard the sickening sound of a spine cracking, and then Spike was standing up, dusting off his borrowed pants. "Bloody hell, slayer, did I really waste so much time taunting you in my evil days? No wonder you always won."

"Oh my god!" she shouted at him. "I cannot believe you just did that! What if we can't send any of you back unless we can send all of you back?"

He gave her an exasperated look. "So you'd just send an evil shit like him back home to keep feeding on the populace? I think not."

Buffy sagged against the kitchen counter. "Okay, good point. I just... wasn't expecting you to do that." Plus seeing Spike, any Spike, get dusted was more upsetting than she would have imagined.

He patted her shoulder. "Your little Council's not the only one working on it, are they? If your Giles can't figure it, then my Willow will."

She didn't say anything, distracted by the feel of his hand on her shoulder. When was the last time she'd thought about Spike touching her? She'd had violent fantasies about him tearing David apart, but it had been a really long time since she'd found herself physically longing for him. She mostly just missed her friend, but that Spike was long gone. No spell was going to bring him back.

"Let's order that pizza, love. You need to eat."

She smiled at him. "You miss her, don't you?"

"Every second," he agreed. "And unless I'm much mistaken, he misses you too."

Buffy wished she knew whether that was true or not, but she didn't say anything. Nothing good ever came of wishing.


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I’m currently working on the second half of the story (I expect it to be about six chapters). I would really appreciate any comments or quibbles on this story. It has been a tough one to write, but an idea I just couldn’t let lie.

Author’s Note: Big thanks again to my fabu beta, Kar and to all of you who are reading and reviewing. The feedback really is helpful.


Chapter Four

Buffy woke with a start and grabbed a stake before opening her eyes. The clock informed her that it was still hours before sunrise. There was an eerie stillness in the house. In the dark she padded to Dawn's room. Vampire-Spike was curled around his pillow, sleeping soundly.

But in her living room there were two new Spikes. One sandy-haired Spike was asleep on her couch, naked. The other was staring vacantly ahead, seemingly unperturbed by his nude double. He was skeletally thin and one of his arms looked like it had been replaced with some sort of bladed metal pole. An olive drab jumpsuit hung on him, crusted with blood. When he turned his head to look at her, she saw that one side of his face had been jammed full of circuitry.

She heard a choked sound from the stairs and realized that the other Spike had followed her.

The emaciated Spike stared at her stake with something like lust. "Slayer, thank god," he slurred, the word gurgled like he could barely move his jaw. "Kill me. Please, kill me." With his flesh hand, he pulled the cloth back to expose his scarred chest. "Please, kill me, slayer."

Her breath caught in her throat. The miserable thing pushed itself up to kneel, leaning heavily on the weapon of an arm. Buffy hefted her stake and moved forward carefully, bracing for him to swing the knife. Instead he croaked a sob of relief. "It's okay," she reassured him as she crept closer. "It's over now."

She felt cool hands on her shoulders and realized that she had been blinking at the pile of dust and wires for several minutes, repeating those words in a whisper. His voice penetrated her refrain. "Pet. Pet, it's alright now. Come sit down."

Buffy dropped heavily on the armchair and stared blankly at the other new Spike, who was clearly a deep sleeper. He reeked of whiskey, which probably had something to do with it.

She had just dusted Spike, or something that looked a lot like him. Her stomach rolled as she reasoned out that what she'd just slain was what was left of Hostile 17 after a long stay with the Initiative. Her fist tightened on the stake until in snapped.

"Angel?" naked Spike inquired in a soft Masterpiece Theatre voice.

"Not exactly," she managed apologetically. At least this one didn't seem inclined to beg for death or attack her. Instead he gaped at her and mashed a pillow over his groin as he sat up. "You have no idea who I am, do you?"

"Should I?" he asked.

"Not really." She watched his eyes widen as they landed on his clothed, bleached mirror image. "I know who you are though. I'm Buffy, the--"

"The slayer!" He beamed at her. "We've been looking for you! My sire and I wish to offer our assistance to the chosen one. I am William, at your service, madam."

"William. Okay."

"Did Angel find you then? Is he not with you? I've been waiting for his return."

Waiting for Angel. Naked. She stopped her mind from wandering very far down that path and instead gave him a brief explanation. Then she spent several minutes reassuring him that they would figure out a way to returning this him to Angel and then a few more figuring out if she had anything he could wear.

While William hunted for clothes, she called Giles and watched not-Spike make a pot of coffee.

"Wow," she sighed, taking a cup of coffee from the by now familiar not-Spike. "I mean, I guess I kinda knew that in your fledgling days, you and Angel... but like that?"

He gave her a dirty look. "I have no idea what you're talking about."

Oh whatever, she mused, but kept the thought to herself. "Uh huh."

"You sure he's for real?" he asked, changing the subject. “All that about them both getting cursed and looking for you?”

She held his eyes and answered, "I think being terrible liars is something you Spikes have in common."

"Amassing quite the collection of us, aren't you?"

She remembered those little understanding smiles. There was a mean little part of her that wondered if it would be so bad if this Spike stuck around. Maybe she wasn't that different from his Buffy. How long would it take for him to fall in love with her instead? She should be an adequate replacement for herself, right?

"We should start pinning numbers on your chests. Or giving you code names or something. I mean, in my head you're 'not-Spike', but that's not really true from your point of view. Any old aliases you could go by? Or you could be Randy, or something?"

It wasn't until the words were out of her mouth that it occurred to her that he might have no idea what she was talking about. Either way, he gave her a loaded glance that made her entire nervous system buzz. No one but Spike had ever made her feel like it would really be good if her clothes could just evaporate, and it was really hard to remember why she wasn't supposed to be tackling him to the floor and...

Right. Not her Spike. And not advisable with her Spike.

"Thank you, no, Joan."

Okay, so at least he didn't think she was hitting on him. She started to take a drink of coffee, but froze.

"What's wrong, love?"

Buffy couldn't help a little wistful smile. She knew he was just outside, peeking through the window at her, just as skilled a stalker as ever. "He's here."


--------

She felt almost shy standing there in her open doorway. Guilty for the way she'd been carrying on with not-Spike. Which was stupid. She could flirt with whoever she wanted to; he didn't care anyway. These days she never knew what to say to him, other than to talk about the girls and their training. What else were they going to talk about? Old times? Angel? "Are you coming in, or what?"

He studied her carefully. "Not smart is it these days, Summers, inviting any old Spike into your parlor?"

She just rolled her eyes. "Will you just get in here already? My coffee is getting cold." She turned and went back into the kitchen. If he wanted to be all cool and posturing, fine.

She watched him gape at the other Spike, both of them flaring their nostrils and eyes each other suspiciously. His double gave him a murderous glance and squeezed her shoulder. "Gonna go check on the other," he explained.

"Well, isn't he friendly?" She ignored him and his sleaze-soaked tone. "You're just letting him roam about?"

Buffy shrugged. "He's harmless. Really. If he wanted to hurt me, he's had plenty of chances."

"Is that right?" he asked snidely.

"Oh for God's sake!" she exploded at him. "Please get over yourself." Her coffee was, indeed, cold. Getting up to get another cup was a good distraction. In just a few minutes she'd gone from missing him to wanting him gone. Well, that's wasn't exactly true. She wanted this distant asshole Spike gone and her old devoted lieutenant back.

When she turned back around, he was wearing his 'poor, injured me' face, which just pissed her off. She tells him she believes in him, trusts him, loves him. He dismisses her, ignores her, forgets her. And then acts like he's the injured party? Whatever.

"Buffy, love. Got another one."

She winced and turned to see another foreign Spike standing between not-Spike and the unfortunate William, who had dressed himself in the sweats she wore when she felt particularly bloated.

"Morning, pet."

She eyed him warily. "You seem to be taking this rather well."

The new Spike shrugged. "Happens all the time. Well, usually it's her taking some magical walkabout, but some team of Scoobies will sort it soon enough. Can I smoke in here?"

"No," she answered instantly. She gave the other Spikes a look -- his blasé attitude was making her suspicious, but he didn't give off any signs of lying -- and showed him out onto her little porch. There was enough shade to protect him from the rising sun.

"Any theories?" he asked around the cigarette as he fired up. "Odd magical markings on your door or vengeance demons hanging about?"

She huffed a laugh. "You think someone would wish a bunch of Spikes on me as punishment?"

He gave her a bedroom smile and quirked his eyebrow. "Some sort of reward then?"

Had he just grabbed her ass?

"Buffy? Buffy, are you here?"

Giles's voice. Thank god. She stepped out of arm's reach and told him to come in when he was done. Inside the Spikes were exchanging stories, Spike and not-Spike watching each other with open hostility. She briefed Giles and listened to his report on the whole lot of nothing he and the other watchers had come up with. The minute he was done, she excused herself. She needed a cold shower.


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I’ve got a draft of five going, but I’m still tweaking it. Hope to post again soon. Feedback is treasured. Please comment, or feel free to email msclawdia@hotmail.com

Author’s Note: Thanks to the wonderful Kar for a fast turnaround on the beta job. Thank you to everyone who is reading and reviewing, and to zanthinegirl and Herself for recommending my story to others. You’re all making me very glad I didn’t give up on this idea. I hope folks will like this chapter as well.



Some readers have expressed confusion about the Spikes, so a little list of the un-dusty.
Spikes, a Field Guide
Spike - our favorite vampire
human-Spike -- has a pulse and a daughter with his wife, Buffy
not-Spike -- born of a challenge at the BSV, this vampire cohabitates with his Buffy in a universe where Joyce lives on. You can get to know not-Spike better by reading my Borrowed Time stories. ;)
grabby-Spike -- a smoky, sultry vampire who has a history of bopping about time and space
William -- Angel's unlife partner.


Chapter Five

“Oh yeah, all the time. She’s gotten pulled back and forth through time a time or five. I got flung into another dimension by a spell once. Then there was a kobold kidnapped Dawn and used her to open a gate. That was an adventure…”

Buffy pretended to listen politely for a while as the newest, grabbiest Spike explained why he wasn’t more perturbed by the situation. He had an earring in one ear. What was it with alterna-Spikes and the jewelry?

The other Spikes were mostly watching him, but he was watching her. With extreme intensity. It was disturbing, and it was causing things to happen to her body that were not of the good under the circumstances.

As soon as she could, she excused herself. Over the patter of water on tile, she could hear the faint rumble of their continued conversations. She didn’t know what it was like for Spike, looking at his doubles, talking to them. Even though they had his face, in a weird way it was like gazing in a mirror for her too, each Spike reflecting back some other Buffy. The one who never met him, the one who didn’t save him, the one who gave him children, the one who lived happily with her vampire companion. That one seemed most like her, but how had everything turned out so differently? She needed to stop thinking.

She exited the shower into her bedroom feeling a bit more centered and relieved. Buffy was also a little embarrassed; she knew they would probably know what she had been doing in there. Probably they could smell it or something. She had needed it though, and now she felt calm and ready to face them all again.

Or so she'd thought. The sight that greeted her in her bedroom pretty much derailed the whole calming thing. She wasn't entirely sure which three they were until the half-dressed trio started talking.

"No need for that, pet. If you needed something taken care of, all you had to do was ask." He smelled faintly of smoke and when he tilted his head she saw the earring reflecting light. The latest addition, then.

"After all, it's not like it's cheating,” human-Spike suggested. “You are my wife."

"I've always heard that the blood of a slayer is an aphrodisiac," William added.

She emitted a little squeak, which they seemed to take as some sort of permission, because she was suddenly crushed on all sides by Spikes. They caressed and massaged and kissed at her back, her breasts, her neck. Warm hands under her robe and cool ones against her face, and really, why not? They wanted her, and it had been a really long time since she had been wanted, especially by Spike. She knew how good it could feel to give into that, and the only thing that would be better than one Spike was more Spikes. All those Spike hands and Spike mouths and Spike--

"No!" She wrenched herself out of their grips and staggered down the stairs, fumbling with her loosened robe. Behind her slammed door she heard the unmistakable sounds of the trio of Spikes cutting their losses. That was so not helping her clear her head.

Spike and not-Spike gazed at her from opposite sides of the kitchen island. "Where's Giles?" she blurted.

"Butcher shop. No good could come of us getting peckish."

"Oh." She collapsed against the wall.

Not-Spike squeezed her shoulder. "You alright--"

"No touching!"

Not-Spike nodded, glancing briefly at the ceiling. "Going for a smoke," was all he said before leaving her alone with the Spike. Who was smirking at her and practically radiating glee.

"Oh, shut up," she snapped. She was going to storm out or something when she noticed a glossy little rectangle on the table. She sat down heavily and stared at the smiling little girl in the picture. "Celia?"

"Yeah."

She should have gone through with it, she mused, if there was some chance something like this could come out of it. "She's got your nose. Lucky."

"Buffy." His hand covered hers, which she'd put on her belly without thinking.

She looked down at their hands on her stomach, felt his eyes on the same spot. Buffy wondered if he was thinking the same thing she was, that if she was with him there wasn't going to be a next time. There were things Spike just couldn't give her. But then again, he didn't want to be with her, so the point was pretty much moot.

Maybe it really was for the best. She'd never be able to give a kid a normal life. Even Dawn wanted a break from their crazy world, four years of giving normal a try, a vacation from hellmouths and demons. Or what if the baby wasn't normal to begin with? She would never forget the absolute joy on Faith's face when she'd come sauntering into the school with her two-week-old girl. Nor would she forget the absolute terror on the new mother's face when Willow told her that the baby would be a slayer.

Willow...

I can fix it. I can bring it back.

Willow never could keep her mouth shut.

Just then there was a loud cracking sound and she knew that one of her mattress supports had just given way. She'd been thinking about replacing the whole thing anyway. Turning the mattress and new sheets weren't enough to make it really feel clean again. She just hoped no one had dusted.

The moment had shattered too though. Spike withdrew his hand and tilted his head at the doorway. “Watcher should be back soon. I’m going to take the air.”


**************

She made Giles take William and sleazoid-Spike to stay with some of the sterner Watchers. Human-Spike was staying with Giles himself again. Spike and not-Spike were both staying with her, which was already exhausting her because they could not stop snarking at each other for five damn minutes.

She was taking Dawn's bed. At least Giles thought he had found a spell that could send them home, but getting the ingredients together was going to take time.

After a few hours of twisting and turning, she gave up on sleep and tossed Dawn’s blankets aside. Maneuvering carefully around her destroyed bed, she found some fresh clothes. The other doppelgangers in the house watched her silently. She stared back. When she'd found Mr. Gordo's exact replica in the toy store, she'd taken it as some kind of good omen. Now she couldn't quite bring herself to get rid of him or hide him, so he just sat there on the dresser night after night. She patted his head on the way out of the room.

Downstairs the television murmured. Not-Spike was dozing on the couch. Buffy pulled the blanket off the back and draped it over him.

In the kitchen, Spike was microwaving himself a midnight snack. "Sweet on him, aren't you?"

"He reminds me of you," she admitted. From before, when you loved me, she didn’t add. She watched him drink his blood. "You're jealous," she suggested, trying to keep her tone light.

"Right," he snorted. But then his face went sad. "A bit, yeah. You sorry you'll have to send him back with the others?"

Buffy thought about that for a minute. She hadn't really let herself consider what it was going to be like having all the Spikes gone. She knew her Spike, or real Spike, or whatever wasn't going to stick around long after the others were sent home.

"Nah," she replied as lightly as she could manage. "His Buffy has gotta be frantic missing him and trying to figure out what happened."

"Missing him... Well, not you then, is she, pet?"

It took considerable restraint not to sock him in the jaw. "Right. And you missed me so much you let me go on thinking you were dead." She could feel her arm twitch with the urge to swing at him. "I mean, you thought you were within ten yards of me and you still couldn't man up and say 'Hey, pet, guess what? Back in once piece.' You amaze me with this injured woobie crap."

After a long silence and a lot of scowling, he whispered, "Maybe I wanted you to go on thinking I was dead."

"Yeah," she huffed. "Message received." Turning on her heel, she stormed out of the room. Not-Spike opened sleepy eyes to watch her put on her boots, but didn't say anything as she flounced out into the night and headed towards Memorial Park. She needed to kill something, and she had plenty of time before sunrise.


------------

I’ve got a draft of the next chapter going, so I should be posting soon. I’m now predicting a total of seven chapters, perhaps with an epilogue. I really to appreciate all the feedback on this one. Feel free to leave any comments, questions, or quibbles you may have. Thanks for reading.

Author’s Note: Thanks to Kar and my readers for all your support. Feedback is very much appreciated.


Some readers have expressed confusion about the Spikes, so a little list of the un-dusty.
Spikes, a Field Guide
Spike - our favorite vampire
human-Spike -- has a pulse and a daughter with his wife, Buffy
not-Spike -- born of a challenge at the BSV, this vampire cohabitates with his Buffy in a universe where Joyce lives on. You can get to know not-Spike better by reading my Borrowed Time stories. ;)
grabby-Spike -- a smoky, sultry vampire who has a history of bopping about time and space
William -- Angel's unlife partner.


Chapter Six

It was cold in the cemetery, but the fight warmed her up. Buffy knew it was foolish to ambush such a large group, but she was craving the danger. When she'd dusted the last of the group, she leaned against a mausoleum to catch her breath. If Giles and science were right, and they often were, if there had been a good chance that she was going to get herself killed then maybe the universe had just split in two and she’d lucked out into the ‘Buffy lives’ result.

"Slayer? You're still alive? Thought some new girl got called years ago."

She looked up to see a Spike with a face full of confusion. There were dried salt tracks on his face. Gripping her stake a little tighter, she gave a little wave. It was better, she figured, not to say much until she knew a little more about this one.

"Must have had too much to drink tonight. I think I'm lost."

"Sorry," she offered gamely.
“Don’t remember coming back to Sunnydale,” he mused.
She nodded. “We’re not in Sunnydale.”
He sniffed the air. “Not Oslo either though.” He gave her a look like someone completely adrift. "Dru's gone."

Oh. Crap. They had Xander and his team of older slayers to thank for that, but something told her this Spike wouldn't take that news very well.

"I can't feel her anywhere. She's gone." He frowned at her and she found herself really wishing that she didn't have her back against a big piece of rock. "It was you, wasn't it?"

"No, it really wasn't," she told him, trying to inch away a little.

"We had a deal, you know," he told her with eerie calm. His fangs came down. "Stayed gone, stayed well away from you and yours. But, if you're not going to hold up your end..."

She managed to duck and roll under his lunge, but then he tripped her and she fell hard against the mausoleum wall. In a daze she swung at him but nothing connected. She rolled away, but he just straddled her and pushed her face-first into the dirt. Cool breath wafted against her neck and she felt like crying. After everything she'd survived, this was how she was going to die?

Not in this universe. Not in any universe. Her fate was not to die at the hands of a drunken Spike. Her screaming senses combined with the pounding in her skull to give her enough adrenaline to buck him off. He went flying into the mausoleum wall, head-first, and slumped against it. She spat out dirt and crawled a few feet to retrieve her stake and turned to stake the unconscious vamp. Only he reached up and grabbed her arm, rolling on top of her. She yanked her wrist out of his grasp and stabbed up hard.

When her coughing fit ended, she saw another Spike standing over her. His earring glimmered in the moonlight. Grabby-Spike. Just what she needed.

"A bit disturbing, watching that," he said quietly, hunkering down next to her. "You alright?"

Truthfully she felt horribly nauseated and slightly embarrassed. "Need to rest a minute," she acknowledged. She let her body relax into the ground while she caught her breath and her head stopped booming. "What are you doing out here anyway? I thought Giles dropped you off at Stanley's," she managed after a few minutes.

He shrugged and brushed some dirt off her face. "I wanted to talk to you. To apologize for before."

She took one look at him and laughed aloud. "You so didn't. You wanted to see if I'd be more interested in a one-on-one instead of a foursome."

"Can't blame a bloke for trying."

Buffy pushed herself up to sit. She shook her head at him. Covered in dirt, grass, and his double’s dust, and he was still giving her the bedroom eyes. "Wouldn't it piss off your Buffy?"

He smiled and lit a cigarette. "She's forgiven me worse. I’ve forgiven her…" He took a deep drag and shrugged it off.

In a weird way it made her feel better to think that just because they'd ended up together in some universes, that didn't mean everything was necessarily smooth sailing. "The answer's still no."

"Right then. Let's get you home." He helped her to her feet. "The local version," he ventured after a while, "what's his problem?"

She watched him out of the corner of her eye as they walked. "He's mad at me. I'm mad at him. There's a lot of angry."

"Lot of stubborn, too."

"Well, yeah."

He stopped and brushed a few strands of hair out of her face. "He's miserable, if that makes you feel any better."

It didn't. And she didn't want to talk about it. She didn't want to get her head throbbing again, but Giles's explanation about the many world theory... didn't that mean that somewhere there was a Spike who had gone to her the minute he'd un-dusted? And also, in some reality, she was entering her second trimester. What was she, worst-case-scenario Buffy?

Her reality sucked. "Well, you've got to be unhappy too, being stuck here."

"Eager to be home, sure. This is a good hour for us. Patrol's done, kids are abed."

She stopped walking, feeling suddenly woozy. "Kids? You have kids?" She gestured at his groin. "But you... I mean, it's dead, right?"

He curled his tongue at her. "There are ways, slayer. Spells, charms, donations. You should look into it."

Buffy started moving again. "Really not necessary," she sighed.

She decided it would be a good idea to walk grabby-Spike back to the Stanley's place, just to make sure he didn't get into any trouble. Plus, it was fun talking to him about his sons and how apparently she craved all things coconutty during the last trimester. Just in case she ever needed to know that.

When she got home, Spike was sitting on the stoop, cradling a bloody fist in his lap, and looking utterly forlorn.

"I leave you guys alone for five minutes..." she teased, trying to keep things light.

He sniffed a little laugh. "Had a conversation, yeah. I'll pay for patching your wall up."

"That's big of you."

Buffy smiled at him. It occurred to her suddenly that she had options here. She could march on past him. She could slug him. She could kiss him. She could talk to him. Maybe even apologize. If the stuff Giles had said was right, then all those things would happen. So, which Buffy did she want to be?

"I shouldn't have stormed out earlier," she blurted. His shock at her quasi-apology was obvious. "It's just that... Spike, letting me think you were dead really hurt. Actually it still hurts."

"Never meant to hurt you, Buffy. Didn't want to do that ever again," he replied, looking at a spot just over her shoulder.

"So why?" she demanded. She wanted to be the Buffy Who Knows. She was tired of being the Buffy Who Wonders.

"You loved me when you thought I was dead."

For a minute she wasn't sure what to say to that. So maybe he really had believed her after all. That was something, she guessed. Of course for all those months she thought he'd died thinking she didn't feel that way about him. Then when it turned out he wasn't dust after all, she was sure he didn't believe her. "I loved you for a long time after that too, Spike," she admonished quietly.

"But not now."

What about now? How did she feel? She'd never really been very good at knowing how she felt, especially about Spike, until something big happened and it jumped out like the most obvious thing. "I don't know." She grabbed his injured hand and pressed her palm against his. No flames burst out, but it did feel like something sparked between their skins. "I know I miss you though. I miss talking to you."

He looked at their joined hands and shook his head. "Could have fooled me."

It hit her all of a sudden, what it must have felt like from his end. "You wanted me to come to LA."

Spike dropped his eyes and shrugged. "Might have been nice, yeah."

But of course by the time she'd found out he was in LA, he'd been un-dusty so long that she'd figured his lack of contact was a sign of how he wanted things. Had some other Buffy read him better?

"You know, it was me who asked you to come out here and help train the girls," she pointed out.

Spike blinked at her a few times. "Angel said it was Giles."

Well. That explained a number of things actually. "No, as a matter of fact Giles wasn't crazy about the idea, but he had to admit you were a big help with the potentials back in Sunnydale." She brushed her thumb across his hand. "And the girls love training with you."

"Popular with the bitty slayers, am I?"

So she had a type, she considered wryly.

"They all miss you," she assured him with a small smile. "In fact just the other night --- oh crap!"

She jumped back dropping his hand and immediately regretted the loss of contact.

"What? What is it, slayer?"

She shook her head at her own stupidity. "I just realized, I know what's going on."


------------

Okay, so I’m not going to be wrapping this up as quickly as I thought. After all, figuring out what happened is not the same as fixing it. Please let me know if you have comments, questions, or quibbles.

Author’s Note: Sorry for the delay between chapter. Thanks to Kar for the beta job and to my readers for all their great comments. This one’s a short one. I hope to get the next part ready over the weekend.


Some readers have expressed confusion about the Spikes, so a little list of the un-dusty.
Spikes, a Field Guide
Spike - our favorite vampire
human-Spike -- has a pulse and a daughter with his wife, Buffy
not-Spike -- born of a challenge at the BSV, this vampire cohabitates with his Buffy in a universe where Joyce lives on.
grabby-Spike -- a smoky, sultry vampire who has a history of bopping about time and space
William -- Angel's unlife partner.


Chapter Seven


"A wish?" Spike practically shouted at her. "You made a wish?"

Buffy held up her hands. "I know. I didn't realize she was a demon or whatever. I was just trying to shut Rosie up, okay? We rescued this woman and she kept talking about how great you were and how much they all miss you, and I guess I said something about wishing you were around more. I really don't remember, and I had just hit my head really hard which might explain why I did something that stupid, and I really don't want to talk about it any more."

Buffy hastened them into the house and found another Spike sitting with not-Spike. "Oh, great," she growled. "Is this one evil, or..."

"Seems safe enough," not-Spike answered.

"Thanks ever so," groused the new Spike.

"He's got a pulse," not-Spike elaborated with false enthusiasm.

"I earned that pulse, you wanker. Any of you tossers ever take down a dragon?"

Spike raised his hand with a smirk.

"Well, sorry about this whole thing," she told the new arrival. "I think I know what happened now, so we'll be able to get you home soon."

"Care to share with the rest of the class, pet?" not-Spike prompted.

Buffy took a deep breath. "I made a wish, okay? A really ill-advised wish. And now we've got to track down the demon that granted it."

"Should know better, slayer," not-Spike chided.

She made a frustrated noise. "It wasn't a vengeance wish or anything, and... I know it was stupid, so could we just concentrate on fixing it?"

Dragon-slayer-Spike made a show of extreme shock. "Did the slayer just admit an error?" he asked with dripping sarcasm.

She exchanged glances with Spike and not-Spike. "I take it we're not buddies back home?" she suggested.

"Not exactly. Christ, I'm glad we're done with you."

"We?"

"Couldn't admit you were wrong about Angel," he groused, then crossed his arms over his chest and sneered at her silently.

"You do understand that I have no idea what you're talking about," she pointed out.

Not-Spike heaved a sigh, obviously having heard this story before. "You thought Peaches had gotten in too deep with some evil law firm, and after you helped him clean up the mess he made, you decided--"

"Went prancing off to Giles," the new guy muttered. "And we were glad to see the back of you."

Buffy clapped her hands together. "Well, we'll get you back to Angel as soon as we track down this demon. She's probably trolling the nearby bars. That's what Anya always did."

Spike knitted his brows at her. "How do you figure this for a vengeance wish?"

Buffy sighed and shook her head. "I don't know, but do you really think it's a coincidence?"

"Probably not," he agreed.

"Slight problem, pet," not-Spike piped up. "It's nearing sunrise and the bars are closed. May have to delay this little plan until they reopen."

Her face fell. "Okay, fine. We'll call Giles. Maybe he knows some about some other kind of wish-granting demon. We could get everyone over here before the sun comes up..." She bit her lip. "You know, she said her name was Jean... Genies aren't real, are they?"

Spike groaned and not-Spike gave her a little smile. "Real enough. There's a class of jinn that have a yen for granting wishes."

"Reputation for making them come true in the worst way possible," dragon-slaying-Spike agreed. "Good job, Summers."

Buffy really, really wanted to punch him. "I'll go call Giles." She had the sinking feeling that this story wasn't going to get any easier to tell, and that she was going to have to repeat it several more times before the sun rose.

She hung up her phone and turned to see Spike standing close beside her. "Maybe it's better that I didn't come to LA," she whispered.

He snorted. "Wouldn't have agreed to that little arrangement even if you'd asked," Spike asserted.

"What arrangement?"

"Trios never work out, pet."

He'd called her 'pet', but wait... trio? "You mean, the three of them were... together?" She banished a particularly vivid, and not entirely unpleasant, mental image. "I guess that Buffy is less like me than I thought."

He gave her a wan, little smile, like he knew exactly what kind of thought had just passed through her brain. "Just wanted to say, nothing too pressing back in California. And since you did wish for me after all..."

She rolled her eyes, but couldn't fight the smile. "I'm just glad you're here." Feeling not entirely confident, she slowly lifted on hand to press against his cheek and just held it there for the few second before the doorbell rang.


-------------------

If she had to say one more time that she knew making a wish out loud was a bad idea, she was going to throttle someone. Frankly, a number of the Spikes looked good as an outlet for her increasingly frustration.

She squeezed shut her eyes and jammed her fists against her eyelids. "So, if it was a genie, why did she grant me a wish?"

"Possibly because you saved her life?" Giles suggested. "There's little reliable literature on the subject, but that is consistent with most genie legends."

"So, shouldn't I get three wishes or something?" she asked desperately. "Am I her master now? Like, can I summon her, or--"

There was a blast of sound and light, scattering the Spikes to the corners of the living room as a glowing, flickering hole appeared next to the coffee table. For a moment there was just a nimbus of mist around a gleaming girl. But then the figure solidified into something that was clearly her. The other Buffy looked around the room, shouted, "There you are!", and not-Spike moved so fast that he practically left a little puff of cartoon dust in his wake.

They spun out of sight for a moment, and then the other Buffy was back in view, blinking at her. Buffy took her reflection in as the other Buffy surveyed the assorted Spikes in the room. "Do you guys need some help, or--"

"Can't hold it much longer, Buffy!" Willow's voice rang out from somewhere far away.

"We're good," she assured her double. After all, she knew how guilty she would feel if she were the one leaving another her in the lurch. The other Buffy looked good, sleeker or curvier or something. Maybe it was just that she was happier. "And thank you," she added quietly to not-Spike.

The other Buffy gave not-Spike a sharp look, but he just smirked. "Take care, pet," he replied as the hole collapsed on itself.

Buffy sat down heavily on the coffee table. "Okay, well, I don't think we can count on all of you getting called home that way, so how do we find genie girl? Is there a spell or anything?"

"Have you tried calling her?" asked human-Spike.

Buffy raised an eyebrow. "Like what? Here, genie, genie, genie?"

"Hi!"

Buffy whipped her head around, and there she was.


--------

New and longer chapter soon! Feedback is much appreciated.

Author’s Note: And so I begin to wind things down. Thanks to Kar for her beta work and to all my readers and reviewers. Feedback is always appreciated.


Chapter Eight

The genie, who really did look like a totally normal woman in her early twenties, gave Buffy an expectant look. Buffy hopped to her feet and looked the mystical creature over a few times. “You granted me a wish,” she pointed out.

Jean grinned. “Well, yeah. Thought the idea was to share though. Looks like you’re hoarding.”

“Shush!” Buffy ordered, holding up a hand and preempting most of the comments from the Spikes. There were still a few snorts of laughter at her expense. “Why did you grant me a wish?”

“Duh. You saved my life. That’s how it works. You save me, I give you three wishes. Don’t you watch television?”

“Why not just save yourself, if you’ve magical abilities?” Giles asked calmly.

Jean gave the gathered crowd an exhausted look. “If I just ‘pwinged’ myself away every time I was in peril, I couldn’t grant wishes.”

“So… you want to grant wishes?” Buffy asked, feeling increasingly confused.

“It’s my calling, you know. Plus… grant enough wishes and I get to move on out of this dreary little realm.” She blew an enormous purple gum bubble. “So, you get two more, slayer gal. Make them good!”

Buffy was sure that any further wishing was probably a bad idea. “I’d really like to pass, thanks. As it is, I’m not real thrilled about the first wish having been granted.”

“You can wish to undo it!” Jean replied brightly. “That’s popular. Or wish you’d never met me. Also a common request.”

“What did your last, er, rescuer wish for?” Buffy asked.

“A night of passion with some starlet or other. Turns out he wasn’t as big a Mel Gibson fan as he thought, and her lawyers weren’t thrilled about the whole thing either.” She pointed her finger at Buffy. “Look, you summoned me, so I assume you want something.”

So, tricky and impatient. Not a good combination in a demon. “Just… don’t go anywhere,” Buffy instructed. She motioned for Giles and the Spikes to follow her into the kitchen. “Okay, I have to word this really carefully.”

Giles removed his glasses. “Wouldn’t wishing the whole thing had never occurred be most prudent?”

Buffy gave Spike a sidelong glance, thinking about everything else that wouldn’t have happened if she did that. Wish the whole thing undone and that would mean going back to sulky silence, and she didn’t want that, not ever again. “No. I don’t want her screwing with my life any more than she already has.” Which sounded like a reasonable enough excuse.

“What then?” human-Spike asked. “Ask her to put us back where we belong?”

“Not specific enough,” grabby-Spike warned. “Way too much room to get creative. Could all end up in some sort of hell dimension.”

“Thanks ever so,” muttered dragon-slayer-Spike.

“Well, what if you wished us back where we came from?”

“No good,” Spike insisted. “Could end up with the lot of us in merry ‘old.”

“Giles?” Buffy pleaded. “How do I do this?” She had a bad feeling that if she got this wrong, the Spikes could end up anywhere. Or nowhere.

“Wish for us to be put back exactly when and where she got us from,” grabby-Spike suggested. “Might be the wisest.”

-----------

“Where’s the fun in that?” the genie huffed.

There was a ripple of discontent among the Spikes. Buffy folded her arms. “You know, unless you want another pack of angry demons chasing you down…”

“Fine,” she sighed.

“Well,” Buffy started to say to the Spikes. “Thanks for--” When she blinked, there was no one there.

Except Spike.

Just the one. The actual Spike, the real local Spike. Who might actually someday be her Spike again.

“That should have worked,” Jean grumbled.

“Oh, he came by corporate jet,” Buffy explained with a little smile.

Jean smiled beatifically. “Well then, what’s your last wish going to be, mistress?” She looked Buffy over carefully and took slow steps forward. Buffy closed her eyes when the genie placed a warm hand on her stomach. “I can do almost anything.”

Fresh raging grief coursed through her and she almost said yes, almost wished for it. But… how was that different from what she hadn’t allowed Willow to do? What if the genie decided to get imaginative? The fact was, her child was gone.

“Step away from her now.”

There were warm hands on her shoulders. She’d forgotten how deadly Giles could sound when he was furious. Forcing herself to open her eyes, she glared at the genie. “No. Just… show me that you really did what I asked. I want to see them.”

The genie just shrugged and picked up the television remote. On the screen, human-Spike carried the paper and his bag of pastries into the house. A little blonde girl careened down the stairs and shouted something they couldn’t hear. Buffy felt Giles’s grip on her shoulder tighten.

The scene changed and there was William, tucked into silky red sheets. He turned to watch a door open, and through it stepped Angel. When the older vampire started unbuttoning his shirt, Spike shot the genie an evil look and she obediently waved at the screen.

Another Spike flushed a cigarette down a toilet and wandered down a hall. He poked his head into a room where two breathing boys slept. Too late Buffy remembered his comment about donations. She figured he was just talking about sperm banks, but maybe he had been trying to drop a bigger hint. Then again, it wasn’t like she and Spike were on anything like baby-making terms at the moment, so… She pushed the thought aside and watched a lush version of herself greet grabby-Spike in an outfit that appeared to consist of leather, lace, and some sort of magic that kept it suspended on her body.

Jean changed the image again before things got any more revealing. An irritated looking Spike stomped into what Buffy figured was Angel’s office. The two vampires shouted at each other for a while, getting all up in each other’s face until Angel put a hand on dragon-slaying-Spike’s shoulder and then they really were in each other’s faces. Or at least their tongues were.

“That’s good, thanks,” Buffy informed the genie.

Jean nibbled her lip. “It seemed like there were more.” Off Buffy’s look, she added, “Guess they weren’t to your liking.” With that she nodded, tilted her head, and vanished.

“Well, that was fascinating,” Giles concluded. “And slightly alarming. I should organize my notes while my thoughts are fresh.”

Buffy thanked her Watcher for all his help. Then it was just her and Spike standing in her living room with the morning sun beating against the drapes.

“Reckon I could make it to the school if you’ve got a blanket to lend. Could rouse the girls for a morning workout. Since they’re so anxious to see yours truly.”

“That sounds good,” Buffy agreed, handing him the afghan from the couch. “And maybe later, we could, I don’t know, get a drink or something.”

He raised an eyebrow. “You asking me for a date, slayer?”

Buffy squared her shoulders. “Yeah, I think I am.”

Spike gave her a solemn nod. “Right then. That means you’re buying.”

--------------------

Thanks for reading. The next part is with Kar now. And since a few of you have mentioned your fondness for him, I’ll divulge that not-Spike will have a scene in the next and final chapter.

Author’s Note: So it ends. Big thanks to Kar for her beta work and advice, to my readers and reviewers, to herself for reccing this story, and to the Barbs for their advice and encouragement without which I would have given up on this story. Also, wasn’t there an arc in Moonlighting where Maddie had a miscarriage, complete with a shmoopy scene where they’re trapped in an elevator while ‘Be My Baby’ plays over the speakers? Maybe that’s why my brain conjured up ‘Addison’ for David’s last name. Now, on with the story…
Chapter Nine
Buffy smiled down at Spike, then leaned down to kiss him before rolling off with a happy sigh. He shifted to get a better view of her, all flushed and smiling. "Welcome home."

"It's good to be back." He relaxed into the mattress, gathering his strength for the next round.

"I missed you," she sighed in her bedroom confessions voice. "I was scared, I didn't know where you'd gone or why," she admitted. "I don't know what I'd do if I lost you."

His dead heart swelled, as it always did when she bared herself so. It made him sad though, that she'd even entertained the thought that he might have gone under his own power. Not that he hadn't gone before, but the circumstances were so different and even then he'd left word with Dawn.

"If I promise not to go anywhere, will you take off the chains, pet?"

She pouted at him. "I thought you liked the chains?"

"I do, Buffy, but it rather limits the number of things I can do to you," he replied, curling his tongue behind his teeth.

"Good point," she agreed. She stretched and rolled over to riffle through the drawer for the keys. He watched her move, enjoying the feel of being back in their bed, in their house, their things strewn over the bedside tables, her perfumes and brushes scattered over the dresser. So different from the austere room of the other Buffy. Even her scent was slightly different.

"You're thinking about her," his Buffy accused as she opened the manacles.

He drew her in close and buried his face in her neck. "She wasn't you, love. Well, she was, but she wasn't. Sad, lonely thing."

"You're worried about her," she whispered, stroking his back. "Doesn't she have her own Spike?"

He considered what to tell her. Nothing about the lost child. So many things the other Buffy hadn't that his took for granted, but the one thing she had that his didn't... "Need to keep an eye on David," he blurted.

She pulled back and wrinkled her nose at him. "David? Watcher David? Why? He's great with the girls. They love him."

"Right. Need to make sure that's not a problem." True, their young Addison seemed safe enough, but he knew too well that appearances could be deceiving. "And no, she doesn't really have a Spike. Well, maybe now if he can pull his head out his arse, but she hasn't had, not for some time."

Buffy squirmed her way into his lap and pushed his head back so she could look him in the eye. "So, I'm the lucky Buffy." She pressed her forehead to his. "I think I already knew that."


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Six weeks later


Rose was in fine form, doing a great job of showing Lily and Deirdre what a fully-trained slayer should look like in battle. She was going to make an excellent addition to the New York squad. Until Faith came off maternity leave, they really needed another skilled slayer up there.

"You're ready," Buffy told her happily when the skirmish was done. "You're really ready."

Rose ducked her head a little, but then gave the older slayer a huge grin. "Finally! I am so ready to be on my own. Not that I don't love you guys, but man, I want my own room." She twirled her stake to shake the dust off. "All that extra training with Spike probably helped. It's been nice having him around more."

"Yeah," Lily agreed. "I heard a rumor that he might be coming out to Cleveland permanently."

Buffy tried to hide her smile. "Maybe," she agreed.

"Well, he's been here like every other week for the past month," Deirdre pointed out. "He might as well. Did he have some big falling out with Angel? I heard they don't get along real well."

Lily shook her head. "No, I heard he has a girlfriend up here. I mean, that's what Andrew said when he was in town last week. He was really, you know, theatrical about it. Something about beauty and the beast and an epic story of, you know, whatever."

"Well, I'm just glad," Rosie concluded.

Buffy bid the girls good-night and left them to their gossip. When she got home the lights were already on. His jacket was tossed over a chair, and there were two dented trunks by the door, which was a lot more luggage than he usually brought. "You're early," she pointed out.

"Switched to an earlier flight," he explained. Angel had made it clear he was done loaning out the jet if Spike was going to keep flying back and forth to wine and dine and fight with her. "How was patrol?"

"Fine." She sat on the couch and tucked her legs up. He threw an arm over the back of the couch with all the subtlety of a teen on his first date. With a little more finesse, she let her head drop back so that it was resting against his bare arm. "Lots of gossip about your mysterious visits."

"Not visiting anymore," he informed her. "Gave my notice."

"So I finally managed to steal you away from Angel?" she teased.

"Only had to ask, slayer."

Buffy really wasn't sure that was true. In fact she was certain there was a time when such a request would have fallen on deaf ears. Even after his first couple of visits, she hadn't been all that sure of what he wanted. He was so hands-off, but then he'd been like that since the soul. When she finally had asked him if he'd ever consider moving out to Ohio, he had looked at her like she'd just handed him the moon. Should she have asked him over that first drink together? Was their some split-off universe where she had?

She was giving herself a headache. If she kept second-guessing every little decision, she'd make herself crazy in a hurry. Still... "Do you wish I had asked sooner?"

He shrugged. "No point in wishing the past was different." He smirked at her. "Or if there is some point, better not to explore the option. Besides, this now isn't so bad, is it?"

"No, it's really not." So she had done the right thing with the waiting. Now though, she was getting tired of the waiting. She traced the seam in his jeans with a fingernail, high enough up his thigh to make his eyes go all glassy. "If you're going to be staying in town... did you want to stay here?"

His answer was to kiss her, and she almost laughed with relief. Then she just concentrated on kissing him back, thinking how much she'd missed his kisses, and wondering how she'd stopped herself from mauling him all these weeks and wondering just how many damn buttons his fly had.

"As you wish," he teased when she pulled away for air.

She rolled her eyes, then gave him a serious look. "What do you wish, Spike?"

He quirked an eyebrow and her and leaned forward to whisper something in her ear.

Fully aware that she was blushing, she stood and pulled him to his feet and toward the stairs. "I think we can manage that without supernatural intervention," she assured him.

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Thanks again to everyone who read and reviewed. I’ve got a couple of ideas rolling around in my head, so I hope to have a new story posting soon…