Your reviews are awesome! Keep 'em coming! They bring the writer out in me!

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Sunnydale- (Summers' Residence-Kitchen)


Dawn, along with the help of the gentle Wiccan, was currently in the kitchen doing her best to find something amidst a whole bunch of nothing to feed the current inhabitants of her house. The younger girl was doing everything in her power to keep her mind off of the resident 'veggie-vamp' still resting in her mother's bed. She really, really wanted to be up there with him and Willow. Just in case he actually did wake up soon. But she knew that the red headed Witch needed the quiet so she could concentrate fully. Dawn would just be a distraction to her and prolong the Brit's imminent waking and that wasn't something she wanted to do. The longer Spike was in 'lala land' the more she panicked.


So, here she was playing the good hostess and being the daughter her mother would've wanted her to be. The girls had found a tub of pimento cheese that was still a bit away from being inedible and some bread, so they were presently working an assembly line. Dawn spread the cheesy spread onto the pieces of bread, handed them to Tara who in turn cut them into small triangles and placed them on a plate, only to start the cycle again. They had a kettle of water slowly heating on the stove and Joyce's tea set sitting on the tray waiting for deployment.


The house was completely silent in spite of all the bodies currently housed within. She and Tara had walked down the stairs and into the living room and, unbeknownst to themselves, had stepped into the dimension called tension. Dawn chuckled silently at her marvelous rhyming abilities. Clearly words had been said between the eldest members of the assembly. Which, that in and of itself wasn't surprising. Angel was always shoving his lift adorned feet into his mouth, and Giles was certainly not in a mood for the petty jealousies that the older vampire harbored. She wasn't in the mood either, actually, no one was.


Angel was being so stupid. Everything always had to revolve around him, or at least, that's what he thought. Well, he apparently knew now that it was no longer that way in Sunnydale. He wasn't Mr. Cool Vamp Guy anymore. All the happenings in Buffy's life no longer centered around him. And Dawn couldn't be any happier; the whole Buffy/Angel circus show was soo tired. It was great that everyone was finally saying all those things she'd always wanted to say to him. The greatest side effect of all though, was the fact that everything her 'family' was saying to Angel and his crew was not only because it was how they felt about him, but also in the defense of her best friend, who happened to hate the massive vampire more than anyone on the face of the planet.


She realized that she'd drifted off into her own version of 'la la land' when she felt Tara's warm hand covering the hand holding the butter knife. She'd apparently been steadily spreading cheese on the same piece of bread during the entire monologue she'd carried on in her head. She mumbled a quiet 'sorry' and abandoned the torn up piece of bread for a brand new piece. As she handed the piece to Tara she spoke clearly, "I was just thinkin'. Didn't mean to join the Zoner's Club."


Tara gave her a small smile, "It's entirely understandable. You've been through a lot these last few weeks. You're allowed."


"Thanks."


"You're welcome sweetie."


Dawn put the knife down on the island and turned to Tara, "N-no. Not just for this. For everything. Bein' here all this time with me. With Spike out of it and everyone else dealing with stuff their own way, I was scared I'd be alone."


Tara finished cutting the final sandwich and placed it on the top of the pile on a plate. Turning herself to face Dawn she tried to reassure the teenager, "Dawnie, I told you before. You've got all of us too. We're not just Buffy's friends, regardless of what you might think or feel."


Dawn's eyes welled up with tears, "Yeah. You say that."


The shy blonde stood a little straighter and pulled Dawn into a one armed hug at her side, "You're right. I do say. So sayeth me." The girls shared a short laugh, grabbed the various treats and headed into the living room to join everyone else.


_______________________________________________


Summerland-


Before they could even blink, the mother and daughter pair found themselves back in their private dimension. Joyce looked to her daughter and noticed that she still had tears in her eyes, "Oh honey, what's wrong?"


Buffy shrugged, "Just thinkin' is all. I was always so mean to him. A-and to see everything he's just put himself through..." She trailed off and shrugged again, "I dunno. But I think I'm actually gonna miss the peroxide pest."


"Well, you'll see him again. Remember you're not here to stay."


"Yeah, I know I'll see him again, but when? Who knows how long I'm gonna be here. That little worm sittin' over there won't tell me anything that's comparable to useful." she grumbled pointing towards Whistler who looked to be napping against the Oak, his hat turned slightly over his face and his arms crossed.


Her mother pulled her into a hug, "It won't be that long. Before you even know it, it'll be time to leave here."


Buffy made a whiney sound and stomped a foot on the ground, "But I don't wanna leave here either. If I stay here, I'm with you, but not everyone else. If I leave here, I'm with everyone else, but not you." She paused for a moment, "This sucks!" She added petulantly.


"I know. And I'm sorry you have to go through this." Searching for a way to change the subject she turned it back to Spike. "And hey, just think about it. When you get back there you can work at making up for always being so mean to Spike." On the inside Joyce was ecstatic to see her daughter's reactions to the blond Brit. It was a well known fact that she'd always liked him, especially more than that Angel.


"I can try to make up for it. But there's so much. Not that he was a saint or anything, but he has been trying ever since he started to think he was in love with me. And I threw it all back in his face." Suddenly her eyes grew to a comically large size, "Oh God! What if I'm too late? What if I was so horrible to him that he'll never forgive me? He'll prob'ly hate me." A light appeared to come on for her and she took on an air of indifference, or what she hoped was one. "Not that it really matters anyway or anything. I don't care if he hates me or not."


"Uh huh." But Joyce was unimpressed. "You can't possibly tell me that anything that poor boy said or did made you think that it was too late to redeem yourself. He doesn't hate you. He loves you." She gave Buffy a look that dared her to disagree, "And don't you dare try to tell me that it doesn't matter one way or the other. You know very well that it would bother you if he hated you. You may not wanna admit it, but you actually like him." The two had begun moving towards the tree and it's neighboring TV without even realizing it. Joyce continued as they walked, "Spike loves you. That hasn't changed and it's not gonna either. If anything, when you get back I believe it will grow, in time. Now that you know how he really feels about you and the type of person he really is, your actions towards him will be different. And if you get back there and continue to treat him deplorably, well, you and I will have to talk little missy."


Buffy was quick in her attempt to placate her mother, "Mom, it's not gonna be like that, I promise. Things are different now. I couldn't go back to who I was even if I wanted to." Suddenly his face as he realized he was about to get thrown off the tower popped into her head. Then she heard Dru's words in Brazil, 'I look at you and all I see is the Slayer...' Was it really possible that he loved her even way back then and he just hadn't known it? Was it possible that she had always had some deeply hidden attraction to him? It was still a mystery as to how they'd never managed to kill each other in all those years. Is that what prevented it and they, mainly she, hadn't wanted to admit it? God, what would her friends say? What would Giles say? Who cares? a little voice, sounding alarmingly like Faith, sounded in her head. Obviously her mother liked him. Dawn loved him like the brother she'd never had, that much was apparent. But her friends? Her Watcher? That was a whole other taco my friend. You saw how everyone acted towards him today. They all accept him now. At least mildly. Rational Buffy piped in. She wasn't entirely sure that she could label the way her friends had treated Spike as acceptance though. No, it was probably tolerance. For now anyway. She figured she wouldn't truly know how her friends felt until she got back there and got to actually see them interact closely. But who knew when that would be? Hm, maybe I should pummel the dummy and get him to fess up. She thought eyeing Whistler.


Regardless of anything else, she wasn't sure where that spark of happiness that ignited throughout her body came from at the thought of having another chance at dealing with Spike. Especially at getting to know him better. All of the things she learned about Spike since her death had changed her way of thinking when it came to him, in a big way. So caught up in her thoughts, she didn't realize that they'd reached the tree. She looked up and saw her mother standing with her arms crossed and a knowing smile gracing her lips.


"What?" she asked trying to sound annoyed but failing miserably and sounding more bratty than anything.


Before Joyce could answer though, Whistler spoke surprising them both, as they'd thought he was asleep. "Welcome back ladies." He said with his hat still covering his eyes. He looked up and adjusted it, smirking at them, "You two have a nice trip?"


"As a matter of fact we did." Buffy answered.


"Yes, it was very nice to see Willow and Spike again. And I think we even talked sense into him." Joyce added.


"Well, good." He turned to Buffy then, "So...what'd you four talk about? Anything interesting?"


The Slayer was suddenly very nervous. "Like what?" She asked trying to portray a picture of innocence.


"Oh, I dunno..." He put a finger to his chin, looking far off, and seemingly deep in thought. He shrugged his shoulders and looked back to Buffy, "Um, maybe something like...'it's the whole destiny yadda yadda, higher purpose blah blah...' and maybe a little, 'it's not like I really said anything about the stupid prophecy'...Whatcha think? Ringin' any bells?"


"Oh." Was all Buffy said, "Oops?"


"Hunh! Yeah, oops." Whistler scoffed. "Do you have any idea what I had to do to smooth things over with..?" he trailed off pointing up.


"I didn't mean to!" Buffy protested, more than a hint of whine in her voice. "It's not like I did it on purpose or anything."


"No?" He asked incredulously. "Are you sure it was unintentional? You didn't say anything on purpose?"


"Pretty sure." She answered.


"Well, you better get more than pretty sure kid."


"Ok, I'm not sure." She said defeated.


"You're not sure..?"


"I'm pretty sure." She amended again, nodding and hoping to convince him and avoid any further talk on the subject.


"You're pretty sure..?"


"Fine. I'm not comp-lete-ly sure."


"Well, I'm pretty sure that I'm completely sure that you'd better get sure pretty damn quick."


"Huh?" Buffy asked confused.


Whistler sighed heavily and looked towards the sky, "Alright! Enough with the pretty sures and not sures. You know you said something. I know you said something, and they," he said pointing up again, "definitely know you said something. So there's really no point in acting like you didn't."


"Ok, ok." She held up her hands in surrender. "I'm caught. So what? We can't do anything about it now."


"No, we can't." He agreed. "But you better hope that you didn't screw up the timelines or anything. Everything has to happen on its own and at certain times."


"I'm sure it'll be fine. They prob'ly didn't catch it, what with being in shock and all." She stated hoping to calm him but also knowing it was a lie. They were talking about a curious Scooby and a very nosey vampire after all. It wasn't gonna be forgotten. But that's why she'd said it. She didn't want them to grieve needlessly, it was wrong. They deserved to know that she would be back so that they wouldn't torture themselves or be sad for no reason. So she'd let a little something slip. Hoping Wills and Spike would remember it and assemble the research cavalry. Then Spike wouldn't have to feel guilty and the others could all stop being so moody and broody. And Dawnie would know that she wasn't gonna be alone.


Joyce looked at her daughter, knowing that everything she'd said had been on purpose, and shook her head. She turned to Whistler, "Maybe she's right Whistler. Maybe nothing at all will come of it."


"You people can think I'm an idiot all you want, but I'm really not. I know what's going on here. I just hope it doesn't come back to bite you in the ass later."


"It'll be fine." Buffy repeated. "They prob'ly won't even remember."


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Sunnydale- (Summers' Residence- Master Bedroom)


Willow and Spike both came to with a sharp intake of breath. The vampire bolted straight up in the bed, while the red head sat panting. They both had tears streaming down their faces, but not from sadness. Their conversation with the two eldest Summers had given them hope. Spike no longer felt guilty and Willow was no longer upset at the thought of never seeing her best friend again. Neither of them was sure whether or not Buffy's slip had been for their benefit or purely a mistake, but they were grateful for it none the less, and had absolutely no question whatsoever concerning it's meaning. She would be back.


"You...You heard w-what she said too, right?" Willow asked still trying to catch her breath.


Spike swallowed hard and nodded.


She unfolded her legs and made to get up, "Well, we gotta tell Giles. Make with the research."


He nodded again still unable to speak.


When Willow finally made it to her feet she had to catch herself quickly to avoid falling having gotten up to fast after doing magicks. "Whoaa boyy."


Spike turned to her in concern, "Y'alright there Red?"


She nodded slowly, standing with more caution, "Yeah. Fine. Just a little dizzy spell from the...well, spell."


He was back to nodding, but he did swing his legs around to join Willow standing.


"Guess we better make our way down there. Everyone will wanna know you're back and with the walkin' and talkin'." She commented as she moved towards the door.


Spike made to follow her but hesitated right before exiting. He didn't want to face the accusing glares. But then he remembered the conversation that took place earlier and straightened his shoulders following the young woman down the stairs.


Buffy didn't blame him.


And she was coming back.

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Sunnydale- (Summers' Residence-Living room)


The conversation had been minimal, at best, in the room as the assembled all waited for Willow to wake Spike up. After the heated discussion between Giles, Angel and Cordelia no one really had the desire to start a conversation. There weren't many possibilities remaining for polite conversation between the two groups. Everyone had changed so much and new people had been added to the respective cliques, so the word uncomfortable was on the frontline in everyone's mind.


So there'd hardly been any words spoken since Dawn and Tara had come down the stairs. When the girls had brought in the sandwiches and tea there had been a little bustle, but nothing significant. The sandwiches were hardly touched, Xander and the shy girl, Fred, being the main benefactors from them. Giles, Wesley and Tara helped themselves to a cuppa tea and everyone sat in total silence.


That is until the moment that Willow and Spike made their way into the room. Dawn let out an inhuman screech capable of rendering the two vampires present deaf, and launched herself into Spike's arms. All members of the Scooby gang stood at that moment while the L.A. gang watched them with curiosity. Or complete lack thereof in Cordelia's case.


Tara gave Willow a congratulatory hug while Giles patted her on the back commenting on a job well done. As always. Xander whacked Spike on the back, "Well Princess Catatonia, nice of you to join us."


"Can it Harris." Spike retorted but his growl could barely be considered one.


Anya patted his shoulder awkwardly, "I'm very glad you're not a vegetable anymore. Now the Poof and his strange people can leave and we can get over the uncomfortable-ness we've all experienced today." All of the friends standing chuckled at her abruptness.


"Well thank you Anyanka. 'S nice to know I was missed." Spike responded, gracing her with a genuine smile that was rarely seen on his face.


She nodded once and reclaimed her position on the arm of the chair with a smile, "You're quite welcome."


Giles spoke up then, ever the responsible one, "I assume everything is all settled then?" He asked looking to Willow and then Spike.


"Yup." Willow answered popping the 'p'. "Everything's all gravy in Taterville."


"Very good." Giles responded with a smile.


Dawn, who had yet to release her hold of the vamp, finally pulled back and smacked him on the arm, "You big dummy! Don't do that again."


Spike graced her with a look full of shame, "Sorry Bit. Wasn't thinkin'."


"Darn skippy you weren't." She smiled teasingly at him, "But then again, you never were very good at the whole thinking things through concept were ya?"


"You bite your tongue Bite Size." His only answer was a cheeky grin that he couldn't help but smile at. He raised his head as if only just realizing there were others in the room. He rolled his eyes when they landed on Angel. "Don't you have someone else you can glare at somewhere that's not here Peaches?"


The glare Angel was sporting only increased in intensity when his Grand-Childe spoke. "Don't you have some place else you can go to that isn't here, period, Captain Peroxide?"


Spike seemed to consider this, "Nope, got nothin' needs doin'. 'M just fine here, thanks."


The two stared each other down until finally the brunette growled and rose from the chair, "It's time to go."


Spike couldn't help the smirk that appeared on his face as his Grand-Sire stood and the other members of Angel Investigations rose from their positions also. He quickly lost the smirk and took on a look reminiscent of genuine offense, "Oh no, don't go rushin' into the sunset yet. Let's have us a sit down and chat, Pappy. Catch up, make nicey nice and bond."


Angel looked at him as if he was crazy, but Cordelia responded to Spike before he had the chance to, "Yeah, that's something that'll be happening in, never."


"Ah, she wounds me. Honestly wounds me."


"Shut up Spike." Angel said through clenched teeth making his way to the front door, his followers doing what they do...following. "Can't say it's been fun but we gotta get back."


The group of Sunnydale residents made no protests, secretly thankful in their own way for the other group's departure. The past few days were stressful enough without the added bonus of the visit. "Well Fairy Poppins, how 'bout let's do this never, never ever, never again, eh?" Spike couldn't resist the final jab at his Grand-Sire, causing Xander and Dawn to laugh outright and everyone else to hide a smile. Even the barest smidgeon could be seen on the faces of Angel's friends, but they quickly disappeared to show their solidarity.


Angel turned around abruptly to face Spike again, ready to lunge. "You know what..?" But he was stopped in movement, and cut off in words, by Wesley and Gunn each grabbing and arm and Cordelia stepping directly in front of him with a hand against his chest.


"Whoa there Sparky... Let's cool down for a sec. He's soo not worth getting tackled." She jerked her right thumb over her shoulder indicating the people behind them. "'Cause as much as he deserves a good ass whoopin', I have a feeling that every single one of Buffy's friends will jump you to keep their Spikey safe from the big bad vampire."


"'Ey! Don't need protectin' I'll have you know!" Spike protested.


Cordelia turned to face him with a look clearly saying that she thought he was crazy, "Please! Angel could whip you from here to Peoria."


He snorted derisively, "Yeah, and next you'll tell me that your new 'do' was intentional."


The former cheerleader's hands flew to her head, "Wha..?" She scowled at him, "Ooh, you're askin' for it Buster Blonde." She made a move to lunge in his direction until Wes and Gunn placed their now available hands on her arms restrainingly. "Lemme at 'im you twerps!"


Spike spoke to Xander amused, "You dated her Whelp? She's right scary mate."


"You're not sayin' anything not already known and proved."


Cordelia wrenched herself from the men's grasps violently, turned around and stormed towards the door, "Move people! If I have to stay here one more microsecond I'll be damage bound for sure." Spike smiled smugly as he watched them make their way out of the door.


No one made the move to see them out, so Tara took it upon herself to be the polite one. She moved to the door and held it open for them, "T-thanks for c-coming. "


"Yeah." Spike agreed. "Lovely time had by all I'm sure. Later gits!" He bid farewell with a smile.


Xander looked at Spike with admiration in his eyes, something the blonde wasn't sure he could cope with. "Spike, my man, your daring peskapades are legendary. You must impart knowledge."


Spike shook his head from side to side, "That, mere mortal, took years to perfect. And those I've had plenty of. Years and years of storing personal jabs, just waiting for the opportune time." He shrugged, "And besides, he might as well wear a big ole bull's eye, as easy as he makes it." He added referring to Angel.


Giles removed his glasses from his face and pinched the bridge of his nose, "Spike, you're absolutely incorrigible."


Spike smiled and slapped the older man on the back in companionship, "Thanks Rupes. Knew you loved me."


"So...I guess I'll be the one to ask the question burning the inside of all our mouths." Xander spoke up again. "What's with the sudden mood changeyness? You two are both smiling and while I, myself, find insulting Angel extremely entertaining, yours are both smiles of a different color."


Willow and Spike shared a knowing look and he nodded almost imperceptibly to the witch. She turned to Giles and Dawn, "We have news guys." She said excitedly. "News of the kind that's very large and very exciting."


"Really?" Giles asked intrigued. "How, precisely, did you come upon anything that would warrant excitement in this situation?"


"We had us a nice little visit with two very important ladies." Spike replied.


Dawn turned to him with wide eyes and tears forming, "Mom and Buffy?" He nodded. "Really?"


"Yup. We had ourselves a right nice chat, Bit." He put his arm around her shoulders, "And they said to tell you that they love you." She gave him a watery smile in response.


"So...news?" Xander prompted.


"Yes." Anya agreed. "You've got me all curious now even if I don't wanna be."


A conspiratorial grin appeared on Willow's face, "Let's just say that I don't think we've seen the last of our favorite Slayer."


"Huh? What?" Was Xander's confused outburst.


"Good Lord." From the Watcher.


"Really?!" Was Dawn's hopeful question.


"Wow," came from Tara.


Anya simply sat and voiced a quiet, "Hm."


"How do you know this Willow?" Giles asked urgently. "What happened?"


Willow suddenly became nervous as a result of his intense stare. Spike answered for her, "Was something the Slayer said. Coulda been a slip up though. She may not've meant to say it out loud." He was trying his best not to let his hopes get to high, but he couldn't help but listen to the small niggling voice in the back of his head. Couldn't help the huge wave of anticipation he felt every time he thought about it.


Willow swiveled her head in his direction, "No. I think she meant to say it. She wanted us to know." She didn't care what anyone said. She was taking what Buffy had said literally. There was no doubt in her mind that he best friend would be back among them soon.


"It's highly understandable if she did. She wouldn't want us mourning her needlessly." Giles supplied.


Willow nodded, "That's what we figured too."


Giles began pacing in front of the fireplace, "Alright. Willow, Spike, you must start from the beginning. What was said, in its entirety?" He looked to Tara, "Tara, would you mind terribly..?" He trailed off motioning to a legal pad and pencil on the desk behind her.


"Sure." The shy Wiccan answered quietly before retrieving the notepad and pencil and taking a seat in the chair waiting for her girlfriend to begin her narrative.


Everyone took a seat as Willow began speaking animatedly, "Ok, so, Spike had me popping all over the place and..."


__________________________________________________

Sunnydale-


The weeks following Willow and Spike's revelation were spent with the group's noses buried in books searching for anything and everything that made mention of a Slayer dying and coming back. They tried to continue on with life as normally as possible, but it was difficult with the unknown hanging over their heads. Anya ran the Magic Box, Xander worked his new construction gig, Dawn was taking two summer classes to make up for having missed so much school during the Glory fiasco, and Tara, Willow and Giles busied themselves with the many old tomes the Magic Box housed. And Spike, well, when he wasn't caring for Dawn and patrolling he was standing over anyone researching, waiting very impatiently for them to find something, anything, concerning his Slayer. He knew she was coming back, but the thought lost some of its value the longer she was gone. It was driving him absolutely barmy not knowing what was going to happen and when.


On this particular day, Giles was found sitting at the table in the Magic Box avidly reading from one of the many dusty old archives while everyone else was placed throughout the shop. Anya was at her constant perch behind the counter, counting the money, Willow and Tara were both seated at the table across from Giles huddled together talking softly, Xander was sprawled out in a chair pushed away from the table a little. He had an open book in his lap alternating between dozing off and trying to read, or at least pretending to read. Dawn was occupying a few of the stairs that led to the 'Restricted' section eagerly searching through three books at one time. She'd finally convinced everyone, namely Giles and Tara that she could be useful in the search for the prophecy seeing as they needed all the help they could get, so she was more enthusiastic about the task than the others. And understandably so as they'd been doing this for years and none of them, save Giles, actually relished the idea of all night research parties.


Then there was Spike, who was currently in the training room, having been almost forcibly relocated there by the other members of the group when his pacing and 'hmph'-ing had become too much for them to handle. He'd been trying to distract himself with pummeling the punching bag, but he found that only worked for short periods of time. Every once in a while when he couldn't find anything to take his mind off of the goings on in the next room, he would use his enhanced vampire abilities, also known as sneaking or lurking, to quietly enter the main room just to see if he could catch anything that might be interesting. He'd already consumed an entire pack of cigarettes since just that morning, and it was now just before sunset. Inhaling the remainder of the last cigarette he decided to just give up all pretenses and just head back in to join the others.


As Spike entered into the room there was a collective eye roll and the rising of hackles. The whole hackles thing was in no way shape or form caused by fear of the Master vampire. They just knew that with him back in the room there would be a constant shadow over them as he performed the ritual of hovering.


Said vampire was currently doing said hovering while throwing in a bit of huffing and puffing for good measure. Pacing behind the three occupants of the round table he asked, "Haven't you tossers found anything yet?"


Willow glared over her shoulder at the nervous ball of energy, Tara hid a small smile while continuing to look at the book in front of her and Giles removed his glasses with an exasperated sigh, "Spike has it occurred to you that this might go even quicker if you were to contribute a bit to the cause? Make yourself useful possibly? Your looming and abuse of inanimate objects is in no way conducive to discovering what may or may not happen to Buffy. Nor is it conducive to us being aware of what we're facing, in advance" He began wiping his glasses, "You feel obliged to harp on us and distract us. Why don't you crack open a book and put that much neglected brain of yours to work?"


Spike had no response to that so he opted for glaring. Truth was, that was one area in which he and his Slayer shared the same feelings. He wasn't research guy, he was action guy. That's why most of his plans were foiled. He got tired of waiting, grew bored with the monotony, and impatient with the time spent doing nothing. He circled around the table, peering over the occasional shoulder and driving people crazy in general. They all tried as hard as possible to ignore his presence all together and continued reading. He ended up plopping bonelessly into one of the chairs only to surge back to his feet, not ten seconds later, after having glanced out the window and noticed it was safe for flammables to go out.


"'M goin' patrollin'." He declared marching to the door.


There were several appreciative murmurs and one distinct, "Oh, thank Goddess," from Willow. She wasn't scared of him anymore by any means, but with the hovering, peering, standing and annoying noises coming from him, he made her twitchy. If he was gone then maybe she'd be able to concentrate better.


________________________________________


Summerland-


The days in 'Summerland' went by much in the same way the weeks in Sunnydale had. Uneventful. But that was to be expected since Buffy, Joyce and Whistler was its only inhabitants. Whistler had 'created' a small cabin for them to reside in until it was time for Buffy to go back. It had two bedrooms so Whistler took one and Joyce and Buffy shared the other. The messenger had also stocked the kitchen completely, which was a good because apparently Buffy had retained all of her human traits, even here. She still needed to eat, sleep, rid herself of waste, etc.


Buffy spent the time that passed watching 'SunnyDtv' and chatting with Joyce. She was bored out of her mind but she was enjoying the fact that she was able to spend this time with her mother. Now, having to remain exposed to Whistler all the time was a different story. She didn't understand why the Powers were having him stay there with her and Joyce when there was not much of anything else that he could do or say that would be in any way helpful. He'd already told her everything he was able to, and yet she still knew nothing. It was almost as if he were her babysitter and it was really starting to bug her. It wasn't that she felt threatened by him, or even really watched or kept, what bothered her most is that he was just there. He'd shed what little light possible on her situation, given the occassional pep talk, even discussed the happenings in Sunnydale, but after that? Nothing. A big fat nothingness. He watched the 'tv' with them, even running a commentary sometimes. They found themselves to be extremely entertained by acting like the little strange men on 'Mystery Science Theatre 3000'. Turning the volume down, which actually consisted of Buffy simply thinking to herself 'MUTE', they would sit and run some of the most hilarious commentary. They found Xander and Anya's conversations to be the most enjoyable. They could just imagine the bits of hilarity coming from the young man's mouth followed by the bluntly, literal comments from Anya. But other than that? He just did...nothing.


Not that there was much to do as she'd mentioned before, but since that was the case, why wouldn't the Powers let him leave? Why did he have to stay and watch them? Buffy would catch him, at times, just watching her as she watched TV like he was more interested in what she was thinking than what was actually showing on screen. The two women were currently sitting sideways on the couch, with their backs against the arms, facing each other. Whistler had conjured up a deck of cards for them, and they'd been playing Rummy for the last hour with the TV playing in the background.


Buffy cast a surreptitious glance at the screen and saw all of her friends scattered throughout the Magic Box, various books and pages spread out in front of them. They had yet to make any progress in locating a prophecy concerning her, but in a way she was glad for that. Now it was out in the open and blatantly obvious that she'd tipped them off. Yes, yes, that was old news, but now it was different. She knew before that they knew; now she knew that they knew. Totally different ballgame. Knowing something was the truth wasn't the same as saying the words out loud. She was aware that she never should've told Willow and Spike anything, but she just wouldn't have been able to continue knowing they suffered when they needn't.


She was unable to hold back the smile that broke across her face at the sight. Giles doing what he does best, Willow and Tara working in tandem without realizing it, Xander snoozin' in his chair, Anya doing what she does best, and Dawn...


Buffy sat her cards down and turned towards the TV more fully. What was Dawn doing? Oh my... "Oh my God!"


"What?" Joyce and Whistler asked in sync.


"Why are they letting my little sister research? That's insane! She's not supposed to see that stuff."


The other two looked to the TV at this time and noticed Dawn sitting on the steps reading. Whistler shrugged, "So what?"


She whipped around to face him, "What do you mean so what? She's too young! That's what."


Her mother sat her cards down also, "Honey, she's fifteen. If I remember correctly, that's how old you were when you were Chosen."


"Well, yeah, but that's totally different and soo beside the point. I didn't have a choice, she does. She shouldn't have to do these things if she doesn't need to." Buffy couldn't understand how her mother was being so blasé about this. "There should be no blasé." She muttered to herself.


"What did you say Buffy?" Joyce asked.


"Nothing." She grumbled. "Just don't see how you can act like this isn't the huge monster deal it is. She's too young to have to deal with that crap. She deserves to have a normal teenage life."


"What, with the big sister that's the greatest Slayer ever, the big fights every week and the getting kidnapped every third Tuesday, mixed in with being an ancient, green, glowing, mystical, and who knows what else, key. A key that, as it happens, has opened a dimension or two in its day." He rolled his eyes and scoffed, "Yeah, that's a great kick off to the land of normal."


"I'm the greatest Slayer? Ever? That is so cool."


"Let's not get carried away here toots. I probably spoke too soon anyway. And did you miss the part where I said, 'ancient, green, glowing, mystical, who knows what else, key'?"


"No. I didn't miss it. I just heard 'best Slayer ever' and went kinda glowy myself." She answered with a cheeky smile that quickly turned serious again. "And she's not the key anymore. The god of skank is gone. I jumped to close the portal so the key wouldn't have to be used. So now it should be over. She should be all non-key-y and lockless."


Whistler simply shook his head and turned back to the TV and muttering, "Ok kid. If you say so."


Buffy squinted her eyes and the small man, "What's that supposed to mean?" she asked in a menacing tone.


But Joyce intervened before things became violent once again. She never knew Buffy was like this. Sure, she knew she was the Slayer and that she was stronger and everything. But, she made no qualms about using a bit of violence every once in a while, even when it wasn't required. Not to mention that fact that Joyce knew exactly what Whistler meant and that Buffy couldn't know yet. "Buffy, she'll be fine. I'm sure Mr. Giles wouldn't let her otherwise. And between Tara and Spike, well I don't think we have to worry about her. They're all taking care of her, she'll be fine."


Her daughter turned to her with a question in her eyes, "I don't see how you can act all nonchalant about this mom. You're the main one to baby her."


"Yes I know. But things are different now. I know things I didn't know before. And I know things are fine. So stop worrying." Was her cryptic reply.


Buffy still wasn't convinced, but chose to keep her mouth shut for a time. She turned back to the screen and noticed that Spike had rejoined the group to glower. She watched as her friends rolled their eyes and heard what Giles said, but noticed it was all out of friendly irritation and good humor. They really didn't mind him being there anymore, they just accepted his presence the way they would've if he'd never tried to kill them. It was actually rather amusing to watch the interaction.


Buffy watched as he sat down in the chair only to get back up almost immediately, announcing that he was going to patrol. She wasn't really sure why he was doing it. He didn't have to, it's not like it was his job or calling or, anything really. He'll prob'ly just want to get his daily helping of violence. Was her thought as she watched him leave the Magic Box. She turned to look at her mother and Whistler, seeing they were watching her again, and made a decision. She stood from the couch and began making her way to her bedroom. "I think I'm gonna lie down for a bit. All this bein' bored is enough to make a girl tired."


Joyce gave her a small smile, "Okay sweetie, we'll see you later."


Buffy walked into the bedroom and sat down on the edge of the bed. She'd seen Whistler conjure things in the blink of an eye. And when they were watching the TV all she had to do was think hard and she could switch between places or mute it, so she figured she could conjure up her own TV to watch in private. She wanted to watch Spike more closely, wanted to understand why he was acting the way he was, why he was doing things he was doing when he didn't have to. But she couldn't do that with the other two watching her like she was gonna sprout another head, or like they were waiting for her to do something. Half of the time when she was around them she felt like a science experiment they couldn't take their eyes off of. Why they were watching her so closely she couldn't figure, she knew it had to do with this prophecy, but why watch what she's doing here? It's not like there's really much of anything to do anyway. She grumbled.


She closed her eyes and cleared her mind completely trying to prepare herself. She imagined a television set sitting on the edge of the dresser, and after a minute or two she opened her eyes slowly revealing a very tiny; beat up TV with a hanger for an antenna. She pursed her lips and furrowed her brow, "Unh, how come I get a crappy TV? That's no fair." She closed her eyes again, tighter this time, concentrating harder and picturing a smaller version of the TV Whistler had presented to her and her mother. When she reopened her eyes she was rewarded with an exact copy of the set in the living room, only different in size.


Buffy concentrated once more and suddenly Spike appeared on screen, walking through the cemetery. Nothing spectacular was happening, he staked a few fledglings here and there, but nothing more. She watched as he began to slow his gait, hesitantly walking towards something. When she realized where he was her heart seemed to stop in her chest.

____________________________________________


Sunnydale-


Spike was making his way through the various cemeteries in Sunnydale, staking the occasional fledgling, but mainly just strolling along thinking to himself. Before long he came to the clearing he already knew all too well. He wasn't sure how he ended up here; he certainly hadn't meant to come here. He hesitantly moved towards the fresh grave and stood silently staring at the plain headstone with unshed tears brimming in his eyes.


At one point in time, the thought of Drusilla leaving him was his biggest fear. Then when that actually happened, he'd thought that was the worst he'd ever feel. Falling in love with the Slayer had proved him wrong. Aside from the hardship of loving her in the first place and trying to deal with that, he'd lost her before he'd even had her. She jumped off of that tower before she ever got to see the real him.


Of course he knew she was coming back. But that didn't change the fact that he had no clue what their relationship would be like when she returned. It could be one consisting of mere tolerance, or it could be one fueled by disgust, or, and this is what he was hoping for, it could be one to grow and evolve into something much more passionate and special and long lasting than anything either of them had experienced.


But that was the question: who knew? He had no way of knowing if she would hate him or not, and that scared him gormless. And who was to say that his newfound camaraderie with the Scoobies would remain so when she returned? They wouldn't need him anymore; they'd have their muscle back, so he wouldn't have to patrol with them or for them. They wouldn't invite him for movie night because their real friend was back, so the substitute wouldn't be needed. There would be no more games of pool between the Whelp and himself at the Bronze. No more compassionate, half smiles from Red's girl, no more nostalgic reminiscing of the past with Demon Girl, no more amusing babble from Red, no more late night debates on 'The Who' versus the 'Stones' with Rupes. And worst of all, he'd see less of his Bit as he wouldn't be needed in the area of her care anymore. Her big sis would be back to take care of her so his duty would be completed. The Watcher and Buffy would take over that job, with Glenda there giving her maternally instinctual assistance when needed.


So he was highly unsure of the effects the Slayer's return would have on his standings with the Scoobies and what it might mean in regards to his long standing position in Sunnyhell.


Spike lowered himself to the ground, lying parallel, and his head at the head of her grave. Settling on his back with his hands behind his head, gazing up at the stars as he contemplated his future.


"Hello luv." He spoke in a soft voice after a few moments of silence. Acting as if Buffy were there lying beside him he continued, "Patience in't 'xactly a virtue of mine. But I'm sure you figured that out, what with bein' able to kick my arse every time I tried somethin' stupid just 'cause I couldn't wait anymore." He chuckled a bit as he remembered Parent/Teacher night at Buffy's High School. A shining example of his impatience and what could happen if he were to get bored. He cleared his throat as he grew somber again, "So that means you gotta get back 'ere soon. I dunno how much more o'this waitin' I can take. Dunno what's gonna happen once you're back to the land of the livin'. And it's killin' me havin' to wait and find out." Spike removed his hands from behind his head and felt in the pockets of his duster for his cigarettes. Finally discovering the partially crushed pack and his lighter he lit up and exhaled a large plume of smoke into the air. Silence descended again as he watched the play of moonlight through the smoke. He inhaled once more, blowing the smoke through his nostrils as he breathed loudly before speaking again, "Hope you don't mind me hangin' round once you're back pet. 'M not positive I could leave. Not after everything. Doesn't matter that there's only a snowball's chance in hell that you'll fancy me, even a lil'bit, much less want me around, I still don't think I could leave you. That's one thing that those other gits and I don't have in common. I'm not a leaver." He sucked in the last of his cigarette, then snuffed it out placing the butt in his pocket not wanting to mess Buffy's grave site, even if it wasn't permanent. "Those tossers can't even begin to understand how good they had it when they had you. Maybe I'm just selfish, not willing to give you up if I ever got you. Maybe they are the better men by trying to let you have a normal life. But I don't care. I'd rather be selfish with you by my side even if we're fightin', than selfless all alone and miserable." He sat up and spun on his rear so that he was facing the recently disturbed ground, the light from the moon making the tears coursing down his face glitter with it's reflection. "How much longer do I have to live in a world that doesn't have you in it luv?" He sobbed out finally breaking down holding his head in his hands.


_______________________________________


Summerland- (Cabin bedroom)


Buffy sat watching the scene intently, with her own tears falling unheeded down her face. She wasn't sure how she was feeling about the situation. She knew that she shouldn't care in the slightest, but that didn't mean she didn't care. She really shouldn't, but she did. She couldn't deny to herself the fact that, at that moment, what she wanted more than anything was to go down there, put her arms around Spike, and tell him the wait was over. The time she spent waiting to return was in no way comparable to the time Spike spent waiting, but nonetheless, it was killing her too. Being the Slayer and an active young woman, she wasn't much for making with the idleness. She was enjoying her time here with her mother yes, but she was hoping she would get to go back soon before she grew weary from boredom. There weren't exactly a lot of things to do in Summerland, aside from watching 'SunnyDTV', playing cards, and walking through the meadow or by the stream. She hated knowing that she would soon be fighting and saving the world again, but at the same time she couldn't wait to get back and do exactly that.


She also wanted to delve into the origins of these new developments concerning Spike. If someone had told her this time last year that she would come to care about the British menace, let alone have deep 'feelings' to investigate, she would've told them they were crazy. Yet, here she was sneaking into the bedroom so she could observe him away from prying eyes; here she was sitting on the bed wishing she could enclose him in her arms and hold on tight. "And again with the 'where the heck did that come from?'" she muttered to herself. She felt this unavoidable connection with him. She was drawn to him in some inexplicable way. And it seemed to only grow stronger and stronger the more time she spent here and the more she watched his day to day activities.


Like, the way he cared for Dawn; that absolutely astounded her. He did it out of total selflessness, because he loved Buffy, therefore, he in turn cared about everyone she did. He didn't have to, but he did. The fact that he stayed in Sunnydale and helped fight every night put a big ol' check mark in the 'Pro's' section. Written in red and underlined twice. He stayed! She was dead and he wouldn't leave. Hell, when she was alive she had a hard time getting men to stay in her life. But not this one. Spike was most definitely special. No matter what she'd ever done to him, or what they'd been through, she couldn't ever seem to get rid of him. And now she wasn't certain that she wanted to.


_______________________________________


Summerland- (Cabin living room)


As soon as Buffy had left the living room Joyce and Whistler shared a conspiratorial look with each other, and then glanced back to the screen as they saw Spike walking through one of the cemeteries in Sunnydale. Whistler concentrated for a second and the screen split down the middle, with the scenes playing out in Sunnydale on one side, and the goings on in the other room on the other. They watched as Buffy concentrated and conjured up her own TV, only to produce a beat up 'yard sale' TV. Both occupants of the living room chuckled a bit at the pout the Slayer was sporting until she conjured a satisfactory set.


They were both riveted to the screen as they watched Spike end up at Buffy's graveside and the monologue that followed, but they were also focusing quite a bit on Buffy and her reactions to Spike's words. Joyce was the first to spot Buffy's tears, after all, this was her daughter, and she should be in tune with all that. Whistler noticed shortly after her, and then glancing one last time at the two supernatural beings in the TV he spoke to Joyce.


"I think she might be ready now." He said turning his head so that he could see both the TV and Joyce out of the corner of his eyes. "You?"


The Slayer's mother nodded in agreement looking at her daughter and favorite vampire on the screen. "I think they're both more than ready."


Whistler scoffed a bit and then sat back into the couch, "Yeh, not very patient. Either one of 'em. Huh?"


"No, they're really not." Joyce sat back into the couch also as she answered him. "And that is only one of many reasons I believe this will work."


The short demon turned to face Joyce, pushing his head back into the cushions and cocking it to the side. "Well, let's hope it works. We don't know anything specific about these prophecies. And that's not makin' the big guys happy at all. They feel their supposed to know everything, the 'Be all-Know all', when it comes to the Slayer and her destiny." He turned back and faced the screen and observed Spike finishing up his 'talk' with Buffy and observed Buffy sitting on the edge of her bed, her arms hugging herself tightly and tears tracking down her face. "These two hit us outta nowhere. Gotta say, I didn't even expect it. But something triggered this whole thing, and until we know what the outcome is gonna be, I'm a bit worried. So, I'll say it again, I really, really, hope this works."


Joyce simply crossed her arms with her eyes still glued to the TV, "It will. I've no doubt about it."


Whistler looked at her sideways for a few seconds before turning back to watch the two blondes himself, wishing that he felt as confident as Joyce did.


_______________________________________

Summerland- (Cabin bedroom)


Buffy wasn't sure when she'd fallen asleep. Mainly because she hadn't known she was asleep. That is, until the knock at the door awakened her. She groaned a bit as she stretched out from the tight ball she'd somehow fallen asleep in, despite the fact that she'd remained in an upright position. The last thing she remembered was watching Spike as he simply lay there and looked at the stars, only speaking every once in a while, and always to her as if she were right beside him. She looked in the direction of the dresser and noticed that the TV had vanished. Figuring it must have happened when she'd fallen asleep, she shrugged her shoulders and rose stiffly from her position on the bed, slowly making her way to the door.


When she opened the door, she was met with Whistler showing off a very rare, bright smile. She glared at him as he spoke, "'Mornin' there sunshine."


She rolled her eyes making a disgusted sound and turned back to crawl onto the bed. She roughly dropped to the mattress, and spoke. Even with her face buried in a pillow and muffled voice, Whistler could still detect the annoyance. "Whad'ya want?"


"Hey hey! No need'n gettin' all huffy. Just puttin' on the happy face for the clientele is all." Whistler answered as he sauntered into the room fully.


Buffy rolled onto her back and looked up at the ceiling, questioningly. "I'm a client?" She rose up on her elbows and eyed Whistler, "Don't clients usually benefit in some way? Or get some sort of reciprocation or compensation? Or some sort of something?"


Whistler took his hat off and held it out in front of himself rocking back and forth on his heels, he whislted impressed. "Impressive kid. Such big words from someone who adds 'y' to the end of a word when she can't think of the actual word she should be saying."


"Hey!" She protested. "I can be all brain-y when needed." Whistler simply gave her a look saying 'see?' and she glared at him repeating her initial question. "What do you want?"


"What were ya doin' in here so long?" He asked curiously, walking around the room and taking in the Spartan furnishings.


Buffy perked up at his question, taking in her own circuit of the room she made sure that the TV hadn't magically reappeared with her waking. "What? Nothing. Doing lots of absolutely nothing." She gestured with her arm to the room, "What's there to do in a room full of air?" She cocked her head to the side, thinking for a second, "Well, other than breathe anyway."


"You had nothing to do in here? Nothing at all? Not even catch up on your favorite show?" He leaned up against the dresser and clasped his hands together in front of himself.


"What? I don't know what..." She sputtered and off of the look Whistler gave her she faltered, "How did you..? I didn't... Oh! You are such an ass!"


He gestured with his hand as if dismissing the rest of that conversation, "No matter. You figure you're 'bout ready to be gettin' back?" He glanced out the window disdainfully, "I'm personally sick of bein' here."


"You mean now?" She sat ramrod straight in the bed, all signs of sleeping totally gone. "Are you sure it's time?" She looked at him worried, "What are they gonna say? They're gonna totally wig. They'll think I'm a zombie or something."


Whistler scoffed, "Yeah, I'm sure after your little talk that they'll be completely shocked."


Buffy's shoulders slumped in defeat, "Okay, so, they won't think I'm a zombie. It'll still be weird though."


"Well of course it's gonna be weird. You died. You're gonna be not dead anymore. When wouldn't that be weird?" He asked incredulously.


"And okay, it's bound to be weird anytime. But...it's just...gonna be...weird. I can't think of a better word."


"So add a 'y' to something." Whistler commented off handedly. He turned back to Buffy, "so...you ready or not? 'Cuz, immortal or not, I can't take much more."


"Yeah, I'm ready. Just scared. Don't know how it's gonna be when I get back. They've been living their own lives while I've been gone. I'm gonna be the one having to fit in now, instead of everyone fitting to me." She pouted.


He looked up to the ceiling with a glare, "See? This is what I can't take much more of. She's whining 'cuz she might have to accommodate others instead of them accommodating her. She's a brat. Can't I just send her no matter what she says?"


"Excuse me! She is sitting right exactly here. And she said she was ready. So send her back."


Whistler stood up straight, coming off of leaning against the dresser, "Fine! I will. Go visit with your mom for a bit, I don't wanna hear her whining later. You're definitely cut from her cloth, lemme tell ya."


Buffy jumped off of the bed excitedly and ran towards Whistler, almost hugging him, until she remembered who he was. She made a face and shaking her head, turned and ran into the living room to talk with her mother.




tbc...


reviews are great and muchly appreciated!