Spike arrives, courtesy of the very next chapter ~Desi




Quietly the trio of friends worked their way through the debris, serious faces shifting into various frowns as they came across bits and pieces of various items, their memories rebuilding them whole in their minds for a moment before being cast aside to find those things less damaged.

“Weapons! Buffy, I found the rest of the weapons,” Xander called out to the slim blonde girl some twelve feet away, lifting a dual-headed axe into the air over his head.

Straightening up from her bent over position, she tossed aside the broken chair that used to sit in front of her desk and made her way over to him carefully, her jeans and grey tee-shirt splotched with white and grey plaster dust.

They had been working steady for only half an hour when the air around them seemed to grow thicker as the humidity increased. Reaching Xander, Buffy noticed that she wasn’t the only one perspiring as his dark green t-shirt showed wet patches around the neck and shoulders as well as the front of his chest and it was then that Buffy noticed that her friend has lost quite a bit of weight. Mentally, Buffy moved Xander from the chubby rung of the ladder down one to the pudgy rung as she took in the thinner face, noticing angled cheekbones starting to make themselves more pronounced in spite of the day old growth of a beard. She took stock in the tee-shirt that no longer seemed to hug him around his middle, his stomach and waistline having shrunk enough to allow for its unencumbered movement during twists and turns, but rather the sleeves and neckline looking snug instead with newer layers of muscle beneath.

Noticing Buffy staring at him, Xander looked up from the small pile of weapons he was piling and frowned in confusion at the startled look on her face.

“Buff, you ok, cause you’re kinda lookin at me like I’ve just grown a second head,” he asked, the eyebrow hidden beneath his eye patch popping up to arch over the top in confusion.

Shaking her head slightly, her eyes flew to his, embarrassed at having been caught staring, her embarrassment causing her to stammer slightly?

“Wha-what? No. No. I just noticed… Xander, you’ve lost weight!”

Colour flooded his face and his dipped his head shoving his free hand into the pocket on his jeans and letting the other hang at his side, dangling a sword with which he lightly slapped the flat side against his calf.

“Yeah, yeah, I’ve lost a little bit,” he murmured, shifting his weight back and forth from one leg to the other. “I’ve started working out later at night, after everyone has gone to bed and sometimes I go for a run in the morning.”

“You run now?”

Looking into surprised green eyes, he grinned shyly, nodding when Willow piped up.

“Yeah, when he goes out and picks up doughnuts and bagels, he usually runs there and back,” she said with a grin, her blue-green eyes twinkling.

“But that place is about a mile away, so that’s like running 2 miles, 2-3 times a week. Wow. Go Xander,” and with that she smiled, lightly punching him in the arm.

Thunder rumbled overhead, echoing out into the darkness and the three friends looked up towards the sky, the lightness of the moment being chased by the seriousness of the task before them.

“Wes took some boxes out of the car for anything we find that we want to take back with us,” Willow called to them, picking up once of the two stacks of books that were salvageable and walking to where the boxes were left out, waiting to be filled. Distributing the stack of books evenly inside, she walked over and picked up the second stack when something glinted and caught her eye. Making her way over to where the dull gold peeked out from beneath a crushed desk, she carefully set her stack of books down and lifted the pieces of the desk out of the way. She uncovered what remained of a dull gold picture frame, smiling as she turned it over in her hands to find the picture still intact despite the broken glass.

“Buffy, look,” and she held up a picture of Buffy, Dawn and Joyce sitting together on a bench in the back yard.

Taking the picture from Willow’s outstretched hand; she smiled even as she felt her eyes grow damp. Pulling the remaining clip that held the back on, she took the picture out and dropped the broken frame to the ground at her side, using her hand to gently wipe the grit and dust from the photo. Looking up at the pensive redhead in front of her, she smiled softly, quietly letting her know that she was ok in spite of the tears that threatened to fall. When thunder rumbled over head yet again, she walked to the boxes, picking one up and placing inside, carrying it with her as she made her way back to the spot she determined used to be her room. Setting it down in a small area she cleared, she looked at the photo longingly once more before turning to finish looking through the broken bits of furniture for anything that looked salvageable.

Her bed was twisted up, the sheets and blankets crumbled beneath the mattress and box spring, the supports having bent so much that the wrought iron headboard was facing down while the footboard was upright. Shoving the bed aside, she picked up her green and yellow patchwork blanket, checking it for rips and tears and after only finding a few, she folded it up and placed it inside the box she brought with her. Kicking aside the tangled sheets, she felt her foot bounce back a bit and she kneeled down to investigate what was caught up inside, uncovering a slightly squashed Mr. Gordo and with that, the tears that threatened to fall earlier now fell unheeded down her cheeks, squeezing out the corners of her eyes as she flattened her face into the dusty pink fur of her beloved stuffed pig.


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A few miles away, 2 men worked quickly and quietly throwing aside broken boards and twisted accordion shutters, while a 3rd simply stood, looking at the ruins; his normally stoic features awash in sadness as her surveyed the remains of his store.

Sighing deeply, Giles shrugged off the jacket he wore placing it inside the cab of the SUV he stood beside and moved to join the two others who left him to make his peace with the wreckage of what used to be a successful and thriving shop.

When all of the large, heavy stuff was out of the way, each of them men separated into different sections of the store. Wes was in the front, sorting through tangled jewelry and assorted crystals and raw gemstones; carefully checking over diverse relics and statues, some having needed to be pried from the wax of various candles that had melted in the heat of the day.

Giles was in the middle of the store, among the broken shelves where he housed volumes written about various forms of magic and texts of ancient histories; tomes of reference that had been read through so many times he lost count as they researched demons and mystical phenomena.

Angel moved further, into the back of the store where the training room used to be; sorting through crumbled walls and broken furniture, revealing weapons that had been left behind.

Quietly they all worked, minutes passing into an hour, then into an hour and a half as they filled the empty boxes quickly with their findings, the night continuing to rumble overhead when the silence was finally broken by the electronical sounds of music.

Reaching into his pants pocket, Angel pulled out his phone, glancing at the caller ID before flipping it open and answering, Giles and Wes stopping what they were doing to watch expectantly.

“It’s Angel,” he said quietly, his relaxed features suddenly scrunching up in anxiousness, both Giles and Wesley tensing up, unconsciously mimicking the dark vampire’s body language as they listened to the one-sided conversation.

“Where’d she go?”

“How long ago?”

“Which way?”

“Ok, we are almost done here. You and Xander finish up and we will meet you back on Revello in about 15 minutes. Keep the phone handy.”

“Is everything alright,” Wes asked, his accent more pronounced with his worry.

“Buffy left,” Giles asked at the same time, deducting from what he heard that the girl he’s come to think of as his surrogate daughter has gone off somewhere, alone.

“Willow found a photo album and Buffy was upset by it and ran off. I’m going to go look for her. Are we almost done here,” Angel replied, raising his hands to run through his hair before he caught himself and jerkily moved his arms back down to his sides.

At their nods, he pushed his phone back into his pocket and started loading the filled boxes into the back of the SUV as Giles and Wes rushed to finish filling the remaining empty ones. Within minutes, boxes were full and secured behind the seats and the worried trio sank into their seats, as they bumped along uneven roads as quickly as they dared.


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Her lungs were burning. She ran hard and as fast as she could, trying to get away, her heart as twisted up as the metal cot that had hidden the photo album they uncovered and she suddenly just couldn’t breathe and she panicked and ran.

She knew she probably freaked out Willow and Xander with her sudden bolting and she’d apologize later but at the moment she hurt so much it felt as if she were being split in two and she stopped running as suddenly as she started, her chest heaving as she bent in half, hands braced on her slightly bent knees, sucking in great gulps of air, her cheeks still damp with her tears.

Straightening up, she looked around her, wondering where she was. She began to walk slowly, turning her head left and right, strands of golden blonde hair having escaped from her ponytail to hang limply around her face as she took in the damage all around her. She walked for some minutes when she realized there seemed to be an awful lot more toppled trees around here than what she had seen so far and when she came upon the twisted aluminum that was once a swing set, she realized she was in what was left of the park. Carefully she sat down on the overturned slide, bracing her elbows on her knees as she buried her face in her hands, the images of the twisted cot looming behind her closed eyes.

Choking on a sob, she gave herself over to the memories that flooded her mind and bruised her heart.

She turned, watching Spike flail about, sitting up as he mumbled something about drowning in footwear when suddenly it was so clear to her. They were going to win. Smiling gently at the confused vampire sitting upright on the cot, she felt free for the first time in a long while. Taking in his confused expression, she looked into his cerulean eyes from across the room and felt her heart flip flop in her chest. Slowly she moved towards him, the smile never leaving her face and she knelt on the floor between his knees upon reaching him. Raising her hand, she stroked the back of her knuckles along his cheek, her eyes filling with tears as her closed his eyes and nuzzled his cheek against her hand.

‘I love you,’ she thought to herself, unable to break the intimate silence that seemed to wrap around them like a whisper and when he opened his eyes to look into her own emerald ones, she felt her heart flip-flop once more. Turning her hand over to cup the side of his face, she raised the other to cup the other cheek and gently pulled him towards her, staring into his eyes until their lips finally met in the softest of kisses. Once, twice, she brushed her lips against his before flicking her tongue out, licking against his mouth and silently asking for entrance. She felt it against her lips as well as heard his soft gasp of air before he settled his mouth more firmly against hers, his tongue sliding out to dance along her own as she deepened the kiss.

Sweetly she devoured his mouth, kissing him for what seemed like a small eternity when he reached down and lifted her, settling her in his lap when she shifted, laying back and pulling him down with her. Raising his head, he looked at her questioningly, seeing her looking back at him with such softness he could almost feel his undead heart start beating once more. Sliding her hands along his shoulders and down his arms, she grasped the hem of his tee shirt and pulled it up and he ducked his head to allow her to pull it completely off before she sat up just enough to remove the camisole she was wearing.

His eyes darkened to a shade of blue so deep, she thought she’d drown in their azure depths when he bent his head to kiss her once more, sucking her bottom lip into his mouth, nibbling gently with blunt teeth. Letting her lip slide out with a soft pop, Spike nuzzled her chin for a moment before pressing a soft kiss on it, nibbling his way along her jaw-line before pressing a soft kiss just beneath her ear causing her exposed skin breaking out in goose bumps, her nipples hardening in response. Growling softly he pressed his face into her neck, breathing deeply and imprinting her scent in his memory when the words she whispered against his ear caused his gut to twist up so tight and he could feel his cock immediately swell to straining proportions against his zipper.

“I want you Spike.”

Raising his head to look at her in surprise, his gut twisted even tighter taking in the flushed look on her face, her bared breasts rising and falling with each breath she took when she knocked his world off kilter once more.

“Make love to me, please.”

Feeling the ground start to shake beneath her, Buffy was yanked from her thoughts when suddenly she was falling backwards, her arms flailing about uselessly for something to grab onto when she landed hard on her back, the twisted aluminum poles of the swing-set digging hard into her ribs.

“Ooof! What in the hell…”

Turning her head from side to side, she was greeted with a dusty greyness that seemed out of place in the darkness of the night. Looking up she noted that she only fell about ten feet when the night sky rippled, lightning zigzagging its way across its depths and briefly illuminating the cave she fell into and making something sparkle in the corner of her eye.

“Great! Just what I needed,” Buffy huffed, sitting up gingerly, wincing at the pain in her ribs as she struggled to her feet when lightning ripped across the sky once more, causing the unknown object to glint dully in the greyness once more.

Walking over to where she saw the flash, Buffy knelt among broken concrete pillars, looking around and finding stone sarcophaguses, shattered with its contents splintered among the rubble. Pushing larger pieces aside, she felt around along the ground for anything that felt smooth or metallic when her hands brushed against something cold. Touching it gingerly, she picked it up, hearing a soft clink when lightning once more illuminated the darkness, allowing her to see for a brief moment that she held some sort of necklace, its silvery colour muted with dust as a large burgundy stone glinted dully in the meager light.

Wiping a hand against the gem, Buffy tried to clear some of the dust off its surface before deciding to polish it against her shirt before holding it up and trying to look at it once more. Frustration laced the breath she expelled on a sigh when she was unable to make out the design in the gloom of the cave. Giving up, she lifted the necklace to pull over her head, allowing the stone to nestle in the valley between her breasts feeling the wind start to pick up as pieces of her hair blew across her face and dirt and dust began to swirl about her feet.

“Right. Storm coming. Need to get out of the cave and find the gang,” she said aloud to herself.

“Now how to get out of here?”

Thinking she could go back the way she came, she looked for something she could stand on to climb up out of the cave she fell into when Buffy felt the stone between her breasts starting to grow warmer and she looked down to see a faint burgundy glow start to shimmer from the neckline of her shirt.

“What the hell?!?”

Just then the gem lit up, the soft glow causing other things in the gloominess of the cave to glimmer faintly in the soft merlot tinted light.

Her curiosity piqued, Buffy reached into the rubble, intent on uncovering whatever else sparkled at her, forgetting about the storm that was rapidly approaching