A/N: Okay, the first song should be pretty obvious. :) The second one is Do You Love Me from "Fiddler on the Roof."

Chapter 17: Walk Through the Fire

Buffy and Dawn were already at the Magic Box when Spike came up through the basement, restricted to the sewers in the waning afternoon light while they’d taken the above-ground route.

Anya had returned from her meeting, and Xander was seated uncomfortably next to her at the research table. Dawn, too, sat at the table, while Giles stood behind the counter and Buffy paced the shop.

The Slayer stopped in her tracks, her head turning toward the basement door at the sound of Spike’s entrance, and she greeted him with a smile.

“Miss anything?” he asked.

“You’re not needed, Evil Dead,” Xander cut in, before Buffy had a chance to respond. “Why don’t you take a walk outside or something?”

“Because I want him here,” Buffy replied, more sharply than expected, her hand reaching out to take Spike’s.

“Buffy, there’s no need to get upset,” said Giles, “and – and… are you holding hands?” he finished, in a higher register than his normal voice.

“They’re dating,” Dawn said chirpily, earning wide-eyed looks from the others, including her sister.

Giles turned back to his Slayer and asked, “Buffy, is that true?”

Buffy’s eyes darted back and forth, from Giles to Spike to Dawn. She’d known she would have to face this eventually, but she’d been hoping to ease into it a little, rather than having to answer a point-blank question. Dawn and her big mouth were so grounded.

“Well, we’re not… dating so much as… I mean, there haven’t been any actual dates…” She felt Spike’s hand tighten in hers, giving her an encouraging, but also insistent, squeeze. “Yes,” she declared, lifting her chin and meeting her Watcher’s eyes. “Spike’s with me now.”

“With you,” Giles repeated, taking off his glasses and polishing them for the second time in as many hours. “Oh, dear.”

“Buffy, what are you doing? Are you crazy?” Xander demanded, leaping up from the table. Then, he let out a relieved sigh as he came to the only thing that passed for a logical conclusion. “It’s a spell, right?” He turned to Dawn. “It’s just a spell, right, Dawnie? Buffy would never… We can fix this –”

“It’s not a spell, Xander,” Buffy interrupted. “This is real.”

The argument erupted then, with all of them talking at once, as Spike jabbed an angry finger into Xander’s chest while he and Dawn staunchly defended Buffy to the distressed young man, who was in turn hurling accusations at Buffy while she furiously cut off Giles’ attempts at a lecture.

Meanwhile, Anya just sat silently at the table, a resigned expression on her face as her fiancé showed more concern for his friend’s love life than he had for his own relationship. It didn’t matter to her whether Spike and Buffy were together – it made sense, really, with them both being super-powered and everything. Anya didn’t understand what the big deal was. She’d killed way more people than Spike had, and no one seemed to object to her marrying Xander.

Except, she suspected, Xander himself. But he still hadn’t brought himself to say anything yet, so she could only continue on making wedding plans as though nothing was wrong, even while gripped with the horrible fear that he didn’t really love her and was only marrying her out of some sense of obligation. She should’ve known that whole “proposal right before the world ended” thing was a bad idea. When the world didn’t end, that is.

Finally, Xander’s voice rose above the din, forcing the rest of them to yield. “But, Buffy, it’s – it’s… Spike!”

“That’s kind of the point,” Buffy shot back. “Spike has been there for me, and cared for me, when you guys had no idea what kind of pain I was going through.”

“In all fairness, Buffy, you didn’t tell us what you were going through,” Giles said, more reserved than the rest of them.

“That’s because you were so – so proud!” She spun angrily back to face Xander and Anya. “You were so proud of yourselves and what you’d done. And you wanted me to be happy. So, I gave you that, and no one cared what it was doing to me.” Buffy backed away from them, standing in the center of the room as her song began.

“You brought me back into a world of pain
I look into it and it’s black
He made me feel like I was something real
I want that feeling back”

Turning to Spike, she extended her hand across the distance between them.

“Now through the smoke he calls to me
To make my way across the flame
Not fade away, but live another day
Feelings that have no name”

With slow, deliberate steps that matched the beat of the music, Buffy walked toward Spike, her hand outstretched.

“So I will walk through the fire
’Cause where else can I turn
I will walk through the fire and let it…”

Grabbing hold of Buffy’s outstretched hand, Spike pulled her close to him and sang to her.

“You know that I’d do anything
I’d have saved you if I’d known how
But then you died and something broke inside
But I can save you now

“And I will walk through the fire
I guess I’ll never learn
I will walk through the fire and let it…”

Shaking his head with concern, Giles donned his spectacles as he provided the bridge.

“I should have stopped this from the start
When Angel came and stole your heart
A vampire’s love will only cause you strife”

“Buffy, you’re not thinking straight,” Xander chimed in. “Wanting who you used to hate.”

“Why don’t you just butt out of her life?” Dawn snapped, defending her sister.

“That isn’t true. We only want what’s best for you,” Xander sang to Buffy in reply, and then he was joined by Giles and Anya. “And we will walk through the fire…”

Buffy looked at her friends reproachfully.

“So one by one, you turn from me
I guess my friends can’t face the truth
You drove me here, into the arms you fear
And now I can’t be moved”

Then, she turned to Spike, and they sang to one another, each lost in their lover’s gaze, as though no one else was in the room.

“And we are caught in the fire
The point of no return
So we will walk through the fire
And let it burn
Let it burn
Let it burn!”

As the last notes faded away, Spike tipped his head forward to rest his forehead against Buffy’s. She ran her hands up and down his arms reassuringly, and then turned back to the group. “Short version: Spike stays. Anyone who has a problem with it has a problem with me.”

“Buffy…” Giles started with a sigh.

“I mean it, Giles,” Buffy warned. “I’m tired of you all dictating my life all the time. I’m not going to let you take away the one person that’s meant everything to me since I’ve been back.” From directly behind her, she heard Spike’s slight intake of breath at her declaration, and her ferocity faded away. “I need him with me,” she said more softly, “and I can’t – I don’t want to have this fight, okay?”

“It’s just… this is quite sudden,” Giles said. “Surely you understand it takes time to – to adjust to –”

“Fine. You have five minutes,” Buffy told him, hurrying back to the training room before she broke down in front of them.

Spike met the Watcher’s eyes for a long moment. He didn’t expect to wring approval from the other man just yet, but he silently made his intentions clear before following Buffy to the back. Dawn caught his gaze as he passed the table, and she gave him a smile, letting him know that she’d be representing Team Spike in his and the Slayer’s absence.

As soon as Spike left the room, the others erupted in concerned discussion, but the sound was quickly silenced as Spike closed the door behind him. “Hey,” he said softly, coming up behind Buffy where she was staring blankly at the wall, resting his hands on her shoulders. “You’re a bit of all right, you know that?”

The beginnings of smile crossed her lips, but she ducked her head, not turning to face him. Spike slid his hands down her arms until she was wrapped up in him. “Knew it’d be hard, pet. But you did it.”

She didn’t respond, but he could smell the salt of the tears welling up in her eyes. “They’ll come around, love. Niblet’s out there, won’t let a one of ’em say a word against you.”

This time, a smile did form, and Buffy turned around in his arms to bury her face in the hollow of his throat. A laughing sob escaped her as she wrapped her arms around his waist. “This is real,” she whispered, a note of disbelief in her voice. “This is – I mean, we’re…”

“’S what you wanted, right?” Spike asked, with a shade of uncertainty. “What you said last night…?”

He felt her head bobbing up and down against his chest. “I want you, Spike. I mean it – I’m yours.”

A comforting affirmation, but still shy of the words he desperately longed to hear. Spike pulled away enough so that he could look at her. “Buffy? Do you love me?”

“Do I… what?” Buffy replied, taken off-guard.

Spike, too, seemed surprised at the words that were coming out of his mouth, but as usual, he couldn’t resist the music’s spell. “Do you love me?”

“Do I love you?” Buffy backed out of his embrace. “With Tara getting kidnapped, and Sweet still lying low, and all of them freaking out…” – she gestured toward the door, behind which her friends were still talking animatedly – “Why can’t you let it go?” When he tilted his head to the side in a pout, she threw up her hands and added, “Spike, don’t give me that expression!”

“Buffy, I'm asking you a question…” He took her by the shoulders again, looking her square in the eye as he sang, “Do you love me?”

Buffy rolled her eyes. “You're a fool.”

Spike gave her a slight smile. “I know… But do you love me?”

“Do I love you?” Buffy stepped away from him again and strode toward the door.

“With all that we’ve been through together
You know that there are feelings there
But think about what’s going down”

Reaching the door, she pulled it open, oblivious to whatever was happening on the other side, and spun in the doorway to face him. “With so much at stake, why talk about love right now?”

“Buffy,” Spike said seriously, aware that the others had stopped their conversation and were watching them, but focused only on the woman in front of him.

“The first time I met you
That night behind the Bronze
I was bad”

“Said I’d die,” Buffy chimed in.

Spike smiled. “Now I’m changing…”

“So am I.”

Spike reached out to cradle her face gently in his hand, his fingertips running from her temple down along her jaw, tipping up her chin.

“And since your resurrection
You have matched me in affection
And now I'm asking, Buffy
Do you love me?”

“I'm your girl,” Buffy responded evasively, turning away from him to avoid his eyes.

“I know,” Spike replied. “But do you love me?”

“Do I love him?” Buffy sang, reflecting to herself.

“For so many years I've fought with him
Been angry and distraught with him
Now I find my heart is his
If that's not love, what is?”

Spike came around and stood in front of her. “Then you love me?”

With a relenting smile, Buffy replied, “I suppose I do.”

Spike pulled her into his arms. “And I suppose I love you, too.”

“It doesn’t change a thing,” they sang together. “But even so… After all we’ve been through, it's nice to know.”

Across the room, Anya tilted her head to the side as she gazed at the couple, her expression softened with emotion. “It’s sort of beautiful, isn’t it?”

“Yeah,” Xander replied flatly, affected more than he was willing to let on. “In a bile-in-my-mouth sort of way. Listen, Ahn, I need to talk to you.” Taking her arm, he pulled her away from the others and lowered his voice, his eyes focused on the scuffed toes of his shoes. “I – I think we should postpone the wedding.”

Anya went pale. “What?”

“I love you, Ahn,” he said, his head snapping up to look at her. “I need you to know that, but…” He sighed. “I’m not ready.” Before she could get upset, he rushed to reassure her, “It’s not you – I love you, so much, and I thought I’d be ready for this marriage thing, but… it’s a big step, and – and I want to do this right. I don’t want us to end up like my parents, resenting each other, but staying together because they don’t know what else to do. I – I need to be sure.”

“You’re not sure you want to marry me?” she asked in a small voice.

“No! God, no, that’s not it. I’m not sure of – of me,” Xander said. “I don’t know if I’m good enough, if I’m – what you deserve. And I don’t want to marry you until I am.” He took her hands in his. “But I do want to marry you.”

“Oh,” Anya said slowly, digesting his speech. “Well, that’s… okay. I – I guess it gives me more time to plan, right?” She perked up a little. “And besides, the bridesmaid situation is all up in the air, what with Tara gone missing, and who knows what Willow’s going to do. I mean, she could end up getting us all killed, and then there’d be no wedding at all…”

Xander suddenly looked stricken. “Oh, God. Will.” Turning to the group, he asked, panicking, “Guys! Has anyone seen Willow?”

Buffy and Dawn exchanged a look. “We haven’t seen her,” Dawn replied. “I think she was up in her room all day.”

“You mean…” Xander trailed off as he met Giles’ eyes, which were also full of concern. “She was dead set on doing that spell… and no one’s seen her since yesterday?”

That was when everybody disappeared.