Thanks so much to everyone who has read and reviewed, especially since my postings have been sporadic at best. A big thanks to Kar and Zanthinegirl for beta work and advise. And now, the conclusion…

Spike stared at the teen, still trying to grasp that she was his wife's sister. Dawn was playing happily with Celia, but the others were looking at her as though she were some sort of particularly vicious little demon. That is, when they weren't busy staring at him with unconcealed curiosity.

"You're sure you don't remember anything useful?" Anya asked, looking considerably less fascinated with him than the others.

"I told you, my back was to the door," he sighed.

"The light was too bright," his wife explained.

Xander eyed their clasped hands on the tabletop with an expression Spike couldn't quite read. "What?" he demanded tartly.

The boy startled slightly. "Did you get them engraved? The rings?"

This was not the comment he'd expected.

"Could we maybe focus on getting my sister back?" Dawn broke in. She shoved his daughter back at him, the better to cross her arms over her chest and glare at them all.

"I'm sorry, Dawnie. We know Buffy, our Buffy, is still somewhere, but I'm not sure how we get her back."

"I don't see how this can be that hard for you," the teen crabbed. "Just yank her out of there. You're good at that."

Spike didn't quite understand the ripple of bad feeling this set off through the room. "That only solves half the problem," he pointed out.

Dawn shrugged and then quickly jumped out of the way of a roaring, churning mass of light that erupted into the middle of the room.

---------

Spike watched her move as he followed Buffy through the sewers back to the Magic Box, hopefully that this was the last hour he'd be spending in this strange little world. The thought of it, the two of them in a neat little house with a neat little family was too much. Of course it wasn't really him in those pictures, not his scent in the bedclothes. Nor was he jealous, certainly not. Nothing could be worth giving up all he'd become to go back to being William again, certainly nothing as mundane as fatherhood and the blessed bonds of matrimony.

Buffy gave him a weak little smile before she opened to door to find Willow waiting for them with what looked like a super soaker in her arms.

"I'm pretty sure I know how to get you home," she announced.

"Whoa!" Buffy protested. "Don't you think you need more research before you just go blasting us?"

"I just want my best friend back," Willow insisted. "What's wrong with that?"

And there was the girl he recognized, no matter what else might be different in this place. "Willow! What the devil are you doing?" he heard before everything went bright and silent.


When he could see again, the Scoobies and their doubles were gathered around the research table at the shop. His eyes locked on the man with his face and tiny little person clasped in his arms. He had a great sudden urge to touch the man's chest or embrace him or ask him how it felt to be a father or even to take the child into his own grasp.

Thankfully, before he could do anything so foolish, his reflection threw an arm around his wife and pushed his family past them, into the gateway that had just expelled himself and the slayer seconds before it imploded.

Dawn briefly acknowledged him, but the rest were pressed around Buffy, pummeling her with hugs and questions. Their eyes met briefly over the boy's shoulder and then he slipped out to the alley to escape the smell of their mingled bodies and a child made from their flesh.

He needed a drink badly.

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

Buffy stared at the little piece of paper in her hand, running her thumb over the writing and trying to decide what, if anything, to do.

She shouldn’t go, she lectured herself. Staying away from Spike was supposed to the first step in some sort of major life change, right? Only her crappy job had gotten even crappier, her financial aid plea to UCS had been denied, and instead of spending all the time she wasn’t entangled with Spike doing things with Dawn she was reminded that she and her sister lived on almost opposite schedules.

The front door banged loudly, announcing the end of the school day. Buffy thought about shoving the note in her pocket, then decided that Dawn probably knew all about it anyway. At least someone was giving Dawn the attention she needed. So at least something good had come of her new sucky, celibate life. Assuming you could put teenagers hanging out in crypts after school in the positive column.

“You okay?” Dawn asked.

Buffy sighed, hating that this was always the first thing out of her sister’s mouth when they saw each other. Dawn surprised her a bit by sitting next to her on the couch and giving her a quick hug. Buffy quickly hugged her back. “What was that about?” she couldn’t help asking.

Her sister shrugged. “It’s just really nice to have you back from dimension Y.”

“It’s nice to be back.”

“Was it really weird there? She seemed so different.”

She shook her head, wishing she had a decent answer. “She has a really different life, that’s for sure.”

“Better?”

Buffy took a deep breath. Objectively, she’d have to say that, hell yeah, the other her had a much nicer life. But she didn’t want that life. She wanted her life, only with less suck. She just wished she knew how to make that happen. As she looked at her sister, trying to think of some way to answer, she realized something else. “Are those new clothes?” she demanded. “Where did those come from?”

“It’s not what you think!” Dawn shouted. “Spike gave me the money.”

“Oh, that’s much better,” she growled, feeling once again like things had spun horribly out of her control.

Dawn rolled her eyes. “Look, I get that you don’t want to take money from him, because that would be, well, weird and kinda gross. But I’m not, you know, we’re just friends, obviously. And Willow ran off Aunt Darlene before she could meet the robot and the Council has obviously forgotten about you and Dad doesn’t give a damn and Willow doesn’t even pony up for groceries, and it’s not like I want to be a charity case for my friend but I’m really tired of trying to convince people like that bitch Kristy that my old jeans are capris and he’s not stealing either, by the way, which you’d know if you weren’t totally avoiding him!”

Buffy felt her eyebrows heading for her hairline. “Breathe in, kiddo,” she advised, trying to process everything her sister had just said.

"He took care of me a lot when you were gone," Dawn added in a more subdued tone.

"I know he did."

"Did you like him better?"

"Way off topic," Buffy dodged. Dawn made a face. "No, I didn't like him better," she admitted. "Probably I should have, but I didn't." She stared at the note she'd crushed. "I should probably talk to him about this whole giving you money thing," she mused.

"Right. Work out some ground rules."

"He wants me to meet him for a drink," Buffy announced. Her sister's expression confirmed that Dawn already knew what was in the note. "After patrol," she added.

"To discuss my upkeep?"

Buffy smirked. "He didn't say."

"Are you gonna?"

Buffy crumpled the note into her pocket. "Maybe."

"What should I tell Willow?"

She smiled at her sister. "Tell her I'm meeting Spike for a drink. You know you're dying to."


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


Buffy wished she'd googled the place or something, because it wasn't what she had expected. It wasn't like the Bronze or any of the places near campus. It was dimly lit and decorated in subdued colors. Adults sat in booths talking in low voices while quiet music played.

And behind the bar was Spike.

She hadn't seen him once in the week since they'd gotten back from Never Never Land, and she hated how much she missed him. She wasn't supposed to miss him. He quirked an eyebrow at her and tilted his head toward an empty booth. Feeling way self-conscious, she scooted in and chewed her lip until he slid in across from her with a drink in each hand.

"Look like you could use it," he explained as he sat.

"So they're both for me?" she joked lamely, but it broke the awkwardness and they were able to talk. Buffy could feel the hopefully nervousness radiating off him, and she wondered if it wouldn't be better to just bluntly tell him nothing was going to change.

Except that he had changed, again, or maybe this was part of some change that had happened a long time ago. "I'm really not sure if I should let you do this," she admitted quietly. "Take care of Dawn like this, I mean."

He swirled his empty glass. "Do better when I've someone to look after," he replied quietly, not quite looking at her.

"Okay then," she sighed. He gave her one of his rare sincere smiles and she knew she better leave before things got any more interesting. "I should let you go. I wouldn't want to get you in trouble."

"I can take a break now and then. This late we're not so busy."

She nodded. "Maybe I could stop by after patrol sometimes," she suggested. "If I'm in the neighborhood or whatever."

"You could," he agreed.

"I will," she said, with a little too much conviction and the expression on his face was painful. She shouldn't be toying with him like this, she told herself. Only she wasn't so sure she was toying. "And if you're not working some night and get bored, you could, you know, join me on patrol. If you feel like it."

"I'll keep that in mind, slayer."

"Thanks for the drink," she said as he offered her a hand up out of the booth. His skin felt better against her than it should, making her all too aware of how much she knew about how his skin felt against far less innocent places. "I'll see you soon."

"I'd like that."

She smiled at him. "So would I."

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This ended on a more ambiguous note than I had originally planned, but that seems like a truer place to leave things than having them jump into each other’s arms in wild abandon. Thank you to everyone who stuck with me.