Chapter Twenty-Two


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Her birthday party had – for once in all her years in Sunnydale – passed without incident. Well, unless you counted Xander spilling his drink over himself and a very unimpressed Spike. Apart from that though, it had been perfect. She had been surrounded by everyone she loved and she had had a great time. Plus, so many great presents. Except from Spike, who refused to give her her presents until Sunday. She had sulked but it had made her more and more antsy to get to Sunday evening already. She wanted to know about this special night Spike had planned but he had given no further information, despite her very best efforts at persuasion.

So, now she was dressing – smart, but still fairly informal – and readying herself for her surprise. Dawn knocked on her door and came in as she was fixing her hair.

“Wow, you look great, Buffy,” she commented, leaning on the door frame.

“Thanks,” she answered with a smile, glancing at herself in the mirror, “Think I’m dressed okay for a birthday surprise?”

“Na-huh,” Dawn got out with a laugh, “I’m not telling you anything.”

“So you know about this big secret?”

“Doesn’t mean I’m telling you anything!” Dawn laughed, “You’ll just have to wait.”

“You’re so mean. Both of you.”

“You’ll love it, I promise.”

Buffy smiled and tucked a stray hair behind her ear.

“I’m sure I will. Right, time to get going before that vampire tells me off for being late.”

“Have fun.”

Buffy smiled and skipped down the stairs, pulling on her jacket and heading out into the cool night air.



She strolled along the road leading to the cemetery with a smile and sped up ever so slightly, eager to see her surprise – and her boyfriend, of course. She had barely set foot in Restfield before she felt familiar tingles at the back of her neck though and she stopped, smiling softly.

“I knew you’d get impatient,” she commented with a smile, hearing shuffling behind her.
She turned – and froze. Wrong Aurelian. Angel was standing just a few metres away, giving her a sheepish smile.

“Angel!” she got out in shock, “What are you doing here?!”

He stepped forward then and moved towards her.

“I’m really sorry to do this, Buffy, but I need your help.”

“Excuse me?”

“I’ve been tracking a demon. Suvolte. It made a pretty big mess in LA and now it’s come to Sunnydale.”

“Right...demon...”

“It’s bad,” he added, “It’s going to lay eggs soon and when they hatch...there won’t be much left of Sunnydale.”

“Oh. Well, err, that’s not good.”

“No,” he answered, giving her a strange look, “Look, I think it’s hiding out in the caves. But you know them much better than me...”

“Right, caves, yeah,” she answered absentmindedly, still trying to catch up with the shock of Angel being in Sunnydale.

“Buffy, we really need to kill this thing.”

“Right, sure. Well, I’ll just, err, go do this thing I was doing and I’ll meet you later-“

“I need you to come now.”



She frowned and bit her lip.

“I can’t come now. I’m meeting someone.”

He looked down at her and frowned slightly.

“A guy?” he asked, getting that wounded-puppy look.

“Look, it doesn’t matter. I’ve got plans...I really can’t-“

“Buffy, this is a serious problem.”

“I get that. But I can’t... You know it’s my birthday tomorrow, right?”

“Oh,” he got out hesitantly, “Yeah, of course. Happy Birthday.”

“Thanks. So, look...well, I don’t really want to be slaying on my birthday... hmm... Right, I’ll go see this...person...then I’ll be right with you.”

“Buffy, there isn’t time,” he exclaimed, reaching out and grabbing her arm, “We need to find out if this thing’s laid its eggs yet.”

“I...” she faltered, her eyes drifting across Restfield.

“Buffy, please. I need your help.”

With a sigh, she turned back to him and nodded slowly.

“I just need to go and tell-“

“There isn’t time,” he cut in, already starting to guide her out of the cemetery. She shook his hand off and glanced back at Restfield with a sigh. She’d just get this done quickly and then she’d be with Spike in no time.



Several hours later, she was seriously not happy. They had finally found the Suvolte, hidden deep in the caves, and had found no sign of any eggs. Unable to kill the demon, Angel had suggested they return the next evening with more weapons. She had nodded weakly and after a polite question about his accommodation for the night, she had left him and headed for Restfield as quickly as she could.

She reached the crypt and went in, her eyes quickly growing used to the dim light.

“Spike?” she called out.

There was no answer and she frowned, heading for the lower level. She climbed down the stairs and rounded the corner – and came to a halt in surprise. The room was covered with twinkling candles – more so than usual – and there were rose petals scattered over the bed. Her eyes were drawn then to the tray on the table beside the bed and she let out a little groan as she moved towards it. It contained a bottle of champagne, two glasses and a bowl of strawberries. She sighed and turned back to the room, biting her lip as she felt a sinking feeling in her stomach. There was no sign of Spike at all and she sighed again, sitting on the edge of the bed. She had the feeling that she had seriously messed up tonight.

Just looking at all the effort Spike had gone to, she felt awful. She wished he was here so she could explain about the demon emergency. She was sure he would understand. Yeah, sure. Because Spike is always very reasonable wherever Angel’s concerned. She sighed and rose to her feet once more. She searched out a scrap of paper and a pen and left him a short note, explaining the demon emergency and left it on the bed. With one last glance around the room, she frowned and made her way out of the crypt.