You came back wrong. Those four words were stuck in Buffy's brain.
They went round and round in her head, but still she could make no sense
out of the words. Oh, she knew something was wrong, why else would Spike
be able to hit her without feeling the headache caused by the chip in his
head? But what was wrong?
Giles didn't know. Buffy had called him as soon as she had gotten home from her house destroying night with Spike. He had hemmed and hawed and had finally admitted that he would have to spend some time in researching the problem. He had even suggested that she talk with Willow, since she was the one that had brought Buffy back. Then he had profusely apologized for the millionth time for letting Willow do the spell.
"If I had only known, Buffy, I would have stopped her," Giles said contrition evident in his voice.
Buffy sighed and forgave him for the millionth time. At first she was glad that everyone seemed to be sorry that they had dragged her away from her reward, but now she was tired of dwelling on it. She had decided that since there was nothing she could do about it, she might as well let it go and get on with her life.
But that had all been weeks ago and Giles still had no idea why she had come back wrong or how to fix it. She was avoiding Spike, ever since the whole invisible girl incident, so she couldn't ask his advice. And, of course, she was not going to even discuss Spike with Willow.
"And that puts me right back where I started," Buffy acknowledged to herself. She felt lost, unsure of herself and her emotions. The only time she really felt anything was when she was having sex with Spike. Buffy shuddered. She really didn't want to think about Spike right now. She didn't even want to try and analyze her feelings for the bleach blonde vampire.
Buffy turned the corner and unconsciously headed for the Magic Shop. She knew she would find her friends and Dawn there. It wasn't quite dark yet and she wanted to get Dawn home before she had to go out and patrol. With her thoughts centered on her Spike problem, Buffy didn't notice the figure coming towards her until it was too late.
"I'm sorry," Buffy muttered automatically as she reached out to steady the person she had bumped into. She looked up and found herself facing the last person she had expected to ever see again.
"Hello, Buffy," Riley said, an uncertain look on his face.
"Riley! Wh.what are you doing here?" Buffy asked, her eyes wide with shock.
"I'm looking for my.a demon," Riley replied. "One escaped from South America and we figured that it may have come here to the Hellmouth."
Buffy didn't even seem to notice Riley's hesitation. She was still too surprised by his appearance to register much of anything else. "A demon?" she questioned stupidly.
Riley smiled. "Yeah, ya know the things with pointy horns, scaly skin and big teeth."
"Hmmm.seems like I might have read something about them once," Buffy returned falling easily into a flippant attitude. "So you think it might have been drawn here to Monster Island, huh?"
"It looks like it," Riley said. "We've exhausted all our contacts and haven't been able to find her.it anywhere else. It only makes sense that it would come here."
"Welcome to Sunnydale, best monster tourist spot on earth." Buffy continued her walk to the Magic Shop. "Let's get the others and hunt this thing down."
Riley stopped her with a hand on her arm. "I don't want to involve anyone else. I shouldn't even be involving you, but I thought you would be able to help me."
"Top secret military stuff?" Buffy asked.
"Something like that," Riley said not really confirming or denying anything.
Buffy smiled. "Well let's go then," she said turning away from the Magic Shop. Riley fell into step next to her and they headed for the first of Sunnydale's many cemeteries.
*****
After an hour Riley and Buffy found themselves halfway through their search of all the monster hangouts, but still no South American demon. Riley seemed to be almost frantic and Buffy was confused by his attitude.
"Are you sure it came here?" Buffy asked her eyes scanning the cemetery for any unusual beings.
"She must have," Riley said almost to himself. Buffy cocked an eyebrow at the gender of the demon but didn't say a word. She was becoming a little curious about this demon though. She had tried to get a description out of Riley before they started their search, but he had dodged the question.
"Maybe we should talk to Willie," Buffy suggested. "He's bound to know if anyone unusual was in town."
Riley shuddered. He NEVER wanted to see the inside of Willie's bar again. He was still ashamed of how he had behaved the last time he had been there. No one else but Spike and Buffy knew that he had offered himself up to a vampire chick and he wanted to keep it that way.
"No, lets just keep looking. It's bound to turn up sooner or later," Riley said.
"This thing must not be very dangerous," Buffy commented trying to get more information about the demon. Sooner or later didn't translate into mutilator of human flesh.
"It can be," Riley replied again dodging Buffy's attempts to find out more about the demon. "If she's crossed she can be extremely dangerous."
Buffy sighed and followed Riley as they patrolled the edge of Brinker's woods. Suddenly she heard a quiet rustling behind her. "Riley," she whispered. Then she pointed to the spot where the leaves were just settling in to place and waved him into position on the other side. Buffy thrust her hand into foliage and pulled out a demon.
"Spike, what are you doing here?" she demanded as she dropped him like a sack of hot coals.
"Just out for a little walk," Spike replied innocently, a little too innocently. "What are you doing here, luv?"
"Looking for a demon," Buffy told him exasperation evident in her voice. He was the last person she wanted to see. And she didn't buy his whole out for a walk excuse. He had obviously been following her.
"Found one didn't ya," Spike said a leer replacing his innocent look. "Are you going to torture me?"
Buffy ignored his hopeful look. "No, I'm going to stake you," she said raising her stake and aiming it at his heart.
Spike's eyes widened in surprise and he moved a safe distance away from the Slayer. "Maybe I could help," he suggested a little nervously. "What does this demon look like?"
Buffy turned to Riley and Spike followed her gaze. "Why if it isn't Captain Cardboard," Spike said a sneering grin crossing his face. "Lost a demon, did ya? So, what does this thing look like, I might've seen it."
Riley looked at Buffy hesitantly. He noticed she was looking at him expectantly. He sighed and gave in. "Big, green, two horns, scaly skin, pointy teeth," Riley replied.
"Hmmm a little vague," Spike said a suspicion forming in the back of his brain. That sounded like almost every demon he knew. "But I think you might be in luck. I killed one of those last night." Spike looked closely at Riley trying to gage his reaction. He wasn't disappointed.
"Did I say green? I meant red and it has four arms."
"Oh why didn't you say so. Killed one of those two nights ago. Put up a nasty fight. Think I still have cut on my arse." Spike turned to Buffy with a wicked smile. "Wanna see?"
Buffy ignored Spike. "Well it looks like everything is okay then," she said to Riley.
"Well. I'm not sure that's my demon," Riley replied. "It also had four heads all with big jaws filled with sharp teeth."
Buffy's gaze narrowed as she looked at Riley. Something wasn't right here. Her Spider sense was kicking into high gear. "Spike?"
Spike smiled sure of his suspicions now. Captain Cardboard was making the whole thing up. "Yep, that's the one I killed. Ya sure you don't want to see my cut?" he asked again. He even started to unbutton his pants in case Buffy changed her mind.
Buffy continued to look at Riley her gaze angry and suspicious. She was beginning to think that he had made the whole thing up. "Riley, why are you here?" she asked again through clenched teeth.
Riley's own gaze transferred itself to his boots. Before he could confess to the real reason he was in Sunnydale he felt something hit his face and then his vision exploded and tiny lights danced before his eyes.
Buffy stepped back from hitting Riley her gaze so angry that Spike became truly afraid for the other man. Of course he wasn't about to interfere. He had been on the receiving end of Buffy's fists and didn't want her to turn her anger his way.
"Why are you here, now, after all this time?" Buffy asked. Then she hit Riley again. "You left a year ago and now you crawl back into town with some lame excuse about a demon."
Riley went down under Buffy's assault but gamely got back up again trying to defend himself. Not with words, there wasn't really time for that. She kept coming at him, punching and kicking. He suddenly knew how the demons felt.
"You were jealous of my responsibilities as the Slayer." Right hook to the side of Riley's head. "You were jealous of my responsibilities to my mother." Round house kick, which nearly toppled Riley onto the ground again. "My mother, Riley." Left hook and upper cut followed by another round house kick. "She died you know. Oh, no wait you didn't know that, because YOU WEREN'T HERE." Buffy looked at the pathetic mess that was Riley and her anger grew. "You don't know the hell I was in. You don't know that I died Riley. I died for the second time, only this time I did it to save the world."
Riley was shocked. When had she died? He stood there taking her punches only bothering to try and block her fists with his own. It was really the only he could do. There was no way he could fight back, not with Buffy in this angry mood.
"I was ripped from Heaven by my best friends. But of course you would know all that if you had actually been here," Buffy said as she kicked Riley into a tree. She reached out and plucked him from the ground preparing to punch him again.
Suddenly a scream echoed from the forest and a small body came hurtling out of the trees. "Get your hands off of my husband," the woman shrieked.
Buffy was stunned. She dropped Riley and turned to stare at the newcomer. "Did you just say husband?"
The other woman placed herself between Buffy and the mess of blood and bones that whimpered on the ground. "Yes, I said husband." The woman stood tall and proud with her arms crossed over her chest. She was obviously protecting Riley from Buffy's anger.
Buffy was impressed in spite of her anger. It took a lot of guts to stand up to her. Buffy looked over at Riley, contempt evident in her gaze. "Riley, what are you doing here?" she asked for the third and final time.
"He was looking for me," the woman answered. Then she turned and helped Riley up from the ground.
"Why are you here?" Buffy asked a little more gently. She didn't have anything against this woman so she didn't want to subject her to her burning anger.
"I was looking for you."
"Why?" Buffy could not imagine what this woman would want with her.
"Jessica," Riley protested. Jessica turned and glared at her husband. Riley was kind of batting .0000 with the women in his life.
"I wanted to see what you were like," Jessica replied turning back to stare at Buffy. "He dreams about you and even ca.calls out your name sometimes. I asked him who you were but he refused to talk about it. Graham told me who you were and where I could find you."
Spike laughed. "Tsk, tsk, tsk. Bad form old boy, calling out someone else's name while you're making it with your wife. I've never called out Dru's name, have I pet," Spike said as he gave Buffy's butt a proprietary pat. He received Buffy's sharp elbow in his stomach in response.
"I must admit you are rather beautiful," Jessica said her eyes roaming Buffy's body. "But you seem to have some real problems. Riley is probably better off with me."
Buffy could agree with that. Riley was probably better off with Jessica. He didn't seem to be able to keep up with her. Buffy moved around Jessica and stood before Riley. "Didn't take you very long, did it? You swore that you loved me and yet it took you only one year to find somebody else."
Now it was Riley's turn to look angry. "What other choice did I have? It wasn't like you were waiting for me. You are still too busy waiting for Angel to come back."
"Don't you dare bring Angel into this," Buffy said in a deadly quiet voice. "Take responsibility for this, yourself. You didn't leave because of Angel, you left because you couldn't deal with your own petty jealousies."
"Don't fool yourself, Buffy. This has everything to do with Angel. The only thing I was ever jealous of was Angel and your inability to get past him. You loved him, fine, but the problem is that you will always love him. You will never be able to move on with anyone else, because Angel stands in the way."
Spike looked up at this and stared at Buffy intently. He waited for her quick denial. He was sure he was getting through to her, but he needed to hear her deny her continued feelings for Angel.
"Oh please, Riley. You were jealous of everything. You couldn't handle the fact that I was the slayer. Oh, sure at first you were all mister supportive, but after a time it seemed to loose its appeal for you. You hated that I had to take time away from you to save the world. And you hated that fact that I pushed you aside in favor of my dying mother."
"All I wanted was for you to let me in," Riley protested. He didn't like hearing the fact that she thought he had been jealous of her mother. And maybe you were, a small voice said. Riley ignored that little voice. "I wanted you to need me. Is that so wrong? I am sure if Angel had been here you have shared all your pain with him."
"Since he wasn't here, we'll never know that will we," Buffy said crossing her arms over her chest and glaring at Riley.
"I just wanted to be there for you," Riley told Buffy softly. "You were going through something hard and I wanted you to lean on me."
"Funny enough, it wasn't really about you," Buffy said with a humorless laugh. "It was about my mother, who was dying. But, you know I really could have used you after she died. Only you weren't there."
"Yeah well, Angel wasn't either," Riley returned. It was the only comeback he could think of.
"Actually he was," Buffy replied a soft smile lighting up her face. It was the smile she reserved only for Angel. Spike felt his heart plummet into his stomach. She wasn't over the pouf yet.
"Well, sure after you called him. I would have been here too if you had called me," Riley said forgetting the fact that he had been deep in the South American rain forest with no forwarding address.
"I didn't call him," Buffy told Riley. "He just showed up here after my mom's funeral. He held me all night long. He listened to me, he really listened." Buffy stopped talking and her eyes grew soft as she remembered that night. It had been the first time in a long time that she had actually felt taken care of.
"Oh," Riley said. That had kind of taken the wind out of his sails. "And I suppose he was there for you when you died?"
Buffy just stared at him.
Riley realized how his last question sounded and made some impatient gesture. "I meant after you returned from the dead."
"Yes he was," Buffy admitted.
"I am sure he was all Mr. Understanding then too, huh?" Riley asked bitterly. The great Angel struck again.
"He was," Buffy said. Of course she wasn't telling him everything. She would never admit to anyone that Angel had broken down and cried. That was something special that she would keep only to herself.
Spike snorted. Of course the big pouf had been understanding. It was called a lack of imagination. Buffy heard his snort and turned to glare at him.
"I can never live up to the great Angel," Riley said. "So why should I bother to try?"
It was Buffy's turn to snort. "You know Jessica, you were right. I am so much better without him." Then Buffy turned and hit Riley one last time, just for fun. Riley fell to the ground with a loud groan.
"I think you broke my nose," Riley wailed as he writhed on the ground and held his nose.
Buffy just turned away from her ex and his new wife with a gleeful laugh. She smiled brightly at Spike and then almost skipped from the woods. "Did you see me, Spike?" she asked in a cheerful voice. "I got mad."
"Yeah, luv, I did manage to catch that one," Spike replied. He felt a little less satisfied by the encounter. Sure, she had proven that she was over Riley, but she hadn't really denied any feelings for Angel.
"I actually felt something, Spike," Buffy continued. It was nice to feel something besides the momentary blast of lust that she felt whenever Spike was around. She turned to Spike and put her hand on his arm. "Spike, hit me."
"What?" Spike asked.
"Hit me," Buffy repeated. "Giles has this theory. He thinks that my lack of emotions is causing me to be less than human and that's why you can hit me without getting a headache. And I've just experienced two emotions."
"Two? I just caught the one, pet."
"Anger and now I am very, very happy. Please, Spike hit me."
So Spike hit her.
"Well so much for Giles' theory," Buffy muttered as she picked herself up off the ground. She glared at Spike, who was obviously not clutching his head in pain.
"Don't worry, pet. I still love you even if you came back wrong," Spike said as he put his arm around Buffy's waist.
"Well thank you very much," Buffy replied. Then she elbowed Spike in the ribs again and left him bent over in pain. Her happy mood evaporated and she found herself feeling extremely depressed. She had come back wrong and now it looked like she was going to have to stay that way. She was finally coming to terms with the fact that she was back, now it looked like she was going to have to deal with being wrong. Buffy sighed and turned toward the Magic Shop, Spike's words dancing around in her head again. You came back wrong.
Giles didn't know. Buffy had called him as soon as she had gotten home from her house destroying night with Spike. He had hemmed and hawed and had finally admitted that he would have to spend some time in researching the problem. He had even suggested that she talk with Willow, since she was the one that had brought Buffy back. Then he had profusely apologized for the millionth time for letting Willow do the spell.
"If I had only known, Buffy, I would have stopped her," Giles said contrition evident in his voice.
Buffy sighed and forgave him for the millionth time. At first she was glad that everyone seemed to be sorry that they had dragged her away from her reward, but now she was tired of dwelling on it. She had decided that since there was nothing she could do about it, she might as well let it go and get on with her life.
But that had all been weeks ago and Giles still had no idea why she had come back wrong or how to fix it. She was avoiding Spike, ever since the whole invisible girl incident, so she couldn't ask his advice. And, of course, she was not going to even discuss Spike with Willow.
"And that puts me right back where I started," Buffy acknowledged to herself. She felt lost, unsure of herself and her emotions. The only time she really felt anything was when she was having sex with Spike. Buffy shuddered. She really didn't want to think about Spike right now. She didn't even want to try and analyze her feelings for the bleach blonde vampire.
Buffy turned the corner and unconsciously headed for the Magic Shop. She knew she would find her friends and Dawn there. It wasn't quite dark yet and she wanted to get Dawn home before she had to go out and patrol. With her thoughts centered on her Spike problem, Buffy didn't notice the figure coming towards her until it was too late.
"I'm sorry," Buffy muttered automatically as she reached out to steady the person she had bumped into. She looked up and found herself facing the last person she had expected to ever see again.
"Hello, Buffy," Riley said, an uncertain look on his face.
"Riley! Wh.what are you doing here?" Buffy asked, her eyes wide with shock.
"I'm looking for my.a demon," Riley replied. "One escaped from South America and we figured that it may have come here to the Hellmouth."
Buffy didn't even seem to notice Riley's hesitation. She was still too surprised by his appearance to register much of anything else. "A demon?" she questioned stupidly.
Riley smiled. "Yeah, ya know the things with pointy horns, scaly skin and big teeth."
"Hmmm.seems like I might have read something about them once," Buffy returned falling easily into a flippant attitude. "So you think it might have been drawn here to Monster Island, huh?"
"It looks like it," Riley said. "We've exhausted all our contacts and haven't been able to find her.it anywhere else. It only makes sense that it would come here."
"Welcome to Sunnydale, best monster tourist spot on earth." Buffy continued her walk to the Magic Shop. "Let's get the others and hunt this thing down."
Riley stopped her with a hand on her arm. "I don't want to involve anyone else. I shouldn't even be involving you, but I thought you would be able to help me."
"Top secret military stuff?" Buffy asked.
"Something like that," Riley said not really confirming or denying anything.
Buffy smiled. "Well let's go then," she said turning away from the Magic Shop. Riley fell into step next to her and they headed for the first of Sunnydale's many cemeteries.
*****
After an hour Riley and Buffy found themselves halfway through their search of all the monster hangouts, but still no South American demon. Riley seemed to be almost frantic and Buffy was confused by his attitude.
"Are you sure it came here?" Buffy asked her eyes scanning the cemetery for any unusual beings.
"She must have," Riley said almost to himself. Buffy cocked an eyebrow at the gender of the demon but didn't say a word. She was becoming a little curious about this demon though. She had tried to get a description out of Riley before they started their search, but he had dodged the question.
"Maybe we should talk to Willie," Buffy suggested. "He's bound to know if anyone unusual was in town."
Riley shuddered. He NEVER wanted to see the inside of Willie's bar again. He was still ashamed of how he had behaved the last time he had been there. No one else but Spike and Buffy knew that he had offered himself up to a vampire chick and he wanted to keep it that way.
"No, lets just keep looking. It's bound to turn up sooner or later," Riley said.
"This thing must not be very dangerous," Buffy commented trying to get more information about the demon. Sooner or later didn't translate into mutilator of human flesh.
"It can be," Riley replied again dodging Buffy's attempts to find out more about the demon. "If she's crossed she can be extremely dangerous."
Buffy sighed and followed Riley as they patrolled the edge of Brinker's woods. Suddenly she heard a quiet rustling behind her. "Riley," she whispered. Then she pointed to the spot where the leaves were just settling in to place and waved him into position on the other side. Buffy thrust her hand into foliage and pulled out a demon.
"Spike, what are you doing here?" she demanded as she dropped him like a sack of hot coals.
"Just out for a little walk," Spike replied innocently, a little too innocently. "What are you doing here, luv?"
"Looking for a demon," Buffy told him exasperation evident in her voice. He was the last person she wanted to see. And she didn't buy his whole out for a walk excuse. He had obviously been following her.
"Found one didn't ya," Spike said a leer replacing his innocent look. "Are you going to torture me?"
Buffy ignored his hopeful look. "No, I'm going to stake you," she said raising her stake and aiming it at his heart.
Spike's eyes widened in surprise and he moved a safe distance away from the Slayer. "Maybe I could help," he suggested a little nervously. "What does this demon look like?"
Buffy turned to Riley and Spike followed her gaze. "Why if it isn't Captain Cardboard," Spike said a sneering grin crossing his face. "Lost a demon, did ya? So, what does this thing look like, I might've seen it."
Riley looked at Buffy hesitantly. He noticed she was looking at him expectantly. He sighed and gave in. "Big, green, two horns, scaly skin, pointy teeth," Riley replied.
"Hmmm a little vague," Spike said a suspicion forming in the back of his brain. That sounded like almost every demon he knew. "But I think you might be in luck. I killed one of those last night." Spike looked closely at Riley trying to gage his reaction. He wasn't disappointed.
"Did I say green? I meant red and it has four arms."
"Oh why didn't you say so. Killed one of those two nights ago. Put up a nasty fight. Think I still have cut on my arse." Spike turned to Buffy with a wicked smile. "Wanna see?"
Buffy ignored Spike. "Well it looks like everything is okay then," she said to Riley.
"Well. I'm not sure that's my demon," Riley replied. "It also had four heads all with big jaws filled with sharp teeth."
Buffy's gaze narrowed as she looked at Riley. Something wasn't right here. Her Spider sense was kicking into high gear. "Spike?"
Spike smiled sure of his suspicions now. Captain Cardboard was making the whole thing up. "Yep, that's the one I killed. Ya sure you don't want to see my cut?" he asked again. He even started to unbutton his pants in case Buffy changed her mind.
Buffy continued to look at Riley her gaze angry and suspicious. She was beginning to think that he had made the whole thing up. "Riley, why are you here?" she asked again through clenched teeth.
Riley's own gaze transferred itself to his boots. Before he could confess to the real reason he was in Sunnydale he felt something hit his face and then his vision exploded and tiny lights danced before his eyes.
Buffy stepped back from hitting Riley her gaze so angry that Spike became truly afraid for the other man. Of course he wasn't about to interfere. He had been on the receiving end of Buffy's fists and didn't want her to turn her anger his way.
"Why are you here, now, after all this time?" Buffy asked. Then she hit Riley again. "You left a year ago and now you crawl back into town with some lame excuse about a demon."
Riley went down under Buffy's assault but gamely got back up again trying to defend himself. Not with words, there wasn't really time for that. She kept coming at him, punching and kicking. He suddenly knew how the demons felt.
"You were jealous of my responsibilities as the Slayer." Right hook to the side of Riley's head. "You were jealous of my responsibilities to my mother." Round house kick, which nearly toppled Riley onto the ground again. "My mother, Riley." Left hook and upper cut followed by another round house kick. "She died you know. Oh, no wait you didn't know that, because YOU WEREN'T HERE." Buffy looked at the pathetic mess that was Riley and her anger grew. "You don't know the hell I was in. You don't know that I died Riley. I died for the second time, only this time I did it to save the world."
Riley was shocked. When had she died? He stood there taking her punches only bothering to try and block her fists with his own. It was really the only he could do. There was no way he could fight back, not with Buffy in this angry mood.
"I was ripped from Heaven by my best friends. But of course you would know all that if you had actually been here," Buffy said as she kicked Riley into a tree. She reached out and plucked him from the ground preparing to punch him again.
Suddenly a scream echoed from the forest and a small body came hurtling out of the trees. "Get your hands off of my husband," the woman shrieked.
Buffy was stunned. She dropped Riley and turned to stare at the newcomer. "Did you just say husband?"
The other woman placed herself between Buffy and the mess of blood and bones that whimpered on the ground. "Yes, I said husband." The woman stood tall and proud with her arms crossed over her chest. She was obviously protecting Riley from Buffy's anger.
Buffy was impressed in spite of her anger. It took a lot of guts to stand up to her. Buffy looked over at Riley, contempt evident in her gaze. "Riley, what are you doing here?" she asked for the third and final time.
"He was looking for me," the woman answered. Then she turned and helped Riley up from the ground.
"Why are you here?" Buffy asked a little more gently. She didn't have anything against this woman so she didn't want to subject her to her burning anger.
"I was looking for you."
"Why?" Buffy could not imagine what this woman would want with her.
"Jessica," Riley protested. Jessica turned and glared at her husband. Riley was kind of batting .0000 with the women in his life.
"I wanted to see what you were like," Jessica replied turning back to stare at Buffy. "He dreams about you and even ca.calls out your name sometimes. I asked him who you were but he refused to talk about it. Graham told me who you were and where I could find you."
Spike laughed. "Tsk, tsk, tsk. Bad form old boy, calling out someone else's name while you're making it with your wife. I've never called out Dru's name, have I pet," Spike said as he gave Buffy's butt a proprietary pat. He received Buffy's sharp elbow in his stomach in response.
"I must admit you are rather beautiful," Jessica said her eyes roaming Buffy's body. "But you seem to have some real problems. Riley is probably better off with me."
Buffy could agree with that. Riley was probably better off with Jessica. He didn't seem to be able to keep up with her. Buffy moved around Jessica and stood before Riley. "Didn't take you very long, did it? You swore that you loved me and yet it took you only one year to find somebody else."
Now it was Riley's turn to look angry. "What other choice did I have? It wasn't like you were waiting for me. You are still too busy waiting for Angel to come back."
"Don't you dare bring Angel into this," Buffy said in a deadly quiet voice. "Take responsibility for this, yourself. You didn't leave because of Angel, you left because you couldn't deal with your own petty jealousies."
"Don't fool yourself, Buffy. This has everything to do with Angel. The only thing I was ever jealous of was Angel and your inability to get past him. You loved him, fine, but the problem is that you will always love him. You will never be able to move on with anyone else, because Angel stands in the way."
Spike looked up at this and stared at Buffy intently. He waited for her quick denial. He was sure he was getting through to her, but he needed to hear her deny her continued feelings for Angel.
"Oh please, Riley. You were jealous of everything. You couldn't handle the fact that I was the slayer. Oh, sure at first you were all mister supportive, but after a time it seemed to loose its appeal for you. You hated that I had to take time away from you to save the world. And you hated that fact that I pushed you aside in favor of my dying mother."
"All I wanted was for you to let me in," Riley protested. He didn't like hearing the fact that she thought he had been jealous of her mother. And maybe you were, a small voice said. Riley ignored that little voice. "I wanted you to need me. Is that so wrong? I am sure if Angel had been here you have shared all your pain with him."
"Since he wasn't here, we'll never know that will we," Buffy said crossing her arms over her chest and glaring at Riley.
"I just wanted to be there for you," Riley told Buffy softly. "You were going through something hard and I wanted you to lean on me."
"Funny enough, it wasn't really about you," Buffy said with a humorless laugh. "It was about my mother, who was dying. But, you know I really could have used you after she died. Only you weren't there."
"Yeah well, Angel wasn't either," Riley returned. It was the only comeback he could think of.
"Actually he was," Buffy replied a soft smile lighting up her face. It was the smile she reserved only for Angel. Spike felt his heart plummet into his stomach. She wasn't over the pouf yet.
"Well, sure after you called him. I would have been here too if you had called me," Riley said forgetting the fact that he had been deep in the South American rain forest with no forwarding address.
"I didn't call him," Buffy told Riley. "He just showed up here after my mom's funeral. He held me all night long. He listened to me, he really listened." Buffy stopped talking and her eyes grew soft as she remembered that night. It had been the first time in a long time that she had actually felt taken care of.
"Oh," Riley said. That had kind of taken the wind out of his sails. "And I suppose he was there for you when you died?"
Buffy just stared at him.
Riley realized how his last question sounded and made some impatient gesture. "I meant after you returned from the dead."
"Yes he was," Buffy admitted.
"I am sure he was all Mr. Understanding then too, huh?" Riley asked bitterly. The great Angel struck again.
"He was," Buffy said. Of course she wasn't telling him everything. She would never admit to anyone that Angel had broken down and cried. That was something special that she would keep only to herself.
Spike snorted. Of course the big pouf had been understanding. It was called a lack of imagination. Buffy heard his snort and turned to glare at him.
"I can never live up to the great Angel," Riley said. "So why should I bother to try?"
It was Buffy's turn to snort. "You know Jessica, you were right. I am so much better without him." Then Buffy turned and hit Riley one last time, just for fun. Riley fell to the ground with a loud groan.
"I think you broke my nose," Riley wailed as he writhed on the ground and held his nose.
Buffy just turned away from her ex and his new wife with a gleeful laugh. She smiled brightly at Spike and then almost skipped from the woods. "Did you see me, Spike?" she asked in a cheerful voice. "I got mad."
"Yeah, luv, I did manage to catch that one," Spike replied. He felt a little less satisfied by the encounter. Sure, she had proven that she was over Riley, but she hadn't really denied any feelings for Angel.
"I actually felt something, Spike," Buffy continued. It was nice to feel something besides the momentary blast of lust that she felt whenever Spike was around. She turned to Spike and put her hand on his arm. "Spike, hit me."
"What?" Spike asked.
"Hit me," Buffy repeated. "Giles has this theory. He thinks that my lack of emotions is causing me to be less than human and that's why you can hit me without getting a headache. And I've just experienced two emotions."
"Two? I just caught the one, pet."
"Anger and now I am very, very happy. Please, Spike hit me."
So Spike hit her.
"Well so much for Giles' theory," Buffy muttered as she picked herself up off the ground. She glared at Spike, who was obviously not clutching his head in pain.
"Don't worry, pet. I still love you even if you came back wrong," Spike said as he put his arm around Buffy's waist.
"Well thank you very much," Buffy replied. Then she elbowed Spike in the ribs again and left him bent over in pain. Her happy mood evaporated and she found herself feeling extremely depressed. She had come back wrong and now it looked like she was going to have to stay that way. She was finally coming to terms with the fact that she was back, now it looked like she was going to have to deal with being wrong. Buffy sighed and turned toward the Magic Shop, Spike's words dancing around in her head again. You came back wrong.