Wishful thinking about the Season 5 finale, inspired by spoiler-based speculation.
Disclaimer: These characters belong to Joss Whedon and Mutant Enemy and a bunch of other people who are not me.
This fic has never been beta'd.
Archiving: Please let me know where it's going.
Feedback: If I didn't want any, I wouldn't have posted this here.
***
Buffy fought to keep from succumbing to shock as she surveyed the scene before her. Bodies littered the hotel penthouse, including those of her friends. She prayed they were only unconscious. They lay strewn among the demonic corpses of Glory's minions, as well as a fallen cadre of knights. She and Spike alone remained standing, and he looked as defeated and uncertain of what to do as she felt.
Before them, in a chair in the middle of the room, sat her sister. The Key. She looked awake, but she was not conscious of her surroundings. Behind her, the posh hotel room gave way to a vast, nightmarish dreamscape, a vision of hell that seemed to stretch into eternity. They hadn't been able to stop Glory from using Dawn to open the gateway and escape into her own dimension. Buffy didn't know how, but she knew that if they didn't find a way to close the portal, Glory would return, and she would bring an entire army of hell spawn with her.
Buffy had tried to follow Glory in. She wanted to kill the bitch, make her suffer for daring to touch her sister; but Spike had held her back, and had continued to hold her until she calmed down.
She was a vampire slayer, she thought bitterly. She was supposed to kill vampires and demons. She wasn't supposed to have to battle insane gods over the fate of the universe. And all she cared about right then was the fate of her sister.
"You must destroy the key," a voice rasped behind her. She turned to see one of the knights struggle to his feet. "It's the only way to close the gate and lock her inside."
"No!" Buffy said. "Nobody touches my sister!"
The knight raised his broadsword above his head and charged at Dawn, but before he could reach her Spike tackled him to the floor.
"She said, nobody touches the girl," Spike told the knight.
"If you don't destroy her, the armies of Hell will ride forth and conquer the earth, so that Glory may rule again!"
"I don't know, pet," Spike said, standing up, "I don't really like the sound of that. What do you think?"
Buffy shook her head. "I don't know." She looked at Spike. She'd never before felt so lost, so helpless. For once, he didn't have any answers for her.
The knight struggled to sit up. "All that was needed to open the gate was for the Key's energy to combine with Glory's. But in order to close it, her blood must pass through the gate."
"No," Buffy said, shaking her head. She'd already lost so much. She couldn't lose Dawn. She couldn't live knowing she'd failed to protect her, that she'd let her down. "There has to be another way. Does it have to be her blood? What if I go in?"
Spike stepped towards her. "Buffy, no."
Ignoring him, she stepped around him towards the knight. "What if I go in? Her blood, it's human. We're sisters. Maybe it's close enough."
The knight shook his head. "It has to be hers. If her blood passes through the gate, it will be closed."
"Sure," Buffy said. "That's easy. We'll, we'll just cut her, stick her arm in and let her bleed--"
"She would be pulled in," the knight interrupted, "and trapped inside. Better for her to be dead than damned to live out her mortal life in that place."
Buffy shook her head. "I don't accept that," she said through gritted teeth. Her brow knitted in confusion as she thought she could hear something. It sounded like... hoof beats? She turned towards the portal, and her eyes grew wide with fear. She could see it. Multitudes of demons lined the horizon, riding toward her, ready for battle.
"They're coming," the knight said. "There's not much time."
Buffy felt herself go numb as she let her instincts take over. She knew what she had to do. She didn't have a choice. She knelt down and picked up the knight's sword, took a deep breath, and turned towards her sister. What she saw when she did made her lose her grip on the sword.
Spike embraced Dawn from behind, his fangs buried in her neck. He was feeding. The world was about to end and the son of a bitch was feeding from her baby sister. She felt her fury return as she picked the sword back up and readied to charge him, but before she could move he released his grip on the girl and looked up. His eyes met Buffy's, and she understood. She again dropped the sword as the vampire gathered Dawn's limp form into his arms, and delivered her into Buffy's.
"I didn't take enough to harm her," he said, shaking off his game face and shrugging out of his leather duster. As Buffy lowered Dawn to the floor, Spike covered her with the coat. "Keep her warm," he said. "She'll be fine." He looked at Buffy. "You'll both be fine."
As Buffy held his gaze, there were at least a hundred questions she wanted to ask him, and a hundred more things she wanted to say. When she opened her mouth, none of them would come. All she could manage was, "Thank you."
Spike nodded, and knelt down to brush a kiss across Dawn's forehead. "Nice knowing you, little bit." He raised back up to his feet, and Buffy went with him. When he looked at her this time, all of her questions were answered. He was doing this for her, and for Dawn. He loved her. He loved them both. It was all right there in his face, just as it had been all this time. She had chosen not to see it until now.
Finally she found her voice.
"Spike, I--"
Before she could say more, his mouth covered hers, and he pulled her to him. She wrapped her arms around him, and answered his kiss in full. Everything they wanted to say to each other, everything they felt, everything they'd been bottling up, they poured into the kiss. When he finally pulled away, there was no doubt, on either side. The barriers between them had finally been torn down, and for the first time since before that fateful night with Angel, she felt like she could give herself--all of herself--to someone again. And now he was about to die for her.
Love will lead you to your gift, her spirit guide had told her. Death is your gift.
"Do me a favor, Slayer," he said as he stepped towards the portal. He looked back at her. "Stay alive. Live as long as you can. Show them. Show them all how special you are. And, don't be so afraid to love the next lovesick berk what comes along." He looked at the portal. The army was getting closer. You could make out faces among the crowds, and they weren't pretty. Spike looked back at her. "Just make sure I'm not doing all this for nothing."
Once again at a loss for words, all she could do was nod.
Spike threw back his shoulders, making his determination evident, and then dove through the portal. And then he was gone, and Buffy was looking at a set of French doors opening onto the penthouse's terrace. Suddenly all of Buffy's energy left her, and she fell to her knees. She tried to stop there, but she kept falling, as everything faded to black.
***
"Buffy."
She heard her name, but couldn't tell where it came from. Something shook her shoulders.
"Buffy!"
Dawn. It was Dawn. She sounded scared. But where was she?
"Buffy! Please wake up, you're scaring me!"
Buffy opened her eyes. "Oh, thank God," Dawn cried, and threw her arms around her. Giles stood over them, looking just as concerned. As she looked around, she saw that her friends were all on their feet as well.
Buffy sat up, and returned Dawn's hug. "It's okay," she said. "We're both going to be fine."
"What happened?" Giles asked. "How did you close the portal?"
"I didn't," she said. "Spike did."
The others looked around. "Where is Spike?" Xander asked.
Buffy looked out the French doors that stood in place of Hell. "He's gone."
Dawn released her grip and sat up to face Buffy. "What do you mean, he's gone?"
"He went through the portal, and it closed."
Dawn felt the wound on her neck. "Did he bite me?"
"Yeah," Buffy said. "He needed some of your blood to make sure it closed behind him."
Dawn's brow furrowed as this sunk in. "You mean, he's really gone?"
Buffy felt a tear slip down her cheek as she nodded. Her sister's face crumpled, and she slumped against Buffy. The sisters clung to each other as they each quietly mourned for the vampire.
"We should go," Giles said at last. "There's bound to be people here to investigate soon, and it would probably be best if we're not here when they arrive."
Buffy nodded, and let go of Dawn. The two of them got to their feet. As Buffy stood, she saw Spike's duster lying in a pile on the floor. She picked it up and stroked it, feeling its well worn smoothness. She raised it to her face, and inhaled. It smelled like musty earth, stale cigarettes and old leather. It smelled like Spike. Slowly, deliberately, and a bit solemnly, she unrumpled it and shook it out, and then slipped it on. "I'm ready," she told her friends. "Let's go."
She led the way toward the door. As she reached for the handle, the air pressure in the room changed, almost imperceptibly, and she heard a loud popping noise. Then everything felt normal again.
"Ow! Bloody hell!"
Buffy and the others all spun around. Spike sat in the middle of the floor, looking dazed, but otherwise none the worse for wear.
"Spike!" Dawn cried, and rushed to him.
Buffy wasn't far behind. "What happened?" she asked as they helped him to his feet.
"Bugger if I know," he said. "I thought I was about to be trampled by an invasion force, and then all of a sudden I was back here." He shrugged. "I guess they don't allow vampires."
Dawn hugged him. "Thank you for saving me."
"No problem, Niblet," he said, stroking her hair. "It's nothing I wouldn't do again." He looked up at Buffy, and reached out to stroke the lapel of his coat. "Looks good on you," he said.
"It feels good," she told him.
Sirens sounded in the background. "So, that's our cue to be leaving now, right?" Xander asked.
"Right," Buffy said, turning on her heel and heading back to the door. "Let's get out of here."
***
The gang exited the building and slipped down the street before the police arrived. Once it became clear they would get away without being questioned, they each started to chatter excitedly about the night's events.
"I don't know about you guys," Xander said, "but I'm pumped."
"We just saved the world again," Buffy said. "I think we deserve a party. Who wants to come to my house?"
Everyone enthusiastically agreed, and they veered off in the direction of her home. Buffy turned to say something to Spike, but he wasn't beside her like she'd thought. She stopped, and turned around. He hung back, looking uncertain. Not sure he was welcome.
Buffy looked at him expectantly. "Aren't you coming?" He looked at her questioningly. She held out her hand, and waited. His expression changed to one of confidence as he strode forward and took her hand. Together, they followed after the rest of the group.
"So," he asked her, "am I ever going to get my coat back?"
"I don't know," she said. "I think it kind of suits me."
"That it does," he said. "Tell you what. Why don't you keep it until you get tired of it?"
She stopped and turned to look at him. "What if I never get tired of it?"
"Then I guess it will always be yours."
Buffy smiled. She knew they weren't talking about the coat anymore.
"Good," she said, and led Spike the rest of the way home.