Giles said quietly "Buffy, I... uh... I understand your anger. Please believe me, we... uh…we did what…"
"He's alive…Spikes alive. Wood failed" Buffy said in a cold dead vice.
Giles sighed and said "well, that doesn't change anything, what I told you is still true. You need to learn…"
"No. I think you've taught me everything I need to know" Buffy said coldly.
Giles looked concerned and said "Look, I do get that you are angry... but…"
"No, angry doesn't cover it. You went behind my back, and tried to kill my most powerful fighter. Let me just tell you now, so that this is set in stone. I need Spike, at my side, during the final battle. He is my champion. He is the one who will make sure that I am able to get to the first evil and destroy it, who will guard my back during that fight so that no one else interferes. He is the one who I trust the most at my back, because I know that he'd die before letting anything happen to me. With everyone else I know I have to worry about protecting them, not about fighting my own fight. Spike is the only one who I can truly say is a partner to count on in a fight; and I won't, no I can't; do without him in the final battle. So you will stay the hell away from him. You, you are more expendable than him, so keep that in mind. This is a war, I have to be a general, like you said, and as a general I know that in the battle, Spike will end up being much more useful to me than you will, so don't try to make me pick, because you won't like what I'll do" Buffy told him with a quiet edge of anger to her voice.
"Look, you are overreacting. He is not as important as you make him out to be" Giles tried to tell her.
"No, you are wrong. I wouldn't be here if not for him. He is my rock, who is always there for me to lean on and he is my anchor, keeping me grounded and pulling me in. I would have been lost so many times, and not just in battle, if not for him. I trust him more than anyone. I would never have made it this far if I hadn't had him here" Buffy said her voice raising, and you could see people's heads poking out of doors and a group of people at the stairs.
"Oh please, you have other friends much more loyal and trustworthy" Giles said.
"Yeah, I do. I have other friends. But, well, sometimes they just aren't able to be there for me, whether they want to or not. But Spike can, I don't know how or why, but he gets me, he always has, he's seen right through me and called me on everything. On all the little bad things I hid from you and the gang, all my worries and fears that I couldn't tell you. He was there when I was at my absolute worst, when anyone else would have walked away, even you and the gang would probably have left if I put you through what I did him. But I needed that, and he knew it. And he stayed."
"Well of course he stays with you, he's obsessed with you" Giles yelled. The others, excluding Buffy and Giles who remained oblivious, saw Spike come around the corner, it was clear he'd been there for awhile.
"You don't get it do you, it's not even about him, not really. I mean it is, completely, but it is not. It's about him being able to be the person that I need most, I won't let him go. He's asked me to let him go, to kill him, and so forth, every time he does something that might hurt someone. But every time I say no, because I need him here. And without him here, I think I'd fall apart" Buffy said harshly.
"You appear to be falling apart as it is" Giles said.
"I guess I am a little, because the reality of the possibility of Spike not being here just hit me. And like I said, I just can't deal with that" Buffy said.
"I thought you said that it was over with you and Spike" Giles said.
"It is over in that sense; we aren't involved, not physically. But I don't think it will ever be over completely, not the connection. We just have connection, it's not always pretty and nice, but it's always strong... I can't explain it, I just have always known. I've never been able to hide anything from him, and somehow I've always know that he will be there and that I can depend on him to be at my side no matter what. It's strange. I never would have thought it possible, but my connection to Spike is even more that anything I even had with Angel. He just knows me, better than anyone else does. And I need him, most of the time I don't want to need him, but I do" Buffy said.
"He is a vampire, soul or not. It is not healthy for you to rely on him in this way. He will leave you eventually, and you cannot just fall apart. You cannot allow yourself to hold on to him in this way" Giles said.
"Maybe so, but it's too late. It's done, the bond is there, and it's unbreakable. And you're wrong, I honestly believe, more than I believe in anything else, that he will stay as long as I need him" Buffy said.
Giles suddenly looked around and saw all of the potentials watching them and he said "I think that maybe we should finish this conversation somewhere else or some other time."
"No, this conversation is over. I said everything I'm going to. Spike stays" Buffy said and she looked and saw Spike standing there, a strange expression on his face.
Spike met her eyes, and they stood staring at each other, oblivious to the world. Finally Spike gave a slight half smile and mouthed "'Till the end of the world."
Buffy smiled and met his eyes again, as understanding passed between them. And then she turned, ignoring the people around her and she closed her door. Once the door was closed she leaned against it, and slowly slid down till she sat on the floor. She sat there, quiet, enjoying the brief feeling of peace and safety that she suddenly felt. Finally she whispered to herself "Yes, 'till the end of the world."