The Dream

"Tell me you love me" the man lying in Buffy's arms murmured and she chuckled lightly as her fingers ran through his black waves.

"I love you."

"Say it again" he teased, lifting his dark eyes to meet hers and the grin that played on her lips grew wider.

"I love you."

"I love you too" Spike's distinctive British accent filled the room and Buffy woke from her dream with a start, her hands clutching the duvet to hide her modesty, her hazel eyes piercing Spikes as he stared at her with that shit face eating grin of his. "Havin' another dream about Captain Forehead I presume? Hope you stabbed in him in the heart again."

"What the hell are you doing here Spike?" Buffy seethed, immediately noticing that her bedroom window that had been left ajar was now wide open. "Have you come to tell me my boyfriend is in a crackden letting whore vamps suck his blood? Oh wait, gee that was last time!"

"Alright, Mrs Sarcastic" Spike raised his eyebrows. "I'll have you know I came here because some bloke with a painted face attacked me."

"And why is this bad news?"

"He tried to kill me" Spike exclaimed, a little hurt that she was still treating him in the same callous manner as before.

"And I ask again, what the hell are you doing here Spike?" Buffy clenched her jaw, exasperated at this point with the neutered vampire.

"I could hit him and before you go all stake happy, I already tried to bite someone and the chip works."

"What?"

"You know that old woman that runs the late night coffee place, the one around the corner from the magic box, well I tried to bite her and when I did, I got hit with the searing pain. Now this bloke was definitely human, I could smell it on him but he was strong, Buffy, just as strong as you."

"Wait, you tried to kill someone?"

"It was a test - why are you lookin' at me like that? Oh please, don't get your panties into a twist" Spike wobbled as Buffy glared at him.

"This guy, you're sure he was human?" she sighed. All she wanted was one day, one day when she didn't have to worry about the next big bad.

"Yeah, stinking of humanity. He took my bloody coat aswell! I loved that coat!"

"Spike, just go, I'll talk to Giles tomorrow about your stalker" Buffy shook her head as she lay back down. She just wanted to go back to sleep, to go back into the dream with her imaginary lover and pretend she was just a normal girl for once. She heard him muttering to himself in the dark and the noise of him scrambling onto her window ledge when suddenly he let out a yelp. She bolted upright, just in time to see him crash into her chair backwards, knocking over Mr Gordo in the process.

"Suddenly I heard a tapping, as if someone was gently rapping, rapping at my chamber door" a male's voice echoed outside below.

"What the hell - " Buffy shot off the bed and grabbed her dressing gown, covering herself quickly.

"It's him! It's the guy!" Spike shouted and Buffy could hear the fear in his voice. He climbed onto his feet as she slowly approached the window. There was an uneasy silence that followed only to be shattered by a crow that flew onto her window sill, black feathered wings flapping furiously as Spike yelped again.

"Sorry, I just hate birds" he said, embarrassed by his outburst.

"Me too" Buffy said dryly, not taking her eyes off the crow as it squawked loudly at her and suddenly there was a flash of movement as something black leapt into the air. Buffy exhaled loudly as a man with black hair that brushed his shoulders with white face paint that was flaking off his skin and black lines smeared around his eyes and lips sat cross legged on her porch roof. He pointed one finger at Spike, a mad look in his dark eyes.

"Didn't you hear me rapping?" he asked.

"What the bloody hell do you want from me?" Spike shouted.

"Spike, shut up" Buffy asked calmly as the man's eyes rested on her face as if he had just noticed for the first time she was there. Something passed over his face and gone was the madness in his eyes. He looked broken and her breath hitched in her throat as he cocked his head to side.

"Shelley?" he asked through parted lips and Buffy's eyes widened, his voice striking her with an overwhelming sense of familiarity.

"Eric" she said before she even realized she had spoken and he suddenly reached in, cold hands grabbing both sides of her face as he kissed her once. Then he was gone. The crow was gone too as if both of them had never been there to begin with.

Willow's hand reached over and squeezed Buffy's arm, her eyes concerned as she watched her best friend flinch at her touch. Giles was concerned also as he approached them both, shakily resting down a tray of mugs for everyone.

"Ooh, hot cocoa" Xander said gleefully as he reached for one, lighting the mood for just a moment.

"This man, you said you felt as if you knew him - " Giles started to speak but his constant line of repetitive questioning got too much for Buffy and she snapped.

"I know him okay! I don't know how I do but I said his name. I already told you this!"

"And then he bloody went and kissed her! And why is no one bothered by that? Is it just me? Am I the only sane one here?" Spike exclaimed.

"Rather insane" Anya murmured.

"He called you Shelley right?" Xander asked and Buffy nodded, closing her eyes, defeated by the interrogation that had been happening all morning. "Maybe you look like this Shelley that he was in love with hence the kiss and he's some sort of warlock that's put you under the magic whammy to get you to buy into his fantasy."

"Magic whammy?" Willow raised her eyebrows.

"It's a thing" Xander defended himself.

"No it's not honey" Anya patted Xander on the head. "Besides Spike said he was human. Warlocks are always part demon."

"Well he could have been a male witch!" Xander countered.

"There's no demon in him!" Spike stood up, infuriated at this point. "I'm a vampire, I should know!"

"I'm a witch and not a demon" Willow cast Spike a half closed smile.

"You float pencils" Spike smugly said. "Doesn't make you a real witch love."

"Hey!"

"A young couple due to be married on All Hallow's Eve were brutally slain in their apartment. Named locally as musician Eric Draven and girlfriend Shelley Webster. Enquiries are ongoing" Giles read aloud from his laptop.

"What?" Xander turned around and Buffy lifted her head.

"Whilst you were all bickering like children, I did a quick search of first names in the Sunnydale Press catalog - "

"Is there pictures?" Buffy asked as she got up and peered over his shoulder. "That's him" she turned ice cold as she stared at a moody photograph of a man leaning out of a front seat of a car. "That's him. That's ... Eric." His name fell easily from her lips and it made her stomach knot together.

"Are you sure?" Giles looked at her in confusion.

"I'm way sure."

"Spike?" Giles seeked confirmation from the only other witness but the vampire was already there peering down at the photograph, his eyebrows knotted together.

"Do us a favor and print it will you? I need to do something and then I'll know." Once Giles had printed the photo, Buffy sat on the edge of the couch with the others as they watched Spike scribble on the paper with a marker pen. After a minute, he held it up and she saw that he had marked Eric's face with the same smears around his eyes and lips making him look like the joker.

"Yeah that's the bloke."

"That was back in 1980" Willow observed as she stared at the article. "If he didn't die, surely he wouldn't look the same twenty years later?"

"Unless he did die and somehow came back" Giles countered.

"What do you mean?" Buffy asked, seeing the tell tale signs of when Giles was onto something.

"Well you see, you mentioned a crow and when this man vanished, the crow vanished" Giles explained. "In some Native American tribes, it was believed that the crow was seen as a symbol of transformation - "

"But he didn't turn into a crow. They were both there together."

"No, but transformation is the key word here. There's an old Romanian transcript that spoke of resurrection, that when someone dies, a crow carries their soul to the land of the dead. If the soul can't rest, they spoke of the crow bringing that soul back to the land of the living to put the wrong things right."

"What? You mean like revenge?" Spike eyeballed Giles.

"Essentially yes."

"But what's that got to do with me! I didn't kill him!"

"Hey - I've got it! You're evil! Do I get a prize?" Xander quipped and Spike flashed him the middle finger.

"No" Giles scorned as he adjusted his glasses. "But you do make a good point Xander. Perhaps Spike reminds him of the people that murdered him - "

"And I remind him of Shelley" Buffy remarked. "But how does that explain the dream or how I knew his name?"

"Or why he kissed her?" Spike added, jealousy creeping up on him.

"I'm not sure" Giles answered. "You've had prophetic dreams before, maybe he's here for a reason."