In Your Dreams, Spike

by WeBoB

Buffy has a dream. Spike has a plan. Angel still has stupid hair, but we'll forgive him for that.

In Your Dreams, Spike: A Round Robin Fic by

Pepperlandgirl

Kes

Beamer

Lucifi

and

Hoene

Spoilers: season 6 BTVS up to 'Gone', season 3 AtS up to 'Birthday'.

Disclaimer: None of us own them, although we'd like to.

Rating: PG-13 for language, and sexual situations.

FeedBack: Very stupid question. Of course we want it. We thrive on it. Give it to us, give it to us now! Send it to WeBoB13@Yahoo.com. Or stop by www.bandofbuggered.com and check out the forums

~~~

Part one – by Pepperlandgirl

 
They were cheap, midnight promises. The kind of reassurances you whisper to yourself after a particularly nasty nightmare, the kind that are coldly comforting in the dark, but are quickly forgotten by the harsh light of day.

They were the whispered promises of a man desperately seeking something, a crumb, to hold onto in the face of overwhelming failure. Despair pierced his words and left them raw, painful to his own ears. But he could not stop the almost silent litany to the sleeping girl who couldn't--- wouldn't---hear him.

It was easiest to talk to her, despair over her, when she slept. Her face softened, not smiling, but not glaring. Her cold, almost dead eyes, were masked, and oh! What he wouldn't give to see them alive again. She wasn't running, though she would be soon, and she didn't silence him with a kiss or a slap to the face.

So he poured his heart out to her, but he winced at the hollowness, he winced in the dark. He made vows that he could never live up to, and in his mind they were as binding as any marriage ceremony. But by dawn, the sun would dry them like dew drops on rose petals.

They were meaningless because he was meaningless…to her. And could he ever doubt it again? His one faint, silver ray of light in this sordid mess was she at least got something from him. There was one thing he could give her, and he did it—her—gladly. It was the one time she was allowed to see him.

But he had been wrong. She didn't see him at all. He was the only one who could give her what she needed, but he wasn't the one she wanted it from.

She slept on as his blue eyes darkened to the color of storm clouds at twilight. Rain threatened to fall from those clouds. Threatened, but didn't. He was finished crying for her, even as promises fell from his lips and shattered on her ears.

She had shattered him with a word, and it seemed she hadn't even realized it. Or she hadn't cared. She certainly didn't apologize.

"Angel."

The name echoed in his head, pounded in his ears to the rhythm of her breath. It was ok though. He had a plan that would erase the offending name from her lips and drown the sound from his head with screams.

***

As Buffy drifted to sleep, exhausted, sated, and content, something seemed off to her. Spike was too tense beside her. She was used to floating away, buoyed by his soft words, but tonight they seemed forced. Something was wrong? What was wrong?

She was too exhausted from work, slaying, and the marathon sex to continue to think about it. She was mostly asleep when it came to her suddenly. Her eyes shot open and the first word that came to her mouth was...

~~~
Part 2 – by Kes

Her eyes shot open and the first word that came to her mouth was "Sugarplum?"

She threw the sheet aside and came to her feet in one fluid motion. One hand shot out and gripped Spike's throat. She banged his head, hard, against the headboard.

"Glurk!" said Spike.

Buffy released his throat and gripped him firmly by his heavily gelled hair. "I have told you, time and time again, do not call me your little Sugar Plum fairy. I am into ice-skating, not ballet. They are different, you ignorant evil dead Philistine. If you call me little Sugarplum fairy one more time I swear I am going to stake you." She flicked his left nipple with one sharply manicured fingernail for emphasis, then released him and wandered over to the door, absently flexing her shoulders as she went - all this kinky stuff might be fun while it lasted, but it was very hard on the back.

Spike rubbed the back of his head. She rose to that one every time, like some dumb shiny headed carp in a fishing pond. Frankly, Buffy was easy. But God, she was sexy when she was pissed off, and yanking her chain made him feel just a little less like her whipping boy - even it did make him more likely to actually be her whipping boy in other more literal respects. Now, his nipple was tingling pleasantly and once she'd stopped grinding her teeth over there, she'd be back for more.

Buffy stood naked by the doorway of the crypt, still seething. Spike was soo-oo annoying, as well as being an evil, soulless mass murderer. She really was disgusted with herself. She turned and looked at him sitting up in bed behind her. He had one hand behind his head while the other was moving under the sheet. He was such a perve! And he was smirking. As she watched he flexed his pecs suggestively and blew her a kiss. She took two steps across the room with her fist raised, planning to wipe that stupid grin off his face, then drew in a deep breath. There was a better way.

"Well, since I'm up now I guess I might as well get on home. I have a poetry class tomorrow I need to revise for. That's real poetry, not that so-called 'Romantic' drivel you and Lord Byron used to churn out. See ya around." It was a good exit line, but sadly her clothes were widely scattered and it was too cold to stride out in just her cool belted mackintosh. She made a quick tour of the room scooping up various garments, then a determined search eventually located her panties draped on the fridge - she wasn't leaving him those - hah! After a little struggle when she tried to get both feet down one pants leg she was ready to go.

Spike sat frozen in place. The bitch! She beat him up, she fucked him, she said her ex-boyfriend's name at a crucial moment and then she insulted his Art. It was too much. He was a vampire for God's sake, even with a chip in his head. It was time to put the plan in motion - if he couldn't kill Angel, Buffy certainly could - after all she'd done it before.

~~~

Part 3 – by Beamer

But she wasn't leaving. She was standing in the middle of the crypt, hands on her hips, striking her 'I-dare-you-to-defy-me' pose. Which was awfully similar to her 'come-on-and-fuck-me-already-you-morally-ambiguous-undead-guy' pose. She was waiting for him to do something, and he wasn't sure what it was. Confusion was starting to set in as she shifted her weight from her right leg to her left leg, the soft candlelight casting her shadow on to the wall of the crypt behind her. His smirk faded and his eyebrows knit together as she began to chew on her lower lip.

What was that I am supposed to be doing? He thought. 

What on earth is he waiting for? She asked herself. Sure, she'd made a big scene, had insulted him; made it seem like she was angry. But he liked that, right? Isn't that what got his engine running? Their fights, their verbal sparing? Okay. Yes, at first she had been angry about that 'Sugarplum' business, but not so angry that she wasn't up for another go. Truth of the matter was that she did want another go, maybe even two or three. Not that she'd actually ever say it out loud, and she couldn't go slinking back into his bed. That would be admitting that she had blown the whole pet name thing out of proportion. And why did he insist on calling her those stupid names? Her name was Buffy, not Pet, not luv, not Goldilocks. She knew he knew her name; he had no problem growling it when he came.

Come on, Spike! She whined inwardly, crossing her arms over her breasts. Stop playing with yourself and get on me! But Spike didn't move. He just sat there in bed, head tilted to the side in that Oh so annoyingly coy way of his, looking at her with his bluer than blue eyes.

With a shrug he threw the covers back and started to rise out of bed. That's it, Spikey. Come and get me. Buffy felt her heart quicken as he started to approach her. But he didn't come to her, instead stopping at his dresser to grab a cigarette and pour himself a drink instead.

"Ugh!" she groaned with disgust and with a stomp of her foot she turned on her heels to leave.

As he heard the door to his crypt slam shut, he wondered what was about women. Drowning his sorrows in another drink he tried to get his mind around what had sent her off the deep end this time. Maybe it was PMS; after all he couldn't really see why calling her 'Sugarplum' had pissed her off so much. It wasn't as though he'd called her Dru – or worse yet, Angel- during sex. Maybe he'd have to give that a try next time they had a go of it, let the name of her ex fall from his lips the next time she was down on her knees, her head between his thighs – or even better, while she was pounding into him- see how she liked it.

Why was it that no matter what he did, he was never able to step out from underneath the legend of the great poof? For one hundred and twenty two years Spike had been forced to live in the shadow the Angel; first with Dru, and now with Buffy, and now, more than ever he felt it was time to step out in his own light – metaphorically speaking of course. It was time he took matters into his own hands and figure out a plan to bring about the end of Angel – after a good night's sleep of course, seeing as Buffy had a way of wearing him out.

***

As he exited the tunnels into the basement of The Magicbox, Spike could hear the Scoobies above him. From the sound of it, something big was going down. With a groan he turned around, intent on making his way back to his crypt. That last thing he needed right now was to get dragged into some big evil fighting scheme with the white hats. He had plans of his own that he was working on. He'd yet to come up with a way of getting rid of Angel permanently, but he wasn't really concerned too much – great plans take planning and work. He was halfway home when he remembered he'd been going to the Magicbox for a purpose- spending time with Dawn. She'd stopped by the crypt after school, pouting that they never spent time together anymore, and he'd actually felt sorry about it, promising her he'd meet her at the shop after sundown. Reluctantly he turned around and headed back. Mounting the stairs to the shop itself, Spike resolved to get in, get the Nibblet and not get involved in the slaying this time.

"I don't see why it has to be him," he heard the whelp whine.

"Because everyone else has something they need to be doing here," Buffy stated. "And we all know how wrong the idea of me behind the wheel is."

As he rounded the corner from the basement access Spike could see Buffy sitting at the table, head in her hands. Something was up, something that had his slayer distressed.

Get in. Get the Bit. Get out, he reminded himself, curbing his urge to step up and offer his services the Slayer's Champion. He cleared his throat announcing his arrival, and Dawn Squealed when she saw him, running to him throwing her arms around his waist. He gave her an awkward pat on the head and wriggled out of her grasp.

"Badness abounds?" he asked. "Hope it's nothing too big for you lot to handle by yourself. Got plans with the bit."

"Pack a bag, Spike." Buffy told him, letting out a sigh.

"Huh?"

"Angel called." Xander explained. "You need to take Buffy to LA."

It was all Spike could do to keep from letting out a whoop of joy and hollering hallelujah.

Phase One of his plan to rid the world of Angel had officially begun.

~~~

Part Four – by Lucifi

 "So, you'll do this then?" She stood there in that infuriating pose of hers. He had seen it often enough, always thinking that just because she was a slayer, she could get whatever the hell she wanted.

"Yea, I guess I will. I could use a nice time away from this hole."

"Good. We leave now."


They started out with bags packed near ten o'clock, him of course in the driver's seat, and her in the passenger side. She would be bored soon enough, since she really wouldn't be able to see out the window. He also knew that she would soon be annoying him. He hoped for once, that she just kept her mouth shut. He popped Suicidal Tendencies into the tape player and turned it up. He watched as she grimaced and reached for the volume.

"I don't think so, pet. My car, I'm doing you the favor, you just sit there and listen to my music." He pushed her hand away from the stereo. She didn't fight, but gave him a sour look.

The night was warm and he was purposefully taking the coast roads to stretch out the trip longer. He needed time to think about when and how he was going to get Angel into a spot that he could do away with him. It wasn't going to be easy by any means, with Buffy there. He would have to find out what exactly there were dealing with and whether or not he could get Angel killed by something else. Of course with a little help from him, Big Bad of Los Angeles shouldn't have too much trouble killing off the sod.

They drove in silence for an hour before she spoke up. "I need to use the next rest stop."

"Right, one in about fifteen miles."

They ended up being the only ones there and he walked into the wooded area while she went and did her thing. He could take her there, in the women's bathroom, maybe make it so she got herself a little dirty while they were at it. Wouldn't that be something? Little Miss Muffet smelling like urine when she met her soul down in LA. How would she explain that one to people?

"Spike."

"Yea?"

"Let's go."

He walked back to the car half wanting to get her back into the bathroom and half disgusted with himself for being so wanting of her. Sometimes, he wished he would just kill her during the sexual oddities of their games.

***

Los Angeles was ten miles from where they were as he passed the sign doing eighty-five miles per hour. It wasn't long until they reached Angel, Cordelia, Wesley and the rest.

~~~

Part 5 – by Hoene

Los Angeles was ten miles from where they were as he passed the sign doing eighty-five miles per hour. It wasn't long until they reached Angel, Cordelia, Wesley and the rest.

She'd been quiet all the way winding through LA to The Hyperion. He hadn't really noticed, preoccupied with his own very satisfying inner visions of his revenge soon to come. And she hadn't talked much anyway. The thought of setting into action soon had him humming along and tapping his fingers on the steering wheel. Oh, god, LA traffic! He wanted out and going NOW! Wouldn't do to seem too excited, though, couldn't have her suspect anything. He almost burst into a giggle at the thought of himself; all Christmas lights at the prospect of seeing Angel again.

When they pulled up outside the building and he turned his eyes on her, his plans sort of lost their attraction. He'd been thinking hard about how to explain that he really couldn't come inside, because something very important had come up. Perhaps something wrong with the car - she'd never be able to tell that it was running just perfectly.

But looking at her face, he realized something:
She was just as eager to get rid of him. She was all thin lips and glowering eyes, and not getting out of the car. Hell, all she wanted was probably to ask him to stay in the fucking car outside while she went in, but she was too bloody embarrassed to ask! Suddenly coming in with her took on a totally different light. Fuck, she was that embarrassed to be seen with him?!? Oh, he should have known. Still the hurt hit him unexpectedly, and instinctively and very skillfully he turned the hurt into anger. Anger he could deal with. He wasn't gonna miss this opportunity - he could get out as soon as he'd made his presence clear, got them all uncomfortable.

He put on his biggest, meanest smile and jumped out of the car.

"Come on, luv, don't wanna waste any time, do we?"

"Spike..."

She sighed deeply and looked down.
She didn't even look upset.

She looked up, into his eyes, and the carelessness of her expression - or lack of - made him wince. She climbed out of the car sedately, and not looking at him another time she fastened her gaze on the facade of the building and made her way for it. For a second he just stared at her back, then slammed the car door and followed at a hunched stride.

In the foyer, Cordelia and Angel looked up from the desk as Buffy entered, followed by Spike.

"So... What are you doing here?"

Cordelia tilted her head and puckered her eyes as she watched them warily.

Spike, at a loss, stared at Buffy.

"Didn't they call you?"

"No."

Oh shit, he thought, why are we even here? Oh, I didn't think to ask. That couldn't possibly have any influence on my plans. Shit, shit, shit...

Buffy looked straight at Angel, who was trying to duck and hide behind Cordelia, looking as wallpaper-like as possible.

"I had a Slayer dream. Last night. About you, Angel."

A Slayer dream? Would that explain the unexpected exclamations of his Sire's name? Though they weren't exactly sleeping at the moment... No, no way, this wasn't how things were supposed to go...

"Oh... I see."

Cordelia's voice was thick with mock understanding, and directing big, innocent-looking eyes at Buffy. Buffy didn't offer her a bat of an eye in return.

"And all the phone lines in Sunnydale had accidentally been vaporized by Willow, so you couldn't just call us and tell? Or call and tell you were planning to come here?"

How could Cordelia manage to sound so sweet and so acidic at the same time? I was like sonic lemon pie; the way Buffy would bake it. If he'd had the energy for it, he would have sent her an approving smile, but right now, her voice was just something solid to him in this room, something understandable.

"I talked to Giles about it. On the phone. He recommended I told you in person. After all, it was my Slayer dream, so I probably have some part to play in this."

You have a part to play in what happens to Angel? Spike thought dizzily.

"Yes. I dreamt that your soul would become permanent. And soon."

Spike felt everything around him moving away at incredible speed. Or maybe they were just wobbling. Or maybe both. At least that occupied his mind for a moment.

Then the realizations came tumbling down on him, recognizing the implications of the words spoken. They didn't even notice me, didn't wonder why I was here? And all the reasons for my brilliant plan were only in my head? Why the bloody fuck didn't I ask why we were going here?!? And what will happen now? Oh God, what's gonna happen? Angel - permanent soul - Buffy --- No! This was so - so - Christ! He felt like his insides were turning out. And she asked me to drive her down here for that! I'm so pathetic. Will I ever plan anything just remotely smart? And how could I think that I could ever give her what Angel couldn't - I'll never be good enough! Never be good at all! Always lacking, always desperate to do things that would make me somebody!

For one blinding, crushing, lucid moment he sensed that it had never been about Angel, or Dru, or even Buffy, it was all about the things he told himself inside his head.

But the impending devastating realization was shoved away, and he fought the urge to clasp his hands to his head in order to keep it together. Instead he focused on Cordelia.

She was smiling. A real smile this time. Real happy-like.

"Oh, but we already know! I had a vision a couple days ago, so the guys went and took down this big, pink, furry demon, and as it died, it was like, Angel had that whole getting-back-the-soul-thing happening again, and Wesley looked it up, and it seems the thing really could do it, fix the soul I mean, and all this time we just didn't know."

She smiled and put her arms around the silent Angel.

"So we're quite all right now. You can go home again. He really doesn't turn evil anymore..."

~~~

Part 6 – by Pepperlandgirl

Angel looked uncomfortable with the whole situation. At least, Spike thought he looked uncomfortable. It was hard to tell though, since Angel only had one facial expression. That was one thing Angelus the Bastard had over the soulful one, he had two facial expressions.

He pulled away from Cordelia and took a step towards Buffy. "I'm glad you came Buffy."

"I'm glad you came Buffy," Spike mimicked in a high-pitched falsetto voice. Then, under his breath he added, "I bet you wish you could make her come."

Angel glanced at Spike, "What's he doing here?"

Buffy didn't even spare him a look. "He drove."

It occurred to Spike that he could just turn around, walk out, and drive away. Leave her stranded in L.A. with the stupid poof and his bitchy cheerleader. Maybe the bitchy cheerleader would snap and kill them both in their sleep. Spike smiled at the thought.

Instead he sat down with his legs splayed out before him and smirked, "Got any blood? I'm feeling a mite peckish."

"Why did he drive?" Angel asked.

"I needed to see you, and he was the only one who didn't have anything better to do."

Spike narrowed his eyes slightly, "You're a right bitch, aren't you luv?" He asked pleasantly.

Angel glared at Spike—was that a second facial expression? —"Shut up Spike."

Cordelia's eyes darted around nervously and the frown that marred her features deepened when the star-crossed lovers took yet another step closer. Spike felt like gagging.

"So," Cordelia said loudly, Will you be staying for dinner or leaving now?"

"I don't think Buffy should leave. If it wasn't important she be here, she wouldn't have dreamt about it."


Buffy looked coldly at Cordelia, "I'm staying."

I'm staying? I'm staying? 'Does that mean I can get the hell out of here?' Spike wondered.

"Let's go to my office and talk," Angel invited, still ignoring Spike. He wondered wildly if he was even there. Maybe he gotten hit by whatever made Buffy invisible last week, and nobody realized it.

They left the room and together and Spike turned his attention to Cordy. But she ignored him as well and left the room. Probably still bitter about the whole Gem of Amara fiasco. Spike didn't blame her, he was bitter too. Of course, this time things would be done differently. For one thing, he planned on driving the red-hot pokers through Angel himself. Maybe he'd make Buffy watch….


The Cheerleader's attitude was very interesting. She was being rather defensive of old peaches. A slow smile spread across Spike's face. If he played his cards right, she could be an ally in this battle. Of course, she would never agree if she knew the ultimate plan was to send Angel to the great dustbin in the sky, but she might agree if she thought Spike was trying to get Buffy to leave Angel. She would love to get Buffy out of the picture.

Things just got very, very difficult, and Spike knew he had to be careful. Especially if he still wanted to be with Buffy when the whole thing was over. He would have to be subtle. Buffy could never suspect a thing. After all, if she dusted him, it would kinda defeat the whole purpose. And Spike had resolved that this would be one plan that actually went unfoiled by the Slayer and her gang of losers.

But before he could do that, he had to figure out what, exactly, he was doing here. Well, he knew what he was doing there. He was the chauffer, after all. What he wondered though, was why? Why did Buffy absolutely have to be present for this? Why did she drag along Spike? Spike suspected that it was another desperate attempt to make herself "feel", whatever the fuck that meant. If she was just coming to fuck the permanently souled Angel, why bring Spike along for the ride? That was easily the dumbest thing she could do, and Buffy may be many things, but she wasn't that stupid. Unless of course, she wanted Angel to take care of her little "spikey" problem. In which case, he would just have to be sure to kill Angel before Angel had a chance to come after him.

No problem.

~~~

Part 7 – by Kes

Spike lay naked in his narrow hotel bed, staring broodily at the ceiling. He was in the attic, in a room probably occupied by a chambermaid in the hotel's heyday. It seemed mighty suspicious to him that all the regular guest rooms, except one - now occupied by Buffy - should have suffered a catastrophic central heating failure, and he had said so.

Unfortunately, when Angel had looked him straight in the eye and assured him that a plumber was due tomorrow, but meanwhile he was welcome to take a look and try to repair it himself, he'd been forced to admit that he'd sod-all idea of so much as how to bleed a radiator. Bleeding Angel on the other hand... he had lots of ideas about that.

It was 3am and he had been waiting for Buffy to join him - maybe smack him around a bit for being rude to her 'friends', then tie him to the convenient iron railings at the head of the bed, ride him like a pony, and squeeze him 'til it hurt. A number of attractive notions involving role play (Buffy 'Lady Penelope' Summers and her chauffeur Spike 'Parker' - "oh, yes, Milady!") flitted through his mind. But the bitch wasn't coming tonight, and apparently neither was he.

His plot for ridding the world of Angel had taken a blow too. Now he was a hero with a perma-soul, Buffy was going to take an awful lot of persuading that he'd gone bad. Just for a moment Spike allowed himself to think nostalgically of Angelus, devoted and relentless torturer and all round psychological sadist - good times, even if he had always hated the evil bastard. Still, he definitely needed to go. Spike had Buffy now, sort of, and he wasn't about to lose her. What to do? There were possibilities involving misdirection and spells. If Buffy could be persuaded that what she saw before her was some kind of evil demon, that what she heard was the growls and yips of an alien language...

Spike took a cigarette from the packet on the table beside him and lit it with a flourish. He sucked in a deep lungful of smoke, making his cheeks hollow impressively and blew it out in a long stream. The new plan had possibilities.

Beep! Beep! Beep! A shrieking alarm ripped through the air; and Spike jumped a foot - "whah?". Suddenly he was deluged in water as the sprinkler system kicked in. All those health and safety improvements forced upon Angel by Wolfram and Hart were repaying his investment.

Moments later Buffy, Angel, and Cordelia rushed through the door to find a naked and furious Spike, his leather duster pulled protectively over his head and a sodden fag end dangling from his mouth, trying to rip the sprinkler from the ceiling.

"Spike," said Angel solemnly, "I think you'll find the shower is at the end of the hall."

There was a burst of unkind laughter from all present.

What I need, Spike said furiously to himself, is the services of an evil witch.

~~~

Part 8 – by Beamer

Buffy opened the door to her room and cautiously looked a round to see if the coast was clear. She wasn't quite sure where Angel's room was, but she was afraid it was close by. She'd been on her way to Spike's room the night before when the alarm had gone off and before she knew it, Angel was right there, beside her as she approached the door. At first she'd thought Angel's room was close to Spike's because he'd gotten there so fast, Buffy had still been on the stairs when the alarm's wailing started, then she remembered – vampires came with the same speed slayers did. Angel could probably get anywhere in the hotel in a matter of seconds if he really wanted to. She'd played off her approach to Spike's room the night before as curiosity, interest in what had caused the fire alarm to go off. Angel believed her, or at least she thought he did. He didn't seem to suspect at all that she had in fact been heading to the room where her ex mortal enemy was laying in bed, naked; her ex mortal enemy who fucked her with in an inch of her life on a nightly basis for a little late night nookie.

Assured that no one was around to see her, Buffy exited her room and made her way to the stairwell and quickly and as stealth fully as possible climbed the several flights up to the attic, carefully repeating her the speech she had rehearsed in case she got caught she nearly sprinted to the small room at the end and tried the door.

"Spike?" she called out softly as she entered the room. She had expected to find Spike sprawled out on his stomach, face pressed into his pillow sound asleep, but instead she found the room empty. "Huh."

"Come out, come out wherever you are," she quietly sang as she checked the other rooms in the attic, finding each room stuffed full of old unused furniture. She was not in the least bit amused that he was nowhere to be found.

As she made her way down to the main floor of the hotel, she grumbled silently about stupid vampires who weren't in bed where they belonged at 10 am.

"Good morning, Buffy," Wesley called from behind the counter, as he entered his office, his arms laden with books. "Sleep well?"

Buffy greeted him with a grunt as she scanned the lobby, still looking for Spike. She couldn't just ask after him, how would that look? Why would she say she was looking for him?

"Where is everyone?" she asked, hoping Wesley might think to include Spike among 'everyone'. Her desire to find Spike was no longer about an itch that needed to be scratched, but concern over the damage he could do if he chose to open his mouth about their recent activities before she and Angel had a chance to research the details of her dream further.

"Gunn and Fred have the day off and Angel said he had a lead to track down," he looked up from his desk at Buffy through the office door. "I do expect Cordelia is around some place, perhaps up in Angel's suite with Conner. Now if you'll excuse me, I do have some work to be done."

With a nod, Buffy turned and left him, feeling oddly dissatisfied that she still had no knowledge of Spike's whereabouts, and slightly confused as to who Conner was and what Cordelia was doing in Angel's suite with him. She had gotten the distinct impression from Cordy and then again from Angel during their private meeting that there was something going on between the vampire and ex-cheerleader, and yet Cordelia was alone with another man in Angel's rooms.

She sat dejectedly on the settee in the center of the lobby, wonder just what she was going to do to pass the time. Angel was out, traipsing around the sewers, presumably looking into a lead on her dream and Spike was nowhere to be found, not that getting him alone was really a good idea; a fun one, but not the brightest. What if Angel walked in on them? God, how humiliating would that be?

Standing, she decided to go explore the hotel, maybe see if Cordy wanted to go shopping with her, get her alone, tell her that she had nothing to worry about, that Angel was her past. Tell her that she was happy for them that his soul was permanent. As she started to climb the stairs, she chuckled. How very odd that Angel's soul really was permanent, that somehow he had found a way around that clause. She certainly hadn't suspected that there was really a way for that to happen when she'd come up with that lie; she just knew she had think of something that sounded somewhat plausible. And it wasn't as thought it was that big of a lie. She had dreamt about a vampire with a soul, it just hadn't been Angel.

The sound of Cordelia laughing brought Buffy out of her reverie and she looked up in time to see her coming down the stairs carrying a baby, walking along side a very tall, very green demon in a very bright orange suit.

"Hey Buffy," Cordelia called out as she came to the landing.

"I was just coming to look for you," Buffy said, her eyes slipping from the demon to the baby and back again.

"Oh, where are my manners," Cordelia blushed, shifting the baby in her arms. "Buffy, this is Lorne. Lorne, this is Buffy."

Lorne held his hand out to Buffy, "Very nice to meet you, Buffy."

Buffy shook his hand, and shook it. She watched in confusion as he continued on down the stairs; she had distinctly heard Wesley say that Cordy was up in Angel's room with someone named Conner, so naturally she had assumed that that was who the large demon was.

"And this little guy," Cordy sang. "This little ray of sunshine is Conner."

Buffy almost laughed out loud. Conner was a baby, and here she had been thinking that Cordy was cheating on Angel with a green demon with horrid fashion sense.

"So, you were looking for me?"

"Yeah," Buffy said, reaching out and running a finger down Conner's cheek. "I was thinking maybe we could go grab an early lunch, maybe do a little shopping. Have some girl time."

"We'd have to take Conner."

"That would be okay."

"The sure, why not. Hold him while I get my purse and the stroller out of the office?" Cordy asked.

"Sure."

 Buffy reached out apprehensively and took hold of the sleeping bundle, cradling him in her arms. She hadn't held a baby since dawn was little, and she hadn't really ever held her. Conner stirred fitfully, and for a second Buffy was afraid he was going to wake up and start crying. She began to sway slightly and sing a soft lullaby, hoping it would calm him. She smiled as he adjusted to the transfer. Behind her, someone cleared their throat. Turning she saw Angel looking down on her with a sad smile.

"Hey," she said softly.

"I've got some information for you," he said. "And I see you've met Conner."

"Yeah," Buffy smiled down at the baby. "He's adorable."

"Yeah, he is, isn't he?"

"How old is he?"

"Almost eight weeks."

Buffy let out a gasp, "Wow, Cordy looks great."

"What do you mean?"

"I mean, eight weeks after having a baby and she already has her figure back. Did she do yoga or something while she was pregnant? Cause I heard that's how Madonna did it…and why are you looking at me like that?"

"Buffy…" Angel's look was a pained one.

"Oh... He's not Cordy's is he? I just assumed…"

"Buffy, Conner is my son."

Buffy's stomach dropped and she looked at Angel with wide eyes. She wanted to ask him how, beg him to tell her he'd somehow adopted Conner, because Angel was a vampire, and vampires weren't supposed to be able to have children, and if somehow Angel had managed to get someone pregnant… Buffy thought about telling Cordy that she had changed her mind about going shopping, because she suddenly had a very strong urge to run out and buy every early detection home pregnancy test on the market.

"How?" she asked when she'd finally found her voice.

"It was a prophecy."

"Sorry that took so long, Buffy," Cordelia started as she came out of the office. "But Wesley needed… oh, hey Angel. Buffy and I are going shopping. I was going to take Conner, but now that you're back I guess I don't need to."

"Actually, Cordy. I need to talk to Buffy."

Buffy turned to Cordy, and thought she saw a scowl.

"Oh, yeah. Sure. I'll just take Conner, and you two can go… talk."

Cordelia took Conner from Buffy and watched as the vampire and the slayer disappeared up the stairs. She turned to Lorne who was standing behind the counter.

"Well?" she asked him.

"How'd you know she'd do that?" Lorne asked her.

"Please Lorne, she's a woman. You put a baby in a woman's arms and she'd going to sing. It's like some hormonal response. So? What did you get? Is she still in love with him or not?"

"She's in love all right," Lorne replied. "But not with Angel."

"Really?!" She responded, shocked. "If it's not Angel, then who? Oh God, please don't tell me its Xander."

Lorne started to say something, but was cut off as Spike burst through the front door in a cloud of smoke, black duster pulled over his head.

"Thanks for waiting for me," Willow said as she entered behind him.

"Uh...I was kinda on fire, Red."

Lorne watched in amusement as Spike frantically patted himself down. He turned to Cordelia with a smile.

"Him."

~~~

Part9 – by Hoene

"Him."

Cordelia stared at Spike.

Lorne shrugged and sighed and smiled at Spike with genuine goodwill shining from his red eyes.

Spike frowned and shook himself into a stance that he hoped resembled poise and relaxed superiority.

Willow took in the scenery with a grave expression on her face.

Cordelia finally tore her eyes from Spike and frowned at Willow instead.

"Tell me... is the whole Hellmouth relocating to LA? Or is it just the Band of Boredom taking the weekend off? Because I have way more important and interesting things to do than entertain you lot - like, changing diapers?!?"

Cordelia turned on her heel and marched up the stairs with Conner hugged so tightly the boy let out a squeal.

Everybody's eyes followed her out of sight. Lorne turned to face the two visitors, took a step forward and spread out his arms in a welcoming gesture:

"Friends! What can I do for you?"

Spike looked him up and down, taking in the traffic-safety suit and unconsciously stepping backwards.

"Where's the Slayer?"

Lorne brought his hands together and wrought them apologetically.

"Oh, Buffy... I think she's... Well, there was... Um, she's upstairs with Angel! I think it was kinda private... I mean, not in the way...!"

The look on Spike's face made him freeze, hands clutched tightly and smile frozen. He forced himself to recall the flow of confused but oh, so comfortingly warm and reassuring feelings that had flown over him with the slayer's song. A level of desire he couldn't even grasp, fulfilled. A longing for friendship, understanding and hope that was too dangerous to believe.
He looked Spike straight in the eyes and swallowed.

"Where is she?"

He turned his gaze on the girl. She was staring at him with huge, burning eyes, clutching herself.

"... She's up there."

He pointed in the direction of the stairs.

Willow started marching up the stairs.

Lorne looked at Spike. The smile playing around the vampire's mouth was chilling.

* * *

Willow tried to look resolved as she dragged her feet up the stairs. She'd never thought she'd have to do something like this. But she had to. There was no other way. But she still owed it to Buffy to let her know. Perhaps she could still make her change her mind. Dammit, Buffy owed her that! She was her best friend! And she was obviously the only one who could save her now.

Still, it hurt to have to do it.

But she would, to save her friend. She obviously didn't know her own good right now. Actually, she was so far out that she was gonna give up on all her old friends in Sunnydale. Give up Willow. She wasn't gonna allow that.

Willow stopped in the hallway to listen. She heard voices from one of the rooms. Buffy's and Angel's voices. So he was there with her. Well, nevermind. Hopefully this would soon be over. She moved her feet, concentrating on the tips of her fashionable shoes digging into the worn carpet. Cordelia hadn't even noticed her attire. She hadn't made a single caustic comment, which meant she hadn't noticed at all. Not that Willow cared, of course.
Suddenly her feet were in front of the door with the voices behind it. She raised her hand. It weighed like a ton. Weird. It wasn't really like she cared about the vampire, and Buffy would be so much better off, eventually.
Her knocking left a silence. Then Buffy's voice sounded.

"Who is it?"

Willow just opened the door and stepped inside. Buffy stared at her, mouth agape. Angel too. She pulled herself together.

"Buffy. Don't worry. I'm here now. Spike came for me."

Buffy looked baffled. No wonder.

"What?!? Why? Is something wrong? Back home?"

She rose to her feet and stepped towards Willow. Willow put her hands on her friends' shoulders. She knew Angel could hear her, but she whispered anyway.

"Spike tried to trick me down here with the lamest excuse I ever heard. I know he's trying to seduce you! He sounded so confident despite all the lameness - I was afraid that you - not that you would ever show bad judgment! - But - Buffy - don't believe any of it! He's just trying to trick you away from us! Like he used to! Buffy... I'm your best friend! I wont let this happen. I'll deal with him. Just stay here, and soon it'll be over. It's broad daylight outside. He's in the hall. As if I had to depend on sunlight..."

She smiled for a second and kissed Buffy on the cheek. Then she turned around and left the room. She felt so much lighter. Actually, she felt like she was floating down the hallway towards the stairs.

~~~

Part 10 by Pepperlandgirl

Buffy looked at Angel, "Do you have any idea what she's talking…." Buffy's question was cut off by a loud scream of surprise and a very long litany of curses.

"Bloody, buggering, hell Red! What was that all about?"

Buffy rushed out of the room. Willow's odd reassurances buzzing in her head, and now it seemed obvious that she had reason to be frightened.

"Willow! What are you doing?"

Spike was being held against the wall by an invisible force, his mouth had a trickle of blood in the corner, and a stake was hovering above his heart. The green demon was trying frantically to get Willow to calm down, but her eyes were black and it looked like she couldn't hear a word Lorne was saying.

"Red, come on now, we're all friends here. Don't want to do anything rash, do we?"

While Spike was talking, Buffy tackled Willow to the ground, breaking the witches concentration. Both the stake and Spike, no longer being held up by magic, collapsed onto the floor.

"What are you doing?" Buffy repeated.

Willow looked up at her, her eyes clear again. "I was doing you a favor, Buffy. You should have heard the things he was saying."

Spike rose to his feet slowly, "I didn't say anything Slayer."

"That's not true! Buffy, listen to me, I was only trying to help," Willow insisted.

Buffy stood up and pulled Willow to her feet. "I don't know what you are talking about Willow, but I don't want you to slay Spike."

Spike smiled smugly, that was something, wasn't it? The Slayer didn't want him to be a big pile of dust. "If anybody kills the pest, it'll be me." Oh, well, that wasn't so nice. "Spike, come with me, we need to talk."

Spike followed her obediently up the stairs, dragging his feet slightly. This wasn't good, not good at all. How was he going to explain Willow's presence? How was he going to lie to the Slayer? He wasn't the best of liars to begin with, and the bitch always could see right through him.

Spike's tongue reached out and licked the blood away from his lips and chin. The little trollop really clobbered him good. He didn't really expect the Witch to kill Angel. It would have been nice, though. He still wasn't entirely sure what happened or how she figured him out. Perhaps the Slayer wasn't the only one who could see right through him?

The story was a decent one, best he could up with in such short notice. Rushing up to the house, breathless (Spike never could avoid the theatrics), panicked, explaining that Buffy and Angel were getting a little too close for comfort, if you know what I mean. That Angel was in danger of losing his soul before it was made permanent, and could someone please go intervene? Willow quickly agreed, and Spike thought they were home free.

"What was all that about, Spike? Why is Willow here?"

When in doubt, aim for the hollow of her neck. That always served as an easy and useful distraction. And it worked too, for about 5 seconds, before she pushed him away. "Don't try that crap with me, Spike."

"What, Slayer? I thought you just wanted to get us alone." He crowded her personal space, forcing her to take three steps back until she was at the edge of the bed. With one hand he snuck under her shirt and played with one, taunt nipple. With the other, he pulled her head closer to his and bent to catch her lower lip between his teeth.

"Yeah," she admitted, "Wait, no, no! Spike, why did you go get Willow?"

Ok, obviously the seduction was not going to work this time. "Well, I thought we might need her help, if um, the permanent soul thing didn't work. Angel could have turned back into Angelus, and do you know how to return his soul?"

Spike could see in her eyes that she wasn't buying it, but it was difficult to argue with him when he slipped his fingers down the front of her stretchy pants. He noticed how easy her pants were to get into, and felt his anger rising. God, could she be anymore obvious about her intentions towards Angel?

But he was temporarily distracted from his angry thoughts when he heard her delightful little moan. He pushed her gently until she was laying on the bed with her eyes closed, happily giving in to Spike's roving hands and fingers, and squirming against him in the most maddening way.

So Red didn't work out. It didn't matter; she wasn't the only evil witch he knew. Being the Big Bad for a century had its benefits; he had plenty of contacts. And as an added bonus, most of the contacts of the witch persuasion hated Angel's guts. Ok, so his plan was being revised on almost an hourly basis. That didn't mean it was a good plan, it just meant that Spike was adaptive, resourceful, and--Oh God, she was unzipping his pants--incoherent.

~~~
Part 11 – by Kes

It was dinnertime at the Hyperion. Chinese take-out had been ordered and was being eaten in an uncomfortable silence, broken only by the crunch of prawn crackers, and the slurping of noodles. This time everyone had heard Buffy and Spike's "discussion" upstairs (the screams had been very piercing) but no one was planning to raise the topic any time soon.

Suddenly, the door flew open with a crash.

"Good evening, everyone! I understand someone has requested the services of an evil witch?"

They all turned towards the open door. Standing on the threshold, dramatically bathed in shadow, was a tall, slim figure dressed to kill in a scarlet Versace jacket, skirt and hat combo trimmed in leopard print, and accessorized with leopard print gloves and leopard print shoes with four inch spike heels. The stranger's face was chalky white, while her lips shone a glossy scarlet. She stepped forward into the room and drew off her hat with a flourish.

"Oh. My. God." said Buffy.

"It can't be!" said Angel.

"Mrs. Post!" said Willow.

"Mrs. Post, indeed," said the figure smugly, "but do call me Gwendolyn. We're practically old friends." She stepped over the threshold and threw her hat on to a side table.

"Cool makeover," said Buffy, "you kinda had the dowdy English librarian look down pat before."

"Why, thank you, Buffy," said Mrs. Post. "It goes with my new wicked witch persona."

"But you're dead!" said Willow. "You got zapped by lightning, or the glove of Mynhegon, or... or living flame - something like that anyway."

"And I cut your hand off," said Buffy, looking as Mrs. Post began to draw off her gloves.

"Oh, fiddley dee," said Mrs. Post, "since when did having your hand cut off, or your atoms fried to dust have to prove permanently fatal? I have another life, and another hand - courtesy of Wolfram and Hart." Mrs. Post drew off her right glove and wiggled her fingers in a little mock wave.

"You want to be careful," said Angel, "that's liable to be a evil hand...."

"Good!" said Mrs. Post, "It'll match the rest of me!" She laughed an evil maniacal laugh. "Now," she said, "who to kill first?"

"Hmm, you may have a new outfit and new digits, but I see you've still got the same old attitude problems," said Buffy.

Suddenly Spike hurled himself across the room with a sword in his hand. Mrs. Post waved her evil hand negligently and he was lifted into the air and crashed into the wall beside her.

Angel sighed, that was two Spike sized dents in the plaster that needed repairing now - no wonder he couldn't get insurance any more.

Mrs. Post stepped forward. "Of course, I could just kill all of you in one fiery apocalyptic explosion," she said thoughtfully. She raised her evil hand, which began to glow. Everyone drew back a few steps. Mrs. Post smiled an evil smile, and pointed at Cordelia, who was hovering nervously with Connor clasped in her arms. "Or maybe I'll start with you," she said.

Angel quickly interposed himself between Cordelia and Connor, and the evil ex-Watcher.

"Or you," Mrs. Post moved her finger to point at him, and he flinched slightly.

"Um, Mrs. Post, I thought you said someone called on your services?" said Cordelia nervously, peering around Angel, and shifting Connor on her hip. "Shouldn't you find who that might that have been?"

Mrs. Post lowered her evil hand for a moment. "What a very good point," she said cheerfully. "Who was it?"

"I bet it was Spike," said Willow. "I knew he was up to something!"

"No it wasn't," said Spike, looking guilty as hell.

"Spike!" shouted Buffy, stepping up to him as he lay crumpled on the floor and wagging an accusing finger, "did you call for an wicked witch? And don't lie," she added, gripping his ear between finger and thumb and pulling him to his feet.

"Ow!" said Spike. "Ok, ok, I did call for a wicked witch - I needed one to.... to protect me from her," he finished triumphantly, pointing at Willow. "She nearly killed me you know."

"Oh come on Spike," said Willow tetchily, "how many times have you tried to kill me? Get over it, already!" She rolled her eyes.

"Well, you haven't apologized," said Spike sulkily.

"Neither have you," said Willow, "and don't think I haven't noticed, either."

"Now, now children," said Mrs. Post, wiggling her evil fingers to make pretty fiery ripples in the air, "don't quarrel. You're going to be horribly killed by a fireball in a moment. It would be nice if you could make up your differences first."

"Um, Mrs. Post, " said Angel, "not to be rude or anything, but I don't really understand why you're here."

"Oh, I'm sorry," said Mrs. Post sweetly, "is your brain cell not working today? I'm here to wreak terrible revenge upon the whole miserable lot of you." She turned to Spike, "but first I am here to carry out a service for Mr. William The Bloody as per the terms of the spell he used to summon me - since unlike some witches," she looked at Willow disapprovingly, "I do have professional standards."

"Pah, said Willow, throwing down her chopsticks angrily, "you're not a witch at all. You just have an evil hand - and that's not even yours! You're just a wannabe witch!"

Mrs. Post gave an indignant gasp, and clenched her evil hand in the air. A glowing arrow materialized in her hand and she launched it at Willow, who deflected it with a gesture of her own. The arrow sank into the sofa beside her, which promptly burst into flames. Angel gave a little gasp of anguish.

"Boy, said Lorne, "that evil hand has everything, doesn't it? Is it like a Swiss Army penknife kinda hand, with a little can opener and one of those diddy nail files on it?"

Miss Post turned toward him, outraged. As her attention was distracted Buffy grabbed a convenient battleaxe and sent it scything across the room. It struck Mrs. Post just above the wrist and her hand fell to the floor, twitching. Unfortunately, it was her left hand.

"Shit!" said Buffy. "Left and right, right and left. Why do I always get them confused?"

Mrs. Post glared at her. "This is getting tediously repetitive," she furiously. She bent down and picked up her hand. "I'll be back," she said ominously, "and I'll be bringing a friend."

~~~

Part 12 – by Beamer

Spike couldn't remember the last time he'd heard such silence. After they had watched Mrs. Post leave in a huff, hand in hand, all eyes turned to him. He suddenly wished for a pin, just so he could drop it and see if there was any truth to the saying. His mind went in to overdrive, trying to come up with an excuse Buffy would believe. Then it came; the one sound worse than the silence, and his world crumbled as the sigh escaped Buffy's lips.

 "I can't believe you!" Willow seethed.

Spike hardly had time to react as Willow launched herself into him and they tumbled to the ground.

"I.Can.Not.Believe.You!" she screamed as she sat straddling his chest, slapping at him. "What did you do? Come get me only when you didn't think your little summoning spell for Emily Post's evil sister didn't work? I'm always your second choice, aren't I? You're always settling for me. Buffy's not around, so I'll bite Willow. Can't get the witch I want, so I'll go get Red."

"Hey! Ow! Somebody stop her!" Spike cried as he cowered under the assault of Willow's slapping hands.

"Am I not witch enough for you?" Willow cried as Angel grabbed her and lifted her off Spike.

Spike scrambled to his feet and took asylum behind Buffy.

 "Is that it Spike? Am I not witch enough for you?"

"You're plenty witch for me Red," Spike cooed softly, nodding at Angel, signaling him to go ahead and put Willow down. "And you were my first choice Pet. Just when things didn't go as planned…"

"Spike had a plan and it didn't work out?" Cordelia gasped. "Color me surprised."

"What plan Spike?" Buffy asked, her tone tired and exacerbated. She turned to face him, and Spike knew he'd lost. Saw it in her eyes. He knew he couldn't lie to her, he was a terrible liar and she'd see through it. But if he told her the truth, that he'd gone to get Willow to kill Angel and had called on the evil ex watcher when that plan had fallen through he could be sure that he'd never get Buffy in his bed again.

"Spike…"

Anger he would have expected. Anger he could have handled, but when she'd said his name with such disappointment he found himself crumbling to his knees, pleading with her to understand. She'd said Angel's name while they'd been together, and he was only afraid of losing her. He loved her so much, and with Angel out of the picture maybe, just maybe she would love him. He simply couldn't have handled losing another girl to the Big Brood.

"Oh Spike," Buffy sighed.

"See what I mean Buffy," Willow said. "He's delusional. Thinks you could love him, that you two have some kind of…"

"You mean you've never told him?" Lorne interrupted, looking from Buffy to Spike.

"Told me what?" Spike asked.

"Of course!" Lorne exclaimed. "You yourself don't even know yet, do you?"

"Don't know what?" Buffy asked. "I'm not quite understanding anything you're talking about. All I know is that I had a dream, and I came down here to ask Angel help me try to figure it out, and my vampire boy… Spike here, tricked my best friend into coming down here to try and kill my ex all because I may have let his name slip while we were in be…what are you talking about?"

"Buffy have you sung around Lorne?"

Buffy turned her head to look at Angel, "Huh? What?"

"Did you at anytime since you have gotten here, sing?"

"Why don't you sit down, Goldilocks, and I'll explain it to you," Lorne said as he walked to Buffy and led her to the settee in the middle of the lobby. "You don't mind if I call you that, do you? Here's the deal. I read people's destinies when they sing, and when you were holding Conner earlier today…."

"Wait a minute. You're telling me that whenever someone sings around you, you see their future?"

"In a manner of speaking, yes."

"Even Vampires?" Buffy asked, eyes wide.

"Sure," Lorne answered with a shrug.

"This is it Angel," Buffy cried. "This is what I need to figure out what my dream meant."

Spike felt as though an anvil had been dropped on his chest, and he wondered if it was at all possible for his unbeating heart to break. Not only was he going to lose his slayer to the Hair Gel King, it was going to happen right in front of him, in front of witnesses. Oh the humiliation. At least he'd get a good laugh in at the expense of his grandsire's horrific singing voice before he asked the cheerleader to run a stake through him.

"Sing something, Spike." Angel stood over him, arms crossed.

"Me?" Spike countered incredulously. "Slayer's bloody dream was about you, soul boy."

Angel sighed and rolled his eyes, and lowered into a crouch so he was eye to eye with Spike. "No, Spike. It was about you. As much as it pains me to admit it."

Spike blinked.

"Maybe I should talk to him alone," Buffy announced, standing.

"Oh no," Cordelia said. "I think we all know what happens when Spike and Buffy go off alone to 'talk'. What?" she asked when all eyes turned to her, questioning. "My God, people. We ALL heard the screaming. Am I the only one NOT suffering from Egyptian River Disease? They are so totally boning each other."

All eyes turned were on Buffy who sunk back onto the settee next to Lorne, wishing for all the world that the Nerds of Doom would appear with their invisibility ray. This was definitely not how she had planned on announcing her torrid affair with yet another vampire. No doubt Spike is loving this, she thought. But the look on his face let her know he still had not absorbed the news that her slayer dream had been about him, not Angel. She found herself lost in the softness, the lost look in his eyes as he sat blinking. Swallowing all her fear and doubt that the choice she was about to make she stood and walked the short distance to where Spike sat on the floor and extended her hand to him, as he stood took it and stood, she turned to Lorne.

"I want to know what you saw," she said to him, grasping Spike's hand tightly in her own. "Then, if he's up to it, I need you to read Spike. I have to know if what I saw in my dream will be worth it."  She turned to Spike and searched his face for an answer.

"Yeah," he said softly. "All right."

Angel was the first to break the silence that had descended upon the hotel after Buffy, Spike and Lorne had gone into the office to talk privately. "We should probably get ready for Mrs. Post's return. She did say she would be back."

"And not alone, either," Cordelia added as she placed Conner in a basinet. "And if she's working with Wolfram and Hart, there's no telling just who that will be."

"These Wolfram and Hart people, they're bad?" Willow asked as Angel went to the weapons cabinet and handed her a crossbow.

"Evil, with a capitol E," Cordelia said poignantly.

"There's no telling what they might try next," Angel stated grimly.

"Well," Willow said with resolve, "after finding out my best friend has been yet again boinking the undead, and not suffering heart failure, I think I can handle anything anyone throws at me."

Suddenly, as if on cue the front doors to the hotel were blown wide open. Willows eyes widened as the movie set smoke cleared and she was once again faced with her leather wearing evil doppelganger.

"Oooh, these Wolfram and Hart guys are good," she gasped, turning to Angel.

~~~

Part 13 – by Lucifi

Gwendolyn followed shortly behind, smiling as if all of them were just going for a picnic. Both Willows were watching each other, one mesmerized by her leather clad alter ego, the other just smiling, playing games in her own mind.

"You know, I was thinking in that short period I was gone, that you people haven't had a vacation in a very long time. No rest for the good either, hmmm?"

"What are you up to?" Buffy moved forward, but stopped herself when Gwendolyn raised her one hand, glowing with blue light.

"Let's just say, that for all your good work, Wolfram and Hart have decided to give you all vacations. They think you need them as much as I do. So without further ado, here you go." With a cry of satisfaction, Mrs. Post let loose the ball of blue energy that had been building, aiming it at the floor beneath them all.

Spike moved to intercept the glowing orb, but it merely passed through him and onto the floor. Instantly, the floor warped and twisted and then there wasn't any floor there, just a great twisting flow of energy beneath Spike, Willow, Buffy, Angel, Cordelia and Lorne.

Willow felt the shifting and watched, as around her, the Hyperion seemed to melt away, colors washing out becoming faded and then gray. Soon, there was nothing around her but the spinning outlines of what was the hotel. She could make out blurred outlines around her and she could only hope that they were the others and whatever was happening, one of them had made it out.
She looked down at her hands and saw that while the rest of everything had become black, she was still color, though blurred and when she moved, images of where she had been stayed there for a second.

"Buffy!" The scream was louder than she expected, and more scared than she would like to admit. Her voice echoed around her, but no one answered. She wanted to scream again, when she looked at her hands and saw that they too were now slowly fading out. She was becoming hysterical when a hand touched hers. She turned and looked at the newcomer and was relieved to see it was Buffy. Buffy just nodded and they began to move around the darkness, Buffy in the lead.

Eventually they had everybody, faded as they were. No one spoke as the darkness continued around them, but Buffy pointed in front of them and they moved, as one form in that direction. Here, nothing was around them, no sound, no light, only them and even then, they seemed muted. Willow was still struggling to control her hysteria when she realized that around her things were starting to phase back into color. As they continued, the blackness around them began to lighten into a dark purple on the horizon.
She wanted to scream again when she watched as the purple became black again, but Buffy must have realized she was losing because she pointed upwards and Willow almost cried when she realized she was looking at stars. Wherever they were, the sun had simply set. As they continued to walk in the same direction, the ground became rocky and Willow could see sparse grass growing around. Eventually she could even make out the outline of trees. She knew they had arrived when she looked around and they were in a clearing and she could hear a stream not far in the distance.

"Well, now that you've arrived." Gwendolyn and the other Willow stood atop a small plateau above them.

"What is this? What have you done?" Buffy asked, stalking towards the two.

"Now now, killing me won't do you any good, because if I die, you'll never find your way back. Of course that's the point anyways. Were just here to make sure everyone has a little fun!" With a wave of her hand, a twist of smoke and both her and the other Willow were gone.

"Okay, we've places, we've seen things, but what in the Hell is that?" Cordelia was pointing at the creature coming towards them.

It shuffled towards them on short spidery legs with what looked to be a Venus Fly Trap attached. Long tentacles with flat barbed ends searched around it by slapping at the ground. It made mewling sounds that to Buffy sounded more like a stomach growling than anything else. It stopped a short distance from them, the tentacles going high into the air. A waft of green gas seemed to erupt up into the air and then a tentacle lashed out faster than anything Buffy had seen before knocked Angel onto the ground.

"Oh bleedin Jesus." Spike muttered, flinging himself away from the next strike.

Buffy was about to attack the thing when suddenly the air around it began to shimmer and with a crack that she felt deep inside, the thing was suddenly surrounded by ice. Parts of the tentacles that hadn't froze continued to flail, then the ice split and imploded, a thousand shards impaling the creature. It fell to the ground, broken and black ooze pouring from its gut.

"Wow." Was all Willow could say as she lowered her arm down, her hand still faintly glowing.

"When did you learn to do that?" Cordelia asked.

"I don't know. I just knew to make the gesture and that it would send out the spell. I think I might like this place though."

"Well as much as I would love to stand around and contemplate what and where we are, I suggest that we seek shelter in case there are more of those things." Lorne pointed towards what appeared to be a cave.

~~~
Part 14 –by Hoene

Well as much as I would love to stand around and contemplate what and where we are, I suggest that we seek shelter in case there are more of those things." Lorne pointed towards what appeared to be a cave.

"Ah... Wait just a sec."

Cordelia put her hand on Lorne's arm.

"How do we know that thing didn't come from in there? And all his friends are in there waiting for him to bring back take-out?"

Lorne stared at the cave mouth and hugged Cordelia's hand tight.

"Good point. How do we find out?"

Cordelia turned an impatient look at Spike.

"Well, who's got the night vision and predatorily hearing here? How about making yourself a little helpful for a change?"

Spike opened his eyes wide, sputtering and pointing first to himself, then to Angel.

"Me?!? Why me? He's a vampire too, you know? But nooo, let's send Spike in first, maybe we'll get rid of him once and for all!"

Angel stepped forward, customary frown on face and hands on hips.

"Yeah, why didn't you ask me?"

Cordelia rolled her eyes and made a desperate, shrugging gesture.

"Get over it, you two insufferable machos! Just go look, all right? Go hand in hand for all I care!"

She sighed and turned her back on them. Lorne smiled apologetically. The two vampires threw each other somber looks, and began moving towards the cave.

Cordelia turned back to face the rest of them. Willow was poking at the dead, quick-frozen thing that had begun to melt. Buffy was staring at Cordelia.

"Wow. Gotta hand it to you, Cordy! If you ever write a handbook, let me know."

Cordelia covered her face with her hands and turned to Lorne.

"Oh God, what are they gonna do to Conner? He's alone now!"

Lorne held her and patted her back.

"Sh, sh, it's gonna be okay, we'll find him again, don't worry... The most important thing now is to take care of ourselves, here. It won't help Conner if we get hurt."

Buffy nodded and looked around.

"Right you are. And we do need shelter. Before sunrise. Or our little charter party will be somewhat decimated. Knowing where we are might be quite helpful, too, though. Especially if we're gonna try and find a way out."

They all looked around. Their eyes had adjusted somewhat to the starlight, and apart from the rocky wall and cave behind them, they could make out the few trees they saw before. Not much else, though. An even, purplish night sky stretched over them, and they could make out the black line of the horizon all the way round, except for the rock wall. A comforting sound like crickets had started a while ago.

Cordelia looked at Lorne.

"You don't know where we are, do you? We're not in Pylea, are we? You didn't happen to recognize that giant... Bug, there, did you?"

Lorne frowned and looked to the messy thing.

"No. I didn't recognize it. But I'm not sure we should expect more of them. It seemed to me like it was a departing gift from that... charming acquaintance of yours. That's not to say that she couldn't have more entertainment in wait for us. But honestly, we could be anywhere. We could be in the middle of Nevada!"

They only heard Angel's running footsteps as he came right up to them. He looked nonplussed. Buffy stared past him and stepped forward.

"What happened to Spike?"

For a moment Angel looked like she'd been speaking Russian.

"Oh. Spike. Nothing. Nothing wrong. Erm... I think you should come and look."

He turned around and marched off. The others exchanged glances and slowly followed. He stopped at the entrance to the cave and waved impatiently for them to follow. Before they all entered, he put a finger to his lips, motioning them to be silent.

Carefully they tiptoed inside. They found themselves in more of a tunnel than a cave. They could tell, because from somewhere ahead and around a bend, a faint, reddish light shone. When they turned the bend, they all stopped.

On the floor of the cave, a fire had burned down. The glowing embers were what gave off the light. The rough and uneven surface of the cave walls seemed even harsher in black and red contrast. A black silhouette against the light, Spike stood still, staring down at a huddled bundle of what at first looked like thick fur.

Buffy let out a gasp. Then Willow grabbed her arm.

"Isn't that...?"

A pair of bright, black eyes lit up in the middle of the fur-pile. In one quick move, the lithe creature jumped up. Everybody started as the First Slayer pressed up against the wall, brandishing her crude stake and staring warily at each in turn.

~~~

Part 15 – by Kes

Mrs. Post gazed down into the picture reflected in her huge cauldron, which she had installed in the lobby of the Hyperion hotel. Evil Willow lounged rather sulkily in a shabby armchair across from her, rocking Conner's bassinet with one foot, and stropping a knife absently on her leather sleeve.

"Double, double toil and trouble; Fire burn, and cauldron bubble." Mrs. Post said complacently. She dropped something unpleasant into the cauldron, which seethed and hissed. "Fillet of a fenny snake, in the cauldron boil and bake," she murmured.

"Ooh!" said Evil Willow, suddenly interested. "Did you throw a snake in? Was it alive?" She peered in, hoping to see the snake writhing.

Mrs. Post rolled her eyes. "This spell doesn't actually require a snake," she said reprovingly, "I was just making a literary reference." Evil Willow flopped back, bored again. "I wonder how long it will take them to work it out?" Mrs. Post mused.

"Can't we just skip the suspense, and get down to torturing them, already?" Evil Willow said. She looked wistfully into the distance. "I'm real creative with matches."

Mrs. Post frowned. "Let's subject them to some more stress first", she said reprovingly, "tire them out a bit, present them with a series of unpleasant revelations, try to sow some dissent. There is an approved procedure for this sort of thing, you know." She tapped the book beside her meaningfully, "'An Introduction to Evil Machinations and Spells'. It's an excellent work of reference."

"Well, can I at least make a start on the baby?" said Evil Willow, pointing with her whetted knife towards the bassinet. "He looks very sweet and juicy - and I'm getting peckish."

"Not yet," said Mrs. Post absently, "I have plans for him."

Evil Willow sighed.

***

Everyone looked at each other, thoroughly amazed. "It's the First Slayer!" said Buffy. "How can she be here? She's been dead since forever - or nearly forever, anyway."

"Ah, who is the First Slayer?" said Angel uncertainly.

"This is the First Slayer, said Willow impatiently. "The first in the line that leads down to Buffy," she coughed into her fist, "and Faith."

"Well, thank heavens the Slayers discovered hair care somewhere down the generations," said Cordelia. "That gal needs a major intervention at the nearest department store."

The First Slayer swung round to face each person in turn as they spoke, gripping her stake. At Cordelia's words she frowned, and took an aggressive step forward, brandishing her stake.

"But the make up job is way cool," said Cordelia, hastily retreating behind Lorne, "really brings out your eyes and cheekbones."

The Slayer relaxed, and turned her attention back to Buffy. She stepped up to the motionless Slayer and look a long considering sniff of her hair.

"Geez," said Cordelia under her breath, "some people just can't take a bit of constructive criticism."

"Actually," said Lorne, watching the First Slayer's movements warily, "I doubt she understands the words, Cordelia. She's probably picking up on tone. You tend to be pretty emphatic on those presentational issues, ya know."

"It's not a crime to care," said Cordelia virtuously. She patted her blonde highlights.

The First Slayer sneezed, "Atchoo!" and wrinkled her nose accusingly at Buffy, and thumped her hard in the arm. Buffy flinched, but remained still.

"I've told Buffy time and again she overdoes the hairspray," said Cordelia.

The First Slayer moved on to Willow. She sniffed her hair, and then bent down to sniff her armpit.

"Eew!" said Cordelia.

Willow tensed, and looked around at her companions. The First Slayer moved around to her other armpit. "If she starts sniffing any lower, I'm gonna have to remind her about Miss Manners," Willow said nervously.

The First Slayer straightened up again and patted Willow's arm gently. Willow relaxed. "Seems at least someone passes the smell test," she said smugly. Suddenly the First Slayer darted forward and licked her, a long wet lick from chin to cheekbone.

"Aargh!" screamed Willow, and a spontaneous spark of nervous witchy energy crackled around, lighting up the cave like a lightning flash. Everyone threw their hands in front of their eyes. There was a growl in the darkness, a faint rustling, then a thump, and a little girly scream from someone, abruptly cut off.

"Sorry guys," came Willow's voice in the darkness, "I just wasn't expecting the tongue bath." A little ball of silver light materialized above them in the cave.

The party all gazed at each other in the unearthly glow. Willow stood with her hand to her cheek, Cordelia and Lorne were clutched in each other's arms, and Spike and Angel both crouched, transformed into game face. Buffy stood, with a rock in one hand, half raised. "Well, Rats!" she said. The First Slayer was gone.

"Who screamed?" said Cordelia.

"I assumed that was you," said Angel. Cordelia frowned and tapped her foot. "Erm, I mean, I assumed it was one of you ladies," he said quickly. "It sounded female." Cordelia, Buffy, and Willow looked at him hard. "Could have been a guy, of course," he said nervously, trying out a goofy little grin.

"What does it matter who it was?" said Spike. He eyes shifted to the left, then back again. "Could have been any of us - running into a Slayer in a blaze of white lightning could give anyone a shock. Anyway, she's gone now, and we still know sod all."

"Ah," said Buffy, "actually, I think we do know a little more." There was a strange note in her voice. She looked up at Willow. "Could you move the light just a little to the back, please?" she said. Willow complied, throwing the back wall of the cave into sharp relief. They all crowded round. Hung across the wall was a silky sash. In gold letters surrounded by little sparkles, were the words:

Buffy Anne Summers, Sunnydale High Homecoming Queen 1998

"But you weren't the Sunnydale High homecoming queen in 1998," said Cordelia, completely flummoxed. "In your dreams, Buffy!"

"Yeah, exactly," said Buffy, sitting down on a rock and contemplating her hands. "That's just it - we're in my dreams. And considering the kind of dreams I've had recently, things could get very nasty indeed."

~~~

Part 16 – by Beamer

Willow stood watching her best friend starring at her hands, "We're in your dreams?"

Buffy nodded, unable, or unwilling to look up from her hands.

Turning back to the homecoming sash on the wall, Willow considered their situation. Being trapped in a slayer's dreams probably wasn't the best thing, considering all she knew about Buffy's dreams. But it wasn't the actual dreams, it was more like a dreamscape and they were being shown avatars of Buffy's dreams; solid three dimensional projections.

"Did you hear that?" She heard Spike ask, breaking her thoughts

"Hear what?" Willow asked casually, trying to pick up on what Spike thought he heard.

"There it goes again," Spike said. "Angel?"

"I heard it," Angel replied stoically.

"I think you guys are having some weird audio hallucination," Cordelia remarked. "Because I don't hear anything."

"Cordy, their vampires," Buffy stated, dropping her head into her hands.

"Wow Buffy, thanks for pointing that out, because I never would have guessed it."

"Cordykins, she means they have extra sensitive hearing," Lorne pointed out. "They can hear things we can't"

"If that's what she meant she should have said it," Cordelia snarked.

Willow shook her head at Cordelia's lack of tact as the group was plunged back into silence. She wondered what the vampires had heard; figuring it probably wasn't anything dangerous, because they didn't seem to be on the defensive. Maybe it was just crickets in the distance.

"It was louder this time," Angel said. "It's getting closer."

Willow was about to open her mouth and ask what it was that was closing in on them when she heard it. Faint to her ears, but totally unmistakable.

"No," she mumbled. "Please no."

"Willow?" Buffy asked quietly.

Willow shook her head. She closed her eyes tightly, freezing with fear as she heard it again, closer.

Ribbit

It's only one, she thought.  I can handle this. One little frog. Kermit. I can deal with Kermit. Kermit's not…

Ribbit

Okay, Willow thought, swallowing hard.  Two frogs, Kermit and his nephew… what was his name… R… something.

Ribbit

Energy crackled through the cave as Willow cast out her hands, bathing it in light. Willow let out a shrill scream.

Small green frogs surrounded them.

Spike burst out laughing as Willow jumped into his arms, burying her head in his neck.

"Frogs," she whimpered.

"Bloody hell, who ever heard of witch that was afraid of frogs?" he chuckled. Willow whimpered softly into his neck.

"Hey!" Cordelia exclaimed as she gingerly stepped over a frog that was hopping passed her. "I don't think these are just Buffy's dreams."

"What makes you say that?" Angel asked.

"Because…" Cordelia started as she grabbed something out of a niche in the wall. "This has my name on it. And I really doubt that Buffy would dream about me winning an Emmy for best actress in a comedy." she grinned from ear to ear clutching the gold statuette closely to her.

"Cordelia has a point," Lorne stated, pointing to the platinum albums lining the cavern walls behind Buffy.

"So we're in some kind of dreamscape containing all of our dreams?" Angel asked.

"Or nightmares," Willow mumbled, her face still buried in Spike's neck. She continued to shudder with fear each time a frog would croak.

Buffy lifted her head from her hands, as a frog hopped into her lap and croaked at her. "Maybe we should go check out the rest of the cave, it looks like it goes pretty deep."

"You sure that's safe?" Lorne asked her. "I'm just saying I've seen your destiny. I know what you dream about Kiddo, and it's not all homecoming queen sashes and gold statuettes."

"I'm not sure of anything," Buffy stated, swatting at the frog in her lap, "But if we don't go looking, how will we ever find a way home?"

"Well, if we plan on walking anywhere, I think Red here needs to do something to get rid of these hoppers," Spike suggested.

"Me?" she croaked.

"You are the witch," he reminded her, "and it was you that got rid of that first slayer bird."

Willow nodded, swallowing hard as Spike put her down in a clear spot on the ground.

"Here goes nothing," she uttered, cringing as a frog hopped and landed on her foot. "Rana dilabor."

Once again the air became heavy with electricity and with a brilliant flash the frogs were gone.

Willow released a heavy sigh of relief, and looked sideways at Spike. "Uh, thanks."

"For what?" Spike asked inquisitively, head titled to the side.

"You know. The arms. The frogs. For not laughing too hard," Willow blushed. "And Sorry about earlier at the hotel. For trying to kill you and stuff."

"Piffle. What's a little attempted murder between friends?" He smiled.

Willow smiled back, knowing it was the closest thing to an apology she would ever get for the broken bottle and the little dorm room stunt.

Spike turned his attention to the slayer, holding out his hand and pulling her up from the rock, "Shall we go check out the rest of the cave?"

Angel watched curiously as Buffy nodded at the blonde vampire, noticing the way she gave his hand a gentle squeeze and stroked his palm with her thumb, the way her eyes seemed to smile as she gazed at Spike; the way they used to smile when she'd gaze at him, once upon a time when they had been in love.

"They make such an oddly handsome pair," Lorne said the Angel as they watched the lover's walking away hand in hand, seemingly unaware that they had an audience.

"I'm going to follow them," Cordelia announced, still firmly clutching her dream Emmy to her breast. "I don't trust them alone any father than I could throw Xander."

"Wow, Buffy and Spike." Willow mumbled as she and Cordelia headed off in the same direction as the two blondes. "How the hell did I miss that one?"

"She's in love with him, isn't she?" Angel asked Lorne.

"She's well on her way," Lorne sighed.

"Does he love her?"

"It's pretty evident isn't it? Does a man who is not in love pull the stupid stunts he's pulled?"

"You know what I mean Lorne. He sang for you didn't he?"

"He got out a few bars before we were revisited by the ghost of Watcher's past."

"And?"

"Oh come now Angelhair, it wouldn't be right for me to tell you what I saw when I haven't had a chance to tell him."

Angel looked down dejectedly. While he was no longer in love with Buffy, he still loved her, and wanted her to be happy. Not in a million years would he have imagined Spike making her happy without having to become a big pile of dust at her feet first, "Just tell me, was what you saw good for Buffy?"

"Very much so."

Angel dropped his shoulders and gave a slight nod.

"Spike, what's a poet laureate?" Angel heard Buffy ask off in the distance.

"Uh, nothing important pet, doesn't apply to us." Was Spike's reply.

Angel chuckled. "We better catch up, I think they just found Spike's dream."

Lorne followed Angel. As they caught up with the rest of the group he wondered if he done the right thing by lying to Angel. He could have told Angel what he'd seen when Spike had sung, it's not like there were any rules about confidentiality he had to follow, but the truth of the matter was Lorne had no idea how to tell Angel that Wesley's little prophecy about the souled vampire wasn't about him at all. There were great things in Spike's future, great things indeed.

~~~

Part 17 – by Lucifi

They continued on down the caverns, Willow touching a rock here and there to light their way. Nobody spoke for the most part, all of them trying to take in the fact that they had been taken from their world and into some dreamland in which both their greatest dreams and their worst nightmares were possible.

"I've a thought." Spike stopped the group and looked at Buffy.

"Okay." Was all she said.

"Kick something." He told her, pointing to a stalagmite off to the side. "Now, normally, you would be able to kick that and maybe get some pebbles to come off. Kick it for me?"

She considered his words and realized what he was trying to say. If Willow's power had multiplied when she came to this world, what of the others would be as powerful? It was true what Spike had said as well. Normally, if she kicked something as solid as the stalagmite, she might get some stones to bust off, but not really any hard core damage. She lifted her leg and thrust out her foot as hard as she could at the stone. The kick was devastating and the stalagmite shattered like it might have only been glass.

"Whoa." Was all Cordelia could say as the others just stood there, awed.

"Okay, who's next?" Spike asked.

"Well, if Willow's magic is more powerful and Buffy's strength is tenfold, what about Angel and you?" Cordelia asked.

"I don't know. I don't feel any different. Maybe…" And Angel was gone, a bluish mist floated where he stood. It began to move around, twisting in and out of the others' legs, obviously aware and controlled. Angel solidified again next to Cordelia and checked himself.

"What about you Spike? Can you do that?" Buffy asked him. Suddenly he was no longer in front of her, but behind her.

"Oh my, you just teleported!" Willow said in excitement. He looked at her and then was gone, to be standing behind her only a second later.

"Okay, your turn Cordelia, maybe your visions are stronger, maybe you can control them?" Angel turned towards her with a hopeful smile.

She didn't say anything, but concentrated on her visions, taking herself within herself, feeling the rest of them melt away and there was nothing there but her. She felt it then; a distant tug and she opened her eyes to find herself inside the vision. Everything was frozen around her, but she was there inside a vision of a man being attacked by what looked like one of the plant things that had they had already defeated. She reached out to touch the man and her hand went through the figure. She concentrated again and found herself back with the others.

"Well that answers that." Lorne said.

"I didn't even tell you anything yet. Did you see it?"

"Yeah, we couldn't interact with you, I think because it was your vision, but we saw it." Willow offered.

"Okay Lorne, sing." Angel had a smirk on his face. He had a feeling that Lorne's singing was going to be quite something.

Lorne began to sing and the others felt it at once, he felt it. Somehow, through his voice, he was empowering the group; his voice was giving strength to them. He changed the tune and began to sing something angry. Immediately they began to look sick and Angel and Spike flipped back and forth from vampire to human. He stopped.

"Well, now that we all now what are superpowers are can the Justice League continue on? We needed to know this, but it isn't really getting us anywhere." Buffy began to move forward again. She felt uncomfortable about their strengths. She didn't want to bring up the fact that since their powers had grown, maybe so would their weaknesses. They would just have to wait and see.

They continued on for another hour before they reached an intersection. One branch headed forward, while two others headed off to the right. They stood there; trying to decided which way to go.

~~~

Part 18 – by Hoene

They continued on for another hour before they reached an intersection. One branch headed forward, while two others headed off to the right. They stood there; trying to decided which way to go.

Willow threw a couple of light balls down each direction. Nothing but more tunnel showed.

"I don't think this is leading anywhere."

Buffy swept her hair out of her eyes and looked impatiently around. Everybody's' nerves were wearing thin after an hour of trudging through the darkness, and the prospect of trailing back wasn't exactly thrilling. Everybody's' eyes were turned on Buffy. Suddenly the weight of all that expectation felt like a suit of armor, about 4 sizes too small.

"Why is it always me who has to come up with the plans?!? This is my dream, too, you know! But I guess the Slayer's duty always comes first! Not even in my dreams can I get some qualified assistance!"

Everybody looked down, except for Spike.

"Hey sugarlips, if yours truly isn't wanted here anyway, you could have said so back in Sunnyhell..."

Buffy's glare silenced him.

"None of us would be here if it weren't for you, Spike. I would never have had to go to LA if it wasn't - for - YOU! "

Spike stared back with an unreadable expression.

"I know I had my own plans for this trip, plans that I'm not exactly going to boast about. But why you came down here, I still have no idea, and if you imply that I'm responsible for that, well, surprise, it was your choice, and you chose to ask me along without telling me anything."

The glaring contest was interrupted by Lorne, shuffling his feet and coughing politely.

"I was wondering... If Cordelia is able to control her visions, couldn't she possibly see our way out of this?"

Cordelia had wrapped her arms around herself, and at some point Angel had wrapped his around her too. They looked at each other.

"I guess so. Maybe. I guess it's worth a try?"

Cordelia stepped away from Angel, took a deep breath and closed her eyes.

The others watched silently, as a view of the hall of the Hyperion began to take shape around Cordelia. They could see Mrs. Post and Vamp Willow, fiddling around with something hazy. Cordelia gasped.

"They can see us! They've been spying on us all along! Angel, make a mist! Cloak us!"

Angel looked apologetically round at the others, then misted and enveloped all. The sensation was weird. Spike jumped.

"Hey! Don't get too close, you...!"

Lorne was giggling.

"Ha! It worked! They can't see us now! I don't think they can hear us either."

Cordelia clapped her hands and laughed for a moment. Then she abruptly stopped.

"We're trapped in her dream spell. There's no real way out. And if we get out, we'll fall directly into her arms. Willow, do you see it?"

Willow had watched the scene intently, and her eyes glowed with excitement.

"Yes. Yes, I do see. Listen everybody..."

* * *
"What happened?!? Where did they go? What are they up to? Arrgh! I'm so mad I could put my foot through the floor!"

Gwendolyn Post pulled at her hair while staring into the cauldron that showed nothing but bluish mist. Evil Willow slouched in the office chair, showing all signs of boredom.

"That's what you get from keeping your candy. And I didn't even get a taste! I'm not gonna wait any longer with the snack here. He'll begin to smell soon, anyhow."

The black clad vampiress got up and made a move toward Conner.

"Don't you touch him! He's all we've got now! Oh no - "

She opened up her eyes wide and froze.

"They're reversing my magic! How can they do that? That would take incredible power - "

In a huge blast of crackling energy, a cloud of blue mist materialized in the hall. From it's depths, a few last words in Willow's chanting voice rang out. Then Cordelia's voice sounded.

"NOW! GO!"

Evil Willow turned to Mrs. Post with a confused look on her pale face. She held out her hands, which seemed to be fading.

"What's happening?!"

The witch looked at the vampire with a hand clutched at her throat. She was rather desperate. Her voice was a hoarse whisper.

"They took the dreamspell with them. So any dreams here will be reversed - negated - oh I think you know what I mean. Goodbye."

As Evil Willow turned into nothing with one last piercing scream, Mrs. Post didn't even notice how Spike silently turned up behind her. She was about to head for Conner, as the vampire grabbed her, and her magic started to crackle around them as he yelled out:

"SING, BLOODY HELL, SING BEFORE SHE FRIES ME!!"

A voice rang out. A voice that made you think of warm arms holding you, strong arms to protect you and soothe you all night and keep watch that no monsters would come for you.

"Nu tændes der stjerner på himlens blå, halvmånen løfter sin sabel..."

The witch collapsed in Spike's arms. A smile was playing around her lips, and she was sound asleep. He lifted her up and carried her to the chair. After putting her down, he yelled again:

"WILLOW! CAN YOU DO THAT BINDING SPELL NOW?"

Willow appeared from the blue cloud.

"YES! AND I THINK I BETTER DO IT FAST! I FEEL THE POWER FADING!"

Quickly she cast a binding spell on the sleeping witch and sighed. Spike yelled:

"IT'S OKAY NOW! YOU CAN STOP SINGING! AND QUIT FLOATING AROUND MY LEGS, DAMMIT!"

The singing stopped. The blue mist materialized next to Spike, and suddenly all six of them were visible again. Cordelia ran to Conner and picked him up, unwrapping him in a rather ungentle manner to be sure nothing had happened to him. The boy slept as sweetly as the witch. Everybody started picking little wads of cloth out of their ears. Buffy stared gloomily at the floor. Spike looked curiously at Lorne.

"That worked great! Hey! I was in a plan that worked!"

His face lit up like sunshine and he looked extremely silly trying to frown at the same time.

"Er... What was that song? It was amazing how it worked! It almost got me too, despite the earplugs!"

"Oh, that..."

Lorne looked bashful and pleased.

"That was just a Danish lullaby I picked up when I was an au pair back in my youth..."

"Willow!"

Spike turned to the witch with a worried look.

"What now? Can you remove the dreamspell from here, so we all get back to normal?"

Willow turned to him and smiled.

"Oh, that's no problem. The dreaminess will fade soon. It already is. There was just a bit that leaked into the real world when we slipped from dream to reality. It'll dissipate."

Cordelia had now convinced herself that Conner was indeed exactly as he was when she'd been torn from him. After making sure that he was indeed in one piece, too, Angel strode over to them and threw his arms around the two. Cordelia leaned into him, and everybody looked as the vampire planted a soft kiss on top of her head. Suddenly he wiped at his eyes frantically, and realized the others were looking.

"It's - it's just the mist! It got in my eyes!"

Spike turned his head away with a murmur:

"Yeah, you would get in your own eyes, wouldn't you?"

Finally, all turned to Buffy. She put up a sour smile. Spike smiled cautiously back.

"Oh... you were great too. We couldn't have done it without you. If you hadn't torn up your 'Homecoming Queen' banner for earplugs, we couldn't..."

The look on her face stopped him. For a moment there was silence. Then everybody cracked up. For a while, Buffy tried to stay somber, but then a smile started to play around her lips too. Spike was the first to recover. He went over to Buffy and looked her in the eyes. None of them were smiling now.

"Buffy... I suppose I wanted an explanation earlier. But I don't know. You make your own rules and you don't even realize it. I'm not sure you could give me an explanation even if you wanted to. But more than that, I'm not sure it matters to me anymore. I'm tired..."

~~~
Part 19 – by Pepperlandgirl

Buffy froze, the blood draining from her face. Her legs felt numb. Her knees buckled. For one awful moment she thought she was going to faint. Watch it, Summers. Slayers don't faint. She took a deep breath to steady herself and took a step back from Spike.

"Uh, can you guys excuse me…. I need to…. I'll be….just…." Buffy hurried upstairs to her temporary bedroom. Everybody looked at each other, uncertain of what to say or do next. Spike's mind was racing, but his face remained calm.

"Do you have anymore blood?" He finally asked. Angel nodded and stepped away from Cordelia.

"Yeah, I'll go heat it up."

"Don't bother," Spike said, following him. "I can do it myself."

Angel ignored him and continued into the kitchen. "What's going on William?"

"Why are you asking me, Liam?"

"Were you really trying to kill me with those stupid tricks?"

"Well, yeah."

"That's not what I expect from you Spike. I thought you were more of a fists and fangs kind of guy."

Spike shrugged, "What was I supposed to do? Take you on in the middle of the lobby, surrounded by the people who love you---people who are well armed with axes and stakes? Well armed people I can't defend myself against?"

Angel put two mugs of blood in the microwave. "That thing you said to Buffy earlier…."

"What thing?"

"About not wanting to hear her explanation, about being tired…..it's not like you to give up, Spike."

"You haven't been through the same shit I have, Peaches. You'd be tired too. At least Dru was straight forward in her own, crazy way. I'm not big on the games."

It occurred to Spike that it was a bit ridiculous to be having this conversation with Angel, but what did it matter anymore? He wasn't lying when he told Buffy he was tired, and he didn't expect this little story to have a happy ending.

"Look, I know you sang for Lorne, but you probably didn't have time to talk about it. After you hear what he has to say, then you can decide what to do about Buffy."

Spike studied the warm blood. All of a sudden, he wasn't very hungry anymore.

"I hate you," Spike said, without looking up.

"I know."

Spike sauntered into the lobby, leaving his untouched of blood congealing on the counter. "Oi, Kermit! What did you see when I sang?

"Should I go get Buffy?" Willow asked.

"Yeah, we'll wait for her," Angel said.

Willow hurried up the stairs, and paused outside her door. She could clearly hear Buffy crying, but they were very reserved tears, almost silent. She gently pushed the door open, and saw Buffy stretched out on the unmade bed, her face buried in a pillow.

"Buffy? Honey, what's wrong?"

"I'm stupid."

"No you aren't. Why are you stupid?"

"I am stupid. I did this."

"What?"

"If I had just told Spike what was going on, none of this would have happened. And now he's going to leave, like everybody else."

Willow sat down beside her, "You don't want him to leave?"

Buffy shook her head, miserably. "No."

"Why not?"

Buffy pressed her face against the pillow tightly. "I don't know."

"Sit up Buffy and talk to me."

Buffy complied, and rested her head on Willow's shoulder. Good old Willow.

"Why don't you want him to go?"

"Because I….."

"Is it just about the sex?"

"No."

"Then what?"

"I….I think I love him," she finally whispered.

Willow took a moment to let the news sink in. This was the craziest thing she had ever heard, and in Sunnydale, she's heard and seen some pretty messed up shit. But this took the cake, on so many levels. Willow looked at her long time friend, but not for long. It was still hard to look at Buffy in the face since she had admitted she was in heaven. Did she really have the right to offer Buffy anything other than unconditional love and support?

"Buffy, go downstairs. Lorne is going to tell us what he saw."

Buffy offered the witch a watery smile, "I can't go down looking like this."

"Then let's go watch your face."

Five minutes later, Buffy came downstairs, all evidence of tears washed away. Her eyes were immediately drawn to Spike, sprawled out on the chair, a scowl on his face.

"Bout bloody time," Spike muttered. "Ok, let's get this thing over with. What did you see?"

"Well…."

"What?" Buffy asked, impatient.

"Tell him about your dream, Buffy," Angel encouraged, seeing Buffy was getting ready to take a swing. "It might help if we have all the pieces put together."

"I dreamt that me and Spike were in a church. He took his duster off and handed it to me. I told him I didn't want it, he said he didn't need to wear the skins of his victims anymore. He asked me for my cross…. It was the one that Angel gave me. I took it off and handed it to him. He put it on, but it didn't burn him. He told me that he didn't need to be afraid anymore. I asked him why not, and he told me that he had found the spark. That's when I woke up." Buffy paused and looked at Spike, whose face was carefully guarded. "It was a Slayer dream—I've had enough to know the difference. That's why I came here."

"Wait, why would you need Angel's help?" Cordy asked.

"The Spark is a soul," Willow said softly, her eyes wide.

Spike jumped up, "No, no it's not. I don't have a bloody soul and I don't want one. One poofy, brooding vampire is enough for the world, thank you very much."

"You don't understand," Lorne said.

"Well, explain it to me."

"Yeah, what did you see?" Angel asked.

"Do you mind if they hear it?"

"No."

Lorne sighed, "You already have one."

Spike blinked. "What?"

Lorne shrugged, "Souls are tricky things. Some demons never lose theirs. Some get them back somehow. Maybe they are cursed, or they earn them. Not all demons are alike, or even vampires."

"What? Vampires have souls?" Both Angel and Buffy looked positively sick.

Lorne shrugged, "Maybe. I haven't met every vampire in the world. All I know is that Spike didn't lose his completely, and in the past few years it has had a chance to grow, especially because he's in love."

"What else?"

"Spike, your journey isn't complete. If you continue on this path, you will eventually become Human."

Spike blinked again, then turned on his heel, and calmly walked out the door.

Willow nudged Buffy, "Go after him."

He was already down the block when Buffy left the hotel. "Spike!"

Spike stopped, like she knew he would. Her heart constricted, he really was her willing slave. She toyed with the idea of telling him to spin around like a ballerina, just to see if he would. But now wasn't the time for that.

She ran to catch up with him, "Where are you going?"

"Away."

"What? Why?"

"I don't want to be a human. And I don't want to play these games with you anymore. I wasn't lying when I said I was tired, Slayer."

"Spike, don't go."

"Why not? Am I finally worthy of you? Not a "soulless thing" anymore, so you can pretend to like me? Maybe even treat me with some respect? It's a little late for that, Slayer."

"Because I...."

"You what?"

"I need your help with slaying."

"No you don't, Slayer. You're the best ever you don't need my help. But please, try again."

"Spike, this is hard."

"Life is hard, Buffy."

"I'm...." Buffy took a deep breath. Why was she having such a hard time of this? The words were right on the tip of her tongue, but she couldn't force them out of her mouth. She looked at Spike's face and her heart sunk. If she didn't spit it out fast, he would leave. "I'm scared."

"Scared of what? Me? You know I'd never hurt you Buffy, ever."

"I know, but I'm still scared. I..." she took a deep breath then said as quickly as possible, "Iloveyou."

Spike stared at her for several seconds. "What, is this a new version of Kick-the-Spike I didn't know about? Is it the bonus round?"

"Ok, maybe I deserved that, but I do love you."

Spike wanted to say something like Right, that's why you think about Angel when you fuck me. Because you are so in love with me. But she looked so vulnerable, so open, that he didn't have the heart to be angry with her anymore.

"Spike…are you going to say anything?"

Spike took an unnecessary breath and wished he had a cigarette. "Truth is, Slayer, I'm scared too. What if you change the rules tomorrow, and decide you don't really love me?"

She grabbed Spike's hand and dragged him down the sidewalk. "What are you doing?" He asked.

"I'm proving it to you."

Buffy flung the hotel's door open and marched into the lobby, Spike in her wake. "Everybody, I Buffy Anne Summers the Slayer, of sound mind and body, do declare that I am completely in love with one Spike, William the Bloody. And I fell in love with him before I found out about the soul." She looked at Spike smugly. "See?"

Lorne smiled widely, "Ah, so you figured it out. Congratulations! This calls for a celebration!"

Spike pulled Buffy close to him, "You really do?"

"I really do."

"No more games?"

"No more games."

"You'll tell everybody when we get home?"

"I'll tell everybody when we get home."

"Even the Watcher?"

"Even the Watcher?"

"And you won't shut me out?"

"I won't shut you out. But Spike, no more trying to kill my ex-boyfriends."

"What if Captain Cardboard comes back to town?"

"Spike, I mean it."

He raised his hands in surrender, "Ok, I promise. I won't kill him. Maybe I'll just maim him." Spike paused, "I still don't want to be a soddin' human."

"We'll cross that bridge when we come to it."

"I love you.... even it means I have to be all soul having and broody."

Buffy smiled and pulled Spike's head towards her for a kiss. A very long, thorough kiss that made her completely forget everything and everybody except the chipped, semi-souled, slightly homicidal, bleached blonde vampire holding her gently in his arms.

Love's a funny thing.

The End.