CHAPTER TEN – DREAMS

"Faith," Buffy said.

"That's right." She smiled. "What, aren't you glad to see me? Hey." She nodded to Xander, Willow and Dawn. Then she looked at Zoey. "Who's this?"

"This is Zoey," Buffy explained, "She's, um… She's a long story. But, anyway, what are you doing here?"

"It's an apocalypse. You didn't think I'd miss it, did you? I put my vacation on hold to come here."

"Vacation?" asked Buffy.

"I went to see the world." She grabbed a pack of cigarettes and a lighter out of her pocket. "So. Let me guess: You already know who the Big Bad is this time."

"Actually, we don't," said Willow.

xxxxx

"Whoa. I am not some stupid TV show character. Seriously, you gotta be kidding me."

Faith was leaning back on a chair at Angel's place, her feet on the table, and a cigarette in her hand.

"Well, it's true." Xander said. "And she knows all about us. It's creepy sometimes."

"That is creepy," Faith agreed, looking at Zoey suspiciously.

Zoey didn't really listen to their conversation. She just thought of the dream she'd had the night before. She hadn't really thought of Faith that much during the time she'd already been in this dimension, and then, all of a sudden…

Normally, Zoey would think: It's not possible. This dream couldn't be prophetic or something. But in this world, it was different. She knew everything was possible, even stuff like raising the dead.

"Uh, guys," she said, "I'm really gonna go to bed now. It's been a long day."

Willow looked at her worriedly. "Is everything OK? You look kind of… exhausted."

"I do?" Zoey asked. "Well, I guess I am. I'm gonna go upstairs. Nice… meeting you, Faith. You know, in real life."

Zoey went up to her room. Willow followed her.

"What is it?"

"Are you ill or something?" asked Willow.

"What? No." She shook her head. "Why would you say that? Look, I really didn't wanna spend all you guys' money on make-up. It's probably just my face…"

"That's ridiculous. It's not your face." Willow stepped a little closer. "Something's wrong… or different. I can feel it. Are you sure you're not sick?"

"Well… not really. I mean, I coughed today. Once."

She shook her head. "You're going through some sort of change."

"Change," Zoey repeated. "What do you mean?"

"I don't know. Maybe you're right, you… you should sleep."

"Right," Zoey said, a little confused. "See you tomorrow."

xxxxx

People. Lots of them. They were riding a truck. Only three of them were sitting in it, the others were sitting on the roof of the truck, yelling, laughing, pointing guns at the frightened people on the street. Zoey could hear gunshots that were fired into the air. Suddenly, the truck stopped and the people jumped down from the roof and started shooting random people.

Zoey gasped when she woke up from the dream. Her heart was beating fast, again. She was breathing so hard she thought she was about to pass out. She held her breath for a moment, then she exhaled and slowly calmed down.

Her legs were shaking and she found it hard to stand on them, let alone walk on them. She grabbed hold of the doorknob so she wouldn't fall. Zoey slowly turned around to look at the clock. It was 3 o'clock in the morning.

She sighed and sat down on the floor. It was like the more sleep she got, the more exhausted she became. And there was nothing she could do about it.

She rubbed her eyes, stumbled to her bedside table and emptied a glass of water. She was beyond tired, but she didn't want to fall asleep again. Not if it meant that it would exhaust her and that she would wake up having panic attacks.

xxxxx

"So tell me again why we're doing this," Xander said, trying to keep up with Buffy. A whole day had passed during which Zoey had tried resting without actually sleeping. Now the sun had gone down and Buffy had a plan to get at least a little closer to the Buffyverse's threat.

"Well," she said, "When I was out on patrol the last few nights, I found a spot where a lot of vampires and demons hang out."

"Great," he said, getting a stitch. "Why do we have to come along again?"

"We" meaning Xander himself, Willow and Zoey.

"Because I need a witch, ergo Willow, and you and Zoey wanted to come along. Remember, Xander? You said: 'Oh, come on, Buffy! You can't exclude me like this. Besides –'"

"Alright, alright," he gasped. "Why do you need Willow again?"

"Because there must be a reason that that's exactly where their spot is and not somewhere else. I was hoping she could… sense something. I'm getting a feeling there's some kind of… source there. I don't know, maybe it's ridiculous, but we don't really have any other clues."

After a lot of walking, Buffy suddenly stopped. Zoey looked around and to her surprise, they were standing right in front of the invisible alley. But it wasn't the entrance from the main street. It was the other side. Zoey looked into it. She saw Spike, but he wasn't looking at them. He was breaking a bottle. God, that guy must be so bored!, she thought.

Then suddenly she realized that Willow was looking right into the alley as well. Oh God. Could she see it?

"Whatcha looking at there, Will?" she asked as casually as possible.

"Nothing," she said, "I – I mean, I'm not sure. There's something there."

But before she could continue, they heard noises. It was a truck coming towards them. And to Zoey's horror, she had seen this scenario before.

It was them. The people on the roof of the truck, the ones with the guns.

"You – you gotta stop them," she quickly said to Buffy, "They're gonna kill everyone!"

"What?" Buffy asked confusedly. "How –"

"Now! I'll explain later."

Buffy ran towards the truck, and as some of the people were getting off of it and started firing, Buffy punched some and knocked them unconscious.

Zoey looked into the alley and saw that Spike stood almost right next to her. He had obviously heard the noise and had come to see what was going on.

"What are you all doing here?" he asked, not looking at her. He was looking at Buffy and Zoey saw the most loving expression on his face.

"We're, uh…"

"She looks good." Spike smiled. "I haven't seen her since –"

"Yeah, that's great. Listen, are those the guys that are after you?"

"Who are you talking to?" Suddenly Willow appeared next to her.

"What?" Zoey asked.

"You were talking to someone." She furrowed her brow. "You said: 'Are those the guys that are after you?'"

"Did I?" Zoey asked sanctimoniously. "You know, I sometimes say weird stuff and…" She knew Willow wasn't buying it. "Alright." She gave up. "I'll tell you. Later. As soon as Buffy's done with those guys."

"No, you can't tell her!" Spike said.

"Yes, I can tell her, alright? And I will. It's time. If those are the guys that are after you, you could be helpful, not distracting."

"Zoey!" Willow said, "Who is there? I knew there was something. I sensed it before. Who is it?"

"Willow…"

"Zoey, you have to tell me!"

"It's alright," Spike said and to Zoey's surprise, Willow turned around. Spike had stepped out of the alley, now visible to everyone.

"Spike?" Willow said. Her voice was only a whisper.

"It's me."

"Where were you?"

"In here." He pointed to where Willow could only see a wall.

"Oh my God," she said, "Zoey, how could you –"

"Spike?"

Another person had seen him. Buffy had just beaten almost all the guys unconscious, but she couldn't focus on them anymore now. She was slowly walking towards Spike.

The two of them didn't even notice Willow, Xander or Zoey anymore. They were staring into each other's eyes again, just like they had over seven years ago.

…to be continued! How does the return of Spike affect Buffy? Will the Gang finally get closer to the Big Bad? Or will everyone be too busy buying presents and decorating the Christmas tree? That's right. It's a Buffy Christmas. Stay tuned!