Buffy the Vampire Slayer Rewrite
Chapter 11
Buffy was lonely, as she had been since the day she left Sunnydale three months earlier. She felt betrayed by her friends, her family, and her destiny. The whole thing started when she had gone back downstairs to hear the rest of what was said and found out that Spike had left. According to Faith he said he 'couldn't deal with it' and her mom had taken the rest of the group out to cover her patrol route for the evening. When her mom got home that night she pulled Buffy aside and told her what really happened between Faith and Spike. She explained how Spike was so upset with himself that he left so she wouldn't be ashamed of him. Buffy decided that night that she wanted to spend the summer in Los Angeles instead of with her sister. She felt hurt because her sister hadn't listened to everything before just throwing him out. Now, she needed to go back home.
Angel still continued to search for what could be causing Spike's illness. First he was just tired more often, then he started not being able to eat, and now three months after leaving Sunnydale he was only able to feed from Angel or Dru. Something needed to be done but Angel was running out of options; so they were heading back to Sunnydale to get help from their friends.
"Buffy..." Spike muttered in his sleep.
Dru frowned deeply troubled by the pain her childe was in and wondered if this was what Angel had felt like when he and the Slayer had found them tortured at the Master's hand. Before she had a chance to ask him she heard him on the phone.
-phone call-
Angel: hello, Joyce?"
Joyce: Angel, where are you?
Angel: Returning to Sunnydale, about an hour away actually. Spike is bad Joyce. Dru and I are running out of options and he is running out of time. If we can't figure this out soon he'll die.
Joyce: Take him to the manison on Crawford Street. We have bought it and turned it into a secondary base of action. Willow and Xander should be there to invite you in. Have Willow do a physical exam to make sure he isn't harmed in any way then you and Dru get looked over as well.
Angel: Have you heard anything on Buffy?
Joyce: Yes, Angel, she's come home. I'll bring her with me but she's not in the best condition either. Faith may have found something that could be the cause of their problems though.
Angel: Hurry.
-end call-
Angel sighed and rested his head on the steering wheel of Spike's DeSoto and continued to drive on. He knew that if Buffy was bad off then it must have something to do with the strange link between the two.
Back in Sunnydale Joyce looked over at her two daughters who were finally talking but still cold towards each other. Faith still didn't understand why Buffy protected the trio of vampires that had become family in a way to the Summers girl.
"Mom, who was it?" Buffy hoarsely asked. She hadn't had much of a voice for a couple of days now.
Joyce wanted to lie because she knew regardless of how Buffy felt Spike would always come first but she couldn't, "it was Angel. They are coming back. Spike...he's not well Buffy. He's dying." She felt the tears welling up even as she spoke the awful words.
Faith stood up, "let's go."
Joyce looked at her two girls and smiled, "I told him to go to the manison. Willow is there for the evening along with Xander. Faith, do you have the stuff you needed?"
Faith nodded before grabbing a duffel bag and helping her sister head for the door. She had been researching since the night of the prophecy and finally found a possible link between Spike and Buffy but couldn't be sure until they were together.
Buffy smiled at the thought of seeing her friends and Spike again but also wondered if there was even a way to repair the damage caused by whatever illness he has. If he was to the point of almost dying then he wasn't feeding as frequently as he should be and it truly worried the blond.
An hour later the Summers trio arrived at the manison after having run by the hospital and the butcher to get their weekly supply of bandages and a few extra not knowing the damage of Spike and getting blood from the butcher. When they got inside everything was a mess. Angel was sitting with his head in his hands and Dru was pacing the length of the floor while Xander stood against the wall waiting for Willow to return from her exam of Spike.
"How long has it been now?" Angel asked.
"One minute since the last time you asked. Will knows what she is doing. She'll be out when she's done but if you don't stop asking I'm likely to stake you before she does." Xander answered exasperated.
Joyce walked over and placed her hand on Angel's shoulder to let him know they were there while Dru quickly wrapped her arms around the pale and visibly shaken slayer.
"The sunshine is here daddy. Everything will be okay." Dru said in her childlike voice.
"Buffy." Willow said stepping from the room.
Blond hair spun around quicker than any of them had time to realize and rushed to the side of the red head. "Well? Is he okay?"
Willow cast her eyes downward trying to hide the tears, "I'm afraid not. Perhaps everyone should be prepared to say goodbye?"
Joyce took a shaky breath and said she would call Giles, Jenny, and Cordelia. Buffy said she wanted to see him and so Faith walked to her sister who was leaning weakly against the wall and helped her into the room where Spike lay slowly dying.
Buffy gasped at the sight of the flesh and bones of the man that once held her at night. She slid her arm from her sister's shoulder and made slow purposeful steps towards the bed he laid on. She wasn't even sure he felt her presence until he slowly slid over in the bed to allow room for the petite girl. Carefully she climbed into the bed and curled up on her side as close as she could to him. She was determined that if he was going to die then he was going to know that he wasn't alone when he did. She never even heard her sister slip from the room.
Out in the living room Giles, Jenny, and Cordelia had just arrived when Faith rejoined the group.
"How are they?" Cordelia asked actually concerned for her blond friends.
Faith shook her head, "He didn't acknowledge her but his body did shift when she climbed in bed next to him. I was wondering if any of you had ever seen a design on Spike's right wrist?"
"What kind of design?" Angel asked.
"This one?" Faith said showing Angel the sketch she had done of the symbol that was on Buffy's left wrist.
Angel stared at the symbol trying to identify the meaning of it when Dru came up behind him and gasped.
"What is it Dru?" Giles asked of the vampire with the sight.
"My Spike, he does have this symbol. Do you know what this means?" Dru asked as the tears tears started falling.
"I do. Drusilla listen to me. I need your help okay? Can you help me save them?" Faith asked now knowing that she was correct in assuming that Spike was the other half.
Dru gave a slight nod and the group walked into the room where Buffy and Spike were. Faith walked up to her sister and the vampire who held her and spoke, "Buffy, Spike, we have a way to save you. The bond that was started when you saved him from the Master needs to be completed Buffy, Do you want me to complete the bond and save him?"
Buffy looked up into her sister's eyes and saw nothing but honesty and fear. She didn't want to lose her sister just as much as Buffy herself didn't want to lose Spike. A simple small nod was all Buffy gave.
Dru walked up to the other side of the bed and spoke the same thing to Spike in vampiric which consisted of a lot of chirping and growling. Spike barely moved his head but it was enough. Angel and Xander came over and helped move the couple into the position they were needed in for the ritual while Dru and Faith grabbed the stuff they needed.
Once Faith had everything set up she and Dru each took a hand. Faith Buffy's right while Dru had a hold of Spike's left. Angel had linked the wrists that had the symbol between the two laying on the bed.
"Constituite diem corde
Tumultus Anima
participes sui amoris
omnia faciunt"
A bright glow around the two had the whole room bathed in light. Once the light went back to normal the two slowly raised up and looked completely healed Buffy didn't even have the scar from the Master anymore.
"Okay, why is everyone looking at me like I was dead?" Spike questioned his eyes locking on Angel's for the answer.
"Spike, my boy, you almost did." Angel said before pulling his grandchilde into a hug.
When Spike was released from Angel he had his arms full of Drusilla and once he was free of her smothering grasp he turned to his Slayer's twin.
"Thanks." He said sincerely while holding Buffy to him.
"Just don't ever give me a reason to stake you." Faith said before walking away.
Buffy sighed contently in the arms of her companion. She wasn't exactly sure what the words that Faith and Dru spoke meant but she did know that everyone was going home together.
Joyce walked out to the living room with everyone else and decided that Buffy and Spike would find their own way home when they were ready.
"Mom, seriously? She just got home from L.A. and now you're just going to let her come home whenever?" Faith asked still slightly annoyed that her sister was with a killer of her kind.
"Faith Lehane Summers, that is enough. Now, we need to get home and make sure Buffy's room is cleaned up so when she and Spike get home they can rest. Dru, Angel, your rooms are still as you left them as well."
Everyone left the manison and parted ways to go home and rest before the next world takeover was upon them.
Spike and Buffy went and laid back down to rest for a while before they left for their home. She held tightly to his hand afraid that if she let go he would be gone and he just pulled her closer.
"Spike?" Buffy whispered hoping she wasn't waking him up.
"Yeah luv?" He answered wearily.
"I missed you." She choked back a sob.
"I missed you too, pet. More than you know." He whispered into her vanilla scented hair.
The two fell into a peaceful sleep for the first time in three months. Neither worried about the other for they knew they were safe in each other's arms.
The next morning Buffy woke up to an empty bed and immediately looked around not seeing Spike anywhere she decided to search the rest of the manison having never been here before her mother and the gang bought it and redid it to fit their needs.
"Spike? Where are you?" Buffy called as she wandered off in the direction she hoped the kitchen was.
She found Spike and gasped at where she found him. There he stood in the sunlight just outside the manison. She walked over to him and smiled as she found him so peaceful and serene in the light.
"You aren't on fire." She spoke in awe of the situation.
"Neither are Dru and Angel. Joyce came by on her way to the gallery. That's actually what made me come out here. I didn't believe her."
After savoring the sunlight for a little bit longer Buffy returned inside to get some toast and a glass of orange juice to help return her energy while heading a mug of blood for Spike at the same time. Before the two knew it it was time to return to the Summers home and without the drawback of the sun they were able to leave right away rather than waiting until sunset.
Buffy had fully intended to walk back to her home but Angel had left the desoto for Spike to drive home meaning that Dru and Angel either walked or caught a ride back with Joyce.
When Buffy and Spike walked into the house Faith and Xander were the only ones there. Buffy figured everyone else was just at their actual homes resting before a group patrol tonight.
"Buff, did Will and Cordy find you?" Xander asked.
"No, why?"
"Giles, Ms. Calendar, Angel, Dru, and mom are all missing. Sophie called from the gallery and mom never made it in this morning." Faith explained.
Spike frowned, "strange, she came by the manison to tell me about Angel and Dru being in the sunlight."
"They were, they weren't paying any attention and were still outside at dawn but not turning to ash. Dru decided they should go check the Master's resting place and they never made it back." Xander explained.
"Why am I just now hearing about this?" Buffy questioned the duo.
"We weren't sure how to get ahold of you but if they were just picking us off the street then us getting taken as well wouldn't have helped much am I right?" Faith jumped to their defense.
Buffy sighed, "I'm sorry. Guess I really am back in Sunnydale."
Suddenly the front door was thrown open and a short guy with red hair that Buffy remembered seeing play at the Bronze before rushed in.
"The bones." He said out of breath.
"Oz, breathe man. What do you mean 'the bones'?" Xander questioned.
"I mean, the Master's bones you guys told me about; their gone. I couldn't reach anyone else so I looked up Mrs. Summers address and came here. What the hell is going on?"
"Hey! Cool it. Who are you?" Buffy snapped making sure that she put herself between Spike and this new stranger.
"Buffy, this is Oz, Oz this is my twin Buffy. Oz is Willow's boyfriend and a werewolf. He's been helping with patrols and everything since you left. He actually saved Will from a vampire." Faith explained.
"Fine. What would anyone want with the Master's bones?" Buffy asked annoyed with more people she was going to have to look out for now.
"Restoration..."Spike whispered.
