DISCLAIMER: I don't own the characters nor anything else Joss created, just the rampant plot bunnies.

A/N: I've left you all hanging for over a month and I must apologise. However, good news is abound. I finally quit my night job and got a nice 9-5 office job, which I'm hoping will allow more time to a) sleep and b) write. This story is not quite over for me yet and whilst I have a gazillion other ideas floating around in my head, I'm not allowing my muse to bully me about and write others until I finish this one. So I will continue on with the show. I just killed off Angelus, but things are far from over for our heroes! I did start writing this on my iPad but the darn thing decided to delete everything I'd written about a thousand words in -_-

You Think You Know

The Scythe went lax in her arms as Angelus crumbled to dust. Her arms fell to the side and the weapon of the Slayers hit the floor with a clatter as relief flooded her. Cordelia gasped, and Connor breathed a sigh, his body also relaxing as the danger passed.

'He's gone.' Buffy muttered, sinking to the floor, the pain of her injuries catching up with her. She winced and held her undamaged hand to her partially mangled arm, gritting her teeth against the pain. Cordelia was immediately at her side, her own hand covering Buffy's and their eyes meeting in the shared pain of the loss of Angel. Angelus was a dick but Angel had been their friend, and more. Accepting that there was no return for him this time around was going to be difficult, but in Cordelia's case, more so for their recent history.

Xander cleared his throat and interrupted the moment between the two women, and they both looked up. He hobbled over and nodded his head in the direction of the pile of dust.

'He's er...not coming back is he?' There was trepidation in his voice. 'It's just that...people die...and they don't stay dead. And I think my poor old heart has had enough for one lifetime.'

Wesley chuckled and then groaned, the grey pallor of his skin making him look ghoulish in the dim light of the hotel. Fred leant over him, checking his wound and then looked around at her companions in concern. Xander grimaced.

'And I think Wes's heart is fit to bust. We need to get him help.'

'We need Willow.' Cordelia's gaze remained on Wesley as Buffy got to her feet, letting the Slayer override her pain for the time being.

'I'll get her back here as quick as I can.' She grabbed her weapon and turned to the door, only for Xander to call out, stopping her before she broke into a dead run.

'Be careful! He's dead...the First isn't.'

Buffy looked at her old friend with a smile and then ran from them as if the hounds of hell were on her.

The fire was gone, and a scream resonated in his ears to a painful pitch. The scream was borne of rage and he felt it impale him like a thousand tiny spikes. Instinctively, he curled in a ball, attempting to shield himself from the pain as a voice filtered through to him.

'That bitch!'

Silence followed and he dared to open one eye, seeing he was back on the rooftop, and the sky was lightening. The First stood opposite, black blood dripping from her nose and a death glare on her face. He felt his whole body trembling and the being he carried inside was trying to bolster him, but at this moment in time, he felt more like William than ever. Like his every strength had been stripped away and used against him.

The First stepped towards him, her eyes flickering up to the sky and then back down to him. 'He is dead. I need more time.'

And for Spike, the world went black again.

He was pretty sick of that.

Buffy had never run this fast before in her life. Despite the pain in her muscles and the blood loss from her earlier fight, she felt invigorated like never before. And as she ran, the sky got lighter, giving her more hope that they could beat this, save Spike and live happily ever after.

Wolfram and Hart loomed in the distance, the coming dawn glinting off the windows and caused her to squint. Within minutes she was racing through the front lobby, and up the fire escape to the floor she'd left Willow and Dawn on. As she flung open the door, she was confronted with a carpet of bodies, Willow and Dawn stood in the middle. She paused, looking to her sister and friend for an explanation.

Willow grinned sheepishly. 'We didn't do anything to them.'

Dawn nodded to back her up. 'They just sorta...fell asleep.'

The lobby flooded with light as the sun came over the horizon, and all three girls shielded their eyes against it. Dawn smiled brightly as Buffy tiptoed over unconscious people to get to them. Willow hugged her friend, and then noticed the battered state of her.

'Goddess Buffy, what happened?' The redhead gasped at the injuries.

'I'm fine, I'll be okay.' Buffy smiled, rubbing her hand down Dawn's arm. 'Wesley, on the other hand, really needs some help. As I have a feeling the hospitals are out of action right now, you'll need to go be Nurse Willow...and me and Dawn need to get to Spike. Especially as the sun has made a roaring reappearance and he is kinda...not sun-proof.'

'You and me?' Dawn asked, excitement filling her voice. 'You want me to come with you? To save Spike?' She bounced on the balls of her feet, her hands moving almost too fast for the eyes to see. Buffy nodded and Dawn squealed.

Willow frowned. 'We have a slight problem with that, Buffy.'

'What?' Buffy asked nervously.

'Spike's not on the roof. The First...she's taken him somewhere.'

Truth be told, the continuing blackness was a bliss. He was getting fed up with waking up in a different place every five seconds and trying to figure out where he was and if it was reality or a dream. And he was increasingly annoyed with the little voice in his head belonging to Gaea. He didn't see why the big, all powerful deity couldn't finish this and leave him alone.

'Because this fight was always yours.'

Buffy's voice. Spike sat bolt upright, his eyes scanning for the source of her voice and his body screaming at the further pain he was causing to his tired and beaten body.

'This dance was always yours, Spike.'

His head whipped round and his vision cleared, showing the cavern he was in. It was long and dark at the end, and from this darkness emerged Buffy. Her arm was splashed with blood and a bitemark seared her bicep. Her face was badly bruised and her hazel eyes rimmed with tears. He struggled to his feet quickly and limped to her, his hands questing over her to check her wounds, his own pushed from his mind.

'Buffy...you're okay. You're alive.' He gathered her to him, holding her tightly as his own tears welled up. 'You beat him, please, luv, tell me you beat him.'

'I beat him.' She whispered against his chest, her hands snaking round his waist to hold him just as closely as he was holding her.

'Oh thank god, I was...I knew you would, but...last time...' He choked on his own words, not sure how to put his thoughts out there.

'It's okay. He's gone. You're here and you're mine.' She said, pulling back and looking up at him with a smile. He looked back, a sick feeling his stomach as he took in her smile. 'You're mine.' She repeated, clearly waiting for him to corroborate her words. He stuttered and she frowned, raising a hand to trail down his face. 'This isn't going to work.' She said softly and he tilted his head in confusion.

'Buffy...luv...'

Without warning her fist came up, upper cutting his chin and sending him flying backwards. He hit the wall of the cavern with a thud, yelling in agony as his back tore on some jagged outcrop of rock. He glared at her.

'Should have known it wouldn't work, but it was worth a try.' "Buffy" said, still gazing at him. 'This...ugh. Twisted, is what it is. We should get back to how vampires and Slayers are supposed to be.' She pulled a stake from her waistband and smiled at him. 'The dance, Spike. What you always wanted. That third slayer.'

'You're not the Slayer. You're not Buffy.'

'Why'd you say that?' She cocked her head. 'Just because I didn't punch you in the nose?'

'Amongst other things.' He got to his feet, wincing as he gingerly touched the wound on his back, his hand coming away covered in borrowed blood.

'Nasty wound you got there, Spikey.' She began to sidestep to his left, and he eyed her warily, moving away for every step she took. They circled, one tensed to fight, the other to defend.

'You think looking like her will stop me hurting you?' He said quietly, grabbing onto the truth like a bulldog, implanting it firmly in the forefront of his mind. Whilst his words were strong and defiant, his mind was still telling him that he could not and would not hurt the girl. Not again.

She smirked, a look foreign to the face she wore and it sickened him further. 'I know your mind, Spike. Don't ever forget that. I've been in there. Literally.'

He shuddered internally, but remained stalwart on the outside, despite his injuries. He wished so much that she'd stop looking like Buffy, but he knew that wouldn't change. She was using his weakness against him and his weakness would always be golden haired with hazel eyes and a lethal punch.

'You could have made this so much easier on yourself and just given in. I'm not asking for love or devotion. I'm not the sentimental type. A good hard fuck and a pledge of loyalty will do. All you have to say is that you're mine and we could spend an eternity reaping the benefits of this world. No sunlight. Willing, and not-so-willing, victims. Fountains of blood to drown your palate in. Don't tell me there isn't a tiny, tiny part of you that craves it, Spike.'

He glared at her, wishing for once that looks could actually kill. 'Yeah. Once. I'd have taken it all to bathe in the entrails of the world.' He stopped, raising his fists to make a stand. 'But even though I can't go into the sunlight, there's still one reason to treasure it. A world without love is no world at all and even if I have to spend an eternity watching her in the sunlight, unable to be with her, it's still worth kicking your evil arse all the way to hell and back.' He charged her, taking her off guard and knocking the stake from her hand. As it hit the ground it dissolved, along with the image of an injured and pained Buffy. In her place, stood the Buffy he knew too well, the fully on form and healed Slayer - or at least the image of her to torment him. His charge had not knocked her from her feet and she batted him away like a fly. He hit the wall again, his back damaged further and he yelped in pain. In seconds, she was on him, pinning him against the wall, practically snarling in his face.

'You think you'll get your world with love in it, William? God, you're pathetic. I'm going to plaster your bodyparts across this cavern for her to find, just before she realises that the world is over!" She span, flinging him into another wall and he hit the floor chest first, spitting blood as he rolled over. He laughed and looked up at her through bloodshot eyes.

'You need me alive, I'm not stupid.'

'Certainly acting like it.' "Buffy" spat. 'You act like you have a soul, but I've already devoured that. Once you've given me your complete supplication I'll make sure I eat hers too!'

'Don't need a soul.' Spike groaned, pushing himself onto his knees and holding his battered ribs. 'Only got one for her.'

'You think she's ever going to accept you like this?' She stormed over, kicking him backwards and he cried out as he landed on the wound on his back. She placed her foot on his ribs and pressed down, smiling as she heard the telltale crack of breaking bone.

'She doesn't need to. Love isn't conditional, it just is. I'll always love her, I don't care if she loves me back.'

'You're pathetic! You'd torture yourself over one girl when I'm offering you the world?'

He looked up at her and grinned. 'She is my world, you bitch.'

The First screeched and dug her foot in harder, breaking another few ribs as Spike cried out in agony, trying to pull himself away. Seconds later, he collided with yet another wall.

He didn't get up.

'What do you mean, she's taken him?' Buffy fumed, her grip on the scythe tighter. Willow took an unconscious step back as she felt the fury coming off of the Slayer. Dawn frowned.

'I can't sense them in the city.' Willow stuttered, closing her eyes. 'She's taken him somewhere and I can't sense where.'

'No, no, no, no! She can't do this. If she beats him...that's it, game over. This will all be for nothing!' Buffy squeezed her eyes shut, willing the tears to go away. Lost him too many times already, can't lose him again, just can't. She opened her eyes again when she felt a comforting hand on her shoulder and she met her sister's gaze gratefully. 'We have to find him.'

'Maybe I can help?' Dawn asked. Both girls turned to face her. 'W-well, I'm still juiced up with all this power, and if we can find him in time, maybe I can...I dunno, do something?' Willow shook her head, and Buffy's brow furrowed.

'No. No, this is Spike's fight. No matter what. But we do have to find him.' The redhead chewed her lip in thought. 'Dawn, we can use you. We need to know where he is and you can help with that. If we can tap into what connects you...'

'I can lead you to him.' She nodded, hope filling her. Buffy raised a hand.

'Wouldn't I do the same thing?'

Willow shook her head. 'Dawn was made out of both of you. She has a direct connection to him.'

'What, and I don't have a connection?' Buffy pouted, and Willow rolled her eyes.

'Not the time for tantrums, Buffy.' Dawn interrupted. 'All Willow means is that we have a blood connection. You and Spike have an emotional thing. And it's very emotional and very real and god, can I enable you later and save my psuedo-brother first?'

Buffy glared daggers at her sister whilst Willow held back a chuckle. Then the glares descended on her and she coughed, smiling to cover her mirth. 'Lets just go on with this and save the world, huh?'

Please, please, please forgive me for the time it took to update. I'm hoping to have this finished by New Year. If I don't, feel free to pelt me with sharp objects!