Chapter 36

Buffy could hear Clark working in the fields while she sat on her porch stairs and sipped on her coffee in the morning sunshine. She kept finding her fingertips lingering over the previous days stab wounds in her shoulders, remembering the pain of hanging there for so long waiting for the inevitable confrontation between Lex and Clark. She hadn't expected to find so many complications in such a small town, but as she had learned from living in Sunnydale—nothing was ever what it seemed.

She closed her eyes and let the heat soak into her skin, reviving her soul and comforting her against the encroaching chill of fall. Her mind wandered to Clark. She feared for him. Lex was only the beginning. He was going to have a lifetime of facing obstacles related to his origin and his abilities. So was she. In that constant battle, they would be together. But she couldn't be sure what Jor-El's training was going to do to him. She didn't know anything about Kryptonians, their demeanor or how they handled conflict. Clark's violence towards Lex had surprised her. He could have killed Lex. She was happy Willow was there to help her stop him.

Buffy tried to still her thoughts. She was happy and in love. Clark represented so many beautiful things to her that she had never experienced and she wanted to continue to explore her new powers with him. The guilt niggling at her had diminished since she arrived in Smallville and she hoped that the distance from the other slayers would allow her to see how useful her newly acquired powers could be apart from their origins. They couldn't have known what would happen after Willow did the spell. They needed the spell to save the world and even with it, they still almost lost.

"I love you."

"No you don't. But thanks for sayin' it."

She could still feel the fire licking at their entangled fingers. It would have been so easy to just stay with him at that moment. To be consumed by the flames together. But she knew that Spike's love for her depended on her living on, being the chosen one, being there for Dawn. All the things that gave her strength were what he adored about her. They were what Clark loved about her now.

"A hundred-plus years, and there's only one thing I've ever been sure of. You... When I say I love you, it's not because I want you, or because I can't have you. It has nothing to do with me. I love what you are. What you do. How you try. I've seen your kindness, and your strength. I've seen the best and the worst of you, and I understand, with perfect clarity, exactly what you are. You're a hell of a woman. You're the One, Buffy."

Tears sprang to her eyes thinking about him, taking note of how regularly she thought of him. Even with Clark in her life, she couldn't keep the memory of Spike away and she wasn't sure how to reconcile missing him with loving Clark. But she would have to keep trying.

She could see Clark walking between their two houses now, coming towards her. The wind disturbing his black hair and his smile visible from a distance. With their super vision, they could see one another perfectly and they both thought how beautiful the other looked. Buffy imagined a life with Clark, one replete with world saving and small town living and in that moment, she felt content.

They sat together well into the morning, enjoying the sun and each other's company. They laughed and told each other more stories about their pasts. Carefully, they each avoided their lost loves: Spike and Lana. Leaning comfortably against each other, they hoped they could stay like this forever. But regardless of how romantic the notion, they both knew that trouble wasn't ever far behind.

Willow arrived back at headquarters in a hurry, running down the hall towards the command center. There was yelling coming from behind the door. Three girls were standing watch outside who looked like they had just been in one hell of a fight.

"What is happening?" Willow demanded of the girls.

"He just walked in here like he owned the place and started demanding to see the slayer," one girl responded.

"Yeah, to which we were like, 'right here man, what's your problem?' and he did not like that. Said we were off our rocker if we thought we could ever compare to the slayer."

The last girl chimed in too, "He tried to keep walking but we stopped him," she looked down, "or tried to."

"That's when we realized he was a vamp. What kinda crazy vampire is going to walk into a castle full of slayers?"

Willow pursed her lips, "All good questions. Why didn't you sense that he was a vampire immediately?"

The girls looked at each other, "He approached the castle while the sun was still setting. The sun reflected off his hair."

Willow was shaking her head in confusion, "You're relieved of duty for the night. Thank you for debriefing me."

They left and Willow placed her palms on the doors, sighing before opening them slowly. The barrage of yelling from inside the room filled her ears.

"You bloody well know who I'm looking for, now why are you being so soddin' evasive?! Where is she? Why aren't you telling me anything?" The sound of the British rogue caught her off guard and as she lifted her eyes to look at who the voice belonged to, she couldn't believe what she was seeing.

Xander looked over to see Willow entering the room, his face belying bewilderment too.

They continued to stare at the bleached blond, black leather duster wearing, soul-having vampire standing in front of them.

"Spike?" Willow asked hesitantly.

"Hi Red. Long time. Where's Buffy? Eye patch over here is acting like he doesn't know who I'm looking for." Spike was pacing impatiently in front of them.

"You're supposed to be—" Willow started but Spike interrupted.

"Dead. I know. It's a whole thing, talk to Angel about it. Doesn't matter, I'm here now and I'm looking for Buffy." Suddenly he got very concerned and walked up to Willow, placing his hands on her shoulders, "Is she okay? Has something happened to her?"

Willow didn't know what to say, "She's fine. Alive and all that."

He sighed relief at that, "Good. Now if you'll just tell me where she is, then I can go straighten out the whole 'I love you, no you don't' thing."

"Spike, about that. Buffy's…Well, she's…" Willow was stumbling over her words.

"Spit it out some time this century, love."

"She's living back in the states and kinda has a boyfriend." She winced.

Spike glared at her, letting the realization set in, "Oh bloody hell."

He put his fingertips to the bridge of his nose and sat down in a chair, "I'm going to go get her back then. Tell me about this boyfriend, is he tough?"

Author's Note: Thank you all for reading and reviewing! Since the story had been in limbo for a long while, I thought it best to finish it and leave it open for a sequel. However, comments about the sudden ending sends me the message that maybe it would be better to leave it open for new chapters than to end it. Especially not if I'm not in the right place for an ending. So, I've decided to change the epilogue to a chapter and change the status to still in-progress. I value all of your reviews and I appreciate you taking the time to read and comment on my story. Look forward to more and I'll make sure the ending is a proper one based in the narrative.