Author: Kelley (beanyb1999@hotmail.com)
Rating: PG-13…what else?
Feedback: Yes, please!
Summary: Tara and Spike have figured out what is wrong with Buffy. Spike is about to fix it. Possible spoilers for season six, but I doubt it.
Disclaimer: Joss owns all. I just want Spike.
Dedication: For Christy, my big helper in this. For Shelley, co-author for other fics extraordinare. For all my reviewers, thanks for the positive feedback.
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Tara called everyone to the Magic Box at noon the next day. Willow left before Buffy and Dawn. Spike was there too. Dawn had asked him to stay over. Knowing she was scared, he agreed to and slept on the couch, first making sure the sun wasn't going to fry him in the morning.
Buffy was a nervous wreck. She kept dropping things and couldn't even eat much. Her dream had not helped matters either. She'd spent the better part of her dream trying to find a way to get Spike across an invisible barrier. When she woke up, she started to cry. So, Spike had spent most of the morning trying to reassure Buffy that everything would be fine.
Dawn spent most of the morning watching Spike.
*****
Willow was the first to arrive to the Magic Box. Tara was looking over the spell. She looked up at Willow and smiled.
"Hey, Tara," Willow said quietly.
"Hey," Tara responded shyly.
"So . . . uh . . . looks like you got everything ready," Willow said, looking at everything prepared.
"I-I guess." Tara began fidgeting.
"You'll do fine. I know you will."
"I h-hope so." They were silent for a moment.
"Do you really need me here, Tara?" Willow finally asked.
Tara looked Willow in the eyes. She nodded. "I-I might need your help, as well as Anya's."
"Tara, are you sure?" Willow asked uneasily.
"Yeah, I'm sure."
Willow looked down at her shoes and then back up at Tara, but avoided her eyes. "I'm really sorry I messed up the Resurrection spell. I never meant for things to get so bad."
Tara put her hand on Willow's shoulder. "I know."
The door to the shop opened and Xander and Anya walked in.
"So, we ready for some soul-giving fun?" Xander asked, rubbing his hands together.
"Xander, this isn't supposed to be fun," Anya scolded.
"Yes, Ahn. I'm aware of that," Xander said tersely. "Uh, where are Buffy and Spike?"
"Oh, they'll be here soon," Willow said. "They're all a bit nervous which I can totally understand. This is a big deal and all," Willow babbled.
Drusilla came out of the shadows, to the surprise of everyone else.
"Aaah!" Xander screamed in shock. "Tara, did you call her?"
"N-No, I didn't know where she was."
"I came to look over my Spike today. A little bird whispered in my ear. Spike gets to play champion today. They're waiting for him," Drusilla said, pleased.
"Who?" Anya asked.
"The bird told me not to tell," Drusilla giggled in response.
The door opened again.
"Watch out!" Dawn hollered.
Spike raced through the door, blanket smoking.
Buffy came in behind him. Her face was ashen.
"Bloody hell!" Spike tossed the blanket to the ground.
"B-Buffy, you feeling all right?" Tara asked, quite concerned.
Buffy smiled weakly. "I'm ok. Just want to get the spell over with."
Xander suddenly spoke up. "Is Spike our ONLY hope? I mean, why can't me or Willow go?"
"Because, whelp, you'd not want to come back after being there," Spike replied irritably.
"What I don't understand is if they know a human would not want to come back, then why send one in the first place? It's not that often you find a . . . pair like Spike and Buffy. What gives?" Xander asked.
Tara sighed. "Our case is unusual. Generally, a human is the one that must go up and retrieve the soul, but this is still unusual anyway since it isn't often people are resurrected. Anyhow, it's kinda like the ultimate sacrifice. Go to Heaven to retrieve a soul. Experience a moment of eternal happiness, but know you have to go back to Earth. It's somewhat of a test of love too, I suppose. Choosing to stay in Heaven is like failing the loved one who wants his or her soul back. I don't really know much about it as I've never seen it done or never heard of it being done up until a couple of days ago. I just know that Spike will be in Heaven, a place where his type of demon is not welcome. I don't know what he will go through up there."
Everyone listened to Tara, trying to understand the spell. They all hoped one of them could figure out the mystery of the last vampire/human couple this happened to. They don't know why the vampire returned from Heaven different. They could only guess she'd been given a soul by the Powers That Be as some sort of torture or punishment.
Tara cleared her throat. "Well, now I'm going to explain what's going on. The plane of existence we're about to send you to is only inhabited by spirits. Therefore, we cannot open up a portal for your physical being to enter, so we are going to put you in a trance, or a deep sleep. You will be comatose and may appear dead, but you will still be alive. Both Spike and Buffy will go under, where her spirit will wait for her soul to be retrieved. As for what you're going to experience Spike, I have no clue as I said before. Just do whatever you can."
Spike nodded gravely. "I will," he whispered.
"Ok, so hold on." Tara walked off to get the things they needed.
"Smile, Slayer. You're about to get a soul!"
"Yeah, I'm about to get a soul," she repeated, her voice dead.
"Don't look so grim, luv."
"Don't come back wrong," Buffy commanded the vampire, not looking up at him.
He, on the other hand, stared at her. She wanted him to return as the guy she loved to hate.
He grabbed her hand in his and looked down at it, squeezing it tightly. "Oh, I'm not going anywhere. I plan on annoying you even more after this is all over."
Tara returned with two glasses. "Y-You'll need to drink this. It will induce the deep sleep."
They both looked at the liquid in their glasses. It smelled an awful lot like cough syrup.
Spike looked down at Buffy who was staring up at him. He kissed her hand and smiled softly. Unexpectedly, she wrapped one arm around Spike's neck and held on. "Thank you. Thank you."
"Er, you're welcome, Slayer."
"I'll be waiting for you," she whispered into his ear.
"Don't stop waiting either," he whispered back.
She let go of his neck. Tara motioned for them to sit on the blankets she had spread out. They sat and accepted the glasses from Tara. "As soon as you drink, I'll start."
"Ready when you are, Slayer."
"On the count of three," Buffy replied. She hesitated for a moment. "One . . . two . . ." she sighed, " . . . three."
They both drank the potion in the glasses and immediately began to feel the effects. They laid back on the blankets. Suddenly, they were surrounded by darkness.