Soul Sacrifice

Chapter 6 – Girl Talk

It was nearly midnight now and Buffy was once again home, fully exhausted. After a five minute cry on her sofa, which was all the time she could afford to waste, she went back to calling all of Dawn's friends, again. She called all the hospitals, again. And she searched every dark alley and demon lair she knew, again. Well, almost every demon lair.

"Well Dawn," Buffy said to the air, "For your sake, you better be there." Then, "And for your sake, you better not let me find you there."

"Find me where?" Dawn said as she came down the stairs.

"Oh you know perfectly well where. I just know you're in- DAWN!" Buffy cried. "You're here!"

"Hi Buffy," Dawn said softly, moved by Buffy's outpouring of joy at her return.

Buffy embraced Dawn and smiled through tears. "I don't know if I should punish you, or take you out for ice cream."

"Well," Dawn said, pulling out of Buffy's hug. "Can there be another option? Because it's a little late for ice cream, and you can guess how crazy I am about the punishing."

Then Buffy got very quiet and turned from Dawn. "Dawn, I'm sorry about how I treated you." Then she looked back at Dawn. "That does not mean you were justified to run off like that. Though, you were justified to feel the way you did. I don't know what's wrong with me. Lately I've just felt this- I'm just so-"

"Moody over the whole Spike thing? I understand." Dawn said, sitting on the couch.

Buffy nodded and joined Dawn on the couch. "Still, it's no excuse for my…" Then, "I am not moody over the Spike thing." Then, "Spike thing? What Spike thing?" Then, "Go to bed!" Buffy was severely flustered and more than a little alarmed.

"Buffy, it's okay. He told me everything. You have the right to feel betrayed and with the no trusting and all." Dawn assured her sister, but it didn't assuage Buffy's panic.

"Wait," Buffy stammered, "He told you everything? Like what kind of everything? Because you now, he's Spike, and he lies… little white lies… big lies… fairy tails… tall tales… And you can't believe what he says and…"

"No, Buffy, he came clean. Upright and honest, he was. I didn't have to drag it out of him or anything. I think he was just bursting to talk about it."

"No surprise there." Buffy said to herself. "Look Dawn, I know you probably can't understand all of this. I don't even understand all of this. But I just want you to know that I was being weak. It's over now." Buffy said, chin held high.

"Buffy, you weren't being weak." Dawn started.

"Yes, Dawn. I was. How could a strong person ever let him do this to me?" Buffy said sadly.

"Come on Buffy. Letting yourself trust him isn't weak. I think it takes a lot of courage and strength to trust someone."

"Maybe, but what about everything else we did? Not too big in the courage and strength department there." Buffy said, mockingly.

"What 'everything else we did?'" Dawn asked, intrigued.

"Oh shit." Buffy thought. "I guess Spike didn't tell her everything after all. But why didn't he? "Oh damn you Spike!" She thought. At least his telling Dawn would have saved her the awkwardness of having to do it herself. Still, was now the right time for Dawn to find out? Buffy wanted to be honest… But right then? No. She'd tell Dawn later. Maybe it was a bad decision on her part, but she'd have to see.

"Oh… Just more of the trusting and more of his evil deeds. Those things." Buffy said.

Luckily for Buffy, Dawn seemed to buy it, and continued on. "I understand why you're upset. I mean… Even though I didn't see either one of you that much, I could tell you were warming up to him."

Buffy thought about denying it, but what was the point? "Yeah, I guess. But what good did it do? I'm guessing the egg thing was what Spike told you about. The only thing my 'warming up to him' could have done was let him slip by with those eggs… possibly killing thousands, so he could earn a little pocket money."

"Well Buffy, I'm not sure how, but he said he did it for you. It's a little farfetched… But I have to believe it… Because everything he's done, he's done for you." Dawn said quietly.

"More like everything he's done, he's done to get in my pants, or to stab me in the back." Buffy said bitterly.

"Buffy… No, really. When he first fell in love with you, maybe he did. He did decent things to make you like him. But then, when you died, he kept doing good things. Not because you were around to give him a reward, or because you'd kill him if he didn't, but because he just knew it's how you'd want it. And now? Now he just does things for you. Make Buffy happy- number one Spike goal. Sometimes he just goes about it in the wrong way…"

"Explain to me how selling deadly demon eggs to very, very bad people was for me in any way, shape or form. It was just for him. Just so he could get money, and maybe feel like he had a little bit of his evil left in him." Buffy said. But then, suddenly, she remembered one of her first nights working at the Doublemeat Palace.

He was standing behind the counter, in a shirt Buffy wasn't sure she'd seen before. His eyes were so blue and wrought with concern when he leaned towards her. "Buffy… You're not happy here." He said.

"Please, don't make this harder," she said quietly.

"You don't belong here. You're something… you're better than this." He said.

"I need the money." Buffy said, sadly. She needed money…

"I can get money." Spike said, then gesturing with his head, "Walk with me now. Come on."

"Oh God." Buffy said, struggling between total disgust and sheer giddiness. "Ugh. I know why he did it, Dawn. What am I going to do with him? If he ever does the right thing, it's always for the wrong reasons, and when he has the right reasons, he always does the wrong thing." Then she sighed.

"Well, you don't have to worry about that for too much longer. I forsee one more right thing for the wrong reasons… Then who knows."

"What do you mean?" Buffy asked, suspiciously and slightly panicked.

Dawn sat silently (and smuggly) for a few seconds, then yawned as she adjusted herself on the couch.

"Dawn?" Buffy prodded.

Dawn checked her watch and finally answered. "He's getting his soul back." She said simply.

Dawn noticed Buffy's eyes widen before she got off the couch and paced to the other side of the room. Buffy stood, back turned to done for a few seconds, then turned back around. "I don't think so, Dawn. It can't be done. Not without the happiness curse, anyway."

"I think it could, though. Spike was telling me about how this summer, he'd been talking to Giles. Apparently, Giles had been talking to some other Watchers about Angel and his curse, and even more so, about how Willow re-cursed him with his soul. Now this guy's switched his field of study from whatever demon thing it was before to vampires and 'resoulification.' I don't really know many details. Spike didn't either. He said that when Giles started talking to him about it, that'd he'd dismissed. It was right after you'd died. Spike wasn't in the mood for any type of conversation, especially that one. But anyway, yeah. Apparently this dude had made some headway. Spike's going to go check it out."

Buffy had just sit, listening. But now… "But he can't do that! I mean… I won't let him. Dawn, you stay here. I'm going to go pay Spike a visit."

"Sorry Buffy. He's long gone. He dropped me off here about two hours ago. First he was going to go take care of the nerd trio." Then Dawn started, in a pretty decent Spike accent, "Said he didn't want any of those buggers givin' the Slayer any trouble while he's away. But I don't think that would have taken him too long. He's probably on the plane by now.

Spike had taken care of the nerd Trio? How considerate… That was just so… Plane? "Plane? Plane where?" Buffy asked.

Then Dawn replied, "England."

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Author's Note: *sigh* I'd wanted to get this whole story done by the finale (which I don't get to see until Saturday *grumble*), but it looks like that won't be happening. Graduation practices… and graduation… tomorrow! Augh… Oh… haha. Sorry. So anyway… I'm guessing I'll have most of the chapters up by Saturday… But I'll just say about the future chapters… any huge differences (or similarities, if the case may be), to the finale, are completely coincidental… Because I don't see anything until Saturday, and I've been good about spoilers… So… Yeah. Stupid St. Louis… Oh… St. Louis is just too good for UPN. Is that it? Huh?