Dawn walked into the Magic Box, dropping her backpack unceremoniously onto the table.
Giles looked up startled, and smiled at the young girl. His mind immediately flew back to remembering that Buffy was alive and well, and safe in Spike's crypt.
"How was school?" he asked.
Dawn shrugged and sat down at the table, taking one of her books out from her bag.
"Same old school. Boring teachers droning on about boring subjects. The only good part was art," she said, smiling that she had been placed next to Kevin once again.
"You uh…you enjoy art?" he asked. He had never really taken the time out to properly get to know his Slayer's younger sister, even though she had spent a lot of time watching Buffy train ever since she had found out that Buffy was different to other teenagers.
Dawn nodded. "Love it. Plus one of the guys, uh…I mean…one of the girls is my best friend, so we have a lot to talk about. In the way of school work and such," Dawn said quickly, covering her Freudian slip.
Giles smiled, reminded once more of how Buffy would continuously think about boys instead of about school work. The monks truly had made Dawn out of Buffy.
"Dawn, there's…there's something you should know," Giles said, moving over to the table to take a seat with her.
The teenager dropped the pencil she had been holding onto the table. She felt her heart sink in her chest and could only wonder what other torture fate had decided to send to her.
"What is it?" she asked, worriedly. "Are you okay? The gang, they're okay, right?"
Giles gave a small laugh and nodded, calming the teenagers fears. "Everyone's fine. There's…there's someone who wants to see you though."
Dawn looked at him with renewed interest. "Who? Not my dad, right, cos…you'd probably be acting a little more British."
Giles laughed and shook his head. "No, much better than that, believe me. Maybe you should go over to Spike's crypt yourself."
"Spike wants to see me?" Dawn asked.
Giles shrugged mysteriously. "You'll want to see him too, I imagine. He's got some company."
Dawn looked at the older man, her sister's Watcher suspiciously. Without warning, she reached over and put two fingers against his neck.
"What are you doing?" Giles asked.
"Checking for a pulse," she replied. "You're giving me the wiggins."
Giles rolled his eyes a little. "Just go. You won't regret it."
Dawn nodded, still a little suspicious of Giles' behaviour. "Alright, but if I wake up dead, I'm blaming you."
________________________
Dawn opened the door to the crypt slowly, poking her head through the opening. She glanced around the dark room, her eyes adjusting to the light. There were a few candles that adorned the room, casting an eerie glow on the furniture.
"Spike?" she called.
She stepped inside, feeling inside her pocket for the cross that she had carried with her since she was thirteen years old.
She stopped when she saw the rumpled bed clothes. She heard laughter coming from the lower part of the crypt. A woman's laughter.
She felt her heart drop, even though she was getting over her crush on Spike. She had still had a vague hope that maybe he would see her as something more than a little sister. But it didn't matter, she had her new almost semi-romance with Kevin to make up for Spike's obliviousness.
She made her way down to the bottom level of the crypt and saw Spike's face light up as he saw her enter.
"Nibblet, hey," he said, standing and walking over to her.
Dawn looked past him towards the woman who sat on the couch, her back to Dawn.
"Who's your friend?" Dawn asked, trying to keep the hurt out of her voice.
Spike grinned. "An old friend. I think you'll like her."
Dawn stared at him, swallowing deeply. An old friend? A vampire friend, or…she didn't really want to think.
She gasped as his 'friend' turned to look at her.
Dawn rushed over to her, embracing her tightly. "Buffy, oh my god! How…how is this possible?"
Buffy hugged her younger sister tightly, thankful that Dawn had seen her in private and not in the public display that was sure to happen at the Magic Box.
"Long story short, the Powers that Be kinda like me, so they said I could come back. Kinda like a good behaviour bond or something," Buffy explained, unable to control the smile that had spread across her face.
She had dreamt all day about what it would be like to see her sister again, but it had never been this good, or this real.
Dawn hugged her sister again, tears rolling down her cheeks. "Buffy, I missed you so much! It hurt so much…"
"I know Dawnie. But I'm back now. It's okay."
Spike cleared his throat from behind them and the two Summers' girls looked at him, smiling from ear to ear. The sight of their grins was enough to make Spike begin smiling himself.
"Come on, Giles is expecting us," he said.
Buffy grinned and linked arms with Dawn.
"This will be priceless."
~*~
The trio entered the Magic Box, Dawn and Buffy still arm-in-arm with Spike lingering behind them a little, smiling at the sight of the two sisters who had been reunited.
Giles looked up and smiled as he saw the three enter. He stepped forward to hug his Slayer once more, still a little unsure that this wasn't a dream. He was sure he would wake up at any moment to find himself alone in his apartment.
"Hey Giles," she whispered.
He smiled at her and looked towards Dawn. "And you thought I was trying to kill you."
Dawn laughed and rolled her eyes, unable to hide her smile. It seemed that the smiling was contagious in all areas, as Spike was still wielding his grin.
Buffy walked over to the table and sat down, unconsciously reaching for one of Dawn's books.
"Harry Potter? Are these any good?" she asked her sister.
Dawn's jaw dropped with pure shock.
"Tell me you're joking! These books are…incredible. Read them, you won't be able to put them down," Dawn said.
Buffy smiled and replaced the book on the table.
She looked towards Giles who was still staring at her in disbelief. "Giles, I'm not in a fish tank. Stop it."
He looked away sheepishly and took off his glasses nervously.
"I'm sorry Buffy. It's all just a little…overwhelming really."
She smiled, wondering how he could take her so seriously all the time.
"So…where are the others?" Dawn asked.
"I gave Anya some time to see Xander. They have some things to work out, but…I'm sure they'll be fine. Willow, Tara and Amy said they'd be here by six fifteen at the latest."
"How is Amy anyway?" Buffy asked.
"A little disorientated, but…she's coping," Giles said.
"Being a rat for three years tends to do that to a person," Spike quipped.
Buffy smiled, remembering her own experience as a rat. "I wonder if she still likes cheese anymore."
Dawn grinned and poked her sister in the ribs. "If she does, she can just knick your's…cheese freak."
Buffy mock glared at her younger sister, wishing she hadn't told her about her obsession for cheese. She had almost maimed Willow for telling Riley that she liked it.
The door opened and in walked the group of five.
"Hey guys. Did we miss anything interesting?" Willow asked from the rear of the group.
Spike tried not to grin. "Yeah a couple of things. You know, raising the dead and that sort of stuff."
There was a slight pause, but the group hadn't yet realised that they were one member over their last member count.
"Giles, did I leave my Magick book here, there was this spell I was looking into, and…oh my god!" Willow exclaimed.
Tara looked towards her girlfriend, silently questioning what was wrong.
"You fixed it?" Willow cried, glaring accusingly at Spike. "How could you? That is so tactless."
"Fixed what, Will?" Xander asked.
Willow pointed to where Buffy sat at the table, an amused look on her face.
"Gah!" he yelled, jumping back a little.
Dawn giggled a little and grinned at her sister.
Buffy stood up and walked over to the group. Tara looked at her curiously, obviously searching her aura.
"Uh…guys…that's not the robot," Tara said.
Three sets of eyes widened simultaneously. Buffy could only smile.
"Hey guys. Miss me?"
~*~
There was a complete rush as Willow and Xander ran quickly, hugging her to them tightly, reluctant to let go when she begged to be let to breathe.
"How is this possible?" Willow asked, her eyes never leaving Buffy's.
Buffy shrugged a little and took her best friend by the hand, leading her to the table. She sat down in the seat in front of where Spike stood, not even flinching when Spike rested his hands against the back of her chair, his fingers brushing her shoulder.
"Powers that Be sent me back," she explained.
"The Powers that Be?" Amy repeated. "Wow…they must really like you."
Buffy gave a small shrug and looked towards Xander who was still staring at her in disbelief. She smiled softly at him, thankful that she had chosen to return.
"The whole, dying to save the world gig kinda got you a few points in the plus column, huh pet?" Spike asked.
Buffy leant back against him, her head resting against his stomach.
"Either that or they just didn't want you up there," he teased.
She looked up, poking her tongue out at him. He grinned, unable to contain his smile.
"And yet they let you stay up there," she retorted.
Dawn looked at her sister curiously. "Huh?"
"Oh…Spike's soul, William…he was up there too," Buffy explained.
"Up where?" Xander asked.
Buffy looked at him, trying to form the right answer. "I don't know for sure. It was nice. Heaven maybe…if you believe in it."
"You were in heaven, but you came back here?" Dawn asked.
Buffy nodded, giving her sister a soft smile. "Was kinda lonely without all of you guys."
The gang smiled, but Dawn still looked troubled.
"Was…was mom up there?" Dawn whispered.
Buffy smiled and nodded, gently squeezing her sister's hand.
"She told me to take good care of you," Buffy replied.
Dawn smiled and felt a stab of pain in her heart, wishing that she had had a chance to see her mom again.
"She's happy where she is. And she's got Will to keep her company," Buffy said, grinning a little at Spike.
"I wonder if he likes the little marshmallows as much as I do," Spike commented.
Dawn grinned, and Buffy was glad that Spike had broken the tension a little.
"So…what's the what?" Buffy asked, hoping that the new evil in town wouldn't be as hard to beat as Glory had been.
Giles cleared his throat before trying to explain.
"There's a new Master vampire in the town. Court Sams. He's calling forth a demon to make himself into a demon," Giles said.
Buffy looked at him vaguely. "He doesn't like being all hybridy?"
Spike gave a small laugh and playfully poked the Slayer's ribs. "Watch who you're calling a crossbreed."
"You? Half-mongrel, half-mosquito?" Buffy quipped.
Dawn grinned, still amazed that her sister was back with them.
Spike looked insulted by her mongrel/mosquito insult.
"Anyway," Giles said, drawing his Slayer's attention back to the topic, "Court is calling forth Yhidnamanna in order to turn himself into a Korickana demon."
Buffy's eyes widened. "A Korick demon? You're kidding me."
Giles raised his eyebrows, wondering when his Slayer had had time to research into a Korick demon.
"No…no, we wish we were kidding," Giles replied.
"Alright…so this Yhidnamanna demon…does Court have his sacrifices yet?" Buffy asked.
"How do you know so bloody much about this pet?" Spike asked.
Buffy shrugged. "It's amazing what you learn when Giles makes you read lots of boring books."
"I thought you never read them," Giles protested.
"Not when you asked me to, no. Besides, some of it was kinda interesting."
Giles shook his head, knowing that no matter what, he would never be able to keep up to speed with his charge.
"As far as we know, Court doesn't have his sacrifices. There hasn't been any reports of missing persons. He's gathering together minions to get sacrifices. We think that he'll be performing the ritual sometime soon," Giles said.
"Court's not one to have sacrifices hanging around for days on end," Anya said. "Plus the vamps tend to get hungry, and with so many humans around, they start snacking, which means that Yhidnamanna won't accept them as pure."
"Okay, so if Court's going to be speedy with the ritual, whenever there's a surge of people going missing, we'll know that we won't have long to act. Which means we should try to take down Court before he gets his sacrifices. He only needs five," Buffy said. 'Six with the key,'Buffy thought to herself.
"So…we need to know when he's going to call Yhidnamanna. If we don't stop him from becoming a Korick, we'll never stop him," Buffy said.
"Unless Yhiddy kills the Korick demon for us," Spike said.
"I'm guessing he's not gonna do that any time soon," Xander offered.
Buffy looked towards Giles. "Okay, so do we have any plans?"
Giles shook his head and rubbed his eyes tiredly. "None as such. Spike's trying to work on the inside with Court. Anya and Court were acquainted in the 1600's, so she's been getting some very helpful information from him on that."
Buffy nodded and tried to think. "Well, I guess I'm up for patrolling. See if we can get Court's minions down to a bare minimum. Plus let them know that this town is no longer Slayerless. I'm back, and they will play by my rules."
~*~
Buffy, Spike and Dawn had left the Magic shop to go back to the Summers' home, allowing Buffy and Dawn to catch up with each other. The rest of the group was still in the store, a silence in the room as each of them thought about what had happened this evening.
Xander yelped as he pinched his arm.
"Xander! What are you doing?" Anya asked.
"Just making sure this is real. I didn't just dream that Buffy was in here did I?" he asked.
Willow smiled and squeezed Tara's hand. "No. You didn't."
Xander smiled and sighed with relief. "Thank God. I don't think I could have taken it, waking up and finding out that this had just been one of my very, very realistic dreams."
"I know what you mean," Giles said, sitting himself down at the table.
"She didn't…she didn't have to like…crawl up through her grave, did she?" Anya asked.
Willow looked towards Giles, terrified at the notion.
"No. No, she didn't. Spike said she was just on top of her grave, kicking at the headstone. She was…a little upset."
"Upset? Why?" Willow asked.
Giles shook his head. "She didn't say. Spike said that she was yelling and screaming. She hit him a few times as well."
"So? All is right with the world then," Xander said. "Buffy's alive. She's kicking Spike's ass. Dawn's got her family back. I think this calls for a celebration."
Giles nodded thoughtfully before Willow turned to him, noting his look. "What is it?"
"Oh, I was just thinking…she's going to have some things to work through. If…if what Spike said about her being upset when she first got back, then I'd say she's not entirely over something. I'm not sure what it is, but…I'm fairly certain that she's hurting right now."
"She seemed pretty alright before. Taking charge of everything like that. It was just like normal," Willow said.
"Exactly," Xander agreed. "It'll take more than dying to kill her."
________________________
Buffy gently pushed a strand of hair from Dawn's face and kissed her young sister's forehead lovingly.
"Sleep tight," she whispered before turning to leave Dawn's dark bedroom.
"Buffy?"
Buffy turned and smiled in the shadows.
"Yeah?"
"This isn't a dream, is it?" Dawn asked sleepily.
Buffy gave a small laugh and smiled gently, feeling her heart fill with love for the young girl who had been made from her own flesh.
"No. It's not a dream. I'm back. And I'm not going anywhere. It'll be like before. Just you and me," Buffy said, gently giving Dawn's hand a gentle squeeze.
Buffy let go of Dawn's hand and left, closing the door gently behind her.
Buffy sighed and made her way downstairs to the kitchen where Spike was sitting on the bench.
He looked up as she walked in and smiled at her.
"What?" she asked.
He shook his head and reluctantly looked away.
"I'm just…I'm waiting to wake up I guess."
Buffy smiled and jumped up on the counter, next to him.
"I've been getting a lot of that lately," she said.
He smiled and closed his eyes, his entire body begging for sleep.
"I guess if this was a dream, you and I would have been in my crypt anyway. And I would have been kissing you by now."
Buffy choked a little and looked at him sharply. "Come again?"
He grinned sheepishly and tilted his head to the side. "It's just, this entire week, I've been dreaming about you, and it's always been in the one spot. That was in my crypt. That and you haven't told me to wait for you yet."
"To wait for me?" she repeated.
He nodded. "Always in my dream, you tell me to wait for you. It's like part of me knew you were coming back somehow."
"I just…I don't understand…wait for me? Were you…you weren't going to leave were you?" she asked.
He nodded once more. "I was thinking of it. And then this whole Yhidnamanna thing came up, and the Scoobies actually needed me."
Buffy nodded silently, trying to work out her feelings. If he had have gone…it would have hurt her more than she cared to admit, even to herself.
"You…you're not planning on leaving now, are you?" Buffy asked.
Spike looked at her, trying to work out what exactly she meant by that comment. When he smelt the tiniest tinge of fear, he knew that she wasn't asking him to leave.
"Are you kidding me? You're not getting' rid of me that easily," he said.
Buffy breathed a sigh of relief and hopped off the kitchen counter.
"So…you up for patrolling?" she asked.
"Buffy…you don't have to do that tonight. I'll do a sweep. You shouldn't have to do this…not tonight," he said.
"Tonight's not going to be any different than tomorrow night Spike. I know…I'm back. Things are gonna be a bit different, but…I need to do this."
Spike nodded, understanding completely.
"You want back-up?"
~*~
Buffy walked silently through the cemetery that she had been buried in, Spike at her side. There was a silence upon them that neither could discern whether it was awkward or completely natural.
Buffy spun quickly as she heard something behind her, her stake held at the ready. She relaxed as she saw a cat run across the graveyard.
"Bit jumpy?" Spike asked.
Buffy shrugged and turned back around. "Just a bit off, that's all."
Spike nodded, unsure of how to respond to that comment. "I'm sure you'll get the hang of it again."
"I know. Once I get into a fight, I'll be fine," she said.
They continued walking, checking for disturbed gravesites.
"Maybe we should split up," Buffy suggested.
Spike hesitated for a moment but eventually nodded his agreement. "Sure. Wouldn't be good if Christian saw me with you anyway."
"Christian?" Buffy asked.
"Court's right hand man. Bout ye high," Spike said, indicating a little above shoulder height. "Looks about fifteen. Nasty bugger. He's stronger than he looks."
Buffy nodded, making a mental note to remember what he had told her.
"Meet back at the entrance in an hour, yeah?"
"Right. Be careful," Spike said.
Buffy nodded, surprised by the concern in his voice. "You too."
It was no more than two minutes after they had split up before a vampire jumped out of the shadows at the Slayer.
She stepped back startled, almost having forgotten exactly what her duty meant. It seemed so long ago that she had been slaying vampires. She hadn't had to worry about that when she was in the nether realm where only things that were pure and good could exist.
"Awww, little girlie's all scared," the vamp taunted.
A second vamp came from behind him, joining the other vampire at his side. The second vamp looked no older than fifteen. Christian.
She carefully hid her stake on the inside of the arm of her jacket, a plan formulating in his mind already.
"W-what are you?" Buffy asked, trying her best to look scared. It didn't come entirely naturally to the Slayer, but they didn't need to know that.
"Monsters," Christian replied. "We're everything you have nightmares about."
Buffy somehow managed to contain her laughter, wondering where this boy-vamp had learned arrogance mixed with many annoying qualities.
The first vampire stepped towards her, Buffy frozen in her place. He reached out to touch her neck and Buffy flinched a little, though her reaction was not entirely pretence.
"You hungry?" the vamp asked Christian.
Christian grinned back and stepped forward, going to pat the first vamp's back, but finding himself running his hand through dust falling to the ground.
Christian took a step back, fear in his eyes.
"Guess he wasn't that hungry after all. All that stake," Buffy said.
"Slayer," he spat.
Buffy smiled and tilted her head to the side proudly. "Good guess."
"You're dead!" he cried
"Looked in the mirror lately? Oh…wait. Sorry. My bad."
Christian glared at her with contempt. "You are of no consequence to us. More will come."
"So I've been told. Doesn't really stop me killing you guys."
"I'll enjoy killing you," Christian said, still inching backwards.
"That line just gets older and older every time I hear it," Buffy said.
She lunged forward quickly, holding Christian at the throat, his back against a grave.
"Tell you what, you're gonna be my messenger," Buffy said, pushing him against the cement headstone. "You're gonna go back, and you're gonna tell whoever you're working for that you're playing on my turf now."
~*~
"You okay?" Spike asked as he saw Buffy coming towards him.
"I'm fine. Everything's good. One vamp went poof, the other went to tell his boss that I'm back in the game. He was that Christian guy you were talking about," Buffy said.
"Nasty bloke, ain't he?"
Buffy shrugged and began walking towards her house. "Not really. He was really arrogant though. And really annoying. It kinda made me wonder who taught him, cause…whoever it was, it wouldn't surprise me if they're dust now."
Spike was silent for a moment, before finally speaking the truth to her. "They're not."
"How do you-" she stopped. "Oh."
"It was a few years back. I was kinda pissed off at something, and…it wasn't really meant to happen that way."
"No…it's cool. I mean…yeah-"
"Buffy-"
"I shoulda…I mean, it was-"
"Buffy-"
He grabbed her by the shoulders, making her stop and turn to look at him. She shrugged him off and kept walking.
He grabbed her wrist, trying to force her eyes to look into his.
"Buffy… you know what I was. You know what I did. I'm not like that anymore."
Buffy looked down and breathed in deeply. "I know. I just…forget sometimes."
He touched her face gently, holding in an un-needed breath.
"I know what you mean. You make me forget. You make me feel like…like I never died at all," he admitted.
She pulled away from him, uncomfortable with their sudden bout of honesty. She and William had told each other everything, but she knew she had to realise that Spike and William were two completely different men.
"But you did. And…I have to remember that."
"Why?" he asked. "Why do you have to remember that?"
She glared at him, hurt by his question. "Do you even need to ask?"
"If you won't answer, then I'll just guess. You've cooked up a million reasons, haven't you? About why you and I are so completely wrong for each other. Well, for every one of those reasons, I would bet you my unlife that I could give you one reason why we should."
"You're dead," she cried.
"You're alive. Opposites attract."
He smiled as he saw her laugh a little.
"You're a vampire."
"And you're the Slayer. Notice how those words go so well together. Vampire Slayer. You can't separate them. Just like you can't make me go away."
"I never said I wanted you to go away," Buffy replied defensively.
Spike grinned at her inadvertent admission.
"How's this, the last time I let myself fall for a vampire, he turned evil and started trying to kill all my friends," Buffy said.
"I'm not Angelus," he said simply. "I don't have a soul, thank you very much. What you see is what you get."
She smiled a little, despite herself. She wanted to stay detached, knowing that no matter what she felt for him, it could never work between them. But she couldn't.
"I like what I see."