A/n: I'm terribly sorry about all the spelling errors on the story. My spell checker is yet again down, and when it was working, it wouldn't let me check the earlier chapters, that have more of the errors. I've been trying to get to the spell checker on my Mom's computer, but the times when I can get to it are limited, sadly. So I'm doing my best to get it spell checked and use good grammer, and if it bothers you so much then just don't read the story. It's kind of a put up or shut up situation, and I'm really sorry!! I'll try to get the problem corrected ASAP, but for now, thats the way it goes. Here's the next chapter.
~
"She's been gone for awhile now" Willow softly said, keeping her voice down as to not wake Dawn, who had fallen asleep reaserching to help her sister. Buffy had been gone for over and hour, and both Willow and Spike were starting to get antsy. Xander had run out for a snack run, saying he needed the "Spike-less air", and took a few wepons in case he had another run in with the Effesk. Willow and Spike were still going through book after book, and still finding nothing usefull, excluding what they had already told Buffy before she left.
"I know Red, and I'm startin' to get worried" Spike whispered back, attempting to make himself read the page of words in front of him. He was tired, and concerned about Buffy, and not in the mood for any of this.
"Well the tests are supposed to take this long, it's going to be difficult for her. And no book said how many of the test's she's going to have to do" Willow remarked.
That got Spike's attention, and he was suddenly wide awake. He glared at Willow. Something wasn't right.
"I only had to do three, what are you hiding Willow?" Spike was always one to get right to the point and be direct about it. Willow looked down and that confirmed that she was indeed hiding something.
"Willow" Spike growled out, starting to get testy. He heard the red-head sigh and knew she was going to cave.
"These test's arn't going to be hard on Buffy physically" Willow told him, but didn't add anything else.
"What do you mean!?!" Spike asked her.
~
Buffy glanced around the rectangluar room she was now in. It was the same as the last, empty, save some torches to light the way. She grabbed one off a nearby wall and hissed when it burned her skin. Puzzeled, Buffy gave the torch closer expection. The *whole* thing was on fire, not just the top! Shaking her head Buffy glanced ahead of her, at a marble staircase leading up. Looking around for another option and finding none, The Slayer started to climb the stairs. As she passed each torch, their fire went out leaving the room darker than before. When she was at the top of the staircase only 3 torches were still going, and the staircase turned into a hallway, which had no torches.
Unsure, Buffy turned back around and glanced back into the room she came from. Spike drifted into her thoughts and all fear's were erased, as she bravley marched into the hallway.
Halfway through, a shimmery light appeared a few feet away from Buffy. The Slayer took a step back and shelded her eyes for a moment, and was than standing face to face with...herself.
"What the..." Buffy muttered as she looked at a childhood version of herself standing in front of her, with an expression on her face like nothing was happining that was out of the ordinary. Little Buffy grinned.
"Hi!" She said, just like Buffy remembered being, full of energy and friendly. "You look like youre wondering what youre doing here, don't worry, I'm here to help!" Little Buffy continued.
"Uhhh...Ok" Present-Day Buffy told her younger self. "How are you here to help?"
"I'm here to make all of this go away! See, I can let you have the life you've always dreamed of, a normal one. Just like you had when you were little. All you have to do is take my hand, and all this scary stuff will be gone forever" Little Buffy explained, reaching her hand out to the actual Buffy. The Slayer stepped back.
"Whoa, I'm not so sure about this....what will happen to Spike? And Willow and Xander and everyone?" Buffy asked her younger counterpart.
Little Buffy frowned. "Why are you concerned about them?!" she asked.
"Their my friends. I don't want anything to happen to them!!" Buffy told Little Buffy, growing very confused. Was this a test?
"They can take care of themselves, they've shown that. Now take my hand and you can the life you wanted to have. A life with Angel. Except, he's not a vampire anymore" Little Buffy suddenly told her, and just as Little Buffy had came to be, Angel showed up standing next to her.
"Buffy, come with us. We've got the house all ready for you. The kids are waiting" Angel spoke, reaching out his arm too. Buffy was in shock. But she knew what she wanted, and that wasn't Angel anymore.
"I'm sorry Angel. I have a place for you in my heart, but I don't love you anymore. I can't go" Buffy said, and steped away from Little Buffy and Angel.
Seeing the look on Angel's face hurt lots, and so did the look on the younger version of herself, but suddenly an image of Spike appeared, and he smiled, than all three were gone and she was alone again. She grinned. *Guess I passed test one* Buffy thought.
She than began to walk down the hall once more.
~
The bell to the Magick Box chimmed and Spike was out of his seat. "Buffy!?" he called out. Willow and the now-awake Dawn looked towards the door. It was just Xander.
"Nope, just me, and I've got a box of cookies, and a whole pizza, plus a couple cans of cokes." Xander told them, setting down the munchies on the table. Spike just looked at them. He had never ate actual food before, and never got around to asking Dawn and Buffy about it. And *anything* that Harris ate Spike couldn't be too sure of.
"Cookies and Pizza are safe Spike" Dawn said, grinning and grabbing a slice of the said pizza.
"See!?!" Dawn said through a mouth full of food. "Delicious!"
Spike dove in and so did Willow followed by a very egar Xander. After the pig out, Spikes expression grew hard. "Now, Red, lets hear about the tests. What do you mean not hard on Buffy physically" Spike asked.
Willow put down the last piece of pizza in her hand. "The tests...they're going to hit a cord emotionally. Things that Buffy has always wanted will be offered to her, decisions that have been made by her or by us can be re-presented and she can actually change what happened. At least thats what they say. What actually happens if she excepts, well she just fails the tests and you...you know...go back to...a demon. Than theres things that she dosn't want to, and couldn't handle doing, that she might actually have to do, not litterly, but to her it be real as anything. I think that would hurt. I'm worried, I-I don't want to doubt her, but this is not going to be easy for her at all" Willow finished.
Spike just stared at the empty box of pizza, lost in his own thoughts.
~
Buffy turned another corner and was suddenly watching what had happened to her almost a year ago. Her death. She was watching herself die.
"Buffy...no!" Dawn cried out to her, a year ago that is.
"Dawnie I have to" Buffy replied, just as it had been that night.
"Dawn..listen to me..listen. I love you. I will always love you. This is the work that I have to do. Tell Giles...Tell Giles that that I figured it out, and that I'm ok. And give my love to my friends. You have to take care of them now. You have to take care of eachother. Dawn the hardest thing in this world, is to live in it. Be Brave. Live for Me." she heard herself say.
She watched as she jumped off the tower after kissing her sister goodbye. And than she heard the voice. The one she heard when she first came to save Spike.
"You were happy, and they were carless" it boomed.
"They didn't know, they couldn't have" she argued with it.
"Do you want to go back, Buffy?! Back to peace?" the voice asked her.
"W-What?" Buffy asked. She knew that she couldn't.....knew she wouldn't if she could....she wanted to be here....right?
The scene picked up again in the backround and she saw her friends stare at her lifeless body. And than she saw Spike's reaction. And she almost died again right there anyway. She made her desicion. "I'm not going anywhere" Buffy said.
"What are you crazy!?!" the voice yelled back. "This is heaven you have a chance to be back in" the voice said.
"No", Buffy replied, "being with Spike is heaven". With that the Slayer walked away from the scene, deeper into the hallway, sure of her desicion.
~
It had been at least two hour's since Buffy had been gone. All the gang were fidgiting and were tired of researching. "Where is she!" Spike blurted out.
"I'm sure she's fine" Willow reasured him. She was about to continue when they heard a growl in the shop. They all looked to Spike. "Wasn't me" he confirmed.
They heard it again, only this time louder. Anya and Giles had left town to get some stuff for the shop, and they had cleaned if up pretty good, almost new in the past months. There was no one else conected to Spike in town. They had forgotten about the Effesk.
It jumped out from behind a book-case, tipping it over almost onto Dawn. "Ahhhh!!!" the teen screamed out, as she ran towards Spike. The Effesk charged Willow and she kicked it in the gut. It barley stopped as it threw her across the room, over the counter-top and into the Employees Only section, behind the cash-register. She was out cold.
"Willow!!" Xander called out, just as the Effesk jumped over the table and on top of him.
~
Buffy saw the rush of plantimum blonde hair at the end of the hallway. "SPIKE!!!" She called out, rasing to him. He had a smile on his face. "Congrats, Slayer you passed" he said.
"Oh I thought I lost you" she said as she ran and hugged him. He grabbed her arm, twisting her wrist. She called out. "Spike! Your hurting me!" she told him.
"Really??!?!" He said, with mock concern. "Ohhh too bad" he said, with an evil laugh.
"Spike?" Buffy asked tears welling up in his eyes.
"Thanks for getting me off the hook and all, but I rather like being evil. Besides, I never really loved you anyway." he said, not concerned with her tears.
"Your lying, your not Spike. It's a test." Buffy stated.
"Really!? You'd like to believe that one, huh? Oh well, I'll make this quick, I've got things to do you know" Spike said, vamping out. Before he could reach Buffy's neck, a stake appeared in Buffy's hand, and she looked down at it, terrified.
Spike's fangs touched Buffy's neck....and than he exploded into ash. Buffy collapsed onto the ground crying and kicking, screaming her heart out. Suddenly she felt the same feeling she had going into the tests, and she was back in the room she started in.
She looked at the rom through her tears and frowned. "Whats going on!!!!" She screamed out.
"Congratgulations, you passed" the voice said once more "Your boyfriend is safe"
"Goodbye, Child" the voice finished, and Buffy found herself back at the Magick Box
~
The Effesk rushed Spike as Buffy materialized and she screamed. The Effesk turned to look at her, and than combusted into ash, gone forever. Spike was still there, apparently human.
"Buffy!" he called and and ran over to her, seeing the tears on her face. He hugged her and she hugged him back, finally happy that it was over.
~~
A/n: Final chapter coming soon, review and tell me whatcha thought!! :)
~
"She's been gone for awhile now" Willow softly said, keeping her voice down as to not wake Dawn, who had fallen asleep reaserching to help her sister. Buffy had been gone for over and hour, and both Willow and Spike were starting to get antsy. Xander had run out for a snack run, saying he needed the "Spike-less air", and took a few wepons in case he had another run in with the Effesk. Willow and Spike were still going through book after book, and still finding nothing usefull, excluding what they had already told Buffy before she left.
"I know Red, and I'm startin' to get worried" Spike whispered back, attempting to make himself read the page of words in front of him. He was tired, and concerned about Buffy, and not in the mood for any of this.
"Well the tests are supposed to take this long, it's going to be difficult for her. And no book said how many of the test's she's going to have to do" Willow remarked.
That got Spike's attention, and he was suddenly wide awake. He glared at Willow. Something wasn't right.
"I only had to do three, what are you hiding Willow?" Spike was always one to get right to the point and be direct about it. Willow looked down and that confirmed that she was indeed hiding something.
"Willow" Spike growled out, starting to get testy. He heard the red-head sigh and knew she was going to cave.
"These test's arn't going to be hard on Buffy physically" Willow told him, but didn't add anything else.
"What do you mean!?!" Spike asked her.
~
Buffy glanced around the rectangluar room she was now in. It was the same as the last, empty, save some torches to light the way. She grabbed one off a nearby wall and hissed when it burned her skin. Puzzeled, Buffy gave the torch closer expection. The *whole* thing was on fire, not just the top! Shaking her head Buffy glanced ahead of her, at a marble staircase leading up. Looking around for another option and finding none, The Slayer started to climb the stairs. As she passed each torch, their fire went out leaving the room darker than before. When she was at the top of the staircase only 3 torches were still going, and the staircase turned into a hallway, which had no torches.
Unsure, Buffy turned back around and glanced back into the room she came from. Spike drifted into her thoughts and all fear's were erased, as she bravley marched into the hallway.
Halfway through, a shimmery light appeared a few feet away from Buffy. The Slayer took a step back and shelded her eyes for a moment, and was than standing face to face with...herself.
"What the..." Buffy muttered as she looked at a childhood version of herself standing in front of her, with an expression on her face like nothing was happining that was out of the ordinary. Little Buffy grinned.
"Hi!" She said, just like Buffy remembered being, full of energy and friendly. "You look like youre wondering what youre doing here, don't worry, I'm here to help!" Little Buffy continued.
"Uhhh...Ok" Present-Day Buffy told her younger self. "How are you here to help?"
"I'm here to make all of this go away! See, I can let you have the life you've always dreamed of, a normal one. Just like you had when you were little. All you have to do is take my hand, and all this scary stuff will be gone forever" Little Buffy explained, reaching her hand out to the actual Buffy. The Slayer stepped back.
"Whoa, I'm not so sure about this....what will happen to Spike? And Willow and Xander and everyone?" Buffy asked her younger counterpart.
Little Buffy frowned. "Why are you concerned about them?!" she asked.
"Their my friends. I don't want anything to happen to them!!" Buffy told Little Buffy, growing very confused. Was this a test?
"They can take care of themselves, they've shown that. Now take my hand and you can the life you wanted to have. A life with Angel. Except, he's not a vampire anymore" Little Buffy suddenly told her, and just as Little Buffy had came to be, Angel showed up standing next to her.
"Buffy, come with us. We've got the house all ready for you. The kids are waiting" Angel spoke, reaching out his arm too. Buffy was in shock. But she knew what she wanted, and that wasn't Angel anymore.
"I'm sorry Angel. I have a place for you in my heart, but I don't love you anymore. I can't go" Buffy said, and steped away from Little Buffy and Angel.
Seeing the look on Angel's face hurt lots, and so did the look on the younger version of herself, but suddenly an image of Spike appeared, and he smiled, than all three were gone and she was alone again. She grinned. *Guess I passed test one* Buffy thought.
She than began to walk down the hall once more.
~
The bell to the Magick Box chimmed and Spike was out of his seat. "Buffy!?" he called out. Willow and the now-awake Dawn looked towards the door. It was just Xander.
"Nope, just me, and I've got a box of cookies, and a whole pizza, plus a couple cans of cokes." Xander told them, setting down the munchies on the table. Spike just looked at them. He had never ate actual food before, and never got around to asking Dawn and Buffy about it. And *anything* that Harris ate Spike couldn't be too sure of.
"Cookies and Pizza are safe Spike" Dawn said, grinning and grabbing a slice of the said pizza.
"See!?!" Dawn said through a mouth full of food. "Delicious!"
Spike dove in and so did Willow followed by a very egar Xander. After the pig out, Spikes expression grew hard. "Now, Red, lets hear about the tests. What do you mean not hard on Buffy physically" Spike asked.
Willow put down the last piece of pizza in her hand. "The tests...they're going to hit a cord emotionally. Things that Buffy has always wanted will be offered to her, decisions that have been made by her or by us can be re-presented and she can actually change what happened. At least thats what they say. What actually happens if she excepts, well she just fails the tests and you...you know...go back to...a demon. Than theres things that she dosn't want to, and couldn't handle doing, that she might actually have to do, not litterly, but to her it be real as anything. I think that would hurt. I'm worried, I-I don't want to doubt her, but this is not going to be easy for her at all" Willow finished.
Spike just stared at the empty box of pizza, lost in his own thoughts.
~
Buffy turned another corner and was suddenly watching what had happened to her almost a year ago. Her death. She was watching herself die.
"Buffy...no!" Dawn cried out to her, a year ago that is.
"Dawnie I have to" Buffy replied, just as it had been that night.
"Dawn..listen to me..listen. I love you. I will always love you. This is the work that I have to do. Tell Giles...Tell Giles that that I figured it out, and that I'm ok. And give my love to my friends. You have to take care of them now. You have to take care of eachother. Dawn the hardest thing in this world, is to live in it. Be Brave. Live for Me." she heard herself say.
She watched as she jumped off the tower after kissing her sister goodbye. And than she heard the voice. The one she heard when she first came to save Spike.
"You were happy, and they were carless" it boomed.
"They didn't know, they couldn't have" she argued with it.
"Do you want to go back, Buffy?! Back to peace?" the voice asked her.
"W-What?" Buffy asked. She knew that she couldn't.....knew she wouldn't if she could....she wanted to be here....right?
The scene picked up again in the backround and she saw her friends stare at her lifeless body. And than she saw Spike's reaction. And she almost died again right there anyway. She made her desicion. "I'm not going anywhere" Buffy said.
"What are you crazy!?!" the voice yelled back. "This is heaven you have a chance to be back in" the voice said.
"No", Buffy replied, "being with Spike is heaven". With that the Slayer walked away from the scene, deeper into the hallway, sure of her desicion.
~
It had been at least two hour's since Buffy had been gone. All the gang were fidgiting and were tired of researching. "Where is she!" Spike blurted out.
"I'm sure she's fine" Willow reasured him. She was about to continue when they heard a growl in the shop. They all looked to Spike. "Wasn't me" he confirmed.
They heard it again, only this time louder. Anya and Giles had left town to get some stuff for the shop, and they had cleaned if up pretty good, almost new in the past months. There was no one else conected to Spike in town. They had forgotten about the Effesk.
It jumped out from behind a book-case, tipping it over almost onto Dawn. "Ahhhh!!!" the teen screamed out, as she ran towards Spike. The Effesk charged Willow and she kicked it in the gut. It barley stopped as it threw her across the room, over the counter-top and into the Employees Only section, behind the cash-register. She was out cold.
"Willow!!" Xander called out, just as the Effesk jumped over the table and on top of him.
~
Buffy saw the rush of plantimum blonde hair at the end of the hallway. "SPIKE!!!" She called out, rasing to him. He had a smile on his face. "Congrats, Slayer you passed" he said.
"Oh I thought I lost you" she said as she ran and hugged him. He grabbed her arm, twisting her wrist. She called out. "Spike! Your hurting me!" she told him.
"Really??!?!" He said, with mock concern. "Ohhh too bad" he said, with an evil laugh.
"Spike?" Buffy asked tears welling up in his eyes.
"Thanks for getting me off the hook and all, but I rather like being evil. Besides, I never really loved you anyway." he said, not concerned with her tears.
"Your lying, your not Spike. It's a test." Buffy stated.
"Really!? You'd like to believe that one, huh? Oh well, I'll make this quick, I've got things to do you know" Spike said, vamping out. Before he could reach Buffy's neck, a stake appeared in Buffy's hand, and she looked down at it, terrified.
Spike's fangs touched Buffy's neck....and than he exploded into ash. Buffy collapsed onto the ground crying and kicking, screaming her heart out. Suddenly she felt the same feeling she had going into the tests, and she was back in the room she started in.
She looked at the rom through her tears and frowned. "Whats going on!!!!" She screamed out.
"Congratgulations, you passed" the voice said once more "Your boyfriend is safe"
"Goodbye, Child" the voice finished, and Buffy found herself back at the Magick Box
~
The Effesk rushed Spike as Buffy materialized and she screamed. The Effesk turned to look at her, and than combusted into ash, gone forever. Spike was still there, apparently human.
"Buffy!" he called and and ran over to her, seeing the tears on her face. He hugged her and she hugged him back, finally happy that it was over.
~~
A/n: Final chapter coming soon, review and tell me whatcha thought!! :)