A/N: This is Part Fifteen of the CLOSURE series. This is a sequel of the ENOUGH series, so please read that one first or this won't make any sense.

Also, this chapter will be a long one. I mean, a LONG one, so either I write it in two parts or please have some patience and read the whole thing. Thanks.

Disclaimer: You should know that this belongs to Joss Whedon and the parties involved in getting the show on the air.

Feedback: As you wish.

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A Tale of the Summer

Buffy had been bitten before in her life, by three famous and legendary vampires. The master had almost killed her and he had left a scar. Angel had been almost tender and he had also left a mark. Dracula's bite was different; two elegant punctures in her neck, almost invisible now.

But Spike's bite was brutal. He didn't even care if he got the artery in his savagery. Buffy squirmed underneath Spike's weight and did her best to break free. She pulled at whatever she could hold on to, managing to get a hold of the leather duster. Spike wiggled and almost lost his leverage on top of Buffy, so he instinctively freed himself of the coat. Buffy was then pinned down again and tried to kick him. However, Spike had her on a death grip and she feared that any violent movement and the vampire would rip off a chunk of her neck.

So, actually, there was nothing else she could do. Then, the proud slayer did the only thing she could think about.

"Help!"

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Spike was not aware of the thing he was doing. His mind was not on the yard on a house on Revello drive, fighting a blonde girl and biting her with such violence that he could tear her throat apart. His mind was on a different time and a different place. The only images coming were those of the slayer hurting him. The violence and the hate directed towards him were guiding him and he wanted that to stop.

Yet, two things made him stop. The horrible taste that was filling his mouth, and the terrified scream that pierced the night got him back in the here and now.

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The Scooby gang rushed out as soon as Spike pinned Buffy down, and their blood froze when they heard her scream as soon as the vampire bit her. They couldn't believe what they were seeing and didn't know what to do. If Buffy and Jean couldn't take him out, what could they do?

"Stop it!" Dawn asked, running faster than the others, taking Giles' battle-axe from his hands and ready to slam it into Spike's head. However, she didn't have to, because the vampire slowly stood up and seemed confused. Dawn stopped and stared at him, and then she noticed that his eyes were no longer yellow, but they were back blue, and he seemed as startled as she was.

"Dawn?" He asked, "I…"

"Step away from my sister." Dawn said, tears falling down her cheeks. Spike looked at her and then back to where a whimpering slayer was grabbing her neck. Blood poured from her neck and she was breathing shallowly. Spike licked his lips and tasted blood. Slayer's blood.

Where it was before the sweetest thing he had ever tasted, now it was sour and felt tainted in his mouth. He spat it away and felt nauseous. But the look on Dawn's face disturbed him the most. He tried to apologize but nothing came out of his mouth.

He just ran away.

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Some time later, after her friends had cured her neck, Buffy sat on the living room, trying to figure out what had happened. Sure, the fight had ensued but Spike had both her and Jean at his mercy and he didn't kill them. What was going on? Was he only hurting them and bragging about it?

It seemed likely. He had done it to Riley and did it to Angel. However, Dawn had told them all that Spike wanted to kill her, and after remaining hidden and asking Angel not to come, she expected Spike to be furious.

Instead, she confronted a confused vampire, who behaved no better than an animal.

But there was something else disturbing her. Why were her friends so perturbed about the things that the vampire had told them?

She had an idea about it. A topic that had been avoided for three and a half years now.

Buffy had to ask their friends about it.

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The whole gang was on the kitchen, trying to force Jean to take a pill for her headache. Spike had hit her pretty hard and her head was pounding with every heartbeat.

They all fell silent when Buffy walked into the kitchen.

"How are you all?" She asked.

"Coping." Giles answered, "How's your neck?"

"A little sore." Buffy said, moving her head a bit, "He almost bit a piece of it off."

"I noticed." Giles sighed, "You know there's not much we can do."

"Yes," Buffy replied, "But I have a question for you all."

"About?" Giles asked.

"You all have to answer." Buffy said, pointing to them all, "Why were you so disturbed about the things that Spike said?"

They all lowered their heads and shuffled their feet. They were silent until Tara decided to speak.

"Mostly because all of the things he said were true."

"I realize that," Buffy said, "but why did it bother you so much?"

"Uhm," Willow cleared her throat, "we never noticed that he paid attention to such events."

"He worked with you for a whole summer." Buffy said, "He has been around us almost from day one."

"Yes," Dawn said, "and we talked with him about many things."

"Which brings me to the question I want  to ask." Buffy said, taking a seat, "What happened with Spike the summer I was dead?"

"I think we told you about it." Willow replied, "He worked with us and helped with some things."

"I know all that." Buffy said, "I want to know specifically what happened."

"We already told you everything." Xander pitched in.

"It's not enough." Buffy said, "You know you haven't told me everything and I want to know all about it."

She crossed her arms and then stared at Tara and Willow.

"You will help me."

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"You want us to do what?" Tara asked. Buffy had spent the last twenty minutes explaining her idea to the two witches and the rest of the group.

"I want you to share your memories with me." Buffy said, "I'm sure that there is a spell for that. If there is a spell to make us lose our memories then there must be one to share them."

Willow looked down at hearing the obvious reference to her failed spell in the past. Buffy felt somewhat bad for having struck at the raw nerve that Spike had exposed, but she needed her answers.

"All right, I'll do it." Tara said, "But I need some time."

"We've got all the time in the world."

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Twenty-five minutes later, the group was sitting on the floor of the living room. They all were forming a circle with Tara at the beginning and Buffy at the end of it. Jean was included but since she had no memories of Spike then she'd only receive them and not broadcast them.

"It took me some time but I found everything we needed." Tara said, "Even the piece of clothing needed."

Buffy nodded and placed the leather coat on the center of the circle. Tara took out some herbs and a potion. She chanted some words and placed the herbs on top of the coat, soaking it all with the potion.

"Why did we need the piece of clothing?" Dawn asked.

"To focus our memories, Dawnie." Willow said, "By concentrating on the leather coat, we will only share the memories of Spike and the memories of that summer."

"Oh."

"Won't that ruin it?"

"Uh?"

"The coat."

"Ah, the potion. No it won't."

"Oh."

"Everyone, quiet please." Tara said, and then began chanting in an unknown language. The herbs began boiling and soon were dissolved with the potion. A mist began forming above the soaked coat and tendrils appeared. The green colored gas then wrapped its tentacles around the heads of each Scooby and hovered in there.

Soon, Buffy's mind was filled with images, scents and feelings from the past. The first wave of images came from Xander, whose memories of the vampire consisted mainly of drinking and playing pool with Spike. Companionship and certain respect came with the memories.

Then came Giles' images, which depicted Spike as a warrior and a babysitter. Scenes of Spike fighting and taking care of Dawn appeared, next to the feeling of a certain respect and the need to have him around. Buffy then found out how much the Scoobies depended on Spike in the fights all that summer. Without her around, he was the only one who could kill demons on a fight.

Willow's turn came and a specific image was burnt on Buffy's mind. Her broken body on top of a pile of rubble. Her friends around her. And behind them all, a figure clad in black, shivering and trembling on the ground.

Spike.

Spike was crying for her. She had seen him cry once in front of her mother's grave, but she never expected him to cry over her. Buffy was shocked and tried to comprehend the images on her mind. Similar to Giles' memories, Willow's also depicted Spike as a needed ally but she thought of the vampire as a friend.

Tara's feelings were pretty much similar to those of Willow's, but her memories portrayed Spike as a true friend. Someone who was there for them and helped them every time he was needed.

Anya's memories were not very deep, for she didn't care that much about the vampire, but the common element in all the images was the fact that Spike was always there.

Finally, Buffy's mind was assaulted by Dawn's thoughts and memories. Without a doubt, Dawn trusted Spike with her life. The images showed Spike holding Dawn when she cried. Playing dumb teenage games with her. Staying by her side when the living got tough. And always, helping her with anything the girl asked. Obviously, Dawn's feelings were those of trust, comfort and love that Buffy always suspected her little sister had for the vampire.

The strange show finished and Buffy sighed and held her sore neck.

"Well, that was interesting." She said.

"I didn't know that the spell would be so intense." Giles said.

"You weren't completely honest with me." Buffy said, and she looked at each and every one of them. They all avoided her sight and looked away.

"Answer me something." Buffy asked, "If you all thought of him as a friend, then why did you treat him bad as soon as I came back?"

None of them answered a thing. Once again, things that they didn't want to face confronted them. They didn't understand so they went to square one as soon as Buffy came back. With her back, they wouldn't need Spike anymore.

"We were biased." Willow said, "With you around, it was as if it was wrong for us to be friends with Spike."

"Yeah," Tara said, "He was the enemy again. You are the hero and he should always be the villain."

"That's not the way you felt about him." Buffy stated, "Why did you all lie to me?"

But there were no words. There was no reason for the Scoobies to hate Spike, not after that summer that he worked along with them. When he was there for them; when he bled with them.

All of a sudden, the mist flickered once more and changed color. It turned from green to crimson red, and once again wrapped its tendrils around their heads.

"What is going on, Tara?" Giles asked.

"I don't know!" Tara exclaimed, "It was supposed to turn white and slowly disappear!"

"Well, it certainly isn't disappearing." Dawn said.

And as it happened the first time, images appeared on the minds of the Scoobies. Images that they knew but had never seen from that point of view.

They saw the image of Buffy lying dead in the middle of the construction site. They knew exactly what had happened because they had the image burnt in their minds. There also was the pain they felt when they lost their friend.

But they had never seen it the way that it was shown to them.

Up until now, they had never taken a second to notice the details of such memory. The image showed them all coming to kneel besides Buffy's dead body, Dawn holding her hand and crying; Willow kissing her forehead. Giles caressing her hair and Tara respectfully arranging her legs so they'd be straight.

They all had a chance to hold her and cry.

And it was until now when they noticed that Buffy's body was lying in the middle of a big ray of sun.

They were seeing Spike's memories of the summer.

All of them felt the pain that made a vampire cry; felt the guilt that tore his body, and the silent desperation for not being able to hold her, to say goodbye.

The next image came when they buried her. He had been missing or so they thought. Since Angel had been asked to come, Spike felt left out, and thus he watched the private funeral from afar, not wanting to run into his grandsire.

After that, every memory that the Scoobies shared was also shown but from Spike's point of view. He felt accepted by the gang, and was slightly contempt with it. But then they all noticed another thing.

Each and every one of them had someone to talk to and someone to cry with. They had been there for each other and had been supportive of each other, asking how they were and every so often crying quietly with each other.

Spike had none of that.

He had been called upon only when they needed him, and they had never even asked how he was. His memories came with the horrible sensation of loss and pain, augmented every time he saw Dawn. And yet, he never cracked in front of her. He never shed a tear in front of her, and he was always the rock to which she held.

And every night and day he felt guilty for what he believed to be his greatest failure, and he had to swallow it all alone, for no one ever cared how he was.

No one.

The gang felt that pain and despair that the vampire felt for 147 days, and felt remorseful for not ever asking him how he was. They were all so immersed in their own pain and comforting each other that didn't pay much attention to Spike's feelings. Three years ago they had used him as their protector and never asked once how he felt.

Never.

They excused themselves by thinking that they had never asked him to stay. But they knew that it was a lie; they needed him with them and he had been a true friend to them all.

The memories faded when Buffy came back to life, and this time, the mist did turn white and began to slowly drift away.

This time, they were all silent. Neither of them ever thought that the vampire could feel so much. More likely, they didn't want to think that he felt as much as them.

"What did just happen?" Jean asked.

"Those were..." Dawn began to say, but the words failed.

"Yes," Willow said, "we just saw Spike's memories of that summer."

"I never believed…" Xander said. Anya patted him in the back.

"Indeed." Giles replied, "It seems that we never took notice in his pain."

"What's done is done." Buffy said, rubbing her temples, "We can't do a thing about it."

"What?" Dawn asked, seemingly upset about the carefree way her sister was dealing with the images they just saw.

"I didn't mean it like that." Buffy said, "But it's true. No wonder he left."

"Like you didn't have anything to do with it." Dawn said, fighting tears. Buffy was about to argue when Giles grabbed her arm.

"I need to talk to you again." He said. Buffy was going to say something but Giles dragged her away. He opened the front door and walked into the sidewalk. Buffy struggled a bit and then freed herself.

"What's wrong, Giles?" Buffy asked, "What is it?"

"You tell me." Giles answered, without looking at her.

"You're not making any sense."

"Oh, is that so?"

"Yes, Giles, you're being so weird lately."

"Weird."

"Now you're going to tell me something I won't like, I bet."

"Good to see that you're so understanding."

"Ok, what will it be this time?"

Giles stared deeply at her and his eyes softened and he sighed.

"Look, Buffy, I know that there are things that you won't ever tell me." He said, "But don't expect me not to find out about them."

"Meaning?"

"You know what I mean."

"I wouldn't be asking if I knew."

"Why did you ask us to share our memories of that particular summer?"

"Because I was dead. Hello?"

"We told you what happened."

"Not entirely."

"True, but I believe there was another reason for your request."

"Care to share?"

"Later. Answer me something else."

"Something else?"

"You accused Spike of being a manipulator, but I think that you did something similar today."

"I'm not following you."

Giles took off his glasses and stared deeply at Buffy. She felt immediately cornered but didn't try to escape.

"Yes, you do." Giles said.

"Tell me why did you let Spike win."

End of Chapter