A/N: This is Part 2 of the 22nd chapter of the Closure series. You know the rest.

Disclaimer: Once again, you all should know this belongs to Joss Whedon and the parties involved in getting the show on the air.

Feedback: Many of you have been kind enough to write me some feedback and e-mail me. Thank you all. I had this idea for so long and I never expected that someone would like it. I posted the story just as a way to vent my own frustrations.

I'm glad you liked it.

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Thank you again for keeping up with this story and for telling me what you thought about it.

On with the story.

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Peace

Part II

"Let's dance."

Those words meant that it was the end of it all. The light on Spike's eyes was gone and he seemed like a shadow of his former self. His entire persona was different from the Spike that had been with them all those years ago.

All about him was different, his hair, his posture, he didn't have the leather duster with him, and his actions were those of a broken man.

Because that was what he was, indeed.

He had lost all semblances of self-respect and honor. There was no dignity left in him, and he was utterly defeated.

So, there was only one thing left to do.

Die.

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Buffy's head was spinning. What had happened there? Spike had told her that he still loved her, she had assaulted him verbally, he had given her his heart again and she had stomped on it again.

Only, this time she really didn't mean to.

That ill-fated phone call was the cause of the mess that time.

No.

It was the circumstances once again. Had Spike not been a savage vampire on their previous encounter, she could have tried to talk with him without alerting her friends.

And had her friends stalled just a few more minutes, she could have talked and patched things up with Spike.

'Too late for that.' She thought. Spike was intent on fighting.

Or was it on dying?

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Time seemed to stop when Spike launched the attack, punching Buffy square on the face and sending her head back. She retaliated by instinct and kicked him in the face.

Those who had seen them fight before noticed that Spike's attack was weak and that the kick to his face damaged him more because he made no attempt to stop it. The vampire pushed and tried to hit her repeatedly. The untrained fighters of the Scooby gang, namely Willow, Tara, Anya, Xander and Dawn thought that Buffy had gained the upper hand because of all the years of practice.

On the other hand, Jean and Giles, experienced fighters, noticed that Spike wasn't fighting to win.

He was fighting to lose.

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"Stop this!" Buffy yelled.

Spike didn't acknowledge her and kept trying to punch her. But with every attempt, his strength faded and his speed diminished alarmingly. Buffy also realized that he wasn't paying any attention.

He wanted her to kill him.

She lowered her hands and took a step back.

"I won't do this." She said. Spike sighed and looked around.

She was denying him even that. An honorable death.

"Don't." He said, his voice almost a whisper, "Fight."

"No." Buffy said, "Not like this. We were supposed to talk, not to fight."

Spike sighed and shook his head.

"What's the point, Buffy?" He asked, "You will never tell me the truth. I can't deal with this."

"You're running away from the problem. Again."

"I don't care anymore. I don't want to do this any longer."

"Stop this and listen to me. This isn't the way I wanted things to go."

"Don't lie to me. Please. Just fight."

"No."

"Fine. Then die."

Spike morphed into his vampire face for the first time in three years. If she could only see him as a monster, then he would show her the monster. He moved as fast as he could and punched her hard on the nose. She seemed surprised by the sudden attack so she didn't even raise her hands. Spike followed with a hard kick to her chest, which sent her flying back and slamming into a tree. She shook her head clear and stared at him. She had not seen him like that in so long and it frightened her a bit. He seemed to be regressing to the kind of vampire she saw when he left.

Spike was dead serious about the fight. If she couldn't see him as a man then he would make sure that she wouldn't see anymore. He just wanted things to end.

'End it the easy way?' A voice inside of him whispered.

He paused for a moment and stared at Buffy. Her nose was bleeding and a cut grazed her lip. He promised himself once that he wouldn't hurt her, and now she was bleeding because of him.

His thoughts were cut short because someone else decided to take matters into his hand.

An arrow flew to imbed itself on Spike's chest, barely an inch away from his heart.

Two years of being practically invincible had made Spike forget just how much a wooden arrow could hurt. He howled into the night, feeling practically lost.

'It comes to this. I won't even be dusted by the slayer.' He tumbled down and brought his hands to his chest.

A tomb-like silence filled the night, only to be broken by a single cry of ecstasy.

"Yes!" Xander screamed, lowering the crossbow he had on his hands, "Ladies and gentlemen, he's down!"

-----------------------------------------

Things went by differently.

Spike saw things in slow motion. He focused first on the blonde slayer. Her face was unreadable. She could very well be smiling or frowning. He really didn't care anymore. Then there was Harris lowering the weapon that had fired the arrow that was now stuck on his chest. The boy was laughing and dancing. The girls seemed confused, and Giles had the same face that Buffy had.

A grimace of pain appeared on Spike's face.

Not only physical pain, but emotional as well.

He finally understood that it was time to pay the piper. All the crimes he had committed in his past, all the murders, all the pain he inflicted was now coming back to him.

In the shape of a pretty blonde girl.

He had been an evil vampire, and he accepted now what Buffy thought of him. It was foolish of him to try to change his nature. He couldn't help but to grin a bit at the irony of his unlife, and his thoughts wandered unconsciously to Angelus. The ponce had done everything Spike did. And yet, Angelus had everything Spike wanted.  The love of the two women he loved. The title of both the most evil vampire and the souled champion belonged to him.

Angelus had been given the promise of redemption by doing nothing but feeling remorse.

Spike had won years of pain because he wanted to be better for a girl, not because of guilt.

Those years of hurt finally crashed on him and he broke down completely.

A bitter tear ran down his cheek.

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Buffy, on the other hand, saw things as if actions were being fast-forwarded.

She saw Spike as he fell to the ground, and then she heard Xander's cry of joy, and her friends looking as confused as she was. A sudden impulse of rage overcame her and the next thing she knew she was punching Xander so furiously that she broke the boy's jaw. It took the combined efforts of Jean and Giles to cool her off.

As soon as both her watcher and the other slayer noticed that her agitation diminished, they released her. Immediately, Buffy ran and knelt to where Spike had fallen.

"Oh my God, Spike, are you all right?" She asked. She tried to touch him but he pulled away from her touch.

"Please, Spike, let me see."

Spike grunted, and proceeded to slowly lift himself off the ground. When he stood up, Buffy saw the arrow protruding from his chest, very close to the vampire's dead heart.

She gasped a bit and tried to grab the arrow and pluck it out, but as soon as her hand touched the arrow, Spike's hand grasped her own. She looked up and saw his eyes filled with tears.

"End this. Please."

"What?!"

"Just… end this in an honorable way. Please."

She couldn't believe what her eyes saw.  Spike was begging for her to kill him? To end it all? She felt tears prickle her eyes and another wave of rage encompassed her.

"How dare you to ask me that!" She said, as she slapped him on the cheek. The slap wasn't hard, not even on human standards, but it brought more tears to Spike's eyes. He stared deep into Buffy's eyes and his hand took hold of the arrow on his chest, yanking it out violently. The action spilled some blood into Buffy's clothes, which distracted her. In a fluid motion, Spike grabbed her hair and pressed the tip of the arrow to her throat.

"This ends one way or the other, slayer." Spike hissed, "Either you kill me or you die."

"Don't fool around, Spike. The moment you jam that into my throat my friends will kill you."  She said, acutely aware of the tip of bloodied metal tickling her throat. His eyes once again focused on hers, and she saw an infinite sadness in there.

"I know. I'll be dust before you hit the floor. I die one way or the other. Please. Do it yourself."

"Don't ask me that." Buffy whispered, tears falling now.

"Why shouldn't I? You already took everything from me. I have only my unlife left. Even hell is a better place than this one."

"Why do you say that?" Buffy's voice cracked.

"Try living my life for a day, Buffy." He said. She thought about it for a moment, but once again her stare hardened.

"You never gave up before. Why now?" She asked, trying not to cry anymore.

"I could say that it was you, but I won't blame you for my mistakes." He said, still holding firmly the arrow.

"Tell me why." She whispered.

"You. Them. All of it. I'm tired, Buffy. I'm so very tired."

"So you walk away? Again?"

"Remember I told you all it took was one good day?"

"No… Spike, please."

"I never had a good day." He said, "But you can have it."

"I don't want it."

"Too bad. We rarely get what we want."

"Don't do anything stupid. They will kill you!"

"I'm counting on it."

With that, he drew his arm back and pulled Buffy's head back, the arrow directed towards her throat, and he whispered his last words, expecting everything to end before he hurt her in any way.

"I love you, Buffy."

Another arrow flew towards his heart, courtesy of Jean's crossbow.

Spike closed his eyes and expected everything to end.

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Giles held Jean's hand a moment too late.

The arrow had been fired.

Things slowed down for the watcher. Millions of thoughts ran through his mind as he saw the wooden piece flying directly towards Spike's heart.

And, was that such a bad thing? From the look of it, Spike was about to kill Buffy. Jean had only reacted the way any slayer or any friend of Buffy would have.

However, it seemed that Buffy didn't want Spike dead. Xander's unconscious form was proof enough. Spike's closed eyes and his shaking hand also weren't very menacing nor convincing.

Spike clearly expected them to kill him.

Giles cursed mentally. It seemed that every time they wanted to help Buffy they ended up making things worse.

---------------------------------------------

An explosion of pain.

A wet gurgle and the destruction of muscle, tendons, flesh and bone.

Blood flowing freely.

The feeling of lightheadedness and certain despair.

Tears, disappointment, anger and hatred.

That would be hell for an eternity.

That's precisely what Buffy felt when the arrow pierced her hand.

The events went once again in slow motion, for both the vampire and the slayer.

The arrow that was directed to Spike's heart found another target, burying itself on Buffy's left hand. She had lifted her arm to stop the arrow, but the sudden jerk of her head by Spike's hand had not allowed her to grab the projectile, thus hitting her hand on the middle.

Spike had expected the pain and the unknown sensation of dying and becoming dust. His eyes still closed, he only felt the pain that the previous arrow had caused, but nothing more.

He slowly opened his eyes, only to be greeted by two orbs of hazel, shining with tears.

"What?" He asked, barely a whisper.

Buffy smiled weakly and waved her injured hand in front of him. He stared at the arrow piercing her hand, and then stared back at his own chest.

He wasn't dust.

"Why?" He asked, when he noticed that she had saved him.

"I couldn't let you die thinking that I don't love you back."

He lowered his gaze and his knees buckled.

"Don't lie. It's worse this way."

"Do I look like I'm lying, Spike?" She asked. When he refused to acknowledge her, she got angrier than before.

"Look at me, Spike." She said, trying to keep her anger under control, "Please, look at me."

Spike slowly lifted his head and looked at her.

"I don't want you to die, Spike. Believe that."

"I…"

"You told me what you wanted to say. It's my time to talk, but please, drop the arrow."

Spike unconsciously dropped the arrow, without even noticing it.

"Good." She turned around to look at her shocked friends, and nodded at them.

"Could I have a moment before you shoot another arrow at us? Thank you."

She once again looked at Spike, without waiting for an answer from her friends, and sighed.

"Look, I didn't want it to go this far. I never expected to see you begging for me to kill you. I never could before, what makes you think I'd do it this time?"

Spike opened his mouth, but Buffy held her unharmed hand in front of him.

"Please, not yet. I know you love me. I know that you're not a monster, and I want to treat you like a man…"

The familiar words caused more pain on Spike's heart, and this time, his legs gave up and he fell to the floor, barely managing to kneel. Buffy kneeled in front of him.

"I know it's too late, but please believe me when I say that I can love you." She caressed his cheek and looked into his eyes, "Maybe I already do."

Spike couldn't hold her gaze, and more tears fell from his eyes.

"I want so much to believe in you." He said, sniffing a bit, "But how can I? After all that's been through…"

"Remember what you told me once? That I was on your blood? That you were drowning in me?"

Spike nodded, still not looking at her.

"Well, you're in my blood now. You're one of the reasons I have lived so long now. Not only were you there for me when I needed you but you still managed to keep me safe from afar. The contract, remember?"

"I…"

"No, not yet. I know it was unfair for us to treat you like a monster and a piece of crap, but try to understand, Spike, your past isn't very reliable."

He chuckled a bit at that.

"However," she continued, "we should have also taken into consideration the good things you did for us. Do you think we can reach an in between?"

"I can't fix the things I did before, Buffy. It's part of what I am and what I did."

"I'm not asking you to fix things, Spike, just try to understand what we saw in you. We feared you and your history. Why do you think Xander hates you so much? It's not as much hate as it is fear."

"He sure masks it well."

"I know, but clearly not the topic right now." She smiled. "Not only do you have to prove that you're still the Spike that helped us, but you have to regain their trust."

"I don't care about their trust. I only care about yours."

"Oh, and what happened back there with the arrow on my throat?" She joked.

"Desperate times require desperate measures. I never thought you'd go to those extents to save me…" He looked down at her hand, and softly took her into his own.

"I never wanted to hurt you in any way, Buffy." He said, as he snapped half of the arrow, "Though it seems that it is all I do."

He slid as quickly as he could the remaining part that had pierced through Buffy's hand, successfully removing the arrow. She jerked from pain but she didn't pull her hand away.

"I don't want to hurt you again. I sought peace from you. One way or the other." He ripped off a part of his t-shirt and bandaged her wounded hand with it.

"You can still have peace, Spike." She said, "Stay this time."

"There's nothing for me here. Why should I stay?" He whispered again.

"For Dawn? For me?" She answered.

"I'm not a watchdog, Buffy." He said, "I won't stay only to be a guardian for her. I love her, but I can't stay only because of that."

"What about me?"

"What about you? I don't know, Buffy. I have never known."

"I told you, didn't I?" She said, smiling, "I think I love you."

"You think? That is not enough."

"I know it's not enough, but we've been through a lot lately."

"I've been in the middle of it."

"Well, I could do the romantic movie stuff and proclaim my undying love for you, but my aching hand and my friends there ready to kill you could spoil the moment."

He chuckled again, but his smile died and he now stared at her.

"You know I still love you." He said, "I will always love you, but there are things that can't be fixed so easily."

"I'm aware." Buffy said, "Not only has this been an emotional roller coaster and God knows I will always blackmail you with this attempted suicide, but I believe that we can fix it. With time."

"I can't go back to what happened before."

"We won't."

"How can you be sure? Have you changed?"

"Have you?"

"Look at me, Buffy. Tell me if I have."

"Yes." She whispered, "You did."

"You've matured."

"Yeah?"

"Yeah. You think we can pull this?"

"Together."

"Together it is." Spike smiled at her, and shook his head.

"I'm sorry."

"Don't be." She said, leaning towards him, " I'm also sorry for all the things I did to you."

"We had a bloody awful affair, didn't we?"

"Yup. Soap opera material. Add in some demons and voila!"

He laughed and caressed her cheek.

"I love you, Buffy Anne Summers."

"I… wait." She said. A sinking feeling took hold again of Spike's stomach and he stared at her.

"Don't look so frightened." She smiled, "What's your full name?"

He laughed and whispered his full name on her ear. She smiled and looked back into his eyes.

"Ok. I won't tell anyone."

She held his head with one hand and her smile brightened.

"I love you, William. I love you, Spike."

A soft and tender kiss brought the night of pain and violence to an end, as well as bringing closure to the sadness both the slayer and the vampire had felt for so long.

Things still were fragile and wounds were still raw, but the couple realized that they had everything they needed to repair their relation.

All they needed was love.

The End.

That's it.

Thank you all for reading.

See ya.

- Urizen

Oh, and there's an epilogue. Check it out.