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Spike stood up and looked at the house. Spike like Buffy was also feeling bad tonight. If only he had been quicker the whelp wouldn't have lost his eye. He and Xander had never gotten along, but somehow he had grown to respect the boy.
Spike sighed and tried to stop the thoughts that kept plaguing his mind. He decided to go after Buffy. She wasn't safe. He knew she could take care of herself, but that preacher bloke was stronger that your average human or demon.
Spike caught Buffy's scent in the air and headed in that direction. She always smelled of vanilla. Her scent always intoxicated him whenever she was around. Spike stopped in the park. The Slayer was there in the swings.
Swinging in the moonlight, Buffy's face still looked grim. Her eyes were red and puffy from crying. Buffy didn't look at him as she continued swinging. She didn't seem to be aware of anything. She was lost in her thoughts, swinging without even realizing it.
Spike approached her and stood right beside the swing. Spike watched her emotionless face. Spike continued watching her. She didn't make any move to acknowledge his presence.
After what seemed like hours, Buffy finally spoke. "My parents used to take Dawn and me to the park back when we were little. It was one of the fun things we did when we were a family. Dad would always push us on the swings," Buffy whispered.
Spike didn't say anything. His Slayer had suffered so much pain since she became Chosen. She had died twice and returned. She killed her first love to save the world. Her mum died because of an aneurysm. Damn the Powers That Be, he thought angrily. It was their damn fault that the survival of the world depended on her. And yet again it was time to save the world. The newest threat was the First, the source of all evil.
"Buffy, don't you think it's time to go home?" Spike asked. as his internal clock told him it was getting real late. A few more hours and the sun would rise.
"I can't face them. Not yet," she said.
"Spike, just leave me alone," she added, a moment later, her emerald gaze fixated upon the dark ground.
"Can't do that Slayer," he told her.
Buffy looked up from the ground and glared at him. "Why not? It's not like I can't take care of myself," she questioned him.
"I'm not leaving you. I know you can take care of yourself but that preacher bloke is a tough one," Spike said.
Buffy winced when Spike mentioned the preacher. She wanted to forget Caleb and everything that had happened.
"Just leave Spike. Go back to the house. What if something happens? They need you," she said.
"They don't need me. They need their leader," Spike corrected.
Buffy snorted. "They need me? Some leader I am. I put them in danger. Some potentials got killed today, all because of my stupid plan," she said bitterly. The tears started to fall again. Oh God, not again. It was always his damn fault, she thought angrily. He always had a way of making her true emotions come out.
Spike approached her. "It's not your fault. Your the leader, and leaders also make mistakes. But you can't always protect every single one of 'em girls. It's war and in wars there's always casualties," Spike told her.
Buffy continued crying. "Let Faith lead them," she sobbed. She really wasn't thinking about what she was saying. The feelings she felt where overwhelming. This war was getting to be too much for her to handle.
"They don't need Faith, they need you," he stared at her green orbs.
"Maybe Faith can do a better job than me," she choked out a sob.
"No, she can't," Spike said with an intense gaze that seemed to burn through Buffy.
"Why don't you agree with Faith leading them? Obviously you guys were agreeing about something last time I saw you two together," Buffy snapped.
Spike saw a flash of hurt in her eyes for a second, then it turned to anger.
"What are you talking about?" Spike asked.
"Don't you remember in the basement?" Buffy reminded him.
"Oh, that," Spike said as he remembered.
"Yeah, that," Buffy said sourly.
"We were having a talk s'all," Spike replied. "There's nothing between us," he added.
Buffy took in this information and didn't say anything. Spike wondered if she had been jealous. Her behavior was making it obvious that she was, that it bothered her for some reason that he had been spending time with Faith.
"You're the only Slayer I care about," he told her.
Buffy looked up at his brilliant blue eyes and saw the emotion he felt for her. Buffy swallowed as she stared at his beautiful eyes.
"I believe in you. You can do this Slayer," Spike told her.
A few tears silently coursed down her cheeks. He wiped them away with his thumb. Somehow with his words, she got strength from them. She stood up.
"I believe in you, you can be a man," she admitted.
Spike stared at her. Tonight they both showed that they believed in each other. It was going to take all their strength to defeat the First.
A/N: This is the end. It's probably a lame ending. I decided to stop writing this fic, I guess its for the best. Thanks to the reviewers.