Dawn, Will, and Buffy had a great time at the park that afternoon. They played on the swings, teeter-totter, merry-go-round, and everything else in the park. After a while the sun began to dip in the sky and Buffy knew it was time to get home.

They all piled in the car and headed towards Revello Drive. Once home, Buffy made diner for the three of them. The night progressed rather normally for the trio and soon they all headed to bed.

****

The next morning Buffy woke early and realized that it was her last day with Will. That that night the spell to reverse the slime's effects would be performed. She got up, headed downstairs and made some breakfast for herself, Will, and Dawn. Soon Buffy heard the sounds of two pairs of feet on the stairs, and then heading towards the kitchen.

"Good morning, guys. We have to get over to the Magic Box pretty soon, so eat up and then we can go."

"Yea, sure mornin' Buff," Dawn said with a yawn.

Buffy chuckled silently at her sister and went over to the sink, preparing to do the dishes. After everyone was finished with their breakfast they headed back out to the car and Buffy drove to the Magic Box.

Once inside the Buffy sat Will down at the research table with some paper and crayons and turned to Anya. "Has Giles left yet?"

"Yes, he called me in early too. I am expecting extra pay for this."

"Ok, that's nice, Anya. Do you know when he'll be back?"

"Oh, he said he would be back around 2 o'clock. And that he wanted Willow and Tara to meet him here at 4. I already told them, of course. But I suppose it's alright for you to know that as well."

"Yea, well is there anything I can help with? We were just gonna hang around for awhile anyway."

"Hmm.yes, you can go down to the basement and use your Slayer strength to bring me the new inventory. They're in the boxes that still have tape on them."

"Ok, how many boxes are there?"

"Only five or six, shouldn't take you long."

Buffy groaned good-naturedly and set about her task. It only took her twenty minutes or so to bring all of the boxes, which turned out to be more like eight or nine rather than Anya's five or six.

"So where do you want all this stuff?"

"Start unpacking the larger boxes. Those are some fertility statues. You can place them at the corners of the shelves."

Buffy once again went back to work, all the while keeping an eye on Will and Dawn. Will was coloring furiously, concentrating on his project with his little tongue peeking out the corner of his lips. Dawn seemed to be reading a school book.

She finished the statues, and some she really didn't want to know about. Then went back to the rest of the boxes. They were filled with what looked like knickknacks to her, but she was sure had some kind of nasty magickal connotation. "Where do you want the rest of the stuff, Anya?"

"What? Oh, you can just leave those in the boxes, I have to catalogue them before I can do anything else."

It was nearing on 1:30 pm and Buffy was feeling restless. "Anyone hungry? I can make a lunch run."

Dawn and Will both perked up at the mention of food and Buffy decided to make it an outing. She knew she only had a few more hours with Will and she wanted to make them last. She also felt guilty because she was just the teeniest bit excited about having Spike back.

"Ok, lets go to the DoubleMeat. Anya, want anything?"

"No, that's alright, I have a sandwich here. But thank you for asking."

"Ok, let's go guys, you can decide what you want in the car."

The three of them headed back out to the car. And Buffy drove over to the DoubleMeat. They went inside and stared at the menu. The line moved eventually and it was their turn to order. They all sat down in a booth once their order was ready, and dug into their food.

Once finished, Buffy tossed the garbage into the trash and they headed back to the Magic Box. Buffy knew that when they got there, Giles would be back and she wasn't sure if she was ready to face what that meant yet.

They headed back into the shop and Buffy immediately locked onto Giles. He was over at the counter arguing with Anya about something. "So, Giles, did you get the stuff?"

"Oh, hello Buffy. Yes I did manage to acquire the necessary ingredients. I will be meeting Willow and Tara later on to discuss the specifics, but it seems like we can most definitely do the spell tonight."

"Great. That's great. Where are you meeting Willow and Tara?"

"Here, but do you think it would be better if we did it at your house?"

"That's what I was thinking. Then we could just do the spell after you guys are done talking."

"Yes, that's a good idea Buffy. We shall all be at you house in an hour. Is that alright with you?"

"Yup, sounds good. I guess I'll just take Will and Dawn home now."

"Alright, Buffy. I shall see you later then."

"Yup, bye Giles."

***

One Hour Later.

Everyone had gathered at the Summers' residence to go over the spell. It was discussed and decided that the best plan of action would be to do the spell while Will was asleep so that he would awake as Spike.

The spell itself took no longer than 10 minutes. Willow and Tara waited until Will was sleeping deeply, and then set about working their magick. There were no visible effects on Will, but Buffy knew that this was the last she would ever see of him.

After a quieted conversation, everyone left, save Buffy and Dawn. They stayed up for awhile then went to bed. Buffy wanted to be there for Spike when he awoke, so she went to her room, and set down by the bedside where Will was sleeping. She knew that in a few short hours his body would grow, his lungs and heart would cease to work, and he would no longer be able to be in the sun.

Buffy awoke to the sun pulling itself over the horizon and quickly realized that she had to close the curtains. She jumped up and ran to the window. After she had secured the curtains, she went back to the bed and looked down. There was Spike. Full-grown Spike.

Buffy just stared at him for a few moments, until she saw him start to stir. She nudged him the rest of the way to consciousness.

"Spike? Spike, come on now. Time to wake up."

"Huh? Wha- Buffy? What happened?"

Buffy smiled as she saw traces of Will in Spike, as he rubbed his eyes and let out a yawn.

"What's the last thing you remember?"

"We were fighting that slimy demon, I got slimed, we went to the Magic Box talked to Giles, then we went to your house and we watched a movie, right?"

"Yea, but you remember the slime? That it had certain qualities to it?"

"Um, yea reckon I remember Rupert talking bout that before we left for the cemeteries."

"Well, since you got some of it on you, you got turned into a little kid."

"I.I what?!"

"You were you as a little kid. You said your name was William James Giles, and don't think we won't be talking about that mister! You had nightmares of what sounded like the Initiative, held Mr. Gordo, went to the park, and the mall, played with Xander. Lots of stuff happened. You don't remember anything?"

"I played with XANDER?!?"

"I tell you what has been happening around here and that's the part you picked up on? Whatever, yes you played with him. He had to watch you while Dawn and I couldn't. You both got along very well too."

"I see. So I guess you know a whole bunch about me now then."

"Sorta, I mean you were just a kid. A cute kid, but a kid."

"Cute, eh?"

"Watch it mister, there are tons of stakes all around this room."

"I get it, I get it."

"Ok, well I think we should have a Scooby meeting later. We can wait till the sun isn't so strong though. I'm just gonna go hop in the shower, you can relax some more if you want. I'm sure Dawnie is still sleeping."

"Ok, love, sure you don't need a hand in there?"

"Watch it bleach boy!"

Buffy gathered some clothes and a towel and headed toward the bathroom, while Spike flopped back onto the pillows. 'Wonder if she knew I was lying? Those were some great memories. Guess I better be off now, though.'

Spike finished his internal monologue and set off down the stairs, bringing a blanket from Buffy's room with him. He looked out the front door, didn't see anyone, and then took off for the sewers that would take him back to his crypt.

***

Buffy finished her shower then went into her room, expecting to see Spike still curled up under the sheets. What she saw was a rumpled bed, but no vampire. 'He must have gone downstairs.'

She knocked on Dawn's door, effectively waking her sister up. "Dawn, time to get up. You wanna see Spike don't you?"

Buffy headed down the stairs and could find no trace of Spike. Just as she was starting to panic a sleep tousled Dawn came down the stairs. "Dawn, did you see Spike up there?"

"No, why?"

"I can't find him."

"Huh? Buffy it's daylight where could he have gone?"

"I don't know, but Spike's always had a thing for risking being a crispy critter."

"Maybe he just went back to his crypt. You want me to go check?"

"Yea, go ahead and do that Dawnie, I'm gonna call Giles and tell him it worked, then head over to the Magic Box. Meet me there."

"K, I'll be back later."

***

Dawn set off for Spike's crypt. She arrived not fifteen minutes later. When she walked in the sight that greeted her was Spike sprawled in his armchair holding a jar of blood.

"Hey Spike, how come ya ran off this morning?"

"Nibblet. Didn't think big sis would want me cramping her style any longer."

"Come on Spike, you know you're welcome there. No need to run off, now why did you really do it?"

"Ok, ya caught me. Buffy mentioned a Scooby meeting and I didn't want to go."

"Why not?"

"All those mushy feelings floating around. Not my cup of tea, pidge."

"You just didn't want to have to make nice with Xander."

"It's not that..I..I just don't want them all to go back to hating me, that's all."

"Oh, Spike." Dawn walked over and sat her self on the arm of Spike's chair. "They don't hate you. I don't think anyone could after this past week."

"If you insist, Nibblet. I guess we can go to the shop then. Wanna head through the sewers with me? It's a little to bright out for that distance for me."

"Sure. We can meet Buffy there."

***

Dawn and Spike arrived through the basement and headed up the stairs to the main area to meet Buffy. Once there they plopped themselves down in a couple of chairs. Just as they were getting settled, the bell above the main door jingled to signal Buffy's arrival.

"Hey, Spike."

"Buffy"

Buffy glanced around the room and saw that they were the only three present. She nervously shuffled over to where Dawn and Spike were sitting. They sat in silence, until Xander, Willow, Tara, and Giles arrived 15 minutes later.

"Hey! Look, bleach-boy's back!"

"Yea, nice to see you too whelp." Although it was some of their normal banter, everyone could see that it packed less heat than it usually did.

Eventually everyone went over what happened the past week, retold funny stories, and had a good time. Even Spike cracked a few smiles here and there.

The End

************************************************************************

I'm not quite satisfied with how I ended it, but I like to think that I left it open for interpretation, and a possible sequel. Hope you enjoyed it, I know I did, since it was my first major fic. ;)