DISCLAIMER: I own nothing in this fic except the plot. The characters and such belong to Joss Whedon (aka God), so if you've got a problem, take it up with him, okay?

RATING: PG-13

SUMMARY: Buffy/Spike fanfic set after 'Chosen'. After defeating the First, Buffy and the rest of the Scooby gang are Cleveland-bound and ready to start a new chapter in their lives, and they're not the only ones…

AUTHOR'S NOTE: Sorry it took so long, I think I might have gotten something that resembled writer's block. But I'm okay now, and ready to write. Thanks for reviewing the last chapter! Hope you all like this one!

CHAPTER FOUR: Instincts

'This isn't meant to last.' The thought crossed his mind more than once, but it hadn't gotten under Spike's skin so much as it did at that moment. He had snuck onto a plane and hid in the cargo hold. Normally, he would have just stolen a ticket, but he didn't really fancy getting into any trouble in his first week as a human.

Getting back on the subject, he still couldn't believe it. It was… too good to be true. He knew, deep down, that it wasn't as easy as Lilah had made it out to be. It wasn't just, oh, you're human, simple as that. Just because he saved the world.

'Only I didn't, not really,' he thought. Buffy had saved the world, with her friends and potentials. He was just the bloke who wore the shiny trinket. He sighed, taking a deep breath.

He didn't want to believe it wasn't that easy, so he made up his mind not to dwell on it. Instead, he decided to focus on the matter at hand. Getting to Cleveland, finding Buffy and her friends, and trying not to cause uncomfortable tension. He had a feeling the next couple weeks were going to be interesting.

*********

Buffy dragged her feet to the bus the next day. She hadn't gotten any sleep last night whatsoever. Neither had the rest of them. They'd been caught up in the hustle and bustle of autograph signing. Buffy sighed. Her wrist hurt.

"Let's go then," Giles called when Buffy entered the bus and plopped down on one of the seats. "Are you sure you'll be able to drive? You look tired," Xander said. He and Willow had come out to see what was going on and had been bombarded by Slayers. It wasn't entirely pleasant.

"Willow, can't you just magick us to Cleveland?" Dawn asked, knowing the answer already but she thought, what the heck? Willow shook her head. "You remember what happened the last time I did a transportation spell, with Glory?" she said.

Dawn sighed, turned over and tried to relax. She had been antsy since she woke up. She knew something was going to happen, good or bad she couldn't tell. She just had a gut feeling. All her instincts were screaming at her it seemed. And by now, she had learned to trust them.

**********

"Cleveland, Ohio, one-hundred and sixty five miles," Giles read as they passed a sign on the freeway. He heard sighs of relief come from every direction.

"Well, I don't think it was that bad," Giles said. "Oh, yeah, it was fine until Andrew started singing," Dawn said. When they crossed the border of Ohio, Andrew had gotten through his head that singing, "The wheels on the bus go round and round…" over and over and over again would somehow pass the time quicker. It didn't.

So far, after passing through many different states and occasionally kicking some demon ass, the trip had been… okay. It was definitely a change from Sunnydale. Speaking of which, Buffy had bought a radio a few days back and the official story of how Sunnydale came to be lost was there was a large, until then undiscovered fault line underneath only that area around the town and a massive Earthquake had destroyed the entire place.

As always, everyone believed it.

"Put on some music to drown out Andrew," Xander said to Buffy. She glanced up at him. "I wanna keep listening. Just in case, ya know," she answered.

An hour later and everyone but Dawn was hungry, so they all got out at a McDonald's and ate while she stayed in the bus.

She eyed the radio and went to turn the dial to a music station when something she heard caught her attention.

"…officials say the only body recovered was that of a man, who was rushed to the nearest hospital in Los Angeles and is doing just fine. They said he seemed to be in a daze and couldn't tell them anything about Sunnydale's final moments…"

Dawn's eyes went wide. Everyone had left Sunnydale before the big battle, so who would be there? Was it even possible that it was who she thought it was? "Don't be stupid. He's dead, Buffy said he was," Dawn told herself. But she knew that there was a chance…

When Buffy and the rest returned, she didn't tell them a thing. She didn't want to alarm them or give Buffy false hope. If it was Spike, she was sure they'd see him again someday.

**********

The sun made Spike squint as it washed over him. He still wasn't used to walking around when it wasn't dark. He also found that when it was summer while you were human, black wasn't the best color to wear.

So here he was, in the front of a clothes store, looking for something that would make him look decent and cool him down at the same time. Right now, he was wearing some clothes that had been given to him by Wolfram and Hart. He looked like a cross between a businessman and a construction worker.

It had been pretty easy acquiring money, at least. He had made up his mind to go through luggage in the cargo hold, and found a little less than two thousand dollars altogether. He was already starting to feel guilty about it, but there was no way he was going to keep walking around in his current state.

After finding nothing, he left the store and went to another that looked more his style. He walked in and was met with a cool breeze and loud music, not that he minded. He noted they were playing songs by The Sex Pistols. Definitely his style.

After finding everything he needed clothes wise, he left and got changed in a men's bathroom, dumping the old clothes in a nearby trash can and shoving the remainder of his money into his back pocket.

He was wearing black jeans because there was no way he would ever willingly dress in anything but those, and a white vest. It looked a little strange against his pale skin that seemed to be getting less paler by the second, although it was still considered pale in the human world, but it would do. Kept him cool at least. It was about 90 degrees outside, yet windy enough so that the heat wasn't uncomfortable. Spike glanced down at his feet. He really needed his Doc Martens back. He wondered if there were any good show stores around here…

And if he would be seeing Buffy walking around. Ever since he had arrived there a few days before, he had been searching for her. He figured it was likely she wasn't there yet, but even with that knowledge, he kept his eyes open.

The amulet was still in his pocket. He was still feeling powerful, like he could snap the neck of any passerby, though the want to do that was gone.

Hell, even the bloodlust had completely evaporated. When you were a vampire with a soul, the bloodlust never stopped. You always wanted to feed, but your guilt and conscience stopped you from doing it. Now he was human he didn't feel the bloodlust at all, and it was a nice change.

He actually felt chocolate lust coming on.

*********

When the Scoobies had finally arrived in Cleveland, their first stop was a hotel and lots of sleep. The next day, they had walked around and checked out all the sites, and Giles had opened an account in a nearby bank and had his money transferred. He had also checked in with the remaining members of the Watcher's Council, who had begun banding together in a top secret place in London and began to form plans of how they were going to control the Slayers. Giles had told them they'd never be able to, and to go on with their lives. They hadn't listened.

Now it was night, and Buffy, Willow, Xander, and Andrew were patrolling. "We need to clean up this town," Buffy said as she faced off against and staked the seventeenth vampire that night. "Isn't it funny how there are Slayers everywhere else but here?" Andrew asked, feigning laughter. He coughed. "It's a good thing we're here, though, since there really is no Slayer guarding this place," Willow said. She noticed Buffy wasn't very happy. "What happened to living like a person?" Buffy muttered under her breath. "Oh, don't worry Buffy! Erm, I'm sure lots of Slayers will be drawn to the Hellmouth. And we have Kennedy, so you can retire all you want," Willow said quickly.

Buffy smiled. "I know, Will. It's just this whole slaying thing is a habit, and now I don't have to do it I have this strange urgency to do… it. You get me?" she asked. Willow nodded. "It's just the Hellmouth, powering you up. Now that's it's the only one left, I er, think, it's probably gathering power from the one in Sunnydale and becoming all… stronger." "Wait, that's bad, right?" Xander asked. "I mean, the stronger the pull of a Hellmouth, the more vamps, demons, and other mystical beings it attracts, right?"

Buffy and Willow were silent. "I could be wrong. I'm probably wrong," Willow said. "HEY! I just thought of something funny!" Andrew said, speaking up. The three looked at him with expectantly.

Andrew, suddenly self-conscious, stuttered slightly before continuing. "We-well, if Sunnydale was the Hellmouth and that was the front of the globe, then wouldn't this be the Hellbutt because it's the… back." After a few moments of staring at him with raised eyebrows, Xander was the first who spoke up. "Okay, even my jokes aren't that lame."

Andrew was about to reply when a vamp jumped from behind a nearby tomb and grabbed Willow by the waist, forcing her head back. "Willow!" Buffy cried, clutching the stake in her hand tightly and driving it through the vampire's heart before he could sink his teeth into her friend's neck.

"Ow," Willow squeaked, brushing dust from her shirt. Then she added, "I really missed getting randomly attacked. I guess things are back to normal, huh?" she asked. Buffy and Xander nodded. "Okay, define 'normal'?" Andrew said, following the three as they walked on.

**********

"Dawn, are you alright? You seem a bit distraught," Giles said, sitting across from her at the little coffee table that came with the hotel. After a few moments of silence, Dawn seemed to finally acknowledge his presence.

"Oh, yeah, I'm fine. Just thinking." Giles smiled. "Yes, I've been known to do quite a bit of that myself after a battle. Don't worry, as always, everything will turn out fine." Dawn's brows were still furrowed, which made the retired librarian frown. Before he could again ask what was wrong, Dawn spoke.

"I'm hungry. I'm going to go see if that little gift shop down the street has something to eat. I'll be right back." Before Giles could protest, she was out of the door and down the hall. Giles sighed. 'Teenagers,' he thought.

**********

Dawn walked down the stairs of the hotel and past the lobby, heading in the direction she thought she should go. She wasn't hungry and she didn't plan on going to the gift shop. Her instincts had been nagging her all day and she was finally going to see what was up. She followed them and stopped right in front of room one-hundred five. Had she just heard someone yelling? A British someone? She pressed her ear closer to the door and heard, "They cancelled Passions again? I should have stayed dead." Dawn's heart skipped when she realized that she recognized that voice.

Her heart began pounding in her chest. Why was she so nervous? If it was who she knew it was, then there would be nothing to be nervous about. So how come she was? After standing outside the door for a few minutes, she brought her shaking fist to the door and knocked. Once. Twice. When she was in mid-knock the third time she heard shuffling inside and the door swung open. Dawn gasped in surprise.

**********

When he heard someone knocking on his hotel door, immediately Spike thought that insulting the man at the counter had been a bad idea. But the man was so asking for it! He just couldn't help it.

But when he finally opened the door to reveal, not the hotel manager, but a very familiar face he hadn't known what to say. So he said the first thing that came to mind.

"Hi Nibblet."