A/N: I hope you still like it!

Thanks to Jennifer for beta-reading!

Chapter 3

Buffy drove as fast as she could until they arrived at the forest. There the two sisters left the car and ran to the place where the vampire's grave was.

Like they had expected the earth had been disturbed, someone or something had found its way out. The clothes Dawn had left for Spike were gone.

But was it really the same Spike they had known?

"Ok," Buffy said. "Now we know that you have succeeded, but we still have to find out where he is."

The slayer carefully inspected the ground. There was a track leading away from the grave. The problems he had had with walking were obvious; if he had been in hell he was probably still hurt.

Maybe badly.

"Buffy..." Dawn's voice was quiet and her older sister immediately came over to her.

The girl was looking at the ground, her eyes wide and sad. At first Buffy wondered what she was staring at but then she saw it as well: There was blood!

Not much, but there was no doubt of what it was.

"It doesn't have to be from Spike," Buffy tried to comfort her younger sister, even though she didn't believe it herself. "It could be the blood of an animal or something. I don't think that it's his." This was a lie and it was hard for her to hold back her feelings.

The guilt was coming back.

If she had been more careful Spike never would have died and everything would be alright now. He would not have been forced to face hell and Dawn wouldn't have gone to the Ghora's nest to get its egg. This could have meant her death if the demon had been there.

But the slayer knew that she had to control those feelings now and so she told Dawn that they had to go back to the car and try to find the vampire as fast as possible.

Maybe Giles could help them. She would ask him, even though she knew that he would be angry at first.

She turned and left.

Dawn followed her quietly.

**********

Giles stopped the car, put the key in his pocket and got out.

While doing this he constantly watched the vampire's reaction, but there was none.

He still sat there, unmoving.

Only the deep blue eyes followed every movement the watcher made.

When he reached the other side of the car, Giles slowly opened the door. He did everything very slowly, trying not to scare the vampire even more than he already was.

First he wanted to get Spike somehow out of the car, but then he hesitated. During the short time they had been together he had found out that the vampire was afraid of being touched. Probably he had been hurt too much while he had been in hell.

Gently he held out his right hand.

"Come on, you know I won't hurt you. I just want to get you inside."

Then he waited patiently for Spike to react.

**********

The vampire carefully watched Giles walking over to the right side of the car.

Buffy's watcher opened the door and stood still for a moment.

Spike already wondered what he was up to as he held out his hand.

"Come on, you know I won't hurt you. I just want to get you inside."

Well, Spike wasn't that sure. No, he was terribly afraid. He still wasn't convinced that all this wasn't a trick.

Maybe it was.

What if the person who looked like Giles, behaved like Giles, was in truth one of those hell demons?

He so wished he could be sure, but he couldn't. And there was nobody who would be able to help him, to tell him what to do.

There was no way of being sure but he had no choice but taking the hand that was offered to him.

He did it carefully, as if the touch could burn him.

But of course it didn't and so he was helped out of the car.

When he was standing on his feet Giles' other arm immediately supported him and slowly they went into the apartment.

In there he was helped to sit down on the sofa.

"I'll be right back." Spike heard the voice and understood the words, but he just couldn't bring himself to answer. It had been too long since he had used his voice and he didn't know whether he could use it or not.

He saw that the other man had walked out of the room.

Now that he was alone he felt fear taking control over him again.

To distract himself the vampire looked around in Giles' living room. It was just as it had been before he had died.

Spike sighed a little.

Everything was as if nothing had happened and he so wished this could be true. He wished nothing of all that had happened.

It didn't take long for Giles to come back with some bandages, pajamas and a bowl of water with a cloth in it.

**********

Carefully the watcher washed off the dirt and blood from Spike's skin, and then he bandaged the wounds and tried to set the broken bones.

Giles could see how much it hurt and gently spoke to the vampire all the time. He didn't want him to bolt because he was afraid of the pain and he really got a reaction.

First the other's body had been shaking but then he had calmed down and obviously tried to concentrate on Giles' words.

"It's done," he finally said and gently helped Spike to put on the pajamas.

"You... you can sleep in my bed. Come, I'll help you to the bedroom." For a long moment the other looked at him and the doubt and uncertainty nearly broke the watcher's heart.

"Come on now, you'll feel better tomorrow."

Finally Spike nodded and let Giles help him to stand up.

**********

It felt good to lie in a soft and warm bed again after such a long time.

Spike sighed with contentment for the first time in hundreds of years. Finally he could relax a little and slowly his eyes closed.

He felt Giles' gentle hand on his shoulder. He felt better but still he didn't feel safe enough to fall asleep, even though he was deadly tired.

"It's alright," The other man's voice sounded soothing and it felt so good to hear it. "I'll stay with you. There's nothing to be afraid of. Just try to get some sleep."

The vampire couldn't fight it anymore and finally he drifted of.

When he was nearly asleep he heard something loud and he was sure that all this had been only a vision, created to torture him.

He panicked, tried to get out of the bed but felt strong hands preventing it. This scared him even more and he desperately tried to break free.

But there was no use, he was too weak from blood loss, pain and shock. The wounds began to hurt again, so he finally stopped struggling, laid his head down on the pillow and wept hopelessly.

**********

Giles smiled as he saw the vampire relax against the pillow but the fact that he was still breathing told him that he was not asleep yet.

After a few gentle words, Spike finally drifted off.

Slowly the watcher stood up from the bed and sat down on a chair next to it. He had promised not to leave and he would keep it.

Now that he had time to think, he wondered what had happened to Spike. While the vampire had still been awake he had concentrated only on him but now he tried to figure out how it had been possible that he had come back.

A spell, it must have been a spell.

But who had done it?

Suddenly the doorbell rang.

Before Giles could react Spike panicked and tried to get out of the bed. Usually it would have been impossible for him to hold the vampire down but in this weak state there was no big fight.

After a few seconds the other gave up and broke down sobbing.

"Hush, it's alright. No one will hurt you here. I won't allow it. It was only the doorbell; even over-the-hill shopkeepers get visitors now and then. You don't have to worry."

It was hard to see how this usually so strong vampire was so weak. He had never thought that Spike's fate could affect him so much.

Slowly the sobbing stopped and the other calmed down.

Blue eyes finally focused on Giles again.

The watcher smiled again. "That's good. There's nothing to be afraid of."

Once more the doorbell rang.

Spike jumped a little but he didn't panic again. 'That's a start', Giles thought.

"Just a minute!" he called out loudly and then he looked down at the vampire once more. "I'll be right back. Nobody will come in here as long as I'm away. You are safe. Do you understand?"

After a moment he was given a small nod.

"Good, then you'll try to get some more sleep until I'm back."

Another nod.

**********

As fast as possible Buffy and Dawn had come to Giles' apartment.

"Do you think it's very clever to tell Giles everything?" Dawn asked. She was nervous and worried about Spike.

"Do you have a better idea?"

No answer.

Buffy rang the doorbell.

The light in the living room was burning but there was no reaction.

They waited for nearly five minutes until the slayer tried again.

This time they got an answer. "Just a minute!" Giles called from inside.

"Ok, he's probably using the bathroom. He could hurry up a little." Buffy was muttering to herself and Dawn could see that her older sister was nervous as well.

Finally the door opened and Giles looked at the two girls.

**********

Buffy and Dawn.

That was not really what he had needed right now.

Of course they would eventually find out but Giles wanted to know how Spike had been able to come back first.

"What... what is it, you two? It's pretty late."

"Yeah, it is. Can we talk to you?" his slayer asked.

"I just... wanted to go to bed." It wasn't easy for him to lie to her. And he was sure that she could see that something was wrong.

"It's important."

"Well... ok."

He stepped back so the two sisters and allowed the two sisters to come in.

The three of them sat down in the living room and Giles waited for Buffy to explain.

"You do remember what happened when our mum died, right?"

"I remember everything."

After a small pause Buffy continued. "You still know what Dawn did, don't you?"

With that Giles finally understood.

How could he have been so blind?

The spell!

Dawn had tried to bring her mother back and now she had brought Spike back.

The vampire had been like a big brother to her, she had missed him terribly. And the thought that he might be in hell hadn't left her all the time.

God, he should have known!

He should have figured out!

Then Buffy spoke again. "Giles? Are you still with us?"

The watcher didn't answer her. He only looked at Dawn. "You have succeeded." That was all he said.

**********

The teenager looked at the older man with wide eyes. "What... what do you mean?"

"I mean that your spell worked."

Dawn was too shocked to talk and so Buffy asked the question which was most important now. "How do you know about the spell?"

"I found him."

"You know where he is?" Dawn whispered.

"He's here."

TBC