"Yeah Buffy. What are we gonna do now?" The younger Summers inquired.
Buffy just stood looking at the chasm that used to be Sunny Dale, the tears rimming her eyes were blurring her vision and threatening to spill over. "It's done," she quietly whispered to herself.
Faith piped up, to voice her concern. "Hey B, not to ruin the Hallmark moment or anything but your house is in that rubble and we need somewhere to go."
Buffy wiped the tears from her eyes and turned to face her friends.
"Not to be a downer Buff," Buffy looked at Xander, "but Faith has a point the bus is cool and all, but the Partridge family we're not."
"Ummm yeah and I really have to tinkle." Andrew made his way into the group.
"Ok, Andrew you're a guy, go behind a cactus and do your business, Faith, gather everyone up, take roll, and calm them down."
"On it B." Faith walked over to the group of girls huddled close to the bus.
"Ummmm Buffy?"
"Yes Andrew."
"Can someone come with me, I'm afraid I may be bitten by a large snake."
Buffy cocked her head to the side and smiled, her lips twitched as she tried to suppress the laughter inside her head. Then with out warning she started to laugh hard she grabbed her sides and doubled over. Her friends stood there with quizzical looks on their faces, they didn't understand what was so funny, "maybe she's finally lost it," they all thought quietly to themselves.
"What's so funny?" Willow sounded confused.
Buffy fought to regain her composure and in between giggles she managed to stammer out, "We just fought an army of ; bringers and neander-vamps, we stopped the First, and escaped Sunny Dale , which is now a pit in the ground that contains our homes. Not to mention that this all took place in the high school that was built to replace the one we blew up four years ago. And he's worried about getting bitten in the ass by a snake." The group looked at her, then Andrew and then each other and erupted in laughter.
"When you put it that way it does sound rather preposterous." Giles finally managed to say.
"Well all of this laughter really isn't helping my situation so I think I'll just find a nice cactus to use as a urinal." Andrew scurried off towards the side of the road.
"Man I can't believe we destroyed two high schools and the entire town," Willow said in a shocked voice.
Faith walked up helping Wood keep his balance, followed by the newly chosen Slayers.
Kennedy spoke up. "We couldn't find the exact right words to convey what we wanted to say to you so thank you, for everything."
Buffy looked at the group in front of her and all she could say was, "You're welcome."
Andrew walked back up to the group. "Hey what's going on?"
"The girls just thanked Buffy." Wood stated.
"Oh Ok." Andrew just stood still.
"Well girls take a look and see what we did." Buffy stated in a bittersweet tone.
"We flattened Sunnydale," one of the young slayers surmised in a sad tone.
"Well in all fairness it was going to hell anyway, with the evil and all," Xander quipped trying to lighten the mood. Everyone looked at him as if he had three heads. " Get it, Sunny Dale, hell mouth." He gestured for emphasis. "Oh you're all no fun after you've stopped an apocolypse."
They all stood there for a moment staring at the ravine once called Sunny Dale.
Buffy spoke up to break the silence, she couldn't wait to escape the ex- town and all the memories it held, she wanted to escape everything, everything except the ash that used to be her lover. "Hey Robin do you have your cell phone on you?" "Yeah it's in the emergency kit on the bus, but I doubt it'll work." "Well we can try, everyone get back on the bus, Faith you're driving. I have a call to make."---
--Angel hug up the telephone with a weary look on his face. He could always tell when Buffy was lying, not that she hid it very well. He asked her if the amulet worked and she stammered "What Angel, I'm losing you." and then disconnected the call before he could protest. Spike was either badly hurt or worse and he knew it. Spike may have been a punk rock, cocky, chain smoking, pain in the ass, who drank all his scotch and called him Peaches for the last century, but he was still Angel's childe and he still cared about him. Now he had to wait three hours to find out which scenario was correct. --
--Buffy looked at the small black device in her hands then back at the hole in front of her. "Good Bye Sunny Hell," she whispered softly, and then even softer, "I love you Spike." She turned back around and boarded the bus. "Alright girls we're off to LA."
Faith Turned to look at Buffy, "Going to see Angel-cakes eh?"
Buffy gave her a warning glare.
"Angel, yeah," Dawn cheered gleefully, "hey have a mall right," Dawn asked comically.
Xander sat there silent he knew that Buffy didn't need his snide anti-Angel comments right now, especially since he noticed that Spike hadn't made it out of town. Plus a few days at Angel's hotel sounded like heaven right now, he'd finally have his own room and a shower, and a place to have a good manly cry for his Anya.
Faith hit the gas and the bus roared into gear, leaving Sunny Dale and all their nightmares behind, hopefully forever.--
--Three hours later a yellow school bus came to a stop in front of the Hyperion. It was early evening but all the travelers felt as if they'd been awake for the better part of a month, when in all actuality it had been the better part of almost three months. Most of the girls had either dozed off or were talking quietly in the back. Xander and Willow fell asleep on each other, Giles was tending to Wood's wound, which had already started to heal. 'Must be one of those things that comes from having a slayer mom,' Giles thought to himself. Buffy was sitting in the seat behind Faith, Dawn had fallen asleep and was presently drooling on her shoulder, Buffy just sat staring blankly out the window.
Faith got on the PA "Alright folks, last stop LA. Home of drug dealers, muggers, smuglers, hookers, crack heads, and some of the most notorious gangs in the US, but it's a hell of a lot safer than Sunny Hell. And I hope you enjoyed your trip on Slayer bus-lines."
Faith watched as all of the occupants on the bus got up to stretch and de- board all accept one. She stood up and turned to the petite blonde in the seat behind her. "Earth to B. B you in there?" Faith placed her hand on the other slayer's shoulder and gently shook her. Buffy quickly snapped back to reality and looked up at her brunette counterpart. "Hey B thought went all 'Cuckoo's Nest 'on us."
"No just thinking."
"Anyone I know? Maybe a six foot platinum blonde."
"Yeah someone like that."
"He saved the world Buffy, I mean without him and that piece of Joan Rivers jewelry no amount of fighting or ass kicking was gonna stop that thing. If it weren't for ol' Spikey we'd all be vampire snacks. He did good Buff, and he knows you love him, if that's what you're worried about."
"Yeah I guess. Hey when did you get so smart?" The blonde stood up.
"I dunno, must be one of those delayed slayer things. Let's get inside, I could sleep for a week."--
--Somewhere in another dimension Spike was a floating spirit.
"What the bloody fuckin' 'ell. I'm bloody Casper."
Spike tried to reach into the pocket of his duster to retrieve his cigarettes but he found nothing. He was truly a ghost.
"Ok now I'm really pissed."--
--There was no time for real formalities when the war torn pack entered the hotel, Angel gave them a curt nod and Wesley showed them to their rooms and none of them were seen or hear from until the next morning.
Dawn was the first one to wake up and bound down the stairs. Angel saw her and couldn't help but think what a beautiful young woman she had become, she was just about Connor's age. He missed Connor so much, but he knew that he was truly in a better place. Dawn noticed the distant look in Angel's eyes, "Earth to Angel. Morning Angel." He finally returned from his thoughts. "
"What ya thinking about?" Dawn asked.
"Nothing important. So tell me when did you grow up so much?"
"Probably between the first time you left Sunny Dale and the last."
"That was below the belt Dawnie."
"Learned from the best."
"Yeah Buffy's pretty good at that."
"So anyway. Do you have any food around here, I could seriously eat for a day?"
"Yeah I think we have some non-plasma related products in the kitchen. After you my lady."
"Why thank you kind sir."
The two walked arm in arm to the kitchen.--
--Buffy started to stir awake, but fought the day as long as she could. She lay in bed staring at the ceiling twisting the sheets in her hands. Even though her hardest physical battle yet was over she still had to face Angel and tell him what happened to Spike. Worse than that she had to face her first full day in almost eight months without the Peroxide blonde. She knew he was gone and there was nothing she could do about it, she knew she should be glad that she still had her friends and Dawn, and that they made it out of there with minimal casualties but she just couldn't shake the feeling that she was actually missing a part of herself.
She finally surrendered to the sunlight and decided that she needed a shower. She stripped off the bra and underwear she slept in and examined her newest injuries. She had a few fading bruises on her arms and legs and a nice sized purple welt on her left shoulder blade. She also had a three inch scar on the right side of her abdomen, with an exact replica on her back where she had been stabbed.
"I've looked worse. Hell I've been dead. This is cake." She said to her reflection.
She stepped into the tub and turned the shower -head on, the warm water felt good on her ailing body. Suddenly a memory slithered into her brain.
~~~~It was before the angry sex, before Willow went crazy with the magic, before Tara died, before Buffy drove Spike to his breaking point, before Spike left to get his soul. Willow was staying at Tara's overnight and Dawn was at a sleep over party for one of her friends. It had been a particularly slay heavy night Buffy and Spike dusted at least 15 vamps and killed 5 demons who Buffy would rather not identify, she was just glad they were dead.
The last demon they fought was a large one at least 7 feet tall and about six times her weight. Spike was trying to distract it while Buffy crept around the back to stab it. She must not have seen it's tail swing at her because the next thing she knew she was being thrown through the air and landed on a tombstone. Spike managed to stab the thing in the heart as it watched Buffy fly like a rag doll in a fan. Not a very bright demon. He walked up to the tomb stone she was currently laying on and tried to help her up. He felt quite bad for her, she had landed on her back half her torso and her arms were hanging over one side of the tomb stone and her lumbar and legs were dangling over the other side. But buffy being her natural stubborn Slayer self was having none of that.
"Here luv lemme help you up."
"I can do it myself. What just because a girl gets tossed through the air and lands square on her back atop a rather hard head stone you think I can't get up."
"No ducks I know you can get up, but I thought that if I gave you a hand it might keep you from screaming out in pain and alerting any stray demons to our present location."
"Well that's where you're wrong, I'm a slayer this is nothing."
"Fine have it your way." He stepped back and lit a cigarette.
She tried to move her arms under her back and straighten up. But suddenly froze wide- eyed.
Spike could see that she was in a lot of pain, but he wasn't going to help her until she asked him to. Serves her right for being such a stubborn ass.
"Umm Spike."
"Problem luv?"
"Yeah, I'm gonna scream."
"Are you asking for my help"
"Yes damn it, help me." Her voice cracked in pain.
Even in the dark he could the tears streaming down her cheeks and her lip tremble. He quickly stomped out the cigarette he was smoking and walked over to her. He slid one hand under her shoulders and one under her legs.
"Take a deep breath luv this is going to hurt." As gently as he put her right arm around his neck and slowly lifted the petite blonde off the headstone, and held her to his chest. She buried her head into his strong pectoral muscle and let out a small cry.
"It's ok luv, ol' Spike's got you. I'm gonna take you home and we'll take care of that back of yours."
She grasped the right lapel of his jacket with her left hand and kept her head buried in his chest. He smelled like leather, and cigarettes, and Irish Spring, she could stay like this all day. Buffy quickly fell asleep. The next thing she knew was they were in her bedroom and Spike was talking softly to her.
"Buffy luv, wake up."
"No mom, I don't want to go to school, Snyder is a nazi and he's trying kick me out again."
"Buffy it's not your mum, it's Spike."
She was still asleep on his chest. "Well tell him to clean out his mug after he's done using it because I'm tired of chiseling out dried wheetabix and blood."
He chuckled softly at the comment. "I'll make a mental not of that luv. Now you have to wake up."
He gently placed Buffy on her bed she stirred at the loss of his hands around her body. He shook her shoulders gently.
"Hey there." She said groggily.
"Well well, Sleeping Beauty finally woke up. How ya feeling sleepy head?"
"Sore, and um, well sore pretty much sums it up."
"Ok well you need out get out of that shirt."
"What for?"
"So I can see what's going on with that back o' yours."
"Ok. Can you help me sit up?"
"Sure can." He shook his duster off and threw it on a chair across the room. He stood on the bed in front of her his legs touching hers. "Ok give me your hands. She complied. As gingerly as he could he pulled the Slayer into the sitting position. Her back cracked loudly as he did this.
"SSSS." She hissed in pain.
"Ok hands above your head." She did so, this time her shoulders cracked. He slowly guided her shirt over body and over her head. "Bra too."
"I'll be getting this one myself." She tried to reach behind her but couldn't do it herself. "Are you sure you're just not doing this to get a look at me naked?" She asked trying to stall.
"Never said I wasn't luv, I'm a bad, bad man remember?"
"Yeah I remember, William the Bloody, Slayer of Slayers and all that rot." 'Rot' she though to herself, 'When did I start talking like Spike?' "Can you help me get this damn thing off? God I hate bras."
" I dunno, they c'n be rather fun to take off."
He reached one cool hand behind her and expertly flicked the clasp open and removed the offending garment from her shoulders. He averted his eyes from the beauty in front of him because he knew that one glance at her breasts would ruin this evening. Not that it was supposed to be anything special, but Buffy trusting him like this meant everything to him.
"On your stomach, I'll be back with the Ben Gay in a minute."
"Screw the Ben Gay, get the Banalag."
"What's Banalag?"
"It's like Ben Gay on steroids. It's in the hall closet next to the umm feminine products."
"Right, be back in a flash."
He was back in les that a minute carrying a small glass bottle that contained a teal liquid. He sat on the bed next to her and poured some on her back, making sure to take notice of the purple and black bruise forming on the small of her back and to avoid all scrapes in the process. Whatever this stuff had in it made his hands tingle and he was sure that if it mixed with scrapes she would go through the roof.
"This stuff smells like Vicks Vapor Rub luv. And it is making my hands all tingly."
She had a content look on her face as he gently massaged her pain away. "It's supposed to do that besides it feels so good."
After about 20 minutes Buffy's breathing and heart rate had slowed he could tell that she was almost asleep. "Well I'm all done here, you should be good as new in the morning. I'm gonna go wash my hands and hope the feeling returns."
After he left the room Buffy got up and changed into a pair of pajamas. A pair of black pajama pants with little devils running around carrying pitchforks, a present from Willow last Christmas, and a black tank top.
Spike came back into the room and she turned around. "Well I guess I'll be on my way," he turned to grab his duster off the chair.
"Ummm, Spike."
"Yes?"
"Thank you."
"You're welcome luv."
"Spike?'
"Yes?" He could hear her heart racing in her chest, and see fear in her eyes. No matter what she did her eyes always told the truth.
"You see, Dawnie and Willow are both gone and, and," she stammered, "I umm don't like to be alone in the house at night, I can't fall asleep if the house is empty. So could you ummm stay with me?" He just looked at her, he was stunned and touched at the same time. "You can leave as soon as I'm asleep," she added quickly.
"Sure thing luv, I'll just stay right here," he motioned to the chair that presently contained his prized duster.
"You can stay with me if you want. You know, in my bed." She was looking at the floor like she might want to dive through it into the room below her.
"Sure thing." He kicked his boots off and followed her to her bed and slid in. She crawled in next to him and lay her head on his chest and her hand on his shoulder. He slid his left arm under her anchoring her to him, and put his right arm around her and gently traced lines all over her back.
"Night spike." She said groggily.
"Night Buffy." He kissed her head. He could hear her breathing and heart slow down again. She was fast asleep in 5 minutes. He lay there next to her for the next few hours. He woke up about 4:30 he could smell the sunrise, he knew he needed to get back to his crypt before he had to deal with the sun, not to mention Scoobies. He slowly detangled himself from Buffy, as not to wake her. He quietly crept across her room and pulled his boots on and slipped into his jacket. He walked back over to the bed and placed a soft chaste kiss on her cheek. Then he slipped out her window and went back to his crypt.
When Buffy's alarm went off at 10:30 stirring her from her sleep. Spike was gone, as she expected, she got out of bed, stretched and walked over to her window to close it. For the first time since she had been brought back she felt refreshed and she realized why, this was the first night where she hadn't had a nightmare in which she was back in her coffin. She closed the window and then went and took shower.
That was the last time she felt that way, well the last time up until a few nights ago when Spike found her in that abandoned house and slept with her.~~~~
As quickly as the memory had come to her it disappeared just as fast and there she was bruised and alone in the shower. Her mother was dead, her father was MIA again, Riley had never really even been hers, and Angel clearly had his own problems judging from Cordy's absence. Spike, the only person who was ever always there for her, her partner, her lover, he promised he'd never leave and he did just that. He left like all the others.
"WHY, WHY DID YOU LEAVE ME!!! YOU SON OF A BITCH, YOU HAD NO RIGHT TO LEAVE ME!!! YOU SAID YOU'D ALWAYS BE THERE, BUT YOU LEFT, LIKE EVERYONE ELSE YOU LEFT ME!!!! I LOVE YOU!!! YOU LEFT!!!!" The words came out harsh and ragged. She leaned against the wall in the tub and slid down pulling her knees to her chest and let the sobs over power her. ---
--In the hotel kitchen a very different scene was unfolding. Wes and Gunn had woken up, not to mention most of the slayers, including Faith. They were discussing what to do that day. Buffy came into the kitchen as they decided to go to the mall.
"Hey Buffy." Dawn said cheerfully.
"Want some French toast B, it's pretty kick ass."
"Yeah Buff Lorne's a better cook then that 'Bam' guy on food channel."
"Well I have had awhile to perfect it."
"Yeah I'm starved, so what's this talk about a mall?"
Fred spoke up this time. "Well Wolfrum and Hart gave us credit cards with a generous credit line, so Wes and I decided to go to the mall to get you all some new clothing and stuff since yours is all buried under Sunny Dale. We're leaving in ten minutes."
"Cool, I have to take ca of something and I'll meet you at the car." Buffy left the kitchen to search or Angel, she found him in his office looking something up on the computer.
"So now you're research guy?"
"Umm yeah, kinda."
Buffy sat down in the chair across the desk from Angel. "Small talk really isn't our thing so I'll get to the point. Spike died."
Angel looked at her pain filled his eyes. "I know." He paused for a second and looked Buffy in the eye. "How?"
"He saved the world." She said quietly, then stood up and left the room.--
Buffy just stood looking at the chasm that used to be Sunny Dale, the tears rimming her eyes were blurring her vision and threatening to spill over. "It's done," she quietly whispered to herself.
Faith piped up, to voice her concern. "Hey B, not to ruin the Hallmark moment or anything but your house is in that rubble and we need somewhere to go."
Buffy wiped the tears from her eyes and turned to face her friends.
"Not to be a downer Buff," Buffy looked at Xander, "but Faith has a point the bus is cool and all, but the Partridge family we're not."
"Ummm yeah and I really have to tinkle." Andrew made his way into the group.
"Ok, Andrew you're a guy, go behind a cactus and do your business, Faith, gather everyone up, take roll, and calm them down."
"On it B." Faith walked over to the group of girls huddled close to the bus.
"Ummmm Buffy?"
"Yes Andrew."
"Can someone come with me, I'm afraid I may be bitten by a large snake."
Buffy cocked her head to the side and smiled, her lips twitched as she tried to suppress the laughter inside her head. Then with out warning she started to laugh hard she grabbed her sides and doubled over. Her friends stood there with quizzical looks on their faces, they didn't understand what was so funny, "maybe she's finally lost it," they all thought quietly to themselves.
"What's so funny?" Willow sounded confused.
Buffy fought to regain her composure and in between giggles she managed to stammer out, "We just fought an army of ; bringers and neander-vamps, we stopped the First, and escaped Sunny Dale , which is now a pit in the ground that contains our homes. Not to mention that this all took place in the high school that was built to replace the one we blew up four years ago. And he's worried about getting bitten in the ass by a snake." The group looked at her, then Andrew and then each other and erupted in laughter.
"When you put it that way it does sound rather preposterous." Giles finally managed to say.
"Well all of this laughter really isn't helping my situation so I think I'll just find a nice cactus to use as a urinal." Andrew scurried off towards the side of the road.
"Man I can't believe we destroyed two high schools and the entire town," Willow said in a shocked voice.
Faith walked up helping Wood keep his balance, followed by the newly chosen Slayers.
Kennedy spoke up. "We couldn't find the exact right words to convey what we wanted to say to you so thank you, for everything."
Buffy looked at the group in front of her and all she could say was, "You're welcome."
Andrew walked back up to the group. "Hey what's going on?"
"The girls just thanked Buffy." Wood stated.
"Oh Ok." Andrew just stood still.
"Well girls take a look and see what we did." Buffy stated in a bittersweet tone.
"We flattened Sunnydale," one of the young slayers surmised in a sad tone.
"Well in all fairness it was going to hell anyway, with the evil and all," Xander quipped trying to lighten the mood. Everyone looked at him as if he had three heads. " Get it, Sunny Dale, hell mouth." He gestured for emphasis. "Oh you're all no fun after you've stopped an apocolypse."
They all stood there for a moment staring at the ravine once called Sunny Dale.
Buffy spoke up to break the silence, she couldn't wait to escape the ex- town and all the memories it held, she wanted to escape everything, everything except the ash that used to be her lover. "Hey Robin do you have your cell phone on you?" "Yeah it's in the emergency kit on the bus, but I doubt it'll work." "Well we can try, everyone get back on the bus, Faith you're driving. I have a call to make."---
--Angel hug up the telephone with a weary look on his face. He could always tell when Buffy was lying, not that she hid it very well. He asked her if the amulet worked and she stammered "What Angel, I'm losing you." and then disconnected the call before he could protest. Spike was either badly hurt or worse and he knew it. Spike may have been a punk rock, cocky, chain smoking, pain in the ass, who drank all his scotch and called him Peaches for the last century, but he was still Angel's childe and he still cared about him. Now he had to wait three hours to find out which scenario was correct. --
--Buffy looked at the small black device in her hands then back at the hole in front of her. "Good Bye Sunny Hell," she whispered softly, and then even softer, "I love you Spike." She turned back around and boarded the bus. "Alright girls we're off to LA."
Faith Turned to look at Buffy, "Going to see Angel-cakes eh?"
Buffy gave her a warning glare.
"Angel, yeah," Dawn cheered gleefully, "hey have a mall right," Dawn asked comically.
Xander sat there silent he knew that Buffy didn't need his snide anti-Angel comments right now, especially since he noticed that Spike hadn't made it out of town. Plus a few days at Angel's hotel sounded like heaven right now, he'd finally have his own room and a shower, and a place to have a good manly cry for his Anya.
Faith hit the gas and the bus roared into gear, leaving Sunny Dale and all their nightmares behind, hopefully forever.--
--Three hours later a yellow school bus came to a stop in front of the Hyperion. It was early evening but all the travelers felt as if they'd been awake for the better part of a month, when in all actuality it had been the better part of almost three months. Most of the girls had either dozed off or were talking quietly in the back. Xander and Willow fell asleep on each other, Giles was tending to Wood's wound, which had already started to heal. 'Must be one of those things that comes from having a slayer mom,' Giles thought to himself. Buffy was sitting in the seat behind Faith, Dawn had fallen asleep and was presently drooling on her shoulder, Buffy just sat staring blankly out the window.
Faith got on the PA "Alright folks, last stop LA. Home of drug dealers, muggers, smuglers, hookers, crack heads, and some of the most notorious gangs in the US, but it's a hell of a lot safer than Sunny Hell. And I hope you enjoyed your trip on Slayer bus-lines."
Faith watched as all of the occupants on the bus got up to stretch and de- board all accept one. She stood up and turned to the petite blonde in the seat behind her. "Earth to B. B you in there?" Faith placed her hand on the other slayer's shoulder and gently shook her. Buffy quickly snapped back to reality and looked up at her brunette counterpart. "Hey B thought went all 'Cuckoo's Nest 'on us."
"No just thinking."
"Anyone I know? Maybe a six foot platinum blonde."
"Yeah someone like that."
"He saved the world Buffy, I mean without him and that piece of Joan Rivers jewelry no amount of fighting or ass kicking was gonna stop that thing. If it weren't for ol' Spikey we'd all be vampire snacks. He did good Buff, and he knows you love him, if that's what you're worried about."
"Yeah I guess. Hey when did you get so smart?" The blonde stood up.
"I dunno, must be one of those delayed slayer things. Let's get inside, I could sleep for a week."--
--Somewhere in another dimension Spike was a floating spirit.
"What the bloody fuckin' 'ell. I'm bloody Casper."
Spike tried to reach into the pocket of his duster to retrieve his cigarettes but he found nothing. He was truly a ghost.
"Ok now I'm really pissed."--
--There was no time for real formalities when the war torn pack entered the hotel, Angel gave them a curt nod and Wesley showed them to their rooms and none of them were seen or hear from until the next morning.
Dawn was the first one to wake up and bound down the stairs. Angel saw her and couldn't help but think what a beautiful young woman she had become, she was just about Connor's age. He missed Connor so much, but he knew that he was truly in a better place. Dawn noticed the distant look in Angel's eyes, "Earth to Angel. Morning Angel." He finally returned from his thoughts. "
"What ya thinking about?" Dawn asked.
"Nothing important. So tell me when did you grow up so much?"
"Probably between the first time you left Sunny Dale and the last."
"That was below the belt Dawnie."
"Learned from the best."
"Yeah Buffy's pretty good at that."
"So anyway. Do you have any food around here, I could seriously eat for a day?"
"Yeah I think we have some non-plasma related products in the kitchen. After you my lady."
"Why thank you kind sir."
The two walked arm in arm to the kitchen.--
--Buffy started to stir awake, but fought the day as long as she could. She lay in bed staring at the ceiling twisting the sheets in her hands. Even though her hardest physical battle yet was over she still had to face Angel and tell him what happened to Spike. Worse than that she had to face her first full day in almost eight months without the Peroxide blonde. She knew he was gone and there was nothing she could do about it, she knew she should be glad that she still had her friends and Dawn, and that they made it out of there with minimal casualties but she just couldn't shake the feeling that she was actually missing a part of herself.
She finally surrendered to the sunlight and decided that she needed a shower. She stripped off the bra and underwear she slept in and examined her newest injuries. She had a few fading bruises on her arms and legs and a nice sized purple welt on her left shoulder blade. She also had a three inch scar on the right side of her abdomen, with an exact replica on her back where she had been stabbed.
"I've looked worse. Hell I've been dead. This is cake." She said to her reflection.
She stepped into the tub and turned the shower -head on, the warm water felt good on her ailing body. Suddenly a memory slithered into her brain.
~~~~It was before the angry sex, before Willow went crazy with the magic, before Tara died, before Buffy drove Spike to his breaking point, before Spike left to get his soul. Willow was staying at Tara's overnight and Dawn was at a sleep over party for one of her friends. It had been a particularly slay heavy night Buffy and Spike dusted at least 15 vamps and killed 5 demons who Buffy would rather not identify, she was just glad they were dead.
The last demon they fought was a large one at least 7 feet tall and about six times her weight. Spike was trying to distract it while Buffy crept around the back to stab it. She must not have seen it's tail swing at her because the next thing she knew she was being thrown through the air and landed on a tombstone. Spike managed to stab the thing in the heart as it watched Buffy fly like a rag doll in a fan. Not a very bright demon. He walked up to the tomb stone she was currently laying on and tried to help her up. He felt quite bad for her, she had landed on her back half her torso and her arms were hanging over one side of the tomb stone and her lumbar and legs were dangling over the other side. But buffy being her natural stubborn Slayer self was having none of that.
"Here luv lemme help you up."
"I can do it myself. What just because a girl gets tossed through the air and lands square on her back atop a rather hard head stone you think I can't get up."
"No ducks I know you can get up, but I thought that if I gave you a hand it might keep you from screaming out in pain and alerting any stray demons to our present location."
"Well that's where you're wrong, I'm a slayer this is nothing."
"Fine have it your way." He stepped back and lit a cigarette.
She tried to move her arms under her back and straighten up. But suddenly froze wide- eyed.
Spike could see that she was in a lot of pain, but he wasn't going to help her until she asked him to. Serves her right for being such a stubborn ass.
"Umm Spike."
"Problem luv?"
"Yeah, I'm gonna scream."
"Are you asking for my help"
"Yes damn it, help me." Her voice cracked in pain.
Even in the dark he could the tears streaming down her cheeks and her lip tremble. He quickly stomped out the cigarette he was smoking and walked over to her. He slid one hand under her shoulders and one under her legs.
"Take a deep breath luv this is going to hurt." As gently as he put her right arm around his neck and slowly lifted the petite blonde off the headstone, and held her to his chest. She buried her head into his strong pectoral muscle and let out a small cry.
"It's ok luv, ol' Spike's got you. I'm gonna take you home and we'll take care of that back of yours."
She grasped the right lapel of his jacket with her left hand and kept her head buried in his chest. He smelled like leather, and cigarettes, and Irish Spring, she could stay like this all day. Buffy quickly fell asleep. The next thing she knew was they were in her bedroom and Spike was talking softly to her.
"Buffy luv, wake up."
"No mom, I don't want to go to school, Snyder is a nazi and he's trying kick me out again."
"Buffy it's not your mum, it's Spike."
She was still asleep on his chest. "Well tell him to clean out his mug after he's done using it because I'm tired of chiseling out dried wheetabix and blood."
He chuckled softly at the comment. "I'll make a mental not of that luv. Now you have to wake up."
He gently placed Buffy on her bed she stirred at the loss of his hands around her body. He shook her shoulders gently.
"Hey there." She said groggily.
"Well well, Sleeping Beauty finally woke up. How ya feeling sleepy head?"
"Sore, and um, well sore pretty much sums it up."
"Ok well you need out get out of that shirt."
"What for?"
"So I can see what's going on with that back o' yours."
"Ok. Can you help me sit up?"
"Sure can." He shook his duster off and threw it on a chair across the room. He stood on the bed in front of her his legs touching hers. "Ok give me your hands. She complied. As gingerly as he could he pulled the Slayer into the sitting position. Her back cracked loudly as he did this.
"SSSS." She hissed in pain.
"Ok hands above your head." She did so, this time her shoulders cracked. He slowly guided her shirt over body and over her head. "Bra too."
"I'll be getting this one myself." She tried to reach behind her but couldn't do it herself. "Are you sure you're just not doing this to get a look at me naked?" She asked trying to stall.
"Never said I wasn't luv, I'm a bad, bad man remember?"
"Yeah I remember, William the Bloody, Slayer of Slayers and all that rot." 'Rot' she though to herself, 'When did I start talking like Spike?' "Can you help me get this damn thing off? God I hate bras."
" I dunno, they c'n be rather fun to take off."
He reached one cool hand behind her and expertly flicked the clasp open and removed the offending garment from her shoulders. He averted his eyes from the beauty in front of him because he knew that one glance at her breasts would ruin this evening. Not that it was supposed to be anything special, but Buffy trusting him like this meant everything to him.
"On your stomach, I'll be back with the Ben Gay in a minute."
"Screw the Ben Gay, get the Banalag."
"What's Banalag?"
"It's like Ben Gay on steroids. It's in the hall closet next to the umm feminine products."
"Right, be back in a flash."
He was back in les that a minute carrying a small glass bottle that contained a teal liquid. He sat on the bed next to her and poured some on her back, making sure to take notice of the purple and black bruise forming on the small of her back and to avoid all scrapes in the process. Whatever this stuff had in it made his hands tingle and he was sure that if it mixed with scrapes she would go through the roof.
"This stuff smells like Vicks Vapor Rub luv. And it is making my hands all tingly."
She had a content look on her face as he gently massaged her pain away. "It's supposed to do that besides it feels so good."
After about 20 minutes Buffy's breathing and heart rate had slowed he could tell that she was almost asleep. "Well I'm all done here, you should be good as new in the morning. I'm gonna go wash my hands and hope the feeling returns."
After he left the room Buffy got up and changed into a pair of pajamas. A pair of black pajama pants with little devils running around carrying pitchforks, a present from Willow last Christmas, and a black tank top.
Spike came back into the room and she turned around. "Well I guess I'll be on my way," he turned to grab his duster off the chair.
"Ummm, Spike."
"Yes?"
"Thank you."
"You're welcome luv."
"Spike?'
"Yes?" He could hear her heart racing in her chest, and see fear in her eyes. No matter what she did her eyes always told the truth.
"You see, Dawnie and Willow are both gone and, and," she stammered, "I umm don't like to be alone in the house at night, I can't fall asleep if the house is empty. So could you ummm stay with me?" He just looked at her, he was stunned and touched at the same time. "You can leave as soon as I'm asleep," she added quickly.
"Sure thing luv, I'll just stay right here," he motioned to the chair that presently contained his prized duster.
"You can stay with me if you want. You know, in my bed." She was looking at the floor like she might want to dive through it into the room below her.
"Sure thing." He kicked his boots off and followed her to her bed and slid in. She crawled in next to him and lay her head on his chest and her hand on his shoulder. He slid his left arm under her anchoring her to him, and put his right arm around her and gently traced lines all over her back.
"Night spike." She said groggily.
"Night Buffy." He kissed her head. He could hear her breathing and heart slow down again. She was fast asleep in 5 minutes. He lay there next to her for the next few hours. He woke up about 4:30 he could smell the sunrise, he knew he needed to get back to his crypt before he had to deal with the sun, not to mention Scoobies. He slowly detangled himself from Buffy, as not to wake her. He quietly crept across her room and pulled his boots on and slipped into his jacket. He walked back over to the bed and placed a soft chaste kiss on her cheek. Then he slipped out her window and went back to his crypt.
When Buffy's alarm went off at 10:30 stirring her from her sleep. Spike was gone, as she expected, she got out of bed, stretched and walked over to her window to close it. For the first time since she had been brought back she felt refreshed and she realized why, this was the first night where she hadn't had a nightmare in which she was back in her coffin. She closed the window and then went and took shower.
That was the last time she felt that way, well the last time up until a few nights ago when Spike found her in that abandoned house and slept with her.~~~~
As quickly as the memory had come to her it disappeared just as fast and there she was bruised and alone in the shower. Her mother was dead, her father was MIA again, Riley had never really even been hers, and Angel clearly had his own problems judging from Cordy's absence. Spike, the only person who was ever always there for her, her partner, her lover, he promised he'd never leave and he did just that. He left like all the others.
"WHY, WHY DID YOU LEAVE ME!!! YOU SON OF A BITCH, YOU HAD NO RIGHT TO LEAVE ME!!! YOU SAID YOU'D ALWAYS BE THERE, BUT YOU LEFT, LIKE EVERYONE ELSE YOU LEFT ME!!!! I LOVE YOU!!! YOU LEFT!!!!" The words came out harsh and ragged. She leaned against the wall in the tub and slid down pulling her knees to her chest and let the sobs over power her. ---
--In the hotel kitchen a very different scene was unfolding. Wes and Gunn had woken up, not to mention most of the slayers, including Faith. They were discussing what to do that day. Buffy came into the kitchen as they decided to go to the mall.
"Hey Buffy." Dawn said cheerfully.
"Want some French toast B, it's pretty kick ass."
"Yeah Buff Lorne's a better cook then that 'Bam' guy on food channel."
"Well I have had awhile to perfect it."
"Yeah I'm starved, so what's this talk about a mall?"
Fred spoke up this time. "Well Wolfrum and Hart gave us credit cards with a generous credit line, so Wes and I decided to go to the mall to get you all some new clothing and stuff since yours is all buried under Sunny Dale. We're leaving in ten minutes."
"Cool, I have to take ca of something and I'll meet you at the car." Buffy left the kitchen to search or Angel, she found him in his office looking something up on the computer.
"So now you're research guy?"
"Umm yeah, kinda."
Buffy sat down in the chair across the desk from Angel. "Small talk really isn't our thing so I'll get to the point. Spike died."
Angel looked at her pain filled his eyes. "I know." He paused for a second and looked Buffy in the eye. "How?"
"He saved the world." She said quietly, then stood up and left the room.--