Chapter 10

Again I wish to thank all the reviewers. Don't worry,Cordelia WILL be bitch slapped by the end. Once again I say Joss is a God and I bow down at his throne and ask that this lowly peasant may borrow his ambrosian characters to fill my my empty soul.(Sorry I'm a Greek mythology freak)Anyway.... Don't sue Joss but..marry me instead?Please?

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Preview: The Scoobies and AI see the dark times and hoe Spike was affected by them. Season 5, 6, and 7 flashbacks.

"So everyone ready?" Willow asked.

AI nodded yes. The Scoobies all took a deep breath before nodding as well.

"Then here we go." Willow said softly as she waved her hands slowly.

The next place they were was Spikes crypt. He was watching Passions and hollering at the TV. Buffy came through the door with her Mom and Dawn in tow. Spike read her the riot act about telling him to stay away from her then showing up unannounced all the time before he noticed Joyce and Dawn.

"Spike please."Said Buffy humbly."Your the only one besides me strong enough to protect them."

The Scoobies and AI felt the pride Spike felt and the immediate need to cover it. They all giggled a bit at Joyce and Spike discussing the soap after Buffy left and Dawn rolling her eyes at both of them.

Before they knew it they were outside on the lawn of Buffy's house watching Willow and Xander discuss the funeral of Joyce Summers. Dawn sucked in her breath at the reminder of those horrible days and watched with eyes glistening with tears as Spike walked up with flowers and Xander confronted him.Xander winced as he felt how much pain Spike was in over Joyce and the hurt he felt for Buffy and Dawn.

"I didn't know." Xander said softly."How could I? I thought it was a trick to get near Buffy.I didn't know a vampire felt all of this." Fred reached over to gently squeeze Xanders hand for a minute. He smiled shakily at her and mouthed "thanks" before watching the scenes again.

They saw Spike hanging from a ceiling from chains being tortured by Glory. They all cried out in pain over her finger in Spikes chest. They watched him endure her torture and then they felt his desperation when he lied about the key being Bob Barker. They watched him tell Glory she was going to get her "skanky,lopsided ass" kicked by the Slayer and was rewarded by her kicking him across the room. They saw Giles and Xander lay the thoroughly beaten vampire in his crypt before Buffy, parading as the Buffybot, get the information she wanted and then some. They listened as he told her he would never do anything to hurt Dawn, it would kill Buffy.They watched as Buffy's eyes filled up with tears and she softly kissed him.

"That thing wasn't real."she said referring to the bot."What you did. That was real." She said before turning and leaving the shocked, but happy vampire.

They then moved time to see Spike and Buffy in her house the night of the battle with Glory. Angel took an unnecessary breath as he watched Buffy invite Spike in. Angel knew at that moment that she trusted him completely. His eyes burned with a tear as he heard Spike swear to protect Dawn until the end of the world. Then he forgot to let the teardrop fall at Spikes next words.

"I know you could never love me. I know I'm a monster. But you treat me like a man."

"Was that it?" Angel thought to himself."Was that when he stopped apologizing for what he was and hoping she could see him for his worth? Was Spike worth more than me even without a soul?" he wondered.

The group watched horrified as Spike made a mad dash to the top of the tower in an effort to save Dawn. They felt his fear for the girl, his need to make good on his promise to Buffy to protect her, and finally, his devastation of failing as he locked eyes with Dawn before plummeting from the tower where Doc held Dawn.

By this time Dawn was sobbing openly and being held by Andrew with Lorne stroking her hair and trying to soothe her. The rest of the group watched Buffy swan dive gracefully from the tower to her death. They watched Spike fall to his knees sobbing at the sight of her broken and lifeless body. They watched Spike try to get through the next months. His pain was immense. They watched him go to her grave everyday and place fresh flowers and talk about Dawn. They watched him and Anya get rip roaring drunk with Clem and a few demons at Willy's. Xander tried to figure out when that was and realized he was with Willow talking about the resurrection spell. Willow was shocked to see that Tara was a frequent visitor of Spikes and the respect he had for "Glinda". They watched him take out his rage on any demon or vampire unlucky enough to cross his path and how tender he was with Dawn.

When they reached the night they resurrected Buffy the Scoobies finally realized why Spike was so angry with them as well as Giles. They watched Buffy say her first words to Spike

"How long was I gone?"

"One hundred and thirty seven days yesterday. Hundred and thirty-eight today. Well, I guess today doesn't count." they felt Spikes emotions battle as he tried to balance joy, disbelief, fear, worry and betrayal by the other Scoobies.They watched as he slammed Xander against a tree and rant about Willow not telling him because she knew that even if Buffy came back wrong he wouldn't let her be destroyed. Willow looked down at the ground guiltily at this point. Kennedy held her hand and shot her a sympathetic look before returning to the scene.

They watched Buffy tell him she was in Heaven and him try to help her out of her slump. They watched him, possesed by Sweets singing vibe, confess his love to her.Lorne perked up at the singing but was brushed off with "later"

by the Scoobies and the other members of AI.

"Later? But that guy should have had a record deal."Lorne persisted until Angel shot him a dark look. "Fine, fine, but later I want details of this songfest."

Everyone looked back to see Buffy kiss Spike after Sweet disappeared. The entire group looked a little embarrassed by the amount of sex Spike and Buffy had. They saw them oblivious to things like a house falling down around them and Willow getting out of control. They watched Buffy demean Spike and push him away constantly. Angel was shocked at the amount of abuse Spike took from Buffy.He watched her beat him senseless outside of the police station and him tell her

"It's OK Luv, you always hurt the ones you love."

Giles and Wesley were appalled at how unhappy Buffy was.Giles felt even more guilty about leaving her alone when he returned to England. They watched as Riley came back to town with his new wife and accuse Spike of being "the Doctor". He then watched Riley dare to judge Buffy.

"Bloody pillock" Giles muttered "He's just jealous Buffy is stronger than him and his fears that he wasn't enough for her are confirmed. It's perfectly fine to leave MY Slayer without a word and than prance back into town with a new wife and make judgments." Giles continued ranting until he noticed the wide eyed stares everyone was giving him.

"I think Ripper has officially entered Giles's body" Xander commented dryly.

"Shush both of you." Willow said trying not to laugh. Faith had given up and was rolling on the floor convulsed with laughter.

A few minutes later Xanders smile died.

"Anya" he said softly."I always wondered why"

They watched Spike and Anya complain about love and the Scoobies in general as they sat doing shots at the Magic Box. Xander felt his heart break as Anya cried to Spike what she was feeling and Spike trying to comfort her and be comforted for his own pain. They watched as what started as a simple supporting touch turned into a romp on the magic Box table. The AI crew looked shocked and turned to Xander.

"I knew about it." He told them "They were being videotaped and we saw the whole thing thanks to Andrew and the loser friends he had."

"We didn't plan on that!" Andrew rushed to explain,"Warren had camera's all over town."

"It's all right Andrew." Dawn said."It was the past. Everyone makes mistakes. I don't think any of us can say we haven't made any." With that statement she gestured towards the image of Spike and Anya on top of the table.

"I never thought I'd say this but I actually understand now." Xander commented. At everyones questioning look he said "I'll explain later.Way later"

Things got calmer until Angel witnessed the almost rape of Buffy by Spike. He growled low in his throat and it took 10 minutes to get his demon face under control. He watched as Spike was finally hit by what he almost did.

"Good" he said darkly.

Faith got up and punched him. After he picked himself off the floor and looked over at Faith she shrugged and said

"Sorry. I've been there. You were all about helping me pick up my pieces. Guess Spikes different though."

Angel had the grace to look ashamed before sitting back down.Cordelia started to say something but changed her mind at the look on Faiths face and started fussing over Angel.

The group went back to watching Spike leave Sunnydale and undergo the trials in Africa. No one had known what he endured until now.Gunn had all but stood up and cheered when Spike won battle after battle. When everyone glanced at him he replied defensively

"What? He was kicking ass man"

They all smiled and looked back in time to see the demon return Spikes soul. They all screamed along with him as he hit his knees in agony. Angel winced. He remembered his own reaction to receiving his soul. What blew him away the most was that Spike WANTED his soul. For her. He watched Spike, barely able to function, find his way onto a ship and head back to Sunnydale.He watched him see Buffy for the first time in the basement while she was looking for Dawn. He saw her shock and worry at his appearance. The group watched him horrified as he clawed his own skin trying to get the soul out of his body. They were transfixed when Spike tried to disguise himself as soulless Spike in order to help with the worm guy whom Anya had cursed. They watched, spellbound, as Anya saw his soul and Spikes effort to distract her. They watched him talk to Buffy in the church and saw the moment she realized he had his soul. They all squirmed in pain as Spike leaned on the cross, burning his skin, until Buffy forcibly pulled him away.

Giles was the first to notice that it was about this time The First started to mess with him. He watches how it normally came as Buffy to influence his mind. The group saw the trigger activated that made Spike kill and then forget. They watched him with Buffy in the basement of the house where he had buried the bodies. They listened to him beg Buffy to kill him and her refusal before taking him home. When he was kidnapped by The First, after insulting Buffy, Spike lost his fear of it and stand up for her telling the First it's tricks didn't work anymore because she believed in him. The joy on his face when Buffy rescued him made everyone scramble for more tissues,

"The bond is complete" Angel thought watching them."That's when they stopped being two separate people and bonded to complete each other."

Wood looked sick when he saw himself beating on Spike.

"He should have killed me." He said out loud "I'm sorry. I didn't completely understand until this moment."

"But how could you have known?" Willow said gently "We knew him a lot longer and we never saw most of this until now"

Giles cringed at his part in the set up of Spike. He felt Spikes understanding of his reasoning but hurt that Giles thought so little of him.

"It's how Watchers had been trained" Wesley said "Protect your Slayer for the greater good no matter her feelings. We know better now." He finished meaningfully.

"I'll not fall into that trap again." Giles vowed to Wesley.

They watched as Spike came back from his quest with Andrew and figure out the girls threw Buffy out of her home. The AI group stared in disbelief at that.

"You threw her out?" Gunn asked incredulously

"Don't worry. We know now." Willow said embarrased,"Just listen to Spike."

Everyone listened as he called them ungrateful traitors and ended up throwing Faith around before tracking Buffy down. They watched him hold her, perfectly contented, for the rest of the night.

Angel heard his own voice then and realized that Spike had seen him kiss Buffy.By Cordelias indrawn breath she was just taking it in and not to happy about it. With a guilty look he refused to take his eyes off the images of himself and Buffy.He heard Dawn giggle and fought the temptation to glare at her. He watched how easily Spike forgave her and Buffy's obvious relief that he did.

The battle was tough for the remaining Slayers to watch. They saw girls who had become sisters getting cut down. Kennedy let out a sob at the sight of Amanda falling, her eyes still staring blankly. They all saw and felt the minute the amulet started to work.

"My soul. I can feel it."Spike said in awe "It kind of stings."

They say Buffy say to Spike "I love you."

Dawn choked back a sob and the others sat transfixed by the final scene of Spike.

"No, you don't. But thanks for saying it."

Wesley felt what was like a punch to the gut.

"My God. No wonder Buffy was in such a state."he thought while looking around,"Don't they see? What he did for her? I'll talk to her later. She has to know how much he loved her."

They watched Spikes skin start to burn as he was left alone in Hell and then he dusted.

Willow slumped over, magically and emotionally worn out. The rest of the group sat in silence occupied by their own thoughts. Angel stood up and said in a dull voice

"I guess the shows over" before walking into his office and closing the door.

Everyone looked at each other in confusion before Xander said

"What? What made him just go on an extended broodfest?"

"I'm sure we'll find out quite soon enough."Wesley said tiredly."Now if you'll excuse me and Mr. Giles we should return to Buffy."

Suddenly an enraged Angel kicked the office door off it's hinges.

"Oh really Wes?" He spat out nastily. "All of a sudden your Buffy's new Spike?"

Wesley felt his voice grow cold as he said "I think perhaps I am one who can help Buffy right now I daresay.Someone who understands."

"I think your right Wesley." Said an angry Buffy as she walked into the lobby of the hotel shocking everyone by her appearance. This wasn't the broken half dead Buffy but a Buffy that stood tall with her eyes glittering with a battle light. "Anyone got a problem with that?"

No one dared move.

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Ok I know I said a chapter a day but this chapter had me tearing my hair out. I had so much I wanted to say it all came out soup in my first draft. Hope this one was OK to everyone. Next chapter. Wesley, Giles, Buffy, and Faith discuss the new Watchers Council.