Authors Note: Thank you for the feedback, I'm eating it up like blood n' weetabix, or maybe not! Please the more feedback the better! I am getting the first 11 chapters of this up as fast as I can reformat them for this site, so stay tuned! BTW: If you're a writer and you review this, I will definately check out your stuff and return the favor, cos I'm good like that! ;)

Ooh, I been dirt, and I don't care.
'Cause I'm burning inside,
I'm just a yearning inside,
and I'm the fire o' life.
Ooh, I been hurt, and I don't care.
'Cause I'm burning inside,
I'm just a dreaming this life,
And do you feel it?
Said do you feel it when you touch me?
There's a fire, Well it's a fire.
It was just a burning, Burning inside."
-Iggy Pop 'Dirt'

Sunnydale, California

"Mmmmm, yeah. Oh yeah that's the spot..."

"BUFFY! Wake up and stop talking like a skank!"

"Dawn? What? What's wrong? Why are you up? It's like 4 am!"

"Giles is on the phone. He needs to talk to you, Sleeping Ugly."

"Very funny Dawn, give me the phone and get out of here." Dawn left. "Giles? Hey! How are you! Its so nice of you to call at 4am, when I have important burgers to flip tomorrow!"

"Buffy, I have news for you."

"This better be good cos I was just in the middle of the best dream."

"I am coming for a visit, and I will have some people who need to stay with you, the Council has granted you a salary and, oh yes, Spike is coming back."

"What? How the? Why are you calling me at 4am with all this info? Money, visit, burgers, Spike? What?"

"Buffy there is too much to explain over the phone. I will be arriving in a week with some compatriots I need you to look after. I will also have a check for the retroactive salary the Council has granted you. It should cover the remaining mortgage, the plumbing repairs and anything you or Dawn should need."

"What? Are they paying me to baby-sit now? Money? Why is the council giving me money? What is this? Are they trying to buy me out? I mean the Slayer franchise is owned strictly by me, there will be no Slayer Lands opening up in Japan thanks to this check."

"Buffy, please stop. You have Spike to thank for the salary. The rest I will have to explain when I arrive. Willow should be finished up here the week after I arrive and so she will be back shortly as well."

"What? Giles are you drunk? Spike got me a salary? Who's to thank for your delusions, Jack Daniels or Jose Cuervo?"

"Buffy, I am serious, stop making a mockery of this. Things may be stirring again at the Hell mouth, and they might get really bad."

"So what? Things are always bad here, why is this time different? I mean it must be really bad, cos I always figured it a cold day in hell when the council signed me a check. So what is it? Ice Capades: Hell on Ice? I mean you know I have a thing for figure skating."

"The Council isn't exactly sure what may or may not be coming. I can explain what I know when I get there, but over the phone is really not the place for this."

"Wait, you spend 5 minutes with the Council and you are back to speaking cryptic. Why are you talking to them anyways?"

"Spike had some information for them, we offered it in trade, then they started in about the new big bad."

"So Spike saved the day? I hope this isn't some cheap shot to get in my pants, cos it's really tempting, I mean he's the reason I can get the Air Conditioning fixed!"

"Buffy not everything anyone does is about sex."

"Whoa, who said anything about sex, Who's got what on the Brain?"

"Stop it. He did it for you, not for some reward. Believe it or not Buffy sometimes people do things and don't expect so much as a thanks."

"So I guess the world of Fast Food will be short a soldier in its eternal battle against the home cooked meal. I will so miss the smell of grease in the morning."

"I really ought to be going Buffy. By the way Spike will be arriving in Sunnydale tomorrow."

"Today?"

"Maybe, the time change thing really messes me up. Please be civil with him, I know he fled on the not so best of terms, but he's changed and he is quite ashamed of what happened and how things turned out."

"Yeah fine, I guess I'll see you in a week."

"Buffy?"

"What Giles?"

"Be careful, something is going on, things could get really dangerous for you. Watch yourself."

"But isn't that why you are called a watcher? Aren't you supposed to watch me?"

"Stop it Buffy. I need to go, I will see you soon."

"Fine, see you soon. If you need someone to get you from the airport let me know I can send Xander my personal chauffer over to get you."

"Yes, good bye."

Great, Spike's on his way back. Just when I start to think I am getting over this thing with him, he shows up! Figures, at least I can be pretty positive he won't be showing up with his new evil fighting bride. Oh God, what if he does? No, that so cannot happen.

It was 4:30 in the morning. Buffy couldn't sleep now because her stomach was all whirly. Maybe she'd do some laundry, make some breakfast for Dawn, be the domestic Goddess Buffy knews she could be, apparently anything but sleep was on her adgenda.

"DAWN! Get out of Bed! NOW!"

Buffy had officially been up 4 hours. It was a good thing she was up so early, as she forgot completely about Dawn's registration. Of course it was this morning. There was nothing she liked to start her day off with more than a trip to the Hell mouth!

Someone was knocking on the front door.

"Dawn! Can you get that? If I do, the French toast will become Cajun French Toast!"

"Fine Slave Driver, is there anything else I can do for you, perhaps clean the door jambs with my toothbrush?"

She didn't remember being this big of a pain in the ass when she was Dawn's age. Dawn was such a pain in the ass. She also had a lot more free time than Buffy ever had; maybe Dawn should join a sport or something. Wait, sports at Sunnydale High were a little too risky.

"Check it out Buffy! Presents!"

"What?"

"One for you and one for me. Anya had them; she was sorry she had to run, but she wanted to open hers and had some business to attend to in Brazil. I guess some guy totally destroyed his girlfriend, and now Anya is going to..."

"Shut up Dawn. You shouldn't discuss business with Anya. I liked her better when she was all about the money. Who do you think they are from?"

"Oh she said she picked them up in England from Giles. She said he was acting all wiggy. I guess she was in Europe for some regular spine removal and got some sort of cosmic call or something from him, I really don't know. So maybe they are from Willow. Wait, I so don't want to open this up to find some guy's scalp or something of equal disgust value."

"Dawn, Willow is better now. You can opens yours while you eat; Xander should be here by 9:30 to take us to school. I'm going to go upstairs and change, if you need me, don't holler."

Buffy grabbed her box and headed upstairs. There was more than one object in there, she could hear them banging around.Whoever packed this did a crap job. She decided to open it while she changed. It felt like summery dress weather. Well, that and the Air Conditioning couldn't get fixed until her check showed up so it was necessary to wear as little clothing as possible. She opened the package first. There was a note on top. It was from Spike, seemed like he was everywhere today.

Buffy:
Hello, this is awkward and strange so bear with me. I am sorry. More sorry than you can fathom, and I am doing my best to be a better man than I was. I know it probably means nothing to you, but I really am sorry with every inch of my being. I can't stand myself. If I could, I wouldn't be able to look at myself in the mirror after what I done to you. I mean this. I am a different person now, a better person, please believe me.
While traveling I thought of you. These things are for you. They are statuary and silver from Egypt. The cat headed woman is Bastet, she is a protector, she is agile and strong, and she symbolizes life and love. The one with the lion is Sekmeht or something like that, she is a warrior, she bears the wrath of the gods, and she smites the big bad. Both are you. They are pieces of you. Finally is the ankh, it is a symbol of life. The life you didn't want but that you must lead. I hope that you can be happy in it.
I don't know if I will ever return, but if I do, I will do whatever it takes to make things up to you. I know you could never love me the way I wanted, I understand that now. I only want you to be able to trust me. If not with your heart, at least with your life. Please accept this as a beginning of a new chapter for me, and hopefully, you.
Love, Spike

The statues were beautiful. She put them in guard positions at both sides of her bed on the nightstands, two warriors keeping her safe while she slept. The silver charm was amazing, the silver was almost white, and gleaming! She could see her reflection in it. Buffy dug out the necklace Angel once gave her, the cross beared too many memories so she removed it and put it in a drawer. On the chain it gets replaced with the ankh. As she put the necklace on she started sobbing. Dawn burst into her room.

"Buffy they are from Spike, aren't they awesome? I love new earrings, and I guess these are like symbols of energy and stuff and I am made of energy so I think they are cool. But Spike sucks, so I totally won't ever wear them."

"You can wear them."

"Buffy, what's wrong? Are you okay?"

"Just get out Dawn, leave me alone."

"Buffy, Spike isn't here, its okay they are just gifts. I don't think he is ever coming back anyways, and if he did we would so kick his ass if he tried to hurt you."

"Dawn, that's not it. I am so cruel, it's all my fault."

"Buffy, stop it, nothing's your fault."

Buffy could hear Xander come in the house. "Harris transport, your carriage awaits M'ladies!"

"We'll be down in a second Xander" Dawn shouted down the hall. "Buffy can you clean yourself up so we can go?"

"Dawn, I don't think I can. Get the checkbook, I'll sign a check for you to use at registration. Xander can take you through; he doesn't need to be on site until noon. I'm sorry I'm such a mess lately."

"It's cool."

She ran downstairs. Buffy could overhear her talking to Xander.

"Buffy is sick. Vomiting, projectile vomiting actually it's horrible, I'm talking Exorcist terrible."

"Thanks for the visual Dawnie."

"She wants you to take me through registration, but if you can't its cool, I can totally do it myself."

"It's no problem I have the morning free anyways."

"Okay I'm gonna run up and have Barfy sign the check, then we can go."

Dawn ran back up the stairs.

"Thanks for fundamentally changing the way Xander will look at me forever."

"Buffy, he's seen you dead twice, I doubt a little puke is going to alter his image of you."

"Right, sorry Dawn, I'm just so out of it. I'll have lunch ready when you get home k?"

"Yeah it's cool, maybe you need some sleep you've been up forever. See you later."

They left. Dawn always slamed the front door; Buffy was half expecting its hinges to snap off so she could add one more thing to the 'things I need to fix in this house' list. At least Xander could fix that, no subcontractor necessary. She decided to take a shower. Crying in the shower was much more her style. No one could tell afterwards cos you were already all wet.

Westbury, England

"Spike its time to go" Giles surprised him; Spike didn't know he was in there. He was half conscious from the sleeping pill.

"Already? Well how are we going to do this? Hello? Vampire: not exactly the easiest cargo to transport. Intercontinental flight is far too risky, might catch the sun you know."

"It's been handled, now come along, there isn't much time."

Evening had fallen sometime before. The days and nights had been running together so Spike really had little clue as to what time it might be. The night air here was sweet with green, like mowed grass, if only he could bottle that scent for her. He needed another pack of smokes, as this one was almost empty and his nerves were making him smoke non-stop. Giles lead him to the Coven's building.

"There is no smoking allowed in the Coven's quarters. So put that out."

"Fine, but why are we here? I thought I was leaving now, instead we are going to play with the dark arts?"

"Spike, they are the ones sending you home. When Willow lost it last spring, well, the Coven sent me to deal with her, imbued me with powers."

"What? You'd going to beam me up witchy? Hell no, I'd rather walk! Have you seen what a botched teleport can do to a man? Bits and pieces all over, like a bad Picasso spread over dimensions. No thanks! I am of no use unless I am in one piece."

"Spike, they will do a fine job, If they can do it for me they can surely do it for you."

"But I'm a vampire! Not a man, I'm the bloody undead! Its different than teleporting you! What if they dump me in downtown SunnyD in the middle of the day? Thanks for the trip, sorry 'bout the dust."

"Shut up! They have preplanned this; it will work out fine. Get your ass in here."

"Fine, but if bits and pieces of me end up spewed into different dimensions my head will know who to blame!"

Into the witch's building they went. The exterior really was quite deceptive; it let on no clue as to what was inside. It was like a garden, the building itself was an atrium, the ceiling made of glass, the ground covered in life. Moonlight poured in through the ceiling like a spot light, right into the center of a circle made of stone. Out of the shadows came women and men of all sizes and shades, colors.

"I'll be damned its like the United Colors of Wicca in here."

"Shut up Spike." Giles poked him.

"Aye now stop that!"

Zaezilla and Willow were at opposite ends of the circle, North and South. The other witches followed their lead making a human chain around the stone circle.

"Hey Spike, welcome to our inner sanctum. I guess you see why this had to happen at night, glass ceiling of doom and all. Now you are supposed to stand in the center of the circle in the moonlight. You are so lucky teleports work much better in a full moon. It really reduces the risk of you exploding." Willow smiled.

"You know I should feel comforted by that, but I really don't."

"Calm down, I picked the perfect place, you won't go poof, I promise. If Anya can do this everyday, one trip to Sunnydale through dimensional portals isn't going to screw you up."

"Fine, just get on with it. I really do have an unlife to live."

As Spike entered the circle all around him candles simultaneously lit. The witches started chanting, he closed his eyes, there was no reason for him to see a possible explosion coming. Through his lids he could see a bright light and then he felt a flash of heat. I don't think I'm in bleedin' Kansas anymore...