A/N : Okay, so I feel like hell, but I promised to get this chapter posted for you and here it is. How dedicated am I? lol. I think all those wonderful reviews helped a whole lot. I want to say a big thanks to; Shansuedluvsbitch, maribel, Rachel9, Ming1214, Spikes-gal787, msu, Melanie, The Mage of Willowbottom, King Henry the V, kat, fischergirl, SlayGal, Ryann, wicked-angel3, Lady Starlight, spike wuvs buffy, fashiongrrl, zanthinegirl, Leanne8582, SouthernRain. Wow, I don't remember the last time I got so many great reviews all at once, you guys rock! I know the cliffhanger at the end of the previous chapter was bad, but here is the Spuffy meeting...and a twist that you might not be expecting...

(For disclaimer, etc. - see chapter 1)

Chapter 4

Buffy stood outside the doors of Wolfram and Hart for several minutes before she dared to go in. The thought of seeing Angel was strange in itself, and the idea that something apocalypse-y might be happening again and she had to deal, well, that just made her feel all the worse. Eventually, taking a deep breath, she went in to face whatever was inside the building, and whatever information the employees might impart to her.

A nice woman behind the reception desk welcomed her, asked her name and invited her to take a seat whilst she told Mr Wyndham-Pryce that she'd arrived. That was the first thing that seemed weird to Buffy. Why had Wes called her? Why not Angel? He hadn't been mentioned at all, not before she left England or now she was in LA. She sighed as she thought about it, and realised she should know better. She knew only too well how Angel must have felt when she told him she had unidentifiable feelings for Spike. The two vamps could not get along if their un-lives depended on it, and Buffy knew that better than anyone. But after five years, would Angel still be upset about that? 'This is the king of brooding we're talking about' Buffy smiled to herself, 'Of course he'd still be letting it get to him'

"Excuse me, Miss Summers?" a young woman got the Slayer's attention back on the third attempt.

"Oh yeah, sorry" she apologised for zoning out and the un-named W&H employee told her it was quite alright and that if she'd just like to follow her she would take her to the room where she would be joined in a moment by Mr Wyndham-Pryce and his associates.

The blonde frowned once again as the young woman made it sound as if Wesley were in charge of the whole thing. She knew he had been at one time, when Angel had gone through a dark-but-not-actually-Angelus patch of his un-life. 'Oh God' she thought to herself 'Giles promised it wasn't Angelus but what if it's soulful-but-evil-anyway Angel?!'

She didn't have time to dwell on the thought as the woman exited the room and Buffy's ex-Watcher came in.

"Buffy, how wonderful to see you" he greeted her and she stepped forward to give him a friendly hug.

"Great to see you too, Wes" she smiled as they parted, "Gotta tell you I'm kinda confused though"

"Confused?" he frowned and she wondered how he could possibly not understand why she'd be feeling that way.

"Wes, you call up Giles and tell him you need me to come to LA without any what, why, or how thrown in. Just 'hey Buff, get your Slayer-self over here' What is this all about?" she asked, slightly frustrated.

"I think that's my cue for an explanation" said a distinct British voice from the doorway behind her, and Buffy completely froze. She couldn't move, she couldn't speak, she could barely breathe. Surely, it couldn't possibly be...

"Spike?" she breathed as she turned around to look, sure enough coming face to face with a vampire she was certain had dusted five years before.

"Hello luv" he said simply, unsure of what her reaction would be as yet, looking cool as ever and yet panicking on the inside about what she would say or do next.

There they stood, either side of the doorway, as Wesley watched from his position, perched on the edge of the desk, and Fred from hers, behind the vampire. Green eyes took in a familiar body in it's familiar black attire, above which she found that face she'd seen so many nights in her dreams, but absent was the smirk that usually rested upon it. Still his hair was bleached so blonde it was practically white, and still those blue eyes sparkled and danced with more life than a dead man should possess

At the same time those blue eyes drank in the figure of a woman who was older than she had been the last time he'd seen her, and yet just as beautiful as ever she had been. Her blonde hair hung to her shoulders, framing her currently shocked face, whilst her blouse and pants clung to her showing off her body perfectly.

The room remained silent and moments that seemed to last hours trickled past, three occupants all waiting for the reaction of the fourth.

"How?" the blonde forced out of her mouth that seemed to have forgotten how to form words.

"It's kind of long story actually" Fred chimed in when it seemed that Spike was equally incapable of speech as Buffy was.

The vampire watched the Slayer with troubled eyes, still wondering what her reaction was going to be and petrified it would not be good. Her gaze had been fixed on him since he'd entered the room, which he knew for a fact, since his had been equally as stuck on her. Suddenly her eyes flickered towards the windows and back. A steady stream on sunlight was lighting up a man she'd only seen in the light of day on one occasion before.

"The sun..." she frowned a little and Wesley jumped in.

"It's protective glass" he explained, "the entire building has it, it makes the sun's rays harmless for any creature that has an intolerance to it"

She nodded dumbly, for a fraction of a second she'd thought perhaps it was a human that stood before her now, and in some ways she was glad to be told it wasn't. That would complicate things more than him still being a vampire, at least she knew how to handle him as a vamp, or at least she had before...now she had no idea what to say or do next and Spike looked to be similarly afflicted.

Five years older, and still just as beautiful as the last time he'd seen her, even more so than the picture he held in his mind for so long. The memory had deteriorated with age where the reality had not and he was far more stunned by that than he ever thought he would be. There was a million things he'd planned to say when he finally saw her again, and yet here he was, dumb-struck, a hundred words in his head but not one willing to pass his lips.

"Er, perhaps we should leave you two alone for a moment" Wesley suggested and Fred nodded in agreement, the small problem being that Spike was standing in the only doorway, the only exit to the room. Fred was already out of the room but Wesley's route was decidedly blocked by the bleached blond vampire.

"Spike" he said, receiving no response til Fred poked him in the back and he turned his head to look at them for a moment.

"What?" he asked, shaking his head as if coming out of some kind of daze.

"If you move out of the way, Fred and I will leave you two alone" Wesley told him, "I think there is something rather important you have to say" he reminded him with a look that conveyed the seriousness and importance of that message Spike must give to the Slayer. It brought the vampire back to Earth with a nasty bump.

"Okay" he nodded once as Wes and Fred left the room, closing the door softly behind them.

When Spike turned back, Buffy had moved to sit on the edge of the desk, but her eyes were still on him.

"How've you been, Slayer?" he asked her with a tilt of his head, trying yet again to figure out how she was feeling and what she was thinking.

"Five years Spike" she said almost angrily, "Five years of thinking you were dead, hours of crying over you, and here you were the whole time, and all you can think to say to me is to ask how I've been?" she asked incredulously and he looked guiltily at his boots.

"I'm sorry" he said quietly to the floor, "I know it's not enough but I am sorry" he assured her, finally looking up again "I know I should've soddin' called or written or whatever and it's not like the thought never crossed my mind but...you had a shot at normal, luv, I didn't want to screw that up for you"

She shocked him then by starting to laugh, but it wasn't a 'this is funny' kind of laugh, it was a painful one, accompanied by a wash of tears that tumbled down her cheeks.

"Y'know you make such a big deal about being different, and you love to tell everyone how much you and Angel aren't alike, and yet here you are, telling me how you left me for my own good" she yelled, "You should have let me decide what was right for me, Spike. I told you, a few months before the end, I told you I wasn't ready for you to leave me"

He hated to see her cry. Of all the tortures he'd endured in his life at the hands of so many, most especially those he'd faced to earn back his soul for her, he'd take every moment of that pain and torment again if only he never had to see her cry like this, it just tore him apart inside.

What made it worse was that he really wanted to hold her and tell her it would be okay, but there was always something stopping him. He remembers all too clearly the day of Joyce's funeral when he should have been there for her, and instead he had to watch from the shade as her friends did their part. By the time night fell Angel arrived, and besides Spike knew if he had managed to go over to her and offer sympathy and comfort he would probably have got a smack in the face for his efforts. She really hadn't liked him much back then, but now, well, right now he wasn't sure, but his memories of Joyce's burial and after it only served to make him think of his grand-sire and the actual point of Buffy being there in LA today.

"Slayer, there hasn't been a moment since I got back to this plain of existence when I haven't thought about you. How you might react if I turned up on your doorstep or if I just picked up the phone...for once in my un-life I was trying to the right thing and I honestly am sorry if I messed it all up again" this was not all he needed to say to her but the rest would have to wait. As usual the Great Git was getting in the way of what should have been something special between them but this once Spike would let it go. He was about to make his girl cry even more than she was now and he hated himself so much for that, but it had to be done and he'd agreed to be the one to do it.

"Buffy, luv, I'm not the real reason you're here" he admitted, glancing between her tear-stained face and the ground, "As usual the centre of attention has to be the other vamp with the soul" he rolled his eyes before closing them and steeling himself against the guilt. He'd felt it a lot lately for making such comments and he hated himself for feeling it, but there it was again.

"Then why am I here?" the girl before him asked, wiping the saltwater from her face with the back of her hand, trying to look unemotional and serious in case this was an important Slayer matter.

"It's about Angel" Spike said slowly, wondering how he was ever supposed to get through the entire sentence, "he...there was this demon and, he didn't wait for us to go with him and help, you now how big-headed he can be...the point is..."

"Spit it out, Spike" Buffy snapped, dreading hearing the truth she was just realising, but knowing she'd never completely believe until she heard the words.

"I'm sorry, luv. Angel's dead"

To Be Continued...