The worst of it had faded when Buffy released her tight grip on Spike. He calmly brushed her wet hair back to uncover the delicate beauty that lay beneath her bangs. She laughed weakly.

"How's Dawn?" he asked.

"Great!" she exclaimed, grateful for the subject change. "She's doing well in school as an expatriate. Going over her list of colleges. Oxford. Cambridge. UCLA."

Buffy shrugged at Spike's puzzled reaction. "I know. Stanford sounds better, but she's a SoCal girl, what can you do?"

"What about you? Besides---"

"Got the Slayers Italiana to train. Got a set-up over on the outskirts of Roma, actually. Preparing the Slayers of the future. We got meditation, physical drills, battle technique, fitness plans, weaponry, and the occasional nightly round of gelatos. Compliments of yours truly."

"Nice to see you haven't completely dropped out of your old life," Spike muttered.

Buffy bristled. "What do you mean?"

"I mean you basically left everyone out to dry and die, didn't you? You had the resources, but you thought the worst about Angel so you stayed out of it. Until there was a Slayer involved."

Buffy's fists curled and uncurled and she stood up and out of Spike's embrace and walked to the opposite end of the alley. Then she turned around, hugging herself from the rain that surrounded her.

"I didn't trust him. And what the hell was he thinking, anyway?"

"Should have asked him," he challenged. He stood up and leaned against the cool brick surface, some of the jagged edges bit dully into his back, but it only encouraged him further. He needed Buffy to hear him. To understand him.

"Look, I had my doubts, too. I thought he had finally flipped, to be honest. But I worked with the guy, you know? I had contact. And from what I could see, he needed the support of some old friends, and you weren't there."

"We weren't friends," Buffy bit off.

"We were."

Buffy winced and looked at her wet feet.

"It pained me so much, Buffy, to see you as the enemy. Even if you didn't know I was alive it still hurt. Because in a way…we represented the same cause, had the same girl, you know? It hurt," he said with a drawn-out, sad sigh. "He was my Yoda."

Buffy only listened in silence.

"And I know it sounds crazy and bloody stupid but…it felt like a betrayal. Of everything we stood for. You always being at my side, no matter what. Trusting me as a partner, hell, at least as a fellow soldier. All of that just disappeared. Didn't exist anymore. I wonder if it ever really existed, sometimes."

"I came when it counted," Buffy spoke with quiet terseness. "Maybe I wasn't here to….I wish I did, you know. I would have tried my damnedest to save him. But I was here when it counted. I helped in the fight. I fought at your side. And, God damn you, Spike, that's all you should expect of me now. I protected the Hellmouth for seven fucking years. So if I made the battle more difficult for you guys then I am truly sorry. But you died so I could live a real life. And I'm living it, aren't I? This is what you wanted."

"I wanted you to be happy," Spike explained loudly. "I didn't want you to forget everything you stood for. But you immerse yourself with a demon, shag him senseless, and he's a mockery of everything Angel and I have become. Honestly, pet, what do you expect me to say to that?"

"I would expect you to say nothing," Buffy gritted through clenched teeth. "Because it is none of your damn business."

"Touched a nerve, did I? He must be good virile fuck. He put it to Dru more than a dozen times. Be better off banging Clem."

Buffy just laughed bitterly shaking her head as if expecting this whole nonsense. "God, I guess that whole blood not rushing to your head wasn't hyperbole. You know, you amaze me. You become a glowing champion in my eyes, proving all of my friends and Giles wrong in becoming the man I knew you could be. And yet, you're still a childish, selfish little jerk when you get below all of that heroism. I'm sorry if you have self-esteem issues with this guy. And yeah, he is a good fuck. We've done it everywhere," Buffy bragged and brayed. "All the tourist sites. The Coliseum, the Strata…

"Vatican City?" Spike's eyebrow arched.

Buffy's jaw dropped appalled. "No! No, of course not. I can't believe you!…I mean, I don't think the security booth counts…But he's flexible, agile, brilliantly creative, romantic, and he's got stamina. He can go for days, Spike. We're talking the whole weekend!"

"Okay, that's it," Spike disgustedly decided. "I knew it. I'm in Hell. This has got to be Hell."

"So I have no issues with being known as the Immortal's main girl. And if you can't deal, well that's just sad. I was hoping it didn't have to end like this. But fine. Have a good life."

Buffy retreated swiftly down the alley. Spike stared after her in speechless shock for half a second. But the uncomfortable familiarity of the scene caused an almost demonic determination to seize over him. Quite simply, his beating heart and cogent mind declared enough is enough.

He caught up with her and whipped Buffy around.

"No. No. It's not gonna go down like this. You always soddin' left. Every. Single. Time. Well, I'm changing the rules, sweetheart. I'm human. I'm a new man. And I declare my independence from you. That's right. Wanker Perpetuale' is free at last. Free at last. Thank God Almighty he's free at last. So you're gonna stay right in this alley while I triumphantly march through the rain as you soak your lovely self into a bleedin' raisin. Godspeed, Slayer. Have a nice life. And stay the fuck out of mine."

Buffy was struck dumb in possibly every way she knew. And as she saw Spike stride with purpose away from her to the end of the alley and the rain continued to pour...something snapped.

Buffy ran after him, tackled him, and pushed him into the wall. He sank like a stone.

"Okay, that's it," she screamed. "You want this? We'll do this. If it's that important to you, we'll talk about Morty. But you're gonna listen, you're gonna shut up, and I'm gonna rant until I can't speak anymore. First, I hate you. I really hate you. I hate you for being back in my life when I had it all figured out. I hate you for breaking my heart a record number of times tonight and especially when I told you I loved you in the Hellmouth. I hate you for your unbelievably childish jealousy, which is inexcusable for someone who is 100 plus years old….

"Actually, technically it's one…since I was reborn human today," Spike offered meekly.

"Well, since your past one hundred years which you still have memories of so technically….SHUT UP!," she shouted, angry at the distraction.. She began again with a huff.

"But mostly, Spike," she continued. "I hate that I can't hate you. Did it ever occur to you or Angel that I was with the Immortal because he knew you two? He could tell me stories about his exploits and make you guys look like Elmer Fudd, sure. But for just that time you lived again. Don't you see? The stories brought you back to life. In my mind. And my heart."

Spike stared speechless.

Her anger dissipated. And she ached to hold him. But she kept her distance begging him to see. To understand.

"I couldn't get that anywhere else," she cried as tears leaked from her eyes. "My friends were so humbled by what you did, so ashamed of the way they….Xander can't even say your name. Giles told me about one hundred variations of "I'm sorry." And Dawn…Dawnie feels terrible that things never went back to the way it used to be with you two. And she hates how she doubted your love for her."

Spike bowed his head. "Buffy--"

"Still in rant mode," she warned. "And I know the truth, Spike. Whenever the Immortal laughs at your expense, I have to laugh. Because I know who you turned out to be. Better than he could ever imagine. Better than I could." Her voice dropped to a soft sigh. And her eyes glistened as her voice wavered and undulated.

"I know the man you became. The man I fell in love with. Who made me so proud. Who saved the world, Who glowed like a champion, like a hero. Who saved me and my soul. Who brought me back to life."

Spike beheld the woman standing before him. Through the rain she had never looked more wondrous. More beautiful.

She glowed.

"And whenever we did have sex it was…fleeting. The pleasure faded. Because…he couldn't look at me the way you looked at me. He couldn't touch you.. You look at me, Spike, and it's like I can do anything. Be anyone I want to be. And even when you were gone, I still felt that fire, that connecting fire that we created. And it still burns. It's burning right now. Whatever happens between us it will always burn."

Spike had always managed to surprise himself. He was afraid he had acquired some of William's weaknesses. But as he rushed full speed at Buffy, pressed his lips to hers, and thrust her into the opposite wall, he was pleased to find he had his old strengths as well. And quite possibly some old souvenirs from the Big Bad as well.

And Buffy's lips continued caressing Spike's hungry, passionate mouth. Not pausing she felt for the apartment ladder's rungs, pulled herself up and hoisted her legs lightly around Spike's waist, locking her ankles around him. And together they conjured up their dormant passionate magic as the rain blanketed them.