A/N: Well, due to great demand (and keep it comin') here's another chapter of my fevered imagination -

18

Through the heavily curtained windows only a few slithers of sunlight came in through the dusty windows and flittered across her closed eyes. As she breathed in through her nose Buffy could smell the mildew and dust floating through the air and instantly knew she was not in her room. The Slayer had experienced this feeling before, sometimes in dangerous situations she had to sleep wherever was safe and convenient.

However as she flickered her eyes open and darkness greeted her she wasn't sure if it was really morning at all. The train carriage floor was hard against her back and cold and the velvet blanket was thrown partly over her but left one leg bare and so she quickly shifted her limb back under.

The Slayer groaned and sat up slowly, her back was killing her from lying on such a hard surface she looked around and could see no detail just outlines of shapes as the tiny cracks of light illuminated just dust floating through the air mostly.

Buffy rubbed the back of neck and yawned then she looked down beside her and Spike wasn't there. Buffy stood quickly and called out his name. When there was no reply she cursed and picked up her clothes pulling the wrinkled items on hurriedly. Once dressed the Slayer went to the windows and pulled the heavy curtains open instantly blinding herself with bright sunlight. The dust from the curtains flew through the air and choked her into a coughing fit.

When the dust settled she saw that on the table, written in the layer of thick dust Spike had scribbled a message down with the tip of his finger. It read: Thanks, Slayer. That was it; that was all there was. She looked over to the chest where she had found a pile of old clothes last night and saw Spike had taken some and then taken off.

"Vampires...they're just so grateful" Buffy rolled her eyes, it was time to leave

Besides she had to find Spike now. Again.

Kicking the rusty door open was harder after the night she had had but the Slayer still managed it easily. Jumping out onto the gravel she reached back and slammed the door shut behind her. Then Buffy was twirling the scythe around with her as she set back on her long walk back home; maybe Spike had gone back. That would probably be too easy though.

By the time she did manage to get through the newly fixed gates by saying the password it was late morning and Buffy just wanted a shower and something to eat.

"Hey, Buffy" Dawn greeted her at the door "You look rough. Did you find Spike?"

"Oh yeah" Buffy spoke quietly then rolled her eyes "Well, I found him then lost him again. He isn't here?"

Dawn looked worried "No "

"I think he might just need a little time," Buffy said putting the scythe down and hanging her coat up, working the cricks out.

"And Angel?" Her sister questioned.

"What about him?"

"Didn't he find you two? Willow said

"he went out to find Spike and, well, he hasn't been back. So, we assumed he was with you, lying low or...whatever" Dawn arched an eyebrow wryly.

Buffy shook her head, frowning "I never saw Angel"

"What? "

"I never saw him"

"Buffy he's been out all night, he didn't come back" Dawn looked at her, wide-eyed.

The Slayer felt the sudden need to find Angel but she was aching badly and the slashes that Evil Giles had inflicted on her last night burned, the pains had not been improved due to the...situation with Spike last night. Check – no rampant vampire sex when dying of aches and pain – she made a note to herself.

Buffy went to the phone and called Giles at the hospital, told him about the Angel situation and he told her that it was best not to worry and that it was possibility that he had to take shelter somewhere else when sunlight hit, Buffy also mentioned the possibility that he might be in trouble. Giles told her he was coming home now but he insisted that she rest and get some sleep and that he and Willow would work on finding Angel. She had protested at first but the more Giles kept reinforcing the idea of a shower and some sleep the more tired and hurting Buffy felt. She finally agreed and hung up, walking upstairs to the bathroom.

Angel could take care of himself and Giles was probably right, he was probably just laying low for the day and he was fine. Buffy kept reminding herself of that all the way through her painful shower as the water stung her wounds and she even kept telling herself that as she crawled onto her bed and fell into blissfully ignorant sleep.

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When the glass shattered downstairs Buffy reacted instinctively even in her sleep, she had already jumped off the bed and her eyes were not yet open. That was the mark of a true professional. The Slayer ran out of her door and down the stairs not armed but that seemed less important then actually being downstairs to protect her friends.

All her pain was gone as she leapt the last ten steps and landed on the level ground in crouched position, she turned and ran toward the living room from which she was certain the breaking glass sound had come from. It was Spike that stood in the room which now seemed whole and perfect, even though it had been burnt badly by the fire, just like the vampire himself although you wouldn't know it. Spike had both of his arms perfectly formed and attached to his body. Even more bizarrely Buffy knew it was Spike and not the demon that was impersonating him – she could just tell.

He looked different, though, there was darkness in his eyes that she hadn't seen since the last time he had tried to kill her before he got the chip in his head. The corner of lip lifted when he saw her and he widened his eyes a fraction and then let them fall back to normal size, an eye flash, the thing he always did back when he was the predator and he thought of her as prey. Of course he was dressed in his usual Spike apparel – black jeans, boots, leather duster with the addition of a red shirt over the T-shirt that she hadn't seen him wear for a long time.

Buffy faced him down, not sure why she felt the need to, but had to anyway. The Slayer's fingers twitched in anticipation of something she never thought she would feel again towards Spike – the anticipation of a fight. He felt it too; she knew it because she knew him, even him in this slightly different outer shell.

"What is this?" She felt herself say but didn't know where it came from.

He shrugged, pursed his lips then he lifted his eyebrows "Guess we'll find out one day what we are"

Buffy shook her head "I never asked what we were...I asked what this is"

"Same question, luv" He replied and then began circling around so she too had to circle him, like boxers in the ring, panthers in the night "To work out what this is all about we have to work out what we are all about"

"What do you even mean?"

Spike smiled a smile that she rarely saw on him, one of melancholy "When it comes down to it Buffy, and I mean when it really comes down to it...life or death, blood boiling, heart pounding, sweat pouring, knees shaking comes down to it, would you Buffy the Vampire Slayer really choose me?"

She frowned "What?"

He rolled his eyes "You'll get it. Unfortunately, it'll be too late by then. Then again that's always the way with life, eh? Kickin' you when you're down"

Before Buffy had a chance to asked him any more Spike jumped at her and he seemed to be suspended in mid-flight for a moment, his face morphing to vampire. Then, even though she had enough time to move when this suspended animation happened, Spike carried on his trajectory through the air towards her and crashed into her making her hit her head hard on the floor.

She heard herself whisper one word "Angel"

Blissfully ignorant darkness fell upon her.

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When Buffy really awoke this time her eyes sprung open instantly and she sat bolt upright in bed, this time the pain did zigzag it's way across her back and down her side but she did her best to ignore it. She threw her legs over the side of the bed and stood too fast, so that her eyes saw dots, but that was not Buffy's main concern at the moment. She dressed quickly and then ran down the stairs pulling her hair into a band at the same time and really hoping that dream hadn't meant anything.

The Slayer turned as she got to the bottom of them stairs and saw the living room was still blackened by the flames that had licked at it, she let out a breath not of relief but just because she hadn't breathed since she had woken.

Buffy ran into the canteen and skidded to a halt in the doorway as everyone turned around to look at her like she was a crazy person. Buffy looked at the clock on the wall that told her it was already late afternoon she had slept far too long. She walked briskly over to the table where Willow, Wesley and Giles were hunched over books and she sat down in front of them.

"Please tell me you found Angel"

Giles sighed and looked old beyond his years "Buffy...no...no, we didn't "

"Why didn't you wake me?" The Slayer was getting frantic "Has Spike been back?"

"No" He said even more wearily.

"Why didn't you wake me?" She asked again.

Giles rubbed the bridge of his nose "You needed to rest Buffy, you were hurt badly and needed to sleep so that you could recuperate –"

"Recuperate!" Buffy's voice was rising and girls were turning to look "Giles, we don't know where Angel or Spike is, me recuperating is the last thing on my mind"

Giles' voice rose also "Yes, well, maybe it shouldn't be. You need to look after yourself Buffy, you can't always do everything and Angel and Spike are both big boys, they can take care of themselves"

"They're also vampires who fry in the sun!" Buffy stood so abruptly that her chair screeched along the floor and everyone turned to look.

The Slayer turned on her heel and walked out of the canteen but she heard footsteps behind her and knew it was Giles. She grabbed her jacket from the coat rack and pulled on some boots then she went down to the basement and retrieved the scythe and a couple of daggers. When she came back up the stairs Giles was leaning against the front door blocking her exit.

"Buffy," Her Watcher said softly "You understand that I have your best interests at heart, Spike and Angel –"

"They are my best interests, Giles," Buffy's voice softened also and she bit her lip to keep herself from crying even though she didn't know anything had actually happened to the vampires but, knowing their track records, it had, "I love him"

His shoulders sagged and he stepped aside from the doorway "Do you need any help?"

"I have to do this alone," Buffy said pulling the door open "I am going to find them and then...well, I haven't figured it out that far on but I'm betting I'll come up with something"

Giles nodded and the Slayer walked to him and gave a short but intimate hug, his warmth surrounded her for a moment and she let it before she drew back and turned to leave from the door. She was half way down the path in the afternoon darkness when she heard him call out to her.

"Buffy, you said you loved him. Not them" Giles looked her in the eyes "Whom do you love? Spike or Angel?"

Buffy paused, then shrugged "Don't ask me Giles. 'Cos I don't have a clue"

A/N: Dreams are fun. Remember that kiddies! Review, my dears.