Spike indicated that he wasn't at the top level and motioned for them to check the lower half. He was about to climb down first but Buffy stopped him. If Xander was down there, it wouldn't be too good for him to see his own body right away.
When they reached the undergroud part of the crypt all was dark. A lump formed in Buffy's heart, fearful that perhaps Xander had freaked out and got himself dusted. Not only would she loose her best friend, but Spike would be stuck in Xander's body forever. As Buffy strained her ears, she could almost hear a slight whimpering. His plantinum hair finally caught her eye. Xander was crunched up in a ball in the corner, his hands over his ears as he rocked back and forth on the ground. He looked absolutly devastating.
Buffy quickly ran to him, kneeling beside him and took his hands in hers.
"Xander, hey . . . its me," Buffy told him calmly. "Its alright, okay? We're going to fix this."
He flinched on the ground as Spike rounded the corner in his body. Usually turning into a vampire made the man or woman feel incredibly alive, confident and also a little cocky. But this, what Xander was going through was pain. His senses were heightened, he could hear and smell everything, and it was just too much to bear. He didn't want to be a vampire, and so he sat on the ground holding on to that last piece of humanity in him before he hit bottom.
"No," he said as he slowly stood up. The whole time his eyes were fixed on his face, at Spike. "It's really not alright."
"Xander--" Buffy began.
"Don't. Don't try to explain it to me," Xander yelled, shaking his head. "For months you've been hiding from your friends, retiring into his arms. How could you?" His words were thrown at her with utter dissapointment and hatred .
"Don't lay all this on her," warned Spike. "The only reason she's here is to make sure you didn't stake--"
"Shut up! Who gives you the right to--"
"Me?! What about you?" Spike countered back. "Instead of being mature 'bout this situation you go out and take the 'insecure little boy' routine and pretend to be me? Yeah, she told me 'bout what you said. . ."
By now the intervention became war. War between two men over one girl, the things people write fairy tales and epic poems about. Xander lunged at Spike and missed, but Spike wasn't going to sit out on the sidelines on this one. He didn't care that he would be pummeling his own body.
Spike picked up the boy and slammed him against the wall, words from Buffy echoing yet unheard. Without vampire strength, he found himself in more of a dissadvantage, but that didn't stop him. However, when Xander got the upperhand he pushed Spike off of him and down to the ground. He layed one single punch to the face before he screamed in pain, jolting backwards as his head felt like it was splintering in two.
Buffy wasn't about to get in between two dueling baddies, she knew better than that. But when Xander jumped back she found her hole to intervene and stop them from killing each other. She went to stand in front of Spike, cornering him off from the hurting Xander. All this body swapping was starting to get confusing for everyone.
Spike erupted in laughter as Xander held his head.
"This is brilliant! Bloody whelp 's got my chip!"
"Look, I'm sorry," said Buffy, focusing on Xander at the moment. Spike's laughter was still heard in the backgroud. "I didn't want you to find out this way."
"No, I bet not. What were you going to do? Not tell anyone and wait for him to slip up? To give you one reason not to sleep with that dead piece of shit? Huh? Then you wouldn't have to tell anyone of your little affair."
"No," she paused, trying to calm her nerves and not explode on him like he would want. "It's not like that. You woudn't understand . . ."
"Of course not," he scoffed.
"You don't know how hard its been! Just being here . . having to live a life that I . . . I was happy up there." she snapped at him, desperate to just knock him out with a single punch.
"You could have told me."
"You didn't want to know." Buffy said through clenched teeth.
"So you just let him in? He doesn't have a soul, Buffy! Do you even get that?"
Buffy took a deep breath to relax and spoke slowly. "He may not have a soul, but he does love me. Spike was there for me when I needed someone, when you guys, my friends were to blind to see that I needed help! He may not be perfect, okay? But none of us are. Spike has done more for us over the past couple years than you would ever give him credit for. How many times has he saved your life? Or took care of Dawn, for that matter?"
Xander opened his mouth with a comeback for her comment but Buffy cut him off before he got the chance.
"Look," she continued. "Meet us at the Magick Shop at 7. We'll hopefully have all this figured out by then and we can switch your bodies back. Until then, just think about what I said."
Buffy led Spike out of his crypt, not saying a word until they were safely outside in the cover of sunlight. But even then, it was not she who spoke first.
"What are we going to do after this?" he asked quietly. Buffy almost sensed a vibe of insecurity in his voice.
"You mean like where, or . . .?"
"No," he paused and look her straight in the eye as he spoke soft words that weren't ment to hurt her. "He knows about us, and so does the Nibblet and Red now . . . are you still gonna hide under the cover of darkness?"
From what she had told Xander, Spike really didn't think so. He didn't think that she would want to hide and keep secrets anymore, not when she knew it was tearing her up inside. And Buffy had practically said that she loved him, although her eyes had told him that long ago. But what would that mean for them, if all the Scoobies knew of thier relationship? Surely the old Watcher wouldn't approve, even thought he was in the Mother Country, and obviously neither did Xander.
And what if Angel found out? For Spike, that question was answered in two seperate parts. On the one hand, he was scared shitless because he had taken what his sire had previously claimed. The punishment was severe and Spike had not wished to do that twice in one lifetime, even if it hadn't happened in over a century. But on the other hand, he couldn't wait to see ol' Peaches' face. To look down upon him in glory as he relished in the fact that Buffy had chosen him to be her champion.
It was a mixed dilemma that would not be solved easily.
"Um, I-I don't know," answered Buffy truthfully. "I guess I haven't really thought about it."
They continued walking, Buffy artfully dodging a real answer to the question. They still had to make a stop to see Tara before heading home. When they found her at the Magick Shop they were informed of the news: Everyone knew that something was going on between the pair, everyone except Giles of course, who Buffy was sure that if he found out he would have a heart attack.
All of the secrets were out in the open, exposed to the emotional daggers of others. If her friends ganged up on her now, Buffy wasn't sure she would be able to deal.
When it came to problems of the heart, Buffy was at a loss. Everyone she had ever loved had left her and now a potential love was back in her life. A part of her felt that if she admitted her feelings to her friends, he would surely leave her just like the others. But then, Buffy wasn't even that sure of what her feeling were. It seemed that the only one who ever understood them was Spike.
When it was time for the girls' day out, Spike quietly slipped away, but not before whispering in Buffy's ear that he would see her soon. The vampire-turned-human spent the rest of the day walking through the park and streets of the city, enjoying the warmth of the luminous sun overhead before he would be turned back. Although Spike did enjoy himself, the whole time he yearned to be by his love's side.
The day dragged on for what seemed like forever and Buffy felt like she was on a podium giving a speech on English Literature. She kept checking her watch, grateful for when the six hours would wind down and she could be alone without confrontation and concerned views from others. Mostly it was Willow who kept asking such personal questions about Spike that really drove Buffy to the point of annoyance.
However, Buffy got through it with only a couple minor disappearances from the group so that she could stifle a silent scream. By the end of the day she had regained her composure and headed to the Magick Shop (once again) to face the beat of the drums. Tara had found the reversal spell and it was time to return the correct bodies to their owners.