Disclaimer: The usual....I don't own Buffy the Vampire Slayer or any of the characters.

Pairings: Mainly Spuffy in this chapter, but it will eventually be B/A, because they're the best couple ever! Other pairings will be C/A (only a little and probably not in a romantic way) Cordy/Connor (not in a romantic way....at least not from Cordy's side, cos those two together is just......Ew!) Maybe Fred/Gunn/Wesley ------ About their lovely little love triangle

Thank you for all the great reviews! They really make my day!

N170017:Well, gotta say: I really loved the fight with oil-thing...I don't think it'll be appropriate in this story, but I'll definitely keep it in mind.....should make a great one-parter, right? :-p

Tariq:Loved your idea about Connor...Really! And I would have used it, but I already have so many characters in this fic....bringing Connor in just might be too much...And the dark and improved Wesley?....I'm definitely gonna consider it!

Smile1:Thank you for your kind words! Your reviews are very important to me....Just want you to know that!

This is a Buffy/Angel crossover!

Here's chapter 3! Enjoy!

Chapter 3

The next morning Buffy entered the kitchen and saw all of the girls making themself breakfast. Buffy smiled at the sight. Luckily she had missed the bathroom ritual this morning, which meant she would have the entire bathroom for herself for as long as she wanted. She was already looking forward to a long, hot shower. She knew it would help her to heal faster after last night's fight and maybe it would help her to relax a little, because she hadn't been able to sleep all night. The First had surprised her with a visit and it's words had kept her awake all night and she had wandered through the house the entire night. She had come to a realization though and she was going to tell the others about it after her shower. She was about to turn around when she saw Spike standing in the kitchen too. She was surprised she hadn't noticed him before, but then she realized it wasn't that weird, because he was standing on the other side of the kitchen en she had been too busy looking at the girls to even notice anything else. Spike had noticed her though. The kitchen was just dark enough for him on days like this one when it was raining and the sun wasn't shining. He stared at Buffy. She had spent the night in the basement with him, because her own bedroom was taken by the many girls. He hadn't been able to enjoy her company for too long though, because when he had woken up in the middle of the night she had been gone. Now she was standing in the doorway, looking at him. Her hair was still messy and she looked exhausted. Spike thought he saw a smile forming on her lips and he tried to smile back. Then he saw Angel approaching Buffy from behind and his smile dissapeared.

"You feel like sharing with me what's up with you and Spike?" Angel asked Buffy.

Buffy quickly turned around, because she hadn't heard Angel.

"Angel! You scared me!"

"Sorry" he apologized.

"How did you sleep?" she asked, partly trying to avoid his question and partly kinda curious to hear his answer.

"I didn't."

"Oh"

"You?"

"The same"

Angel nodded slowly.

"So, I should...." Buffy started, trying to say she was going to take a shower.

"Is he your boyfriend?" Angel interrupted her before she had the chance to finish her sentence.

"Excuse me?" Buffy asked.

"Spike"

"I don't see how that's any of your business"

"It isn't.....I'm just curious"

Buffy sighed and looked at Angel.

"He's not my boyfriend. Not really"

"And somehow that answer doesn't make me feel better"

"Spike is like you now....Well, not like you....obviously....but he has a soul and........he's changed" Buffy stuttered.

"Soul?"

"Yeah...and I know it sounds weird, but this Spike is really not the Spike you and I used to know. He really changed."

"He has a soul now?"

"Uhuh" Buffy confirmed once again.

"Oh that's great" Angel said, obviously not meaning it.

"Is that jealousy talking or just....you, not wanting to be happy for him, because you hate him so much?" Buffy asked Angel.

Angel looked over at Spike who was looking at the two of them.

"A little bit of both" Angel confessed.

"I figured. Look, I don't know what kind of issues you and Spike have, but my suggestion is you two work it out and get over it.....And now I'm gonna take a shower"

Before Angel could say something Buffy dissapeared upstairs and locked herself in the bathroom. Some privacy at last....

Barely 30 minutes later they were all in the basement, because Buffy had something to tell them. All of the girls were talking to each other and Buffy already knew it was going to be hard to get them to stop talking in a few minutes. Spike got up when Buffy walked down the stairs. He walked up to her and stopped her right before she was downstairs.

"What's wrong?" Buffy asked when she saw Spike's serious expression.

"I want to wear it" he told Buffy.

"Wear what?" Buffy asked, not sure what he was talking about.

"The amulet"

Buffy looked at Spike in surprise. How did he know about the amulet? She knew vampires had good hearing, but she didn't think he could have heard her all the way from the livingroom. Then she remembered Spike coming in from the other side when she and Angel were done talking last night. He had gone to the 'bathroom'. Yeah, right.

"Have you been eavesdropping?! You said you were in the bathroom!"

"Bathroom...hallway....Not much of a difference nowadays. Point is that I'm the one who's supposed to wear it. Not you, not Angel.....Me"

"Why would you think that?"

"Could you just stop with the questions? You know you'll never let Angel wear it anyway....He's too special to you....You probably already had me in mind. You were just waiting for the right moment to ask me"

"I wasn't. I really wasn't....Look, Spike...I could never ask you to...." Buffy started, a little confused and not sure what to do now.

"You don't have to. I'm offering. Just give it to me"

Buffy hesitated. She knew that Spike was kinda right. She didn't want Angel to wear it, but not for the reason he pointed out. Sure, Angel was special to her and she didn't want anything to happen to him, but she didn't want Spike to get hurt either. The reason she didn't want Angel to wear it was simple. Angel had a son. Angel had people who cared about him. Friends. Spike didn't have that...He didn't have real friends or anything like that. Spike didn't have anybody. Just her. That's why he could be the right person to wear it. There was only one problem.

"I can't...." Buffy whispered to Spike.

"Don't be so bloody stubborn. I want to do this"

"But I don't want you to do it"

She looked up at him. For a few seconds they stared at each other, then Spike walked away. He sat down on the bed and looked at Buffy who was still standing on the stairs. Eventually Buffy got herself together and walked down the stairs. Spike looked at Faith and Buffy who were apparantly in the middle of an interesting conversation. Angel was smiling and so was Faith. Then Faith said something to Angel and walked up to Spike. She sat down beside him on the bed, her back against the wall.

"You have a smoke?" Faith asked him.

Spike handed Faith a cigarette and his lighter. Then Spike lit his own cigarette and together they smoked in silence for a little while. Spike looked at Faith and saw she was staring at Angel.

"When did you become Angel's lapdog?" Spike asked.

"You really wanna bring that up? As fellow-lapdog?"

Faith looked at Buffy who was in the middle of a pretty serious conversation with Willow.

"I'm not her lapdog!" Spike reacted, a little offended.

"Only in the literal sense of the word" Faith said with a smile on her face while she took a drag from her cigarette.

Spike smirked and took another drag from his cigarette.

"So, what do you think this meeting is all about?" Faith asked Spike.

Spike shrugged.

"Didn't she tell you?"

"Does she ever tell me anything?"

"I wouldn't know." Faith said and another smile appeared on her face. Spike noticed.

"You know, it seems to me that you're actually enjoying all of this"

"You mean the fact that we're very likely all gonna get killed pretty soon? No, sorry that's not my kind of entertainment"

"No, your kind of entertainment would be being the one who kills, right?" Spike said.

"Well yeah....if putting a stake through your heart is called killing then that's definitely my kind of entertainment"

Before Spike could say anything to that Buffy stepped forward and cleared her throat. To her surprise it immediately became quiet. As if they all knew this speech was gonna be different from all the others. She cleared her throat before starting.

"Like most of you, I couldn't sleep last night. There was something that kept me awake. The First. The difference between this night and all the other nights would be that this time he didn't only keep me awake in my mind. He was here. He talked to me and for the first time what he said made sense. Tonight all of this is gonna be over. Tonight we're gonna open the seal. We're gonna fight the First"

Buffy stopped talking, expecting people to react to her announcement. It remained quiet. Buffy looked around the room. Everyone seemed afraid to speak. Suddenly one of the Potentials, Rona, said something.

"That's crazy" was the only thing she said.

Then Giles opened his mouth.

"Well yeah, Buffy...I don't....I don't think....."

"You don't have to think. I've done the thinking for all of us" Buffy interrupted him.

"Well, I'd like to do my own thinking, thank you. With my own brains, cos it seems to me like everyone here is afraid to tell you that your brains kinda stopped making sense" Anya said.

"She's right, Buff. This doesn't make sense. You wanna open the seal? You wanna fight the First? That is your plan? Get us all killed? I think I'm not alone when I say: this is not the masterplan we hoped for" Xander told Buffy.

"Would you just hear her out?" Willow suddenly said.

It became quiet again and Buffy smiled at Willow.

"I have a plan. It's probably an insane plan....And it could get us all killed.....but it might work" Buffy announced.

This got everyone's attention. Buffy took a deep breath before continueing her speech. She could only hope that this was the masterplan they had all hoped for.

Buffy was sitting on the frontporch, thinking. She saw the sun going down and checked her watch. Only a few minutes left. She looked up when she heard the door opening behind her. It was Spike. He did a tiny step forward so he could close the door behind him, but was still standing in the dark.

"Hey" Buffy softly said.

"Hey" Spike said.

Buffy turned back and realized the sun was almost down now.

"Are you ready for the big fight?" Spike asked.

"Don't know....How do you know if you're ready for something like this?"

"You don't. You just say that you are to please the person who asked if you were ready"

"In that case I'm ready. Ready to kick some serious ubervamp butt" she tried to joke.

Spike smiled to himself.

"You know...that crazy plan of you just might work" he told her.

"Let's hope so....it's our only chance"

"Are you kidding me?! Using a spell to give all the girls Slayer strength? Gotta be the plan of the century.....literally. He'll never see it coming"

Buffy didn't respond to that. The sun had gone down now and she sighed. They should go. She got up and turned around. She walked up to Spike, wanting him to step aside so she could go inside. Of course he didn't step aside.

"You're scared" he stated.

"And you aren't?"

"Not like you, no."

"The world could come to an end tonight, Spike. Best case scenario I'm gonna loose people I care about. People are gonna get killed. I might get killed. How can I not be scared?"

Spike didn't answer her immediately. They both knew what Buffy meant. They both knew Spike was the right person to wear the amulet, but Buffy didn't wanna give it to him, because she didn't want to loose him. She didn't want him to take that huge risk.

"You're a hero. You've saved the world a thousand times before. Tell me you weren't scared back then"

"Not like this. I feel that whatever is gonna happen tonight, I can't win. The world ends, I loose. And if the world doesn't end, people are still gonna die in this battle. Either way I loose"

"That's where you're wrong, luv. In order to save the world, sacrifices have to be made. You've learned that the hard way the past couple of years, haven't you?"

"Yes. And it made me realize that it's not fair. How can I feel like a hero when every time I save the world I feel like crap? The only person who has to make sacrifices is me"

"That's why you're the Slayer"

"Well, that's not making me feel any better! Now step aside. We have to go"

Spike hesitated, then he stepped aside. Buffy opened the door and without even looking at him she stepped inside.

"Buffy...." Spike said.

Buffy stopped and turned around.

"No matter what sacrifices you have to make.....No matter how many times you have to die....No matter how many people you have to give up....Remember that it's all worth it in the end. No one is ever really gone. No one ever really dies. No one ever really leaves you.......I'll never really leave you" he spoke.

Buffy stared at the floor, her hand still on the doorhandle. For a couple of seconds, she didn't know what to say. Then she reached into her pocket and took out the amulet. She stared at it.

"Is that a promise?" she softly asked him.

"Yes"

"And you're not gonna break it?"

"Not likely"

Buffy hesitated for one more second, then she held out the amulet. Spike took it from her. They stood in silence for a little while.

"I'm sorry" she eventually said, feeling really guilty about letting Spike take such a huge risk.

"No need to be, luv. I want to do this"

"I won't forget it" she said.

Then she walked into the livingroom, leaving Spike in the doorway holding the amulet in his hand. He stared at it. Love makes you do the wacky. He was convinced of that now.

A/N. Okay, so I know this story has been more Spuffy than B/A so far, but I promise that's all gonna change later on. I didn't wanna forget about the Buffy/Spike relationship like it never meant anything, so that's why there's been more Spuffy action than B/A action so far. There might not be a whole lot of romantic scenes between Buffy and Angel, but I will definitely show the chemistry between them and there will be smoochies.....eventually. I'm just asking you to be patient!

Anyway, let me know what you think of this chapter. It wasn't very long, because I wanted to put the battle in this chapter too, but then I came up with some little ideas and I realized the chapter would turn out way too long if I would still add the battle to this....So the battle is gonna be in the next chapter! It might not be all that different from the final battle on the show, but we'll see about that later, okay? Now, please review! I love reviews! Thanks!

Steffanie (a.k.a Nice-one)