DISCLAIMER: I don't own the rights to Buffy: the Vampire Slayer, Angel: the Series, or the people and places therein. I also do not own the character of Lucy Hannover. I've borrowed them to write this fiction, which is just that and not a way to try to steal money from Joss and company.
Two and A Half Hours ago

It had been just after nine-thirty when Lucy finally came to get Willow from the Hyperion.

The witch had told Dawn to wait for her to call, then get Angel to drive her to the Holiday Inn with some of the clothes they'd bought for Spike. Faith and all the younger Slayers were on patrol, so Willow didn't have to explain herself to anyone on her way out the door.

When they hit the street, Willow broke into a run, racing to get to the spot where they'd determined that she could open a door to the Ghost Roads. She'd done the opening ritual so many times in high school--mostly during that crisis with the Gatekeeper in Massachusetts--that she breezed through it with barely a thought.

The witch had known that Tara would be there when she stepped through the portal, but her heart still nearly stopped when she saw her. Tara smiled at Willow as she said, "He's in Sunnydale, like we thought he would be. He seems a little disoriented, but he's all right physically. Jenny and I have been watching him, to make sure nothing bad happened."

Willow scrunched up her face in confusion. "Jenny? You mean Miss Calendar?" They started walking toward the ruins of Sunnydale.

"Why are you so surprised, Willow?" Lucy looked puzzled. "You saw her here when you walked the Ghost Roads before with Xander."

"Spike was just so bad, the last time Miss Calendar saw him. Its weird."

Tara shrugged. "She told me that she still feels bad about what happened with Angel, when he lost his soul. It's why she's still here. I think that when she knows that Buffy and Angel both forgive her, she can move on."

"Oh." Up ahead, Willow could see the thin spot in the walls between the "real world" and the Ghost Roads that indicated they were very near their destination. That didn't surprise her any, since she knew that a person could travel all the way to Europe in a matter of hours this way. Peering through the thin spot, was a dark haired woman.

Willow recognized her immediately, and would have, even if she hadn't known that Jenny Calendar was going to be there. They reached her side a few moments later, and Willow had to resist the urge to hug the woman who had been both her teacher and friend, for fear of destroying her spiritual body along with her physical one.

The Gypsy woman smiled when she saw the approaching trio. "Hello, Willow."

"Hi." Willow smiled back. "How is he?"

Jenny looked back through the portal. "He was unconscious for a while. Then he cried about something--I was too far away to make that out." She sighed. "Now it looks like he's trying to get out of the crater and can't. I think he might be in shock. Be careful with him Willow."

Willow held up the crossbow she'd brought with her from the hotel. "Don't worry. I'm ready, if he's not our Spike."

"Good." Lucy moved to the portal. "We need to get in there and get him, as quickly as we can."

Willow nodded, resolve face painted on. "Then let's go."

Carefully, she and Lucy stepped through the portal and into the ruins of the town where Willow had grown up.

"Wait here," Lucy told her, just on the other side. "And keep this side of the portal open. I don't know if we'd be able to open it again otherwise, with the Hellmouth being gone. I'll go and get Spike."

Willow nodded, and watched the ghostly Slayer drift away. She couldn't even see Spike from here, and didn't know how long it would take Lucy to get to him. She just hoped it wouldn't be long--the rain was cold, and the ruins of the city were shifting beneath her feet as she waited.

It took Lucy ten minutes to bring a muddy, rain drenched and battered looking Spike to the portal.

"Goddess, Spike. It really is you…" She wasn't sure if she wanted to laugh or cry or hug him--maybe all three. Somehow, even after managing to resurrect Buffy, she hadn't really believed she could bring Spike back right.

"Well of course its me. How many other vampires would be crazy enough to be in a bloody crater in the rain?"

"Dunno. But let's get you out of it, shall we?" She made a gesture and the portal that she'd be holding in state opened in front of them. She gestured to him. "You first."

The vampire stepped through and looked around. "Hey, Red?"

"Yeah, Spike?" She and Lucy followed him through and Willow closed the portal.

"Where are we?"

"These are the Ghost Roads. This is how we're getting you back to Buffy."

"Sounds good to me." He looked around, and his eyes lit on Tara. "Tara?" The vampire looked confused.

"But you were with me. I remember you talking to me. Why are you here?"

"You were here, Spike." Tara looked sadly at him. "You were one of the lost souls that Lucy and I help."

"I was lost?" Spike felt his knees go weak for a moment. "But it all felt so…so…bloody right. I was warm and loved and I even felt like Buffy was there…" He trailed off at the pained expressions of the women surrounding him. "I really was lost, wasn't I?"

Tara nodded solemnly. "You were. But it's better now. C'mon. Let's get you to L.A. and get you cleaned up."

Spike nodded, feeling slightly numb. "Is that where Buffy is?"

"Yeah. And Dawn." Willow took his arm and began walking him down the road. "Do you wanna know what happened, you know, after?"

Spike nodded, so Willow gave him the brief recap of all that had happened in the month he'd been gone. How the Hellmouth had collapsed--and taken the town with it. And how they'd all gone to L.A. to get some rest and relief from what had happened. She told him that they were all staying in the hotel that Angel owned--and had to quickly reassure him that he wasn't staying there unless he wanted to.

And finally, as she was unlocking the door to the room at the Holiday Inn, she told him about the spell that she, Dawn and Angel had done to bring him back, because he couldn't move on from the Ghost Roads.

They stepped into the room. "Angel helped you do a spell to resurrect me?" Spike was floored.

"Yeah." Willow closed the door after Lucy drifted in. "And he gave us money to go buy you new clothes and stuff too."

Spike was too surprised by Angel's uncharacteristic kindness toward him to even wonder if there was an ulterior motive behind his actions. He started to sink into the chair by the door, then froze mid-motion as he realized just how muddy he was. Carefully he stood back up.

Willow noticed his actions and gestured him toward the bathroom. "You go hop in the shower and I'll have someone bring over some of the clothes we got for you."

Spike nodded, and went to into the bathroom to do as she suggested. Willow, set down her crossbow, picked up the phone, and called Dawn at the Hyperion. Then she sat down to wait.

After a few minutes, she looked at Lucy, who was "sitting" in the room's other chair. "Did we do the right thing?"

"It felt right to me."