A/N: Sorry it's been a while guys. My updates do tend to be far apart. Hopefully I'll be able to fix that! I just had some major writer's block, but I'm pretty sure I have a good idea of where this story is going again finally! This would have been up a little sooner today, but well, 6 in the morning, I figured typing up the last page or so of the story wasn't quite so dire as sleep. Lol. And in response to a couple reviews, having Faith escape does sound like a good idea, but I think she may have to go through some stuff to come to a "ley's not kill people" state. And having Wesley be more like he is on Angel would be a lot more fun, I agree. Maybe I could connect those two? It would help give me filler for a between Spuffiness area! Lol.

Chapter 6: Dreaming of You

Members of the council were scattered through the library. More specifically, Quentin Travers was speaking with Giles and Wesley while a few more men, all dressed completely in black, unchained Faith from the chair and snapped manacles around her wrists and ankles before leading her out of the room at gunpoint. It was now around 7 AM Saturday morning. Luckily, Oz had changed back to his non-wolf self before the council arrived and after he dressed, Giles let him out of the cage. Angel left through the sewers around that time as well. Now the teens walked out of the room on their way to an early breakfast after bidding a quick good-bye to Giles. Soon, only Travers, Wesley, and Giles remained standing in the room.

Travers smiled. Not only was he rid of Buffy Summers, but soon Rupert Giles would be out of his hair as well. He was going to enjoy this…

"Mr. Giles, Mr. Wyndham-Price," Travers nodded his head. Giles nodded back in acknowledgement.

"Mr. Travers," Wesley said.

"Mr. Giles, I am handing over watcher duties of Karen the vampire slayer to Mr. Wyndham-Price," Travers said smugly.

"Excuse me?" Giles scoffed in disbelief.

"Yes, since there were two slayers, and you were already on location, we let you train Karen while Mr. Wyndham-Price took charge of Faith. But now that Faith is coming with us, you are no longer necessary."

Giles stood in shock, unable to form words.

Travers smirked. "Have a good day, gentlemen." With that said, he turned around and left the library.

It was two days since Buffy and Spike had gone out. All day, she locked herself up in her room. At nights she would wait for him to leave before she left her room, and she would enter once again before he returned.

She had spent the last few days and nights in a constant state of confusion. Spike was her Sire, yes, and therefore she was his Childe. She was no longer the slayer, but a vampire. An ensouled, non-killing one, but a vampire never the less. Spike, on the other hand, was a murdering, evil vampire. Just because he was sweet, kind, and caring to her, didn't mean he was to the human populace, and all though no longer her job, Buffy still felt the need to defend those innocent lives. The instinct to kill¾ not humans, but vampires and demons¾ to stake, to dust, to slay was still in Buffy's bones, imbedded into her very being, into the very essence of what made Buffy Buffy.

She had tried to figure out if it would be all right to possibly make more of what she had with Spike, but she couldn't. So she had tried to repress her feelings¾ to ignore them, and reject them. But she couldn't do that either. So now she was back at square one with no idea what to do. She knew she had to face Spike at some point, but she wanted to avoid that as long as she could. She still couldn't believe she had said he was her guy. Her guy?! What had she been thinking? She hadn't been, that was the problem. She sighed.

Suddenly, an idea popped into Buffy's head. It was crazy, but maybe… maybe it just might work? She hoped so. Then, she wouldn't have to worry about her moral issues about being with Spike. No worries at all… If her outlandish idea worked. In her mind, she began to form a plan…

That night, when Spike got back in, Buffy sat on the couch, watching TV. Though shocked to see her out, Spike was happy as well. He may not admit it, but he had missed her. Slowly, he walked over to the couch and looked at her, unsure if he was welcome or not. Buffy turned her head so she was staring at him and smiled warmly. Spike figured that was as good as anything and sat next to her on the couch. He stared at the TV, but didn't really register it. He was too busy wondering about the body next to him. What he didn't realize was that Buffy was doing the same thing.

After a few moments, Buffy turned her body to face him. Curious, Spike looked over at her.

Buffy had a slightly determined look on her face, yet also very hesitant. The mix was interesting to see as it played across her features. Taking a deep breath, she began.

"Spike... I want…" She looked up at him and decided to change her approach. "Lately I've been thinking. About us. Or the lack thereof and the possibility of there becoming an 'us'."

Spike just continued staring at her, his face indifferent and giving away nothing. With another deep breath, Buffy plunged on.

"But well, you know I still have my soul. And you know I wouldn't kill a human being. And it bothers me enough that you do every night, and I do nothing to stop it. But if I were to be with you, and that went on… I just couldn't take it. So… So Iwantyoutostopkilling," Buffy rushed the last part, slurring the words together.

"What?" Spike said, not sure he'd heard her correctly.

"I said, I want you to stop killing," Buffy repeated, slower this time.

Spike stared at her, expressionless. Then the corners of his mouth began to twitch, and soon he was laughing uncontrollably.

"Oh, pet. That's rich. You want me to stop feeding? What, should I start bagging it?" This set Spike into another fit of laughter.

Buffy was pissed. She knew it had been a ridiculous idea, but at least it had been an idea. And here he was laughing at her!

"Well I'm glad you find my moral dilemmas so funny! And I'm not your 'pet'," she spat at him. "I do have a name you know."

"But that's what everyone calls you. I want what I call you to be special," Spike said, wisely deciding to ignore her first comment. Honestly, he had been wondering himself how he could be attracted to something that, by all means, was still good.

"Why?" she shot back.

"Because I'm special," he smirked at her.

She stared at him as he just continued to give her that damn smirk. She wanted to reach out and wipe it off his face with a punch.

"Fine," she finally caved in to his idiocy. "Just not 'pet' or 'luv'." She crossed her arms over her chest and sat back on the couch.

"Kitten?"

"No."

"Why the bloody hell not?"

"Childish."

"Sugar?"

"Bleh!"

"Honey?"

"Why all so… cutesy! You're supposed to be the 'Big Bad', aren't you?"

"Angel?"

They both froze as they realized what he'd said. Neither of them had ever brought up Angel.

"Or, something else…" Spike tried to backpedal.

Buffy got up and began to stomp off to her room.

Spike began to panic. He didn't want her to lock herself up again for who knew how long.

"Tiger?" he randomly threw the word out. Buffy halted in her march. She cocked her head to the side before slowly turning to face him, a grin on her face.

"Tiger," she repeated slowly. "I like that." And with that said she sat back on the couch to watch more TV until the two retired to their own rooms to sleep.

As Spike lay in bed, he began to dream… His slip up to Buffy made him remember Dru, who he hadn't thought about in weeks, the only exception being when he mentioned her in his tirade to Buffy. So because of this, it was of her he dreamt…

"My Spike," Drusilla was dancing in the moonlight, head thrown back to see the stars. Miss Edith sat nearby on the ground.

"Spike," Dru called to him again. He walked over to her.

"Dru?" he asked.

"My Spike. My darling boy…" she reached out to touch him, but hissed and sharply drew her hand back.

"Pet? What's wrong?" Spike reached out to her, but she recoiled, pulling away from him.

"You're all covered in light. My Spike's left me… He's left me for the nasty slayer." Dru began to sway back and forth. She moaned, holding her hands to her head.

"It hurts, it hurts. My Spike's gone and fallen, and he can't get up. He's fallen… fallen... and not with me…" Dru babbled, still holding her head and swaying in the moonlight.

"Dru, luv, what are you talking about?" Spike took a step toward her. She lifted her head and looked at him.

"My Spike's not mine anymore… He's fallen for the nasty slayer." She began to moan again. Spike stared at her, shocked.

Suddenly, his surroundings changed to an inside darkness. He was back sitting on the couch with Buffy sitting next to him as they had been earlier that night.

"Buffy?" Spike asked, confused by the sudden change.

Buffy looked over at Spike, and after a moment she smiled; it was a warm and welcoming smile.

Spike held her gaze like that for a moment, and then, unable to help himself, he leaned over to kiss her…

Just as their lips met, Spike snapped into a sitting position in his bed, gasping for air.

The next room over, Buffy lay in her own bed, also dreaming… When Spike had said Angel earlier, she had felt horrible. Not necessarily at the reminder of what had gone on back in Sunnydale, but at the fact that for the past two days, she hadn't had a single thought about him. All her thoughts had been on Spike and what she was going to do. So because of this, it was of Angel she dreamt…

Buffy sat on a bench in the shade of a tree. She squinted her eyes against the bright rays of the outside sunlight.

She felt a hand rest itself on her shoulder. Turning to see who it was, Buffy gasped.

"Angel!"

"Hi, Buffy." Angel smiled at her as he sat down in the empty spot next to her.

"Angel, what are you doing here?" Buffy asked him. "I… I sent you to hell," she said guiltily.

"I know, Buffy. But it's ok. Everything will turn out fine. Just keep following your heart. You've done a good job so far."

"Huh? What do you mean?" Buffy asked him with a puzzled look on her face.

Angel smiled at her again. "Be with who you want to be with, Buffy. And never let anyone make you do otherwise. When you need a friend, I'll always be here for you."

"Angel?" Buffy began to panic, especially when Angel began to fade out of sight.

"Angel!" Buffy reached for his hand, but only grasped ait between her fingers.

Suddenly, her surroundings changed to an inside darkness. She was back sitting on the couch with Spike sitting next to her as they had been earlier that night.

"Buffy?" Spike asked, looking over at her with a confused look on his face.

Buffy looked at him, finally processing all that Angel had told her.

Follow her heart… Buffy smiled at Spike. She planned to do just that. And nothing and no one was going to get in her way, not even her morals.

As Spike began to lean over to kiss her, Buffy leaned in to kiss him as well…

Just as their lips met, Buffy snapped into a sitting position in her bed, gasping for air.

A/N: Hope I did Dru well. I always thought she'd be a hard character to write, but actually, she came to me with surprising ease. I had fun with it. I hope you guys enjoyed the dream sequences. I know I did. teehee. I kind of did that to help speed up the process of things in LA a bit. I was planning on the reunion being in another chapter of two, but there's still a few things to be done in Sunnydale, so I'm hoping to get that done in the next chapter. If I do, the scoobies should be back with Buffy soon!