A/N : Thanx so much to everyone who reviewed the first chapter of this fic - ness345, Spuffy6, wolf116, Mony19, Moonjava, awesome, Moluvsnumber17, and OnlyHaveEyesForYou. I'm always nervous when I start posting a new story that it'll be really unpopular, but thankfully you all seem to like this one so far. Here's the next chapter...
(For disclaimer, etc. - see chapter 1)

Chapter 2

Location : Rome, Italy
Time : May 25th 2004, 11:51

"How could you not tell me this sooner!" Buffy said angrily slamming her hand down on the table. The sound startled both her children, one of whom began to cry.

"Oh Ellie" the Slayer got straight up and went to her, picking her up, "Mommy's sorry, she didn't mean to scare you"

Hearing her sister's apparent distress soon set off the other child and Dawn went to comfort her.

"Come on sweetie, it's okay Chloe" the brunette said softly as she held the child close. Buffy glared at Andrew over Eloise's head.

"What?" he said, "I didn't make them cry"

The Slayer's eyes narrowed further as she tried to hold back tears.

"How could you not tell me Spike was back?" she said angrily, "You knew for months and you didn't even mention it" she ground out, desperate not to cry or to yell and upset her children even more.

"It's not like I didn't wanna tell" Andrew complained, "but he made me promise, and I wasn't gonna break his promise if I wasn't allowed to break the one I made to you" he explained, also on the verge of tears. He'd hated knowing so much and being forced to conceal it, but both Spike and Buffy had convinced him it was for the best.

"Buffy, Andrew's right" Dawn told her sister who turned her glaring eyes to the girl, "It must have been awful for him stuck in the middle, not allowed to tell you Spike was alive, and not allowed to tell Spike that he was a Daddy"

The Slayer sighed, closing her eyes and letting tears run down her face.

"I know it's not your fault" she directed at Andrew, "I just...I could've been with him, even if it wasn't for long, I could've..." she broke down into noisy sobs, her sentence lost into an oblivion as she sat down on the couch with her baby in her arms.

Dawn was about to go to her when there was a knock on the door. She moved to answer it and found a familiar man on the other side.

"Oh, hi" she said awkwardly, glancing into the room at her sister and then back at the dark haired, olive skinned, undeniably gorgeous figure of their neighbour David Di Luigi. He had a crush on Buffy from the day he moved in two months ago. It had taken just seven weeks of that time before he'd asked her out, despite the fact he knew she had two small babies. Last Saturday they'd gone out for a meal, and had both made the shocking discovery that the other knew all about the demon world, slayers, vampire and all. What Davy was yet to discover was the truth about the father of Buffy's children.

"Dawn, I came to take Buffy out for lunch, is she ready?" he asked in all innocence, not knowing what was occurring inside.

"Davy, I don't know if now is a good time" the younger girl tried to close the door on him without appearing too rude, "I can get her to call you, if you want"

"Sure" he agreed though he was frowning hard, "It's nothing...demonic, is it?" he asked in a whisper in case anyone in the hallway might here.

"Not really" she said after a moments consideration, "We just got some bad news about a...friend" she explained vaguely, "but we'll be okay, I promise"

The young man nodded slowly as he backed off down the hall.

"You call me if Buffy or you need anything, okay?" he told her and Dawn smiled and nodded as she watched him go and closed the door behind him. He really was such a nice guy and pretty much perfect for Buffy, that had been obvious from the first moment they'd met. Now Dawn knew things had changed, all the old memories of Spike had been dragged back to the surface, preventing Buffy from seeing the future as clearly as she had before.

It made Dawn feel strange to think her vampiric older brother figure had been alive or at least undead in the world for a year without ever telling them. Still, both she and Andrew had been sworn to secrecy about Ellie and Chloe. Only the three of them and Giles knew they existed. Willow and Xander had gone off on their own before Buffy had realised she was pregnant and though they always kept in touch, Buffy had never been able to bring herself to tell them. It seemed wrong by letter or phone, it should be face to face.

Dawn sighed as she headed back to the living room and found her sister still crying, the babies back in their chairs sleeping, and Andrew sitting at the table with a tear stained face and a crumpled piece of paper in his hand.

Location : Unknown
Time : Unknown

"So, I'm getting a gift and so is Blue here, right?" Spike asked, glancing between the kind face of Tara and the area above his head where the voice he heard seemed to emanate from, "What I'm not gettin' is why us? S'not that I don't appreciate being popped back into the world every time I think I've found bloody peace!" he yelled, sarcasm in every word.

"You try our patience, vampire!" the booming voice told him harshly, "We wonder why we chose you as we did"

"What are we chosen for?" Illyria was keen to know, "Why are we not dead as our allies are, as Wesley is"

"Because I had served my purpose" said a familiar English voice as a further two figure appeared out of the misty void and stood beside Tara. Wesley and Fred were holding hands and looked exactly as two people in love should, they were practically glowing.

"Bloody hell" Spike backed up a step in surprise as he glanced between Fred and Illyria. The two women seemed slightly taken back also, "How are you here, when she's in you?" the vampire frowned in confusion.

"What you see is just a form, Spike" the Texan told him, "Illyria took my body but my soul was set free and sent here...to wait" she added, glancing at Wesley who smiled and squeezed her hand.

"You planned this" the vampire realised, almost angrily, throwing his head back and yelling at the one he couldn't see, "You planned this!" he accused, "You killed them and they didn't deserve it!" he told the faceless voice who simply laughed in reponse.

"Foolish creature" it said amusedly and Spike felt his blood start to boil.

"Spike, calm down" Tara urged, "It's not as simple as that. The Powers That Be had plans that were damaged and altered by forces out of their control. They had to make changes to accommodate what had become unbalanced"

"You're talking in riddles, pet" Spike complained, putting his hand to his head as if it hurt to try and wrap his mind round what's she was saying. His companion, however, had less of an issue in grasping the premise.

"Your friends death and my rising was foretold, your Powers That Be had it planned so that Angel's plot would succeed" she said, still staring at her fallen ally and the girl who's body she had possessed.

"We bear you no ill will, Illyria" Wesley told her, "You never intended to harm Fred, we all know that, and despite your having power beyond that of myself and those around you, you chose the right path and fought at our side. You sacrificed your life for a cause because ultimately you knew it was the correct thing to do"

"This is true" she conceded with a nod, "but I still cannot comprehend why I am here? What is this place?"

"In simple terms, it's the door to the afterlife" Fred told her, seemingly unphased by her doppelganger, "but it's not time for either of you to walk through right now"

"I was soddin' right" Spike cursed, "You're gonna shove me back into existence again!" he complained, "How many more bloody times!"

"If the vampire wishes to reject the offer we lay before him" the now decidedly angry voice told him in full earth-shattering booming volume, "We do not have to give him back his humanity at all!"

"Well, maybe I don't...!" Spike began to yell back before he realised something "Hey wait a minute" he said more calmly, "My humanity?"

"You chose to fight on the side of good, not just to make up for the bad things you did, or to make others respect you, but because it was right" Tara reminded him, "You sought out a way to be a better man and against all odds it's what you became"

"Very nice of you to say so, luv" he smirked slightly at the girl, "but you seriously telling me I'm getting the real boy prophecy and dear old Angel's just a big pile of dust?" he could scarce believe it were true.

"Your prophecy was flawed" the voice of the Powers was back again, "Too much interference and too many translations. The essence of it was this. The demon who fought for his soul, and on the side of good, shall avert the apocalypse and then regain his humanity" here he paused before adding, "but maintain his skill and strength"

"Huh" was all Spike could find to say and Ilyria looked equally puzzled.

"If the white haired one is to be human with power, what am I to be? Why do you toy with me, I should be dead" she complained, almost sounding as if she would rather be at peace than stand for all this.

"Illyria" the voice boomed, "You did great wrong when you tried to rule a world that was not your own" it told her, "but your re-animation was of our doing, for a purpose far greater"

"You had to be there for Wes and Spike" Fred told her double, "You had to fight with them and the others, and earn the gift the Powers wanted you to have"

"Which is what? Humanity?" she scoffed, "I'd rather be dead than accept such an offer"

"It could well be arranged" the angry voice from above proclaimed, before softening, "but your gift is not to be simply human, it would serve no purpose. You must fight alongside your companion. You two must be our new champions to keep the balance between good and the evil that will never truly die"

"And this is why we're here?" Spike quirked an eyebrow, "To be your new playthings now the others have gone?" he checked.

"What is being offered is an honour, Spike" Tara told him, really not wanting to witness another fight between the vampire and the Powers, though it was slightly amusing to her that he was so stubborn and headstrong he was even willing to pick fights with such beings that literally held his life in their non-existent hands.

"Let me get this straight" he said with a shake of his head, "You wanna make me a real boy again but with the added superhero bit, and Blue here's gonna be my partner in crime, stayin' just as she is?"

"Not exactly" Fred interjected, "Though she'll have almost the same amount of power and the same body" those last couple of words were said awkwardly, "she'll be human too, and eventually age and die as you will"

"And then we come back here do we? Join the big tea party in the sky with you lot?" he asked with a tilt of his head. Inside his mind was spinning with what he was being told. The shanshu was even better than he'd thought. Humanity but with power enough to continue fighting the good fight. Illyria with him through it all would be a help, he figured, he wasn't one to fight alone and with all the others gone and Buffy best left as she was...

"One day when your time is done a place with be found for you" the voice answered his question, "but this we do not foresee for many decades"

"Good to know" Spike nodded absently, glancing at Illyria who still looked puzzled.

"Bother you, does it, pet?" he asked her, "Being told how it is by someone mightier?"

"It does not concern me what this...voice says to me" she said nonchalantly, "I promised myself to fight on the side of the good as long as there is breath in this body I possess" she flexed her arms to demonstrate her point, "If they wish to put that breath back, I shall do as I swore to do, at your side if it should be that way"

"I think she means she's up for it" Spike smirked at Tara who stifled a giggle.

"You are capable of so much good, Spike" she told him as she stepped backwards, slowly disappearing into the white as Wesley and Fred did the same, "Go out there and show the world that"

"You too, Illyria" Wes smiled, "Make our passings, and your own existence, worth something real" he told her.

Before either Spike or Illyria could blink the white void grew so brilliant with gold light it almost blinded them. A second later they felt solid ground beneath and they were back in the alley where they had begun, this time at the mouth of it, looking out towards the rest of the world.

Spike took a few moments to get used to the fact he needed to breathe now and the thumping in his chest was quite disconcerting, but in a thrilling way, and he wouldn't change it for the world.

He glanced at Illyria who returned his half a smile. Things were going to be different from here on out but they'd been given a chance to do something good, and at least they didn't have to do it alone.

"So then, pet" Spike sighed, "Just you and me, eh?"

"I believe you are worthy of my company" she told him, condescendingly.

"Praise indeed" he smirked, "Let's go then, see what the world's got to offer it's gifted subjects" he said as they walked out of the alley and into their new lives.

To Be Continued...

A/N2: This story is going to be Spuffy but it will take a while to get to that, I'm hoping you don't all get bored on the way. If you like this please do review and let me know, it makes me want to write faster!