A/N : I really should update my other two WIP fics but this one was easier to do right now. Hope you like.
(For disclaimer, etc. - see chapter 1)

Chapter 11

"Bloody hell" Spike gasped, thrilled to see the Slayer a few feet in front of him and yet so shocked to realise his eyes were not deceiving him, "I never thought..." he shook his head, "Buffy, I'm so sorry about before, I should've told you that..."

"Right now I don't care" she interrupted as they met in the middle of the path and he spotted the tears that the darkness and distance between them had previously hidden, "Spike, just hold me, please" she begged him, her bags slipping from her hands as he opened his arms to her and hugged her tight, her own arms going around his body too as she buried her face in his chest and sobbed like a child.

The vampire didn't know exactly what had happened between their previous meeting and now but he doubted it was anything good. There was no reason he could see for her change of heart, from deciding she hated him for being a liar, to actually pleading with him to comfort her as she cried.

"What's happened, pet?" he asked her in a whisper as he stroked her hair and held her close, "What's upset you like this?"

"Everything's all mixed up" she replied, coughing as she pulled away from him a little and tried to wipe the tear tracks from her face, "People I thought I could trust have been lying to me, and I remember things that I don't understand" she told him, grateful for his arms that still held her a she looked up at him, "You're the only thing that makes sense right now"

"We need to get you inside" Spike said, glancing back towards the house, "You're sister's in there though, 's gonna be a hell of a shock if she wakes up and finds you waiting"

"Dawn" Buffy said, mostly to herself, as she recalled a few memories of the younger girl as well as the things Spike had told her before, "You didn't tell her I was in LA?" she checked.

"Didn't want to get her hopes up, luv" Spike shook his head, "After the way you reacted to the truth about what I am and all, figured it was safe to say I'd never see you again" he admitted, "Last thing I wanted to do was tell the Bit I'd seen you but that she probably never would"

"She will see me" Buffy smiled slightly as she glanced at the house and then back at Spike, "I want to see her, but right now, is it okay if it's just you and me? There's things I need to talk to you about"

"Sure thing, pet" he nodded, "Er, I got one place we can go but, 's not exactly homely"

"A place in the cemetery..." she said, vaguely remembering something, "A crypt?" she tried, smiling like a proud child when Spike nodded that she was right.

Hand in hand they set off for the graveyard, one of the Slayer's bags each in their free hands. Back at 1630 Revello Drive, Dawn and Jason slept on, with no idea of the reunion that had occurred outside their window.

"'S not exactly luxury but it's not too bad for me" Spike told Buffy as he opened the door for her and showed her into his crypt. Though he spent much of his time at the Summers house with Dawn and Jason, he still kept an eye on his old place, and used it from time to time when the younguns needed some space or when he himself did. It was five years since Buffy had last been in this place and though things were very different now, it felt right somehow to see her standing there in the centre of the 'room', lit only by the candlelight.

"I remember this place" she said as she looked around. In all this time, very little had changed in the crypt, still the same beaten old chair and TV remained.

"Spent enough time here towards the end, luv" Spike told her, "Though mostly you just kicked the door in and then kicked me in the head for whatever reason"

"I'm sorry" she said, looking shame faced as she turned to look at him once again, but Spike shook his head as he stepped in closer.

"That wasn't me lookin' for an apology, luv" he assured her, "Just reminiscin' is all"

"Why?" Buffy asked him as they sat down together on the sarcophagus to one side, "All I remember is us fighting, or me yelling at you and beating on you"

"Dare say I deserved most of it, pet" Spike assured her, "No use gettin' your knickers twisted over it. Seems to me somethin' more than that's got you so upset you came running back here to old SunnyD"

"There was another reason" she admitted, looking down at where her hands were in her lap, "I didn't know what to believe after everything you told me. Part of me wanted it to be true, if only because it was better than not knowing what my life was like at all" she sighed, "I called a friend of mine back in Cleveland, he runs a book store and he knew where I could find places in LA that would have the information I wanted"

"Stuff about Slayers?" Spike guessed, and Buffy nodded her head, a smile appearing on her face as she looked at him.

"It was a little scary but it was so great to finally know what I'd been missing for so long" she enthused, "I understand stuff, dreams I had before, things I thought I knew but I didn't know how, it makes sense now"

Spike wasn't sure what had made Buffy so upset since she seemed so happy right now as she reached into one of her bags and pulled out one of the books she'd been talking about. She explained that the girl at the store hadn't known what it was about and didn't charge much when Buffy expressed a wish to buy it. Spike took the book from her and immediately recognised it.

"Rupert's old Watcher's Diary" he smiled, "Don't think I've seen this since... well, since he finished it" he said awkwardly, hating to think about the pain Buffy's death had brought despite the fact she was back now and willingly right here beside him.

"It was so weird" Buffy told him as he flipped the pages, "Reading about that Glory person and a sister I hardly remember at all... but it made sense somehow" she said, and Spike watched her struggle to explain exactly what she meant, "It's like, I knew what I did was right. I knew in that situation I do it all the same again, I'd jump in that portal, to save Dawn, to save the world, I guess"

Buffy glanced at Spike as she finished speaking and suddenly felt very stupid.

"I'm making no sense, aren't I?" she blushed a pretty pink in the candlelit room and Spike smirked.

"No, luv" he assured her, "It makes sense to me. You're the hero type, it's your calling, your destiny. Amnesia won't change that, it's in the blood, in the soul of the Slayer"

"Maybe that's what it is" she nodded, unable to tear her eyes away from his, "But that doesn't explain..." she began, pausing a moment before she went on, "It can't be my being the Slayer that makes me feel so safe with you" she said softly, "I'm supposed to hate you"

"And I'm supposed to hate you too, pet" Spike reminded her, "But the bleedin' Powers That Be have got a right twisted sense of humour where you and I are concerned"

"I don't think what I feel when I'm with you is anything to laugh about" she told him seriously, "I was so shocked when you told me what you were, I was scared, I guess..."

"And I understand that, pet" he interrupted, which didn't please her.

"Let me finish, please" she insisted, "Spike, I was scared and stunned, but just as soon as I'd run out on you, a part of me wanted to run right back" she smiled, though there were tears in her eyes too, as she put her hand to his cheek, "You're the first person I ever remember feeling so safe with. I know you care about me, love me even, and as crazy as it sounds... I think I love you too"

By the end of her sentence, Buffy's voice had been reduced to a whisper and she'd drifted closer and closer to Spike to the point where he felt those last few words rather than heard them. When their lips met, they both knew this was right. Despite the fact they were opposite sides of the divide, destined to hate and fight each other, they were in love and nobody and nothing could change that.

It was Buffy who pulled away first, and then only because she needed to breathe, Spike was of course not similarly afflicted, and was less than eager to let go of his one true love.

"Buffy, you know I love you too" he told her, "Always have, always bloody will"

"I know" she nodded, smiling like an idiot, "And I so wanna stay here with you, and Dawnie, and live happily ever after" she said, tears creeping into her voice, her smile wavering, "Spike, I think I'm in danger"

"Danger?" the vampire frowned, "From what?" he asked, suddenly remembering Buffy's earlier words and tears about not being able to trust people and being so confused.

"Jonathan, my friend in LA, the one who said he loved me" she explained, sniffing and trying it hold back tears she hated herself for shedding, she so wanted to be strong, "It was all lies, Spike, everything he ever told me was lies. He knew the truth about me all along. He knew I was Buffy Summers, and I guess that I'm the Slayer too"

"Bugger" Spike cursed, "Did he hurt you or...?" he asked worriedly, Buffy shook her head, smiling slightly at he concern in his words and his eyes.

"No, but there was something weird about Wolfram and Hart..." she began to explain, only to have Spike interrupt her once again.

"Wolfram and Hart?" he echoed, "He works for those gits?"

"Yeah" Buffy nodded, "For some creepy witch of a woman that totally gave be the wiggins" she told him, "I went to tell him what I'd found out from you and the books, I was so happy to finally know the truth, I thought he'd be happy for me too" she explained, "Two vampires came at me in the lobby of Wolfram and Hart and somehow I staked them both" she said, eyes glazing over as she recalled the scene, a smile on her lips that seemed to form without her knowledge, "It was amazing, somehow I just seemed to know how to fight, how to win"

"'S good feelin', isn't it, luv?" Spike smirked, knowing what she meant. When the power within took over, the demon for him, the Slayer for her, everything else just faded away. All that's clear is the fight, and the feeling of knowing you can win this, because you're just the superior being.

"It was good" Buffy agreed as she looked over at him, "but afterwards the shock caught up with me and I kinda passed out" she admitted, "When I woke up, Jonathan and the creepy woman were there, and then he ruined it all" she breathed unevenly, "He called me Buffy"

"And he works for Wolfram and Hart" Spike sighed, "Bastard!" he seethed, hopping down from the sarcophagus and pacing up and down the crypt as he considered the implications of that fact.

"You know about that firm, don't you?" Buffy guessed, "Are they evil?"

" 'Fraid so, pet" Spike told her as he glanced up from the ground, "Damn and bugger, I never thought they'd dare come after you or the gang, not after what Angel did"

Buffy looked confused by that and of course she would be. She'd been gone so long, missed so much, and yet having her here made everything so right, Spike barely thought about the fact she'd been gone.

"Couple of years ago now" Spike sighed as he came back over to where Buffy sat, standing in front of her and taking her hands in his, "Wolfram and Hart gave Angel and his gang free reign of their LA branch, reckon they thought the power would corrupt him into playin' on their side, but old Soul Boy was havin' none of it"

"What happened?" Buffy asked, when Spike went quiet and couldn't seem to look her in the eye. He was smirking, however, when he eventually looked at her again.

"He fought back, they all did" he told her, "A handful of reformed characters standin' up for what was right against an army so dark... They didn't stand a chance, luv" he said, smirk fading as he shook his head sadly.

"And now this dark army are gunning for me" Buffy said shakily, "Wow, don't I feel special?" she added, the sarcasm an attempt at covering her fear. It hadn't occurred to her that Spike, being a vampire, could smell it on her.

"Hey" he said, holding out his arms to her, "It'll be alright, Slayer, I swear it" he told her as she hopped down from the sarcophagus and went willingly into his arms. Though his body was cold, she barely noticed. She felt warm and safe in his embrace. It didn't matter what he was or what she was supposed to be.

"It will be okay" she agreed, tucking her head under his chin and hugging him tight, "So long as you'll be here for me"

"Always, luv" he promised her, "That's a bloody promise" he assured her, even if he was a little bothered by the fact Wolfram & Hart had designs on his girl.

To Be Continued...