---
"Buffy, come on!" Faith yelled down to her.
"Gotta move, lamb. I think it's fair to say school's out for bloody summer," Spike told her.
"Spike!" she said worriedly.
"I mean it! I gotta do this." He replied and held out his hand to stop her. She laced her fingers through Spike's, and they burst into flame together. She looked into his eyes.
"I love you," she told him softly.
"No, you don't. But thanks for saying it." Another earthquake shook the hellmouth. Buffy let go of his hand. "Now go!" She turned and ran up the stairs and out of the hellmouth. "I wanna see how it ends."
When she got to the top of the stairs she noticed that she wasn't in the school; she was back in her room at Angel's hotel. She looked around and watched as the stairway that she had just come up disappeared. What's going on? She thought. There was a knock on the door so she walked over and opened it, and was shocked to see what was on the other side.
"Spike?" She couldn't believe it. "You're back!" She closed the few feet between them and threw her arms around his neck. He returned the hug by wrapping his arms around her waist and nuzzling his face into her neck.
"I told you I'd never leave you," he replied. She pulled back to look at him, and she held his eyes for a moment. He leaned in to kiss her and just as their lips touched her she awoke.
Her eyes snapped open. Her heartbeat was racing and she was breathing heavily. Just a dream, she thought to herself as she stared up at the ceiling. This one was different, though. She had been having many dreams about Spike and the battle, but they had never ended like that. Usually he died at the end, or she saved him, but he never came back. It was so real. Like she could actually feel him and smell him. A slayer dream?She let herself hope for a moment, before pushing the thought away. She sighed and tried to fall back asleep.
---
Hours later Spike awoke, very sore and a bit disoriented. He sensed that the sun was up and a clock on the wall told him it was about noon. He also realized that he was incredibly hungry and that he felt like he hadn't showered in years. He went up to the front of the store to try to find a bathroom and when he found it he turned on the sink, took off his shirt, and started to wash up.
To his surprise he caught a glimpse of someone in the mirror above the sink, but when he turned around there was no one there. He walked back into the store, but still he found no one. Probably the manager, he thought.
"Hey!" he called out. "Who's there?" No response. He shrugged and went back to the bathroom. Just as before, when he looked in the mirror, there was someone there. Well you won't get away this time; he thought and stared right back at the reflection. It didn't move. Spike squinted his eyes and reflexively tilted his head to the side – and so did the person in the mirror! Again he spun around, and again he found no one. Bloody hell, what is this?
Spike cautiously raised his arm and touched the mirror, and so did the reflection. After a few minutes of making various gestures and facial expressions in the mirror, he decided that it was, indeed, his own reflection that he was seeing.
"Well, isn't this an interesting development," he said to his reflection and ran a hand through his hair. "Damn, I'm even sexier than I remember." He smirked and proceeded to make more gestures and facial expressions in the mirror.
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