A/N: This story is for you, as much as it is for me to have something to write. Fans of Spike or the Buffy series or whoever you are, I'm glad you have taken the time to read Saff's story so far. I have big plans for her, and Spike, so I hope you enjoy! Thanks again to anyone that's followed or faved, it makes things like this happen - three chapters in a week :) xoxo

Chapter 14:

It was the next morning and Saffron had convinced everyone to stay the night. She had grabbed extra blankets and sleeping bags from Giles' spare rooms and handed them out to her reluctant sleepover guests. It was like her 10th birthday party all over again, nobody had wanted to come to her sleepover. She had also left a bottle of water and some aspirin on Giles' bedside cabinet while he slept for when he woke up. She then started to brew some coffee to wake everyone up and make the discussion that was about to happen seem more civilised. The night had been long as she explained what Spike had done and she had had to physically grab Xander to stop him storming after Spike to try and stake him. Nobody had got much sleep as the arguments were still fresh in everyone's mind. Willow was straight on the discs as soon as she got up and Giles finally emerged from his room looking quite rough and sat on his sofa holding his head as the conversation continued around him. Saffron silently handed him a cup of coffee as she continued to be involved in the conversation.

"So, let's go over this again, these discs will get us to where we need to be?"

"Hold on, we're trusting spike now?" Xander questioned. He stood up again and started to walk around the room, Anya following him.

"Everyone with a convenient second sight that can detect deception, put your hand up?" Saff put her hand up high and looked around the room, "Just me then?" She added, looking pointedly at Xander who put his hands up in mock surrender.

"So, ah, forgive me for being a tad slow this morning, but what exactly is the plan?" Giles spoke for the first time that morning, trying to wrap his head around what was going on through his blinding headache.

"Right, one more time. Spike was supposed to mess with us all and stop us from helping Buff and well, that bit kinda worked. He tried it on me, but I spotted it, so he came clean. He's handed me the discs that decrypt themselves, Will has put them in her laptop and we'll find out where Adam wants Buff soon." She motioned to Willow who was typing away on her laptop, "As for a plan, I was hoping to open it up to the floor. Spike is meeting with Adam and pretending like their plan has gone smoothly and, in the meantime, we need to figure out a way to defeat him"

"He was very convincing" Giles said about Spike's deception as the others nodded absentmindedly.

"Yeah and I'd like to say he's very sorry but he's probably just sore I figured him out. Either way, he's jumped back onto our team because we usually win in these situations" Saffron stated, perhaps slightly unfairly as she knew their friendship had something to do with it. The others continued to discuss Spike's deception. "Well, let's do what we do best then – time to hit the books!" Saff said enthusiastically, trying to encourage the others who were still a bit distant with each other. What Spike had done was play on insecurities that were already there, so everyone was still upset. Saffron was doing her best to calm the room, the way she had with Tara, but it was taking a lot out of her.

xoxoxo

The plan was set. The ritual was ready to be recited. The weapons were at hand. All they needed was a quiet room and one big Frankenstein's monster of a big bad. Saffron had filled Spike in on the plan and told him to keep bluffing, which Spike was all too happy to do on the off chance he still got to get his chip removed by Adam. They were escorted in by the soldiers and taken straight to the commander. The man hadn't trusted them to begin with but when the locks all opened and allowed the demons to escape, everyone was taken to the control room.

The security cameras showed every inch of the Initiative and Saffron was watching the fighting happening on the screen. She was watching intensely, scanning each monitor for one person in particular. Well, one vampire. She was still worried about him, despite everything. She was relieved when she spotted his familiar form and smiled to herself when she saw how keyed up he seemed to be about the big fight he was involved with. She couldn't take her eyes off him as she watched him throw punches and kicks at various demons in his path. His fighting style was almost graceful, like she was watching a very violent and intricate dance. Her pale grey eyes followed him on each screen he appeared on and found herself to be disappointed when he seemed to be lost in the crowd.

Soon it was time for them to cross the main floor of the Initiative themselves, Willow had spotted the room Adam was in and they all made their way there. Saffron ran in behind Buffy and shielded herself against Xander as he was the one with the big gun in his hands. She could tell this was Xander's macho dream and she decided she would let him have this one as she ran across the floor to get to an empty room for their spell. They set up everything they needed for the ritual quickly, they had done one practice on the way over as getting this right at the correct time was important. Saffron had a good feeling about the ritual and she trusted her gut feeling, mainly because she needed this to go right. She couldn't lose Buffy.

"The power of the Slayer and all who wield it. Last to ancient first, we invoke thee. Grant us thy domain and primal strength. Accept us and the powers we possess. Make us, mind and heart, spirit and sight, join. Let the hand encompass us" Willow spoke with great command, and Saff was impressed with her friend. She was getting to be really powerful. Saff was used to being involved in this kind of magic and tried to focus her mind completely on the task at hand. She had learnt the hard way that thinking about other things while doing an important spell often meant trouble.

"Spiritus: spirit"

"Animus: heart"

"Sophus: mind"

"Aspectus: sight"

"And manus: the hand"

They all said their respective card and completed the ritual. The four of them were all connected through Buffy and their powers united to create a vessel strong enough to defeat Adam. Saffron had never felt anything like it, she felt the bond and it radiated through them all with a powerful intensity. Every so often she could hear the door being slammed into by a demon through the barricade and she tried to put it to the back of her mind as she concentrated on the power radiating from the centre of the circle. The energy was draining her fast but she knew it was worth it. All at once, the ritual had ended and they were back to normal. Saffron was still trying to get her breath back when the barricade finally broke and a demon started gunning towards her. A flash of leather was close behind though and Spike quickly finished the demon off with a dramatic flair.

"Lucky for you blighters I was here, eh?" Spike smiled with pride. The rest of the room didn't match his enthusiasm, however.

"Your heroism is slightly muted by your helping Adam start a war that would kill us before scurrying to our side when you were caught in your tangled web of deceit" Giles snapped from his place on the floor. He had been worn out by the spell too.

"He did turn it round at the end though guys" Saffron stuck up for him quietly and Spike looked over at her and stared at her for a long time, his expression unreadable.

"I don't buy it, he probably just saved us so we wouldn't stake him right here" Xander piped up, squinting at Spike.

"Well, yeah. Did it work?" He asked and looked around at the still drained gang sat in the circle. He realised he was safe and smirked at Saffron who was trying to muster the energy to get up from where she was sat. "Good work, team" Spike added with enthusiasm, pleased he wasn't getting staked.

Buffy ran back through the entrance with Riley closely behind her. They got up to greet her and Saffron hugged her cousin tightly. Buffy was pleased the plan had worked and was also glad Saffron was safe. The girls hugged and they discussed how impressed they all were with the ritual and Buffy's skills.

"We were so great" Saffron agreed with Buffy. Buffy started to delegate orders to everyone so that they could save as many people as possible and get out safely.

Spike stuck close to Saffron as they went back through the base where demons and commandos were still fighting fiercely. He had wanted a chance to speak to her, but there was no time. He managed to get some punches in when a demon came close and he kept his eye on her as she made her way through with the rest of the group. Graham came into view between demons racing past; his face was filled with rage and he was staring hard at Saffron. Graham pointed his blaster gun at the group who were following the path Buffy was making for them through the carnage. Saffron stopped dead, staring down the barrel of his gun. She didn't know what to do, she wasn't sure what his next move would be. He mouthed duck, and she did as he blasted a stray demon that was coming up behind her. She looked up at him from where she was crouched as Xander helped her back up. They all ran for the exit of the base, along with the surviving soldiers and Graham helped her through the door before he used the exit himself.

Graham was standing with a few of his team that had made it out alive. They were watching the security cameras to spot for any survivors as Saffron briefly told the others that she had better go over to him before tapping him on the shoulder to get his attention.

"Thank you for helping us all get out, for a moment there I thought you were going to shoot at us" She laughed nervously, finally looking up at hs face.

"You are a civilian, ma'am" He stated with a slight shrug, "I am sorry, Saffron" he added sincerely, apologising for everything that had happened between them.

"Me too, what happens now?" She said, "For Riley, I mean" She added quickly.

"There'll be a hearing, if he's found to be a deserter, he will get a dishonourable discharge. But I will do everything in my power to stop that from happening. Riley's a good soldier"

"And he did what was right, despite his commanders saying the opposite" Saffron couldn't help the dig. She looked over to her friends who were all ready to leave the base. She smiled back at them all and started to follow them, but Graham grabbed her wrist and she turned back and frowned down at his hand. She flinched at the contact and looked up to meet his stormy green eyes.

"What does this mean for us?" He asked, and Saff paused for a while before answering.

xoxoxo

Saffron was sat on an ornate headstone with her legs crossed under her. She was waiting for Spike who she had told to meet her, she adjusted her silver necklaces slightly while she waited. She glanced around the cemetery hoping that no other vampire or demon would be having a stroll through the area as she had one stake and very little skills to use it with.

"You back in the land of the living after all that spell casting bollocks?" A voice asked from behind her. The familiar British accent made her smile before she turned behind her to see his face. His eyes seemed paler than normal although his usual slight smile he reserved for her was firmly on his face.

"Judging by present company, I doubt I am in the land of the living" She joked, gesturing at him and the surrounding headstones that surrounded her. She only managed to laugh at her own response weakly as the spell had drained her energy completely. She lit up a cigarette and offered him one, which he took casually. Her hands shook slightly as she lit the end but Spike didn't say anything, he just frowned as he watched her before lighting his own cigarette up. They smoked in a comfortable silence for a while, Saffron stole glances at him every now and again when he wasn't looking, and she didn't realise that Spike was doing the same when she looked away.

"You did the right thing" She stated, after stubbing her cigarette out and putting it next to her on top of the headstone for now.

"Did it for you, honeysuckle" Spike admitted, not quite meeting her eyes. Saffron shook her head, disagreeing with his response.

"You did it because you have the capacity to be a good man, Spike" She replied, firmly believing what she was saying. She looked at him with a sparkle in her eye and a small smile that suggested to him that she was almost proud of him. He had never seen this smile before and he tried to mentally savour the look on her face. He continued to stare at her with awe, he had never been described in such a way and he couldn't even try to tell her that he was still bad because what she had said had meant something. He wanted her to see him as a man, not a demon, and he vowed to himself to make her look at him with that kind of look again.

xoxoxo

It was a dark and cold night, there was a harsh breeze that gave her goose bumps as she walked. The cold was the type she wasn't used to since she had been in California. Saffron was wearing a long, black floor-length gown. It had a lacy pattern and the neckline of the dress dropped and showed a lot of cleavage and she found herself walking bare-foot across the cold, damp ground. She was in all black, including her long fingernails, and she had a silver cross around her neck as she walked through the night. She could feel predatory eyes on her, but she continued on her journey. She was walking through a graveyard, it was like the ones she was used to in Sunnydale, except it was about ten times the size and all of the grave stones were packed in, very close together. She weaved through the headstones, constantly looking over her shoulder as she could feel something following her. She suddenly felt a great sadness, like everything she had ever been sad about had descended on her all at once. She knelt between the twin-plot she had been drawn to. They were her parent's gravestones and she touched the earth in front of her, balling it in her fists and releasing it. She then reached over and traced the names on the stones with great care. She was so sad, she felt like she would never feel any other way. A hand was on her shoulder, she looked behind her through blurry eyes, it was spike's eyes that she met. He didn't speak, he just stared at her.

He was gazing intently at her neck and she stood slowly, mesmerized by the look that he was giving her. She blinked slowly and Spike had changed into his game face and was covered in blood. His mouth was dripping with red and it was all down his front and on his hands. Saffron stared, she didn't feel scared. She subconsciously touched her neck though, as it itched. She moved her hand away and noticed her whole hand was covered in blood too. A thick stream of blood was oozing down her neck and slowly soaking her gown and her arms completely, as if her natural skin tone was blood red. They looked at each other again, neither of them saying anything, merely holding the other's gaze. The sadness that had swept over Saffron was but a memory now, as they both reached at the same time and held hands. They stood there, their hands interlocked, both of them dripping with blood and staring at the graves before them. Spike spoke for the first time since he had appeared behind her.

"Better get going, love. Dawn's coming" He said, his head had moved to look up at the vast, starry sky. He motioned to her with his head, asking her to follow him as he reluctantly let go of her hand and started to dig in the fresh soil of the plot and he disappeared into the hole he had made. She followed him through the hole and scrabbled with the thick earth. It was soft to the touch and she didn't panic as she reached the end of the tunnel that she was following Spike through.

She broke the earth and hoisted herself up, she was in front of the house she lived in at Revello Drive. She hoped Joyce wouldn't mind that she had dug her way into the front garden. She looked down, her gown was gone and there was no blood. She was wearing her usual black jeans and a band t-shirt.

"Spike?" She asked, looking around for the vampire she had just been with. She seemed distressed as she looked around for him. She felt a chill as she knew something was coming for her. It was crawling towards her. She saw that the lights were on in the house and she walked towards it. She started to panic further when she found that the door was locked and she didn't have a key. She banged on the door frantically, hoping someone inside would hear her.

"Buffy! Joyce! It's me! Let me in!" She was screaming at the top of her lungs as she moved around to bang on the window. "Something's behind me and I need to get in!" She kept hitting the window and Buffy slowly walked into view through the window, she smiled casually despite Saffron's panic and used her breath to steam the window up and she drew a heart with a number three inside it. She put her hand flat on the glass and smiled again. Saffron started to reach up and match her hand to where Buffy's was on the other side of the glass, but she felt a quick tap on her shoulder. She swung round quickly and found herself to be stood in a café that was across town from her house.

It was the Espresso pump, a coffee place she knew well, and she frowned around the room as she didn't understand how she had got there so quickly. She was standing face to face with Tara, who must have been the one that tapped her shoulder. The room was freezing cold, as if she was stood in a freezer and she shivered as she looked at Tara expectantly. Tara had a large Tarot card in her hand and she passed it over to Saffron calmly, as she read the card that was now in her own hands. Death.

"Will you look after this for me?" She smiled again, her smile was the warmest thing in the room.

"What if I forget to give it back?" Saff asked, with a look of worry on her face as she looked down at the card she had been passed. She folded it up and put it in her pocket. Tara continued to smile and Willow walked next to her and kissed Tara on the cheek and they both turned to smile at Saff before walking away arm in arm. Saffron tried to walk after them but tripped and spilt her pack of cards over the floor. She knelt under the table to pick them up but banged her head as she heard her name being called from a distance.

She stood up straight to find herself in a waiting room. She could smell the bleach as the white room had a clinical feel to it. Giles was there and she sat on one of the plastic chairs next to him to wait for someone to call for her again. He noticed the look on her face and held her hand and patted it to reassure her that it was going to be okay. A man was painting in the corner, he had circular glasses and a balding head and a strange look on his face. She watched him paint with great interest before he turned the easel around to show her what he had been painting.

"And for the big reveal, the cheese is in the eye of the beholder" The man had drawn one single square of American cheese, actual size, in the middle of the large canvas. It looked so real she felt that she could reach out and take it. She started to before she heard her name being called again.

"Saffron? Saffron Page?" A voice called. Saffron looked at Giles for help but he nodded as if to tell her to go.

"I'm just waiting for my cousin" Saffron said, panicked about having to go alone.

"It's now or never, kid"

"I need Buffy! Please just let me wait for-" Several men in military uniforms walked over, grabbed her and restrained her as they carried her into the optician's office. She was strapped to the chair tightly so she could barely move. The large eye testing machine was in front of her as the men marched out in single file. She could hear the opticians' voice but couldn't see them as the machine was moved to her eyes. The voice was filled with anger and she could feel it starting to fill her almost completely with an unshakable rage. The lenses in the eye testing machine kept changing rapidly but it wasn't helping her see any better. The final change was an acetate lens that was a purple colour.

"Is that better?" the voice asked and she nodded to agree that she could see better like this, but the voice screamed loudly in her ear. It felt like the scream was still going long after and there was a ringing in her ears. "The light will blind you" She blinked slowly, as if she was sleepy until everything went black.

Saffron had three lit cigarettes in her mouth at once whilst she was leaning casually against a brick wall. She was watching Graham fight in the car park of the book shop she worked in. The sun was setting and the last rays of the golden sun were just visible over the buildings. The car park was deserted and no cars were parked in the lot as Saffron inhaled the smoke from her cigarettes.

"Left a bit, Gray" She instructed him, showing him with her own hands the direction he should go in. Willow and Xander were stood next to her chatting amongst themselves and she found she couldn't hear anything they were saying. The blue skies of the afternoon were now a distant memory, a pink hue had been painted across the sky as the night began to take over. The woman she had been running from earlier was there, her dreadlocks were hiding her face as she crouched ready to pounce at Graham. Xander offered Saff a lighter as she leaned in and quickly lit up yet another cigarette and had all four between her fingers as she inhaled, watching the scene before her. Graham suddenly straightened from his fighting stance and looked over to Saffron.

"Better go, doll. The hostile wants to kill you now" He said before strolling away without looking back. Saffron didn't watch Graham leave, instead she was focused on the first slayer as she threw her cigarettes away. The slayer pounced on her and knocked her over. She straddled Saff and started scratching at her eyes with her unkept fingernails. Saffron tried to scream but nothing would come out, she was in extreme pain as the slayer tore her eyes to shreds and left bloodied ribbons in their place. She was completely blinded.

And that was when she woke with a gasp, holding her hands to her eyes. She opened them carefully and found she could see the living room perfectly and she was still surrounded by the rest of the scoobies who were all starting to wake up as well. They discussed their respective dreams and Buffy explained that it was the first slayer. They took turns to try and out-do each other in who had the weirdest parts and all of them lied about at least one thing they were too embarrassed to admit to in all of their respective dreams. Joyce had come downstairs to check on them and had realised she had missed something big. She offered them all hot chocolate and, to Saffron's delight, she had picked up some veggie marshmallows from the store just in case. Saffron thought about how grateful she was to have her friends and her family with her after that dream.