A/N: Thanks for sticking with the story so far! Thanks to the lovely guests that have commented on the story: sorry about even more cliffhangers! Thank you for your kind words, buffy lover they are really appreciated. To the guest that just reviewed with a crying face and nothing else I'm sorry for leaving you sad for the past few weeks! And to bethisabear I'm so pleased you find the relationships unique and interesting you are too kind! Hope you all like my take on season 6! xoxo

Chapter 41:

Dawn and Spike were sat on the cold beach, it was the middle of the night and Spike had driven them out in his black Desoto. It was late Friday and Dawn hadn't wanted to see anyone else. They always gave her a pitying look, one that she tried to glare away from their faces, but she was never as good as Saffron at that. With Spike, Dawn could relax because he felt it too. The suffocating grief. Spike had been quiet. Ever since that day, he hadn't spoken as much and he seemed to be in deep thought a lot of the time. But it didn't mean he didn't keep his promise. He tried to keep Dawn safe and occupied when she didn't want to go out and do normal teenage stuff. How could she?

They sat on the edge of the wooden pier, it was deserted. The moonlight was bouncing off the sea as Dawn stared at the vast expanse of the water. She couldn't bring herself to enjoy the beauty of it. She was frowning into the distance.

"You asked to come, nibblet. I was thinking something less bloody miserable"

"She liked it here, they both did. But Saff the most. She said once it reminded her of being free"

"Free?" Spike asked, looking back out onto the water. Her eyes had looked across this picture and felt free. Free from or free to? But Dawn didn't elaborate, she just nodded and stared in the same direction. It was her memory of Saff, not his. He was glad she didn't say more, it hurt to think about her. It hurt every time he forgot she was gone and he had to be reminded all over again. But he never truly forgot. Sometimes he pretended she was just away for a while, coming back to him safely when she could. But that pretence hurt more. There was a gap in conversation as they both listened to the crash of the waves against the rocks below. It would have been calming to anyone else. But their minds were racing like the current, so much had happened in such a short space of time.

"Do you think she would have wanted to be cremated instead? Can't imagine her just lying there" Spike winced, she was talking about her again. He tried his best to avoid it. But it usually came up when him and Dawn spent time together. Which was a lot.

"She'd never bloody forgive either of us if we burnt her docs" He smiled slightly at her attachment to her combat boots and Dawn laughed faintly, a hollow echo across the night. He thought about his promise. He was keeping it, hoping that she would be proud of him if she could see it. Protecting their family. Theirs. He looked down at his hands, he had managed to fit one of her silver rings on his little finger and he twisted it as she once would have done.

Spike made a noise half-way between a sob and a sigh as he hoisted himself up from where they were sat. He offered his hand to Dawn, his eyes were collecting water and he needed to get out of this place. Fast. Dawn frowned but nodded. She had gotten good at understanding when Spike needed space or to leave somewhere to hide how emotional he got. They walked together to the car in silence, only pausing once for Dawn to pick up a shell. She slipped it in her pocket before getting into the car.

They raced back to Sunnydale with Spike trying to get Dawn back before the witches found out she had disappeared with him to the beach. They knew he came at night to make sure she was okay, they understood he needed to. But they also wanted her not to be out after dark so much. That's how things started to get dangerous. Dawn fell asleep on the way back and Spike tried to gently wake her. She didn't even stir. Spike rolled his eyes, lighting up a cigarette and winding down the window. Saff would never forgive him for letting Dawn inhale any second-hand smoke. Even though he knew for a fact she let Dawn try a cigarette once, Dawn had reminded him of this on one of their trips to the mall after it had closed. Failing the gentle wake up he shouted and shook her to get her up. She groaned but took her seatbelt off, thanking him before running to the front door.

Spike watched Dawn unlock the front door and slip inside as he started to play the mix that Saff had made him so long ago. He often sat in his car, playing it on repeat while he drank. The crypt didn't feel right without her presence in it. He found himself parked outside Revello increasingly often, making sure that Dawn was safe.

xoxoxo

7a.m.

Everyone's alarm clocks were blaring but Dawn was already awake. She had slipped into her bed very late, but she hadn't managed much sleep. She kept having flashbacks to that night. She felt guilty she was the only one that survived. The unremarkable one. This is what she told herself. She hauled herself out of bed and started to get herself ready for school.

In the next room, Tara and Willow had taken up Joyce's old room as their own. Tara was leaving sleepy kisses on Willow's shoulder, trying to make her stay in bed with her.

"It's the big day" She whispered to her girlfriend and Willow moved her hand to squeeze Tara's where it was resting on her side. Willow got up and got herself ready in a rush, trying to find her clogs quickly. She needed to make sure everything was perfect. Tara sighed, getting herself up as well and watching Willow rushing around. Will stopped when she saw Tara's face and held her hand.

"Pancakes could go in bellies" Willow smiled, rubbing her stomach as Tara gave her a kiss and smiled at her girlfriend fondly. Tara padded to the kitchen and yawned, trying to grab as many ingredients on her way past the cupboards as she could. Suddenly she stopped dead. She saw Saff behind her reflected in the window. She went cold. A specific brand of cold that she only felt when Saff was near her. She turned her head to look, but no one was there. When she turned back to the window, there was a figure standing in her way.

"Morning T, I rarely wake up early but I am in the kitchen with you. Fancy a fag?" She said, patting down her pockets for her pack but frowned when she couldn't find anything in her pockets.

"Oh, hi Saffy. You scared me for a second there" Tara said, holding her hand to her chest before busying herself with the pancakes.

"I think it's these slippers, I do not like them. They're too quiet. I like combat boots more than anything in the world. Except maybe my boyfriend spike. We were kind of enemies-to-lovers. He bit me once, but now we just shag a lot-"

"Okay, Saffy. I get it" Tara replied shortly. She would usually be caring and helpful towards the bots but it was getting harder to manage and keep track of them both. Having not one, but two robots in the house was fraying everyone's nerves. Willow had accessed Warren's hard drive and adapted his blueprints to fit her needs. She had made two bots, a Buffybot and a Saffybot. They were designed to ensure that the occupants of the Hellmouth believed there was still a slayer keeping them in check and to ensure that if social services did come, which Willow predicted they probably would, the pair would appear as Dawn's legal guardians. All this being said, Willow was good, but not great at making them act normal.

"You are being rude to me. You're a bloody twat!" Saffron shouted, glaring at Tara and putting her hands on her hips. Dawn came downstairs at this moment, almost tripping over Buffybot as she lay on the floor recharging. Saffybot whipped her head around and smiled.

"Morning, it's a new day it's a new Dawn!" the robot smiled, having forgotten she was glaring at Tara. She then walked over to the living room, crashing into walls on the way round.

"That's a new one" Dawn said to Tara, she hated the robots and didn't humour them.

"I think Willow's finding her some phrases that don't include the word twat" Tara whispered the last part, aware that people still weren't supposed to swear in front of Dawn.

9a.m.

Xander arrived late, not that Dawn minded. She ate her cereal in her room to get away from the robots. She declined Tara's offer of pancakes. Xander knocked on her door and told her to get in the car, he just needed to grab a tool from his trunk so Willow could try and re-program the Buffy bot so she could make an appearance at the school for parent-teacher day.

"Come on, Dawnster! Gotta get you learning"

"Coming" She called, taking her bag and slowly walking to the car.

When they were driving, they hit rush-traffic. Xander groaned and looked at his watch. Dawn was going to be really late.

"Sorry, Dawn. I'll be on time tomorrow there was this whole thing and Anya wanted me to stay in bed-"

"Gross!" Dawn said, and Xander smiled. It reminded him of one of the many times Saff had been on the phone pleading with him to come help look after Dawn while Anya tried to make him stay. Although, Saff had been angrier and used more expletives. He missed them both and although he knew about the ritual, he was cautious to get his hopes up. A lot of Willow's spells used to go wrong. He didn't want his friends back if it meant they'd be suffering. He thought about how Anya had cried for days after they went and sighed. He wished everything had gone back to normal, before Glory. Before Joyce died. Even with Saff going out with Spike. At least everyone was happier then.

He parked up and let Dawn out of the car. They said their goodbyes and Dawn ran in to try and make it before she was recorded absent. The last thing they needed was Saffybot answering the phone to the school and telling them to fuck off.

1p.m.

Buffybot left the school, almost skipping. She started to sing a pretty tune but stopped when Xander told her to. The day had been a success and she enjoyed talking to all the nice people. Xander led her back to the car quickly, trying to avoid any of the parents trying to chat to her.

Dawn was in class, she sighed and started to shuffle a charred deck of cards under the table. She wasn't paying attention. How could she? Everyone loved Buffybot except her. She wanted her sister back. She wanted her cousin. She wanted her mom. She looked out of the window, staring at the busy street. How could it all be going on when they weren't? She understood how Saff felt in her grief, she always had since her mom had died. She couldn't throw a Saff-style fit though, as much as she felt like she needed to. She needed them all.

8p.m.

"My teacher wanted to make it National Buffy Day" Dawn complained about the Buffybot as she walked back in from the kitchen, grabbing herself a drink.

"Makes sense"

"It does?"

"She responded to Buffybot because a robot is predictable. It's boring. Perfect teacher's pet. That's all schools are. Just factories, spewing out mindless little automatons… who go on to be very valuable and productive members of society, and you should go. Because she- because they would want you to"

"Saff dropped out of college remember? I don't think she'd want me to be some automaton" Spike gave her a look and she conceded, "Check. One mindless automaton coming up"

"So, uh, what do you fancy, Bit? A game of rummy?" he asked, getting up. He winced as a memory came back into his head. Of her. Of them, playing cards in his crypt. Her winning as usual. He took the pack from the draw as he listened to Dawn's response. She reminded him that Tara and willow would be home early if he was bored, that he didn't have to stay.

"I'm not, and yeah, I do" He said firmly. He had made a promise.

"But I'm fine alone. It's not like anyone's coming after me. I'm not the Key. Or, if I am, I don't open anything anymore. It's over. Remember?"

"I'm not leaving you here by yourself, so forget it" He stated. He looked down at the pack in his hands and closed his eyes as he relived the memory. Her. The glow of her skin against the candles as he moved her against him, her winning streak had gotten too much for him again. He had wanted her close instead. He had teased her, calling her a cheat but she had enjoyed it. She would smile at him, a smile that was for him alone. Dawn started speaking again, interrupting the bittersweet memory.

"Well, I'm just saying-" Dawn was cut off as Spike slammed the pack onto the table in front of them. He had been painfully snapped out of her arms again. He leaned back in his chair as he spoke firmly.

"No. I'm not leaving you to get hurt. Not again. Now deal" He told her and she picked up the pack. She had started to become really good at shuffling.

xoxoxo

Giles was leaving. It had been quiet recently, especially since he had been packing to return to England. There were no witty puns from Buffy, no snappy comebacks from Saffron. Not a lot of anyone came around anymore, not after that day. The others had been distant and he didn't feel like he had a place in their routines anymore. He had been connected with Buffy and Saff in a way he hadn't with the others. To think about them was hard. He didn't want to have to look at the places he had trained them, tried to guide them, the happy memories, or worse. Where he had shouted at them. Ignored them. Treated them as his own father had.

He sighed, thinking about Buffy. He had wanted to protect her from all of this. The premature death that came with being a slayer. He loved her as his own daughter. Her strength was commendable. She had done this for Dawn, for all of them. Giles shook his head, packing a box reading: magical artefacts. Giles was alone, unable to face living in this place where even with the others he was lonely. Saff had been harsh to him when she had said it, but he didn't fit with the younger members. A loud sigh came from him again when he thought about her. Troubled was a word that came to mind, but she had dealt with everything with a strength he had only seen in slayers before. He had so many regrets. The main being pushing her so hard to change. He looked at the counter, it was cluttered with the prophecies and research he had managed to salvage from the fire Saffron set. He cleaned his glasses slowly, not wanting to have to move them yet.

He walked over, looking at each document before putting them in a file. He shook his head. He must have been wrong. The prophecy wasn't hers. She was meant to sacrifice herself for Dawn. To protect the key was her destiny. He sighed, she had been so good natured, her flaws increasingly ignored since her death, replaced only with his regret and anger at himself for not nurturing her and her abilities more. He had been harsh. As he had been with Buffy to begin with. Always pushing her to train. To listen to his way of doing things. They were gone, he reminded himself before hiding the file in the stockroom. In case the others would need it. The papers had gone through, Anya was now running the store on one condition. Saff's corner and Buffy's training room would be untouched. He took one last look at the store before switching off all the lights and posting the keys back through the letterbox for Anya.

Meanwhile, at the house, everyone was waking up. Dawn and Spike had only come home a few hours before which none of the others knew about. He had slipped downstairs to Saff's room and cried himself to a short sleep surrounded by her things. Dawn managed a few hours of sleep before coming into the kitchen to see the others. Buffybot was making a mountain of sandwiches and Tara was doing pancakes to try to cheer everyone up.

"Good morning! I love Spike and hate mornings! How are you, not that I care you twat" Saffybot said with a glare.

"Morning! You are not a very kind cousin, but I love you because you are my biological ancestor" Buffybot smiled, continuing to make a large number of peanut butter and jelly sandwiches.

"Sit down, Saffy-b" Xander said, holding her shoulder and planting her in her seat.

"Fuck you, you fucking-" Saffybot started, before Willow powered her down and everyone in the room sighed in relief.

"My cousin is a robot?!" Buffybot said in shock, before starting yet another sandwich. Tara stopped her and asked her to start laundry to get her out of the way.

"I think her circuits have shorted, she seems to be swearing more than normal and saying things she isn't supposed to" Willow said, frowning at the wires as she opened Saffybot up. She made some tweaks and concentrated with a light frown as she tried to get the bot to act more human.

"Sounds like SP to me" Xander said, his smile barely visible as he bit into a sandwich. Spike started to stalk into the kitchen, but nearly got dusted by the light flooding into the room. He hid back in the hallway.

"Close the blinds! Close the bloody blinds!" He shouted, still covering his face as Tara rushed around and closed all the blinds. He adjusted the duster and sauntered in, faltering only when he laid eyes on the Saffybot.

"You are a vampire! Where is my stake!" Buffybot said, pointing at Spike, following him around the kitchen. Saffybot got rebooted at the same moment, her grey eyes landing directly on spike. She smiled at him before frowning at Buffybot.

"That is my boyfriend and I love him!" She stood up, some wires still hanging out of her arm, "No bloody fucking stakes will fucking bloody change that!" She pointed at Buffybot and she backed away slightly, looking between the pair. Spike's jaw tensed. He looked at the ground. He didn't like the bot. It was her face. Her voice. But it wasn't her. Nothing could compare to her.

"Anybody else having major flashbacks here?" Xander asked, looking between the pair of robots.

"It's like a bad play of the last year" Dawn agreed, taking another sandwich. Spike grabbed Willow's arm and brought her into the hall. Both ignoring Xander's protests at the vampire at the way he was pulling Willow along.

"I thought I told you to stop her saying that" he said, tensing his jaw as he turned to the witch in the hallway.

"What?"

"The whole loving bit" Spike said, venom in his voice. It had been special coming from her voice. It had taken her bloody long enough to say it. He couldn't bear that robot saying it so nonchalantly. It tore him up.

"She did love you though, it has to be believable" Willow said, trying to confirm to him that she loved him. Maybe he wasn't sure.

"It's not her. That cold plastic sodding barbie doll will never be anything like her!" He said, slamming a fist into the wall before turning from Willow, "Send it to the fucking junk yard" He shouted over his shoulder, making his way back down to the basement where he had been all night. Little did he know there would be a ritual later that week to try and get the girls back. Willow watched him, stunned and embarrassed as she went to go and make yet more adjustments to Saffybot.

xoxoxo

At Revello Drive, there was a swell of hope. Dawn was busy getting supplies to clean up cuts and scrapes that were distinctly breaking-out-of-coffin injuries. The ritual had worked, kind of. Buffy was buttoning up her shirt, trying to get used to being alive again. It was hard. Buffy walked around, looking at the walls. Her room. It was so normal. But nothing about this was normal. She didn't want to be back here. Not when she knew what it was like on the other side. She walked down the stairs, following Dawn closely. She had struggled to speak, seeing people was so overwhelming. And talking to them was even worse. So, she opted to follow Dawn around as she went on the look out for supplies. As they descended the stairs, the door crashed open and Spike appeared exasperated at Dawn who he had managed to lose.

"Thank God! You scared me half to death... or more to death. You - I could kill you!"

"Spike-"

"I mean it! I could rip your head off one-handed and drink from your brain stem!"

"Look"

"Yeah I've seen the bloody bot before" He waved her away, before looking back up at Buffy. It was the real one. He looked back to Dawn, "Saff…?" he asked, his voice cracking. Dawn shook her head sadly, leading Buffy into the living room and sitting her down. The others had all rushed into the house asking to see them. They asked Buffy a lot of questions that she wasn't sure how to answer. They started to wonder about Saff. Why hadn't she returned too? Willow had done the ritual for her as much as Buffy.

Spike walked over from the back of the room where he had been watching. He was angry. Why couldn't it be Saffron? He tapped Willow on the shoulder, swinging her round to face him.

"You didn't think to tell me, Red? And what's with the Slayer favouritism? What about Saff?" He asked, an edge to his voice that would have made Willow whimper three years ago.

"She was meant to come back too… I'm not sure what went wrong, but we got distracted what with the…" She tailed of as more crashing happened outside. Not to mention bringing back just one person from the dead took a toll on the body, but two? The gang that had been terrorising the town was leaving since the slayer had returned, albeit slowly.

"Bloody go back and finish it then!"

"Woah, hey! We all wanted her back too!" Xander shouted, removing Spike's grip from Willow.

"Oh, I see. The boy's conveniently forgotten that he treated the dead girl like crap for most of last year? What is this? Don't respect the bloody dead?"

"Oh, I have no problems disrespecting the dead" Xander said, cracking his knuckles and staring at Spike. Willow stepped in between them again, a glare for them both.

"I'm weak, Spike. I can't do something like that again" Willow told him sadly. She wished she could try it again. But there was no way she could stand it. Spike took her shoulders firmly in his hand, willing the girl to try again, "I'll buy your newts and gnats, just tell me what you need" Spike said, his desperation showing which made all the fight from Xander drain away. He missed her. They all did.

"I can't, Spike. I'm sorry" She whispered, not able to look him in the eye.

He stalked past them, glaring at Buffy. He was angry she had come back and not Saffron. He stormed away, slamming the door on his way out. He got into his car, slamming that door too. As soon as he was in there, hidden by the blackened windows he fell into uncontrollable sobs as he beat up the inside of his car.

He missed her desperately.