Chapter Seven
January 2006
Spike shut the door with a gentle click and that was about as long as Buffy could wait before she was stepping into his arms and resting her head naturally against his chest. He tensed a bit in surprise but she ignored it as she clung to him. His arms finally came up and encircled her as he relaxed against the door. She wasn't sure how long they stayed like that, though she thought she might have been happy to stay in that moment with him forever.
Eventually she sighed and forced her hands to drop as she stepped away. They had things they needed to discuss and, even as tired as she was, she knew that sleep wouldn't come without answers. She didn't say anything for a long moment as she really took him in for the first time. His face was gaunt- she'd noticed that as soon as she'd seen him- and he was thinner than she'd ever remembered him being before. Thin but all muscle. Spike had always been compact and more ripped than innocent pre-resurrection Buffy would have ever guessed but now, just from that hug, she could tell that he had picked up even more muscle mass since he'd burned up. It made sense, she figured, since it looked like he'd been fighting pretty much non-stop for nearly two years now.
"I can hear you thinking," Spike murmured as he shifted uncomfortably before her, his blue eyes watching her watch him. "Should get some kip, luv," he suggested.
"I'm afraid if I sleep I'll find out that this was all just a dream," she finally said, her voice barely more than a whisper.
"I'm sorry, luv," he said as he ran a hand through his hair. "Made the wrong bloody call again," he sighed.
"I just don't understand why you didn't tell me," she murmured but even the low volume wasn't enough to hide the hurt.
Spike sighed again as he shrugged helplessly and walked around her until he was perched on the edge of the bed. "I really couldn't at first. Was barely more than a ghost for months. Fred was trying to get me solid again but I was slippin' into Hell and Angelus refused to call you," he said bitterly.
"And then you got your body back," she pointed out again, sitting down next to him. She sat atop one crossed leg, keeping the other on the floor so that she could face him.
"Yeah, I did at that. And the first thing I was gonna do was book passage overseas and hunt you down." She could hear the truth in his words.
"So what stopped you?" she asked gently. It was so out of the ordinary for them, to be gentle. For her to be gentle and yet in that moment it felt like the most natural thing in the world. They'd had their years of harsh words and physical violence and she didn't want that anymore. If they had any hope of a future together...if he still wanted that for them, then they needed to do it right this time. Healthy.
"Fear," he said self-deprecatingly. "We ended things on a good note, yeah? Best note of my bloody life, which is ironic considerin' I was dying, but I figured it wasn't ever gonna get better for me than that moment. And I was scared that you'd be disappointed that I was back. The big bloody hero not so heroic," he told her quietly and she could feel the bed move a bit with the shrug of his shoulders as tears began to escape her bright green eyes.
"You're a dope," she told him but her words were lacking heat. Hadn't she already realized why he hadn't come to her? She'd realized it the moment she'd read Dawn's poem and allowed herself to wallow in the truth of it, and the subsequent realization that she had to own her roll for why he'd feel that way.
"I mourned for you for a year, you know," she told him quietly as she looked away from him to play with a loose thread in his comforter.
He was quiet for a long moment and she could feel him studying her so she forced her eyes back to his so he could read the truth in them. "I did try to see you once, a couple weeks before everything went to shit," he finally croaked out, self-recrimination swam heavily in his gaze.
She nodded. "Andrew finally fessed up after I found out you were alive. I wasn't really dating the Immortal. It was this whole thing…" she trailed off. "It doesn't matter anymore. He shouldn't have fed the lie to you...he should have known not to feed it to you."
He snorted and sent her a small smirk. "Should've known you had better taste than that pillock," he said, obviously pleased by her confession. "I'm sorry for doubting you, luv," he added more soberly.
"I'm sorry for giving you reason to," she mumbled into his chest as she scooted forward to embrace him again.
Spike breathed her in deeply, his arms immediately coming up to return the hug this time. He moved them down until they were fully laid down on the mattress. "Sleep now, Buffy. I'll be right here when you wake up," he promised her.
She nodded, too exhausted to ask the thousand other questions that were swirling around in her head. "Okay," she breathed out as her eyes drifted to a close, driving a few more tears out, and her breathing started to steady.
~BTVS~
It was the tingles that woke her up. Not the comforting 'Spike' tingles but the dangerous, fight for your life tingles. Her green eyes popped open and she noticed that Spike was already on his feet and staring out the window through a crack in the wood planks. She suspected they'd left that crack there for just that reason. "What is it?" she asked softly as she swung her legs over the side of the bed.
Spike glanced at her, his face was hard and inscrutable. "Horde," was all he said as he continued to watch them. Buffy's head snapped over to the door as it opened. She looked on in shock as not-Fred walked in like she owned the place and stood at Spike's side.
"I would kill them," she said plainly, almost disinterested.
Spike scoffed and shook his head. "Too many, even for you, pet." He looked at Buffy again, his head cocked in consideration. "Where's Angelus?" he asked Illyria.
"Brooding," she immediately replied and Buffy couldn't help the snort of laughter that escaped her.
Spike's smirk was more ugly than playful. "Yes but in which room, luv?" he asked.
"The lobby."
"Ta," he murmured as he returned his focus to the window.
"We are to stay in and hide?" the godking asked, obviously displeased.
"Just for now, Blue. Got the reinforcements now, yeah? We'll kill them soon enough," he replied in appeasement.
"Fine," Illyria nearly huffed out before turning and sweeping back out of the room.
Buffy had watched the whole thing in consternation and as the door loudly shut behind the other woman she cleared her throat uncomfortably. "So...are you two…" she couldn't give voice to the rest of her question.
Spike looked up in surprise and she was relieved to see that he looked more like her Spike this time and less like soldier Spike. "Me and Blue?" he asked with a raised eyebrows.
Buffy shrugged. "She seemed pretty at home barging in here," she muttered.
Spike's eyes narrowed in contemplation as he tilted his head and studied her. "You jealous, luv?" he asked incredulously, though she thought she saw a hint of a smirk at the corner of his mouth.
Buffy's eyes hardened into a glare. "So what if I am?" she challenged as she propelled herself to her feet.
Spike's eyes widened at her unexpected admission. "Uh," he said inelegantly. "Then I'd tell you there's nothing to be jealous of. Illyria thinks she owns the world, a few doors are nothing to her."
"But she listens to you," Buffy pointed out.
Spike nodded. "When it suits her. We make it out of this and I'll tell you everything that's happened the last three years, okay pet?"
Buffy was silent for a moment before she swallowed heavily and asked the question she'd been wondering ever since she'd found out he was alive, the one she couldn't bring herself to ask last night. "Do you still love me?"
Spike reeled back in shock and she winced as she saw hurt flash through his crystalline gaze. "You're off your bird if you think I could ever stop," he said quietly.
Relief flooded through her. "Spike...I-" she was cut off by a bang on the door.
"Got Willow on the phone!" they heard Faith call out followed by her footsteps as she quickly walked away.
Buffy sighed. "We'll talk more later?" she asked.
"Yeah, pet. Later," Spike sighed as he opened the door for her and they headed back down the stairs.
She heard the redhead's voice before she entered the room. "So the demons are dispersed throughout the country," Willow reiterated.
"Yes, but their highest concentration is still in California and it's surrounding states," Faith replied.
"There's even a dragon not too far from the Arizona border," Buffy announced as she walked into the room, followed closely by Spike.
"You found my dragon?" Angel asked in interest.
"Well, it didn't have your name on it," Xander answered with a shrug as he stuffed a scavenged honey bun into his mouth.
"Yeah, Giles told us about the dragon. I'm glad you guys got out un-charred," the witch replied.
"It was touch and go for a few hours there," Xander made sure to tell her.
"Well we can start sending in the troops to help as soon as you guys are ready to set up the magical mojo on your side and we get some sort of plan in place," she told them. "Is there a plan?"
"We hadn't gotten around to talking about that yet," Buffy admitted.
"Yeah, we needed some sleep," Xander backed her up.
"I have a plan," Angel spoke up.
Spike scoffed and rolled his eyes. "Oh, for fucks sake. Even if your plan wasn't completely sack of hammers all the humans in the room would die of old age by the time it was ready to enact."
"Hi Spike!" Willow cut in excitedly. "Good to hear your voice."
Spike looked slightly caught of guard and Buffy grinned a bit as he looked down as he replied. "Hey, Red. Good to be heard."
"What is this plan you guys are talking about?" Faith asked.
Buffy watched out of the corner of her eye as Spike rolled his again before crossing his arms and slouching against the wall, his sharp eyes on his grandsire as Angel spoke again. "Reset the clocks," he said enigmatically.
Silence descended for a long moment. "What, like time travel?" Robin asked skeptically.
"I don't even know if that's possible," Willow said thoughtfully.
"It's been done before," Angel insisted. "The Oracles once set it back twenty four hours a few years ago," he told them.
"The Oracles?" Buffy asked in confusion.
"Higher beings, servants of the Powers That Be," Angel explained.
"And they reset time before?" she asked. "Why would they interfere like that?"
"Doesn't matter," Angel replied evasively, but Buffy caught the flash of guilt in his eyes as he avoided her gaze and her eyes narrowed in consideration as Willow started speaking again.
"So they rewound the day, they didn't really send you back in time?" the witch clarified.
"I was the only one who could remember what had happened the first time around, so they rewound the clocks but with my memories I was able to prevent what happened the first time around."
"And you want to get them to do that again?"
"He's already tried that. Multiple times," Spike cut in. "Angel's not the PTB's favorite pet anymore."
Angel glared at him. "They won't reset the clocks this time," he confirmed. "But I believe there's another way."
Buffy listened intently, with growing disbelief, as he explained his plan to them. She shot a glance at Faith who was looking just as skeptical as she felt, Xander's eyes had glazed over awhile ago and Spike was just looking at her knowingly.
"That's your plan?" Riley asked, speaking up for the first time since she and Spike had joined the conversation. "When were you gonna fill the rest of us in on that?" he asked as Sam nodded in agreement.
"Tosser just let me in on it yesterday," Spike spoke up.
"It could work," the elder vampire insisted.
"Angel," Buffy said quietly. "You want to free a demon that's bred for battle and chaos and then convince it to learn how to travel through time in the hopes that it might agree to take you back to before you made your harebrained plot to take down the Senior Partners. That's a lot of faith to put into a demon who might not even be able to develop that ability."
Angel threw his hands up in exasperation. "At least I have a plan!" he said. "Did Spike tell you his?" he asked accusingly.
Buffy shot a glance at the blond in question. Spike shrugged. "If it came down to it we figured we'd bomb the country, stop the spread."
Her gut twisted at the thought of him burning up again and she blinked away the tears burned at her eyes at how close she'd likely come to losing him again. "When was that plan going to go into effect?"
"Hadn't decided yet," he replied with another shrug, looking more unbothered by the idea than she was comfortable with.
Sam spoke up now. "It was our final defense, we were hoping you guys would get here before we had to put it into action...and you did!" she said with as much enthusiasm as she could muster. Buffy looked at her closely, dark circles enhanced swollen eyes. She had several visible scars that Buffy didn't remember seeing when she'd met her in Sunnydale and her entire demeanor was a little slumped, perpetually exhausted. Like Spike.
She turned her gaze to Riley next and saw the same telltale signs in him and then again in Angel. Illyria seemed less stricken by the events of the last couple years but even she looked tired and disenchanted. Willow was speaking again and Buffy forced herself to tune back in.
"Now that we know what caused the demon invasion we might be able to come up with a better plan. Let me fill Giles and the coven in and I'll get back to you guys," she told them in that cautiously optimistic way of hers.
"Okay Wills, talk to you soon," Buffy said before the line went dead.
"Has the horde moved on yet?" Sam was the first to break the silence that reigned following the ended call.
Spike moved to one of the boarded up windows and looked out through one of the cracks. "Looks like," he confirmed.
"Patrol and scavenge?" Riley asked, looking between his wife and the vampire he'd once hated and Buffy was again feeling lost within their new dynamic.
"Sure," Spike agreed. "You guys coming?" He asked looking between Buffy and Faith.
"I could stand to blow off some steam," the brunette shrugged. "Think we'll leave the rest of the girls here though, let them get some more shut eye."
Buffy was about to agree to go when Angel caught her by the arm. "Can we talk?" he asked beseechingly. Buffy hesitated as she shot a glance at Spike who went from glaring at Angel's hand on her arm to giving her a nod.
"I'll see you when we get back, luv," he told her as the group, along with Illyria, made their way out of the room.
Buffy sighed and pulled away from Angel before leaning against the table and looking at the man she'd once believed to be the love of her life. Xander cleared his throat awkwardly. "So, Robin...let's uh...go see if we can scrounge up some food," he suggested to the former principal before the two quickly made themselves scarce.
"I know that you don't agree with a lot of what I've done," Angel began, shuffling nervously. "But I swear that I was just doing what I thought needed to be done and now…well it's too late to take it back," he said as he ran a hand through his hair. "It's good to see you though," he added with a small half smile.
Buffy shook her head as she tried to gather her thoughts. "You should have called me in a long time ago, Angel. Like before the hordes of hell were let loose."
"I tried to get in touch with Giles when Fred was dying and he refused to help us," Angel told her bitterly. "I had no reason to believe you would help with this."
Buffy looked at him incredulously. "First of all, I wasn't told about Fred. Not helping was not my decision but even it were, an apocalypse is a whole other can of worms, Angel. No amount of pettiness would have stopped Giles from sending the troops in to stop the world from ending. And let's not forget that you were the CEO of an evil law firm with a lot of resources if you'd wanted to get directly in touch with me you could have. Hell, you already knew where I lived, you knew how to get in touch with Andrew," she pointed out.
"I didn't think it was going to be apocalyptic," he insisted.
"Did you think you were going to survive?" she asked him.
His pause was answer enough. "No, we didn't think we would."
"You should have called me," she said again. "Or Faith! You know Faith would have taken your call and she could have brought her girls to come help. Maybe it still wouldn't have been enough but hey! Maybe it would have been."
"You're right," Angel said in defeat. "Maybe I should have but it's too late for that now. You guys shot down my time travel idea-"
"For good reason," she muttered.
"So all we can do now is hope that Willow and Giles come up with something other than Spike's bombs," he continued.
"Yeah," she agreed with a sigh.
"How have you been?" he asked softly, breaking up the heavy silence that had descended upon them.
Buffy eyed him incredulously. "Worried, exhausted, dirty and injured. You?"
Angel huffed out a laugh. "Pretty much the same."
She took a deep breath and then asked the same question she had the day before. It hadn't been the right time, then, to press for answers but it was just the two of them now. "Why didn't you tell me Spike came back?" she asked with narrowed eyes.
Angel sighed. "At first because he was little more than a ghost and he was slipping into hell," he told her as he sat down on one of the chairs and braced himself for their conversation.
"I keep hearing that, I don't get why that doesn't warrant a call," she said insistently.
Angel shook his head. "You don't understand. He would be there yakking your ear off and then he'd just be gone and he wouldn't pop back up for hours. I mean, mostly I was just relieved to get a break from his incessant commentary but we honestly weren't sure how long he'd be around for."
Buffy's stomach clenched at the thought of Spike inching his way closer to hell. Of him being unable to really interact with the world around him. The world he'd loved. "What was the real reason?" she asked softly, her eyes boring into his unrelentingly.
"Jealousy," he finally admitted, his eyes looking anywhere but at her. "Fear that maybe you were ready to serve your cookies to him."
"I really regret that metaphor," she muttered with a frown.
"You're not still cookie dough though, are you?" he asked, his dark eyes once again locking with her green.
"I don't know what will happen between me and Spike," she told him honestly. "But...if we get out of this alive, I'd like to find out," she admitted. "I owe us that."
Angel nodded, his eyes falling away from hers. "I hope you get the chance," he told her quietly before walking away.
Buffy sighed and went off to find Xander and Robin to see if they'd found any food. Then she really needed to wash herself up.
~BTVS~
Spike was standing next to Riley and Faith with an open map on the table as he explained something to them. Buffy cocked her head a bit as she studied him. He'd been relatively silent when he'd come back to his room late the night before and had hesitantly slid into bed beside her. She had just turned towards him and rested her head on his chest, letting the silence be for once.
He was more subdued than she'd ever seen him except maybe when she'd brought him home with her after he'd gotten his soul. Battle hardened, she thought. It was the same thing she'd noticed in Faith and Robin when they'd first started traveling together. They shared that quiet certainty that they had to keep going even if it killed them. Spike had rarely been hard for her to read, he was one to just say what he thought and when he didn't say it you could still read it on his face.
He wasn't an open book to her anymore and that scared her. What if they survived this only to not fit together anymore. "He's a good one," Sam's voice startled her and she snapped out of her reverie to face the other woman.
"Huh?" she asked ineloquently.
Sam smiled kindly. "Spike. He's a good guy. I mean, I know he's done a lot of evil in his past but now…" she trailed off with a shrug. "Riley used to talk about him sometimes, before all this. He hated him," she said with a laugh.
"He really did," Buffy agreed. "They seem to get along fine now." Which was hard to wrap her head around.
"We've been through a lot together. Angel's usually researching and planning ways to fix all this. Spike is on the front lines with us, we've figured out how to work well together," Sam told her.
"I know I see it, but I'm still having a hard time believing it," she said with an awkward chuckle. She grew serious once more. "He's changed," she confided quietly.
Sam nodded. "We all have. Impossible not to if you live this life long enough and Spike, Angel and Illyria have lived it longer than any of us." She could feel the soldier studying her quietly. "He still loves you, you know," Sam then told her softly.
"He tell you that?" Buffy asked curiously.
Sam shrugged. "Didn't have to. I can see it every time he looks at you," she told her before facing her fully. "Do you love him?"
Buffy hesitated before locking eyes with the other woman. "Yes," she whispered with conviction.
Sam held her gaze for a long moment before a smile curved her lips up. "Good," she said with a single nod before turning and walking into the room to join them in poring over the map.
Buffy took a deep breath before forcing herself closer and listening in. "We'll check here tonight," Spike said as he jabbed at area on the map.
"Guess we'll have to risk it now that we have more mouths to feed," Sam replied though she didn't sound excited by the prospect.
"Good thing those mouths come with super strength," Faith spoke up.
Riley nodded. "With the extra help we should be fine."
"Can I steal you away when you have a moment?" Buffy spoke up, looking at Spike.
"Sure, pet. We're all set here anyway," he said as he gave a nod to his cohorts before following her out of the room and up the stairs.
"I keep meaning to give you something but it just hasn't been the right time. Dawn will kill me if I don't," she told him quietly as they entered his room.
"Should I be concerned?" he asked hesitantly as he raised his scarred brow.
Buffy shot him another one of her sad smiles. "We're not the only ones with past regrets," was all she told him before pulling Dawn's letter out of her bag and handing it to him.
His fingers brushed hers as he slowly took it from her and sat down on the edge of his bed before unfolding it. She could see recognition light up his eyes immediately. He was silent for several minutes after he finished reading it, staring at the words as he gathered his thoughts. "She was always fairly intuitive, the bit," he finally said as he cleared his throat.
"Yeah, I realized how accurate those words probably were after I'd read them a couple times," she said softly. "It helped me get over some of my hurt and anger," she admitted. "It's why I was able to be so nice about it the other day," she teased, enjoying the smile that curled his lips up.
"Guess I owe her for a couple things then," he said as he got back to his feet and reached for her, dropping his hand before he touched her. Buffy sighed and took matters into her own hands as she stepped into his arms again and held him tightly to her.
~BTVS~
"Then we'll open the portal and pull them back in," Willow was saying excitedly as she relayed the plan she and her coven had come up with.
"Sounds promising, Red," Spike said and Buffy noticed a lightness in his eyes that she hadn't seen since they'd been reunited. Hope, she thought.
"We can do the spell to bring us to you now so we can start setting everything up. Buffy and Xander have the instructions and ingredients, right guys? They didn't get lost during your adventure did they?" Willow asked, suddenly panicked.
Buffy and Xander exchanged a grin. "Everything is miraculously safe and sound," Buffy assured her.
"Yeah, Wills, we'll get everything set up and call you back," Xander added before ending the call.
"Xan you get the ingredients from you bag and I'll get the instructions from mine."
"On it," Xander replied as he left the room. Buffy started to climb the staircase after him.
~BTVS~
"Okay we have the crystals set out, the pretty pink sand circle and the candles lit," Buffy said.
"Alright, we're gonna get started on our end. See you guys soon," Willow replied just before the line went dead. The hotel's inhabitants were quiet as they stood around the circle and waited.
Buffy stood close to Spike, her fingers brushing against his jacket as she shifted anxiously from foot to foot. "I can't believe we're actually going to get some backup," Sam spoke up suddenly, an exulted smile lighting up her face. "I mean having you guys here has been great but the more the merrier," she added with a glance at the road trippers.
"No offense meant but I'm honestly shocked you guys have lasted here for so long," Faith replied with a shake of her head. "It's a fuckin' mess out there." Buffy nodded in agreement. She'd gone out on the supply run with them the night before and it had been full of near death encounters. She and Xander rarely had to deal with anything like that on their trip since they were just driving through as quickly as possible but she knew that Faith and her crew had weeks of going on supply runs to keep their group fed and bandaged. It was a shock to the system, seeing just how hard LA had fallen. The town that she'd grown up in was unrecognizable.
"Had some close bloody calls," Spike told Faith.
"I believe it," she said with a smirk.
"How many times did we almost die on our way here, Buff?" Xander asked with that silly excited grin he got from time to time.
Buffy shrugged. "At least a couple dozen."
"I think the land bridge was my favorite," he replied sagely.
Buffy cracked a smile. "I'm glad we're able to joke about it now."
"Land bridge?" Angel asked but before either of them could answer him a bright light started to emanate from the circle and everyone's attention was riveted on it.
Willow was the first one to come through and she sent them all a bright, high on magic, smile and wave before closing her eyes and focusing on her task. Slowly Buffy started to recognize the figures of many of the Slayers that had chosen to stay in London over the last few years. Giles was the last one to come through and as the light faded Buffy's grin grew so wide that it threatened to hurt her jaw.
"Hey guys!" she said with all the pep she was known for.
Willow laughed and bounded out of the circle to wrap her in a hug. The two girls stood there laughing for a moment before Willow pulled away and gave a shocked Spike and then an equally thrilled Xander the same treatment. "It's so good to see you guys," she finally said as she pulled away from Xander.
"Back atcha," Faith said with a grin as they exchanged brief side hugs.
Giles stepped out of the circle next and grinned at his charge, Buffy stepped forward and quickly embraced him. As they stepped back from each other Giles turned to Spike who was watching him warily. "Spike," he greeted with a nod.
"Rupert," Spike returned steadily.
"Hey guys," Riley spoke up next with a small wave and then a cacophony of greetings and introductions were made that Buffy didn't bother to try to keep up with. Instead she wrapped her fingers around Spike's and squeezed.
He looked down at her in surprise and she smiled up at him. "It's good to be home," she murmured.
He nodded. "Yeah, you're from LA originally, aren't you luv?" he replied as he looked around them.
"Yeah," she confirmed. "But that's not what I meant," she told him meaningfully. He got that cautious, awe filled look in his eyes again as he looked back down at her, his brow furrowed a bit and she just smiled up at him brightly as she squeezed his hand again.
~BTVS~
Buffy groaned and rolled her head back in a circular motion to crack her neck. Her eyes were blurry and her temples throbbed as she brought her head back down to look at the map and texts in front of her. They were scattered throughout the hotel, researching, making plans and who knew what else to prepare for what Willow and her coven were going to attempt. Spike had been researching with her until Angel had called him away to go try and wrangle Illyria. Spike had rolled his eyes and grumbled but had gone anyway.
He had really made a place for himself here in the apocalypse. He had friends that weren't hers, he was looked to for battle strategy and support. He just fit. He and Angel bickered like they hated each other but she was pretty sure it was really just resentment they harbored towards one another these days.
"Hey," a familiar voice greeted and she looked up to see Riley slide into the chair across from her.
"Hey, Riley," she smiled tiredly.
"You looked like you needed a break and we haven't a chance to catch up since you got here," he said with that boyish half smile she used to love.
"Yeah, research and Buffy are unmixy things," she agreed.
Riley laughed. "That hasn't changed then."
She scrunched her nose and shook her head. "I don't think it ever will."
He smiled and studied her for a moment. "How have you been, really?" he asked. "I mean, last time I saw you in Sunnydale...well you seemed to be going through a rough time."
Buffy hesitated. "Yeah, that was a bad year," she agreed softly. "Things got better for a little while, that last year in Sunnydale. Then, you know, apocalypse. Spike burned up and we had just kinda started…" she trailed off awkwardly. "Anyway, that was hard. We moved to London though and that was cool," she said with a cheery smile. "What about you? I still can't believe you and Sam ended up here of all places."
Riley laughed again. "In LA or The Hyperion?" he asked.
"The Hyperion. LA I can believe what with the rampant demon problem."
"Yeah, it wasn't exactly my number one choice but we've made it work," he said, bringing a hand up to rub at the back of his neck. "Funny, you know, I used to hate Spike. Pitied him sometimes too," he said ruefully.
Buffy shrugged. "I think it was mutual."
"Yeah," he chuckled. "I doubt we'll ever be best buds but I like him a hell of a lot better than Angel," he told her with a smirk.
Buffy shook her head with a light laugh. "I hear that a lot."
"Will you go back to London when all this is over?" he questioned.
Buffy considered that for a moment. "Yeah, I mean, It's already been so long since I've seen Dawn. It's been awhile since Spike's been back home too so I doubt he'll argue," she said with a grin.
"Gonna give it a real shot, then?" he asked. "We don't all sit around and talk about you, you know, but you live with each other long enough and you piece things together," he elaborated when she gave him a questioning look.
"We were headed that direction before he died and then once he was gone I wondered why it had taken me so long to figure my shit out," she sighed. "A lot of history there though, I guess."
"Well, for what it's worth, I hope you guys can make it work," he told her sincerely.
"Me too," she said with a genuine smile. "Boy, things sure have changed in just a few years, huh?"
"The end of the world has a way of putting things into perspective," he said with a sheepish laugh.
"The Mrs. is looking for you, Captain Cardboard," Spike's voice suddenly floated towards them as he sauntered back into the room.
"Duty calls," he told Buffy with a wink as he stood up.
"Kitchen, mate," Spike added helpfully before reclaiming his seat.
"Thanks," Riley replied as he walked away.
"Get Illyria sorted out?" Buffy asked him with a smile.
Spike rolled his eyes. "More or less," he scoffed. "Now where were we?"
Buffy sighed and pouted as she turned her attention back to the map in front of her. Spike smirked and looked at her in that way that had all the butterflies in her stomach wildly flapping their wings. "Just a little longer, luv. Then we'll go out and have ourselves a dance, yeah?"
Buffy grinned, slightly mollified. "You'd think I'd be tired of all the fighting after the last few months but…" she trailed off.
"Times like these, it's good to have things to hit," he agreed as he shuffled through his stack of papers. She watched him for a moment. He'd seemed a little lighter ever since Willow had come through with a plan, she saw more glimpses of the Spike she'd known back in Sunnydale and that, in turn, made her feel lighter than she had in years.
She let out a little huff as she picked up a random piece of paper and pretended to study it. She only had to fake it until sundown, after all.
February 2006
Buffy ducked under a lifted truck that had seen more than it's fair share of damage in the wake of the demon apocalypse, tucking and rolling as she narrowly avoided a fireball. She peeked out from beneath her temporary hiding spot, her eyes following the sound of laughter as Spike spun and lunged. Parried and attacked. She watched for a moment, entranced by the sight of him.
Over the last few weeks she'd gotten to witness just how well Spike, Angel, Illyria, Riley and Sam had gotten to know the weaknesses of the demons they fought. She was told that it hadn't come without a lot of trial and error and near death experiences.
"Duck!" She heard Angel yell out and her head snapped in his direction as he practically flew over Faith's head to tackle a demon that had been coming up behind her. The fought viciously for a few moments before Angel rose victorious. Buffy rolled out from beneath the truck and reentered the fray over by where Lillain, one of the London Slayers, had found herself surrounded by the enemy.
It had taken some time to set up everything for the big plan but they'd finally gotten the last piece into place. They'd split up into groups over the last month, sending each party to a different part of the city to set up crystals and whatever else Willow instructed them to do. Last night Buffy, along with Spike, the Finns and Illyria had put set the last crystal. Today was the day.
Willow and her coven had found a way to reopen the portal that had brought the demons to their dimension and, with the help of Illyria, were going to reverse engineer it to suck them all back in. Angel and Spike needed to be out of it's immediate range before it opened so they didn't get sucked up too. LA was the test run, if they were successful today then they'd fan out and repeat the process to the rest of the state.
They had made their way to the exact center of the city as per Willow's orders, that's where they had to be to work the mojo and open the portal. Once opened the portal should draw all the demons that were native to it back into their dimension, unfortunately any demonic force within close proximity would get caught in it's gravitational force as well which was why they needed to have the vampires outside of the border Willow had set up before it opened.
The exact center of the city also happened to be a hot spot for the demonic forces which was how they'd found themselves battling for their lives while also trying to keep Willow safe as she channeled the coven.
'Time to get moving, guys,' Willow's voice sounded throughout their heads and Buffy, Faith and the rest of the Slayers started fanning out and forming a circle to keep the hordes contained, they threw grenades at the mob to keep them at bay while Riley and Sam laid down cover fire from nearby rooftops. Angel was the first to reach them and slip through to the other side of their human barricade to safety.
Buffy's eyes searched for the telltale flash of black and platinum, bouncing on the balls of her feet as she tried to catch a glimpse of him. "Hey Sid!" Faith suddenly yelled out, cupping her hands around her mouth. "Time to move!"
Buffy followed the dark Slayers line of sight and watched as Spike cut down his opponent before jogging over to them with a wolfish grin firmly in place. His fingers tangled with hers briefly before he stole through the line of women and girls and stood back to back with Angel as they kept an eye out for any stragglers.
A warm glow opened up from within the center of the street, widening until the first few demons closest to it went flying into it. The rest of the horde started to move against the gunfire and towards the Slayers guarding their only exit but Willow was working too quickly for them and by the time Buffy had blinked the demonic legion was gone, vacuumed away into the Hellscape they'd come from.
The other demons that had been scattered throughout the city appeared in a sort of wave that reminded her of how the distant desert landscape looked in the intense heat, a sort of mirage just before disappearing into the portal's maw.
Cheers rang victorious and an exuberant smile split her face. They still had a long way to go, a lot of cleanup to do throughout the country but they had just proven that their methods worked. They had sent hundreds, if not thousands of demons away in one nights work.
Buffy broke away from the embrace that she'd found herself in and jogged over to Spike who was chatting animatedly with Sam who was newly returned from her snipers perch. He turned away from the other woman just in time to find himself with an armful of Slayer. They had been taking things slow, the Slayer and her Vampire, reducing their interactions to hugs and held hands. Sharing a bed but only sleeping and cuddling in it. More or less, picking up where they'd left off in Sunnydale. Getting to know each other again.
She was sure she knew Spike's reason for not pushing things, he was more content with himself and his soul now and didn't seem to need that reassurance that she was there with him. Her reasoning had been selfish and borne of fear, what if they didn't make it, if it didn't work. Could she get close only to lose him again?
Buffy broke away from her thoughts and laughed jubilantly at the reminder of what they had accomplished. Spike's deep laughter joined hers and when he set her back down on the ground she reached up, catching his face in her hands and brought it down to meet hers as they shared their first kiss since they'd reunited. Spike was still with surprise for just a moment before his hands came up, one resting on her hip and the other clasping the back of her neck as he pulled her tighter to him and drank her in.
A wolf whistle sounded out from somewhere behind them and Buffy knew she had Faith to thank for that. Buffy was panting when they finally broke apart, her smile was wide as she stared him straight in the eyes. "I love you," she whispered.
Spike's lips turned up in a matching grin, his eyes sparkling as he swooped down for another kiss. "I love you too, Buffy," he breathed out when he pulled away again. Buffy felt lighter than she had in years. He believed her this time and he still felt the same. She leaned into him, tucking her head against his chest as a warm, content smile stretched across her lips. They had a long way to go but she knew that she'd have him and that made it a war worth waging.