Buffy was thanking every God she could think of that her 'Slayer healing' seemed to apply to alcohol also as the plane made it's descent. Left with only a slight headache and a grumbling, empty stomach, she could feel her building excitement at the prospect of seeing everyone again. She knew she had reasons for avoiding London, but after the last three days, she couldn't remember any of them. Giles, Willow, Xander, DAWN! Her friend's names seemed to echo in every loud step as she rushed past the nighttime airport crowds.
With her giant duffel bag in tow, gaining a few stares for the speed of her moments despite its size, Buffy ran down to the gate, shrieking with joy as Willow's flaming hair came into view. The girls ran headlong into each other, Buffy pulling Willow into a tight hug.
"Ow, Buffy, ow! Watch the Slayer strength!"
"Sorry Will." Buffy grinned sheepishly, but immediately pulled Willow back into another, only slightly less painful, embrace. Behind Willow, Giles was waving hesitantly, and Buffy nearly cried with happiness as she leapt towards him, wrapping Dawn into the hug as well.
Noticing her wandering stare, Dawn managed to inform her that Xander and Andrew were waiting back at the house before Buffy squeezed her sister so tight that she momentarily lost use of her lungs. The past six months, Buffy had never felt this close to any of them, and in that moment she realized how much she had missed it.
Smiling fondly as he gently pulled her away from Dawn, Giles leaned down, his voice a hushed whisper: "Buffy, I have prepared Willow for the presence of your... guest... but you may want to provide Dawn with some warning. She simply insisted on coming, I didn't expect to bring her, I was going to let you tell her yourself..."
Willow was already looking curiously behind Buffy, but Dawn had yet to notice the two vampires making their slow journey through the airport towards the group. The sun had gone down hours prior to their arrival, so they needn't avoid the windows, but the crowds bustling past them seemed to make them, or at least Spike, highly uncomfortable.
Buffy was pulling on Dawn's arm, attempting to pull her aside to tell her the news when her eyes locked on to Spike's. Worried, Buffy watched Dawn carefully, unsure how she would respond to his presence, but she didn't seem ready to move just yet. She stared, sizing him up, face unreadable, as they approached.
"Dawn, Willow, Giles!" Angel closed the gap between them in bounding steps, shaking each of their hands warmly. Giles and Willow were genuinely pleased at his presence, but Dawn's hand was stiff as she allowed him to shake it, already staring past Angel.
"Been awhile, lil' bit."
Dawn tried to keep her face clear, but Spike, always able to read people, could see the complicated emotions struggling within her. Once, she had loved Spike, her protector, her confidant, the one person to always treat her as if she was just another member of the group, rather than a weaker shadow of Buffy's. Then he hurt Buffy, hurt my sister, broke our trust. Then he tortured himself, almost dying, to get his soul… then he really did die for us, died for her. But he's here? Dawn didn't know what to feel. Staring at him for several seconds that stretched on as if minutes, an emotion finally won out: relief. Surprising everyone, Dawn jumped onto Spike, eyes watering, and wrapped him in a tight hug.
Spike stood awkwardly for a moment, arms hanging limply around her, but recovered himself, tentatively returning the embrace. Relieved by her sister's reaction, Buffy smiled, joining them. Spike had to hide his own watering eyes as the group broke apart.
"The amulet," Buffy whispered into Dawn's ear. "The amulet brought him back, I've only known for a couple of days."
Dawn nodded silently, and wiped her eyes. She seemed to need a moment of recovery from it all, and tried to take Buffy's duffel bag from her, mumbling that she would carry it to Willow's car. Angel quickly followed to help her, seeing the bag nearly pull the smaller girl to the floor with its weight. The two of them made their way to the little green car faintly visible outside.
Spike eyed the small car with raised eyebrows.
"We are going to have to split off," Giles explained. "We could have, just barely, fit into Willow's car if Dawn had agreed to wait at Wyndbury Lane with Xander. Since I could not convince her or Willow to do so, I had to bring mine along as well and lead them here."
Willow put her hand in Buffy's with a smile, taking Spike by the arm as well. "You two are with me, Giles will take Angel. He found himself another two-seater mid-life-crisis car, of all things."
The girls rushed away, snorting with laughter, with a bewildered Spike in tow.
Back at Giles's home, the Xander that greeted Buffy was nearly unrecognizable. Buffy had gotten slightly adjusted to his new eyepatch, but seeing Xander in an eyepatch, apron, and oven mitts, bending to reach into a stove, was nearly too much for her. Buffy managed to politely recover control over herself before he noticed her, but entering behind her, Spike roared with laughter, and even Angel was covering his mouth to stifle a chuckle. Xander glared at them both, hands on his hips, which only made the men laugh harder and the girls join in.
Taking pity on him, Buffy pulled Xander away from the others, holding him tightly. "How are you, Xan?" she murmured.
"Tired." He looked it. He's got dark circles under his eyes. Eye? "I've been up since six. Stayed up half the night already to make sure I got to see you, couldn't wait til morning." Xander released her, lowering his head slightly to better look her in the eyes. "Buffy, Will told me about Spike this morning. I'm not going to get involved, but are you sure about this?"
"Yes." She met his stare, answering him firmly. "The Spike that's out there hasn't done any of the things you hold a grudge against him for. That Spike doesn't exist."
"Buffy, if you really believe that, then you barely know that man."
Thankfully, Andrew popped his head into the kitchen, saving Buffy from trying to put together a response. Unable to continue his conversation, Xander gently kissed Buffy's forehead.
"It's good to have you back, Buff. We'll talk shop in the morning."
The others seemed to have either decided as a group to avoid conversations about 'Scooby Business', or were simply too exhausted to get into it just yet.
Xander and Andrew had made several plates of pizza-bagels and opened up several bags of candy, so they all huddled close, sharing food, teasing each other, trying to recapture the old times. Giles rolled his eyes when he saw Xander's choice of 'hot dish', but after sneaking one, admitted that they were 'simply delicious' and openly enjoyed another dozen.
If anyone in the group noticed that Spike was sharing an armchair with Buffy, arms wrapped around her waist, none of them acknowledged it. To be fair, the half-dozen drinks all but Dawn and Buffy had already downed may have played a part in their ignorance. By the time Dawn announced she was 'sick of you drunks' and marched upstairs to bed, Xander and Andrew were hardly able to stand up straight, and Giles had a case of the hiccups that left even him in hysterics.
"Oh God," Xander rubbed his forehead, succeeding on his second attempt to stand up without swaying. "I've still got to get home."
"You aren't driving, you're in quite a state!" Giles hiccuped again, giggling at his own drunkenness.
"It's only a couple miles." Xander stretched and groaned. "I can make it walking, I think."
"Speak for yourself!" Andrew whined.
"C'mon nancies. I'll drive you, I'll make it a lot better than you two." Spike stood, getting a small, sleepy whine from Buffy. He squeezed her hand in answer, then directed a stern stare at Xander. "Keys?"
Andrew passed the keys to Spike, pulling them from the pocket of an indignant Xander. The odd group made their way to the door, Xander still grumbling his protests loudly, Spike rolling his eyes, and Andrew rushing to show Spike the vehicle, still viewing him with a mixture of fear and veneration.
As the door shut behind them, Willow slipped into Spike's place in Buffy's armchair, wrapping her arms around her. Angel had already begun cleaning up on Giles's behalf, who had now fallen asleep, glasses askew, much to the girls' amusement.
"So, Buffy, I think we need to reserve some girl talk time!"
Hugging her back the best she could at the strange angle, Buffy giggled. "Drunk Willow, and girl talk? Would this be about a girl?"
"Shush!" Willow grabbed her hand, pulling her up the stairs. "Lets go to your room!"
Willow practically jumped from the chair, flying up the stairs. Buffy glanced around for her duffel bag, confused to see that it was no longer where she'd left it by the door.
"I put it upstairs already." Angel re-entered the room. "... and Spike's backpack. You two have the guest room across from Giles's library. We are a little low on beds, I'll take the couch."
"Angel…"
"It's okay, Buffy. I'll get used to it eventually."
Buffy stood up to follow Willow, but paused, reaching out to Angel and pulling him into a hug. Realizing she hadn't even touched him since she arrived in Los Angeles, the hug lasted longer than she planned. Drawing away from him after over a minute, the look of longing in his eyes caused a sharp pain in Buffy's chest. Guilt. I've never felt it like this. She looked up at him, his right hand still on her waist, not knowing what to say. She could feel the strength of his pain. She'd seen pain in him before, but this was different, being the cause of it. She hadn't seen a look like that on his face since she was forced to trap him with his demon back in Sunnydale. His face was enveloped in it… Pain, betrayal… and love. It was overwhelming. She forced herself to look away, making a run for the staircase. Angel's hand floated in the air for a moment, before slowly lowering, closed into a tight fist.
Willow was bouncing with excitement when Buffy entered the room.
"Her name is Lindsay." Willow's voice was wistful.
"That's pretty!"
"She's pretty. She's got this crazy-long strawberry blonde hair, and these gorgeous green eyes, and she's so tall, Buffy. I feel like an ugly little Oompa Loompa next to her."
"Will, you're one of the most beautiful girls I know, stop that."
Willow was barely listening. "She trains potentials at the Academy, she started about a month ago, running the new martial arts program. I think what she teaches is called Danzan Ryu? So many grapples and throws, it's incredible to watch her. She's our age too, about a year older, and she's already been teaching for over five years."
Buffy settled into the pillows, watching Willow with a smile as she babbled on. It's nice to see her like this!
"We had lunch last week, and she says she wants to do it again…" Willow's face started to fall. "But Buffy, I'm scared. I can barely talk around her, but if I avoid her much longer, I'm going to ruin it completely. Thank God it's winter break."
"Willow, you are powerful, and gorgeous, and we will get your confidence back, I promise." Buffy played with Willow's hair, twisting it into little braids. It was getting long again, already past her collarbones. Willow really did look beautiful. She was dressed in burgundy lounge pants and a lacy black tank top, and her shy, beaming smile would draw attention from anyone.
Willow smiled sadly. "And I still miss Tara. Me and Kennedy were over before we even began, it was just too soon, too intense. Lindsay is… different. She actually reminds me of Tara. Somehow it feels like I'm betraying Tara less, liking Lindsay, but it's just so confusing."
"C'mere." Buffy cuddled up to Willow, comforting her.
"I'm sorry, Buffy."
"What for?"
"I know this must be boring for you, listening to me blather on about a crush. Not exactly as exciting as non-human ex-lovers being resurrected after saving the world." Buffy tweaked her nose at that, and Willow giggled.
"Stop that! You are never boring, Will." Buffy resumed trying to twist her hair into a braid, and Willow closed her eyes, enjoying the contact.
"I don't even know what I would say if we talked about my love life." Buffy mused. "I've been with Spike before, but not like this, this is so new, and so old… And Angel makes it hard."
"Yeah." Willow sat up. "I can tell he's not liking this. What was it like in L.A.?"
"Awkward." Buffy realized she hadn't told Willow the full story of events, and started catching her up.
When she arrived at Angel's surprise entrance, Willow gasped and blushed.
"Buffy!"
It was Buffy's turn to blush. "I know, I don't know what I was thinking. Actually, I wasn't thinking. Not even a little bit."
"And what's he like now?"
"Spike? He's… Spike. He's got his soul, but he's still a pain in the ass, and something about him is just… I need him, I don't even know when it happened for sure, but I do."
Willow yawned. Not out of lack of interest, just lack of sleep. Promising to talk more in the morning, Buffy sent Willow to her own room, and crawled into bed to wait for Spike, unsure if she'd be able to sleep without him.
Xander and Andrew lived on the top floor of their complex, about a mile from the edge of the residential area. Not trusting the two to make it up five flights of stairs on their own, Spike walked them to their door, half-carrying Xander by the time they reached the top. Announcing that he had done his share, and was "not about to tuck anyone in," Spike started on the long walk back to Giles's home, missing Buffy already.
Sick of waiting within minutes, Spike began to jog, relishing the bite of the bitter cold wind. He wasn't completely sure what the sleeping arrangements were going to be, but he was determined to share with Buffy, no matter who he would be making uncomfortable. Giles was as distant and cold towards him as he remembered, at least until he'd gotten several drinks in him, and he knew that he would want Buffy kept away from him. Not going to happen, not anymore.
Nearing the city's edge, he caught an overwhelming whiff of something he hadn't smelled that strongly in months: human blood, lots of it. Instinct and adrenaline kicking into overdrive, he increased his speed further, ducking into alleyway after alleyway. As he neared the source, he slowed. He could already sense he was too late.
Sure enough, he found her, a pretty young thing, slumped against an alley wall. Her body was ice cold, her neck ripped open viciously. Spike swallowed, remembering the times in his past that he had been as cruel; whoever had done this had enjoyed the girl's suffering. The oldest wounds were the smallest veins, the blood around them already dried brown. Her death would have been slow, incredibly painful, as she grew weaker and weaker from struggling and loss of blood. The girl had clearly fought back; her left arm was twisted at her side in an impossible angle, broken, her knuckles faintly bloody.
In her right hand, Spike could see the faintest outline of something clutched in her first. Kneeling, Spike pulled it from her gently, and froze in surprise. It was familiar. A thin, black lace choker, with small black and red stones adorning the center clasp. Suddenly dizzy, he raised it to his nose, breathing in the scent. Drusilla.
His past had already caught up to him.