Xander stuffed his feet into his work boots. He rolled his eyes as Anya ranted about the same thing she said every morning.
"You're always working," she complained. "You never spend any time with me any more." She pouted her lips. When did she learn how to do that?, Xander thought.
He sighed. "Ahn, you like money right?" Xander said.
"Yes of course. Money is the very basis of human existence. Without money we'd be out on the street living like bums."
"You remember you have your own apartment right?"
"Yes, but you're not in it. You prefer to stay here in this musty old basement."
He stood up and set a hand on her shoulder. "Right, well. I have to go to work to make money so I can afford this musty old basement so my parents don't toss me out. Also, I get paid this week. I was thinking we could go out. Some place nice."
"You mean somewhere that doesn't like smell like feet and serve food covered in cold grease?"
"Exactly."
Anya smiled. "Well then... get to it! Your job isn't gonna do itself."
"That's my girl." He gave her a quick kiss. "I'll see you tonight."
There it was. Right in front of him. So obvious he never would have thought of it. Not if he hadn't been reminded that astronomical occurrences were often tied to the supernatural as he skimmed through a book about fae creatures in the American pacific. A planetary alignment involving Pluto could have caused a significant disruption in the dimensions. He just needed to know if there had been an alignment the night Buffy spent in LA to confirm his theory. Sadly, they don't publish books on astronomical history that recent.
Jenny would have known. She always kept track of that sort of thing. She always knew what was happening in the sky. But he didn't have Jenny anymore.
Luckily, he caught Willow early before she slipped out to class. She promised to get the information he needed and to bring to him right after her last class. He thanked her and made himself comfortable on the couch. A short nap as a reward for his hard work. He'd have answers for his slayer soon and that was just what a watcher was meant to do.
The light rapping on the door was enough to wake him six hours later. He yawned and rubbed his tired eyes. Glasses back in place, he opened the door.
Willow and Tara greeted him with small smiles before he let them inside. He didn't think he'd seen Willow without Tara in a long while. The two of them had grown awfully close in such a sort time. He wondered if Buffy noticed. Girls seemed to get jealous about that sort of thing.
Willow handed him several papers she'd printed out for him. He skimmed through the record which had everything from red dwarf formations to meteor collisions. Some people obsessed over space as much as he obsessed over mythology. The day after Thanksgiving was listed. An alignment of Earth, its moon, and Pluto. Just as he'd thought.
"Thank you, Willow. This is very helpful." He offered her a smile.
"So, do you know what's happening to Buffy then?" she asked hopefully.
"Almost. I've got one last thing to check and then I can be certain of everything. In an hour or so I'll have all the facts."
"Great! I don't think she's slept in a week. I'm really worried."
"So am I, but we'll having her sleeping again in no time," he bent over his desk and got to work reading through another book. "I think."
"Well, me and Tara have homework. I'll be at her dorm if you need me. Just call."
The girls slipped out while Giles searched for answers in his dusty old tome.
When Buffy woke up, the first thing she noticed was how warm she was. She was comfortable and well rested and not a single nightmare had hit her. At least none that she remembered though there was certainly that bad taste in her mouth she'd come to associate with her nightmares. Warm and well rested, she smiled as she opened her eyes. Panic hit when she recognized her surroundings in the dying candle light.
Stone walls, canopy bed, light colored sheets. She wasn't alone. A strong arm laid across her waist and a firm chest rested against her back. Not a breathing chest either. She really didn't want to think about it. Didn't want to think his name. She just wanted to be comfortable. But she couldn't stop thinking.
The smells she associated with 'him' weren't present. No leather and cigarettes. Maybe he didn't smoke down stairs. Or maybe it took longer for the sheets to absorb the scent. Or maybe he was just quick about doing his laundry. She didn't really know. It smelt musty, like a basement. There was another smell, in the sheets more than in the air. It was faint and not unpleasant, but she didn't have a name for it. She realized it was familiar, that it had always been present under the leather and the cigarettes. It was just Spike.
His name didn't make her want to bolt like it used to. It didn't set off her fight or flight mode like it did before. Only months before. She was still calm, still comfortable, and that freaked her out more than a little bit. When had she let Spike inside her head?
He moved behind her, slowly waking up. "Morning," he said quietly.
She turned over in his arms. His face was uncertain, like a skittish puppy. Buffy didn't feel very certain herself. Slowly, she lifted her head a pressed a gentle kiss to his lips. His kiss was gentle in return. It was short and sweet. Buffy curled into Spike and laid her head against his chest. He pulled her in close and pressed his cheek against the top of her head.
"Why do we always have to do everything?" Anya complained as she and Xander trudged across the cemetery. It was shortly after sunset and the both of them kept looking over their shoulders for vampires.
"Because we were home when Giles called," Xander said. "Plus, I have a car and Willow would have to walk." He was anxious to get where they were going and get out. All the talking wasn't helping his paranoia.
"Giles has a car. Why doesn't he go get Buffy? We're not his personal slaves," Anya said insistently.
"Giles spent all night and day reading musty old books. Be glad he didn't call us to help with that."
Anya sighed. "Fine. Why's Buffy out here anyway?"
"It's the cemetery, Anya. She's the slayer."
"But Willow said to check Spike's crypt."
"He helps sometimes," Xander explained.
"I bet they're boneing."
Xander gave her a disgusted look. "No way. He's Spike. There is no way Buffy would ever sink so low as that."
"Do you have something against sleeping with vampires? 'Cause you don't seem to have a problem with ex-demons. I don't see what the big deal is."
"The big deal is that he's Spike. He's killed people. Lots of people. He tried to kill her and her mother and Willow and pretty much everyone in town."
"When I was a demon, I killed people all the time."
"But your not a demon any more."
Anya stopped in her tracks. Xander stopped to look at her. "So, if I were a demon you wouldn't love me anymore? I be a gross lowly creature and you would be so much better than me? Is that it?"
"I didn't mean you Anya!"
"No because I'm all human now so it's perfectly acceptable to have sex with me. Even though I've killed people and I enjoyed it. It wasn't just my job, it was my passion! I made an art out of punishing men for their wrong doing against women and losing my job was the worst thing that ever happened to me, Xander!"
"I'm sorry. I just meant... killing people is bad. It's wrong. If it wasn't for that chip in Spike's head he would slaughter the town. You're not like that. You're better than that."
"Maybe. Let's just go find the slayer." She marched in the direction of Spike's crypt with Xander two steps behind.
The crypt was dark except for the light flickering up from the lower level. "Buffy?" Xander called.
"Evil undead?" He walked slowly toward the dim light unable to see the floor. "Anybody home?"
A shadow crossed the light as Buffy climbed up the ladder and ascended to the ground floor.
"Xander? What are you guys doing here?"
Spike appeared behind her as he climbed up.
"Giles sent us to come find you. He says he knows something about the... you know the thing," Xander explained.
"What?" Buffy looked at him confused.
"You know the dream thing," he hinted.
"Oh that. It's not a secret Xander. Spike knows."
"Great! Good for Spike. Giles wanted as back as soon as possible so we should motor."
"I'll grab my coat," Spike said crossing in the room to grab his duster.
"Sorry fangless, but you're not invited," Xander snarked.
"Actually, Xand. Spike's kind of a part of this."
"Perfect. Great. Why not?" He turned and hurried out of the crypt without another word.
Buffy gave Anya a confused look. Anya just rolled her eyes and followed Xander out.
"What's the boy's problem?" Spike asked as he returned, fixing his collar.
"No idea, but We'd better get going. Maybe Giles can fix our heads."
"Gonna take a bit more that a librarian to fix my head, love."
Buffy rolled her eyes.
Willow was waiting with Giles when the rest of the gang made it inside. They gathered around in the living room and Buffy explained Spike's part in the situation.
"Well, that changes my theory," Giles said. "But I do know what's been happening to you both.
"When you and Angel, erm... when you were in LA that is, that night, there was an astronomical event. The alignment of Earth and its moon with the planet Pluto. There are stories that the name was chosen as this planet actually marks the barrier between the dimensions. Not only this dimension and the underworld, but all dimensions essentially."
"I thought Pluto wasn't a planet anymore," Xander piped up.
"Regardless of Pluto's status, it is never the less a structure with some influence over the behavior of souls. When Angel's soul was striped from his body and forced to move on, the alignment caused an occurrence where all dimensions were temporarily connected. This can cause souls to get lost on their journey from this world to the next."
"So Angel's soul ended up in the wrong dimension?" Buffy asked.
"I believe that his soul was pulled into multiple hell dimensions at once and it's now stuck somewhere in between them."
"But what about me and Spike? Why do we keep having these dreams?"
"My first thought was that a piece of your own soul followed Angel's." Giles rubbed his glasses on his shirt as he continued. "An intimate act can cause the souls to intertwine. Of course knowing Spike is a part of this as well, I have a new theory." He replaced his glasses on his nose.
"When you staked Angelus, how close was Spike to him physically?"
"Pretty close," Buffy said remembering how Angelus had pinned Spike underneath him.
"It seems possible that a piece of Angel's soul remained within Angelus due to the event and that when his body was destroyed, that piece sought a new host and it was torn between Yourself and Spike."
"Are you tellin' me there's a piece of that pouf inside me somewhere?" Spike asked, outraged.
"I do believe so, yes."
"So, what do we do? How do we fix it?" Buffy asked.
Giles shook his head. "That I don't know."
"What if we brought Angel back? Would the pieces of his soul reform?" Willow asked.
"I believe so, but we would have to perform a very dark and very dangerous resurrection ritual. Something far beyond my power or even yours. Such a spell breaks the most important law of nature and requires a massive sacrifice."
"We can't just leave him split between dimensions," Buffy said.
"Not to mention the nightmares," Spike said.
"What if we recall his soul to this dimension?" Willow said. "Just his soul. We wouldn't resurrect him, just pull him out. He'd be left in a kind of stasis for the rest of forever, but he wouldn't be stuck in a million different hells and Buffy could get some sleep."
"That's not a bad idea," Giles said. "but I don't know if it would work."
"We have to try something," Willow insisted.
"Maybe we should all sleep on it," Giles said stifling a yawn. "We'll fare better tomorrow once we've all rested. Buffy you should try to avoid sleeping for now. If the dreams get any stronger, you could wake to worse than a pair of burns."
"I'll see what I can do."
Everything stopped. The fire was gone. It was all he could think. The fire was gone. There was no pain. It was all gone. There was nothing.
He was laying on his back on something wet and scratchy. There were small lights above him. It was familiar. He knew something about the lights. They weren't like the fire, they were pleasant and beautiful and they didn't hurt him.
There was a pain in his stomach. It wasn't fire. It ached, but it wasn't terrible. It wanted food. He remembered that. Remembered feeding. Not eating, not food, blood. He wanted blood. It was warm and thick and enjoyable.
He slowly climbed to his feet and looked around him. Swings, a merry-go-round, a jungle gym. He knew this. He'd seen it before. He closed his eyes and when he opened them, he saw Drusilla. She stood by the jungle gym. He remembered that. He always liked her in little white dresses. She was always meant to be so innocent. So precious.
He knew where he was, but he couldn't get his thoughts to stop swirling around in his head. When had he seen Drusilla? Where was this play ground? Where was the fire? Was he still in hell?
The last he remembered was Buffy. He'd been with her, but she hadn't been alone. His started to hurt as he thought about it. Not enough energy for thinking. He had to get blood before he collapsed.
