Disclaimer: Some of these scenes are directly from the show. I did not create them and I do not own them.

Chapter Six: A Haunting

The Winters couple entered the house first. The house was furnished with their old furniture. There were more rooms in this house than their old house so some of the rooms were empty for now. Wesley and Connor entered the house next followed by Dawn. Buffy looked at Spike and nodded. Spike let Buffy go first. The house was lovely. When Spike reached the threshold, he stopped. He was not invited.

"Uh guys?" Spike asked and held up his hand. The Winters couple and Buffy turned around. Buffy turned to the couple and said,

"Spike's a vampire so you have to invite him."

Jack nodded and said, "Come in Spike."

Spike entered the house. "Thanks." He said.

Laura remained quiet. Buffy noticed it and turned around. "Are you alright?" She nodded and then walked away to the kitchen. Buffy looked at Jack.

"Just give her some time," he said. "She's still not used to this new world."

"You seem to be adapting quickly." Buffy pointed out.

Jack shrugged. "Change doesn't bother me, but change has always upsetted Laura."

"I get it." Buffy said. "I'm not used to being back here, but here I am."

"I'm happy to have you back." Dawn said and hugged her.

Buffy turned to her and smiled. "Thanks." She paused and thought about it. She missed Heaven, but she didn't want to say anything. Buffy yawned and stretched. "We should turn in for the night."

"I don't need to sleep right now." Spike said. "I'll sleep when the sun comes up. You guys go get some rest."

"There's a few beds in here. Laura and I will take one room. I suggest we give the baby and someone else a bed as well." Jack said.

Buffy nodded. "I agree." She said, "Wesley, why don't you and Connor take one room for tonight and we'll figure the rest out later?"

Wesley nodded. "Sounds good to me." He said and Connor made some baby noises.

The two boys headed upstairs. Buffy turned to Dawn and said, "We can share a room."

"Yeah of course." Dawn said. "I don't mind."

"Sounds good." Buffy said. "You should go get some rest and I'll be up in a little bit. I want to check in on a few things."

Dawn nodded and headed upstairs. Once upstairs, there was a long hallway. To the right of her was the main bedroom, which was for Jack and Laura. The bedroom had its own bathroom so the couple didn't have to worry about sharing. In front of her was another bathroom, one for the main hallway. To the left of her was a bedroom and down the hall there were two other bedrooms. Dawn walked down the hallway and saw that in the left bedroom there was Wesley and Connor. The right bedroom was empty.

She walked back down the hallway and chose the bedroom on the left. There was a Queen size bed and Dawn thought it was appropriate for her and Buffy. Dawn crawled under the covers and closed her eyes. She was happy that Buffy was back. It gave her peace. She felt safer with her sister around. Meanwhile, Buffy was downstairs with the rest of the group. Spike, Jack, and Laura were all still awake. Buffy looked at Jack and Laura. She turned to them and said,

"You two should get some rest." Buffy paused. "You've been through a lot."

Jack turned to Laura and said, "That sounds like a good idea. What do you think sweetie?"

Laura looked up and glanced at everyone. Everyone had her attention turned to her. She took a step back and sighed. "Yeah I guess." She paused and looked at the ceilings. "Home sweet home."

Laura walked away and walked to the stairs. Jack looked at Spike and Buffy. He nodded and then walked upstairs with Laura. Spike turned to Buffy and said, "That one is not gonna last."

"She just needs time." Buffy told him. "Don't give her a hard time."

Spike rolled her eyes. "I just think we need to rip the band aid off, but whatever." He paused. "Laura needs to get used to this new world or she's not gonna make it."

"She'll make it Spike." Buffy insisted. "Now, let's talk about the supplies. I don't want anyone to go hungry."

"Not to mention we need blood." Spike pointed out.

"Exactly. We need baby formula, blood, and food." Buffy said.

"We can all get that tomorrow." Spike said and looked at Buffy. "Well some of us can get it. I vote for you and Wesley."

Buffy rolled her eyes. "We'll go to the store tomorrow. Wes can go to the butcher to get you some more blood."

Spike nodded. "Now you should get some rest." He said. "I don't have to sleep till the sun comes up."

Buffy nodded. "Sounds good. Good night." She said and walked upstairs.

Meanwhile, since the horde had left, the original Scoobies were safe. Xander and Anya were at Xander's apartment and the old Summers' house was getting ready for bed. Tara pulled the pillows off the bed and Willow walked into the room.

"Did you get through to London?" Tara asked her.

"Yeah." Willow said and put on some lotion. "Yeah, he's gonna head back. Maybe a couple of days."

"How did he take it?" Tara asked.

"Um, I'm not sure. Lots of 'dear Lords'." Willow said. "He wasn't happy that we lost Dawn."

"I can understand that." Tara said. "Dawn is a huge part of this family. It makes sense that he would be upset."

"Yeah, I understand. We shouldn't have lost Dawn, but he's gonna come back and we'll fix everything." Willow said.

"Are you worried?" Tara asked.

"Worried? Tara, it worked fine. It's all good." Willow said.

"Hey Will, this is me." Tara said. "It doesn't all have to be good and fine. This is the room where you don't have to be brave and I still love you. If you're worried you can be worried."

"Well, I'm not unworried." Willow said. "What happened was intense. It can change you." She shut the door and turned off the light. She crawled under the covers. "But it didn't work. And I think that's what upsets me the most."

"I'm sorry honey." Tara said. "We will figure this out."

"It's just kind of noisy up here tonight." Willow said.

Tara snuggled up to her. "Better?" She asked.

"Yeah, it makes things kind of quieter in here." Willow said.

"When Giles comes back, we will figure everything out." Tara said. "We will get Dawn and we will figure out if this Buffy imposter is the real deal or not. Okay?"

"Yeah." Willow said, disappointed.

"Don't worry." Tara whispered.

The two girls closed their eyes and went to sleep. After a few moments of sleep, glass had been thrown at the wall above the bed and it shattered. It startled Willow and Tara and they both woke up. There was a figure in front of their bed. It appeared to be female. It looked like the young woman who had told them it was Buffy.

"What did you do?" The girl asked. "Do you know what you did? You're like children. Your hands smell of death. Bitches! Filthy little bitches rattling the bones. Did you cut the throat? Did you pat its head?"

The young woman grabbed an item of glass off the nightstand and threw it at the girls. The girls shrieked in fear. "The blood dried on your hands, didn't it?! You were stained! You still are! I know what you did!"

Willow jumped up and turned on the light. When she did, the young woman disappeared. Tara looked at the bed and said, "The glass. There's no glass."

Tara immediately got up and walked over to Willow. She held her close. Willow and Tara walked out of their room and checked the house, turning on lights as they went through each room. There was no one there. It was just them.

"Okay, what in the frilly heck is going on?" Willow asked.

"Maybe we dreamed it." Tara said.

"Right, right." Willow said. "Wait, wrong. Different brains."

"Oh yeah." Tara said. "What is it talking about? Did you understand it?"

"I understood the words, but no." Willow said.

Tara heard a noise and then looked at the wall above the bed. It looked like something was underneath the wallpaper and it moved quickly.

"There's something in the house." Tara said.

"We should call Xander." Willow said.

Willow walked over to the bed and grabbed the phone off the nightstand. She rang Xander's house. Meanwhile, Anya was awake and having a hard time falling asleep. She tried to get Xander's attention, but he was knocked out. Then the phone rang and it made them both jump. Xander grabbed the phone and said,

"Hello?"

"Xander, it's me Willow. We were just attacked." Willow said.

"Attacked? A vampire?" Xander asked.

"No, we think it was that woman from earlier that claimed to be Buffy." Willow said. "Then she just disappeared, but we saw something in the house. We checked the house and we're the only ones here."

"In the house?" Xander asked. "Alright, Willow, just get out of there. Come over here and we'll figure this out."

Anya had walked to the kitchen but when she came back, she was laughing with a knife. Her eyes were stone cold blue and she used the knife to cut up her face. Xander was still speaking to Willow, but when Anya came in he jumped and grabbed the knife out of her hand.

"Xander?" Willow asked over the phone.

Xander picked up the phone. "Come over here! Something just happened to Anya."

"Right." Willow said and hung up the phone.

Tara looked at her and asked, "What's wrong?"

"Xander and Anya were just attacked as well." Willow said. "We're going over there. Now."

Meanwhile, the sun came up and Buffy sighed heavily. She didn't sleep a wink. She was too energized. Buffy moved carefully out of the bed so she wouldn't disturb Dawn. Buffy walked out of the room and closed the door behind her. She walked downstairs and saw that Spike was still awake. Spike looked at Buffy and said,

"Good morning." He yawned.

"Good morning." Buffy said. "And good night. Go get some rest."

Spike nodded and stood up. He walked upstairs quietly and chose the room that wasn't taken. The baby woke up, screaming. Wesley tried to comfort Connor. He took Connor downstairs and calmed him down. Buffy looked at Wesley and said,

"We need to get him some food."

"I know." Wesley said. "I was thinking about going today."

"He's not the only one that needs something." Buffy said and walked over to the cabinets. She found some scratch paper and a pen. "I have a list for you."

"For me?" Wesley asked. "Shouldn't Jack and Laura go?"

"Jack and Laura can help me watch the baby. He needs protection. Wesley and Spike will be here too." Buffy said. "I'm sorry but I think you're the best man for these tasks right now. You can protect yourself. I don't have to worry too much if you get attacked."

"I understand." Wesley said. "What do we need?"

Buffy wrote down a list of items and handed it to Wesley. Jack and Laura walked downstairs. Wesley looked at them and said, "Good morning."

"Morning." Buffy said.

"Good morning." Jack said. "I'm guessing the little one is hungry?"

"Yes." Buffy said. "I need to keep an eye on the perimeter here. It's Wesley's job to go get supplies today. Do you think you could help me watch over the baby?"

Jack nodded. "Of course."

Wesley handed the baby to Laura. Laura smiled a little and swayed him in her arms. Wesley smiled at the scene. Laura was okay, he thought. Buffy smiled too. Wesley folded the piece of paper and put it in his back pocket. "I'll go get the supplies now while there's daylight." He said.

"Sounds good, thank you Wes." Buffy said. "I'm going to go check outside and find the weak spots."

"We got the baby." Jack said. "It's not our first rodeo."

Buffy smiled and said, "Thank you."

Wesley and Buffy walked out of the house. Buffy walked around the house, familiarizing herself with the area. The house seemed to be tight and secure, which gave her comfort. Wesley walked to the store that was around the corner. He remembered Sunnydale well. He got some formula and some groceries. Since his hands were full, he walked back to the house. Connor came first then the rest. Wesley filled the fridge with food. Jack made some baby formula for Connor. Dawn walked downstairs and Buffy smiled.

"Good morning sleepy head."

"Good morning." Dawn said. "We got breakfast?"

"Yes," Wesley said. "You guys go ahead. There's still a few things I need to get."

Buffy nodded and Wesley left the house again. They were going to need a vehicle, he thought. He would deal with that issue later. He walked to the butcher shop and got some pig's blood for Spike. It was the best they could do. He was not going to steal from the hospital. Spike would have to learn to survive off of pig's blood for now. It was mid-afternoon now and Wesley walked back to the house. When he got there almost everyone was awake. The only one that was asleep was Spike. Buffy was standing by the front door, like a guard.

"Welcome back." Buffy said.

"Thanks." Wesley said and walked to the kitchen.

He opened the fridge and placed the pig's blood inside. He closed the door. They were going to have to get a second fridge for Spike. That shouldn't be too hard, Wesley thought. They were all gathered in the living room. Laura and Jack were on the couch, attending to baby Connor. Connor was calm and appeared to be happy. Dawn was in a separate chair and in control of the TV remote. She flipped through the channels. Wesley walked back to the living room and sat in another chair. Dawn turned off the TV and turned to Wes.

"Are we all set?" She asked.

"Yes," Wesley said. "That supplies should last us for a good while."

"I'm going to do another perimeter check." Buffy said. "Wes, would you join me?"

Wesley stood up and nodded. He walked with Buffy out the front door. They both checked around the house for any specific weak spots. Buffy showed him what she had found and it all seemed to be pretty simple. It was a two story house with a fence. The backyard was secure. There was a small shed that they could use to store weapons. Wesley and Buffy walked back to the house.

In the meantime, at Xander's apartment, everyone had gathered. They were all talking about the traditional types of hauntings. They were in deep research mode. Willow and Tara had gotten some books from the magic shop and they shared them with Xander and Anya.

"I think that we aren't being haunted by something traditional." Tara said. "I think that the spell is connected with Buffy."

"You mean to say that the spell worked?" Willow asked. "That's impossible. The spell either worked or it failed. There's no way that the young woman we saw is Buffy."

"Well, maybe it is." Tara said. "Think about it. Maybe because the spell was interrupted, it placed her soul somewhere else."

Willow sat back in her chair and shook her head. "No, no, I don't think so." She disagreed. "According to the spell, it couldn't have worked like that."

"This is magic right?" Anya asked. "Anything can happen with magic."

"I agree with Anya." Tara said. "We need to start looking at that possibility."

"No, end of discussion." Willow said.

"Excuse me?" Tara asked. "I think it's a good idea and I don't see any other ideas."

Willow sighed heavily. "We need to start looking at other hauntings." She grabbed a couple of books and started to research from there.

Tara was furious. She thought that Willow had acted completely rude. She got up and walked to the door. Willow looked at her and asked, "Where are you going?"

"To the Magic Shop. I'm going to figure out if the spell really worked or not." Tara explained. "You can stay here."

"Here, take my key." Anya said and handed it to Tara.

Tara took the key. "Thanks." She said and walked out the door.

She was extremely upset with Willow for what she did back there. Willow completely shut her down. Things were changing in Willow. She wasn't acting like herself. Tara missed the old days where they shared everything. Now it felt like things were falling apart. Once Tara got to the Magic Shop, she unlocked it, and walked inside. She locked the door behind her. She was going to do a locator spell and didn't want anyone to walk inside. Tara grabbed some candles and lit them. She cleared off the table and put a map on it.

She had a feeling that the spell worked, just not in the way that everyone had hoped. The entity had appeared as that girl that they saw before. Tara sat down and closed her eyes. There was a white light that lit up on the map and it wasn't too far from here. Tara found the address and wrote it down. She blew out the candles and put away the map. Then she walked back to the door of the Magic Shop, unlocked it, and walked out. Tara locked the door once more and headed to Buffy. She was going to find out whether the spell worked or not.

I guess I have to just do it on my own, Tara thought.

It didn't take her long to walk to the house. Once she got there, she stopped, and looked at it. It was cute. A little two story house with a white picket fence. The yard seemed kind of huge in the back. The front was small though. Tara took a deep breath. She walked down the pathway and rang the doorbell.

Buffy heard the door and looked at Wesley. "I wonder who that could be."

She walked to the front door and looked through the peephole. It was Tara. Buffy's eyes widened. She wondered what this could mean! Had the others believed that she was back? Buffy's thoughts rushed through her mind. She wrapped her hand around the doorknob and opened the door.

"Tara?" She asked.

Tara smiled. "Are you really Buffy Summers?" She asked. "Or is this some kind of trick?"

Buffy shook her head. "No Tara, it's really me." She said, "I promise."

"Oh my God," Tara said and stepped forward. "I can't believe the spell worked!" She wrapped her arms around Buffy and hugged her.

Buffy smiled and hugged Tara back. "It's really me Tara." She paused. "How'd you find me?"

Tara let go. "Locator spell and another story. It's complicated. Can I come in?"

"Of course." Buffy said and opened the door for Tara.

Tara walked inside the house and found the others. There were three people that she didn't know plus the baby, but she saw Dawn. Dawn smiled and immediately jumped off the chair. She ran to Tara and hugged her. Tara hugged her back.

"Hi!" Dawn said excitedly. "Welcome."

"Thank you for having me." Tara said.

"Tara, this is Jack and Laura. They are kind of my adoptive parents." Buffy introduced them. "That's baby Connor and he's going to be even more complicated to explain, but we can talk about that later." She paused and turned to Wesley. "This is Wesley Wyndam-Pryce, my new Watcher."

"It's nice to meet you." Wesley shook her hand.

"Tara." She said and shook his hand back. "So this is the crew?"

"And there's Spike, but he's upstairs sleeping." Buffy said.

"Oh," Tara said and paused. "Can we go somewhere private? I feel like we have a lot to talk about."

"Yeah, we can go out back." Buffy said. "Wes, please watch everyone."

Wesley nodded and the girls walked to the back. They sat down in outside chairs and sat across from each other. Buffy looked at Tara and said, "This is going to be a long day."

"Oh yeah." Tara said.