Please Don't Leave Me

Chapter Seven

Dawn opened the crypt door. She panicked as she saw Spike and Buffy both unconscious on the floor.

"Buffy! Spike!" She tried to wake them

Buffy stirred and opened her eyes.

"Buffy! Thank god! Are you okay?" asked Dawn

"Who are you?" asked Buffy

Spike began to stir

"Who is he?" asked Buffy

"You're joking right?" Dawn whimpered

Spike sat bolt right up "Where the bloody hell am I" he asked

"Don't look at me guy, I have no idea how I got here" said Buffy

Dawn groaned "No, no this cannot be happening… okay, Buffy you're my sister. My name is Dawn"

"Dawn?" Buffy frowned a little

"Yeah, and you… you're Spike. You're like my brother" said Dawn

"We're siblings?" Spike asked

"Not exactly, but you look out for me" said Dawn

"What is this place?" Asked Buffy

"No time to explain, I need to get you two to Giles… he'll know what to do" said Dawn "Come on follow me"

Buffy and Spike looked at each other skeptically.

"Are we really going to follow a teenager?" He asked

Buffy shrugged "She seems nice"

Spike nodded and followed the girls out of the crypt.

XXXXX

Dawn was trying to trigger Buffy and Spike's memories on the walk over to The Magic Box but she wasn't having much luck.

"So he's a vampire?" asked Buffy with a raised eyebrow

"Yeah" said Dawn

"I must be a noble vampire. A good guy. On a mission of redemption. I help the hopeless. I'm a vampire with a soul" said Spike

"A vampire with a soul? Oh my god, how lame is that?" Buffy asked

Dawn stifled a giggle "C'mon you guys, it's just a couple of minutes this way"

XXXXX

Giles paced the room and looked at his watch. He had called The Scoobies for a meeting over an hour ago and Buffy still hadn't shown up. He knew that she took the news badly but he didn't expect her not to show up when he announced his intention to leave Sunnydale.

Xander sighed loudly "Where's the Buffster? The meeting started over an hour ago"

"Maybe she ran into trouble?" Asked Tara

"Shall we start without her?" asked Anya

The gang looked to Giles for an answer, he sighed "Yes… I spoke with Buffy earlier today"

Just as he was about to tell them Dawn burst through the door with Buffy and Spike in tow.

"Guys help!" Said Dawn rushing toward them

"What's going on Dawn?" asked Tara

"It's Spike and Buffy… they don't remember who they are" Dawn explained

Buffy and Spike stood awkwardly looking around the store and the people in front of them.

Tara glanced over at Willow, who looked away sheepishly.

"How did this happen?" asked Giles

"I'm not sure, I went to Spike's crypt for some homework help and found them unconscious, when they woke up they didn't know who they were" said Dawn

"Clearly they're under some kind of spell" said Anya

"A spell?" Spike chuckled "Magic isn't real"

"Yeah, I mean it's all just hocus pocus right?" said Buffy

"Said the Slayer and the vampire" Anya smirked

Tara took Willow to the side and whispered to her "Did you do this?"

"What? No…" Willow answered immediately

"I'll do a quick spell check spell" Tara announced to the group

The gang chatted about ingredients that Tara would need and began preparing.

Spike looked over at Buffy who scanned the people in the room "Do you recognise any of them luv?" He asked

"Nope… Dawn seems sweet though" said Buffy

"Yeah she's a cutie" he smiled "I feel… I dunno protective over her for some reason"

"Yeah me too" said Buffy "Maybe she right, we're some kind of weird family"

"She said that we help each other" said Spike

"You do feel oddly familiar" Buffy shrugged "She did make it seem like we were…"

"Romantically involved?" He finished

"A Slayer and a vampire in love" she giggled

"Sounds like something out of a bad romance novel doesn't it luv" he laughed

"Are you two okay?" Asked Dawn

"We're fine" said Buffy

"Tara is almost ready" said Dawn "Don't worry, she's a good witch"

"Today just gets weirder and weirder" Buffy sighed

XXXXX

Tara had just gotten done with her spell, it didn't work. Whatever spell was at work here, it seemed like it wasn't traceable. Tara was still suspicious that Willow was the one behind the spell.

The gang had decided to hit the books and try and find something to help the two blondes with their memories.

Buffy and Spike sat around, smiling awkwardly whenever one of the gang came near them.

"So what do you think our life is like?" asked Buffy

"I expect we're not you're traditional couple" he shrugged

"No kidding" Buffy laughed "I think we're private I mean these guys don't seem to like you very much… I think I keep you separated"

Spike nodded "I think we raise Dawn together, I'm probably good cop you're definitely bad cop" he smiled

"Great, so you get to be fun Dad and I'm just the nagging mother" said Buffy

Spike shrugged

Buffy frowned for a moment "Mom…"

Buffy went over to Dawn and sat beside her "Why am I raising you? What happened to mom and dad?"

Dawn looked at Buffy sadly "Mom… she died last year, it was a brain aneurysm… and Dad he's not around, not since their divorce years ago"

Buffy looked at her sadly "Oh… I mean I figured that was the case, we miss her though right?"

Dawn grabbed her sisters hand "More than anything, but we have gotten into our own routine together. You're doing a great job"

Buffy smiled gratefully

The girls moment was broken by the sound of Tara yelling. It was out of character for the blond witch to yell but she just couldn't help herself. She had searched in Willow's jacket pocket and found a crystal she was waiting for Willow to explain herself as she held it in front of her.

Willow didn't have any words, the guilt was written all over her face.

"What did Willow do?" asked Xander

"A forgetting spell, the one I told her not to use!" said Tara

Willow looked at the floor with tears in her eyes "I didn't mean to wipe her memory completely"

"Oh Willow" Dawn said softly

"How do we reverse it?" asked Anya

Tara dropped the crystal on the floor and stood on it, it flashed green before it smashed into pieces.

Buffy and Spike looked dazed as their memories came rushing back to them.

"Buffy? Spike? Are you okay?" asked Dawn

Buffy stood frowning for a moment before nodding "I'm okay"

"Right as rain Nibblet" Spike confirmed

Tara stared at Willow for a moment, before taking off out of the store.

"Tara" Willow said softly, following her girlfriend.