By PassionFish
A/N – Thanks to Marsters’ Girl for
beta-ing this fiction!
The gang watched, mouths a gasp, as one pair of Buffy
and Spike flew, naked, out of the crypt and the other pair fly up to meet
them. The four bodies met in the
middle, their entities merging as they let out unholy screams of pain.
They fell to the ground, moments later, encased in
the clothes that the human Spike and Buffy had been wearing.
Willow and Tara clambered unsteadily to their feet,
and Xander moved to help them up.
Giles and Angel rushed forward to where Buffy and
Spike still lay unconscious. The rest
of the LA gang stood in the background - feeling redundant.
Buffy moaned as she woke up, staring down at the
Vampire whom she found herself on top of.
With a groan, Spike awoke, staring up at the blond beauty above him.
"Hi."
She muttered, blushing lightly.
"Hey." He croaked, his voice hoarse from
earlier activity.
"Buffy, is that you?" Giles asked, offering her a hand up.
"Of course its - Angel? What are you doing here?" Buffy frowned as she stood up off Spike.
"We had a bit of a problem, Buff." Xander answered instead, glaring at Spike,
who shook his head in confusion; still kinda out of it.
"Oh."
She rose slowly to her feet, staring at the known and unknown faces that
surrounded her.
"Lets get you home and I'll explain
everything." Giles led a confused
Buffy away.
"'Kay...” She murmured in a very child-like
manner.
"What about me?" Spike asked, as he slowly sat up, rubbing his head.
Willow smiled at Spike a bit, "Maybe you should
get some blood or rest or something - come by the shop later?" Willow tried to make him feel better, but
the group was already following Buffy - leaving him all alone.
Angel snarled angrily at his childe, before
following the gang out of the cemetery.
A still disorientated Spike stood as well. His Vampire hearing caught Buffy's muttered
words:
"Ugh, my back is killing me. Feels like someone’s been slamming me into a
brick wall all day."
"Ewww, Buff.
You're not far wrong." Xander replied, pulling a face. In the background, Angel's angry growl could
be heard, though he said nothing.
With a frown, Spike stumbled into his crypt and
collapsed exhausted on his bed and slept.
---
"Thanks for all your help." Giles addressed the LA group. Buffy had gone straight to bed. She'd been barely conscious as she dragged
herself up the stairs needing all Willow and Tara's help.
"Sorry we couldn't do more." Gunn put in.
"Yeah, it felt like you had it covered...not
that we wouldn't have come...it was nice to meet you all." Fred started to ramble.
"No, thank-you." Giles reiterated.
"Your presence alone was much appreciated."
"What will you do with Spike?" Angel asked, his voice hard.
"I think that will be up to Buffy." Giles responded, his voice cooling as well.
"But-"
"No, Angel.
This is Buffy's life. I won't do
anything to hurt her more than she has already been hurt."
"And you think being with Spike won't hurt
her? He's a vicious Vampire; I know it
first hand...what he did to you was nothing to what he's done." Angel growled, advancing almost menacingly
at the watcher.
Giles stood his ground. "I've thanked you for your help. Don't make me take it back."
Angel blinked at the flash of Ripper in the younger
man's eyes but backed down.
"Sorry." He
muttered. "Cordy, Gunn, Fred. Get your stuff; we're leaving."
---
"It was so gross. We had to watch human-Spike fawn all over you here, then
Vampire-Spike with all the nakedness...” Xander continued to bitch well into
the third hour, much to everyone's boredom.
Buffy, however, wasn't even listening. Her mind was elsewhere, the same place it
had been all day and all night. Without
a word she rose and made her way to the training area in the back of the Magic
Shoppe.
A few moments later Giles entered to find Buffy
staring sightlessly out of the window.
With a silent sigh, he sat down next to her on a pile of training mats.
"How are you feeling?" He asked quietly.
After a minute of silence, Buffy began. "Okay, I guess. Just wondering why it all happened."
Giles took a deep breath, hoping to allay her
fears. "Well, from what Willow
uncovered the demon was attempting to restore the balance of good and evil to
this dimension. I believe he was hoping
that you would kill each other, not, uh...” He trailed off.
Buffy blushed violently, turning her head in
embarrassment. "Oh..."
"Is there something you wish to tell me,
Buffy?" Giles asked quietly, not a
hint of reproach in his eyes or his voice.
Buffy couldn't face him as she answered, her eyes
fixed on a single spot on the wall opposite.
"No..."
She whispered, and silence enveloped the sun filled room.