Buffy winced and picked herself up off the ground tentatively, every bone creaking and every muscle aching.

‘At least I survived’ she thought to herself, taking in her surroundings with bleary eyes. ‘Or have I?’ she wondered, taking in the scene in front of her.

Large mountains and trees were all she could see through the haze of night in the what she assumed was a forest. She could try to get her bearings in the morning; right now she needed a place to sleep.

She started to walk in the direction that always felt right – straight ahead – when she noticed something on the ground in front of her.

“What the hell?” she asked the darkness as she bent down and picked up a cowboy hat and that’s when she noticed her outfit.

Tight but comfortable faded blue jeans that were obviously well worn and a – dare she say it – plaid fitted shirt and riding boots.

“I must be dead” she concluded, knowing full well she would never, NEVER, don a cowgirl outfit.

And that’s when she heard it.

“Buffy? BUFFY?” bellowed an un-familiar masculine voice and the sound of hooves beating on the ground.

She contemplated hiding, learning early on that strange places and strange men who knew her name often led to the not-of-the-good but she had to be realistic; she didn’t know where she was, she was hurt, and she was hungry.

“Over here James” she cried out and stepped into a small clearing and paused: how the fuck did she know the strangers name?

She saw the horse before she saw the man, and while she didn’t know much about the animals she had to admit its black and white speckled body was adorable.
The real shock should have been falling in Sunnydale and landing God knows where, but that would mean her life was simple – and it wasn’t – the real shock came when the stranger whose name she somehow knew took off his hat and was Spike.

“Jesus Christ Buffy, how many times do I have to tell you not to wander off after dark?”

A strange feeling passed through her, as if she could remember the past arguments they had shared.

Clarity hit her like a ton of bricks: she wasn’t in Kansas anymore. Willow had told her about other dimensions, so had Giles, but she’d never really listened much. She had always assumed that should she end up in one she’d be a separate entity from the Buffy already there, but it would appear that her dimension self and the other dimension self became one instead of two. The one thing she did know about alternate realities or dimensions, was that you never fucked it up.

She took a deep inner breath and went with what felt right.

“How many times do I have to tell you you’re not my keeper?” she snapped back.

James sighed, his dirty blond hair slicked back with sweat, his blue eyes worried.

“You’re bleeding.”

“What?” she asked, startled she hadn’t noticed, but in her defense she didn’t have a mirror, it was dark, and she hurt everywhere - it’s not like she could pinpoint an area to pay attention to on her aching body.

“I’ll live.”

He shook his head and smiled, pulling her in for a hug. “I only get mad because I worry gorgeous; now let’s get you fixed up.”

He took a quick look around, “Looks like Mr. Gordo headed back to the ranch. You fall off him again?”

“Mr. Gordo?”

He looked at her quizzically and ran a finger over the cut on her forehead. “Your horse…I guess you bumped your head a little harder than I thought.”

He hopped onto his horse and held out a hand, pulling Buffy up easily and making a quick clicking noise before gently pressing his heels into the horse, and his chest into her back.

She couldn’t help but relax into the solid wall of muscle behind her, she had saved the world at least three times and never had a vacation – this seemed as good a time as any to declare a slayer time-off.

She must have fallen asleep for a few minutes because the next thing she knew she was being pulled off his horse and carried into a small ranch house. He sat her down on the porch swing while he ran inside to light some candles before coming back outside and cleaning the small cut on her forehead before bending down to pick her up again.

She giggled while he carried her up the stairs and he smiled down at her, “Learn a lesson today kitten?”

She nodded her head, “Yup, bump my head everyday and get treated like a princess.”

“Hey now, I treat you like a princess regardless of daily brain damage, you’re just spoiled.”

She laughed again and a brief shot of sadness welled up inside her, why didn’t she ever let herself relax around Spike? ‘Because in your dimension he tried to kill you and your friends, left you to die at the hands of Angel, and he’s a vampire’ her tired mind supplied, but still…he was changing, she couldn’t deny that, or the feelings she had begun to develop for him over the past few months.

James placed her softly onto a large bed and tossed her a nightgown. “I’ll be back up in a few minutes sweetheart, I’m just going to make sure Mr. Gordo came back and put him in the stables.”

Buffy gave a small smile, “Thanks”

As soon as he was gone she threw off her filthy clothes and pulled the form fitting black nightgown over her head. Wait a second? Coming back? She began to twist her hands and that’s when she noticed it, the small wedding band she wore.

“Oh shit oh shit oh shit oh shit.” she whispered to herself in the dark room as she began to pace.

‘Okay, we’re married…married people don’t have sex often right? I don’t have anything to worry about…but I have to do what Buffy 2 would or risk fucking up the world…fuck up the world or fuck Spike?’

That was the last thought she was able to have alone, and coherently, before James walked back into the room and peeled his top off, revealing a very lean but muscular and tanned – weird – chest.

Buffy felt herself getting hot. Okay, so she didn’t have a voice inside her head screaming at her that she didn’t belong here, so she knew that whoever she was sharing this dimension with wasn’t ‘home’ at the moment, but the memories were and Buffy could see with perfect clarity what that chest had inspired her to do so many times before.

“I was so worried Buffy, I don’t know what I’d do if I ever lost you.”

Buffy couldn’t help it, and felt herself moving towards him.

“I’m sorry baby, I don’t mean to worry you, but I like taking rides at night.”

He smiled and cupped her face, “Funny, so do I” he answered hoarsely and to Buffy’s complete surprise she initiated the first kiss. His lips were so soft but they were demanding every part of her body to respond to him, and it did.

Her arms wrapped around his neck and her body pressed into him. He pulled away with a small growl and walked her over to the bed, forcing her to sit on the edge while he kneeled between her legs.

“God Buffy, I’ll never get enough of you” he groaned out while he lifted the hem of her nightgown and began to press desperate kisses into her stomach while his hands grabbed hold of her breasts, kneading them gently.

“James please” she pleaded.

He looked up into her eyes, “What do you need baby?” he all but purred out

“You, just you” she whispered and his eyes seemed to almost shine at the words.

“Lie down” he ordered softly and she complied, pulling the nightgown over her head before getting settled into the pillows.

He stood by the bed, eyes never leaving hers while he rid himself of his pants and climbed above her, pressing his erection between her legs.

“I missed you last night” he whispered into her ear, leaning down to lick the column of her neck.

A small memory hit her, she’d been at her mother’s house last night – her mom was alive here…it made her happy.

“Did you think about me?” she asked seductively, raising her hips, giving him a small taste of the friction she knew he needed.

“Right until I fell asleep, and then I dreamed about you”

She opened her legs a little more and reached down to wrap her hand around him, pumping his erection lazily with a small smile on her face, loving the way his eyes closed in ecstasy.

“I bet you say that to all the women you marry” she teased lightheartedly.

His eyes opened at that and darkened, “Only you Buffy, it’s always been only you” he answered before he pushed himself into her, groaning at how wet she already was.

His hips thrust into her languidly, there was no need to rush right now, and she couldn’t help the throaty moan that escaped her.

Her hands found his ass and gripped it tightly, forcing him in as deep as she could, it felt so right no matter how wrong all of this really was.

His mouth found her neck again and bit down gently, and she couldn’t help but to arch into it, wondering briefly if this was how a bite from Spike would feel like.

It felt wrong and right at the same time, thinking about one person, or vampire, who was actually the same man she was having sex with right now but in a different dimension while at the same time knowing that while she was technically married to the man currently making love it wasn’t this version of she?…her?…not this Buffy who had taken the vows.

Still, if it meant not making the universe go all ka-boomy, then she’d bite the bullet, speaking of bullets…

“God you feel so good” she cried out when he twisted his hips upward, filling her completely.

The sound of her voice seemed to encourage him and he moved his lips from her neck to her breasts, his tongue circling one nipple before biting down gently and moving onto the next.

She ran her nails down his back and wrapped her legs around him, “Harder” she begged.

His thrusts seem to take on an almost frantic pace that left her clinging to him while she cried out and when he shifted his weight onto one arm so that he could sneak a hand in between them to rub against her clit while he pounded into her Buffy came undone. His name tore out of her mouth in a scream as she shook around him, inner muscles clenching his cock and demanding him to cum with her with a roar. He pumped into her lazily for a moments afterward, kissing her gently until the aftershocks of both their orgasms subsided.

Without letting her go he shifted them so that he was on his back with his arm around her and her head was on his chest, her hand resting over his heart.

“I love you Buffy.” he whispered, pulling her closer.
“I love you too James” she answered, without a second thought.

Buffy woke up and snuggled into the body next to her, her whole body singing.



“Last night was incredible” she murmured, her eyes still closed.



“Glad you thought so too” the voice belonging to the body she was snuggled against answered, and her eyes popped open. Whoever had just answered wasn’t James. This voice didn’t belong to the sexy as hell cowboy from just hours earlier.



‘Don’t panic Buffy’ she told herself, ‘stranger things have happened…less slutty certainly, but definitely stranger’



She closed her eyes and tried to relax, hoping to let some memories flood her.



“Don’t I always Cole?”



“You better” he answered with a smile in his voice.



She tried to place the accent she was hearing, or could a drawl be considered an accent? She decided he…they, were southern.



She found her body getting out of bed against her minds demands, “I better leave before someone realizes I’m here.”



He sighed and held her tighter, “Why won’t you just run away with me Buffy?”



And then she looked at him, Spike again – but again not Spike at the same time.



Cole’s hair was a deep black – and currently in unruly spikes from having been asleep, and thoroughly fucked the night before she guessed with a small feminine smile.



“They would find you Cole” she murmured, running a hand down his cheek and cupping it, “they would find you and make you leave, and I’d be left with nothing. I’m too selfish to risk that.”



Buffy saw flashes of this world’s ‘her’, she was a maid (Buffy cringed inwardly – she hated cleaning) and Cole, well Cole was the Lord of the Manor’s son.



“You’re not selfish, just stupid” he said with a twinkle in his eye, contradicting the harshness of the statement.



“Will I see you tonight?” he asked, letting her go to retrieve her clothes from the chair next to the bed.



“Every night, until you wish to no longer see me.”



He stood up and smiled at her, but it was filled with pain, “If we do not run away forever is not an option.”



Buffy nodded her head, could feel the sting of tears behind her eyes.



“I know.”



“I can’t keep avoiding my father on the topic of marriage Buffy, its set, father will never let me out of it. The only hope we have is to leave this place and its archaic rules.”



She could hear the pleading in his voice, knew how badly he wanted her to give in but she couldn’t. If anyone ever found them he and his family would be ruined. Of course a dalliance here and there with a servant was to be expected, a growing man had needs, but he was an adult now, and his one and only ‘dalliance’ had turned into a full fledged love affair. She was beneath him.



She almost burst into tears at the thought of feeling that way about herself and bit her lip to hold her tears back…she had called Spike that, threw shredded money on him like he was a whore…



‘Who am I?’ she screamed silently inside her head.



“I know” she whispered.



“Don’t make me have to live without you” he whispered softly, coming up behind her to help her button her pain, gray dress.



“I don’t deserve you.” she answered, believing every word, this feeling was so alien.



“Because of what you are?” he asked, his voice laced with anger.



She felt herself nodding in agreement.



“You’re a fool. What does your role in the world have anything to do with love? Love knows no bounds Buffy, and what you are means nothing to me, who you are is who I’ve fallen in love with.”



“I have to get to work Cole; can we finish this discussion later?”



She saw the sigh he refused to release, “Certainly Elizabeth”



Buffy winced, he only used her real name in front of others; she would have to soothe him later if she could.







***

The day seemed to go by quickly, the tedious chores of dusting, washing dishes, and hand scrubbing laundry (thank God her body came with the memories of how to do that because she had trouble switching her washing machine from hot water to cold), before she knew it a Willow doppelganger approached her and she had to fight the instinct to hug her.



“Elizabeth, it’s time to start serving dinner.” she said with a shy smile and Buffy nodded, following her to the kitchen where she and Willow, and three other woman she knew she knew but didn’t know, grabbed the trays.



She didn’t even bother to look down at what they were serving; this would be her first time seeing Cole since his bitter dismissal of her this morning.



And when the double doors opened wide, showing the dining room and the people in it, she almost dropped her tray.



‘Druscilla’ her mind hissed at her, but the fading rays of the day’s sun that filled the living room testified that in this dimension at least, she was human.



She lowered her eyes and began setting the plates on the table, her body going through the motions her mind didn’t know flawlessly.



It was then that his father’s voice boomed out – she recognized the voice as belonging to Giles but couldn’t even muster an inner laugh at the irony - raising his glass in a toast, “To Cole and Druscilla and their upcoming wedding.”



She wouldn’t look at him, couldn’t even if she wanted to her body told her, it wasn’t her place.



Instead she finished the task with the other servants and left the room as quietly as possible, feeling his eyes on her for just a moment. He couldn’t look either, even if he wanted to.



She helped the other women finish the dishes; the ones from dinner would be washed later in the evening by those working the later shift in the Manor.



Once she was done she found herself going to the stables where she was pleasantly surprised to see Xander.



“Beautiful night isn’t it Elizabeth?”



She nodded in agreement through her tears.



“Elizabeth? What’s the matter?”



“Nothing, really I’m fine.”



“So this has nothing to do with Master Cole’s new fiancée?”



Buffy looked at him, how much did he know?



“I can assure you it does not” she replied after a moment but he smiled sadly, seeing right through her charade.



“It would never have worked Elizabeth, he’s from another world entirely, and it’s one you don’t belong to. You belong with someone like you, not like him”



Buffy flinched at the familiar but altered speech, was Xander the same in every dimension?



“I know” she heard herself saying but without any feeling.



“Maybe you should go down to the pond and relax, I know how much you love it there.”



She nodded and smiled, “I’ll see you tomorrow Alexander” she answered and pressed a small platonic kiss into his cheek.



“Sure you will” he answered, and for a moment she was sure she saw something in his eyes that told her this Buffy would not in fact see him again.



It was starting to get dark but Buffy knew the way to her spot without fail, and it was no wonder she loved it here.



The small pond was in the middle of a clearing and offered a clear, crisp view of the stars above. The sounds of chirping crickets and the occasional frog made her smile slightly.



She didn’t know how much time she had spent there, but knew it had been at the very least two hours when she heard the footsteps approaching.



Without looking up to see who had come behind her she spoke.



“I suppose I should offer you congratulations.”



“It is what most people would do, but we’re not most people are we Buffy?”



She shook her head ‘no’ and he sat down beside her, his hand absentmindedly going to her now freed hair and running his fingers through it.



The kiss came slowly and arrived gently and Buffy found herself fighting back tears. This overwhelming heartbreak had thankfully not been present in the Buffy 2 of the more Western dimension, she didn’t know how much more of this she could handle.

He pulled back and looked her in the eyes and for a moment she wondered if his eyes had stolen some of the shine from the stars they we’re sparkling so brightly.



And then she understood, he was fighting not to cry and her own eyes spilled over.



“Please don’t cry Buffy, I don’t know if my heart could take it right now” he pleaded.



“Why should you concern matters of the heart with me, in a few months time you’ll have signed it over to another” she sniffled and she saw the first tear slide down his cheek.



“Your tongue can hurt me so much more than your hands Elizabeth, even more than I care to let you know.”



He stood up as if to leave and she leapt to her feet, there was no way in hell she was going to let this Buffy lose this man.



“Cole, please, I’m sorry…”



He sighed and looked down at her with both love and firmness. “We can’t see each other anymore Buffy, I am a lot of things, but I am not an adulterer.”



Buffy had three seconds, three seconds to keep him from leaving; she could see it in his eyes.



“Don’t marry her!” she blurted out, her own tears falling quite freely now.



He stayed quiet and waited for her to say the words he’d wanted to hear for the last two years, “I’ll go with you. We’ll run away, we’ll be together.”



The sob that tore from him when he fell to his knees and wrapped his arms around her waist, pressing his face into the rough fabric of her dress, tore through her and she knelt down so that she could see him.



“You’re beautiful” she whispered, wiping away his tears.



“I’m yours” he answered and kissed her desperately, never wanting to let go. “I love you”



“I love you” she answered, closing her eyes and letting the kiss take her away.

Chapter 3


Buffy barely had time to register the kiss was over and to open her eyes before she realized she was spinning around a dance floor in a flashy knee-length and backless red dress.

‘Don’t freak out don’t freak out…I CAN’T TANGO HOW THE FUCK AM I DOING THIS???...ok, that was freaking out, don’t freak out Buffy…”

Thankfully the song ended and applause filled the club – it was a club Buffy realized, at least clubs she could do – while her dance partner led her off the floor.

She only let herself look at him when they were seated and the next couple had begun to dance in the competition.

Okay, so she was a dancer here, it made sense, sort of. She loved dancing, she loved dressing up and she absolutely fucking loved the way spinning in his arms made her feel alive and heated.

He looked fucking fantastic. A loose white top tucked into black dress pants, that’s all it took and she swooned.

Of course he looked like Spike again but this version was just a little more…suave. His head was shaved, leaving only a little hair that was dusty brown to be seen, she found herself surprised by how much it suited him but had to admit, she had grown accustomed to the bleached platinum locks.

“You were bloody incredible sweetling” he purred at her and she shivered, his voice held no accent or drawl this time she noticed but still, his voice sent shivers down her spine.

“Not so bad yourself Mike.”, the name sounded foreign and didn’t suit him at all, but then she supposed had she always been in this dimension the name would sound normal.

He smiled and took her hand, “You know we’re going to win right?” he asked, pride shining in his eyes.

She glanced at the dance floor and laughed at the couple trying to pull off the robot and looked back at him, “Oh yeah.”

“You know what I love most about us?”

“Do tell” she teased.

“We were made to dance together”

She smiled, a not so distant memory flicking through her mind,
‘All we’ve ever done is dance’
‘Is that what this is to you?’

“I agree.” she found herself saying.

She took her time eying him as he walked to the bar to get them some drinks, the man oozed sex appeal and she couldn’t help but look forward to what the night promised.

When he came back he leaned in and pressed a soft kiss to her lips which she reciprocated without hesitation, the ease in which she was becoming accustomed to being with all the Spike’s shocking her – but not deterring.

“You coming back to my place tonight?” he asked, taking his seat again.

“Mmmm, I have to be up pretty early but I may be able to…fit you in.”

Her eyes widened, ok, so this Buffy was a sex kitten, she would somehow find a way to deal with that she thought with a wicked grin lighting her face.

“You sure? It won’t be too tight a fit…your schedule, I mean?”

Ok, so this Spike was a sex kitten – puppy? – too, wait, wasn’t he always.

She raised the girly drink he placed in front of her in a faux cheers, “It always is with you.”


***

She was riding him for all she was worth, the trophy sitting somewhere in the hall, placed down hastily so they could make it to the living room – upstairs was way too far away.

His head was leaning against the back of the couch, his eyes closed while his hands played with her breasts mercilessly and her toned legs straddled him.

When she clenched her inner muscles a groan tore from his lips and his eyes opened again.

“Fuck Buffy” he managed to moan out before her lips smashed against his, swallowing the moans coming from his mouth.

She was on fire; every part of her he touched sprang to life, leaving invisible singe marks on her skin.

The feel of him filling her as she rode him alone was orgasmic, her body taking all she could of him, demanding nothing less. She felt as though she was falling, and her legs around him were the only things in the world keeping her grounded.

His fingers dug into the flesh of her back, leaving a delicious trail of pleasure-pain until they found purchase on her ass and he broke the kiss to take an aching breast into his mouth.

Her head lolled back in ecstasy, his name tearing itself from her lips.

“Please…”

He knew what she was asking for, always did her body told her, and one hand released her ass to rub lazy but pressured circles on her clit.

She was so close, so fucking close she could die.

“Cum for me baby” he rasped out when he released one breast to bite down gently on the next.

“Oh fuck…oh fuck” she moaned out, her lust addled brain not being to come up with anything more substantial to say.

She was like an animal, her body in total control of her actions as she increased her pace, slamming herself down onto his cock over and over again until she couldn’t breathe properly and she felt him cum, his dick pulsing into her relentlessly.

She heard him moan out her name, felt both their bodies go lax with release, but for the life of her she couldn’t move.

After a few moments his hands came up to her neck and began to massage the stiffening muscles there.

“Good” was all she could manage to voice while smiling into the crook of his neck, his chuckle sending goose bumps down her back.

“Did I break you?” he joked.

She lifted her head and smiled at him, “Only in a very good way.”

He leaned forward and gave her a small kiss before pulling back and looking into her eyes.

“Take tomorrow off work?”

She nodded, mumbling out a soft “Okay” and leaning back into the crook of his shoulder, sighing happily, letting the soothing patterns his hands were drawing on her back push her to the brink of sleep.

“Buffy?” she heard him whisper.
“Hmmm?”
“I love you.”
“I love you too” she answered; sleep closing her eyes and leading her to dreams.

Buffy stifled a scream when she realized she wasn’t on the couch with Mike anymore, or in a nice comfy bed like she wanted to be. Oh no, Buffy just happened to be on a motorcycle careening through traffic like a wild woman. She took one deep breath and let her Slayer survival instincts come to the forefront – this side of her was much less panicky and a lot more ‘growly’.

The blood pumped through Buffy’s veins as if it were lava, she was burning up inside. She had to get to him before they did, there was no question they would kill him.

She had met the rough looking kid – and she wouldn’t lie to herself, he was a kid at only 18 years old – eight and a half months ago when she was given the task of infiltrating the notorious drug pushing biker gang called the ‘Bloods’.

Buffy was 27 years old but passed easily for 23 giving her that young looking edge that had guaranteed the FBI her successful entry.

Buffy bit her lip and twisted her head to take a three second look into the tinted window of a car she was passing. She couldn’t see her face but at least she still had a well toned and slim body that she had to admit looked pretty amazing in the red leather pants and jacket she was wearing – obviously meant to protect against a fall and entice. She tried not to be vain, she really did, but knowing that she was 7 years older in this dimension and a cradle robber left her seeking whatever form of security she could.

She let her own mind take a step back and let Buffy 2 drive the bike while more and more memories assailed her.

Getting into the Bloods had been easy with the FBI forging false documentation for her. His name was Catch here and she smiled at the irony of such a good looking man being called that. She realized she didn’t know his real name, but then he only knew her as Anne.

She had met him 3 weeks into her assignment and it had been lust at first sight. He was sick though, worn out from years of drug abuse and violence. The first night they’d been left alone she had taken him back to her small apartment in the East side and he’d spent the night throwing up heavily.

She had called up Ben – the man in charge of the drug ring – and quickly gotten into a heated argument with him, explaining that if Catch was going to be a part of her team along with a man named Lindsay and a woman named Eve then he had to get clean. There was no way they could move anything across the border – any border – with a guy whose looks screamed ‘junkie’, she needed anonymity in her group look wise, and Catch didn’t cut it. They had a job to do in 6 months time that would require clear minds and healthy bodies.

Ben had uttered six words before hanging up the phone, ‘Get him clean, do it right’.

And she had. It had taken nearly two weeks straight to get him to the point where he could eat or drink anything without heaving for hours into the toilet but he got there. His skin, still pale, had taken on a less pallid tone and his mischievous blue eyes seemed to take on a sparkle she hadn’t known existed. It had been difficult to keep in touch with her superior, Lorne, but she’d managed to whenever she left to pick up groceries for her and the ‘Kid, as she’d taken to calling him in her thoughts.

She was sleeping on the cot, the keys to the locks she’d put on the doors to make sure he couldn’t leave deep in her pocket, when she was shaken gently awake.

“Anne, wake up, I made supper” Catch whispered.

She had cracked open an eye and murmured something incoherent and he had laughed at her, it was the first time she’d heard the sound and it pulled at something deep inside, something she’d been trained to ignore in the line of duty – her heart.

She followed him to the small kitchen two-seater table groggily, eyes snapping wide open when she saw the delicious meal he had prepared. Steak and green and yellows string beans covered with a rich looking pepper and mushroom gravy, some French bread cut into small slices on a plate and a pitcher on water with some lemon and lime wedges floating in it.

“This looks incredible Catch; I didn’t know you could cook.”

“I haven’t in years” he admitted and pulled out her chair from her before taking his seat on the other side. “But then I think there’s a lot you don’t know about me.”

“So tell me” she said lightly while taking her first bite and moaning in delight and the delicious melee of taste her mouth was assaulted with. He smiled proudly and dug into his own plate.

“I haven’t been clean in three years” he blurted out, “and I haven’t cooked since my mom died.”

“I’m sorry for your loss” she said sincerely and he gave her a rueful smile.

“At least she didn’t have to see me like this.”

Buffy nodded, her own mother had passed away years ago too, and well she had never gone down a drug riddled path she knew her mother wouldn’t want to see her dangerous lifestyle.

“I don’t know Catch; you’re looking good, healthy even. I think most mothers would be proud that you cleaned yourself up.”

“But I didn’t have a choice, did I? You did this for me, and I wish you knew how much it means.”

She smiled, “That’s what friends are for Catch.”

“Is that what we are, friends?”

“If we’re not, then that’s where I’d like us to get.”

“I don’t generally make friends with agents” came the soft response, and her fork clattered to the floor, the sound a million times louder to her ears than it was in reality.

He’d said it so conversationally that she didn’t know what was coming next, perhaps he would ask her to pass the bread.

“I’m not going to hurt you Anne.”

Still, no words came from her mouth, her mind a flurry of scenarios. If he attacked her, she’d have to protect herself – would probably have to take him out. If he got away and told someone she’d have to go into hiding and the take-down of the drug cartel would never happen. She didn’t have a phone in her apartment and she’d thrown his away to keep him from trying to get someone to get him out of the apartment while he’d detoxified, and her own cell was always password protected so he hadn’t been able to use it. In the very least, she knew for the moment he was the only one who knew.

“Anne?”

She snapped herself back to reality, “I don’t know what you’re talking about Catch.”

He shook his head and sighed, “No one gets into the middle of a drug cartel and decides to start cleaning up its members; no one has such perfectly bad records unless they’re trying to prove something, and no one, and I really mean no one in this kind of, industry for lack of a better word, texts in Latin.”

“How did you hack my phone?” She was shaking now, her world falling down around her while he called her out.

“It wasn’t hard, it took me a few tries before I got it, but come on Anne, ‘promqueen’? Anyone could have figured it out.” He noticed she was about to bolt, “I’m not going to hurt you, and I never made a call.”

“And I should believe you why?”

“Because 15 men haven’t broken down your door and ripped you the fuck apart.”

She nodded, “Okay then, why?”
“Because for the first time in three years, someone cared. I don’t hurt people who’ve put themselves on the line with Ben to help me.”

He took another bite of his steak; hers long forgotten until he looked her in the eyes, “Eat.”. And she did.

When both their plates were empty she stood up on shaking legs, and brought their dishes to the sink. She didn’t feel safe here anymore, but she couldn’t risk leaving him alone. For the first time in years she felt out of control.

She stiffened but didn’t scream when two strong young hands grabbed the sides of her face from behind and whirled her around.

Her heart sped up and she prepared her body for a fight.

His blue eyes bore into hers, “I’m not going to hurt you” he whispered gruffly before his lips smashed down against hers.

The fight never came.

Catch’s mind was a whirl of activity, memories long repressed coming to the surface, as if they needed to be remembered one last time before he bit the bullet – literally, he realized.

What had started out as the need for a surrogate family had quickly become much more than that. His friends had tried; they really had, to keep him off the hard shit. That wasn’t they were about. They looked out for each other, they stood together united in face of the stereotypes and judgment, the only real crime any of them were guilty of was loving the wind in their hair as they out-raced their demons.

But Catch had made the wrong decision, traveled down the wrong path and now it was catching up with him. He should have listened when they told him that Ben and his ‘friends’ were bad news, should have listened when Clem begged him not to get into the shit the Bloods were known to get their hands into. But he hadn’t, and now here he was, tied to a fucking chair and still not regretting a moment of it, not in his heart.

All the wrong decisions he had made had led him to the most right thing in his now-bleak world: Anne.


***
Buffy stopped the bike a few streets away from her destination, not wanting the loud sound to tip anyone off about her arrival. Intel had informed her that there was only three people holding him, but three very dangerous, very pissed off people. Eve, Lindsay, and Ben.

She ran up to Lorne and Giles (Lorne’s second in command) who, along with a squad of people she didn’t know and didn’t care to at the moment – now was not the time to socialize – were currently kneeling under the windows of the warehouse Catch was in.

“What’s the plan?” she asked in a frantic whisper.

“We’re going to wait for Angel to get here so he can try to negotiate the hostage out.”

Buffy saw red. “Angel? You’re fucking joking right? That guy couldn’t talk a seventeen year old naïve, idealistic virgin into his bed.”

Lorne shook his head at her, “I can feel how angry you are Summers but that’s the way it’s got to be. Orders came from higher up the chain of command.”

“I don’t think so” she hissed and stood up in front of the large uncovered window, pulling the trigger. The sound of shattering glass and a man screaming sent them all into action.

Giles kicked in the door and they were in, fuck compromise, they’d taken her boyfriend and she didn’t give a flying fuck about protocol.

She could see Catch in the corner, eyes wide but unable to speak because of the tape around his mouth. What was he trying to tell her?

She heard the click of a gun sound behind her, oh…she turned her eyes to him, trying to convey her goodbyes.

He was thrashing around in the chair like a madman.

The words she wanted so badly to tell him never sounding as the world went black and Buffy Summers hit the ground.


Giles whipped his head to the left, just in time to see his favorite agent fall. “Buffy” he screamed out, rushing to the girl whose neck was seeping blood and wasn’t moving.

Catch couldn’t breathe, he couldn’t fucken’ breath. She was gone. Why was there no air in here? She was gone….that’s why his frantic mind supplied.

Another shot rang out and Lindsay fell down dead, blank eyes staring lifelessly at the ceiling.

Someone somewhere had taken out Ben but no one cared, there was nothing to celebrate; there was an agent down.


***

Buffy opened her eyes slowly, the bright lights burning her sensitive eyes, her throat felt too tight to talk.

She felt a hand on hers and looked to its owner, “Is he okay?”

Giles held back a sob and nodded, “He’s alive, he’s not okay. He thinks your dead.”

“Why?” she croaked out.

“Angels orders. He didn’t want word getting out to any of the wrong people that you were still fighting the good fight. Not until he’s sure there’s no one else coming after you.”

“Asshole…always thinks he knows what’s best for me…see him?”

Giles shook his head, “We don’t know where he is. The agents we had following him lost his tail and he hasn’t emerged on our radar since.”

Tears stung her eyes, “I quit.”
“I know” the older man said with a rueful smile, “I knew you would.”

She squeezed his hand, “Leave soon?”

Giles was constantly amazed by her, she was so strong, so resilient. A bullet to the back of her neck hadn’t taken her down, hadn’t stopped her, she definitely had something on her side.

“Not for a while Buffy. The bullet…well, you’re lucky to be alive. You’re going to need physio and a shitload of recovery time before you’re able to leave.”

The tears fell now, the longer she was stuck in here the less chance she had of finding him.

She wanted to try and argue with what he said, to lift herself out of the bed and find the boy who had become a man for her but she couldn’t, she could barely raise her arms.

***
It had been 147 days since he’d seen her, and 147 days since he wished he was dead.

He’d seen his angel fall but she was no fallen angel, she had burned bright and pure until the very end. The look in her eyes that day haunted him nightly. He would wake up shaking and clutching the sheets that should have her wrapped in them next to him.

His Anne was gone.

He knew what she had been trying to tell him, her eyes far too expressive for an agent undercover.

‘I love you’ they had told him. ‘I love you I love you I love you’. They had practically screamed at him to understand. The small, peaceful, smile on her face was what made him wake up screaming in the dead of night. He had seen her face register the metallic click of the gun behind her, seen it register the finality of her situation, and seen her come to terms with it because she knew he was okay. And then he’d seen her shot dead.

He had screamed and screamed until his mouth was bleeding around the tape, and then he’d screamed some more.


He’d managed to get away from the agents and found his way to a small town that reminded him of Sunnydale in the middle of nowhere.

He had yet to speak to a single person in the area. He had stayed clean though, the only gift he was capable of giving to her memory.

She had saved him and he in turn had killed her. Her reckless abandon in the face of his safety was what did it, he was to blame, but everyday he saved her. He moved a little faster, getting away from Ben or sometimes he broke free of the chair and took the bullet for her, it didn’t matter really because while he saved her everyday, he watched her die again every night in his dreams. Every fucking night.

He didn’t know what day it was, there was no point in keeping track anymore. He closed his eyes and welcomed the nightmares, he had no picture of his angel, and the nightmares kept her alive.


He stumbled out of bed at 3:13 in the morning, which was the time whoever was smashing at his door had decided to pop by for a visit.

“I’m coming” he roared out angrily, flinging open the door.

Catch didn’t move, didn’t breathe, and didn’t blink – he couldn’t. He couldn’t even register that what he was seeing wasn’t a new twist to his nightmares.

Her hair was whipping around her face in the winds that had come with the rain storm and she was soaked to the bone.

“Can I come in?”

It was the sound of her voice that did it to him, broke the spell, and broke the dam inside him. Sobs wracked his body as he pulled his girl into his arms, back from the dead.

His hands were everywhere at once, testing her flesh, making sure it was real. He couldn’t voice the millions of questions running through his head, if he did, she might disappear, and logic might step in and make him realize this was all just the fevered dream of a man driven mad.

His tongue delved into her mouth and she melted into him and when his hands reached down to grab hold of her ass to lift her up she wrapped her legs around him without hesitation.

The sounds of his desperate whimpers were driving her crazy as he walked them over to the bed where he laid her down without ever having to break their kiss.

Breathing could wait.

Buffy moaned into his mouth as he began to grind his boxers-only covered erection into her.

He broke the kiss to run his tongue along the smooth column of her neck, one hand coming up to squeeze a breast gently while the other slid his boxers down and then her skirt. Her shirt he just tore open and she couldn’t care less.

When they were both left without clothes and panting his nimble fingers dove into her while her hand reached down to wrap around his erection, pumping him furiously.

He settled himself between her legs and sunk in slowly, almost coming undone at the heat she radiated from the inside out while Buffy’s hands pulled him back down for another kiss.

The pace was furious, almost surreal, her inner muscles clenching with almost every thrust of his cock.

She somehow realized through the haze that surrounded them that he was talking.

“Not real…need you…can’t be real.”

Her heart broke. “Open your eyes” she pleaded and when she did she fell apart, tears stinging her eyes.

“I’m real baby, I’m here…I’m here”

“Anne”, it was a single word, a word that felt wrong and dirty.

“Buffy” she said fiercely, wrapping her legs around his hips, forcing him in deeper and harder and arching her back as he fucked her.

It took a moment for him to understand, “Buffy”, it was a single word, a word that held so much awe and passion that she felt herself coming undone.

“My beautiful Buffy” he groaned, a hand sneaking between their bodies to rub her clit and she writhed underneath him, her mouth pressing a kiss into his shoulder.

“So tight baby, so warm” he ground out, “Need you to cum for me Buffy…please, cum for me.”

And she did, her inner muscles clenching around him over and over again as he thrust into her relentlessly, desperately seeking his release – release from everything: his sexual frustration, his pain, his haunted dreams, the walking nightmare that had become his life.

It was when she bit his neck that he came undone, pumping his seed into her wet and wanting pussy while he roared.

It was hours later when they spoke, their hands and meaningful gazes speaking when they dared not.
“How?” came the softly spoken question, breaking them away from their reveries.

“I didn’t die…obviously. The bureau didn’t want anyone to know I made it in case someone would come after me.”

He nodded, it made sense but they must have known how much the thought that he had lost her had killed him.

“How did you find me?” he asked after a moment of silence, pulling her in closer to his body, her small hand resting on his heart.

“How could I not?”

He smiled then for the first time in 147 days, 146 in actuality – because today didn’t count, did it?

“Buffy…I like the sound of that, suits you.”

She smiled into his chest, her fingers running lazy patterns over the smooth expanse of skin.

“I love you Buffy”

‘Don’t say it back’ a small voice in her head answered – you’ll jump, you always jump after you say it.

She bit back a frown, he wasn’t hers, not really anyway, it was time to give him back.

She smiled and looked into his eyes, leaning in for a kiss that left them both breathless.

“I love you Catch, I always will”

Buffy fought back her tears when she opened her eyes, and as suspected, was no longer with Catch, it had been an emotional journey, that was for sure.

So far she’d had the cowboy, the lord, the dancer, and the biker: what could possibly be next?

Her eyes widened when her hand, seemingly with a mind of its own, dug into her purse, pulled out a smoke and lit it.

She closed her eyes for a moment, she could feel a sickness eating away at her from the inside; cancer she realized.

“Excuse me, miss?”

She fought back a laugh when she turned to see Spike 2 with shocking bright read hair, though it was slicked back in his trademark style. The suit he wore didn’t look bad either though a part of her whispered it was stolen.

“Can I help you?” she asked with a dark smirk on her face.

“Please, I’m trying to get to 1789 Spark street.” He held up a map and leaned in close so that she could point it out for him.

The next moment had him yelping in pain, his wrist twisting unnaturally in her grip, her wallet dangling from his fingers.

“I’d say I’m surprised but…” she didn’t finish her sentence, just dropped his hand and took another pull on her smoke.

“I think you broke my hand” he said angrily, through clenched teeth, trying not to wince with his obvious pain.

“And I should care because???”

“Because…okay, so maybe you shouldn’t.”

“I didn’t think so” she said haughtily. “You’re going to end up in jail one day Rufus.” she added with a sigh.

He smiled at her and she melted a little, but the hard wall around her heart didn’t, nor did the firm set of her mouth.

“Nah, Cloudydale residents aren’t bright enough to catch on, I swear you could give them proof positive of vampires existing and they’d still go strolling through alley ways after dark.

“Whatever, it’s not my problem.” she answered with a shrug of her shoulders, the slayer inside her screaming in agreement with his statement and in disagreement with hers.

“Buffy, one day I’m going to get us out of here” he promised and she laughed and started to walk away. “Whatever Dufus Thursley, I’ll see you later.”

He watched her walk away with sadness in his heart; she was so negative, so sad. Just then a lovely couple walked by and he chased after them. “Excuse me” he called out…


It was much later in the evening when he returned to the small ramshackle house Buffy lived in and was nice enough to let him stay in until he could find his own place.

“Hello? You home Buffy?” he called out into the quiet house.

He heard her coughing in the kitchen and ran to get her a glass of water, putting it into her shaking hand while the other held a lit smoke.

“Those things will kill you” he said softly and she glared at him.

“I already have cancer Rufus, what do you want me to do?”

“Quit. Fight the disease, you’re strong, you can beat it.”

She threw her head back and laughed, sitting on one of only two kitchen chairs, chairs obviously meant to be in a backyard.

“I don’t want to beat it Ru, I’m tired of fighting, I’m tired of losing. And you can’t con me”

He shook his head and sat across from her, “Big score tonight?” she asked mockingly when he emptied the contents of his pockets on the table, scattering 3 rings, a watch and two wallets onto it.

“I almost have enough money to take us to L.A”

“I won’t make it to L.A” she said bitterly, even though it was only a few hours away.

He looked at her, really looked at her and bit back his tears. Her skin was far too pale to call her healthy, the black smudges under her eyes making the once lively green seem sallow. The other morning she had coughed up blood, of course she didn’t know he had noticed and he hadn’t mentioned it.

“Have you contacted Liam?” he asked carefully, knowing the subject was raw.

“Pffft, fuck him” she spat out.

He had left her almost three years ago today: no letter, no goodbye, no divorce papers sent in the mail. He had just disappeared, and she hoped he was dead.

“Why do you care anyway?”

He raised his hands in mock surrender, “Because you were happy with him.”

She tossed her cigarette butt into a glass of water, uncaring.

“I was a lot of things Rufus. Better off, healthier, more caring, but I wasn’t happy. I don’t think I ever will be.”

“Don’t I make you happy Buffy?”

She shook her head, “No.”

At his crestfallen look she added, “But you make me less sad.” she offered with a small smile on her lips.

“Give me the chance to try then” he pleaded.

She reached up and cupped his cheek, a slight tremor in her hand from the disease’s progress in her system.

“If you could build a time machine and go back, and meet me when I was younger Rufus, before I got sick, I would be happy with you.”

He pressed a kiss into the palm of her hand. “Then give me tonight if you can’t give me anything else”

She looked him in his eyes and nodded her ‘yes’.

He walked to her chair and lifted her up, making sure she was holding onto his neck tightly as he walked her to the double bed in the corner with the tattered blanket and old sheets. But tonight, tonight it was a canopy bed with satin sheets and a cashmere wraps.

He placed her on the bed and gently undressed her, her whole body shaking with tears she would never shed, a need she would never voice, and a soul-deep fatigue she couldn’t, or wouldn’t, fight much longer.

His own fingers shook as he ran them across her taut but pale skin.

“You’re beautiful Buffy”, he whispered, pressing a soft kiss to her lips to silence whatever retort about to escape her mouth, and to his surprise she kissed him back with more passion than he’d ever seen her express.

They stayed that way for awhile, his hands roaming her body while he managed to undress himself, and then he was on top of her, looking at her closed eyes. Kissing each of her eyelids he pleaded with her, “Keep them open, stay with me Buffy”

She nodded and moaned as he pushed into her gently, stopping for a moment to kiss her neck while she adjusted to the feel of him deep inside her, a guttural moan escaping her lips, tears threatening to fall but they wouldn’t. Buffy wouldn’t open that dam – that pain filled and heartbreaking dam - and leave the real Buffy of this body to deal with the consequences of it. She felt herself mourning for the loss Rufus would suffer soon, obviously holding this woman dear and she found herself wondering if all the Buffy’s in every dimension would feel her passing, as if they were all somehow connected, a part of each other in a bigger plan they couldn’t hope to understand.

When he began to move inside her she clung to his arms, her eyes willing him to see everything she couldn’t say right now.

“You’re so warm and tight Buffy, so good” he whispered, “I’m going to get us out of here and we’ll see the world, just me and you and eternity”

“All the time in the world” she heard herself whisper back, inner muscles tightening around him slowly, drawing him in deeper, drawing out his demons for the time being.

“I’m going to love you every second of everyday for the rest of my life Buffy.”

She knew he was telling her the truth, and she knew he was close, could see the sheen of sweat on his flawless skin and she spasmed around him. The feel of her liquid heat surrounding him and the way her muscles were milking him had him gasping with release in time with hers.

He continued to pump into her lazily, “You’ll get better, we’ll be happy, I’ll make you happy.”

She kissed him and hugged him to her, “Yes, I’ll get better, we’ll be happy.”

And just like that Buffy conned the con man.

She knew from the slight tremble in his body that he was fighting off his tears, “I love you” she whispered and closed her eyes.

She looked around frantically, unable to deal with the mounds of heartbreak these jumps were causing her. Would she be forced to do this for eternity? Was this hell? Was she being punished?

She was in a church, and Spike was there, hugging a cross while his body smouldered around it, “Can we rest now? Can we rest now Buffy?”

A tear fell from her eye, this was the closest to her Spike that she’d seen in what felt like forever.

“Yes Spike, we can rest now” she whispered, walking over to him and trying to gently pry his blistered skin from the harsh metal of the cross.

He looked at her then, really looked at her, and then turned his haunted blues to the ceiling,

“Who is this? A trick? Hurt the girl…you took the girl away…tricks…”

“Spike, it’s okay, just please come with me. We‘ll go home, clean you up.”

Her heart was officially broken, shattered into millions of pieces that slayer healing could never fix.

“Home” he barked out with a harsh laugh, “Home is where the heart is, no heart here”, he answered pointing to his chest. “Just an empty hole…”, he whipped his head and stared so long and hard at her she had to turn away.

A rough hand grabbed her chin and made her return the gaze, “Why does a man do what he mustn’t Buffy?” he finished in a sob, falling to his knees.

She knelt down beside him and took his hand in hers, “For her William, always for her.”


***

He was sleeping now, fitfully on the bed in his crypt, while she watched over him, unsure of how to help.

She reached in her pocket and pulled out a cellphone, a quick search through the contacts proved that this was Sunnydale, but not one she recognized. With a sharp intake of breath she realised she was back home, just further along the timeline than when she’d jumped from that tower.

“Tricks, deceptions…who are you?”

“Buffy” she answered, turning to look at the now awake vampire.

“Not my Buffy.”

She smiled, “No, not your Buffy Spike, an earlier one. I jumped from the tower to save Dawn just a few days ago.”

He shot up and began clawing at his chest, sobs heaving through his body. “NO no no no no no….”

She grabbed his hands and straddled him, pinning his self mutilating hands above his head. “What is it? What’s wrong?”

In a moment of eerie lucidity he replied, “You. You came back wrong.”

She felt a chill run down her spine. “What do you mean?”

“You died, and you came back wrong.”

“I didn’t die” she found herself whispering.

“No…not you I suppose, but my Buffy did…NO! Not my Buffy…never my Buffy…”

“Spike….” She took a deep breath and waited until he looked at her again, “Buffy loves you. I’ve been through a handful of dimensions this past week and the only factor that remains a constant is you. You and her. Buffy loves you Spike, trust me. She loves you so much that …”

Tears fell from his eyes at that and he cut her off, “You don’t know the things I’ve done.”

She sighed and let some memories flood her mind and smiled down at him, “Yes I do. And she’s forgiven you, she wants the same forgiveness from you Spike but this Buffy is so screwed up…feels so alone, feels like if she gives in to you…”

“I’ll hurt her again?”

“No, no…she’s afraid she’ll hurt you again and she really can’t live with that.”

“Do you love yours?”

“My Spike you mean?”

He nodded yes and she smiled softly.

“Can you keep a secret?”

“From my past self kitten? Think I can manage” he said with a laugh that warmed her heart.

“Yes…yes I do.”

“Does he know?”

“Not at all. But once I get home I’ll change all that Spike, I promise. How you feel right now, at this point in time, will never come. You’ll never feel like this. It’ll be different, I promise.”

She leaned in and kissed him softly but thoroughly and when she pulled away to lean her head on his, his now free hands came up to tuck a stray hair behind her ear.

“What was that for?” he asked, awe radiating from his eyes.

“For love Spike. That was because I love you.”

She didn’t have time to see the tears building in his eyes fall, or hear the words about to spill from his mouth, all she felt was bone crushing agony and she closed her eyes and tried her hardest not to scream.


She tried to register the sounds all around her, anything to take her mind off the overwhelming pain. She could hear Dawn crying, and Willow…she could hear the sounds of heavy boots dragging through metal and rocks…she was home. Oh god, she wanted to call out, to open her eyes and see her friends, her father figure, her would be lover if the fall didn’t in fact kill her this time around. She thought of the last Spike she’d seen, how broken he was, how if she succumbed to the darkness that was pulling at her every fibre she would only ensure that tragic fate of theirs.

With the last of her energy she opened her eyes and called his name.

Regardless of the fall that had undoubtedly shattered the bones in his legs he ran to her, ran to her and knelt beside her and sobbed over her. The others, shell-shocked by the entire days events, for once blessedly let the heroes be alone.

“I though you were dead.” he whispered, hands hovering all over her but never touching.

“Think I was…think I changed something somehow though…” She could taste the blood in her mouth, knew it must be seeping out by the look of terror he was trying desperately to hide.

“You just got a l’il banged up yeah? Slayer healing will fix you right up.”

“Am I dying…again?” she finally asked, tears spilling as fear and heartbreak filled her core.

He cupped her face then, with so much love it burned her soul, “No Buffy, you’re not dying. You’re just tired, you trust me right?”

She gave him a slight nod, “Yes Spike, I trust you.”

He pulled out a small knife and cut his wrist before bringing it up to her mouth. It tasted so good, so sweet that she couldn’t help but clutch onto the wound and drink thirstily.

She could hear yelling all around her, and the last comment she heard was Spike yelling “She won’t have enough to turn, just to heal.” before the world went black.


***

She could hear everything, the whispers downstairs, the crickets outside, the breeze. Her eyes snapped open and her fingers immediately sought her wrist, searching for a pulse. She smiled when she felt it, steady and regular.

Her eyes could see things more clearly though, tiny cracks in the wall, even though her room was dark. She stood and stretched, feeling none of the pain she’d been prepared to feel.

“Vamp blood and slayer blood makes for a pretty great elixir, don’ it luv?”

She looked around the room, searching for the voice before her searching eyes rested on the silhouette of the vampire sitting just outside her window.

“Really does” she answered, and climbed out to sit next to him while he lit a smoke and inhaled deeply.

“Pretty bad spill you took, had us all worried Slayer.”

“You took the same fall.”

“Im not human though” he pointed out with a smirk.

She thought of a million ways to verbally explain that he was, more so than many of the people she’d encountered thus far in her young life. She opted shock him physically instead. Grateful for the short shorts and tank someone had put her in while she’d been sleeping she straddled the now speechless vampire and pressed her lips to his, demanding every part of his body to respond, she wasn’t disappointed.

He moaned into her mouth, his hands climbing up her back frantically, touching her, feeling her, seeking the answer to his desperate question, ‘Is this happening?’

Her only response was to continue kissing him, completely shamelessly, to put all her love and regrets and hopes and dreams into this one, seemingly unbreakable kiss.

When they finally broke apart he kept his eyes closed. “I must be dreaming.”

“Me too…never thought I’d get to see you again, to tell you all the things I’m sorry for…”

“Buffy?”, her name was a softly spoken question, his now open eyes the window to the soul she’d only recently allowed herself to see.

“I love you Spike. In this dimension and every other, I love you.”

There was a flash of lightning then, that illuminated the two warriors sitting on the roof, and Buffy shivered as his hands started to frantically touch her everywhere.

Another flash just before the large raindrops hit them, and Buffy knew the other dimensions were sealed up now, never to be seen by her again, but that didn’t matter, because home was where her Spike was.