The cave was falling apart around them; Faith was getting everyone else out of the high school, leaving Spike and Buffy left there in the cave alone. Spike is leaving her for good this time, this can't be the end. Spike couldn't do this can he?



"Go On, Then." Spike yelled at her, he couldn't let her die not again; she needed to leave before the building would crush her.

She looked around and was getting ready to leave the cave with her and Spike intact.



"No, You’ve done enough, you could still.." She said to him, she wasn't leaving without him, he wouldn't die, not for her after everything. He promised her that they would dance together, they hadn't gone that and it was going to happen whether he liked it or not.



Spike had other ideas; he needed to do this for his own pride and to prove to her that he was a real hero.



"No, You’ve beaten them back. It’s for me to do the cleanup." He said to her, he had to make her leave; he needed to push her away.



Faith and the other Slayers where leaving, they needed to get out before anymore damage was done.



"Buffy, Come On! We need to get out of here." Faith screamed at her, She ran upstairs and hoped that Buffy was following her.

Unfortunately it looked like that Buffy wasn't going anywhere and not leaving until Spike came with her.



Spike looked around at all the destruction, this is going to be exciting to see, and he thought that he blew up a whole town by himself is something for the books.



He grinned at all the destruction.



"Gotta move, Lamb. I think it’s fair to say school’s out for bloody summer." He said to her, again trying to get her to leave so he could finish what they started.



Buffy didn't want to leave him and she didn't plan to, he was her everything, she's not leaving him to die here, alone, she had to do something... Anything.



"Spike." She cried out to him in a way that touched her own heart. She then realized that this was it that they were meant to be together forever, she knew exactly what she needed to say next; she knew what would stop him from leaving. The words he has been waiting to hear for 2 years now.



Spike wasn't listening to her and ignored her. It was important to him that he did this. He would be finished and would able to rest in peace. Finally.



"I mean it! I gotta do this." He looked at her and in his head he meant it but in his heart it was crushing him the thought of leaving her.



Buffy grabs hold of Spike hand and there hands set on fire. Buffy lets out a breath she didn’t even see coming, one almost of realization. Spike smiles at her as he sees the tears that well up in her eyes. The words where going to fall from her mouth and there was nothing she could do about it. He needed to stay and she had to tell him how she feels.



"I Love You..." She told him in a soft voice that hit his soul like an arrow. It ran straight through him, but once again his pride shined through, and didn't even believe her, she couldn't love him.. Could she?



The pride within himself wouldn't let her love him and he looks back almost disappointed and not believing her for a second.

Spike looked at her and sighed.



"No You Don’t. But thanks for saying it." He breathed out in realization that she only said it because he was dying. He then thought about that saying that she didn't love him was the only way to make her leave. After all you always hurt the one you love.



The cave began to fall apart even more and started to break down into the hellmouth.



She gave him a look of disbelief; she couldn't believe that he didn't believe her, after everything. It split her heart in too, the realization that she told him how she really feels and he didn't believe her, she was too shocked to say anything to him.



"Now go!" He gave her a look that told her that you have to go, you've told me and lied now leave. Spike lets go of Buffy’s hand. Buffy began to turn away and then stopped.



She then thought about it, He can't be left here alone it isn't right. *Spike always looked out for me and always helped me whenever I needed him. But now he needs me, my strength and my love to make him as strong as possible. *



Spike started to get angry at the thought that she didn't listen to his final words and just dismissed them.



"Love, Go." He yelled at her, angry at the thought that she wasn't leaving.



Buffy turns back towards Spike and looks at him. She loved this man, she was going to stay strong and stand by his side. She was going to be with the man that she loved and the man she was proud to call her hero.



"Spike..." She walked toward him as she said his name in a confident voice, a voice that was made of pure emotion.



Buffy places her hand on his face and strokes his face



"Spike, I’m not going anywhere." She told him with a voice that was raw emotion and realization of her love for him. She continued to stroke his face softly as she began to let her emotional gasps flow through her as the tears began to run again.



Spike couldn't believe what she was doing at all, why was she doing this, did she was to torture him for the rest of eternity, did she want to give him some sort of punishment for everything that he has done to her. What. He was trying to make he leave, whatever the cost, hurting her feels will make her leave and get on with her life



"No Buffy, you’re leaving. You have to live." He pleaded with her, she had to go otherwise, and he couldn't live with her dying again, not because of him.



Buffy had enough with the talking and she changed to physically doing something about it.

Buffy pulls the amulet away from Spike’s chest to see how much room there was.



"What are you doing?" Spike looked at her with a look of confusing, why was she fiddling with the amulet, what was the point of it, she was wasting time, she needed to leave soon. Instead of telling him what she was doing, she decided that she would just show him. Buffy moves herself closer to Spike and fits her neck into the remaining space that the amulet had left. She took hold of his hands and they lit on fire again. It was more compact than she thought it would be.

The amulet started to shine even brighter because of their combined power.



"Spike, I mean it I’m not going anywhere, wherever you go, I go, if you die. I die too. I don’t want to be on a world without you in it."



She gave him a genuine look of love, she had to stay, she wanted to be with him.



"Remember you said you would be here, until the end of the world, even if it happens to be tonight. Do you remember saying that to me." He didn't reply to her he just nodded at her. She knew then after she said it that she could continue.



"I am going to say the same thing to you. As you said to me that night 2 years ago. I will be here until the end of the world. Even if that happens to be tonight."



She gave him a sad smile. But she was sure that he would listen to his own words. She finally felt like she was herself again, that she was finally with the person she's supposed to be with.



"Angel said that I wasn't strong enough to with stand the amulet that only someone more than human but not human, but I was thinking that combined we are more than strong enough to withstand it. Together we are strong, the perfect team." She was hoping that this was going straight to his soul and that he was listening to her every word.



Spike was just dumbstruck and didn't believe anything she was saying, it didn't seem really and that it was his mind playing tricks on him again. He turned his head so he couldn’t see her and tried to drag his hands away from her, she had to leave now before it was to late.



"Buffy, Love. Please, just go." He said to her in a pleading manner, He loved her enough to let her go, she needed to respect his wishes of dying alone, he still didn't look at her. She was giving him looks of love, and he couldn't handle it, he couldn't handle more lies.



Buffy completely dismissed what he said, like it didn't matter to her. She just continued talking about how much she loved him.



"You know Spike, we completely out do each other, we cancel each other out. We are two of a kind, two halves of the same coin. Vampire/slayer, alive/dead, Woman/Man. I mean, you didn’t need to get the soul, you loved me without it. You said you needed it to become a better man, you are a better man, you always have been the man for me Spike. You want to know why I told you that I loved you."



Spike shook his head, it was false, false truth, Spike gave her a disappointed look. He finally realized that trying to bring her into the dark with him was pushing her away mentally, and making her as bad as he was.



"You don’t love me, you never have and you never will, so just let it go, just forget you ever said it. Leave”.



The building floor had almost caved in completely. They were standing on a little bit of rubble that was attached to the walk of the cave. She had to tell him now before it was too late.



"I love you Spike, I loved you before that Soul, you kept me anchored, and you kept me alive, you made me laugh and feel things I couldn’t even imagine, things that I didn't even know existed until I tired them with you, you loved me above all else, how I could I not love you. You are truly remarkable; you’re my man, the love of my life. I love you more than anything in this world."



She felt herself welling up again, she felt power and strength flowing through her, Spike was her strength, he always brought the best out of her ever since she met him, he was the greatest fighter she'd ever met and matched her in every way possible. Buffy started crying proper tears, she was scared that Spike really didn’t love her after all that’s why he’s pushing her away.



"Will you just let me be your girl? Please? Will you just love me like you used to?"



Spike began to hear her and listen to her for the first time, he turned to his head towards her, almost in disbelief. That was it the thing that triggered him. "His girl.”

"So you didn’t just say you loved me because I was dying."



Spike said to her straight, showing no emotion at all.



She shook her head and just looked at him and the tears continued to fall, she let her head fall against his chest. His pride melted away, and left just pure love for her, and William was shining through.



"Okay, then. I think I could do that." Spike smiled and said in a loving voice.



Buffy thought she miss heard him, his complete structure and attitude had completely changed. Buffy looked up at him a little confused. Not sure what she had heard.



"Do what?" She gave him a look of confused, which made her look adorable, made him love her more if it was even possible. He smirked at her.



"Be the man that you want. The one that used to love you, the same man that still loves you, if you'll have me."



Buffy looked up happily and smiled at him, Spike smiled back at her and placed Buffy’s face in his hands and brought his lips to hers and kissed her for the first time since their last night together at his crypt a year ago. She melted into his embrace and kissed him hard she let the tears run freely down her cheeks they continued the tender and emotional kiss. Spike broke apart from the kiss. He kissed her hand and then broke away from her.



"I feel it Buffy, I think this is it." He said to her in a loving way, Spike knew that he didn't have to worry about dying anymore, she was here with him. Buffy looked up at Spike, She nodded at him.



"I’m ready, we’re ready." She said confidently she took hold of his hand and stroked it. Spike smiled at her.



"I love you." Buffy said to him as she breathed out a sob, she gave him a sad smile.



She smiled at him letting her love for him shine through, she finally gave in to everything for herself they would be together, she had no reason to be scared anymore.



"I love you too, I'll see you soon. Good bye, My Love." He gave her a sad smile and let a tear roll down his cheek. Buffy smashed her lips against Spike’s in a passionate kiss, Spike pulled her against him and they started to turn to ash and the last image in the cave was the flames and then the cave collapsed to the ground.



**19 Days Later**





Angel Investigations were standing in Angel’s office. Angel was pacing and brooding like normal, he wanted to see change in Wolfram and Hart. He knew it was the best thing to do at this moment in time. Fred was sat on the sofa holding her pen and clipboard and was writing something down on it. Gunn was standing against the wall with his hands in his pockets. Wesley was sitting next to Fred with a book in his hand reading through it, and Lorne was on his phone. Everything was quiet and no one was talking until Fred spoke up.



"Is This gonna be our lives now? Fighting our own employees, our own clients? Are we really gonna do any good?”



Angel looks at Fred and rubs his chin. He smiled at her and nodded, he was going to fix it and make it for the better, for Connor's and Cordy's sake. He had to make things better for everyone.



"Yes, We are. We’re gonna change things. We came you Wolfram and Hart because it’s a powerful weapon, and we’ll figure out how to wield it." Angel said in a voice of confidence, he had to fix things and his employees where going to help him. Wesley looks at Angel and sighs.



"Or Kill ourselves with it."



Wesley looked at Fred she had her glasses on her face and her white jacket on with her hair in a messy bun with a pencil through it, she looked gorgeous.



He just stared at him. Fred then looks at Wesley and then looks at everyone else when he looked back down at his book.



"Yay, Team." She said flatly, she was not convinced by this plan at all. She then looked back at Wesley and stared at him. She thought he was really handsome.



Angel just looked away from everyone else and huffed, he heard what Fred said and ignored and continued what he was saying.



"No, sooner or later they’ll tip their hand, and we’ll find out why they really brought us here." He said and everyone nodded at him. Angel looks and sees that there is an brown envelope on his desk and picks it up.



"Meanwhile we do the work.. our way, one thing at a time."



He then rips open the envelope and the condense began to fall out of the envelope.



"We deal…"





The amulet falls onto the floor as Angel continues to talk to everyone.



"With whatever comes next."



He looked down onto the floor and saw the amulet, he recognized it. Immediately, the amulet shines brightly and activates. A black whirlwind erupts from it, causing papers on Angel’s desk to stir. The Ashen whirlwind starts to glow with flecks of orange and a light fires off and lands on the floor behind the table and as something else begins to materialize inside the ash. A man’s skeleton form begins to show, the gradually fills out until it’s completed and the wind fades and Spike shifts into his game face and is standing there in full vampiric facade and starts grunting and growling and snarling fiercely in the middle of the office. Wesley gasps and looks shocked at Spike.



"Spike?" Wesley exclaimed.



Angel looks at Spike and angrily snarls.



"Spike."



Harmony was sitting at her desk and heard a noise in Angel's office and then ran to the door and sticks her head through the office door smiling.



"Blondie Bear?" Harmony said happily.



He continued to growl everyone in the room stared at him



"Where’d he come from?" Gunn looked at everyone in shock



Wesley stands up and bends down next to the amulet and picks it up of the floor.



"From this."



Wesley showed everyone and then looked at Spike who was still snarling and hadn't said a word since he appear in the room. Fred looks at Wesley, in complete awe.



"What Is It?" She said to him a little surprised that Angel hadn't said anything before hand.



Angel looked at the group, and knew that he needed to tell them soon or later.



"Something I gave to Buffy before…" Angel answered in an insecure voice that didn't suit his look at all.



Spike then heard Angel say Buffy's name and turned to look up at him for the first and snarled at him.



"Buffy, the cave, the amulet! Is she?" Spike looked worried and started staring at Angel.



Angel looks at Spike, He knew that no one had heard from Buffy, since Sunnydale, and that she probably died in the cave along with Spike. He didn't want to tell him, he was kill him.



"Spike… Buffy’s G…" Angel started to tell him when he heard a coughing sound, a figure of a woman appeared from behind Angel's desk. The woman was covered head to toe in ash.



"Buffy, Is Here." Buffy looked up and smiled at Spike, everyone looked over at her, Buffy shook her head around to get the ash out of her hair and then straightened back into place and whipped some ash out of her face. Buffy looked at Spike with a smirk.



"Spike." She smiled. Spike turned towards the woman he loves.



"Buffy, Love." He gives her his trademark smirk.



To Be Continued...

*Previously*





Spike appeared in an ash cloud in the Wolfram & Hart Building, everyone staring at him.





"Buffy, the cave, the amulet! Is she?" Spike looked worried and started staring at Angel.





Angel looks at Spike, He knew that no one had heard from Buffy, since Sunnydale, and that she probably died in the cave along with Spike. He didn't want to tell him, he was kill him.





"Spike… Buffy’s G…" Angel started to tell him when he heard a coughing sound, a figure of a woman appeared from behind Angel's desk. The woman was covered head to toe in ash.





"Buffy, Is Here." Buffy looked up and smiled at Spike, everyone looked over at her, Buffy shook her head around to get the ash out of her hair and then straightened back into place and whipped some ash out of her face. Buffy looked at Spike with a smirk.





"Spike." She smiled. Spike turned towards the woman he loves.





"Buffy, Love." He gives her his trademark smirk.







* Moments Later *







Spike focused on Buffy, she'd never looked so beautiful to him. His inner William wanted to take her away from here and be together forever. But at the same time Spike shined through. He wanted to grab her and shag her into the carpet right in front of Angelus, but that would never happen. Instead he just smirked and leered at her.


Everyone was just staring at Buffy and Spike, And at the obvious sexual tension that was coming off them in waves. It almost seemed to suffocate the people in the room with how strong it was. Wesley had finally had enough and opened his mouth to break the silence since Buffy appeared.





“Buffy!”





Wesley looked at her in complete awe, the oldest living Slayer wasn’t dead after all.


“You’rehereyou’realiveyou’renotdeadIhavetoletMr.GilesknowstraightawayhewillbesohappytoseeyouIhavetolethimknowstraightaway,” Wesley exclaimed in a very excited tone, his words rushed and jumbled together.





Everyone turned around to Wesley, who was gasping for much needed air since his outburst, except Buffy and Spike. They were too busy locked onto each other, their eyes filled with lustful passion.





Wesley cleared his throat, breaking the connection between the slayer and her vampire.





Buffy glanced at Wesley and started to giggle. She walked over to him, past Angel and Spike and gave the ex-watcher a big hug and a kiss on his cheek.





“Nice to see you too, Wes. I've missed you.” Buffy smiled as Wesley tightened his arms around her before letting her go.





Buffy eyed the room, not having a clue where she was. She knew she was in Los Angeles, that much was obvious due to Angel and his crew. She shrugged and her eyes fell on Spike once more, her mouth breaking out into a smile.





* Why are we here, I don't get it, the powers that be must have a reason, are we still needed. Have they brought us both back to help Angel. Or is it for something else entirely. *





She thought to herself as she continued to smile at her vampire. Reluctantly she tore her eyes away from Spike and looked at Angel.





“Angel, where are we? What's happening? Splainy please, because I really don't get it. I mean bringing me and Spike back from the dead.” She motioned to Spike and caught his smirk before continuing.





“I mean me from the dead, Spike from not so dead, dead.” She laughed nervously causing Spike to laugh with her.





“Oh you know what I mean. Yeah. So splainy please.” She cast anxious eyes at Angel and he glanced between her and Spike before shaking his head.





“As to where you are you are, you are in LA at the offices of Wolfram & Hart.”








“As to why you and William are here and why the PTB brought you back. I don't know,” Angel shrugged, his face clearly saying he had no idea why she was here.





His gaze landed on Spike who was still staring at Buffy and hadn’t taken his eyes off of her since she first appeared. It was really starting to piss Angel off.





“Okay... I need to find a hotel to stay in for the duration of our stay. Wesley you call Giles and tell him what's going on.”





Buffy smiled at Wesley knowing he would get the job done. That he was the perfect person to call, to talk shop and not gossip with Giles. As the words sunk in Angel felt his fury build, duration of our stay?





“Wait a minute Buffy. Our? Who are you staying with, and why aren't you staying here?” Angel said in a rage, that suddenly began flowing through him. Buffy could see as well as feel the jealousy Angel harbored for Spike. Sighing she thought, this is going to be a long night.





“What I mean is our hotel, mine and Spike, and the reason why we aren't staying here, is because we need our own personal space, and...”





She turned towards Spike, who had a look of complete lust and passion in his eyes. Feeling the same way she gave him a sexy smirk.





“And... we have some catching up to do. Together.”





Angel started to stutter and tried to convince them to stay.





“But.. But..”





Knowing the Poof was about to explode, Spike walked over to Buffy. His steps purposeful and full of confidence. Buffy looked at him, her eyes mirroring his passion and eeped as he scooped her up in his arms. She laid a gentle kiss on his nose before addressing those in the room.





“Alone.”





Buffy cast a last glance at Angel as Spike moved them towards the door. Her green eyes sparkled with laughter as Spike chuckled.





“I need some time with my lady. So long Peaches,” Spike said over his shoulder as he left the room.





Angel was livid. Spike always had to have the last laugh.





Angel was beyond pissed, he looked at all of the people of Angel Investigations and snarled. Everyone else seemed to be in shock, not sure what to say, knowing that Angel would blow a gasket.








“Get back to work.,” he practically spat at them.





Everyone left Angel's office, without a word.


Angel picked up the phone and was just about to dial when he heard a cheery voice on the line.





“Hey boss, you ok? You need anything? Why were Spike and the Slayer leaving? Where did they go? Are they together? Are you mad? What’s going … “





Angel gritted his teeth together; Harmony didn’t know when to stop. Always asking questions when it wasn’t the right time.





“Harmony…Harmony…Harmony!”





Harmony finally stopped talking as Angel screamed into the phone.





“Yeah Boss.”





“Cancel all my calls, my meetings, everything. I'm taking the rest of the day off” he barked at her sternly.





“You got it Boss, I'll send a cup of blood to your room,” Harmony answered without a clue.





Angel nodded to himself. before thanking her in a gentler tone.





“After that, can I have the rest of...” Harmony started again.





He slammed the phone down without hearing what she had to say.





---------------------------------------------------------





Spike was still laughing at the shocked expression on Harmony’s face when he had walked out of Angel’s office and into the elevator. As the doors closed he put Buffy back on her feet but kept his arm around her waist. They were silent as the elevator moved between floors. Buffy leaned against his side and Spike smiled. As the doors opened the walked through the lobby, the outside world beckoning them from the large windows. They had no idea where they were but found they didn’t care. It was dark, the sky completely clear of anything, leaving a nice relaxed atmosphere.





They were standing close like they always had, with no touching except the occasional arm stoke as they walked. It was nice, just walking with nowhere to go, nothing to slay.





It was perfect.





Well it looked perfect on the outside, but on the inside they were both reeling. What to say, what to feel. Their minds were stuck in complete thought until Buffy stopped mid-walk and stood still.





Spike stopped with her and turned towards her. His head tilted to the side as his blue eyes looked her up and down before settling on hers.








“What's wrong, love,” Spike asked her, not understanding why she stopped.





“Spike...”





She glanced at him, and gave him a puzzled look.





“What is it, love?” he asked again knowing something was wrong.





“What is this...” she started, her hands gesturing.





The look he gave her was a little lost but as he continued to stare she felt like he could see straight through her. It made her feel all hot and bothered. She always hated that he made her feel that way but tonight? Tonight was different. She liked the sensations he was creating.





“What do you mean?”





Buffy sighed and starting to pace around him, knowing what she wanted to say only not knowing how to say it.





“I mean, we haven't talked in weeks, and I mean me, no I mean I, no we, no us...”





Spike looked at her understanding what she was getting at.





“I know, love. But...”Spike began to say but trying to explain what was happening? Or what had happened was as lost on him as it was on her.








“No, you don't know. I mean the last thing you said to me was ‘Goodbye love.’ I mean, it was the perfect ending, the perfect finish. And now we are back again, who are we Spike? Who are we meant to be in this world? Are we still the same vampire and the same slayer? Are you William the bloody without a soul? Are you Spike with the chip or are you Spike with a soul? Am I Buffy before Glory? Buffy who came back wrong? Or Buffy who turned out okay? Who are we meant to be?”





Buffy looked at Spike with complete confusion in her face, not knowing what to do.





Spike wondered all the same questions and didn’t have all the answers. But one thing he did know was that whatever they were supposed to be they were together and that was all that mattered.





“I think we can be whoever we want to be, love.”





Spike threw her a huge genuine smile and watched as the emotions played across Buffy’s face. She smiled back and moved back to his side. He put his arm around her again and they continued to walk away from the building. Wanting to get as far away as they could of Wolfram & Hart.





“So what do you want to do first? Find a hotel? Got to a bar? Find some good food? You tell me and we will do it. Whatever you want love,” Spike said smiling at her.








“I think we need to find a place to stay first, we need a place to sleep before we think about anything else. But we don't have any money.”





Spike nodded and smirked before pulling a plastic card from his pocket.





“Don’t think Peaches will need this any time soon. ‘m pretty sure it’s a company card with unlimited money on it.”





Buffy gave him a shocked look and then shook her head.





“Swiped it from his desk.”





“Uh huh … same old Spike,” Buffy giggled.





They both burst out laughing and walked towards the nearest nice-looking hotel.








After placing their demands with the concierge and making sure they had an open check out date, the two smiled.





“Whatever my girl wants.”





Spike handed the woman the credit card and watched as she scanned it through.





“No problem. Sir, Madam this way please.”





The woman took them to their room, and explained all of the facilities or their nicest room.





“We have everything you will need, Sir, A limo will pick you up to take you shopping, as you seem to be new in town.”





Spike nodded at the woman and smiled at Buffy.





“Thank you.”





The woman nodded and smiled at Spike.





“Have a nice stay.”





Spike smiled and opened the door for the woman and they watched her go.





“Oh don't worry we will,” Buffy laughed.





Spike pulled Buffy towards him in a passionate kiss and kicked the door closed behind them.








To Be Continued...