okay, i'm reposting this as a roundrobin since i'm sure there's a LOT of us who wanted that episode to go different, right?   anyway, on with the story....   and someone out there pray for me cuz i suddenly broke out in hives all over my body (including my face) and even tho i took some meds for it, they're growing bigger and i can barely see out of one of my eyes.   on with the story (for real this time)...  
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SUNNYDALE HIGH
CAVERN IN BASEMENT>
 
(we see that the cave is crumbling everywhere, rocks falling and the ground and walls are shaking. The camera pans over to show Spike, arms stretched out and head thrown back, and Buffy, whose back is to us)
 
SPIKE: Buffy, you need to get out, love. Get out, now!
 
BUFFY: (tearfully) N-No…you can still make it out! Spike, please!
 
(camera moves closer to the two)
 
SPIKE: Buffy, listen to me: I love you. I love you so much, but you need to get out, pet! You need to live!
 
BUFFY: (whispered) Please…you can’t…I love you
 
(two tears make their way down her face, and the camera closes up on Spike’s face. He swallows, and tries to smile)
 
SPIKE: (hoarsely) I love you too, Buffy…luv, take my duster.
 
BUFFY: What?
 
SPIKE: Take it off, baby…get my duster off
 
(Buffy swallows and begins to pull off Spike’s duster. There’s a hissing noise, and we see smoke rise from her hand before she pulls it back. She tries again, and her movements are jerky because she’s trying to ignore the pain. She gets the duster off and holds it in her hands.)
 
SPIKE: Good…
 
BUFFY: Wh-what do you want me to do?
 
SPIKE: Luv…listen to me carefully.
 
(his mouth begins to move, but we can’t hear what he’s saying, though Buffy can. She shakes her head violently, but he nods. We see him mouth ‘GO’ and she turns and runs, duster and scythe in hand. Behind her, a large piece of rock falls, blocking our view of Spike.)
 
---
 
INSIDE THE BUS AS IT LEAVES THE CITY LIMITS
 
(we see Buffy in a seat in the back of the bus, holding Spike’s duster to her and crying)
 
SPIKE VO: Buffy, listen. You NEED to get out of here. You need to live, baby. You’re not the only Slayer anymore; enjoy it. But leave me here. I need to finish this; need to see how it ends…don’t shake your head at me, it’s the only way. Tell everyone…everyone who makes it, tell them I love them. Tell Dawn I love her and forgive her for the fire comment, tell the Whelp…tell him thanks.
 
(Buffy turns her head to stare out the window)
 
SPIKE: Buffy, if…no, WHEN you get out of here…take care of yourself, all right? I love you…don’t let anything bad happen to you. When you’re sure you’re out of danger…look in the right bottom pocket of my duster. Please, luv…do this for me…now, GO! Go, before it’s too late.
 
(Buffy reaches into Spike’s duster pocket and feels around inside. Her hand stops, and she pulls out a small, black, velvet box. Her hands are shaking as she opens it, and then drops it quickly before beginning to sob harshly. The box falls to the ground, still open. The camera closes in on it, revealing a sparkling diamond ring.)
 
SPIKE VO: I love you…
 
---
 
SUNNYDALE CRATER, DAYTIME
 
(the camera pans across dirt, and we briefly see the WELCOME TO SUNNYDALE sign before the camera moves again. It stops at a star pattern in the dirt that matches the one that was on Spike’s amulet. All of the sudden, the ground begins to pulse and the dirt cracks. A hand breaks through the dirt…a masculine hand.)
 
TBC…

A/N: Thought I'd add something to help the continuation and raise some interest...

---

SUNNYDALE CRATER-DAY

(Close in on the ground as a hand breaks through. There’s a moment where the hand seems to search around before a second hand punches through. A hole forms, dirt collapsing inside and there’s the sound of coughing. A very male body climbs out, clad in nothing but a torn pair of jeans and an equally torn shirt. It’s SPIKE. Dirt smudges his face and his hair sticks up uncharacteristically. He looks around as if trying to recognize where he is.)

(Cut to his p.o.v. as he spots something green in the mass of nothing that was Sunnydale. He stumbles to his feet and slowly staggers over to the object, still not noticing that the sun beams down on him.)

(Close up on the green object. It’s the WELCOME TO SUNNYDALE sign. Cut back to Spike’s p.o.v. as he finally reaches his destination. Switch to the reaction on his face as the words register.)

(He looks around a bit as if expecting something, spinning in a circle and only seeing the complete emptiness that had once been Sunnydale. The light of the sun hitting the amulet that still hangs around his neck glints and he pauses. He glances at eh amulet and then squints back at the sun.)

(It’s another moment before he looks back at the sign.)

SPIKE: Well, I’ll be damned.

---

SCHOOL BUS-DAY

(Front of bus. Willow and Xander sit talking. Just across from them, Faith sits with wood’s head on her lap. Giles drives the bus. There’s the sudden sound of harsh sobbing. Dawn sits up behind Willow and Xander. Everyone turns to the back.)

(Cut to Buffy, sobbing and staring at the ring. Everyone is watching as she slides out of her seat and reaches down with trembling hands.)

DAWN O.S.:Buffy?

(Cut to Dawn staring at Buffy’s back. Buffy noticeably freezes. Cut to her face as she wipes the tears from her eyes and snatches the box up. She easily slips it into the duster pocket and stands tall. She pastes a cheerful smile on her face and turns to face her sister.)

BUFFY: Hey, Dawnie…

DAWN: (seeing her cover) Buffy, not today. Can’t you just-

(Buffy seems to know where Dawn’s going. She interrupts.)

BUFFY: Yes, today. And tomorrow. And the day after. We survived.

DAWN: (quietly) Spike didn’t.

(Buffy pauses, her smile dimming, but she recovers quickly.)

BUFFY: (quietly) He saved the world. That’s it.

(Pan down to show Buffy gripping the pocket she dropped the ring in. Dawn lets her past as she moves to the front of the bus. Everyone turns around and begins extremely loud conversations. She stops by Giles.)

BUFFY: Where are we going?

GILES: (thoughtful) Los Angeles.

SPIKE V.O.: So…where’s tall, dark, and forehead?

BUFFY: (whisper) No.

BUFFY V.O.: Let me guess. You can smell him.

SPIKE V.O.: Yeah, that and I also used my enhanced vampire eyeballs to watch you kissing him.

GILES: (surprised; looks at Buffy for a second) I only assumed-

BUFFY V.O.: It was…a hello.

SPIKE V.O.: Most people don’t use their tongues to say hello. Or I guess they do, but-

BUFFY: (firm) Wrong. We’re going anywhere but there.

BUFFY V.O.: There were no tongues. Besides, he’s gone.

WILLOW: (confused as everyone else) But, Buffy, Angel can help-

BUFFY: I know! (everyone flinches. Buffy takes a deep breath) Sorry, Will. I just-it’s complicated, okay? Very-

---

DESERTED HIGHWAY-DAY

(The crater is visible from this point. A convertible is parked on the side of the road. A female sits in the drivers’ seat, holding a pair of sunglasses in her hand. Spike runs a hand through his hair as she continues to stare at him dubiously.)

SPIKE: Very, very complicated.

WOMAN: Yeah. You keep saying that.

SPIKE: (sighs) I noticed. (A bit pleadingly) It can’t be that hard to give me a ride to L.A.

WOMAN: Probably not. (shrugs) I’ll just warn you; I’ve got pepper spray, and also holy water, crosses and stakes, just in case you have a few nocturnal friends.

SPIKE: Not especially.

WOMAN: (eyeing him suspiciously. Then she smiles.) Okay. Get in.

(Spike gets in the car as she sips the sunglasses on her face. The car seems to growl as she steps on the gas and it roars into the afternoon. Follow it down the highway, staying on a hospital parking lot with a yellow school bus pulling inside.)

CUT TO: SOMEWHERE, CALIFORNIA

(The camera is focused on a single tree that is growing next to the road, a couple birds chirping from inside the branches. Suddenly, they fly away, startled. We hear the roar of an engine seconds before a blur of red flashes before the camera. It’s a car, and the camera follows a red convertible as it speeds down an empty highway, closing in on it to show SPIKE and the woman who picked him up)

WOMAN: (conversationally, in a Southern lilt) So…what were doing in the middle of a crater, shirt torn and wearing that…butt ugly thing around your neck?

SPIKE: (glancing down at the amulet) Savin’ the world. (He looks over at her) You?

WOMAN: (looking slightly surprised) Well, I wasn’t wearing that thing, and I’m in much prettier clothes than you, but other than that…I was there to see why the world wasn’t ending. (she glances at him) Suppose I got you to thank for that?

SPIKE: (softly, turning to stare at the passing scenery) You can thank Buffy.

(the woman turns her head to look at him for a few seconds before turning her attention back to the road. Her hands flex over the steering wheel and her brow furrows)

WOMAN: Buffy?

(Spike swallows, and we flash back to him and Buffy in the crumbling school)

Buffy: (whispered) Please…you can’t…I love you…

(Spike closes his eyes and sighs. The images flash again, and it shows the ring, nestled in it’s little black box, sparkling)

SPIKE: (to the woman) Yeah…(looks over at her) She and I…well, I loved her and she loved me. Not much to it.

WOMAN: (thoughtfully) Buffy… (she looks at him) She wouldn’t happen to know a guy named…Angel, would she?

(There’s no response for a few seconds before Spike turns his head to look at her. She shrugs)

SPIKE: What the bloody-

---

CUT TO: YELLOW SCHOOL BUS—DAY

(We see Buffy sitting in the back, tears rolling slowly down her face. One hand is hidden from hour view, but the other is hanging by her side and off the seat, clenched around something and we see blood dripping down her fingers, slipping to the floor. She has multiple gauzes wrapped around her head and one wrapped around her middle from where the Uber-Vamp stabbed her)

DAWN O.S.: -hell? What are you doing?

(it switches to Buffy POV, showing Dawn standing there, arms akimbo, and eyebrow raised.)

BUFFY O.S: (softly) W-What?

DAWN: (sternly) Whatever the hell you’re doing to your hand, stop it. (She reaches forward and grabs Buffy’s hand, pulling it into the line of camera) It’s all…bloody. (she peels apart Buffy’s hand, who tries to yank it back. Dawn glares, and the hand is pulled open, revealing the thing that had been stabbing Buffy’s hand) A…a ring?

(the camera switches out of Buffy POV, showing Buffy trying to get the ring back from Dawn, who’s holding the bloodied object to the light)

BUFFY: (loudly, crying out) G-Give it back! It’s mine!

(Dawn looks at her, startled. She slowly hands the ring back and it’s immediately snatched out of her hand and into Buffy’s, who curls into the fetal position and rocks back and forth. Dawn backs away and walks towards the front of the bus to where Giles is, and we see that Willow, Xander, Wood and Faith aren’t there.)

DAWN: (as she sits down with a thump) Okay…

---

CUT TO: HOSPITAL

(We see the hospital which they had pulled into a few hours before, Giles, Buffy and Dawn having already left. We see Xander and Willow in a few of the chairs, fast asleep and leaning on each other. The camera pans over and shows Faith, also sitting on one of the chairs and looking worried. The camera follows her gaze, leading up to a set of double doors that read EMERGENCY ROOM. The camera pushes through, entering a room where it shows Wood, being operated on)

FATIH O.S: I hope he’s alright…

---

CUT TO: THE RED CONVERTIBLE

(We see that the car is parked in front of a diner whose neon lights read Sunset Diner. The camera moves inside, showing us the only customers inside. Spike and the woman are sitting in a booth, drinking some water)

SPIKE: (trying to understand) Let me get this straight…your name is Fred Burkle, and you work with Angelus-

WOMAN/FRED: Angel. Angelus…it brings up bad memories.

SPIKE: (ignoring her) You work with Angelus, fighting the good fight while inside an evil law firm? (sits back) Huh. Not exactly the type of profession I’d’ve thought you’d have, but we’re all prone to mistakes.

FRED: Yeah…so, you and Buffy, huh?

SPIKE: Yeah…me and Buffy.

SPIKE VO: Buffy, you need to get out, love. Get out, now!

BUFFY VO: (tearfully) N-No…you can still make it out! Spike, please!

(we see Spike’s hand tighten around his glass, and a few splinters appear in it)

SPIKE VO: Buffy, listen to me: I love you. I love you so much, but you need to get out, pet! You need to live!

BUFFY VO: (whispered) Please…you can’t…I love you

(The camera closes in on Spike’s hand, wrapped around his glass, as it begins to shake. Suddenly, it shatters, and he shakily unfurls his hand.)

SPIKE: Me and Buffy…

---

CUT TO: WILLOW AND XANDER, IN A CAR

WILLOW: (shakily) So…An-Anya didn’t…

XANDER: (whispered) She didn’t. Kennedy?

WILLOW: No.

(Xander nods, still staring straight out the window. Switches to Willow POV, and her gaze follows a sign that reads: LOS ANGELES, 5 MILES)

WILLOW O.S: Buffy isn’t going to like this. Not one bit.

---

CUT TO: YELLOW SCHOOL BUS

(We see Buffy, staring out the window of the bus and still crying, the ring now clean and sparkling on her finger. It switches to her POV and we see a sign that reads YOU ARE NOW ENTERING CARMEL BY THE SEA, ENOY YOUR VISIT!)

TBC…

WILLOW AND XANDER IN CAR-DAY

(Open up to Willow sitting in the car. She’s staring out the window in confusion. The hotel seems abandoned. She gets out slowly, followed by Xander.)

(Cut to show then walking up towards the front doors. Xander stops at seeing the overgrown weeds.)

XANDER: Will, I don’t really think they’re here anymore.

WILLOW: (distracted; still heading towards the front door) Why?

XANDER: Outside of the fact that the place looks abandoned? Nothing.

WILLOW: (turning to face him; face tight) Let’s check anyway. For all we know there could be maimed bodies inside.

XANDER: And then, they still wouldn’t be able to help.

(Willow turns and walks away. Xander sighs and jogs after her. He reaches her as she pushes open the door. It squeaks a bit, another sign of abandonment. She walks down the steps slowly and he follows.)

WILLOW: (looking around) It doesn’t make any sense.

(Cut to Xander. He stands by the counter and slides a finger across it. Zoom in to show his finger covered in dust.)

XANDER: Yeah, it does. It makes perfect sense.

WILLOW (O.S.): What do you mean?

(Cut back to show the entire lobby. Xander and Willow stand across from each other, her eyes on his hand as he wipes the dust off.)

XANDER: I mean, they moved on and didn’t tell you to update your address book.

---

A STREET CORNER-DAY

(The sign hanging on the pole at the corner read, MERRY LANE. Pan down the street to show the yellow bus parked in front of a house.)

(The house is straight from a happy 50’s TV show. There’s a white picket fence, a perfectly manicured lawn. There’s a big oak tree in the front, creating the perfect shade for the walkway. The house is two stories. Two figures stand on the porch.)

(Close in. It’s GILES and an unknown male. He’s wearing a suit. His pin reads HAPPY REALTY.)

GILES: You understand why I am asking this? Buffy Summers, the one this house is for, she is a bright young lady, but she has just suffered through a tragedy,

SALESMAN: I understand completely, Mr. Giles. Carmel By the Sea has just gotten wind of the earthquake in Sunnydale and are willing to do anything possible to help survivors…assuming that’s what you meant.

GILES: (surprised) Uh, yes. That is what I meant. There were only a few still in town and went it started, only a busload escaped.

SALESMAN: (notices the out-of-place yellow bus) Love lost?

(Giles looks up, surprised by the man’s comment. He looks over to the bus where Dawn is sitting on the stairs of the bud and Buffy is leaning on her shoulder, twirling the ring on her finger. Zoom in to their conversation.)

DAWN: (staring at the ring) He gave that to you, didn’t he?

BUFFY: (still twirling it; quietly) Yeah.

DAWN: You think…maybe…he’s okay now?

SPIKE V.O.: Can we rest now, Buffy? Can we rest?

BUFFY: (louder but hoarse) I hope so.

GILES (O.S.): I believe you’re right.

---

HOSPITAL ROOM-DAY

(Faith sits in a chair by a bed. As we pan over the bed, the person sleeping on it is WOOD. She’s bouncing her leg nervously as she sleeps.)

FAITH: (low) I’m being stupid.

WOOD: (opening his eyes) Maybe if you tell me why, I can agree with you.

(Faith jumps and looks at him. She hits him on the arm.)

FAITH: Don’t do that!

WOOD: What? Scared you? Big Bad Slayer Faith?

(Cut to Faith’s face. She stares at him. Anger fades away to amusement as a corner of her mouth turns up into something resembling a smile. Zoom out to show Wood returning it.)

FAITH: Think you’ve got me pegged, huh?

WOOD: I’m working on it.

(He coughs a bit and the smile leaves Faith’s face.)

FAITH: As long as you don’t keel over anytime soon.

WOOD: Trust me, Faith. I don’t plan on leaving.

---

SUNSET DINER-DAY

(Open up to Fred and Spike sitting in the diner. Fred jumps as the glass shatters, her eyes wide.)

SPIKE: Me and Buffy…

FRED: Oh my God!

(She gets up and hurries around to his side of the booth where his hand is bleeding, bits of glass in it. A waitress looks up from the counter and then rushes over.)

(Spike stares at his hand disinterestedly as Fred and the waitress clean up the mess. The waitress leaves and returns with a first aid kit. She leaves again as Fred begins to dress his hand.)

FRED: (conversationally) I get the feeling that everything isn’t peachy.

SPIKE: (distractedly) doesn’t really matter, does it? She’s…wherever she is. I know that much. She survived ‘cause she’s supposed to. And I’m gonna find her.

FRED: But you don’t actually know, do you? You’re assuming because you hope she did, but you don’t know.

SPIKE: I don’t need to know. Buffy’s a survivor. That’s what she does. She survives.

---

HOTEL SUITE-NIGHT

DAWN (O.S.): Giles, she’s a wreck. She’s barely surviving. Whatever happened in there, when she was with Spike. It broke her.

(Cut inside the suite. It’s nice, fairly expensive looking. Dawn is sitting on the kitchen counter. Giles stands by the door, leaning against it.)

GILES: (pauses) What do you suggest I do, Dawn? Earlier, she made it fairly clear she no longer needed me as her watcher-

DAWN: (desperate) How about as her father? (Giles turns to look at her.) Giles, Buffy needs you. I can’t do it by myself.

GILES: Suppose you’re right, Dawn. Suppose she still needs me. What can I do?

DAWN: Just…love her. She lost Spike. I still don’t understand, because she’s not saying everything, but it’s digging a little bit deeper every second and I’m pretty sure that in a week, she won’t even be Buffy anymore.

(Cut to a bed room. An old wheel chair sits in the corner. Buffy sits on the bed, legs crossed. She’s twirling the ring again.)

DAWN (O.S.): (continued) She’ll just be some zombie walking around with my sister’s face. I already had it once and I’m not really into a round two.

(Buffy stills. Then she stands and walks over to the chair. She breaks a leg off, forming a sloppy stake.)

GILES (O.S.): Do you believe that moving here helps?

(She walks over to the window. Cut to her face, looking through the glass a moment. Her face is emotionless. She shoves the window open and begins to climb out.)

DAWN (O.S.): It has to.

(Buffy drops through the sky and lands on her feet. She takes off across the parking lot, disappearing into the shadows.)

---

AN OFFICE-NIGHT

(It’s expensive in décor, vast and large. Moonlight filters in through the windows as a dark figure hovers over a desk. He’s scribbling furiously. He's obviously working late. He pauses and looks up. It’s ANGEL. He reaches for the intercom and presses a button.)

ANGEL: Hello? Can someone get me info on if Fred’s gotten back and…?

(There’s no answer; not even to cut him off.)

ANGEL: Hello?!

(The door opens and in waltzes Harmony. Angel stands, in shock.)

ANGEL: Harmony?

HARMONY: (smiling; placing a cup of warm blood on his desk) Heya, boss! Working the midnight oil, huh? Fred isn’t back yet. I figured I’d get your blood before you even asked for it. Y’know, to make a good impression. I think its otter or something. All part of the good guy diet…

ANGEL: Harmony…what are you doing here?

HARMONY: I work here. For you. I’m your secretary!

(The door to his office opens once more and Fred comes in, with Spike. She’s already speaking.)

FRED: (enthusiastic) I think he’ll be willing to help-

ANGEL: (his expression dark) Spike.

(The newcomers stop.)

SPIKE: Angel.

(Harmony looks back and forth as if trying to decide how she should feel. Settling on happy, she hurls herself into Spike’s arms. He catches her in surprise.)

HARMONY: Blondie Bear!

a/n—just to let you know, I won’t be writing anything for a while after this for three reasons
1: my best friend’s mom died during a surgery to get the baby that she miscarried, out of her
2: mid-terms
3: skiing trip

About the first one… my best friend is absolutely distraught and I’m just trying to be there for her since this is obviously a really hard time for her. I mean, she’s lost both her little sister and her mother in the same day and it’s just… I’m crying thinking about it.

Can… you pray for her or something?
____________________________________________________________________

(scene opens up close behind a long leather duster, swishing behind a pair of boots. Shot moves to front and pans up slowly, revealing Buffy, holding the makeshift stake from her hotel room. The stake is held in her left hand, where her ring is glittering)

BUFFY: (to herself) OK, Buffy. You can do this; patrol without him. Just…be calm. Be ready.

(Her head turns to the side when she hears rustling. She lifts her stake, standing still before suddenly turning as a vamp jumps out of a bush, impaling itself on her stake)

BUFFY: (staring at dust in disbelief) He just practically committed suicide! Did you see-

(she turns, as if expecting someone to be there. Shot moves closer to her face as her eyes water)

BUFFY: (softly) Right.

(suddenly, something charges her and knocks her down)

BLACKOUT

---

LA – WOLFRAM AND HART

(opens up to SPIKE, with HARMONY clinging to him)

HARMONY: Blondie bear, what are you doing here? (she pulls back, frowning) And why are you all…dirty? (she steps away from him, horrified, and begins to check her outfit) I swear, if you got dirt on my sweater-

(Spike cuts her off by placing his hand over her mouth, stopping her words)

SPIKE: (to Angel, eyebrow raised) Harmony? You hired…Harmony?

ANGEL: I didn’t hire her. I don’t get to do anything.

FRED: Actually, you’re the boss, so you kind of do everything.

(Angel sighs in disgust and pushes into his desk, leaning his head in his hands)

ANGEL: (pained) Harmony, leave.

HARMONY: But boss-man…

ANGEL: Leave.

(Harmony walks out, muttering under her breath)

ANGEL: Fred, why exactly did you bring… him?

(Fred and Spike look at each other before Fred answers)

FRED: Well… he asked for a ride, so I gave him one.

(Angel lifts his head and stares at her incredulously)

ANGEL: Do you normally give rides to vampires or is this a special occasion?

(Fred and Spike exchange another look, one that Angel notices)

ANGEL: Am I missing something or—

(He cuts off, standing up and walking over to Spike. He stares him in the eyes for a few seconds)

ANGEL: (solemnly) You’re human.

---

HOTEL SUITE—NIGHT

(Dawn opens up the door to her and Buffy’s room)

DAWN: Hey sis, wanna go… (takes a look around and notices the empty room) …out… ? Buffy? Buffy? (under her breath) Shit. (Louder) Giles! We’ve got a problem!

(Giles walks into the room, looking dazedly down at a cordless hotel room phone in his hand)

GILES: (softly) I do believe we do, Dawn. (he looks up at her) That was the hospital. A couple walking through the park found Buffy… severely beaten and bleeding profusely. They… they took her to the ER. (he swallows, attempting to regain his composure) They seem to have known our location…Buffy had a hotel napkin in her pocket, along with her ID.

DAWN: (in a choked voice) Giles, what’s wrong with her?

(the shot changes to Buffy in a hospital gurney, bruised and unconscious)

GILES OS: She has a subdural hematoma... a deep bruise and swelling on the brain... and it's… it’s put her into a coma.

BLACKOUT

---

MOTEL—NIGHT

(shot opens up, showing a motel room. Shot moves inside to the bedroom, revealing Xander hunched over a map of LA. Willow appears behind him, dressed in pajamas)

WILLOW: Did you find anything?

(Xander sighs and drops his pen, turning to face her)

XANDER: Yeah… a whole bunch of anythings. Or would that be a whole bunch of somethings?

WILLOW: Still no luck finding Mr. I-Move-Without-Telling-People man? (she frowns) that was a mouthful.

XANDER: No luck, but I didn’t manage to have an interesting conversation with a man named Dana. (Willow smiles) But seriously, Wills. LA is like one giant haystack.

(Willow sits down on one of the beds)

WILLOW: (understanding what Xander’s saying) Where’s the needle?

(there’s a beat, and then Willow’s cell pone rings. She brabs it off the table side and looks at who it is)

WILLOW: That’s funny.

XANDER: Who is it?

WILLOW: It’s Giles.

---

WOLFRAM AND HART

(Angel is sitting at his desk, fingers threaded through his hair. Spike is sitting in a leather chair, staring outside. Fred is leaning against Angel’s desk)

ANGEL: I can’t believe you got it.

SPIKE: (bored) Will you get over it? I got the bloody Sham-poo, and you didn’t. Can I leave?

FRED: It’s Shan-shu, Spike, and you can’t leave. We have to test you and find out why you’re back.

(Spike stands up and heads for the door)

SPIKE: I’m not bloody being tested, I’m back because I sodding saved the world, and the Grand Poofter can go bugger his hair gel.

(His hand is on the door when the phone rings and Angel picks it up)

ANGEL: Hello? (beat) Giles?

(Spike turns around and comes to stand next to Fred, staring down at Angel)

ANGEL: Rupert, slow down… (beat) What’s wrong with her? (beat, then Angel drops his head into his hand) Oh god…

FRED: (alarmed) Angel? Angel?

SPIKE: Mate, what’s wrong?

BLACKOUT

ANGEL OS: Oh, god, no…

________________________________________________________________________