Author's Chapter Notes:
This has been re submitted after some slight changes ....Thanks to Eve for her Beta work on this fic.
Chapter 1


The Hellmouth was closed and Spike had died closing it. Buffy was grief stricken when she went to the LA offices of Wolfram & Hart 22 days later. She had not been there before because the younger Slayers needed her to be a strong guiding figure. The slash through her stomach was healing, but slowly.

The security guard stopped her in the lobby, “Excuse me Miss, but you need an appointment to see any of the lawyers here.”

“Just call Angel and tell him the Slayer is here to see him. He’ll let me up, if he doesn’t want me to start slaying his staff, okay?”

Buffy was pissed off that Angel had not called her back; she had left message after message for the last three days and today was the fourth. He knew Spike was dead; he had to for Gods sake. Spike was his grand-childe; he must have had some feelings for him.

Out of the corner of her eye Buffy caught a glimpse of bleached blonde hair and a black leather duster, but as she turned around it was gone. She shook her head and tried to shake of the feelings of despair to prevent her from breaking down in front of some security lackey. Damit, she was The Slayer.

“Um, Miss Summers, Mr. Angel says you can go up now.”

She walked over to the lift as a young woman in a white lab coat got in, “What floor do you need? “She asked in a nervous voice.

“I’m going to see Angel.” was Buffy’s sharp reply. She was in no mood to be starting conversations at this moment in time. Angel was avoiding her and she wanted to know why…

The lift arrived at its destination and the young woman spoke again as she also left the lift, “Angel’s office is straight ahead, but you need to see his secretary Harmony first.”

Buffy nodded her head, mumbled thanks and then strode across the floor to a high sided desk. Looking over the top she saw Harmony reading a magazine and painting her nails. “Excuse me; I’d like to see Angel.” Harmony looked up sharply and saw Buffy standing there looking none to pleased.

“Buffy, Angel never said you had an appointment, I’ll phone through and announce you’re here, shall I?” Harmony was as nervous as hell. The last time she had seen Buffy was when she had left Spike in Sunnydale, and that wasn’t all that great. Buffy had been kidnapped and tied up by Spike, and then he was going to stake his sire for her. What a mess that was. And she hadn’t forgotten her failed attempt of kidnapping Buffy’s sister. No, Harmony didn’t want the Slayer anywhere near her, so she picked up the phone and called through to Angel. Harmony was also concerned that Angel didn’t seemed to have called Buffy when she told him about her calls. He was even more impolite to her when she mentioned the calls, than he was on a normal day.

“Angel, um err The Slayer is here to see you.” She tried to say without stuttering down the phone. “He says for you to go in. It’s that door straight across there. I’ll bring some refreshments in a second, okay? Do you need anything else?” She informed the now irate Slayer while she hoped she wouldn’t turn to dust in the next few seconds.

Angel opened the door just as Buffy was going to open it for herself and leaned forward to kiss her, but she pulled back “What the hell do you think you are doing?”

“Just saying hello as always.” Looking Buffy straight in the eye he could see she was annoyed “Buffy, just come in and calm down. What is upsetting you?”

“You! You are, what’s upsetting me you uncaring bastard…” Buffy had tears in her eyes. “Your grand-childe dies, you know he was in my heart, and I called for three days solid and you don’t even have the guts to call me back…you...you ponce”

With that she broke down in floods of tears on the couch. “I don’t feel well, Giles says it’s the shock of losing Spike and I just wanted someone who was supposed to care too, to talk to me about him.”

Angel sat on the couch besides Buffy and put his arm around her as she was sobbing loudly and shaking. He hadn’t realised his grand-childe had gotten so deeply into her heart.

“Shh now Buffy, I’m here now, you are going to be fine. It’ll be hard for a while, but you will be fine. I’ll help if you want?”

All of a sudden there was a loud roar “Get your fuckin’ hands off her, you wanker!” it was unmistakeable Spike’s voice so Buffy looked up just as he ran in all his glory with his duster billowing behind him through the wall and desk towards them.

“Spike?” She whispered before fainting.

Spike looked on panic stricken as Angel caught the fainting Slayer in his arms.

“Help her you poof, why has she fainted, Buffy doesn’t faint, she’s the Slayer!”

“Spike, seeing you after she thought you were gone forever, is what has done this, you igit…”

Angel lay Buffy carefully on the couch, then went to his phone to call Harmony.

“Get Fred down here. Buffy has fainted. I think she is a little unwell and get Wesley and Gunn in here too.”

“Angel! Do something you git! Check her breathing so she doesn’t choke. Or perhaps you’d like her to choke, so she’d be out of your way too, you bastard…”

“Spike! Shut up, stop standing in the middle of my desk and sit down if you can. I’m doing everything I can at this precise moment. Fred is on her way and if you would listen more closely you twit, you would hear that Buffy’s breathing is ok and her heartbeats are both strong.”

Then it occurred to both vampires what Angel had said. Heartbeats. Not one, but two. They both stood stock still as they looked over to the unconscious Slayer on the couch and listened. There it was, faintly, but it was there, the little and fast thud-thud of a second heartbeat.

TBC…





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