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Author's Chapter Notes:
I'd just like to take an extra second to thank you sweeties for reviewing. I'm nearly done with the rewrite of the sequal so look for it to start the day this sucker is finished. Which with how its going will most likely be Wed or Thurs.
NOW!

The demon was happy things were going so well. The last of his lessons would be simple.

The feelings were there. He recognized them. He now needed to be encouraged to act upon them.

Angel waited. He'd been here for hours, and he was doing well. If he could get through the last of his tests, soon he'd be on his way home.

"How long have you been in love with her?" The question came from nowhere.

Angel saw the demon waiting for an answer. "Buffy? From the first time I saw her."

"No, not the Slayer. You will always have love for her. I am speaking of the Seer."

"Oh." Angel looked at the ground. The dirt was easily pushed into a little pile as he shuffled his feet. "Awhile," was his only response.

"I see. Why have you not acted on it?"

Angel's face fell. It was obvious. "I can't...I can't give her what she deserves." The demon waited for more, but nothing else was said.

"What can't you offer? You have a home. You have love. You have much to offer. What do you believe is the problem?"

Angel felt empty. "It doesn't matter anyway. She's got Groo now. I even gave her the money so she could go be with him. Hell," Angel threw his hands in the air, "I even got that magical contraceptive just so she could...keep her visions."

Angel turned his back on the demon guide. "Is that my last lesson? To figure out I can't have Cordelia? I already know that." Angel slumped against the wall and slid to sit on the dirt floor.

'Maybe this won't be as easy as I thought.' She watched the defeated form of the dark Vampire.

He was unmoving. Hands holding his head. She walked over to him and sat on the ground beside him. "Did you ever give her a chance?"

Angel almost laughed. "A chance to what? Become celibate?"

Angel picked himself up off the floor and began walking through the cavern, away from the room he'd been in earlier. The guide followed. "I left Buffy because she'd never have a normal life with me. Now I'm back where I was three years ago. No way to love. No way I can live with myself for letting her love me."

He stopped mid-stride. "Of course I didn't give her a chance. In the end, I'd just have to leave. I can't do it. Not again." Angel began his walk once more.

The demon walked behind him for awhile, letting the Vampire's thoughts penetrate her mind. Then something struck her. A magical contraceptive...for her visions. "Angel, I am confused."

Angel stopped again and turned to look behind him. "What don't you get? I have one moment of happiness, I become Angelus, Angelus kills Cordy. Not really my idea of a healthy relationship."

"But, you just said there was a contraceptive to stop the magics that would transfer the visions to Groo. Why wouldn't that work on your soul?" This had not been her plan of attack, but this was better.

Angel turned his head to the side and thought. "It's a different kind of magic." Angel looked over the demon. "Isn't it?"

"For that answer, you'll have to ask the person who makes it. It seems to me, if there is magic enough to hold back a prophecy, it would stand to reason there would be one to stop a curse."

Angel looked back at the demon. "I need to go. Now!" Angel stated plainly. The demon didn't move.

"I need to go home...Now!" His glare was intense.

The demon raised her arms and spoke. "Akoshta. May the Powers watch over you."

~~`~~

Buffy walked into The Magic Box after her shift was over. She didn't even bother to change clothes, and the stench of the Doublemeat clung to her.

Anya had called her at work and told her there was an emergency, and to come over as soon as she was done with her shift. With that in mind she knew no one was dying or being attacked, But with Buffy‘s one track mind lately there was only one other thing she could think of except lost cash, that would cause the ex-demon distress.

"Thank God!" Anya ran over to Buffy as she strolled in. "This is so bad."

"You told Xander about Spike?"


"No, I haven't. That's the problem. I'm losing my mind, Buffy! It's very uncomfortable. I want you to tell him. Call him at work." Anya ran behind the counter and tried to hand Buffy the phone. "Please call him. After he came home last night, all he could do was complain about having to let Spike help. Even though we all hate him. You included. I swear, Buffy, one more day and I'm going to need one of those padded rooms they always show on TV."

Buffy couldn't help but giggle. Anya was so animated sometimes. "Anya...one more day. I promise. I would rather tell Dawn and Xander at the same time, and with everyone else here, including Spike. Moral support. OK?"

Anya frowned, hung up the phone, and stared down the Slayer. "One more day. After that Spike will either be here and you'll tell, or he won't be and I do." Anya wasn't asking she was threatening. She stepped back behind her counter and began counting the till for the day.

"Ok, Anya. I'm going home now." Buffy headed for the door.

"You may want to shower," Anya spoke plainly.

"Big part of the plan," Buffy sang as she exited the shop.

~~`~~

Another quiet night. Last night was the most action she'd seen in the town in almost a week. It was like the demons knew she had better things on her mind than Slaying.

She tried to keep her mind off of him, but it was like trying not to remember that tomorrow is your birthday. It was an odd comparison, but felt true. Tomorrow, when Spike came back, she wanted to tell him, tell everyone, that it was ok. That it was happening. Tell him she was sorry for...everything.

But the hours were passing so slowly. One shift at work lasted forever. The patrol was never-ending. She still had two more cemeteries to clear before she could go home and pretend to sleep.

She crossed the familiar path to Spike's crypt and entered. This had become a secret ritual, stop and practice telling Xander about Spike.

Dawn, she knew, wouldn't fight with her. She loved Spike as it was. Xander. Oh, God.

"Maybe we could do a spell?" She rethought that. "Not likely. Spells bad."

She started her mock speech standing in the center of the musty crypt. "Xander, I know how you feel about Spike. What you don't know is, I love him. I don't know when or how it happened. At first, I thought I was just lonely, and that I needed to feel something other than worry and responsibility."

She paused and turned to face the candle strewn wall with confidence. "I didn't know what to do. I knew, and even now I know, that I am The Vampire Slayer. That hasn't changed, but I have. He has. And we aren't the first ones. I don't know how to explain this so it will be ok with you, but I swear, I have to be with him. I love him. I can't change that. I tried. I tried not to, but I do."

Buffy took a breath. "Well, I think that one's the best so far." She smiled, and left to finish her patrol.

That night, Buffy finally had an un-fitful sleep.

~~`~~

"So," Spike started, "what we got goin' next? Do I have to call Giles dad? Cuz that would be just the perfect ending to a perfect day."

"No more tests, Spike, but you need to see something." The screen reappeared behind him. "You and your grand-sire have been tested. I can tell you now, you both have passed." Spike's smile was wide and bright as the chuckle came forward.

Happy. He was happy.

His guide directed the peroxide blonde to look over to the screen. There before him stood the Slayer, boarding a bus. "Where's she going?"

"Home."

Spike looked over to the demon. "Where's she been?"

"She left to speak with the very Slayer you tried to kill that night in New York." The scene showed Buffy, stepping up the first step onto the bus. Spike looked in awe. He felt like it'd been weeks since he'd last seen her. Buffy looked back into the crowd.

"There's a Vampire there. She can sense it," Spike said. "She'll be ok, won't she?" He looked pleadingly at the demon.

"She senses a Vampire. She senses you watching her." Spike's shock was plastered on his face. A gray finger pointed at the woman, now seated, looking out the bus window.

"I know she can tell it's me from across the street...but from here? Wherever here is?"

“She senses a presence.”

The screen's picture faded to two figures walking through, what Spike called, his cemetery. There was Xander walking with Buffy. She looked very serious as she walked with Xander.

"What's wrong? What's she saying to him?" Spike was almost frantic.

"I will allow it." The demon passed her hands over his ears in a swift motion.

"You know, Xand, Spike has been helping. I mean, he's volunteered to help me patrol. Actually, I think he watches the news for things I might go check out, but still, he's always willing to help," Buffy said.

"Figured that out, did she?" Spike smiled despite himself.

The Vampire watched and listened. Buffy was getting ready to tell Xander something, and it sounded like it had to do with Spike, then a Vamp jumped on Xander's back. "Bloody perfect!" Spike proclaimed.

He watched as Buffy staked the Vampire and was attacked herself. "Oh for...this is just ridiculous." Spike looked over at the demon. "That's Erica...turned her the second time I went to Sunnydale. Right after I got rid of 'the Annoying One.' She always was more trouble than she was worth." He looked back at the screen.

"I just made him, damn it!! Do you have any idea how hard it is to find a good mate?"

A fight ensued on the screen. Soon Buffy was on top of the Vampiress. "I have a very, very clear idea of what it's like." Then there was just Buffy.

Xander came over; she got up, then said the strangest thing to her friend. "Let him try. Let him help."

And she left.

Spike looked over at the demon. "What was 'at all about?"

She looked over at him. "Do you want to know?"

The Vampire smirked. "Well, yeah. The reason I asked."

She directed him to the screen once more. Now the inside of his crypt was plainly in view.

Buffy walked in, clad in black leather pants, black tank, and the black jacket. The very outfit that the demon had been wearing when he arrived.

She stopped in the middle of the room and took a breath. Spike held his breath as he listened to his Slayer confess her love to the air, to the room, to the candles.

Unmoving, eyes wide, Spike spoke quietly to himself. 'This...this is what I wish for. This moment.' He paused at the sight. Buffy loved him.

"I'm leaving now." Spike had no intention of asking if this was ok. "I said, I am going. I will keep my promises, but I have to go. NOW!"

The demon nodded. "It has been a pleasure, Spike." She lifted her arms. "Akoshta. May the Powers bless and watch over you."


Chapter End Notes:
Anyone else ever wonder why Angel never thought of that on the show??? Drove me nutts. Duh, magical contraceptive. Bah.



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