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Author's Chapter Notes:
Story takes place after NFA, non-comics canon, so The Immortal's involved. This is a crossover with Highlander, and as I have only a passing familiarity with their 'verse, may not be fully in keeping with their timeline.
It was her first dance, and everybody else was already out on the floor. She'd been so excited about this, eager to show off the beautiful dress her mother had surprised her with and the new necklace and earrings that were left on her bed, but now that she looked out at the dancing couples, she felt the thrill draining away. They all looked so comfortable, so natural and normal, each face alight with a pure joy that she didn't think she'd ever known. Xander and Willow smiled at her and beckoned her onto the floor to join them and their partners, but she shook her head. "I can't," she whispered.

"Be a shame for you to miss out on the whole dance, luv. Got all dolled up for it, must wanna take your turn out there, yeah?" His voice shivered down her spine, but she didn't dare look over her shoulder at him. Bad things always happened when she looked back.

"I- I'm not ready. I don't know the steps. I haven't practiced. I-" His snort cut off her litany of reasons for holding back.

Cool air washed over the side of her neck as he leaned forward, a hand sliding up her arm so lightly that she almost missed the caress. "That's a load of crap, Slayer. Anyone knows the dance, it's you. Made up your own steps, picked your own partners… hell, even changed the music, didn't you?"

Did she really do all that? "Only because you said I could,” she argued. "I was willing to compromise, if you remember.” A strong arm slipped around her waist, and she sighed as she was pulled back against a lean body. Her eyes drifted closed and she rested her head on his shoulder. "Dance with me, Spike."

He chuckled, the sound vibrating through her. "All we've ever done, innit?"

"It's what we're good at," she replied with a smile, tilting her head to offer the bare expanse of her throat up for his gaze, the heat from the blue eyes almost burning her as they swept over her skin.

Lips ghosted briefly over her pulse point before he straightened and stepped back. "Can't dance with you anymore, pet. Got a different piper callin' my tune."

She turned to look and the pain in his eyes nearly undid her. He looked as though he'd seen all the suffering of the world, like it all rode on his shoulders. "Spike, wait-" She stretched her hand out to him, and before her eyes he began to burn, flames eating away at his skin until he crumbled to ash.

Pain sizzled across her hand and she jerked it back, then stared in horrified fascination at the blood that ran freely from the numerous cuts there. "It's Summers blood," Dawn said, and Buffy jerked her head to the side to see her sister standing in a sickeningly familiar gown, blood dripping slowly out from under the hem. "Just like mine."

"She's not ready to know that yet," a low voice purred. Buffy turned to see a tall, dark figure clad in leather and satin come prowling out of the shadows. He walked over to her, then kicked his feet through the ashes on the floor, scattering them into a wind that swirled up around him. "Nice to see he made something of himself, isn't it?"

"You," she breathed, lowering her bloody hand. She gripped the stake tightly, praying that her hold wasn't too slick to drive it home.

Angelus smiled "Hello, lover."

Her own scream woke her up, the sound echoing in her ears long after it faded away. Buffy bolted upright in bed, panting as she struggled to get her bearing back. Spike… dancing… burning... God, why couldn't she stop dreaming about him?

A brief glance at the calendar on her bedside table was all it took to remind her why: yesterday he'd been gone for a year. She hadn't done anything to mark the occasion, but then there was no grave for her to visit, no cemetery to keep her vigil in the way Spike had done for her when she was gone. She just had her memories and the increasingly awkward reactions from her friends anytime she mentioned him. It seemed only Buffy and Dawn really wanted to remember the bleached blond, snarky vampire that had saved the world… but maybe that was how it should be. They were the ones he'd really considered family, after all.

She slid out of bed and headed into the bathroom to start getting ready for the day. As she stepped into the shower, she wondered what Spike would think of her life now. What would he say about Adam, and her new life in Italy? Probably something scathing, with plenty of British insults thrown in for good measure, she decided, chuckling at the thought of his outrage if he knew she was considered one of the glitterati now.

Yeah, it was a good bet that Spike would hate seeing her on Adam's arm, but she'd needed someone and Adam had been there for her. She knew he was usually the love 'em and leave 'em type, had heard warning after warning at almost every club they went to, and was practical enough to admit that she might well have ended up another notch in his bedpost if she'd actually been stupid enough to go to bed with him when he first asked her. Buffy often thought he'd offered out of a sense of obligation, some kind of belief that he'd be insulting her if he didn't try to seduce her, because when she'd said no, he'd actually seemed relieved. And he was right- they were much better as friends, and God only knew she'd needed those.

Somehow it was easier to talk about Spike to someone who'd never known him. Dawn was so busy with all of her new friends that Buffy didn't want to bring her down, Willow was off studying magic, and Xander wasn't even an option. While he'd lost someone as well, he'd never liked Spike, absolutely hated the thought of her and Spike, and was also wandering around Africa gathering Slayers. So that left Adam.

He was a lot like Spike, actually- both were incredibly handsome, arrogant, handsome, sexy as hell men who were absolutely certain of their appeal and place in the world. They were pretty damn tactile, too, and she wondered if Spike would've enjoyed cuddling in front of a movie as much as Adam did. From the times she'd woken up wrapped around him and the way he'd looked at her when she curled in his lap during Willow's spell, she was pretty sure the answer was yes. Granted, Adam didn't love her, wouldn't let a god torture him to keep her little sister safe or seek out a soul for her, but that was okay. Those were Spike things, and she kinda wanted to keep it that way.

Rinsing off, she stepped out of the shower and wrapped a towel around herself. After knocking on Dawn's door to get her up, she went back to her room and started getting dressed. Looking at her calendar again, she sighed. It just didn't seem right not to do something. If Dawn didn't have any plans today maybe they could go out to lunch, have a few glasses of wine and spend some time remembering their vampire.





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