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Author's Chapter Notes:
Hi. Sorry about the delay with this chapter. I'm trying to also write a huge paper while I'm writing this fic, so sadly the paper has to come first.
Also, I know some of you are a little concerned about the Spike/Other warning, but I promise it will all be okay.
Enjoy :)
Buffy’s plane had landed two hours ago. By now she had already checked into a hotel, unpacked the few things she’d brought with her, and taken a shower. Squeaky clean, clothed, and otherwise ready to leave, she sat on her rather large bed checking her email on the laptop that had become a necessity in her new life. It wasn’t like she was trying to delay seeing Angel again. She was just making sure that she hadn’t received any very important emails or anything. Like a coupon from her favorite stores…ok, she was definitely stalling. The thought of seeing Angel again filled her with a kind of dread.

When she had last seen him, right before the world almost ended, she had told him that though she wasn’t ready for it then, that maybe sometime in the future they would be together. And at the time she thought it was a possibility, that maybe she’d told him the truth. But the second her hand had burst into flame inside Spike’s it became a lie. Whether it had ever been true to begin with, Buffy didn’t know. But she knew now that although some part of her would always be in love with Angel, he would never be what she needed again. The truth was, she wasn’t sure if any man, or let’s face it any vampire, could be what she needed again.

Spike had been what she needed. In the last few days before he’d burned to save the world she had finally let him in. And for all the despair and death that she had felt in those few days, she had also felt warm, and oddly safe standing on the mouth of hell. All day she made plans, gave orders, and made speeches. She was the first to rise and the last to go to sleep. But when she did go to sleep, there was Spike. Spike who woke up the second she entered the basement as if he’d been waiting for her to show up all along. Who opened his arms as she walked down the stairs. Who whispered how much he loved her as she fell asleep in his arms, his chest pressed into her back. Somehow he’d given her everything she needed in those moments.

But he was gone. Without warning she felt tears about to spill over from her eyes but determinedly wiped them away. This wasn’t the time.

So yes, she was avoiding her confrontation with Angel. She wasn’t sure what to say if he asked her if she was “cookies” yet. Truthfully she didn’t really want to explain. Angel’s disapproval of her feelings for Spike wasn’t really something she wanted to deal with right now. Or ever. Mostly she just wished the dreams would come back. That she could at least still have him while she was asleep.

When she found that there was nothing else for her to waste her time with that she could even remotely argue would be useful and she could picture Giles’ disapproving face in her head, she decided that it was finally time to go. She grabbed her standard stake and a few other carefully stashed weapons just in case. She was going into the den of evil. Quite literally. She had not spoken to Angel since that night in the cemetery. None of them had. He had sent them his new address along with some details of his taking over Wolfram & Hart to assure them that he had in fact not lost either his soul or his marbles, but that was it. All this being said, Buffy wasn’t completely sure if Angel wasn’t the one about to cause the apocalypse she was here to stop. Or rather learn about according to Giles. Which was something she still didn’t quite understand. Why was she here in the first place if they already knew the apocalypse would not be a successful one?

She shrugged and figured that Giles’ reasons would become clearer as the apocalypse unfolded. With this final thought she walked out of her hotel room.




It was almost an hour later that she finally slipped through Wolfram & Hart’s security undetected. Truthfully their security had almost made her laugh out loud. There was a standard metal detector which had of course beeped when she walked through it with her carefully concealed knife, but she had scarcely had time to think about trying to flirt with the security guy before he had rushed her onwards into the rest of the building. She would have to tell Angel about his complete lack of adequate security. That was a nice, safe topic to talk about. With the complete lack of “cookies and… ‘What the hell is going on in this building?’ she thought as she finally saw people dashing from one side of the building to the next, some screaming orders at subordinates as they went. Some poor secretary dude was even getting beaten with a briefcase by his boss. And this was only the first floor.

‘Well it looks like I’m here just in time. World saveage here I come. Again.’ Buffy thought as she headed towards the elevator trying to avoid getting hit by the secretary that had finally had enough and was now chasing his boss with an axe. She wondered if she should interfere for a few seconds but then saw them both get jumped by security men and umm demons, and figured they would deal without her help. She wished she could ask someone where to find Angel, but the place seemed to be severely lacking in helpful, normal people at the moment. Oh well. She figured the CEO would be hanging out on the top floor of the building anyways.




Buffy strode purposefully towards what she could only assume was Angel’s office. It wasn’t like the door said “Office of Evil Incorporated President” or anything, but it was big and imposing, and therefore probably belonged to whoever was running this place. Although to be fair at the moment no one seemed to be running this firm. Everyone was just scrambling madly. There was a secretary’s desk outside Angel’s presumed office but no one was there. Buffy figured his secretary was probably screaming her head off somewhere else.

As she approached the door she heard slightly panicked voices coming from inside as well, one of which she distinctly recognized as Angel’s and two more she did not know. She strayed closer to the door listening to what was being said. An unfamiliar, somewhat mousy voice said:

“Well, obviously they're connected. Maybe when Spike's matter was reintegrated into physical form…”

Spike. No, she couldn’t have heard right. Spike was dead.

“What?” she said as she suddenly found herself inside the room, behind the man and woman that stood before Angel’s desk. They both jumped towards her, startled by her sudden appearance.

“Buffy?” Angel said, standing up from his chair and walking around his desk towards her.

Buffy refused to look at him, focusing her attention on the woman that had spoken before.

“What did you just say?”

“Umm you mean the part about matter being reintegrated into physical form? Because I could explain that in detail if you wanted…but of course first you would have to understand a few basic physics concepts and…”

“Not that.” Buffy said, her tone much harsher than she had meant to make it. The girl stopped babbling immediately and looked at her waiting for some kind of further clarification.

“Buffy,” Angel tried again, “maybe you should sit down and tell us why you’re here. We’re having some office issues at the moment and…”

“I meant the part about Spike,” she said, cutting Angel off.

“Oh. Well he’s corporeal again I guess. Although I haven’t seen him myself. Angel just told me…”

“He’s alive?” Buffy couldn’t help the slight hitch in her throat as she said these words.

“Yes.”

“Buffy, Spike really isn’t our biggest problem right now,” Angel insisted. “Now if you’ll just sit down and tell me what you’re doing here I can…”

“Where is he?” she asked.

“Ok, I really think you should sit down and we can…”

Buffy made it across the room to him before any of them even realized what was happening and Angel found himself being slammed into the wall behind him with a force that would have seriously hurt a human. Buffy’s right arm pressed tightly into his neck, keeping him immobile against the wall.

“Tell me to sit down one more time and I’m going to play dentist with your fangs, Angel. Got it?”

“Yes,” he struggled to say.

“Good. Now, one more time. Where is he?”she asked again pushing her arm into his neck even more painfully at the end of her question.

“He took off down the hallway to the left as you exit the office,” the man finally spoke up. “He probably found the first available office and…” but he also did not get a chance to finish his sentence before Buffy had dropped Angel and was sprinting towards the door.

The three watched Buffy go as Angel leaned over, clutching his now rather purple neck.

“Damn it,” Angel said.


Chapter End Notes:
Fred's first line in this chapter is taken from the episode "Destiny".
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