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*Some Season 7 Spoilers May Come Up*

A/N: I wrote this before S7 actually aired using spoilers from various websites.

Disclaimer: Joss is the evil mastermind of Buffy and it's characters so they don't belong to me.

**~**~**~**~**~**~**~**~**~**~**

"Spike? Hello, are you down here?" Buffy yelled, "I know you're here, I can feel…"

"Then why’d you bother to ask if I was down here?" he growled.

"Just being polite," she smirked.

"Oh, that's what they call it," he rolled his eyes for his own satisfaction.

"I have some questions for you," she softly said as she walked into the area he was hiding in.

He mumbled back, "M'not ready to give any answers."

She tried to see him in the shadows but he remained hidden. "OK, um, I won't ask any personal questions, then. I just need to know, have you seen or heard anything odd lately since you've been here?"

"You mean the spooks wandering 'round having a gay ol' time of it?" he said without hesitation.

"Then there really are ghosts haunting…"

"Yeah", he interrupted, "so if that's all you needed, then goodbye."

"My, aren’t we impolite today?...But I have one more question. Have any ideas how to make them leave?"

"Well," he pondered. He finally stepped out of the shadows and stood in front of Buffy. She didn't mean to, but she gaped at him. He looked horrible, like he had not fed in a while, or slept as a matter of fact, though his clothes looked well lived in. His hair was messy and longer, but not blonde, except for the very tips. Hmm, Buffy wondered, he's a natural brunette. She would have giggled had she not been concerned about his appearance at that moment.

"There is some ritual, I believe. Heard of it before but can't remember it. You could look it up. I think it's called "The loupe-garou demanifestation". You might want to check it out and it should point you in the right direction." He sounded so much like his normal self.

"Oh, okay…great…thanks", she turned to walk away, but looked over her shoulder at him when she reached the doorway and added, "And Spike, get a grip. If I didn't know any better, I'd almost say you were brooding."

"I'm not brooding. I'm…just…deep in thought."

"Mmhmm, whatever, see ya' around then."

A few seconds later, still pouting, "I'm not brooding." Then yelling at no one, "And I am not bloody well going to turn into Peaches, no way, no how. I'm just," more to himself, "…insanely thoughtful. Yep, that's me, on the road to insanity, just like…"

He snorted and shook his head slightly. "You've really gotta snap out of this, Spike." Silence. "Bloody wonderful, now I'm giving myself a pep talk." He looked to the ceiling and flung his arms up in exasperation. "Isn't there somebody that can help me?"

**********

Buffy had kept her secret of Spike's arrival back in Sunny D from her friends and her little sister. She had been busy in her spare time researching for the spell and even Xander and Anya had both decided to lend their researching skills as well.

"So, Buff, where in the world do we even start to look for this 'skip-to-my- lou-gherig’s disease', whatever, thingy?" Xander asked, in his usual research mode.

Anya pointed out concisely, "It's called 'loup-garou demanifestation' spell."

Buffy pushed a worn book towards them, "Well, I don't think we need to worry so much about that anymore. I found it."

"Ooooh-kay, glad I could be of some help. These researches should always be this easy. So," looking at the spell. "it looks simple enough. Don't need much either. Says it should be performed at the witching hour? Which hour?"

"Midnight," Buffy and Anya said in unison.

"Oh"

**********

~11:45 p.m. that same night, Sunnydale High~

Buffy, Xander, and Anya were preparing things for the spell that Anya had volunteered to perform so none of them were aware that Dawn was hiding in the shadows watching them. Buffy had informed her what they were doing but insisted she stay home and go to bed since it was a school night. Had she ever listened to Buffy before this?

On the opposite side of the room and a little farther away lurked a familiar vampire. He was curious, too, and wanted to be there in case…well, just in case.

"It looks like everything’s in place, now let me look over the chant again", Anya picked up the book and started reading it.

Suddenly a scream, a loud crash and Dawn yelling for Buffy.

"Dawn! Is it Tuesday, because I swear…" Buffy was miffed and picked up any weapon that was close as Xander followed suit. Spike stopped himself from moving in to help. He wasn't sure how the whelp would handle him jumping into the fray unannounced and he wasn't really feeling ready to be staked at that very moment. He knew Buffy could handle the situation, but if she needed him he wouldn't hesitate at risking his demise.

Buffy ran into the adjoining room with Xander lagging behind, and stopped in amazement. There were spirits everywhere, and the weird thing was…they all looked very familiar to her.

"Isn't that Principle Snyder? And Larry and, and…Miss Calendar!? Buff…these are people who never made it out of Sunnydale alive."

"Wow!...Um, Anya, isn't it about that time?" she yelled to her.

They heard Anya start the incantation, just as Buffy and Xander were beginning to wrestle their way through to get to Dawn. Swinging their weapons at the spirits didn't do any good, they went right through them, but the duo was getting closer to the frightened girl. It seemed like it was going on forever and then nothing. Dawn was huddled against the wall while both Buffy and Xander swung their weapons through the air. Anya stepped into the room.

"Well, there you go then," and she smiled at the three of them. All four stood and looked around the empty room.

"Why can't all the beasties and nasties be this easy to dispose of all the time?" Buffy wondered out loud.

Spike slunk back into the shadows.

**********

~Somewhere over in England~

Willow groggily sat up in her bed and looked around. The clock on the night stand read 8:06 a.m. She had been there recovering over the summer from her hell-bent escapade and she found it was a slow process, though she did feel better with each passing day. Giles was around often (not only because his flat was nearby) to check in on her and even though she had come dangerously close to killing him, and everyone else, he had forgiven her and taken the former witch under his wing, guiding her through the healing steps.

Today she woke up more troubled than usual. Instead of feeling rested, she felt agitated, almost irritable. What a strange dream she had. Her sleep had been invaded by odd scenes, not necessarily nightmarish, but leaning on the edge of that realm. All her friends were there including Spike and it seemed to her like someone or something was sending her some kind of cryptic message, a message she would eventually have to decode. Well, in any case, she would definitely bring it up at her daily meeting with Giles.

Giles had been up for a bit, shuffling paperwork as usual. He had been working out of his flat ever since he returned to England, doing his normal research for the Council. He had grown lonely over the months missing his "family" back in the states, but was happy he could bring Willow back home with him. He considered her like a daughter as well and he loved being the doting "father". He knew in his heart that for Willow to even start her recovery she needed love, support, and above all forgiveness, and he had given it all. This morning was none the usual; he looked forward to his daily visit with her.

When Giles walked into the lounge area, a smidgen of concern came over him. Willow looked troubled today, sitting there in an over-sized chair all curled up staring at nothing in particular. Everything about this scene was normal except the look upon her face.

"Good morning, Willow. How are you feeling today?" Did he sound too chipper?

"`Morning Giles, I'm fine," she tried to sound reassuring.

"Is the look on your face something I should be worried about?" So he caught on.

"Oh…I was just being thinky girl. You know how I am; can get totally lost in my own head. But I do have one thing to talk about."

"Alright." He sat across from her so they could be at eye level.

"You know I dream every night and they're usually non-threatening dreams, usually about Tara, right?" He shook his head. Her voice lowered as she leaned towards him. "The one last night…completely different. No Tara, but all my friends this time, and something was just not right. Something was off."

"In what way?" he enquired.

"It was like they were all trapped together in the same room but you know…separate. All of them were there and they looked lost, like they were searching. Something or someone…was holding them. Buffy, Xander, Dawn. Even Anya and Spike were there but they were kept a good distance from the other three. I couldn't see what it was. It kept changing and I think it came from the Hellmouth. It called me, beckoned me to come and save them. But my friends turned their backs on me, everyone except Spike and Anya. They just looked at me with sadness and fear. They all hate me. My friends. They despise me for what I did. They will never trust me, never look at me the same way and I'll never be able to face them, ever again. I'm not sure if I will even be able to go back home." and tears flowed freely down her cheeks.

"Oh, Willow". Giles pulled her into a comforting hug.

**********

Anya sat behind the counter counting the till at the end of the day as Dawn swept the shop floor and straightened items on the shelves. The former had complied with the shopkeeper to work off any debt she accrued with her sticky fingers phase.

"Buffy should be here any minute, An," she said over her shoulder. "She promised I could go do some slayage tonight…supervised of course. I am so ready to kick some major demon ass."

Anya stopped in mid-count and looked up at the teenager.

"Oh, sorry. You so know I don't include you in the "demon" crowd, right?"

"Uh huh". She didn't sound like she believed Dawn didn't have a problem with her vengeance status.

"Changing the subject," she mumbled to herself. "So, how goes it with you and Xander?"

"We're…on friendly terms."

"Friendly or frien---"

The bell over the entrance jingled. "Hey guys. What's up?" Buffy smiled at the both of them. "So Dawnster, ready to go with?"

"Yep, so ready. See ya tomorrow afternoon, Anya."

"Bye, Anya," Buffy waved as she headed out the door.

The peace and quiet settled in. Anya finished up her paperwork and cleaning behind the counter, sighing to herself mainly. So much had happened over the past months since she had become a lonely vengeance demon once again. She liked the power but the benefits were not all that great seeing that she had lost so much and now even her friends looked at her like a freak of nature. No wonder she and Spike got along so well. Oh, so don't want to go there. What had happened between them was such a monumentally huge mistake, and it only took the pain away for a moment replacing it with guilt. She knew he had felt the same.

She stood at the counter a bit longer pondering if she would ever be able to get in their good graces again, though she still wasn't sure if she wanted to fight along with them or against them. She had helped on a few occasions to beat the nasties of Sunnydale but her demon side wanted to do the revenge for the poor souls who needed it. 'Will have to work through those issues in the near future', she thought. Right at this moment, she just wanted to go home, relax and not think about all these problems. Easier said than done.

Anya set off on her short walk home. It was a nice night and she hoped she didn't run into anything she didn't want to have to deal with. Along the way, she heard a woman crying but it was too dark to make out anything. It seemed to be coming from one of the alleys so Anya reached into her bag and pulled out her cross and stake, just in case, because you never knew what creatures lurked in those parts. She walked a ways down the alley when she came across a normal looking woman who was sitting and leaning up against the wall. She had been crying for quite some time it seemed.

"Miss, are you alright?" Anya asked the bewildered lady.

"Who are you? What do you want? I don't have anything."

"I'm not here to hurt you, I'm here to help. What’s happened? Vampire, a demon, a…"

"A what? It's just my boyfriend." Anya looked at her oddly. "He’s such a jerk. I've told him time after time I don't want anything to do with him anymore. He says he loves me so much he can't bear to lose me. He's always stalking me, trying to make me come down to his level. Creep. He's not very nice to me most of the time and I don't want to be with him anymore…I don't think. I wish…I wish he would just go live deep in the ground far, far away with all the other worms, cause that's what he is…a disgusting, slimy worm."

"Done."

TBC





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