Buffy walked into the flat, finding it strangely empty. ‘Hmm… Guess Andrew went out with those oh-so-fake supermodel friends of his,’ she thought.

As if on cue, the door opened, revealing Andrew and said supermodel girls.

The second he had closed the door, Buffy started the yelling. “Where the hell is Dawn?! You know I’m only letting you stay here if you watch her!”

“Relax, Buffy, she’s at Vanessa’s house… And don’t worry, I checked with her mom first,” he added at Buffy’s frightened look.

Buffy collapsed onto the couch, exhausted from patrolling. If possible, she thought there were more vamps in Rome than there had been in Sunnydale… Okay, maybe not that many.

Seeing her, Andrew said “Were you patrolling by yourself again?” He sighed, knowing full well what Giles would have said. “You know you’re not the only Chosen One anymore. You could have asked one of the other Slayers to go out tonight.”

“Faith’s in Cleveland with Robin, Vi and Rona went for a normal night out for the first time since they came to Sunnydale, Xander's in Africa finding more Slayers, and Kennedy’s out at the Bronze with Willow… Speaking of which, who would have thought there would be a Bronze in both Rome and Cleveland… Not to mention about 100 other cities.”

Ignoring her statement about the club, Andrew countered, “So? Ask one of the other girls.”

“No offense to them, but they need a lot more training before they can go out on their own. Why do you think we train them nearly everyday? And to think I thought I would have a normal life now… I don’t think I could handle a normal life…” She laughed.

“Yeah, all that time being the only one… Excuse me, two… I guess old habits die hard…”

“Old habits of what? Demon fighting?” Buffy questioned, mostly to herself. “You know what? I think I’m going to go to bed… Got a little tired. Maybe I’m getting fragile in my old age,” she joked.

As she stood to leave, Andrew suddenly remembered something. “Oh! By the way, Angel and Spike came to visit you… They said something about a demon body, too…”

“Oh my God!” Buffy squealed like a little girl with her first crush. “Wait… Spike? But I thought…”

“Umm…” Andrew suddenly realized he had a lot of explaining to do, because he had let too much slip. But first- “Don’t’ worry, I told them you were out with the Immortal, and they should both move on.”

“WHAT?!?!?! ANDREW!!!!!!! I’m gonna kill you!!!” Andrew could have sworn that all of Rome could hear her scream as she started chasing him around the house. Unfortunately for him, she had Slayer speed still. After she had caught him, she tried to keep her voice calm. “Did you know that I slayed the Immortal tonight and that our “relationship” was a plan to get information? A plan that Giles made up?”

Andrew gulped- or tried to at least. “Umm, Buffy… Could you stop strangling me?” he gasped. When she loosened her grip slightly, he said, “Okay, I’ll explain… Wait. Did you just say that all that snuggling on the couch was just a ploy? Wow… You’re a good actress. And you killed the Immortal?! But I thought he was, you know, immortal?”

“Well, he’s only called that ‘cause he’s lived for so long. Now stop changing the subject, or I’ll go back to strangling you!”

***

A few days later, in L.A.

The battle against the Circle of the Black Thorne was ongoing. Right away, Illyria had done a front flip over the demons, landing in front of a giant. She hurried up a nearby ladder to a balcony, and from there, she leapt up to the roof. Illyria jumped onto the giant’s shoulder and took out her pain (from seeing Wesley die) on it, and it was dead within minutes. However, she was glad at how Wes had gone out. He had died from a battle wound, and he deserved to be in Fred’s arms, just like she had passed away in his. They would see each other in Heaven, no doubt.

Angel had taken on the dragon, slashing it as it flew over his head. After a while, he caught the pattern, and jumped onto it’s back as it soared. Angel screamed in joy; he loved dragons and had always wanted to fly on one. Soon, it was over, though, and he chopped it’s head off. Not before he had been scorched badly, though.

Spike sliced his way through the demons, enjoying the rush of this “dance.” Normally, he didn’t like using weapons, but there were too many of them for a plain old fist fight. Spike hadn’t had this much fun since Sunnydale- pre-amulet, of course.

Gunn had started at the opposite side. He may have been about to die, but he felt better than ever. Once Illyria had beaten the giant, Gunn was surprised that she came back to him, clearing a path on the way. Apparently, she still had some powers- like super speed, for instance. She actually carried him all the way to the hospital and was back within minutes.

***

Some hours later

Spike stumbled through the demon bodies and tripped over one. He was tired and bloody, just like the others, but he had survived. He heard Angel talking to Illyria, saying, “The sun will be up soon. We need to get him out of here,” and he felt himself being dragged across the ground before he lost consciousness.


When he woke up, he was lying in a hospital bed, looking into the faces of Angel, Illyria, and- Gunn? Spike had been sure Gunn would have been dead in minutes. ‘How did he manage to survive when I barely did?’ he wondered briefly. However, he decided to save that question, since Gunn looked fully healthy now.

“Why am I here?” he asked, instead. “I know I was in bad shape, but I have vampire healing, remember?”

“Yeah, well we wanted to be sure you healed faster,” Angel answered. “Besides, we just happened to want a victory party in a hospital room!” He tried for cheery, but no one laughed. Everyone felt too tired to laugh.

“We won?” Spike and Gunn asked simultaneously.

To Be Continued
__________________________________________

Author’s Note: Please review. It encourages me to write.

Chapter 2

Angel and the others walked out of the hospital, amazed at the job they had done.

“I’ve survived another apocalypse! There’s no way I’m giving up my girl, especially not to that wanker, the Immortal! I’m goin’ to Rome!” Spike said, muttering to himself. However, Angel was close enough to hear him.

“She’s not your girl, and if you’re going to Rome, I’m going with you!” he exclaimed.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

A few minutes and several complaints from Spike later, they were all on a plane headed to Italy (since Gunn and Illyria had no where else to go), heavy blankets packed away, in case the sun decided to come up while they were flying.

As it turned out, the flight was uneventful, except for one time when the flight attendant came by. She was trying to hand Angel some water (he couldn’t exactly ask for blood, after all), and she tripped over Spike. She fell on his lap and spilt water all over Angel’s. It ended up with the poor girl having a face that was a brighter red than you have ever seen, Spike laughing hysterically, and Angel looking like he had wet his pants.

Other than that, nothing interesting happened, and soon, all four were asleep. When the plane came down, they finally woke up, pleased to see that it was not quite sunrise yet. Gunn and Illyria made reservations at a hotel, wanting to avoid the scene that would take place when Buffy, Spike, Angel, and the Immortal met up. Meanwhile, Spike and Angel obviously went to Buffy’s apartment.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

They were about to knock when the door opened to reveal Buffy standing there, holding Andrew by the back of his collar. He was dangling a foot off the ground.

“I thought I said I didn’t want you back in here?!” she said, half yelling. She was about to throw him out the door when she looked up and saw them standing there, looking amazed, confused, and curious all at once. Instead, she just dropped him, taking up an equally, if not more, amazed expression.

“Oh my God.” They couldn’t have told you which one said it, because they were all thinking the same thing, even Andrew. Angel and Spike had come to talk to Buffy, but they had never really expected to talk to her, nor had they thought about what they would say.

Buffy was staring at Spike. Andrew had told her everything he knew, but he didn’t say how Spike was alive… Or undead, whatever… Either because he didn’t know or because he didn’t want to say. Either way, Buffy couldn’t make herself believe that he wasn’t just part of her imagination. She walked around Spike, poking him, not believing he was real, and completely ignoring Angel. Spike thought of complaining about the poking, but decided he really didn’t care. After all, the love of his unlife was standing right next to him.

“How…” Buffy managed to squeak, but she couldn’t say anything more. However, everyone knew what she meant already.

“Long story short, luv, that amulet brought me back and some lunatic made me corporeal after I’d been a ghost for a while. As for what’s happened since then, a girl has died and her body was taken over by a hell goddess, Wesley died, and we averted another apocalypse.” Spike stopped his explanation to look at a wide- eyed, open- mouthed Buffy staring at him. Wanting to avoid long talks about what had happened in the past year, he quickly changed the subject. “So, what’s been happening to you?”

“Pretty much the same as you, minus all the dying.”

At a loss for words again, they sat there, gazing into each other eyes, both searching for some hint of the love they had shared just before Spike had dusted in the Hellmouth. Of course, Buffy found it right away, but Spike couldn’t be sure what it was that he saw. Then, Angel ruined their moment.

“No one’s gotten the Shanshu, either.” Then he muttered, “But I’m the one who deserves it, and I better get it.”

‘He just had to talk,' Buffy and Spike both thought.

“Well!” Buffy exclaimed, clapping her hands, not looking forward to talking about the stupid prophesy again. “Do you two have somewhere to stay?”

“Umm… Not exactly…” Spike and Angel murmured.

“Well, you can stay here, then. We have an extra room, now that Andrew’s moved out,” Buffy said, giggling to herself while thinking of Spike and Angel sharing a room. No doubt, they would rip each other’s heads off. She smiled as they glared at each other, also thinking of sharing a room.

“Hey, I need a room, too,” Andrew called from the floor.

“Go find a hotel, then,” Buffy replied, barely even noticing him as she led the other two into the house.

She left him laying there and soon slammed the door in his face, earning a muffled, “Hey!” from the hallway.

“Well, it’s not much, but I hope it’s okay for you two.” Buffy said, bringing them into the enormous guest room. It had two beds, but was otherwise bare. “Sorry about the lack of furniture, but you guys can put your stuff in here, since you probably don’t know when you’ll have somewhere else to stay.” Realizing she sounded like she didn’t want them there, she hurriedly added on, “Not that I mind you staying here, ‘cause I don’t. In fact, it’s great, and… Oh God, I’m babbling, aren’t I?”

Angel gave her an amused look, and Spike smirked. Seeing her blush, though, he decided to change the subject. “So, I noticed the Nibblet isn't here.” He said, more of a question than a statement.

“Oh, she’s at a friend’s house, but she’ll be back in the morning,” Buffy explained, ignoring Angel mouthing ‘Nibblet?’ Continuing, she said, “I’m sure Dawn will be happy to see you both.” Even though she said both, she was concentrating on Spike, knowing that he was one of Dawn’s favorite people.

“So I’ll just let you get situated. It’s been a long day, so I’m gonna go to bed,” she said, faking a yawn. Buffy wasn’t really tired, but she needed to think. She walked out of the room, leaving the vampires to their new room.

In her room, Buffy listened to the men fight through the wall. She heard something about how she would only love him if he got the Shanshu prophecy. She couldn’t tell the voices apart, but she figured that was Spike. Then Buffy heard some actual fighting- fists, fangs, and all. There was still yelling, but mostly she heard growls, and she heard one of them being kicked into the wall. Then, there was some muttering, and Buffy knew they were worried about her “waking up.” She stopped paying attention and thought about everything that had happened that day. She tried to think about Spike being alive, but it was too much for her brain to handle, even though she had heard it before. Instead, she thought about something more familiar- the apocalypse.

‘So, Angel averted another apocalypse… How could they do that on their own? There must have been somebody else helping them.’ She was careful not to think about who was included in ‘they,’ but finally, she couldn’t avoid it anymore. Every time she tried to think about something else, her brain betrayed her and went running back to Spike.

‘Oh God, he thinks I was lying… I told him I loved him, and what were his exact words? Oh yeah, ‘No you don’t, but thanks for sayin’ it.’’ Much as she tried to blame that on him, she couldn’t. Buffy knew it was her fault for not telling him sooner, for waiting until he was about to die.

Suddenly, she ran into Spike and Angel’s new room, glad to see he was still awake. ‘Duh, they’re vampires, of course they’re not asleep in the middle of the night… That is why, right?’ But just as she thought this, she noticed that Angel, on the other hand was sleeping already. So she gestured for Spike to follow her out, closing the door behind them.

“Yeah, luv?” he asked in that way that always made her melt inside.

Buffy sat down and patted the couch next to her. After he joined her, she looked at him, straight into his eyes. “You know, I was telling the truth.”

“ ‘Bout what?” Spike had the feeling he already knew the answer, but he wanted to hear her say it.

“I love you.” Buffy said. It sounded different to her, but right. So she said it again, waiting for his reaction.

Spike’s eyes softened as he tucked some hair behind her ear. “I love you, too. And you know you just made me the happiest man on this planet, don’t you?”

Instead of answering him, Buffy leaned closer to him and pressed her lips against his. She knew that from that moment on, she would stay with him forever, no matter what. Of course, Angel chose that exact moment to barge in. Buffy opened her eyes, panicking, but saw the mischievous twinkle in Spike’s own. She deepened the kiss, pretending not to notice Angel standing in the guest room doorway.

“What the hell is going on?” Angel yelled, ever the idiot. “Spike, what kind of spell have you put on her?!”

Regretfully, Buffy pulled away. “He hasn’t done anything to me! Who says I can’t love someone other than you? Oh, and by the way, the cookie analogy? I’m done baking.”

Spike just watched the two of them, confused. ‘Cookies? What? Oh well, maybe she’ll tell me some other day’ For the time being, he was content to watch Buffy yell at the Poof- about him of all things (or, as the case may be, vampires).

“This is my choice! My life is mine, not yours! And if you can’t handle that, you can leave!”

She continued yelling, her face growing redder by the second. Angel just looked on, wondering what had brought on her anger. He knew it wasn’t actually him, because she had told him that there was a part of her that would always love him.

Finally, Spike stepped in. “I hate too say this, but I think he gets the point, pet,” he said, standing up and lightly grabbing her hand.

Calming down, she said “Yeah, I think you’re probably right. But if he thinks he can say something about us ever again” She was cut off by Spike.

“I’ll personally rip his head off, just so you don’t have to.”

“Okay, I think we really should get to sleep now.” Buffy replied, already feeling exhausted. She turned back to Angel before saying, “You can stay here as long as you don’t say anything like that again.” Spike smirked at he shell- shocked look on Angel’s face.

They all walked back out of the living room. Just before Spike went back into the room, Buffy grabbed his arm. Turning around to look at her, he saw the love in her eyes that he had been searching for so many years. She kissed him again before returning to her own room.

Buffy wondered how she came to be so lucky, and they fell asleep, dreaming of each other.

***

The next morning, Spike woke up and looked around him. The other bed was empty, meaning Angel had already up and left from the pressure. Spike chuckled at the irony of it… Angel always left when things got rough, but usually there was some notice first.
Walking out of the room, he found the “notice.” Taped to the door, there was a note.

Dear Buffy,

I am leaving, so you won’t have to deal with your first love anymore. I don’t know what Spike’s done to you, but I hope it doesn’t last for long. When whatever it is wears off, call me. Maybe then we can talk out the things you said.

Angel

Spike snorted. The Poof would never be able to accept anyone in Buffy’s life but himself, when he was the one who always left.

The note fell into the garbage, because it was garbage. Spike would tell Buffy what it said, but he doubted she would care much after last night’s outburst.

Spike heard Buffy coming out of her room and turned to face her, grinning widely with anticipation for the day ahead.

That night, they had gone out. Buffy had showed Spike the city, and, reluctantly, he had followed her around on her shopping spree- which had lasted almost all night (Who would have thought there were stores open that late?). They were heading back to the apartment, and-

“Oops, sorry,” Buffy said as she bumped into somebody. Looking up, she saw that it was Clem. “Clem! Oh my god!” she exclaimed, hugging the floppy- eared demon.

Spike hung back, watching them with amusement. “Why are you here, mate? Not to be rude, just wonderin’ how you ended up in Rome.”

Clem noticed Spike behind Buffy for the first time, and shook his hand. Somehow, it ended up as another hug, and Spike pulled away, looking embarrassed at Buffy. She just gave him a smile that said, ‘It’s okay. I know you haven’t seen him in a while.’ How he could tell exactly what she was thinking, he had no idea.

Then Clem decided to answer his question. “Well, I’ve been doing some traveling,” he said simply. Then, looking at Buffy, he added, completely randomly, “Still not eating kittens.”

She gave him a small smile, and then chose ignore that comment. Instead, she said unbelievingly, “And you just ended up here?”

Clem looked at the ground guiltily. “Well, I had some help… Like the magazine articles about you and the Immortal,” he said by way of explanation.

Now it was Buffy’s turn to look guilty, and she refused to meet Spike’s gaze. He came over and hugged her, silently telling her it was alright. “We aren’t together anymore… He’s gone… As in, dead gone.” This news shocked both Spike and Clem, but they tried not to let it show. Looking for a way to change the subject, she said, “Hey, we were just heading back to my apartment. Why don’t you come with us?”

Clem happily explained that he would come, and he followed them back.

***

They were surprised to see Dawn home. Buffy had assumed that she would be staying the night again, since they hadn’t seen her all day. Buffy went back outside the door and motioned for Clem and Spike to stay there. Sure that they would, she went back inside.

“Dawnie? I have a, well, a kind of surprise for you.” Dawn leaped up. She looked at Buffy’s empty hands and frowned.

“Where is it? Oh, I know! It’s something magical isn’t it?”

Buffy gave her a confused look, and then realized her sister was looking for something she had bought for her. “No, not really…” She couldn’t think of how to introduce Spike, but it didn’t matter, because at that exact moment, he got tired of standing guard over the shopping bags and came in.

“Bloody hell, Slayer. What are you doin’ that’s takin’ so long in there?” he called.

Hearing his voice, Dawn reluctantly turned around, very slowly, knowing that as soon as she did, she would just see someone who had the same accent as him. Once she was all the way around, she slowly opened her eyes, and squealed in delight. “Spike! You’re alive! How? Why? How? You know what, I don’t care. You’re here, and that’s all I need to know.” she said firmly. Within moments, Spike was surprised to find himself with his arms full of teenager.

“Hello to you, Nibblet,” he said, unsure of what was going on. Turning to Buffy- or at least trying to, he asked, “Is this why you had us stand out in the hall?” Buffy nodded her head, and Dawn looked up, surprised.

“Wait, us? Who else is out there?” she asked suspiciously. “Is it Angel?”

“No, Peaches left this morning… But he was here, while you were gone.”

“Then who is it?” Dawn demanded with what she hoped was a fierce look.

“Why don’t you go see for yourself?” Spike replied. She stopped hugging him and went out the door. Buffy and Spike couldn’t hear the conversation that followed, but they both covered their ears, knowing what would come first. Just as they had expected, there was another squeal from Dawn.

***

After they had gotten some sleep, were all settled in in the living room, and stories of how everyone ended up in Rome had been shared, the four of them made a “plan” of sorts.

“Okay, I need to go on patrol,” Buffy said after realizing how late it was. “Spike, you wanna come with me?” she asked. He nodded, and she turned to Clem. “Could you watch Dawn until we come back?”

As everyone ignored Dawn’s whining about being a teenager and not needing a babysitter, Clem replied. “I’d love to! I haven’t talked to her since before that last apocalypse… Or, I guess, the second to last.”

Dawn stopped complaining, knowing it was useless, and started chattering to Clem about what they could do. Meanwhile, Buffy and Spike slipped quietly out the door, and Clem responded to Dawn, just as excited as she was.

Once they got outside, Spike followed Buffy to the nearest cemetery in silence. Of course, the silence didn’t last for long. When they got there, he turned Buffy toward him. Almost growling, he said, “Finally, I have you all to myself,” as he leaned down to kiss her passionately.

“Spiiike,” she said, her voice half serious. “We really are here to patrol.”

“Fine,” he replied with a fake pout. “But I’m planning on continuing that later.”

They didn’t have to walk very far before they came across a couple of fledglings who were dust within seconds. Just moments later, an ugly green demon with a few rusty red spots and two horns stumbled over to them. He was wearing shorts the same color as his leathery skin. Buffy thought of how weird it was that he was actually wearing anything, unlike so many of the other demons she fought, but that thought was quickly replaced with ‘Okay, this will be an easy fight. He’s probably really slow and clumsy, based on the way he’s tripping over his own feet right now.

Buffy and Spike looked to each other, silently agreeing that she should take this one. Even though Spike had nearly died (or dusted, technically) in his last battle, he still loved the violence and the rush from the fight. Buffy knew it, so she decided to take this ugly demon and let Spike fight the next one, so he could have a bigger challenge.

Buffy ran up and punched the demon in the jaw. As she ducked a blow from him, she realized that she had underestimated him. He tried to kick her behind her knees, but she jumped over his leg. The Slayer then kicked him in the middle of the chest, sending the demon stumbling backwards.

As he gained his balance, he launched another blow. She was late to block because she was caught off guard, thinking he would take longer, and she felt the powerful punch hit the side of her face. “That’s it!” she yelled, as she grabbed her sword off a nearby tombstone. Running back to him, she chopped him neatly in half.

As Spike and Buffy walked through the rest of the cemetery talking about the fairly easy fight, they completely ignored the body still lying on the ground. Unnoticed, each half grew back the parts that they were missing, creating two identical demons.
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Please review! I'm hoping to have at least a total of ten reviews after this chapter. So far, I have six.

Spike and Buffy walked in the door, laughing. “What’s so funny?” Dawn asked.

“Oh, we were just talking about this really ugly demon I fought earlier,” Buffy replied as she walked to the window. “By the way, why are you still awake?”

Dawn and Clem looked up from the television, realizing it was nearly two o’ clock. Slumping over with an exaggerated sigh, Dawn agreed to go to bed. In reality, she was glad to go. Since there was never anyone to watch her except for Buffy (who always made her go early), she was used to it.

Dawn was stopped when Buffy said, “Wait! There’s that same demon! No, there’s two of them!” Everyone rushed to the window.

“Um, I think they’re mad at you,” Dawn said, basing her guess on the even more than usual anger on their faces, and the way they were staring straight at Buffy as they walked toward the apartment.

With another silent look, Buffy and Spike ran downstairs after grabbing their weapons. Buffy chose the scythe all the Slayers had used during the final battle, because it still felt like it was hers. Meanwhile, Spike got one of his favorites, the same sword Buffy had used earlier that night.

Once downstairs, they each took on one of the demons. Buffy’s took a kick to the gut while Spike’s got his arm chopped off right away. They were both distracted as they watched his arm grow back, and the arm grew a body. Buffy got knocked to the ground, but barely even noticed. ‘That can’t be good,’ she thought.

“Buffy!” Spike yelled. “Go get the phone and call the other Scoobies, at least the ones that are nearby!”

Buffy did as she was told and sprinted to the phone upstairs, not wanting to leave Spike alone in a fight that was impossible to win. She called all of the Scoobies, since they had all gotten back from missions about a week ago. They all agreed to come to a meeting after she told them a short version of what was happening- short meaning without telling them about Spike.

Giles was the first to arrive, since he had a house just a few blocks away. He brought about ten different books, from demon encyclopedias to spell books, and dropped them all when he saw Spike. However, he hurried to pick them up, deciding that explanations could wait until later. Giles hoped that it wasn’t something Willow had done. She was, truly, a goddess, meaning she didn’t have to worry about the consequences quite as much, but if she had decided to bring the dead back again, he didn’t think he could handle it. He scooted around the fight to the safety of a set of stairs and started skimming a spell book.

Willow came just as Giles found the spell he was looking for and went upstairs to get the ingredients. He said a casual, “Hello,” to Dawn and Clem. Everyone was used to weird demons and the apocalypse that came every year- they just hoped this wasn’t one of the apocalypse ones.

Willow had basically the same reaction to Spike that Giles had, minus the books. She just stood with her mouth hanging open before scooting around to the stairs. She sat down and quickly found the demon they were looking for in one of the tomes. It said this particular demon was a “Infrita” demon, which Willow thought sounded sort of like a girl’s name. It had the information they already knew, like that it grew back whatever it lost, but it didn’t say how to kill them.

Soon, Giles returned, and he told Spike and Buffy to try to force the demons back into the cemetery, into a crypt or something, where they wouldn’t be noticed once people woke up and started on their way to work. It took about half an hour, but they finally succeeded. The cemetery was close enough to see from the apartment, so Giles had Willow do the containment spell he had found. When she finished, a visible barrier was created, making a magical cage around the Infritas. Spike and Buffy went back to the house, tired from the fight. Xander had arrived while they were gone, and had been warned about Spike ahead of time. Otherwise, he probably would have staked him right then and there, because he was mad that someone he hated so much could come back, and the love of his life couldn’t. As it was, he was going to take a very long time to get used to having him around again.

Willow and Giles explained the spell they had used, saying it would last for 24 hours. Then, Buffy told everyone how Spike was back. Stories were shared once more, and then they got down to business.

It was time for a classic research party. Xander, Willow, and Buffy had a sudden longing for the high school research, so they all went to a library that was a few streets down. Apparently, this town had early-opening and late-closing places everywhere. It wasn’t really like high school, though, because Cordelia and Oz weren’t there, and it wasn’t the high school (was that place really destined to be destroyed every time it was built?). There was one good difference, though- Spike was there. The group of five spent hours sitting, fidgeting, and researching, except for Spike, who kept standing up and pacing.

After several hours, someone finally spoke up. “I found something!” Willow yelled, then immediately blushed and started whispering when the librarian glared at her. “The good news is, you can kill them. The bad news is, there has to be exactly 50 of them to do the spell. So, you would have to be able to handle that many and then be able to count them, she said with a glum look on her face. Then, she perked up. “Oh! We could keep all of them except for one in that holding spell, so you can keep track of them until we can do an incinerating spell.”

“Sounds good to me,” Buffy and Spike said at the same time.

Buffy and Spike ran up the steps to the crypt they had left the demons in. About 20 feet behind them were Willow and Xander. About 20 feet behind them was Giles. After they got into the crypt, Willow turned to the door, a blue light speeding from her fingers. She wanted to make sure the monsters couldn’t get out if she couldn’t do the individual containment spells fast enough. Unfortunately, that meant locking themselves in, too.

It was gusty in the crypt, because the “door” was loosely attached. It was dark, too, because, obviously, crypts weren’t made to let the light in. However, the five of them could see just fine, because after all the years they had spent fighting things that go bump in the night, thet were definitely used to it.

Willow turned around to see the impatient look on her friends’ faces. Buffy and Spike were already in a fighting stance, Xander was standing around bored, wondering why he was here if he might lose someone else in another fight (even though he came every time anyways), and Giles had a clipboard, pencil, and paper ready. He was going to tally up how many demons were in the separate magical cages, and yell the number out to the two fighters.

Quickly, Willow brought down the enchantment that was on one of the Infritas, and the warriors started fighting right away. They knew that all they had to do was chop the things into little pieces, but they wanted a longer fight anyways. The two of them fought together as if they had for decades. This really was a “dance,” watching them swerve, dodge, punch, slash, and kick. The witch/goddess was amazed, as were the other two. Giles still tallied any that got cut up, and Willow still locked them up in their own little enclosures, but mostly they stood there stunned. Meanwhile, Xander stood stock still with his jaw to the ground, since he had nothing else to do.

After about an hour or two, Spike and Buffy had 40 of the ugly demons. Giles called out the number, and Willow hurried to put the spell on the five that had just been created. So far, she had only needed to use her magic to protect them once, when she had been to slow with the other spell, leaving Buffy and Spike to fight five at once, one of which came rushing straight at them. However, it had been a simple spell- sort of. The Infrita had burst into fire, but it hadn’t killed him. Instead, it had led him to run around with his equivalent of screaming. Unfortunately for him, he ran right into Buffy’s sword. Strangely enough, the fire had gone out after he split into two.

Now, Giles was calling out, “Eight, seven, six,” indicating how many more they needed to make. Willow jolted out of her memory trip to a very short time ago in order to put up another four spells. Since that last incident, she had perfected the spell needed.

Buffy and Spike slowed down, not wanting the battle to end. One of the demons got Spike’s boot in its gut and Buffy’s fist in his face. After a few more minutes of attacking and defending, they finally decided to slice it in half. They told Willow not to lock it up, that way they would each have one to fight. “Five left to create!” Giles called out to them. They ignored him, getting lost in their own little war. Buffy and Spike had averted apocalypses before, but it was more fun to fight without the necessity. This was their normal… Except for one thing.

They could read each other’s minds. That was why they hadn’t talked this entire time. Buffy knew she should be scared after what had happened in high school, but all she felt was happiness. They couldn’t hear anyone else’s thoughts, and it was comforting to have Spike talking to her, especially without the others hearing, considering some of the things he was saying right now.

Somehow, the Infrita Buffy had been fighting with had gotten behind her in the split second she had stopped paying attention. It kicked her in the back, and Spike felt her brief panic as she flew to the ground. He sprinted to her side, making sure nothing was wrong. However, by the time he got there, she was already up and standing over the demon, and she cut into it with her sword, making the last five out of its head.

They were quickly contained, and as Willow did one last spell that made them all burst into flames, Buffy looked around victoriously. She watched as they turned into nothing but dust, and her grin only grew. “I wish Angel had stayed,” she said. “He would have been so proud of me!” Half of her was sad that he was gone, and the other half was happy at the thought that he would be proud.

“You mean because you want to know you’re among the best, and he’s a vampire with a soul, a good fighter?” Spike said hopefully. In his mind, he couldn’t help but add, ‘Like me.’

Buffy just looked at him oddly. They had spent all that time together, and he still couldn’t understand her? “No, I mean because I love him more than anyone else in the world, and I want him to approve of the things I do.” she said, still not believing he didn’t know.

The hurt in Spike’s eyes was evident to everyone in the room, but he quickly hid it. ‘She’s got to be teasing me,’ he thought. ‘After all that yelling at the poof the other day, and saying she loves me, how could she say something like that seriously?’ He tried to read her mind to see what she was doing, but he couldn’t. The connection was gone.

Author’s Note: Before I start getting hate mail, I have this to say in my defense: I have a reason for this, it is going somewhere. I know that’s not a very strong argument, but this WILL be Spuffy. Right now, though, this is part of another plot.

Spike froze. ‘What the hell is happening?’ he wondered.

Buffy was still beaming up at them. Everyone else was watching her, confused. What had happened to the Buffy that had been cheerfully holding hands with Spike and giving him loving looks not even an hour ago? And of course, it had to be Angel she was going for now, of all people- or vampires.

Spike was the most scared out of all of them. He had actually been stupid enough to believe her when she had said she loved him. He mentally smacked himself for being such an idiot. He suddenly realized that somehow they had walked outside, and sunrise was just a few hours away- two to be exact.

Meanwhile, Angel watched it all (along with the conversation from a few minutes ago) with a smile, hiding behind a tombstone. He hadn’t gone back to L.A. after he left Buffy’s apartment. In fact, he had stayed in Rome, and discovered a local witch and hired her. She had done a spell, and ta-da, he had Buffy’s love again! Then, since he couldn’t wait to see what happened, he had the witch do a locator spell for him. It brought him here, and he had waited until they all came out, not wanting to give away his position just yet.

Finally, Spike broke the awkward silence. “How could you lie about loving me?” he asked, the hurt shining in his eyes. The question was barely more than a whisper.

Buffy looked at him with the innocence of the little girl she once was. “I wasn’t lying. I did love you. Then,” she added when she saw the hope in his eyes, not wanting to mislead him. “I hope we can still be friends,” she said truthfully.

Buffy led them all away, not noticing the tears that were threatening to fall from Spike’s eyes. Willow tried to comfort him, but all she could think of to do was pat his back. Even Xander and Giles tried to help, but they also failed. As the Scoobies walked down the street, everyone noticed the gloomy atmosphere except for Buffy, who was practically skipping down the sidewalk. Spike walked far behind her with his head hung down while Willow, Xander, and Giles walked nearby. For some reason they couldn’t place, they felt that if they left him, he would have a breakdown much worse than this.

Angel walked along behind the trees and bushes. He was within Buffy’s “spidey sense” range, but she didn’t notice him. Every once in a while, he would look back at Spike, reveling in the look of pain. He could tell Spike knew he was there though, and he also knew that he had done something to Buffy. Angel noticed something in Spike’s eyes that nobody else could see- a hidden glint of hatred- his demon was bound to come forth soon, and Angel would be dead (in the sense of dust) within seconds once that happened. Just in case, Angel kept as far from him as possible without leaving Buffy.

Just as was predicted, Spike’s demon visage appeared, and he ran at full speed toward the small amount of woods by the side of the area they were walking on, growling the whole time. Buffy walked merrily along in her own little world, not even noticing the sounds. The other three stood watching as Spike dove through the bushes, believing that he had gone insane again. Their faces went from shocked to bored in a matter of seconds. Was everything always going to be the same for them?

Soon, he was entirely hidden from view, rolling on the ground after having tackled Angel. He pinned him down with one hand as his other one went into the air, turning into a fist. He brought it down on Angel’s face, but he didn’t get the broken nose he had been hoping for. “What. Did. You. Do. To. Her?!” he yelled, punctuating every word with another punch. After the last blow, he finally heard the satisfying crunch from his grandsire’s nose. However, Angel wouldn’t go down without a fight. The pain brought his own demon to the front, and he rolled so that Spike would be pinned beneath him. He barely got one blow in, though, before he was kicked off. On a regular day, this might have been a fair fight, but not when Spike was fuelled by anger at what had happened to Buffy.

Spike stood up and brushed himself off at the same time Angel pushed himself away from the tree he had flown into. They circled each other a few moments that seemed like an eternity, and finally, Angel made the next move. He ran at Spike as he fast as he could, but ended up running straight into a tree- head first. Spike had calmly dodged at the last second, and Angel had been going too fast to stop.

The sound of them trading punches. Kicks, and rude words carried to Xander, Giles, and Willow, and they exchanged yet another bored look. Buffy finally noticed that nobody was following her, and she went back to them. “Where’s Spike?” she asked. They nodded towards the noise, and she just nodded calmly. Then, she heard Angel’s voice. “Oh my god, Angel!” she said, trying to run and help him. But the other members of the Scooby Gang held her back.

Finally, just as Spike was pulling out a stake, Angel confessed to what he did. He claimed he didn’t know how to reverse it, though, so Spike brought the stake out the rest of the way. “Okay, okay!” Angel all but yelped. Maybe he had acted tough during one of their last fights, but that stake had hurt! He said he really didn’t know how to reverse it, but he gave Spike the address of the witch he had hired. Spike put the wood back in his pocket, but punched Angel one more time, just for the fun of it.

As Angel lay on the ground getting his strength back, Spike swaggered out of the small wooded area to find three glowing faces and one scared one. “Okay, we’re goin’ to see a witch,” he said. “Other than you, of course, Red. The Poof said she was the only one who could undo the spell, and that’s all he knows.” He didn’t say what spell it was, because he didn’t feel like having the wrath of Buffy aimed at him, but the others already knew.

I heard a loud knock on my door. “Come in,” I said, already knowing who it was.

They really were an odd bunch. It just so happened that they were more famous than they thought, too.

“A witch, a vampire with a soul, a Slayer, a Watcher, and…” I trailed off, gesturing at the offending regular mortal.

Seeing my look of disgust, the vampire piped up, “I’ll agree with that. Now, straight to business. You put a spell on her. Reverse it.”

I ignored the look of objection on the Slayer’s face. “Ah, yes, Buffy… Sorry, I’m not going to undo it. I got paid good money for that spell.”

The infamous vampire, Spike, shoved me against the wall. I casually waved a hand and he effortlessly flew across the room and slammed into the opposite wall.

“I was afraid we’d have to do this,” the red-headed one said. She started chanting. I was surprised that she didn’t notice the barriers up around me. After all, based on her aura, she was a goddess. Once she was finished with the incantation, I watched as shocks of green energy shot from her fingers and bounced right off of me.

“Trying to bind my powers now? I would think you of all people would know better than that…”

“Figured.” With an indifferent shrug, she said, “Disarm,” and the barriers disintegrated. I scolded myself for not having been better prepared as she stripped me of my powers.

“Fine. I’ll play nice. Doesn’t mean I’m going to undo it… At least not without a price,” I said, knowing the vampire would agree if the rest would shut up. However, I wasn’t quite so lucky.

“No. You’ll undo whatever… Charm you have on her, without complaining and without money,” the Watcher spoke up for the first time, stumbling for the word “charm.”

“And if I don’t?” I knew he would take the bait, and I love irritating people when I can’t actually hurt them. Just as I had expected, the old man turned a bright shade of red with frustration.

“If you don’t, we’ll kill you and hope that cures Buffy. And if it doesn’t, we’ll find our own way.” The other witch may have been a goddess, but I could still see the darkness flickering in her eyes. I agreed to do it, but they had to give me back my magic first. They were fools, and I was ready this time. As soon as I felt the energy surge through me, I blasted everyone against the walls, which gave me just enough time to escape.

Unfortunately, there were barriers on the door.

Once again, they were ahead of me.

“You thought we would be stupid enough to fall for that?” The annoying human said. It was more of a statement than a question, really.

“Yes, I did.” I said calmly. I recognized that it was time to give in now. I made a pentagram on the floor with sand and lit a circle of candles around it. Then I did the reversal chant. I saw a light-like understanding flash through the Warrior of Light’s eyes just before she stomped out of the room silently. I knew she was going to kill the vampire, of course… Or try to, at least. I felt sorry for him. He had tried so hard to keep her love. It just wasn’t meant to be, though.

The others followed her out with smiles on their faces. I stayed on the floor and listened as the door slammed behind them.

***

Everyone walked back into the flat, tired. Angel was gone, back in Los Angeles- this time for real. Buffy had personally seen him to his flight as he hid from the sun. Actually, she had kicked him onto his flight was more truthful.

Now, the whole Scooby Gang was collapsing onto every available couch, chair and bed. They were all exhausted from the fighting. Well, Giles and Xander hadn’t exactly fought, but they had been up all night running around with the others.

***

Only an hour later, they were woken up by shuffling in the kitchen. They looked up to see Dawn getting some cereal. She glanced at them apologetically before continuing.

“Where’s Clem?” Buffy asked. She didn’t think he would have left Dawn alone, but maybe something important had come up, like another apocalypse, and he had left.

“He came out and saw you guys all sleeping in here, so he left.”

Buffy realized she had fallen asleep in Spike’s arms, and snuggled further against him. Xander grimaced, but didn’t say anything for fear of getting thrown through the window or something equally painful. He just had to learn to get used to them being together. Lucky for him, they spared him from having to see any kissage.

Dawn came in and sat next to them on the couch. Out of all four of them, she was the least wary of their relationship. Spike was like a big brother to her, maybe even a father… That thought brought some more interesting things to mind, and she got lost in her thoughts.

Jolting back into reality, she started talking to keep anyone else from guessing at her ideas. “Me and Clem watched the Discovery Channel, and I told him about that new band, and we made cookies. Anybody want one?” she asked, holding up a chocolate chip cookie.

Everybody else backed away from the babbling and hard cookies. Dawn looked offended for a moment but quickly got over it.

“Whatever. More for me,” she replied to their horrified expressions as she bit into one of the cookies.

Everyone in the room, including Dawn, gave each other an odd look. Then, they all burst out laughing.

The rest of the day was spent sleeping, playing board games with Dawn and, for Xander, remembering times with Anya. However, he was learning to think of them as good times without grieving quite as much as he used to, but not forgetting her.

Little did they know, someone not even a block away was summoning a demon.

A young girl sat in one corner of the room, chanting. It was a very dark room, with cobwebs hanging everywhere. Many years ago, it had been as normal as the rest of the house. Visitors had sat and talked to the family there, small children had played and laughed, and there had even been parties.

Now, it was her “special” room. At the request of nine- year- old Ashlee, all the furniture had been moved out. The rest of her family knew not to interrupt her while she was in there. They pretended not to notice her power, and in exchange, they didn’t get hurt. Of course, nothing came without a price. A few times, it had gotten so bad they had to watch people die. It wasn’t as though she tried to make it dangerous, it just… happened.

She summoned demons to help her with chores, homework, or anything else she didn’t want to do. They were harmless, helpful, even, but sometimes she got too careless and didn’t check first. She had been lucky so far- the few that had been dangerous had thought enough to not kill her or her family, since she had released them. Next time, though, she might not be so blessed.

That was why she had been extra careful this time and done all the research. She wouldn’t let anyone get hurt today. She wouldn’t be responsible for more death. She refused to.

Ashlee was 100% prepared… Well, 99% anyways. That was good enough… Right?

In addition to the summoning, she had natural power, too. Often, without realizing it, she would make things move, even fly, when she got mad. Lately, she had come to control it. If something went wrong with this demon, she could make something sharp fly at it.

The portal opened, a tiny blue orb. As it grew, she saw green mist swirling within the blue. It swelled to be twice her height and about four feet wide. A large demon with leathery skin with a color that matched the portal’s itself stepped out. He had a long tail that pointed upward and swayed back and forth with a mind of its own.

The demon, a Grolk, grunted at the small girl before him. He could smell the power on her. So much potential strength for one so young.

Ashlee could tell he was waiting for instructions. “I need you to clean the house for me,” she said. She wasn’t prepared for what happened next.

The door in the hallway that led outside banged against the wall. “It’s in here. I sensed ‘im, a British voice said. Then, she heard a growl. “I can’t come in- no invitation.”

Ashlee’s door was the next to slam open. She stared up at a blond girl wearing jeans and a red shirt who was standing, intimidating, in the doorway. Behind her was a redheaded girl who was also wearing jeans and a red shirt, but hers was cut off higher. Outside, Ashlee could see a bleach blond who was wearing all black, including a long duster, except he was covered by a smoking blanket. They were all just staring at her like she was some sort of monster… Or maybe they were staring at the real monster. She couldn’t tell.

Suddenly, a knife went flying across the room, aimed right at Buffy’s head. She calmly stood her ground, and then ducked at the last second. She’d had plenty of practice with this before.

Two knifes went flying at each of the others- it was clear that Ashlee felt threatened. Willow waved her hand past the knife, and it turned into a sword, but stopped in midair. She motioned for Buffy to take it as Spike caught the blade that had flown at him.

“Invite him in,” Buffy said. It wasn’t a request. It was a demand.

Ashlee knew she had no hope in this fight, so she sulkily walked to the door. “Come in.”

Spike threw her a glare and then walked over to where Buffy was standing, sword pointing at the terrified Grolk. Everyone had figured out by now that Ashlee had called upon him. Spike also aimed his small knife at the demon. “A little help would be nice right about now, Red,” he said, gesturing to the blade. With one point, it grew into another sword. When it finished expanding, it was poking into the Grolk’s throat.

Ashlee and Willow watched the fight begin while they stood at the entrance. The Grolk wasn’t fighting back, only defending himself. His was one of several species that didn’t fight humans- or anything else, for that matter. Soon, Buffy and Spike got bored of attacking something that wouldn’t fight back.

“What should we do with him?” Buffy asked.

Spike looked over at Ashlee. “Why?” he asked. That one word could be about so many things, but she knew it wasn’t.

“For help cleaning the house,” she answered.

Spike turned back to Buffy. “We can leave it with her… She’s obviously done this before, and he’s obviously pretty harmless.” Buffy looked like she was about to object, but thought better of it. After all, maybe the Grolk was just as harmless as Clem… Speaking of which, she had to find out where he was staying… Xander and Giles had taken a great risk that morning… They had stayed with Dawn. Buffy decided they should probably go save them.

The unlikely group headed out the door without even thinking of the little girl or the poor demon, or stopping to talk to her parents or her or the Grolk. For all they knew, he couldn’t talk. The only think they stopped for was to quietly close the doors and head out. There would always be someone like Ashlee who didn’t know what they were dealing with and would have to deal with the consequences. The Scoobies just didn’t have the time to deal with all of them.

Ashlee was left to stare after them, wondering who they were and how they had known about her demon summoning, while the Grolk started on long- needed dusting and getting rid of all the cobwebs.
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A/N: Do think Ashlee should come back in later chapters? Please review, because I'm not sure whether or not she should become a bigger part of the story.

Spike paced back and forth across the room. “What are we going to do about this? It’s unbelievable!”

Buffy watched him while she sat on a leather chair in the main room of the apartment. “Stop pacing, you’re making me dizzy. Besides, it isn’t exactly a life or death situation. Apocalypses are life and death situations. Trust me. I’ve died twice. Well, I guess you have, too, but that’s not the point… I mean it, stop pacing!”

Spike stopped and turned around to look at her. “I’m sorry. I’m just so nervous. This shouldn’t be happening! It‘s just not right!”

“I thought the person actually going on the first date was supposed to be the nervous one,” Buffy teased as he sat down next to her. “Well, there was that one time she kissed a vampire, but I don’t consider that a ‘date.’”

“She isn’t old enough to do this, though! She should be waiting until she’s 30!” Spike protested, clearly stressed about the entire situation.

“You know, you really are more of a father to Dawn than Hank is.”

“You take that back! I’m not a father figure, I’m evil!” Spike said, shifting into game face. Even to his own ears it sounded pathetic.

“Whatever you say, honey. I don’t see why it even matters to you anymore, though,” Buffy replied.

Spike changed back into his human guise with a sad look. “Well, I still have to at least try to keep my reputation up… So, back to the topic at hand. You do know I’ll kill him before Dawn goes out with him, right?”

“You haven’t even met him yet!” Buffy said with an exasperated sigh. “At least give him a chance!”

“Fine,” Spike agreed.

***

Buffy watched as Dawn rushed in when she heard a knock on the door.

“Do I look okay?” Dawn asked worriedly. She was clearly freaking out.

Buffy was about to say something when Spike interrupted her. “You look wonderful, but he’s not going to see you,” he said as he opened the door. Then, to the young man standing patiently outside the door, he said, “Sorry, Dawn’s not here right now, I guess your date is cancelled,” before slamming the door in his face.

“Spike!” two voices yelled at him. Buffy continued with, “I can’t believe you just did that!”

Buffy went over and reopened the door and called down the hall to the teenager. “I’m so sorry! He didn’t mean that! She’s right here, how about you come back and talk with us?” She felt sorry for John. He looked up, not quite sure what to think of Dawn’s family. They seemed so strange, and yet entirely like any other family.

As John started back toward their door, Dawn gave one more spin. “I do look okay, right?” she asked Buffy. She had thought of wearing a dress, but decided that was overdoing it. Instead, she was wearing a new trend- a jean skirt over tight, dark blue pants, and a blue, short-sleeved shirt.

“You look fine,” Buffy reassured her sister.

Realizing something, Dawn stared in horror. “Oh God… You two are gonna do the whole ‘parent questioning’ thing, aren’t you?” Buffy’s only reply was a sly smile.

“Fine. If I can’t physically keep him away from her, that’s another way,” Spike said, still slightly pouting over his failed attempt.

“No! Buffy, stop him! You aren’t even my real parents! You’re not even married!” Dawn said, trying to find any way to stop it.

Buffy and Spike shared one their “looks.” ‘She has to know eventually…’

‘Yeah, I guess now is as good a time as any,’ Spike replied.

“What’s that look about, you guys? Oh, great, you’re doing that brain- talky thing, aren’t you?” Dawn asked them.

“Yes, we were… It’s time we told you something. Spike proposed to me… We’re getting married!” Buffy said, holding out her hand to show Dawn the ring. “For real this time, too.”

John arrived at the door to see Dawn run up to Buffy and Spike and try to suffocate them with a hug. “This still doesn’t mean I’m gonna let you question him,” she said with a serious look on her face, grabbing his hand and running out the door.

“Hurry, let’s get out of here!” she exclaimed, and John just went along with it.

***

“Wow… If I had known we were going somewhere fancy, I would have dressed up more,” Dawn said, looking about the fancy restaurant that was all gold and red. The tablecloth was red, and the walls were red and white with a bit of gold trim. Each of the tables had a pair of candles. There was even some romantic music playing quietly in the background. A few teenage couples were there, but mostly it was people in their 20’s and 30’s who had been together for at least a few years.

“Don’t worry about it,” John replied. “You look beautiful no matter what you’re wearing,” he said, causing Dawn to blush.

“Thank you,” she said, embarrassed.

The night continued like that, with them eating their expensive food, and soon, they found some things to talk about, and the conversation flowed more easily.

***

“I had a wonderful time,” Dawn told John. He leaned in to kiss her, and she kissed him back. A second later, she pulled away. She gave him an apologetic look. “I should get inside. Spike’s probably listening to us through the door,” she explained. Confirming her suspicions, she heard loud footsteps on the other side of the door hurrying back into the living room.

As she walked in, Dawn gave John a small wave. When she got through the door, she could tell that Buffy was using the brain connection to silently calm Spike down… A lot. Buffy gave her a wink and a smile, and Dawn headed back to her room.

She didn’t get to sleep for hours, because she was thinking of the wonderful time she’d had that night. She just couldn’t believe she was 18 and had just now had her first date.

***

Please review!

The next morning, Buffy heard a knock on the door. She went to open it, and wasn’t prepared for what she saw. There was a blue- haired woman standing outside their door. She also had very odd eyes.

“Oh, hey, Illyria!” Spike shouted from the kitchen. When Buffy gave him a questioning look, he just shrugged. “This would be that hell goddess I told you about,” he said. “Don’t worry, she’s on our side now!” he added when Buffy gave him a terrified look. She shrugged. If it had been anyone else telling her that, she probably wouldn’t have believed them.

“We found this girl doing magic in the street, and thought you would want to know,” she said, looking at Spike, as she pulled Ashlee farther so that Buffy and Spike could see her. Gunn also stepped out from behind Illyria, giving them both a wave.

“And you are…who?” Buffy asked, looking at him.

“Oh, Buffy, this is Gunn,” Spike told her, stepping over to them.

“Wait, I’ve seen you before!” Buffy exclaimed, looking at Ashlee.

The small girl looked up at her and nodded shyly.

Just then, Buffy remembered where she had seen her. “You were the one summoning demons!”

If it was even possible, Ashlee looked even more shy. The whole time, she was silent, just staring at everybody else and trying to blend in with the wallpaper.

“It’s okay, come on in,” Buffy said, lightly pulling her by the hand. “You guys can go ahead and come in,” she told the other two.

“You can sit down in here,” Spike told the three of them, walking into the living room, as Buffy went into the kitchen to use the phone.

While the others sat in awkward silence, Buffy said into the phone, “Yeah, Willow? Think you could do me a favor?… Good. You’ll see what I need when you get over here.”


A few minutes later, Willow arrived. “Hey, Buffy!” she said when the door was answered. Then she saw the serious expression on her friend’s face. Buffy opened the door wider so that Willow could come in, and gestured to Ashlee. Willow nodded in understanding and went to sit across from her. More introductions were made, and then Willow started talking to Ashlee.

“You were doing magic again, weren’t you?” Willow asked. After seeing Ashlee’s nod, she said, “I think I’m going to have to teach you how to control it better. The same thing happened to me, but it just got worse and worse.” She grimaced at the memories. “I don’t want the same thing to happen to you.”

Ashlee had been silent the whole time, but now she spoke up. “I tried to float a spoon, but when I got mad, it flew across the room and ricocheted everywhere,” she said, disappointed.

Willow nodded. “The same thing happened to me, except with a pencil… And a tree. So, really not the same, but close enough.

“Anyways, what were you doing that made these two bring you here in the first place?” she asked cautiously, a bit scared for the answer.

“Just having some fun,” Ashlee replied quietly, now looking even more scared.

“Was it anything dangerous?” Willow asked softly. She was starting to see that she wouldn’t get anything out of the girl if she just asked what she did flat out, or if she didn’t think Willow could be trusted.

“Oh, no, of course not!” Ashlee exclaimed. She would never do anything to hurt anybody, at least not on purpose.

“Well, that’s good, but it might have been dangerous without you even realizing it. Illyria said you were doing magic in the streets. Why wouldn’t you have done it at your own house, instead?” Willow questioned. The more questions that were answered, the more confused she felt.

She looked over at Buffy and tried to ask her what she should do to get through to Ashlee, but realized it was no use. Buffy was kind of busy- making out with Spike, that is. Buffy had told her about the engagement the other day over the phone. Willow still couldn’t see how a 23 year old and a hundred- something year old could seem so much like teenagers, but she decided not to mention it. For the first time in a long time, her friend actually looked happy, and when she was happy, Willow was happy.

Turning her attention back to Ashlee, she noticed that she was actually answering the question. “I couldn’t do it at my house because I needed more people to try it out on. The spell I was using doesn’t work on demons… And I really don’t see how it could be dangerous, all I was doing was making people do weird dances down the street instead of walking.”

Willow would have laughed if the situation wasn’t so serious. She was terrifying this poor girl, making her think that dancing was unsafe. “Well, that’s not very dangerous to them, but it is dangerous to you,” she replied. “You might lose control of your power more. I think it would be best if I trained you.” Ashlee nodded, and Willow looked up at the ceiling as though she were thinking hard about something before she continued, “But we need a place to train at.”

Buffy finally looked up and said, “Oh! I forgot to tell you, Giles called yesterday. The new Watchers’ Council Headquarters is finally built! It isn’t as big as the old one, but it has a meeting room, a huge library, and a training room. We can all go there!” She heard Spike’s low growl and squeezed his hand. “Don’t worry, Giles is the only one there so far. Besides,” she said playfully, “If you come, maybe we can do some… Sparring.”

Spike knew she was trying to tease him, but he agreed to come anyways. Maybe they would get some actual training in… And maybe they wouldn’t. Either way, he decided it would be worth it.