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Title: Starting a new life.

Season: Post-Chosen (Season 8 of Buffy) and Season 5 of Angel.

Warnings: Spoilers Angel Season 5, graphic sex.


~

“You did all the work, I have to clean-up, luv”
“What? No, Spike”
“You have to go now, leave!”
She waited a few seconds, before telling him the words he had been waiting so long to hear.
“I love you”
He heard her, and those words reverberated in his mind for a few seconds, but for him it was more like an eternity. He could feel his knees trembling, not knowing if it was for the emotion and his love towards her, or for the fire in his chest that was burning his heart. But he didn’t know in that moment if her words were true or if they were just words to thank him for everything. And he’d never know.
He could feel his hand, attached from hers, burning in the middle of a circle of fire.
He just wanted to kiss her, and telling her that he’d always love her.
She just wanted him to believe her words, the real words she had always felt.
“No you don’t” he said. “But thanks for saying it”

“No, Spike!!” the sleeping Buffy started yelling at the same time she tried to wake up.
“Hey, Buffy!!” Dawn said, shaking her. “Wake up!!”
Buffy woke up, with some tears rolling over her cheeks.
“Another nightmare?” Dawn asked.
“Yeah…”
“I’m sorry, Buffy. I’m so sorry you lost him. I really am.” Dawn said, hugging her sister.
“I know”.
Not all the dreams she had had after Sunnydale, had been nightmares. Sometimes she dreamed about her and Spike together; when they had been in that abandoned house, or in the basement before going to the battle; they had made love and kissed each other. She could listen him telling her words in her ear; sometimes it was so real, that she woke up, calling his name, and then realizing it was just another dream; ‘cause that’s what they would always be: dreams… fantasies; and they would be the only thing she’d ever have: memories, thoughts.
She’d never see him again… he was dead and she’d have to accept that.

~

“You are and you’ll always be a little poof,” Spike said, laughing and showing his cards on the table.
“Ok, somehow you’re cheating” Angel said, grabbing him by the jacket and looking for any clue of cheating.
“No, I’m not!”
“It cannot be possible you win every hand you have Spike!” Wesley complained.
“That’s because I’m good” the blond vampire smiled, taking a breath from his cigarette. “And you’re all some bloody poofs” he took his money from the table. “You have no idea how to play”
“Well” Gunn said, stretching in his chair “I think we should work”.
“Yeah…” Lorne stood up. “Besides I have no more money to bet”.
Spike started muttering a song while he picked up all the money, and the others stared at Lorne. He started reading him. When he saw all the looks on him, he said:
“No, he hasn’t cheated.”
All the gang sighed, disappointed. But Lorne didn’t care about the cards; he was more interested in Spike’s story…
When all the team had spread in the offices, and Angel had closed the doors of his office, Spike sat on the table, looking outside. All those people, enjoying of the sun.
“You still think about her, don’t you?” Spike jumped from the surprise of Lorne’s presence.
“Bloody hell, you scared me. I didn’t know you were still here” he kept looking by the window, but he didn’t stare at people, he looked beyond them.
Lorne smiled. Yeah… he still thinks about her.
He could still remember the heavenly scent of her hair; the smell of her clothes and her body. God, he could even remember how she tastes; the taste of her sweat after a battle. God he loved that. Every time she went to shower after patrolling, he started kissing and licking her before entering to the shower and turning on the water. Christ, he remembered her so well…
“I read you today, when you were muttering that song.”
Spike glanced at him.
“I’m sure you saw some really nasty things” he sneered, picking up the glass of whiskey that Wesley had left on the table.
“Yeah… but I also saw how you felt about her; how you loved her” Lorne sat next to Spike and picked the glass of whiskey from the vampire’s hand.
“Yeah, I already know that, green boy”.
“Yeah, but I can tell you something you don’t” He took a gulp from his glass and standing up and walking towards the door he said, “She really meant it; those last words she told you. I could see it in your heart, and you know they were real”.
Spike stared at the door when Lorne had left, and felt something inside of him, not knowing if it was nostalgia, anguish or sadness, or the fact that he needed her so much.

~

Dawn yawned and stretched on the couch, zapping with the remote, different channels on the TV.
The phone suddenly rang.
“Dawn?? Could you pick up?? I’m in the shower!!” Buffy yelled.
Dawn stood up, walked towards the phone and picked it up.
“Hello?”
“Hello, Dawn? It’s me, Giles”
“Hey Giles, what’s up? Where are you now?”
Willow and Giles were making a tour around the world, joining all the slayers that had been chosen.
“Well, we’re in South Africa right now, our next stop is South America. Is Buffy there?” he asked.
“She’s in the shower. Do you want to leave a message?”
“Well, we have a little problem here. We just found out by a spell that Willow made, that there’s a slayer in LA and we don’t have any information about her. No papers, no ID. You know that we have a file from every slayer we search in the world, with their identity and different characteristics.”
“Hmmm-huh”
“Well, our problem is that we don’t know anything about her, and we need that Buffy goes to L.A and talk to Angel so he can find her.”
“Oh, and why don’t you talk with Angel?”
“Hummm, well I didn’t think it was a good idea. Besides, if Buffy goes, she’ll have to go to the new Council to get the stuff to take to L.A, and a special permission to search for the new slayer.”
“Ok, I’ll tell her”
“K, thanks Dawn”
“No problem”.
One hour later, Buffy got out of the shower.
“Finally! I thought you had drown in there”
“Nah… I was just…. Thinking”
“You have to go to L.A” Dawn smiled, laying o the frame of the door.
“Oh, Angel called?”
“Nope, Giles called when you were in the shower”. Buffy sat on the bed, while Dawn explained her the conversation she had had with the watcher.
“Oh…” Buffy said, putting her boots on.
“Just “oh”?”
“Yeah, well, I’m not very excited on going to L.A to visit Angel. I need some time.” Buffy sighed.
“Well, the problem is that they need the information now, and they have to find that new slayer.”
Buffy laid her head on the pillow.
“Unhh… am I the only one available here? No one else can travel to L.A?”
“Well, I could do it”
Buffy chuckled.
“What?”
“Oh, c’mon Buffy, I’m almost seventeen. When are you going to give me a chance?”
“Oh, I don’t know Dawn. Travel to L.A… alone… I don’t know”
“Besides, the council is just a few blocks from here.”
Buffy groaned.
“Please….? Pretty please?”
“Hmmm. I don’t know. Let me think about it, and I’ll tell you.”
Dawn jumped.
“Yeah! That’s a yes, please tell me it’s a yes!! Besides, you don’t wanna see Angel. You just said you weren’t ready”
“Oh, ok, you can go”
Dawn jumped over her sister and started kissing her cheeks.
“Thank you, thank you thank you!!!”

~

“Hey Will, it’s me, Buffy”
“Hey Buffy, how are you doing? You know, this is really cool, we have seen amazing things here in Africa.”
“I’m so glad you’re enjoying your trip, Will. You really deserve it”
“So, are you gonna see Angel?”
“Nah… Dawn is going to L.A. She’s already packing and she leaves in a week.”
“Dawn? What do you mean?”
“Well, she’s almost seventeen, and she really wants to go. Besides, I’m not ready to see Angel; at least not yet.”
“Yeah, I understand you Buffy; it’ll be good for Dawn also”
“DAWN??” Buffy heard Giles’s voice from behind Willow. “DAWN IS GOING TO L.A?? GIVE ME THAT PHONE”
“Hey Giles” Buffy said, happily smiling.
“What do you mean, Dawn is going?”
“Well, she’s a woman now Giles, we have to give her a chance.”
“Oh, I don’t know Buffy. What if she does something wrong? What if she messes up something? What if she loses the plane? What if she…?”
“I already decided it, Dawn is going, end of the discussion” She replied, hanging up.

~

“So, you take the bus to the 33rd street and then you walk to…”
“I know Buffy; I walk to the 35th and turn to the right and I arrive to the Council, I know! You have told me that at least twenty times today.”
“K, I talked to Julie, one of the secretaries of the council, and she said she could take you to the airport and you could take your plane there”
“Ok Buffy. Oh!! My bus is leaving!! I have to go!!” she kissed and hugged her sister and then entered to the bus.
“Don’t talk to strangers! And don’t eat the plane’s food ‘cause it’s always… ok, I’m embarrassing her” she whispered, and she just waved her sister with her hand.

~

Spike was rinsing his hair under the shower.
“You look tired” he heard a voice from behind him. He turned around and saw Buffy.
“Hey you.” He started kissing her, feeling how she licked his neck and all the way to his abdomen.
“You wanna be a bad boy?” she asked, smiling and licking her lips.
“God yes, please yes” she started licking his cock, from the base to the tip, and then sucked it and took it on her mouth.”
“Oh… God, Buffy… that feels so good… please… oh, keep doing that… oh faster… yeah… more… please more… oh god… I love when you do that with your tongue… Buffy… you’re a goddess… god, I think I’m gonna… I’m gonna cum…”
And he came, yelling her name, just to find his hand on his length… again. He stood up and walked towards the bathroom to clean the mess. After washing his hands, he rubbed his hair while leaning his elbows on the marble of the bathroom.
“God, Spike… either you forget her, or you call her” he whispered to himself. “Call her for what? Maybe she already met someone and forgot me”.
He threw the towel over his shoulder, and walked towards his bed.

~

Buffy felt so alone now that there was nobody in the apartment… When they had left the rests of Sunnydale, Dawn and Buffy had come to London with Giles and Willow; but after they had started preparing everything for the long trip, Buffy had started looking for a cheap apartment to live, while they were staying there.
She missed so much her house, her neighborhood. She even missed the Hellmouth and the job she had done for more than seven years. She missed her mission, but most of all, she missed to be The One. It had been her destiny, her duty, her gift and curse, and all those years she had wanted to get rid of it and have a normal life; to be like the other girls; but know all she wanted was to come back. She would give anything to be the Slayer again, to come back to the beginning.
Now, she had nothing to do. She had all the day free and she could do whatever she wanted to.
she thought
“Yeah…” she whispered “I can go to the University now… have a normal life…” but something was still missing.
She had always preferred to go to Italy or France, but she had decided to follow Giles to England ‘cause she knew that Dawn would feel alone if they stayed apart from their friends. And now they had all gone; Giles and Willow were in one of the five continents, God knows where; Faith was in Spain with Wood, and they had created a new fight club, where they trained teenagers and adults; Xander had been called to New York, to rebuild the Twin Towers, and Kennedy and the other potentials were been trained there in England.
Kennedy and Willow didn’t see each other anymore. Kennedy hadn’t like that Willow traveled around the world with Giles. She wanted to stay with her, but Willow told her it was her job, her duty. Anyway, Kennedy wasn’t too mature to understand it, so she broke up the relationship. After that, Giles had offered Buffy a post in the Council, but she had told him she preferred to look a job by herself.
So, there she was, looking for a job on the newspaper, with almost the whole page full of crosses.
Suddenly a recent memory came to her mind; in Sunnydale, just the day before going to the Hellmouth itself, after Angel had come and given her the amulet, she was laying next to Spike, hugging him, while he watched carefully at the amulet in front of him.
“What are you thinking about?” she had asked, smiling and staring at him.
He had been very concentrated for a while.
“I’m thinking that I’ll have to use this thing tomorrow; no idea how, but I’ll have to. Who knows what this thing can do…”
“I don’t want you to use it” she had told him, sitting on the bed.
“Buffy, baby, I have to” he had caressed her hair, thinking how beautiful she was; that he’d never let her go.
“Spike, you just said it; you don’t know anything about this amulet, or the power it has; it could kill you… and I’d lose you” some tears had appeared in her eyes.
He had sat next to her.
“Buffy, listen to me” he said, cupping her face between his hands. “You won’t lose me; I won’t die tomorrow”
“You don’t know that…”
“Then if I die, I promise you’ll never lose me; I’ll always be in your heart.”
“But you won’t be here” she had sobbed, while he had hugged her against his chest. “And I’ll never see you again”
“Buffy, I’ll always love you” he had said, kissing her forehead and then her lips as they made love for the last time.

~

“Yes, Buffy, I’m arriving to Angel’s office. Yeah, I know… yeah… unh-huh…k, yeah, I love you too.” Dawn finally hung up her cellular.
“Geez!” she said, arranging some papers she had in her arms. She suddenly ran over a young boy and threw all the papers. “Oh my God, I’m so sorry” she said, picking the papers from the floor, without looking at the guy.
“Please, let me help you” he said, and knelt in front of her, picking up a folder. When she looked up, she froze in front of the boy’s eyes.
She was so amazed and thinking about his beautiful eyes that didn’t notice that the boy was hanging some papers in front of her.
He smiled.
“Here you have”
“Oh… hummmm, thanks”
“I’m Connor” he said.
“I’m… hummm… Dawn” she replied, trying to react.
“Hey Dawn, nice to meet you”.

TBC…

(Btw, in this story, Connor knows Angel is his father, but he doesn’t say anything about it to Dawn.)


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

“So, Dawn…” Connor said, picking up his coffee cup. “You’re from Sunnydale? Where’s that? I’ve never heard of it.”

“Oh, well… it’s here, in California.”

**Yeah, maybe you didn’t hear about it ‘cause it’s just a big hole in the ground right now,** she thought.

“And then you moved to England?"

Dawn nodded.

“So, why are you back?"

“Well, business stuff. My sister is…um, well she works in London and sent me here to do some… research.”

“Research? Okay, about what?” the boy asked, very naturally.

“Um, well…she’s…” Dawn sighed. “Her ex-boyfriend is living here in L.A and she sent me to investigate him to see if he was dating someone else."

“Wow…” Connor said, staring at her. “That’s the biggest lie I’ve ever heard."

Dawn raised an eyebrow.

“But please, don’t misunderstand me…good act.” He winked at her.

“Fine, I know…I can’t lie; I start babbling…”

“Yeah, but keep trying…who knows?” he laughed.

“Ha ha.”

“So…I saw you were going into that famous law firm a while ago." He looked out the window. “God, I’d give anything to go inside. People say that a lot of strange things happen in there.”

“Really?"

“Yeah, I have this uncle, who one day was taking a shower and…”

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


“I cannot believe you’re wasting time with some guy named Connor!” Buffy yelled at her sister on the phone. “Who’s he anyway?”

“Oh, Buffy, don’t be so dramatic. I fell in the street and he helped me… and, well, then we had coffee. Big deal.”

“Big deal?! You should be in Angel’s offices right now! You said that Giles told you it was urgent!”

“Yeah… well…”

“Dawn?!”

“Okay, maybe it wasn’t THAT urgent… or maybe, yes… I don’t know. The thing is that I wanted a chance to show you that I can take care of myself too.”

Buffy sighed. “Get those documents and come back here before I kill you!”

“Well, why don’t you come here?”

“Dawn! I told you… I’m not…”

“You don’t have to see him.”

“Well, what do you suggest? I stay inside of my bedroom in a hotel, hiding myself from him? He’s running a demonic law firm! Maybe he even has cameras all over the street!”

Dawn rolled her eyes. “You’re really getting old.”

“Ack, I’m AM going to kill you! You’re SO dead!”

Dawn sighed.

“Listen, I don’t want to fight with you, and I sure don’t want to waste the batteries of my cell phone having a row with you. So, I’ll give the papers to Angel, tell them what we know about this damn slayer, and I’ll call you if I hear something.”

Buffy sighed. “Okay.…”

“And I’ll stay another week for vacation."

“What? Dawn!? No! Hey!”

“Bye, Buffy. I’ll call you later.”

“Hey!"

Dawn turned off the phone and stepped out of the elevator. “Damn… she’s unbearable.”

“Hey kiddo, don’t talk about your sis like that,” someone said from behind her.

**That voice,** she thought. **Oh my god…**

She slowly turned around and saw a bleached blonde vampire smiling at her.

“Okay…” She took a breath. “I have to sit down.”

“Yeah, here…” He reached for a chair.

“No, wait! I don’t! SPIKE! DAMMIT! I’M GOING TO KILL YOU!"

“Wha--?"

“WHAT THE HELL ARE YOU DOING HERE?!"

“Well, I…”

“WHY THE HELL DIDN’T YOU SAY ANYTHING? DO YOU HAVE ANY IDEA OF WHAT BUFFY HAS BEEN GOING THROUGH THESE PAST MONTHS?!” She started hitting his chest with her fists. “YOU SELFISH...DAMN...VAMPIRE! I’M GOING TO KILL YOU!”

“Dawn, calm down,” he said, trying to block her punches.

“I’m not going to calm down!!” She stopped attacking him, staring at him with tears in her eyes.

“Listen, Dawnie, I’m really sorry…”

“Don’t call me that!"

“Arrghh!” Spike growled. “Could you STOP for a bloody second?"

She glared at him.

“Do you think I’ve been living like a king these past months? Do you think I didn’t WANT to call her? To ask her if she was okay? Do you think…”

He took a breath, trying to calm himself down.

“I miss her, Dawn. You know I do. You know I love her with all my bloody heart and soul. But, what were you expecting? I call her the first day I became corporeal and say 'Oh, hey Buffy! I’ve been dead for a whole month but I’m back now, want to give it a try?' Yeah, sure, great idea.”

Dawn smiled.

“What? What’s the funny thing now?”

“Nothing…” she giggled, covering her mouth with her hand.

“Oh great, I'M the bloody funny thing now. Why don’t you go and laugh at the poof in the next office? I’m sure he’ll be funnier than me."

“Okay, okay…” She turned towards Angel’s door, but changed her mind. Turning around, she looked at him, then gave him a hug. “I’m just glad you’re back.”

Spike smiled. “And I’m glad you’re here, little bit.”


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


“Harmony, I just said no! You won’t eat—“

Someone knocked on the door of Angel’s office.

“Wait a second,” he said into the phone, then thought about it for two seconds and asked his secretary, “Why didn’t you tell me there was someone coming to my office?"

“Oh, um…Summers…yeah, she said that was her last name… wait a second…Summers? Is she...?"

Angel turned off the loud speaker and dashed towards the door.

“Buffy?” he said, opening it.

“No, Dawn here. Sorry to disappoint you.”

“Oh.” Angel smiled. “Hey, Dawnie.”

“Hmmm…” she muttered. She had never liked Angel at all, and if Buffy asked HER if she should decide between Angel and Spike, she’d totally choose the second one.

Spike had always been with her in the hard times. Angel had only come to see Buffy when their mom had died, and when Buffy had returned from heaven. Buffy had told her about her “meeting” with Angel; that it had been really tense.

Spike was going to follow her but Angel tried to close the door in his face.

“Sorry, private conversation, Spike.”

“Actually,” Dawn said. “I want Spike to stay and listen too.”

Spike smirked and entered the office.

“Arrggh, okay.” Angel closed the door and turned towards the brunette girl.

“So, where’s Buffy?”

“She…she didn’t come.”

“Why?” both vampires asked.

“Because… she, um… had some work to do.”

Spike looked down, and sat on the couch, taking a cigarette from his pocket. Angel stared at him, and then looked at Dawn. “What?” he asked.

Dawn rolled her eyes. “Never mind. Listen, Giles said there’s a new Slayer in town, and we need information about her.” She handed him a folder. “It’s very important to get all the slayers together.”

“Where’s Giles right now?” Angel asked, opening the folder.

“Oh, I don’t know. He never tells us because he thinks that an evil bad might be pursuing us, and he doesn’t wanna take any risks revealing his location,” she said, rolling her eyes again.

Spike chuckled at the girl's _expression.

“So, have you heard about this slayer?”

“No. I think we should investigate.” Angel looked at her. “You have a place to stay?”

“Yeah, the Council is covering everything; I’m staying at the Glandon’s Hotel.” She walked towards the door. “Call me when you know something.”

“Sure…” Dawn walked out of the office. “...I will. God, when did she became so bossy?" Angel asked.

“Oh, well you’ve been so long away from Sunnyhell that you have no idea of what happened there.”

Angel stared at him.

“Yeah, she took part in the apocalypse, and big sis is training her to be strong as a slayer. She’ll be just as bossy as her.”

“I heard that!!” Dawn yelled from the other side of the door.


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


She was alone. Her friends were gone; her sister was on another continent, her true love was dead.

Buffy stared out the window from her bed. What was she going to do now? She was tired of crying, and had suffered too much. Now that she had the chance to have a new and normal life, she refused to go out on the street.

She didn’t want a normal life; she wanted her house in Sunnydale, her boyfriend, and her slayage.

Okay, maybe she could skip the last part.

She sat up in bed.

“Okay, Buffy. This is what you’re going to do: You’re going to get up, take a shower, and go on with your life. Because you know that nothing’s gonna be as it used to be...” Tears appeared in her eyes. “And he’s not coming back.”

She dried her eyes and sighed.

“Maybe I just need some fun. Yeah, that’s it… I’m gonna hang with…um…myself.”

She stood up and walked towards the bathroom, deciding to go out that Saturday night.


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


“Wow, this restaurant is so beautiful…” Dawn said, looking around.

“Yeah, it’s one of the secrets of L.A.”

Dawn smiled, sitting at the table. He sat across from her and ordered white wine from the waitress.

“So, I’ve told you a lot about my life…” she said, smiling. “What about yours?”

“Hmm, me?” he smiled.

**Right… let’s see…I’m the son of two vampires, I was kidnapped when I was a baby, and came back home a couple months ago, my father made a spell to change my memories, and right now I’m talking to the most beautiful girl in the world.**

“Well… my life’s not that exciting…” he answered, scratching the back of his head. “In fact, my sister didn't send me to L.A to investigate her ex-boyfriend, but…”

Dawn giggled.

“Hey,” he said, taking her hand. “I know this is going a little fast, but I want you to know that I’m very interested in you. You’re not one of those girls who make up a story to sleep with you and then they leave and change their names and hair color, right?”

Dawn laughed. “I swear I’m not.”

“Cool…”

**’Cause I don’t want more surprises in my life right now**


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

Buffy quickly opened the door, and ran to pick up the phone.

“Hello?”

“Hey, Buffy, it’s me, Dawn.”

“Oh, hey sweetheart. How are you doing?”

“You sound…happy, or excited…what are YOU doing?”

“Oh, you have no idea how great this night was! Remember Nina? The neighbor I talked to you about? The one who’s always singing in the shower?"

“Yeah…”

“Well, we went out dancing tonight, and god, it was so great! I met this wonderful guy…”

“Oh, uh, Buffy, listen...I’d love it if you could come to L.A”

“But, Dawn, I was telling you about this great guy I met tonight. He’s—“

“Yeah, I know, but you reeeeaaally have to come.”

“Well, why? How are the things going with Angel?”

“Well, the work is going great, but that’s not what I wanted to talk about. Remember Connor? Oh GOD! He’s so handsome! Please, you have to come and meet him!”

“What? Dawn, are you crazy? I’m telling you I’m rebuilding my life here and...."

“Please? Could you do this for me? Please come here and meet him. Please? Pretty please?”

Buffy rolled her eyes. “Okay, but you really owe me one, sis.”

TBC…

Buffy stopped a taxi and put her baggage inside the trunk. She left for the airport, thinking how she would avoid Angel. An hour later, she decided that she would meet Dawn’s boyfriend, ask Fred for the papers and leave. She didn’t have to see him. Willow had told her about Fred when she had gone to L.A and, after Sunnydale, she had helped them a lot finding the Slayers all over the world. Buffy had really never met her, in person, but she thought that it would be easier to ask her the information before talking to Angel again.
“Damn…” she sighed, when she was already sitting on the plane. How had she gotten to this point? She had decided not to see Angel anymore, to forget him as she had done before… so many years ago… and now, the story repeated itself.
Almost six years ago she had killed him with a sword… the love of her life, her only true love in that moment. And after that she had gone, far away, trying to forget everything: her love, her pain… And now, it was the same thing: Spike… only pronouncing his name inside of her head made all the little hairs on her arms to stand up. He had died, saving the world. She hadn’t killed him, but he was gone… and again she had left far away to forget him… and now what?
She was traveling to Los Angeles to see that first love, the one who had tried to forget for so long so many years ago… and he was there, waiting for her.
Buffy sighed.
Yeah… life is complicated.
“The only thing that would complete this situation would be if Spike appeared again…” she sneered. But the simple fact that something like that could happen, and she knew it was impossible, pierced her heart.

~~~~~~~

“I’ll call her…” Spike said, bringing his hand to the phone. “No, wait, I better not.” He left the phone on the table. “But what if…?”
“What are you doing?” Gunn suddenly asked, staring at him from the frame of the door. He had been there for some minutes now, watching Spike’s weird movements with his hand towards the phone.
“Huh?” Spike turned his head to glance him. “Oh, nothing…”
“Seems you wanna call somebody…”
“Who? Me? Nah… Who could I call?”
“I don’t know…”
Suddenly Fred appeared at the door.
“K…” she said, entering to the office. “I have the information about the slayer they are looking for… do you have any idea of where Dawn could be?”
Spike didn’t hear. He was still staring at the phone.
“Hummm, I think I saw her with a guy some hours earlier.” Gunn answered for Spike. The blond vampire turned around.
“With a guy??”
“Yeah, you know these adolescents of today… who knows what their next movement will be…” he laughed.
Spike walked out of the office, growling.
“Her sister will know about this… oh yeah…”
“First you have to call her!” Gunn yelled, laughing.
“Yeah, thanks for that!”
He walked downstairs and glanced at Dawn and Angel who were talking. He caught some words of their conversation.
“…Buffy’s coming to L.A…”
Spike froze. What? Had he heard correctly? Buffy? Coming to L.A? He turned around and stared at them.
“What??”
“Oh, Spike!” Dawn jumped at her place. “I didn’t realize you were here.”
“Buffy’s coming to L.A??” he said, walking into the office.
“Spike, I don’t think…” Angel tried to stop him.
“Shut up little poof.”
Angel closed his mouth. Spike approached to Dawn.
“Yeah…” she answered shyly, staring at her feet. “But she doesn’t know you’re here. I didn’t tell her… I only asked her to come to meet someone…” Spike stared at her. “She doesn’t even know you’re alive.”
He avoided her look.
“Oh…”
“Yeah, she told me she had…” Dawn didn’t know if it would be ok to tell him that she had met another guy, that she was making a new life in England… that she thought Buffy had already forgotten about Spike. But she knew she had to say something. “She met a guy…”
He didn’t want to listen anything else. He turned around and left the room.

~~~~~

It was eight thirty when she arrived to L.A. She called a cab and went to the hotel to leave her stuff. Then she would talk to Dawn, meet her boyfriend ask for Fred the papers and leave. She would come back to England to see George, this new guy she had met a couple nights before.
She was walking out the hotel towards Angel’s offices, thinking about him: he was brown-haired, he had beautiful green eyes and he was so… but all the thoughts about George disappeared when she saw a blond guy walking on the other side of the street… that jacket, that hair, that way of walking… no, it couldn’t be him… it was impossible. She froze at her place, watching him, walking, leaving… he was leaving. No! He couldn’t leave again, she couldn’t lose him… she couldn’t be without him anymore.
“Spike?” she whispered, while a tear rolled down her cheek.
He froze at his place. That voice… he turned around quickly, trying to find where that voice was coming from. He could recognize that whisper anywhere, it was unique, it was hers… and then he found her: she was stand on the opposite walk-side, staring at him. She was very still, holding her hands under her chin, a new tear coming out from her beautiful eyes… He couldn’t move. He wanted to run, cross the street, hold her in his arms, and kiss her passionately, but his legs didn’t respond. He only got an answer from them when he saw her running towards the street, crossing in front of a truck that was driving towards her.
“BUFFY!!! WATCH OUT!!” he screamed, while she kept running. She slowed her steps, and stared at the vehicle that was moving quickly towards her. She froze… for a couple of seconds, she couldn’t breath, she couldn’t think. She only felt two strong arms that suddenly held her and hit her against the cold pavement, a leather coat and a slight smell of tobacco. After that, she didn’t hear anything else, she just concentrated in those blue eyes staring at her and those lips pressing against hers.

TBC…

She softly broke the kiss and froze, not believing what she had just done. She didn’t say anything… she didn’t scream, she didn’t cry, she just gave into the first impulse she felt her body was asking for… she hugged him as hard as she could.
He hugged her back, smelling the aroma of her hair, caressing it while he hid his face between her neck and shoulder. He felt her breath becoming faster and shorter, and something wet on his neck. He pulled back from her and saw some tears coming out her eyes. He kissed her forehead, telling her that everything was going to be okay.
When she looked up, everybody was staring at them after the spectacle with the truck and Spike’s heroic scene.
“Ma’am, are you okay?” An old lady asked, looking at them, worried.
“Yes…” they stood up and she dried the rest of the tears off her face. “I’m okay, thank you.”
The crowd slowly spread through the street and shops. Buffy turned around, to see if Spike was there, hoping he hadn’t disappeared again, but he was right behind her, staring at her.
*She’s as beautiful as always.* He thought. Then walked towards her and caressed the soft skin of her cheek.
“I…” She started to say, but what should she say? Her mind was turning in circles, she was so confused… “I don’t… understand.”
“It’s okay, luv.” He moved his arms around her and speak in her hear. “Everything’s gonna be okay.”
She passed her hands around his body and caressed his back, smelling the scent of tobacco in his coat and shirt.
“I’m so glad you’re here…” she said as some new tears started to roll down her cheeks.
“Not as glad as I am to see you again.” He smiled.
“Just… don’t go away, k?”
“I won’t go anywhere, Buffy. I promise. It’s been so long since… I’ve been waiting for this moment for months now.”
“But…” She moved apart. “When did you… come back?”
“I… Well I came back a few months ago…”
“And why didn’t you call me??”
“Buffy, I… I wasn’t sure what would happen, I mean I had to see you in person. I couldn’t just call you and tell you I was alive!”
“And why didn’t you come to England?!”
“’Cause I wasn’t sure if you wanted to see me or not!”
Buffy raised her arms, in sign of incomprehension. Then she turned around and walked towards her hotel. Spike followed her.
“Buffy, I’m sorry! I just thought that it would be worse for you if I called you and told you that!”
She turned around, now furious.
“WHAT?! Oh, yeah! That’s great!! I’ve been crying for months over you, and you couldn’t make a fucking call!!”
Some people in the street started to look at them.
“You cried for me?” Spike asked, scratching his head.
Buffy just sighed, turned around and walked inside the hotel.
“Wait, Buffy!”
She walked towards the elevator and pressed the fourth button.
“Buffy!!” But the doors closed before he got there. “Dammit!!” He turned around and ran towards the fire stairs. He ran upstairs, checking every time in every floor if Buffy had already arrived or not. Finally, when he got to the fourth floor, the doors of the elevator opened and Buffy walked out.
“You still here?” She asked, taking the keys out of her purse. “Why don’t you go to the Hellmouth and die again there? It’ll be much easier for all of us.”
“Buffy… don’t…” But she closed the door on his face. “Ack! Crap!”

~~~~~

She held the pillow tighter against her chest and cried harder. All those months, all that time, crying for him, and he was alive! He didn’t even care enough to call her, or bother to see of she was okay or not. He had come back and went on with his life, just like that…
“Ouch…” She heard from the window. She turned around and saw Spike climbing up onto the balcony.
“Oh, just great…” She muttered and turned around again pretending she was asleep.
“I know you’re awake…” Spike said, stepping on the frame of the window. “I can hear your breathing.”
“What do you want?”
“Could you invite me in first?”
“No,” she replied, still without looking at him. “I don’t want to talk to you.”
“Fine, then I’ll talk.” He sighed. “I’m sorry luv, I didn’t know you were so upset and sad for me. I thought…” he stared at his feet. “I thought you had said those words because you knew it’d be the last time you saw me.”
“I didn’t say it just because I wanted to please you.” She swelled. “I said that because I really meant it.”
“I know… Lorne told me a couple days ago.”
Buffy turned around and sat abruptly on the bed.
“And you need a green demon to tell you that my words are true so you can believe me??”
“How do you know—“
“Fred told me about him.” She threw him the pillow over his head. “Bastard.”
He caught the pillow in the air.
“Bitch.” He smiled, and then threw the pillow back to her. “Now, would you invite me in?”
“No.”
Spike sighed.
“Fine.” He sat, laying on the frame of the wall and lit up a cigarette. “I’ll just wait here for the sun to come up and burn me.”
“That’s a great idea.”
“Or I could tell you how much I love you.”
“It won’t work.”
“I love you.”
“No you don’t.”
“Buffy!”
She turned around to look at him.
“If you loved me you should have answered “I love you too” when I said it to you in Sunnydale. And you just said “No you don’t but thanks for saying it”?! That’s the worst answer I’ve ever heard!!” she turned around again. “I hate you.”
Spike didn’t say anything, just exhaled some smoke through his nose.
“I knew I was going to die, Buffy, and if I had told you that I loved you too it would have been much harder to forget me.”
Buffy turned around, stood up and walked towards him. She kicked his leg.
“Ouch!!”
“And… why.. did you.. want… me to forget.. you?!” she asked, kicking him again and again in every pause.
“Because!” He grabbed her leg in the air and threw her to the floor, next to him. Then pulled her against his body and onto his lap. “Because… I didn’t know if you really loved me. And if you did… I didn’t want to see you suffer the way you have always done. You’ve suffered all your life for those bastards you had as boyfriends. That stupid poof Angel made you suffer when he lost his soul, and then when he left, then Parker…”
“How do you know about Parker?”
“I used to spy on you.”
“You spied on me??”
“Yeah, well the point is, that Parker made you suffer and then Riley… and then even your friends when they brought you back.”
Buffy stared at her hands and Spike sighed.
“I hate to see you crying, not to mention to see you suffering!” She was seated against his pelvis and he adjusted his knees so he could pull her closer to his chest. “I love you Buffy, I care about you…” He moved a lock of hair off her face. “I care about your feelings, so please don’t be mad at me…”
She sighed.
“I’m not mad at you. I’m just too tired… Tired of crying…” she laid her forehead on his shoulder.
“You don’t have to cry anymore, baby.”

~~~~~

A few hours later she opened slowly her eyes. He was still there, he hadn’t left. It’ was still dark outside and they were sleeping on Buffy’s bed.
She raised her head and stared at him, sleeping, surely dreaming about something. What would he dreaming about? The two of them, together? A new and “normal” life outside the Hellmouth? For the first time, they would have the chance of living without hiding from anyone, without slaying and killing each other. Because she wasn’t the slayer anymore, and all the responsibilities she had now were paying the water and light companies. What a boring, normal life…
But now he was here. What would Dawn think about this? About them? Had she already seen he was alive?
She caressed his cold cheek and sighed, leaving all those questions for another occasion.

TBC…

“A new boyfriend?? She has a new boyfriend?!” Spike asked, picking up his shirt and following Buffy towards the bathroom.
“Well… yeah… she’s seventeen now, I cannot tell her not to have a boyfriend.”
“Of course you can!” He put his shirt on over his head. “You’re her sister, you don’t know this guy…”
“That’s what I’m going to do right now…”
Spike sighed.
“Fine, but if he’s a vampire, you’ll slay him, not me.”

~~~~~

Buffy knocked on the door to Angel’s office. Then turned around.
“Spike, stay here, I want to talk to Angel first.”
Spike growled. She smiled and kissed him softly.
“I’ll be back in a second.”
Suddenly the door opened and Angel stood there, staring at them, his arms crossed over his chest.
“Ahem.”
“Oh,” Buffy turned around. “Hey.” Then she passed him and walked to his office. Angel and Spike stared at each other for a second, and then Angel closed the door and looked at Buffy.
“Nice office…” she said. “Mine is much smaller, I applied for a job at a newspaper the other day…” Angel was staring at her with a serious expression on his face. “So… where’s my sis?”
Suddenly the doors to the elevator opened and Harmony appeared with Dawn and Connor.
“…And this is the other way of getting out of the building, so…”
She turned around and saw Buffy.
“Hey Harmony, it’s been a while. I’d appreciate if you could just walk away from my sister…”
Harmony smiled and then dashed out of the room.
“Oh, she was just showing us around the building.” Dawn smiled as she walked towards her sister and hugged her.
Angel turned around and saw Connor standing there. Angel froze.
“Connor, what are you doing here?” He didn’t want to tell Buffy the whole story about his son, and he was just surprised that he knew Dawn.
Dawn turned around.
“What… you two know each other?”
Angel stared at his feet and didn’t say anything. Connor scratched his head.
“He’s… my father.”
“WHAT??!” Both Summers’ exclaimed. Spike suddenly opened the door and ran into the room.
“What’s going on here??”

~~~~~~

Buffy closed her mouth after listening to the whole story. Dawn was still stunned. Spike was playing with a green spring, laying on the couch. He wasn’t worried or surprised about Angel’s story, he was calmer now that he could see what Buffy was doing. He didn’t like to leave her alone with that poof. The only reaction he had was when he found out Dawn and Connor were dating. The spring he was playing with jumped out of his hands and landed, hooking itself in the nose of one of the animal heads hanging along the walls of the office.
He froze there, and then turned around prepared to say something to buffy when Dawn interrupted him.
“Why didn’t you tell me anything of this??” Dawn told Connor, standing up.
“Dawn, don’t get mad at him, I told him not to tell you.” Angel said, trying to calm her down.
“Oh, just great!”
Dawn walked out of the office and Connor followed her. Buffy reacted in that moment, after the door was shut.
“Well… that was a surprise. I come to meet my sister’s boyfriend and I find out that my boyfriend’s alive, my sister’s boyfriend is a vampire’s son and a stupid vampire is his secretary!”
Buffy sighed.
“Just give me the damn information about that damn slayer I came looking for and I’ll get the hell out of here.”
Angel walked towards his desk and picked up a yellow folder with some papers inside. He then walked towards Buffy.
“Here it is… Be care—“
“Yeah, yeah…” She held the folder and gave Spike the keys of her room in the hotel. “Honey could you go get the baggage? I want to get out of this city as soon as possible.”
Spike smiled, kissed her forehead, picked the keys up and left.
“?? Since when do you call him that?” When the doors were closed Angel exclaimed:
Buffy sighed, not wanting to fight with Angel, and picked her coat.
“Buffy, I don’t think Spike’s the best person to—“
“Angel…” she turned around. “Understand this, you were in my life once, then you left me, thinking that everything would be better for me, but you just hurt me. Yeah, you were part of my life and you worried about me and you took care of me, but now, you’re not that part of my life anymore. So what I do with my personal life is none of your business.”
She turned around and walked towards the door. Before she could open it, she stopped and looked at him and said:
“Thanks for the information.”

~~~~~~

“So, what are you going to do with Dawn?” Spike asked Buffy, putting the clothes inside the bag.
“I’m not going to do anything with her. She’s old enough to make her own choices. She told me she wanted to stay here. It seems she fixed her problems with Connor and she wants to spend more time with him.”
She turned around and smiled.
“So, she’s staying here and we’re leaving for San Francisco tomorrow morning.”
“San Francisco?” He smiled.
“Yeah, I’ve always wanted to live there, and I’m sick of L.A, not to mention England.”
“England is a good country…”
“Sure, if you want to listen everyday that accent…”
“Hey!”
“I’m kidding hun,” she laughed, and then kissed him. “I’m kidding.”

The End.