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Author's Chapter Notes:
Took a little while but here it is, the third chapter! Much thanks to my Beta Celia for her help and her enthusiasm! Also, thanks to crystal pegasus, Tasha, Gypsy jin, lindsey, Mariana, Lily, Reciprocity, allspikeallthetime, and buffyandspikeforever, for all your reviews! Reviews are food for the soul!

Again, none of this belongs to me, the chapter title is a Billy Idol song (my favorite by the way) and everything else is Joss's.
The woods surrounding the cemetery seemed to be buzzing with some unknown charge as Willow and Tara started setting up the candles around the grave site. Willow's eyes settled on the gravestone, a small smile playing on her lips as she read the epitaph 'She saved the world a lot'. It was so fitting for their friend. "Don't worry Buffy, we're going to fix all of this...you'll be back in no time at all." She whispered softly as her hand trailed over the smooth stone before her focus shifted back to preparing the area being used for the spell. Everyone else seemed to just be accepting the fact that Buffy was gone but Willow couldn't go along with that. Willow was determined to fix this whole situation.

There were powers out there that could be channeled, requests and pleas that could be made, to bring Buffy back here where she belonged. She could feel the eyes of the others on her and knew she didn't have their full support in this but that didn't matter, as long as they were there to help perform the ritual.

"All right." She stated, rubbing her hands together as she looked over at her friends. "Lets get this started." Everyone was arranged into the places they needed to be - sitting on the ground around their best friend's grave - before Willow started to chant.

The seconds, or was it minutes, flew by without anyone thinking anything; they were all just focused on the fear running through them about the outcome of the ritual. No one was looking at Willow except for Tara, who was watching as her lovers eyes turned from the sweet normal color to a dark shade of brown and then slowly to black...

******

Now this is what I needed! Spike's thoughts were jubilant as he swung his axe in a full circle, watching with a pleased smirk as the demon's head flew off and the motorcycle he had been riding went catapulting into a nearby tree.

"Come on then, don't be shy boys, been lookin' for a bit of entertainment tonight."

His words were taunting, baiting the demons into a hurried, anger-filled rage that would get them killed. For a split second, Spike's attention was diverted from the demons in front of him to the sound of Red's voice, though he couldn't make out exactly what she was saying. The sound of a departing motorbike jerked him out of his concentration.

"Bugger." The blonde grumbled as he watched the demon he had been about to introduce to his axe ride off towards the sound of the witch's voice. "What, fighting a vamp isn't good enough for you, huh? Gotta go chase after a bunch of warm bloods." He tsk'd under his voice before he broke out into a jog, needing to get to the 'scoobies' before any of the demons got to them.

*******

The cemetery was silent except for the sound of Willow's chanting, making it easy for gang to pick up on the dull roar of the approaching bikes as it began filling the air. Xander's eyes flew open suddenly, making Willow's eyes flash with anger, piercing him with her gaze.

"Stay in the circle!" She commanded, her voice low and forceful.

"Will...there's someth-" he was cut off by the motorcycle that suddenly flew over his head. Immediately following was Spike, jumping off the same gravestone that the motorbike had just used as a ramp.

"Problems, mates!" He growled out, swinging the axe to take out another demon before he looked around, confused for a second. "What the bloody hell..." he didn't get a chance to finish his question before the demons started going for the scoobies and that just wouldn't do. He'd made a promise to little bit to keep everyone safe and that's what he was going to do.

"Xander, get Red outta here!" He growled, turning quickly as he felt something behind him. "Just in time for the party,mate." He muttered to the demon before he swept out his leg, knocking him effectively to the ground. With one fluid swing of the axe, he had the ugly thing decapitated.

Spike's eyes lifted to make sure Xander had Willow. Anya and Tara were heading towards the clearing, leaving Spike to chase after the demons that were heading back into the woods. The chase was a rough one, seeing as most of them had wheels and he didn't but the advantage was their bikes weren't made for the dirt paths that were covered with logs and sticks.

He was closing in when something stopped him - something he wasn't quite sure of - but... There was a tingling, a strange sensation in his fingers, then up his arms, into his torso. As the tingling continued to his chest, his eyes widened. It felt like something was squeezing him, taking the life out of him slowly - almost like he was suffocating, if he had needed to breathe that is. His throat felt tight, gritty, like he had swallowed something grainy and couldn't quite get it down.

A burning sensation was gripping his chest and the sheer panic that ran through his body terrorized him like nothing he had never experienced before. Spike had had his share of fearful moments, though most he would never admit to, but none of them compared to the sheer terror that gripped him like a vice, cutting into him with its sharp talons.

Without even realizing it, dropped to his knees, his fingers plunging into the soft soil of the ground, clutching the grass as his head dropped, eyes squeezing shut. Get a grip, mate he tried to convince himself, taking in slow breaths even though it felt like that was impossible.

In an instant, his head flew up, his eyes widening.

"Buffy."

His voice was strained as he pushed himself up off the ground, his brow furrowed, as he took off at a speed that probably could have caused a rip in the sound barrier. Something was wrong, something was wrong with Buffy. The claim was pulling him and he wouldn't have been able to stop himself from going to her even if he wanted to - which of course, he didn't.

"I'm comin', luv, hold on."


**********

"What..." Suddenly, that didn't seem like such a good thing to do - the whole speaking thing. The air in this place seemed a little thin, almost non-existent...wait, where was this place? Why was it cold? Buffy frowned, shifting a touch before she realized that she could hardly breathe. Suddenly it all registered, the red lining, the heavy wood atop of her.

A coffin...oh god...I'm in a coffin!

She'd been ripped out of the warmth, the light, the peace and placed into a coffin. Well, not directly placed--she assumed she'd been put in there when she was in heaven. God, it was so cold and it was getting so hard to breath. She was starting to panic, yeah, the panic was definitely setting in. Frantically, her fists pounded at the wood, trying so hard not to scream and waste the precious air. Air that she hadn't needed in heaven.

She forced herself not to think about that at the moment. Instead she started focusing on her fists as they finally cracked through the wood of the lid, only to cause a deluge of soil to pour in on top of her and down her throat, causing her to nearly choke. She had to get out of here. She had to. It was basic survival instinct now, it was crawl out of here or die again and who knew where she would go this time.


*******

The pain was getting worse, it was squeezing his chest so hard that he felt as if his ribs were going to break beneath the weight. What the bloody hell is going on? His eyes scanned the cemetery, landing on her gravestone. He nearly broke down every time he saw it and this time was no different than every other time. No matter how much pain Spike was in physically, it was nothing compared to the pain of her being gone. No matter how many times she had destroyed him mentally and emotionally he still loved her and when she had given herself to him, reluctantly as it was, it had been the best day of his unlife. Something was wrong with his girl and he was at a completely loss as to what to do about it or how to help her.

Pull it together, no use to her if you're a sobbin' pile of mush

Spike tried to control his emotions and the pain as he headed towards the gravestone that marked the place where Buffy rested. His head cocked, focusing his senses on a sound that was unfamiliar. His eyes narrowed as the soil shifted, crumbling a bit. The same bright blue gaze widened as he realized that something was moving in there, Buffy was moving under there. Once again dropping to his knees, he started pawing at the soil with his hands, flinging it on either side of him. He couldn't move fast enough, the few minutes seemed like hours to him before he saw the ivory hand. Frantically, he moved some more dirt before he could clasp his hands around her shoulders, tugging her up and into his arms. There she was, dirty, sobbing and trembling…and breathing.

His slayer was alive.





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