Chapter 4: The Last Stand
Disclaimer: Joss owns all
Spike woke up from a nightmare with a gasp, sitting up in Lorne’s bed. He looked around and remembered what was going on. Portal. Club. Memory loss. Potion. Lorne. Buffy. BUFFY! He looked around and saw Buffy asleep in bed next to him and Lorne asleep in a chair by the bed. He saw sunlight behind the drawn curtains and guessed had been unconscious for several hours. He tried to move off the bed, but as he did he woke the snoozing Slayer next to him.
“Huh, Spike!” Buffy exclaimed, waking up Lorne.
“Tootsie Rolls are Mickey Mouse!” Lorne said, waking from a strange dream. “What? Oh Spike, you’re awake! Do you remember anything?”
“Yes, Lorne, I remember everything.” Spike said, looking around the room. “So, I guess you, Illyria and the purple eyed fella survived.”
“Yep, thanks to you.” Lorne said, shaking the vampires hand.
“Eh, it’s nothing.” Spike said letting go of Lorne’s hand.
“Oh what the hell.” Lorne said, pulling Spike into a hug. Spike rolled his eyes as the demon hugged him.
“Lorne.” Spike said, getting Lorne’s attention. “Let go.”
“Sorry. ” Lorne said, letting go and backing away from the vampire. “Besides, I think she’d rather be hugging you anyway.”
Spike turned around and saw Buffy looking at him, a smile on her face.
“‘Lo Buffy. I uh, heard you sing.” Spike said, looking at her with a watery smile. Buffy smiled, tears in her eyes. “You were great.”
“Thanks.” She said, scooting closer to him. “I meant it, you know, when I told you I loved you.”
“I know, he told me.” Spike said, taking her hand.
“Who told you?” Buffy asked, confused.
“Weird guy I met on the higher plains or whatever. Said his name was Emanuel.” Spike explained.
“So you were in the Higher Planes. Ha! Knew it! And you met someone up there?” Lorne asked, interested.
“Yeah, showed me a bunch of stuff about you and Buffy and the collapse of Wolfram & Hart.” Spike clarified.
“What happened, Spike?” Lorne asked. “Last I saw you were about to go one on one billion with the Senior Partners’ army, what happened to you?”
“It’s a long story. You might want to take a seat.” Spike said. Upon hearing this, Buffy settled in Spike’s lap and wrapped her arms around him.
“This seat’s good.” She said, smiling.
Lorne smiled and sat down in an easy chair. “So, what’s the story?”
“Ok, here’s what happened…”
***Flashback***
Los Angeles
The Hyperion Hotel
The Hell A Incident
7 days ago
“Angel and Gunn are dead, the armies of the Wolf, Ram and Hart will not waste time finding us. What is the next course of action?” Illyria asked.
“I agree with this strange blue person, we must come up with a strategy.” Groo said, wiping blood from his sword.
“We have a plan.” Spike said, surprising the group. “Angel said if he didn’t survive this fight, I was supposed to bring the survivors here. There’s sewer access in the basement, we can get out of the city that way.”
“I’m lovin’ that plan.” Lorne said.
“A strategic withdrawal is acceptable.” Illyria said, as if they needed her permission to go with the plan. Suddenly they heard a faint roaring coming from outside.
“I think we should go!” Lorne said as they ran towards the basement. They came to the trapdoor as they heard the stampede of monsters getting closer. Groo pulled open the door and Illyria and Lorne descended into the sewers. Spike held the door open for Groo, and looked down after them.
“Spikester, come on!” Lorne called, but the vampire didn’t move an inch. “What are you waiting for?!”
“I’m not coming with you.” Spike said, a sadness and fire in his eyes.
“What are you talking about?!”
“I went out in a blaze of glory a year ago, and I’m going to now.”
“You can’t beat them! You won’t survive!” Lorne shouted at the vampire.
“I know, but you will, and they will.” Spike said, thinking of his favorite girls.
“What do you plan to do, keep hacking till one of them gets lucky?” Lorne asked incredulously.
“No, Angel took care of it.” Spike said, smirking. “He packed the hotel with a surprise for those buggers, and it needs someone to spring it. If you get out, go see Buffy and Dawn for me. Tell them I love them, and me and Peaches went out as heroes.”
“I don’t know you, but you are a true champion.” Groo said, looking at Spike with pride.
“Farewell Spike, you would have made a superb pet.” Illyria said, in as affectionate a statement as she could make.
“Give ‘em hell, Spike. Give ‘em hell!” Lorne said, knowing he couldn’t change his mind. Spike gave them a mock salute and closed the door. Spike grabbed a few boxes and threw them on the trap door to hide it. He ran back up the stairs towards the lobby, he had to hurry and reach the honeymoon sweet before the demons arrived. He remembered his conversation with Angel before setting out.
***
“What do you think all this means for that Shanshu bugaboo? If we make it through this, does one of us get to be a real boy?” Spike asked.
“Who are you kidding? We’re not gonna make it through.” Angel said, resigned to their fate.
“Well, as long as it’s not you.” Spike said, getting in one last gibe before the end. He went to the weapons chest, picked out a sword and turned to leave.
“Wait,” Angel called as he reached the door. “There’s something we need to discuss.”
“If this is about Buffy I…” Spike began, but Angel cut him off.
“No, this is about tonight.” Angel said grimly.
“I’m all ears, Hair Gel.” Spike said turning to face him.
“You know the Hyperion Hotel?” Angel asked.
“Yeah, your old HQ, Fred told me about it. Been there once or twice. Why?”
“There’s a trapdoor in the basement that leads to the sewer tunnels. It opens into a tunnel that leads out of the city, if I don’t make it, I want you to take everyone who’s left there and get them out of here.”
Spike looked at his grandsire with an eyebrow raised. “Right then, if you croak I take everyone and run like hell.”
“Not exactly.” Angel said, taking a deep, unneeded breath. “There’s something else in the hotel, something that we can use against whatever the Senior Partners send after us.”
“What’s that?”
“A detonator. In the honeymoon suite.” Angel said, looking Spike in the eyes. “ The hotel is packed with 3 tons of high explosives, as are some of the buildings in the surrounding blocks and all the buildings Wolfram & Hart owns. The buildings are abandoned so human casualties will be minimal. The bombs are filled with a mystical toxin that was designed to kill anything demonic within range of the blast; it reduces demons to dust like a staked vampire. If the explosion doesn’t kill them the toxin will. That should give the survivors enough time to escape through the tunnels.”
“But someone needs to be there to set it off.” Spike guessed, realizing what Angel was asking him. “So I lead them to the escape route and stay to set off the demon napalm.”
“I know it’s not…”
“I’ll do it.” Spike interrupted, getting a surprised look from Angel. “Don’t look so surprised, I signed on to see it through and turns out I care enough to die for the cause. These are my friends too now, they’re decent people and I want them to survive. And I may never see them again, but Buffy and Dawn will get a better life from this. Now come on, we need to go be heroes.”
***
Spike ran to the lobby of he hotel, hearing the roar of the demons outside. He looked at the front doors, a shadow of something huge coming down the street. He ran up the stairs as he heard the demons smashing through the front doors. He reached the top of the stairs as a whole section of the wall was smashed in; he turned and saw the strangest thing he’d ever seen. It had 3 heads, tentacles, hundreds of eyes, 12 mouths, teeth 3 feet long, 2 giant talons and it had to bend over to fit in the lobby. Spike felt psychic waves of rage emanating from it, and he remembered feeling the same thing when he fought the zombies in the basement of Wolfram & Hart while Angel and Cordelia were fighting Lindsey. He ran down the corridor as more demons followed it inside.
“So that’s the failsafe specially designed to kill Angel.Too bad it’s here to kill me, would’ve bought it a pint.” Spike said to himself, running down a hall. He tried to repress his feelings of loss for his grandsire with humor. It wasn’t working.
Spike ran as fast as he could, the sound of the demon stampeding after him. He was almost to the suite, but he was cut off. A door opened and he was assaulted by a group of Fell Brethren warriors who came in through a window.
“There’s the one who took the Holy Vessel and killed our leader!” They roared, brandishing their swords. “You shall feel the holy wrath of the Fell!”
“Oh bugger your holy hogwash.” Spike said, grabbing a sword from the nearest Fell Brother and easily sliced off his attackers’ heads. “I killed your boss with only one hand, like you’d be trouble.”
He started running towards the room again as he heard the thunderous footsteps behind him. He didn’t need to look around to know that they were gaining on him. Spike made it to the suite, the demons right on his heels. He ran in and locked the door behind him, and just to be on the safe side he shoved a couch, a coffee table and a cabinet infront of the door.
He then began looking for the detonator. He ran all over the room, until he saw a small cell phone like device next to the television. He looked at the device, it was armed and the red blinking button was begging to be pressed. Then it really hit him; this was it, it was the end. No special trinkets to bring him back, no box full of flash, just death. He had all these months to go to her, and now this second chance was over. He wished he’d talked to her one last time, to tell her that he loved her, but it was too late. He regretted a lot of things in his life; the countless lives he’d taken, turning and staking his mother, attacking Buffy in the bathroom, but the two things he regretted most was not being able to save Fred and not seeing Dawn and Buffy one again, even if for just one last time.
CRASH
He looked up at the sound. The demons outside the room trying to break through the door, it was only a matter of time.
CRASH
He thought about his chances of fighting his way out. He could take on quite a few demons at once and win, but just how many was he going to have to fight? He went to the window and looked down at the street, he gasped at the sight. The street was overrun with monsters; they were everywhere, he couldn’t see a place on the ground that wasn’t teeming with demons. Sebassis’ troops, Mohra demons, Fell Brethren warriors, Vahrall demons, vampires, Skilosh demons, Mok’Togar demons, Hellhounds, Lilliad demons, the Order of Taraka, Boretz demons, cyborg fighters, Fyarl demons, Grox’lar beasts, Lubber demons, Suvolte demons, Chaos demons, Haxil beasts, zombies, Nezzla demons, Voynok demons, Kith’harn demons, Prio Motu demons, Jaarvlen flesh eaters, Grappler demons, Sluggoth demons, Kaliff demons, Ethros demons, Polgara demons, Durslar beasts, Rwasundi demons, Davrik demons, Wraithers, Ghora demons, Quellor demons, Thesulac demons, the Miquot Clan, the Scourge, soul eaters, Thraxis demons, the Sisterhood of Jhe, Lei Ach demons, goblins, Lur-ites, M’Fashniks, trolls, Haklars, Nahdrahs, gargoyles, Howlers, Grimslaw demons, Kungai demons, Kleynach demons, Glarghk Guhl Kashma’niks, Senih’D demons, another dragon and more creatures that he’d never seen before. Thousands of them kept coming down the streets, hundreds of them poured into the hotel. He was trapped, completely boxed in. There was no way out of this; even at his best he couldn’t take on half this many demons by himself. This was the end, and he knew it.
CRASH
Spike saw the door begin to splinter; they were seconds away from getting in.
“Death, glory, and sod all else.” Spike muttered, his grip on the detonator tightening.
CRASH
They had broken through; the demons ran into the room intent on destruction. Spike stood there with his finger on the detonator as they charged him.
“Dawn, Buffy, where ever you are, I love you.” Spike whispered, and he pressed the button.
KABOOM!!!
The bombs in the depths of the hotel exploded, blowing up the whole building. The demons looked on as the hotel exploded, vaporizing the demons closest and sending fire and wreckage into their ranks. Then they felt the mystic shockwave hit them, the demon toxin reducing them to dust. They began to retreat but another building exploded. And another, and another. They couldn’t escape the attack, the toxin spread a mile in every direction and in a matter of moments Wolfram & Hart’s entire demon army was dust in the wind. The explosions started fires all over the city; the demons had destroyed a dozen buildings looking for the murderers of the Black Thorn, a huge section of the city was a crater thanks to Angel’s bombs. Los Angeles was a war zone, but the war was already over.
“Bugger.” Spike said waking up. He sat up and looked at his surroundings. It looked like the living room of the Summers’ house before Sunnydale was destroyed. He stood up and walked into the other rooms; it had the same kitchen, same foyer, and same bedrooms, the only room he hadn’t checked was the basement. He approached the basement door, when suddenly he heard singing. He put his ear to the door and, sure enough, he heard someone singing “Wind Beneath My Wings.” He opened the door and slowly descended into the basement, he saw a man sitting on the bed by the window.
“Thank God for you, the wind beneath my wings.” The man finished singing and smiled at Spike. He was dressed in a brown jacket, jeans and a pair of work gloves. He stood up and walked over to him, extending his hand. “Hey Spike, nice to see you.”
“Who are you and where am I?” Spike asked.
“Oh right, you aren’t exactly the most social vampire.” The man said, rolling his eyes.
“Who are you?” Spike asked, staring a hole in the man. “How do you know I’m a vampire and where the hell are we?”
“You can call me Emanuel, and as you probably guessed, we aren’t really in Buffy’s house.” The man answered. “I just thought familiar surroundings would make you more comfortable.”
“OK, so where are we really?” Spike asked, still not trusting this guy.
“It’s a little part of what you call the Higher Plains.” Emanuel replied.
“Wait,” Spike said, not believing what he was implying. “You’re saying we’re in Heaven?”
“Well, no, this isn’t the Heaven, it’s just a little pocket of reality in the suburbs of Heaven.” Emanuel said, sitting back down. “This is where people’s minds go when they need to get a message from God.”
“A god? Oh no, if this god’s anything like that Glory bitch, I’m out.”
“Oh man, I remember her. Never liked her, she was the kind of evil and arrogance that just ruins your day.” Emanuel said, making a face as if remembering a past encounter with Glorificus. “Besides, she was a god, this message is from THE God.”
“THE God, you mean He really exists?” Spike asked, disbelievingly.
“Well yeah, you don’t think it’s just a coincidence that crosses and holy water hurt vampires, or that Buffy went to Heaven do you?” Emanuel said, sitting back.
“Well, I never really saw anything solid on Him. And besides, I just hear about the Powers That Be.” Spike explained pulling up a chair. “So, what are you? My guardian angel or something?”
“Not exactly, but it doesn’t matter. As for the Powers That Be, they were born in the Creation, but who do you think did the Creating?” Emanuel asked, pointing towards the ceiling. “They help Him keep things running on the larger scale, but He keeps His eye on the lives of individual beings.”
“Really, then where the hell was He when Buffy needed Him?” Spike asked, suddenly remembering all the times he’d seen Buffy almost die. “What was He doing, sitting on His all-powerful ass havin’ a beer?!”
“Please Spike, calm down.” Emanuel said, trying to keep things civil.
“Calm down?! You say that He keeps watch on individual people, then where was He when Buffy died? Where was He all the times when Angel lost his soul?” Spike ranted, suddenly getting angry remembering all the times things went bad for people he cared about. “Where was He when Glory took Dawn? Where was He when we were fighting the First? Where was He when Dru and me killed all those people? Where was He when Joyce died? Where was He when an Old One destroyed Fred’s soul?”
“Spike!” Emanuel said, grabbing his shoulders. “Sit down and let me explain a few things to you.”
“Fine!” Spike said, sitting down hard.
“This isn’t the first time I’ve been asked this and it probably won’t be the last. First off all, He doesn’t intervene unless it’s absolutely necessary. All the times you or Buffy or Angel stopped the world from ending, you had it under control and stopped it, so it wasn’t necessary. Second, He was there to take Joyce home when the aneurysm hit. And third, the guy who told you Fred’s soul was destroyed was wrong.”
“What?” Spike asked, caught off guard by that statement. “Knox and the doc that got the sarcophagus to Wolfram & Hart said that bringing Illyria back destroyed Fred’s soul.”
“No, no, no!” Emanuel said, getting his confusion. “Fred’s soul wasn’t destroyed!”
“What?!” Spike asked, jumping up, shocked.
“The process that brings the essence of an Old One into a human body doesn’t destroy the person’s soul; it kills the human and permanently fuses the body with the demon’s being. The process severs all possibility of any other spirit inhabiting that body, that’s why people mistake it for the soul being destroyed. Souls can’t be destroyed, anything that dies in a mortal plain still exists somewhere else. Even demons that die don’t just cease to exist.”
“You’re saying Fred’s soul…” Spike began, absorbing all this information
“Is enjoying eternity with Wesley.”
“Oh thank God!” Spike said, relieved beyond belief.
“You’re welcome. Now on to business, I still have that message.” Emanuel said, crossing his arms.
“Right, so what does the Big Man want?” Spike asked, lighting a cigarette.
“He wants you to go back to Earth.” Emanuel said matter of factly.
“Oh come on!” Spike said, pulling the cigarette from his mouth. “I already died twice savin’ the world and lost the woman I loved more than anything, what more do you want?”
“We want you to go back to Buffy.” Emanuel said, getting a shocked look from Spike.
“Ok, this is really Hell isn’t it? You’re gonna spend eternity telling me that I’m going back to Buffy right?” Spike sighed.
“No I’m serious, we need you back on Earth with her.” Emanuel said, sighing at the vampire’s pessimism.
“Right.” Spike said, disbelievingly. “She doesn’t want me and she sure as hell doesn’t need me and besides she’s with the Immortal.”
“Not anymore she’s not.” Emanuel said. “She broke up with him a few days ago and now he’s dead.”
“He’s not with her and he’s dead?” Spike asked, grinning. “What happened? Was it violent?”
”Oh brother. You and your violent fun.” Emanuel sighed. “What do you want to know first, Buffy dumping him or his death?”
“Buffy dumping him.” Spike said, with the anticipation of a five-year-old child waiting for a Christmas present.
“OK, first a question: do you remember Ilona Costa Bianchi.”
“Ilona Costa Bianchi? Why does that name ring a bell?” Spike asked, recognizing the name.
“She was the CEO of the branch of Wolfram & Hart in Rome.” Emanuel said.
“Oh yeah, I remember her. ‘Gypsies are filthy people.’” Spike quoted and then spat on the floor. “‘We shall speak of them no more.’”
“That’s her.” The messenger nodded. “Well, one day Buffy found the Immortal making out with her in his villa.”
“That bastard cheated on her? Is he insane?” Spike asked incredulously. “She’s beautiful, smart, stronger than any woman I’ve ever known. What more could someone want in a woman?”
“Well he’s ‘The Immortal’, he doesn’t know what real love is. We’ve watched him for centuries up here. He is without a doubt the most fickle being on Earth. Everything he did was based on whims and self-interest. He’s one of those people who lives as if the world were his own private amusement park.”
“I take it you and the Big Boss aren’t too happy with him either?” Spike asked grinning. ‘Finally, somebody who doesn’t like the Immortal.’
“Well, we have compassion for all things, but that doesn’t mean we approve of what they do.” Emanuel said.
“So then what happened?” Spike asked, taking a drag of his cigarette.
“Well, he tried to make it right with her; he said he’d show her the true meaning of pleasure. To which she replied, ‘I know what pleasure is, and I haven’t felt it since the man I love died.’ He said he’d do things that she’d never forget, things that she couldn’t imagine. He even offered…” The man said looking away.
“Offered what?” Spike asked, wondering why this guy’s demeanor had changed.
“Well… you remember what he did with Darla and Drusilla in 1894?”
“Yes, but what…What?! He wanted to have her and some other bint?!”
“Yep, but that’s not what really got her mad, it’s who he suggested join them.”
“He wanted that Ilona chit, God I’ll kill him!” Spike ranted angrily.
“It wasn’t Ilona, it was another woman close to Buffy who hated him from the beginning.”
“He wanted Willow? But she’s with that Slayer, Kennedy.”
“Not Willow.” Emanuel said, not looking forward to Spike realizing who the other girl was.
“Faith. He wanted to do two Slayers at once, that bastard!”
“Not her either.” Emanuel said, knowing Spike was on the verge of figuring it out.
“Well it can’t be Anya, I heard she was dead. The only other girl who’s close to Buffy is…” Spike’s eyes became the size of saucers. He couldn’t mean her. He looked at Emanuel’s nervous smile and his suspicions were confirmed. “Oh God no!”
“Dawn never liked him, he thought he could make up with Buffy and get Dawn on his side at the same time by… sleeping with both of them at the same time.” Spike looked ready to explode.
“WWWHHHHHHHHAAAAAAAAAAAAAAATTTTTTT?!?!?!?!?!?!?!” Spike hollered, jumping up and knocking over his chair. “I’LL KILL HIM! I’LL TRACK HIM TO WHEREVER HE IS AND KILL HIM! I’LL RIP OUT HIS INTESTINES AND STRANGLE HIM WITH THEM! I’LL CASTRATE HIM AND MAKE HIM EAT HIS OWN TESTICLES! I’LL STAB HIM WITH RED HOT POKERS EVERY SINGLE DAY FOR THE REST OF ETERNITY!” Emanuel just sat there and let Spike rant and vent his anger for the next twenty minutes, in which time he screamed every horrible painful way to kill the Immortal he could think of.
“Are you ready to let me continue?” Emanuel asked, after Spike sat back down. The vampire nodded.
“OK, she didn’t like his proposition either, she threw him out the window of her apartment. But after you guys took out the Circle of the Black Thorn, things really went south for the Immortal.”
“What?” Spike asked confused. “But we just did that, I just got here after we killed them.”
“Oh right, sorry. Time doesn’t work the same here, there’s only the now but on Earth time’s still going on.” Emanuel explained. “Anyway, after the Circle of the Black Thorn was killed, Wolfram & Hart’s operations went belly up. You threw a monkey wrench into their plans. Enchantments that they put on the government, the police, the FBI, the IRS, and the UN have been broken. Their clients’ affairs were thrown into the light. Plus the army of demons that you destroyed used up a lot of their resources and connections. Their funds went down the toilet. And many of their clients and employees were captured, killed, or fled to other dimensions. The Senior Partners are estimating it could take years to recover from this setback. Some are even discussing the option to abandon operations on Earth and look into some other dimensions, but that’s undoubtedly just a trick to try and lull their enemies into a false sense of security. Unfortunately, we haven’t seen the last of them.”
“OK good the plan worked, but what does this have to do with the Immortal?” Spike asked, not seeing the connection.
“It seems that a large piece of the Immortal’s fortune was invested in Wolfram & Hart stock, when they went under he lost everything but the profits from his books. That would’ve been fine, but he owed a lot of money to a lot of people and they all came to collect at once. He paid all he could but he still owed a lot of people, and most of the people he owed were Wolfram & Hart clients who needed to get out of dodge. He tried to duck them and go into hiding with Ilona.”
“Bloody welcher.” Spike muttered.
“But he hadn’t counted on a Grefpag demon bombing his car. They got into his limo and it exploded.”
“Serves him right.” Spike smirked. “But I still don’t know about going back. Buffy has her friends, her Watcher, and an army of Slayers, what does she need me for?”
“Well for starters, she loves you.” Emanuel said, matter of factly.
“Don’t know where you get your information, but she doesn’t love me.” Spike said,
“Yes she does, she told you so.”
“She was just making it easy on a dying dead man.”
“Is that right?” Emanuel asked, a glint of amusement in his eye.
“Yeah, that’s right. So quit lying to make me feel better.”
“I’m not lying. I am incapable of lying.” Emanuel said.
“Then you’ve been misinformed.” Spike said, wishing this guy would stop tormenting him.
“I haven’t been misinformed either.”
“Well then you’re just really thick.” Spike snarled. “Why’d she even hook up with the Immortal?”
“What they had was short term, Buffy knew that. Even the Immortal knew that. She just wanted someone to help take her mind off of losing you.”
“Why do I not believe you?” Spike asked, trying not to get his hopes up.
“Because your insecurity and bad romantic past has you convinced that it’s impossible for her or any woman to feel that way about you, so you’re denying it so you won’t get your hopes up and thus get your heart broken.” Emanuel said as if it was the most obvious thing in the world. Spike just stared at him. It was like he read his mind.
“What, were you a shrink in a past life?” Spike asked, a little put off by the angel’s accuracy.
“No, I’ve just been around a long time.” Emanuel said, glad that he’d hit a nerve.
“Whatever.” Spike said, shaking it off.
“Besides, how do you know what she feels?” Emanuel said, pressing his advantage. “You haven’t spoken to her at all since you got back so you don’t know what she’s been through. All you’ve got to go on is what Andrew told you, and he didn’t tell you very much.”
“All right, halo boy, then what has she been through?” Spike asked reluctantly.
“She was unable to sleep for the first three months after the fall of Sunnydale. She thought of you when she was with the Immortal. She’s been crying every night since she found out you were back and died again. And the only reason she hasn’t killed herself been because that would mean your sacrifice was for nothing.”
“What are you talking about?” Spike asked, not believing what he was hearing.
“She meant it William, and if you don’t believe me then believe your eyes.” He said, turning on a television. The picture showed Buffy lying in bed surrounded by the Scoobies, telling them every detail of their time together. Then it switched to her beating up a vamp, screaming about Spike not believing her. And finally it cut to Buffy singing in Lorne’s new club. He saw the love and despair in her eyes, and he knew. He finally realized that she meant it. “She needs you, especially with what’s coming.”
“What?” Spike asked, that last comment catching his attention.
“There’s a big fight coming, and she’s going to need you in it. If you don’t she’ll die, and not the noble death she had when she sacrificed herself, it’ll be slow, humiliating, and agonizing. She’s going to need your help, and your love now more then ever. What do you say?” Spike looked at Buffy on the TV, it took one second to decide.
“Send me back.” Spike said, not taking his eyes off the TV.
“All right then.” Emanuel said, pointing to the television. A portal opened where the TV stood. “Jump in, it’ll take you to Lorne’s club in Rome where she’ll be waiting for you. You’ll have a slight case of amnesia, but it’s temporary and Lorne’ll have a spell to restore your memory.”
“Wait, I’m not gonna come back as a ghost again, am I?” Spike said looking at the portal.
“No, the portal will restore your vampire body. Now get going. Oh, and by the way, I will be keeping an eye on you from up here, so watch yourself.” Emanuel said giving him a small push towards the portal.
“What the hell?” Spike said to himself. He gave the angelic being a salute and jumped through the portal. He fell through the mystical tunnel at what felt like a hundred miles per hour until he was shot out into the club, landed hard on a table and was knocked unconscious.
***
The Slayer and demon just sat dumbfounded at the vampire’s tale.
“Wow!” Buffy said, barely above a whisper.
“I think ‘wow’ is an understatement, this is the kind of wow that comes by finding out that Jennifer Lopez won an Oscar.” Lorne said, shaking his head. “I need a Seabreeze.”
“So, you’re back.” Buffy said, still holding him.
“I’m sorry I didn’t come looking for you Buffy.” Spike said, morosely.
“You’re here now, and you better not be going anywhere.” She said, resting her head on his chest.
“Not a chance Slayer.” Spike said smirking.
“I missed you a lot, you know. I hated that you didn’t believe me. I love you, Spike.”
“I’ll always love you, Buffy, I just hope that’s enough to get us through this.” Spike said, hugging her tight.
“We made it this far, and one of the big reasons I’m here is because of you.” Buffy said enjoying the feeling of his embrace. “I don’t know where a real relationship with you will lead, but I want to find out. We’ll deal with this and whatever comes next.”
***
In Los Angeles, reconstruction still had a long way to go. The firemen, police and National Guard had spent the past week digging through the rubble and wreckage in the aftermath of the disaster; luckily they hadn’t encountered any human casualties besides the four bodies they found earlier and the destroyed buildings were empty. The total number of leveled buildings was 47, and it was strange that there was only one of them that wasn’t owned by Wolfram & Hart. The office of Wolfram & Hart seemed to be ground zero for this disaster, after it collapsed the explosions started. Such chaos and destruction, no wonder it brought Ethan Rayne so much joy.
“Find anything?” asked the fire marshal to Ethan.
“Nothing, sir.” Ethan said, resuming his search. It was so easy to pass himself off as a fireman it was scary; an old uniform, a small glamour and he was in. He stayed with the group that was digging through the remains of the Wolfram & Hart building, he needed to find it or he’d face serious consequences from his new employer. He’d been searching for it all week and no trace of what he was sent for.
“Where the bloody hell is it?” Ethan asked under his breath, searching through a burnt out office. He finally uncovered a smashed desk, and inside a drawer was the object of his search. The crystal amulet of a champion that destroyed the Hellmouth, the chaos worshipper grinned holding up a key piece in the master plan. Ethan stashed the trinket in his pocket, now he just had to wait out this shift and make his escape. All this destruction was fine, but Ethan couldn’t wait until the real fun started.
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