“Was that meant to happen?” Buffy asked, running her fingers gently down Spike’s naked chest and feeling a shiver of pleasure build up in her.

“Must have been or we wouldn’t have done it.” Spike replied, sounding more relaxed than Buffy had ever heard him.

“No, I mean the passing-out thing.”

“I think,” he said, slowly, “That it was just too…”

“Intense?”

“For us to stay conscious.” He finished, accepting her word choice as though it had been his own. “You really do love me.”

“Well, duh.”

“No, I mean I can feel it. It radiates, you glow with it. I don’t know how I never saw it before… it’s…”

“Effulgent?”

“Minx.”

“I saw it, too. Myself, as you see me. You know I’m not that beautiful in real life, right?”

“Yeah,” he said, softly, “You are.”

His fingers played with the silver skull ring that he had discovered, hanging from a leather thong around her neck.

“I can’t believe you kept this, all these years.” He said, moving his hand, slightly, to tease her nipple.

“Hey, it’s not every day a girl gets engaged.”

“We were both so ‘disgusted‘, when the spell ended…”

“…And now, we both know that we were faking it.” She said, smiling and snuggling closer; loving the feel of his cool, naked skin against hers.

“You had it in your pocket, when I closed the Hellmouth…” He said, remembering her memory.

“And the locket… I wanted… I dunno… something…”

“…in case we all died…” He added.

“…like a talisman.” Buffy finished.

Spike opened the little gold locket that lay next to his ring. Pictures of Joyce and Dawn smiled out at him.

“The three people I love most… I never had a picture of you… Giles had one, in one of his books,” She said, feeling Spike’s surprise before he voiced it, “An old one, with Drusilla… Didn’t cameras use mirrors?”

“’Pends on the camera…” And, as he said this, Buffy realized that she could remember; being him, having to stand perfectly still, with Dru, in front of the camera…

“OK, that was weird…”

“Tell me about it, I just got a flash of being shagged by Captain Cardboard… was he really that shit in bed?”

“Ooh yeah. Why were you thinking…?“

“…I was feeling what you felt, when we…“

“…And you remembered how it felt for me with…“

“…him.“ He shuddered.

“How do we stop this from happening?” Buffy asked, tightening her hold on him.

“I’m not sure we can and now it’s started, we’re gonna be thinking all the things we’d rather not…”

“Like when I was telepathic…”

“When were you..? Oh, wait, I remember… poor love… Bloody hell, Joyce and Rupert, who would’ve thought.”

“Not me, that’s for sure.” Buffy said, laughing at the memory.

“So, here’s the thing, any memory of mine is now a memory of yours and visa versa but they’re not all gonna be in our heads all the time…”

“…they just pop in when we think about stuff…”

“So maybe, we should stop thinking…”

“…and start doing…”

They were interrupted by a quiet squeak from Jennifer Anne, who had woken up hungry. Buffy smiled and reached for a bottle, blessing Lily’s foresight. Convinced that it would be necessary, she had ordered in baby supplies, including ready mixed baby formula, back before she went to rescue Spike.

Spike expertly cradled his daughter, as she hungrily drank her milk.

“You look like you’ve been doing that your whole life.” Buffy said, impressed.

“No, never; Victorian men had almost no contact with babies, even their own. ‘Women’s work, don’t you know.’” He said the last part with an exaggerated upper-class accent and a knowing smirk. “When we found out Lily was pregnant, we both read a lot of books. Bitty-Bit here, hasn’t complained yet, so I guess I’m doing OK.”

“You’re a natural. I’m sure you’ll be a wonderful father…”

“Don’t blame yourself, pet.” Spike said, hearing the catch in Buffy’s voice and feeling the pain behind it. “Your father was a git, leaving you, like that but it wasn’t your fault.”

“He said it was, one time. Oh, I know it wasn’t real,” She said, as Spike raised an eyebrow, “Just ‘my worst nightmare’ but it still hurt.”

“And because of your watcher‘s worst fear, you know what it’s like to be a vampire…”

“Yeah. I didn’t enjoy it any way near as much as you do. Lucky me, I got to dig my way out of the grave, twice.”

“That part’s not fun. Dru insisted on burying me, even though it really isn’t required.”

“Now I feel like I’ve done it three times!” Buffy said, laughing.

“Yeah, ‘cept when I did it, I didn’t need to breath. It was harder for you.”

“That wasn’t the hardest part…”

“I know. I remember how it felt, for you; one moment in heaven and the next…”

“You remember how I felt, when I saw you..?”

“If your friends hadn’t come in, when they did…”

“I know. Think of the trouble we’d have saved.”

“I finally get it, now…”

“…I can still be alone, with you here…”

“…you didn’t mean it as an insult, you meant it like this.” He said, encompassing the whole ‘bonding’ experience, into the one word.

“…before I even knew that ‘this’ was possible.”

“They should never have brought you back but I’m glad that they did.”

“They kept you out of it…after all you did for them…”

“…I would’ve had to have tried to stop them…”

“…magic always has consequences… Oh my God, Tara?”

“I don’t know, pet. Maybe. There’s always a price and it would have been for Red to pay it.”

“I need to see The Guardian.”

“It won’t help.”

“I just need to know.”

“I know you do, pet.”

“Buffy?” Dawn shrieked, excitedly, bursting through the door, without knocking. “Oops, sorry, Guys.” She left, again, equally fast.

“It’s OK, Nibblet.” Spike called, “Just give us a sec.”

Buffy struggled into a robe, while Spike just wrapped the bed sheet around himself and resumed feeding Jennifer Anne.

“How did the ‘talking’ go?” Dawn’s voice sounded amused, even muffled by the door.

“You can come in now.” Buffy said, opening the door. “We didn’t realize it was so late.”

“How was the shopping trip?” Spike asked.

“It was… WOW!” Dawn said, excitedly, “Where did you get all that money? Have you always been rich? When I put the card in the machine and all those zeros came up, I nearly died. Seriously, Buffy, he could probably have bought all of Sunnydale.”

“I didn’t have it, then; also, no one told me you were broke. It wasn’t until Buffy came back and had to start working… I mortgaged my house, in England…”

“…and because of me, you lost it… and the money.” Buffy said, wearily, as Spike’s memory hit her.

“Not to worry, kitten.”

“What’s going on with you two? You’re being weird.” Dawn asked, a puzzled look on her face.

“We…er…bonded.” Buffy said.

“What, like demons do?” Dawn asked, “That’s so cool.”

“You know about that?” Buffy asked, surprised.

“Hey, all the time Giles was away in England, I was research girl, remember? You won’t believe the stuff I found out. OK, most of it kinda gross… like the demon that has a horn instead of a…”

“Tell us about your shopping trip, Nibblet.” Spike said, firmly; cutting off Dawn’s unfortunate sentence, before she said anything too shocking.

“Well, the mall wasn’t that big but I managed to get most of what we need…”

“And a lot of stuff we don’t?” Buffy put in.

Dawn glared at her but carried on talking.

“Garri’s brilliant, so patient, he didn’t mind how much I tried on and he told me straight away if something didn’t look good on me. Aren’t gay men the best?”

Depends what you want men for. Buffy thought and Spike chuckled.

“You got the telepathy thing, then.” Dawn said, looking at the two of them.

“Yeah. How can you tell?” Buffy asked.

“Well, that time, I could see it. You obviously thought something… dirty?… which made Spike laugh. What does it feel like?”

“Not like with Willow, not a voice in my head exactly… more like the thoughts are… sort of mine… but not…”

“It’s hard to explain, Nibblet…”

“…Like there’s just one of us…but somehow two…” Buffy said, frowning slightly.

“Explanations will have to wait, Guys.” Dawn said, abruptly, smoothing the hairs on her arms, which had suddenly all stood upright. “The Guardian’s coming.”

Spike handed Jennifer Anne to Dawn, grabbed his clothes and vanished into the bathroom, leaving Buffy to get dressed while Dawn took over ‘feeding duties’.

Minutes later, they were heading downstairs, to find The Guardian waiting patiently outside the front door.

“Ah,” She said, “I thought that Dawn would know I had arrived.” She looked Spike and Buffy over, carefully. “I will need to speak to you two, in private.”

Spike led her and Buffy into a side room.

“Firstly, I believe congratulations are in order.” She said, smiling. “Both for your bond and for your pregnancy, Buffy.”

“My what?” Buffy asked, thunderstruck.

“She’s very new, just a golden spark in your aura but there is no mistake…”

“But… we can’t…” Spike said.

“We’re not… the same blood…” Buffy added.

“You don’t have to be, not for a child, only for that child to be a guardian.” The Guardian said, sounding surprised that they hadn’t known.

“But I’m a vampire…” Spike said.

“Yes but the Shanshu prophecy…”

“Was for Peaches…”

“Was for you. Angelus could never truly be redeemed, not while he let his personality flaws dominate his life.” The Guardian said, gently.

“But I’ve not become human…”

“No. The prophecy was never about that. Shanshu - to both live and die - have you not died?”

“Well, yeah…but…”

“You died when you were sired, your soul ripped away. Yet, the strength of your love for Buffy, drove you to recapture that soul and with it, you were able to close the Hellmouth and defeat the ancient First Evil, thus saving the entire world…”

“Well, yeah…”

“You willingly gave your life, for that - your second death - then, you wandered, ghostlike, tied to the Wolf, Ram and Hart, until you were restored. Your reward, is the immortality enjoyed by the living - the creation of new life. The new Guardian will have the joy of a sister.”

“Will she be human?” Buffy asked.

“The child of a slayer and a vampire? How could she be? I believe the word is Dhampir - able to destroy vampires at will, with a touch - she will be a great asset to this world and others.

“Secondly, I have a gift for Jennifer Anne and, thirdly, I have brought Lily’s body home. William has used his ‘computer’,” The word sounded strange on The Guardian’s lips. “To falsify the official records of this world and make it appear that she died in childbirth, overseas. Her father will be comforted to have her returned. Closure?”

Buffy nodded, smiling at The Guardian’s use of the word.

“Now, Buffy, I believe that you needed to see me. Was it about my proposal?” The Guardian continued.

“Oh, yeah, we’re both in.” She said, dismissing the easy decision. “But…um…about the spell that Willow used to bring me back from the dead. You know about that, right?”

“I follow the lives of all the slayers, Buffy; even if I don’t always know their names.”

Buffy smiled, remembering their first encounter.

“You wish to know the price paid for your return to life.”

“Was it Tara?”

“The price was innocent life and your friend, Willow, tried to cheat. Magic is mostly symbolism and, usually, the unpleasant act of betrayal committed against the young woodland creature, would have sufficed…”

“But not that time.” Buffy said, unshed tears burning behind her eyes, at the thought of what ‘act’ Willow had had to commit.

“A larger sacrifice was required and it was for Willow to pay. The Powers she invoked, took the lives of her unborn children.”

“Willow was pregnant?”

“No. She gave the lives of those not yet conceived. She became irreversibly sterile. The children she was destined to bear with the werewolf, will never be born.”

“Oz? But he and Willow broke up, she’s gay.”

“How you children love to label yourselves. ‘Straight’, ‘gay’, ‘human’. Love is. It’s hearts and souls, not gender and bodies, or even species. How many times did you tell your bond mate that he was not a man?” She smiled, “I, for one, have seldom seen anyone more masculine.”

Buffy could feel Spike smirking and knew that he was silently agreeing with everything that The Guardian was saying. In fact, he had said something similar, to Buffy and Angel.

“I thought because he had no soul…” Buffy whispered, blushing with shame.

“No human soul. When he won that back, for you, you found that it made little difference. Now, here you are, happy and bearing his child. Willow‘s friendship with the arrogant young slayer, has already ended. When Oz re-enters her life, well…” She shrugged and smiled at them both. “Now, I need to see Jennifer Anne.”

They went back out, into the hallway, where Dawn was sitting, holding Jennifer Anne, her bottle empty.

“So, what’s the sitch?” Dawn asked, standing up.

The Guardian opened her hand and revealed a tiny carved stone model of her pyramid home.

“I brought this for the new Guardian.” She said.

At the sound of her voice, Jennifer Anne stirred and reached out. The Guardian placed the stone in her hand, even as Spike was about to protest that it was too small for a baby to have.

Tiny baby fingers closed over it and there was a slight blue glow.

“What have you done?” Spike asked, as Jennifer Anne opened her hand to reveal no stone but a tiny tattoo of a pyramid on the palm of her left hand.

“It will grow as she does and, when she is ready, it will be both her home and her means to travel the dimensions, as mine is.”

“Oh-kay,” Spike said, slowly, in a voice that said he was totally weirded out. “How’s that work, then?”

“She will know, when the time is right. Now, Buffy, Spike, the three of us have to start changing the watchers of this world.”

“Right now?” Buffy asked, incredulous. “Don’t we get time to deal…?”

“That will have to come later, Buffy. Your watcher has arrived.”