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Author's Chapter Notes:
Quote from Graduation Day, Part 2 by Joss Whedon in this part.
Epilogue



From the journal of Richard Wilkins, III:

Today is the day! Everything is falling into place. I’ve been planning this for a hundred years; it better be falling into place. I feel good. Focused.



The only thing that has me distracted is what happened to Faith. I can’t believe she let herself be lured in by Spike and that Buffy Summers into confessing on tape about the horrible accident with Allan. Then again, maybe jail is a safer place for her to be right now until I go through my transformation. I’m tempted to take my anger out on Principal Snyder for siding with the police this time. He could have convinced them to simply lose the evidence like they so often do around here, but he didn’t.



Anyway, enough about that. I have a speech to finalize. Most of my notecards are done. I just want to add one more piece about the importance of goal-setting, hard work, and perseverance. Maybe I’ll even throw in parts about cleanliness being next to godliness and the value of catching more flies with honey than with vinegar. Then, I’m heading to the library to take one more jab at Buffy and her ragtag gang of misfits. I kind of want them to try to kill me. Imagining the looks on their faces when they see that I’m invincible makes me all giddy.



* * *



“Run!” Buffy tugged on Spike’s elbow as the giant snake demon that had been the Mayor dipped an angry head toward them.


Spike didn’t have to be told twice. He raced after the Slayer as she rabbited off into the empty high school hallway. All the doors were propped open as planned, so he easily kept up with her, not looking back at their pursuant. The only hint that he had that the Mayor-demon was still on their tail was the sound of metal, plaster, glass, and wood twisting and breaking and smashing behind them.



They rounded their way to the library, which was brightly lit, so they could find their way to the beckoning open window. Before the giant snake managed the turn, Buffy dove out of that window with Spike right behind her.



Spike hit the ground and rolled into a tight ball, landing near where Buffy landed. She’d edged past him, and he threw himself in her and the waiting Watcher’s direction, determined to make it far enough away before the inevitable destruction.



In the distance, Mayor’s familiar voice echoed louder and deeper than the human version, and Spike thought he made out, “Well, gosh.”



Buffy was breathing hard and nodded at the Watcher - Rupert, who hit the plunger to detonate the bombs, which were heavily planted throughout the library and school.



Explosions were especially painful for vampires, and Spike smashed his hands over his ears and hunkered down. Despite his efforts, his hearing blanked out for an indeterminate amount of time. Slowly, his hearing returned, starting with ringing and then faint noises. Things were louder in reality. Also on the ground, the Watcher and Buffy were checking on one another, and then, surprisingly, she turned to Spike, setting a hand on his arm – her cheeks streaked with soot and her hair askew.



“You okay?” Her voice was teeny and far away.



“Yeah, pet. You?” He glanced over her. She was intact, and though she was a mess, her eyes were shining in triumph.



“I’m good.” The corner of her mouth quirked up as she stooped to pick up the fancy blade that the Mayor had given Faith – the blade Buffy had taunted him with. “I think we got him.”



He found himself smiling in return. “We did at that.” He mused that the Slayer had twice used explosives to rid the world of supposedly indestructible beings. Slayers didn’t typically use weapons like that, but he admired that Buffy did.



“I’d hate to see the state of my library,” the Watcher said almost sadly.



The trio stood shakily as if being unable to hear properly meant they couldn’t physically move. Sound was coming in clearer for Spike, and he heard people crying in the distance from the direction of the graduation battle. Another way this Slayer was different: she’d recruited the masses to fight with her. Something tugged in his heart. She was bloody brilliant.



“I’m worried about the others.” Buffy’s expression had changed – the victory short-lived.



“Let’s go,” Rupert said.



Buffy started jogging lightly back the way they’d come. Spike found himself keeping pace with her again. It seemed he was always with her lately. He’d been part of the planning to defeat the Mayor, reluctantly joining Scooby meetings at Giles’s apartment in the evenings. Rupert, Xander, Red, and the cheerleader had been reluctant to include him at first, but the wolf had been oddly okay about it.



A night or two, Oz had even sought Spike out to discuss what it was like for him to go through the changes when he became a vampire – how it had changed his identity and his unlife, how it had affected his relationships. Spike hadn’t really reflected on all of that – not in decades, so the conversation had been interesting, full of talk about humanity and monsters and relationship commitment.



Spike was far from considering himself a white hat, but there was something about Buffy that had him doing things he never thought he’d do in a hundred years. He found himself going along with her. He still slept in her basement, and though she hadn’t shown up to guard against him after the first night, she also hadn’t kicked him out of the house. Her Watcher had even said it was a bloody good idea having Spike close since he was in the know about the Mayor and was vulnerable. Even when Spike discovered he could hit demons, Joyce insisted he wasn’t going anywhere. She felt safer with him in the house. If anyone else told Spike they felt safe around him, he’d rip their lungs out, but Joyce? She could call him a kitten, and he wouldn’t sodding care.



A pale redhead barreled out of the crowd ahead and flew into Buffy’s arms, embracing her tightly. “Buffy! You’re okay! You did it; the Mayor’s a giant dead snake!”



Buffy held her friend with less gusto but probably only to prevent breaking her. “I did.” She glanced over at Spike and gave him a half-smile. “We did it.”



Willow turned her attention to Spike, hesitated, and then gave him an equally exuberant hug. Spike patted her back awkwardly.



The rest of the Slayer’s little friends meandered up to them as the redhead shared her relief in the form of another hug with Rupert.



Xander and the wolf arrived first with the cheerleader limping behind them. She gave up halfway to the group and peeled off her heels, tossing them aside in disgust. Sirens started wailing in the distance, surprisingly late to the party.



“Finally,” Cordelia said with disdain, running her hand through her tangled dark hair. “You’d think they’d be right here given how tiny this town is.”



“I imagine they have their hands full with Faith,” Oz observed, looking surprisingly unruffled. Practically the only thing off about him was a dark smudge on his cheek and a scratch across his chest.



“Good point,” Willow said. She bounced back toward Oz to check on his wound and caress his cheek. Spike marveled at how she had owned her cheating and the impact she’d had on the wolf and how he’d forgiven her. It was something Dru never did, and Spike considered that maybe he deserved something different.



“Thank god we’re all okay.” Like the redhead, Xander hugged everyone. Hee tried with Cordelia, but she balked before he even got close to her. He’d also tried with Spike with similar results.



“Thank god this is over and done with. Remind me never to wear Jimmy Choos to a fight again. They’re worthless now.” Cordelia sighed. “My last pair.”



Xander smiled fondly at her. “At least you’ll never have a battle to fight. Still moving to L.A., right?”



Cordelia returned the smile. “With a suitcase and a prayer. As fast as I can buy a bus ticket.”



“On that note, shall we head back to provide our statements to the authorities?” Giles urged, trying to herd them along by passing them up.



Buffy crossed her arms, but the slump in her shoulders told Spike she was exhausted. “Fine, but after that, no more talking. My brain is fried. I’m sleeping in tomorrow. Like I normally would be doing after graduating high school.”



“Buffy has a point,” Oz said as the group started walking. “We earned it. Graduating, defeating evil. We should all take a breath.”



“Except Spike,” Xander joked. When he caught Spike’s glare, he added, “Pretty bad, huh?”



“Very bad,” Spike confirmed, dragging his feet a little. He really had no idea what the hell he should do with himself about now. Head his own way? Go find Dru? Or join the Slayer’s little posse in providing statements? That would probably take all night, and he wasn’t sure he could put up with that for long.



Cordelia bent to pick up her broken shoes. She examined the half torn off heel, waggling it back and forth. “Maybe I can get them repaired.” She paused. “After I move and get a job and find a place to live.”



“Maybe buy some groceries?” Willow suggested, skipping ahead a little with Oz in tow.



“Important things like that,” Buffy said with irony.



Cordelia abruptly shifted the topic. “Did I tell you guys that I staked a vampire?”



“Yes, Cordy,” Xander said placatingly even though she hadn’t told Spike and Buffy yet, “but tell it again.”



Buffy peered over her shoulder at Spike and slowed down to wait for him. She gazed up at him with something he couldn’t label in her green eyes. She was back to filling up the world again even though she was obviously worn out. Spike couldn’t look away. “You’re coming, right?”



With her simple question, Spike realized he really was at a crossroads – a crossroads he had a feeling would change his life for good, a crossroads he couldn’t go back to once he made a choice. God, never in a million years would he have ever thought that he’d be here with an invitation of acceptance from the Slayer. From Buffy. Maybe the Mayor wasn’t the only one who’d miscalculated things. It felt right being with her. Still, there was that nagging fear that he would be rejected, so he found himself asking, “You sure, pet? I can just go now that all’s done. Check out of ole Sunnyhell for good.”



Buffy frowned at him – a small frown. Then, she hooked her arm around his as they followed the group, which was the first time she’d touched him since the night in her house when they’d slept next to one another. He didn’t want her to let go. “Why is that even a question? Of course, I’m sure.” She stopped in word and action. “Do you want to go? Because we haven’t figured out your head thing. And ‘cause Mom would be majorly bummed. . . . I would be, too.” She started to unloop her arm from his.



Spike tucked her arm back in place, making his decision. “No. I want to stay here. With you.” He wasn’t sure what else to say. For once in his life, he was at a loss for words.



She hugged his arm and let out a small breath of relief. “Good.”



With that one word and gesture, Spike knew beyond a shadow of a doubt that the Mayor was meant to blunder in his trust of Spike.



Spike was meant to be here with Buffy.



The end.
10-28-19, 12:06 AM





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