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“What?” Dawn repeated, her voice much quieter. Everyone in the room looked equally shocked.

“Well…it’s there. He’s got it,” Angel replied, his hand going to scratch his head slightly.

Buffy just looked at Spike and shook her head. “You said that the First got to you before you could get your soul.”

“It did!” Spike almost yelled, not liking that someone or something was messing with him.

“I don’t understand,” Giles murmured, taking off his glasses to clean them.

“That makes a roomful of us,” Xander stated.

Anya was pouting slightly. All this deal with the First, Caleb, and now Spike was pushing the wedding further and further back. Of course, she knew, that these were things that needed to be done, considering they were life-or-death situations.

Dawn was grinning like she didn’t know how to stop. “Really?”

Everyone ignored her almost inaudible question and turned back to Spike.

“We need to find out if this is something with the First…or I dunno…”

Angel had been thinking hard and now he turned to Buffy slowly. “I may know a way you can find out.”

---A little while later, living room---

Buffy stood in the middle of the darkened room, only a few candles illuminating around her. The potentials watched eagerly from the doorway and everyone else, minus Tara, stood along the outer edges of the room. Willow had yet to make it home, so Tara was standing next to Buffy, setting everything up.

“So…I just go speak to these oracle things…and they tell me why Spike has his soul?” Buffy asked Angel with raised eyebrows.

“Hopefully. They may not have anything to tell you.” He paused for a moment. “Oh, and you need an offering.”

“You mean like a goat?” Buffy questioned, looking slightly confused.

“No…like a watch…or something.”

Buffy looked down at herself, noticing she wasn’t wearing a watch. “Ah,” she smiled, taking off her thin bracelet that had three diamonds to decorate it. “I never wear it anyway.”

“Are we ready?” Tara asked shyly, tucking her hair behind her ears.

“Think so,” came Buffy’s answer.

Less than a minute later, Tara was chanting the spell, her eyes slightly wide, and the rest of her was shaking slightly.

After a moment, she took in a sudden breath and almost fell backwards. “I…they aren’t letting access the powers from here…”

“Try again,” Buffy commanded softly with a warm smile. Tara smiled back uneasily and closed her eyes in concentration.

After a moment, a vortex of golden light formed in front of her. “I go in there…I’m coming back out, correct?” She asked.

“Go!” Dawn suddenly yelled, seeing that it was closing up.

Buffy sighed before taking a small leap through.

Everyone else in the room just stood with wide eyes as the vortex disappeared. “She bloody well better come back,” Spike muttered under his unnecessary breath.

---

Buffy stumbled forward as she found herself in an open, golden-lit room. Standing before her were a man and a woman. Both looked pretty much emotionless as they paced around her.

The way the two were circling her made her feel a little defensive, but she didn’t dare go into a fighting stance.

“Hello. You’re one of the two slayers. Buffy.”

Smiling somewhat uneasily, Buffy nodded. “Yeah, and um…you’re those oracle things, right?”

The man and woman locked eyes for no more than a second before they stopped pacing in front of her. “Yes,” the man answered.

“Oh, I brought you…this…” Buffy informed them as she fumbled with the bracelet on her wrist.

“No need,” the woman answered with a somewhat kind tone. At Buffy’s confused tone, she added, “You protect the lower beings. You have accepted your destiny. No gift is needed.”

Buffy smiled. “Well. That’s good, considering I really wasn’t liking the idea of giving this to you.” When she saw their not-so-amused faces, she cleared her throat. “Um, right. I’m here because--”

“We know why you have come,” the female interrupted.

“The vampire. William,” the male started. “You want to know why we gave him back his soul.”

“Wait. You gave him back his soul? That was you guys?”

“Indeed we did.”

“Well…okay, why?” Buffy questioned with narrowed eyes.

“The one who wears the amulet will not walk away from this war. You are not meant to die,” the male explained.

Buffy was raging before she could stop herself. “That isn’t for you to decide! I decided to be the one to wear it!”

“William was given his soul because he is the one that is meant to wear the amulet.”

“I don’t give a damn! This isn’t your choice! Spike wears it and he dies!”

“And if you wear it, than you too would die,” the male tried to reason, never showing emotion.

Buffy tried to keep her breathing in check as she clenched her teeth slightly. “That’s a risk I’m willing to take.”

“It’s not one we are willing to let you take,” the female informed her.

“Besides, what is so wrong with giving the vampire his soul?” The male asked.

“Because then he knows!” Buffy yelled, tears near the surface of her eye. “Then he knows he can wear it! And he will! He’ll be stupid and he’ll wear it!”

“And die a champion,” the male and female finished at the same time.

“Die is the keyword!” The blond slayer fumed.

“You don’t--” The female started to talk, but Buffy quickly interrupted.

“No. You don’t. You don’t understand!” She screamed and turned to pace a little. “What was the damn point of letting me see the future if everything has to happen the same way?” She asked in a small yet demanding voice.

“So you would be prepared to fight and know what was to come. So you could save more lives.”

“That’s all? That’s the entire reason?”

“By giving you those visions a total of forty-five lives will be saved. Not just people you know, but others also.”

Buffy looked down, slightly ashamed that she was getting mad when they had in fact given her the vision for good reasons.

“So that’s it? Spike still has to die?”

“He does.”

The room around Buffy started to fade and spin a little. When she looked up to see why, the oracles were already gone. But she still heard the female’s voice.

“Don’t let this discourage you, Slayer. Not even death shall keep him.”

As the room continued to fade and spin slightly, Buffy tried to figure out what that meant. ‘Not even death shall keep him’?

What was that supposed to mean?

Before she had time to think more about it, she felt two pairs of arms holding her steady on either side.

While trying to get back in the right state of mind, she realized she was back in the living room. Spike was holding one of her arms, and Xander the other. “Thanks,” she said weakly.

Without even looking up, she began to leave the room.

“Um, Buffy?” She heard Dawn’s voice.

Angel continued, “What did the oracles say?”

Buffy let a slow, but very fake, smile form. “They said it’s a gift,” she lied.

“A gift?” Spike questioned, a little skeptical.

Nodding, Buffy continued her lie. “Just a gift. You know, since you’re helping out with the big fight and all…they wanted to give it to you.”

“I’m confused,” Spike informed her. “Shouldn’t I be acting all poor and tortured like Peaches does with his soul?”

“It’s called guilt,” Angel corrected, slightly annoyed.

Buffy looked a little confused herself. “I don’t know…maybe…I don’t know,” she said and shrugged. “But, I’m tired. As in, I’m going to sleep.” She looked at the room full of potentials, her friends, and her sister. Sighing, she was about to turn when Angel spoke up. “Well, then I’ll be leaving town. I guess, you got what you needed, so…”

Buffy smiled, but didn’t move forward. Understanding, Angel just nodded and smiled as he opened the front door and walked out.

Just a few moments later, Buffy sighed again. “Okay, this time, I’m really going to bed,” she informed them.

Just then, the door opened to reveal a smiling Willow. “Hey, guys I’m…” She trailed off seeing the houseful of people. “Sleepover? We’re having a sleepover?”

---Later---

Buffy sat up in her room a few hours later. Willow had been filled in, and the rest of the house was now asleep.

Picking up the amulet, she sighed as her fingers ran over and traced the edges. When she heard a soft knock on her door, she quickly put it under the bed just as Spike walked in.

After softly shutting the door, he took a few steps forward. “Hey, I just…wanted to make sure you were okay.”

Smiling, Buffy nodded, though she knew he was the one who should feel pretty weird about now. He was the one who’d just gotten his soul. “Spike…” When he looked back up at her, she patted the space beside her on the bed. “Stay here with me?” She asked as she moved over to make more room. He looked a little confused but didn’t waste time in walking over and sitting beside her.

As his strong arms hugged her to him, she smiled slightly. “Thanks.”

He replied by placing a soft kiss on the top of her head.

It was about twenty minutes later that she finally closed her eyes. She didn’t want to sleep, but she knew she needed it.

Spike knew that the slayer wasn’t sleeping. He could tell by her breathing patterns. “Buffy?”

“Hmm?”

“Am I going to lose you?” He questioned finally. The tone and volume of his voice made her cringe inwardly. He sounded almost broken and weak. Of course he wouldn’t want to lose her.

How could she answer that though?

Saying yes would mean that he would do everything in his power to wear the amulet himself.

Saying no meant lying to him…making it all the harder when she did die.

So she didn’t answer. He kept waiting, but she wouldn’t let a single word pass her lips.

That was enough answer for him though.

She wasn’t going to make it. She knew she wasn’t going to make it.

Well…not if he could stop her, she couldn’t.





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