AN- I don’t know Willow’s eye color. I looked at a few pics and it looked either gray or green. I’m going to say gray cuz it seemed more that color to me. If I’m wrong sorry.

Thanks everybody for the reviews. : ) They make me feel all warm and fuzzy, and make me want to give you more.

Oh, and I am not putting magic down. Magic is a good thing. But Willow is letting it rule her at the moment. She is letting it take her over like in season 6. But later on you’ll find out from Tara that it doesn’t have to be that way.

Chapter Twenty- Three- Come Back to Me

Willow could feel the power course through her veins. It had been so long. Too long since she felt magic. She could feel her body soaking it up like a sponge.

She turned toward Celeste. She unleashed her wrath upon the other witch. The blast threw Celeste away from Spike. She kept hitting the woman even after she was obviously dead.

“Willow!?”

Willow tore her eyes away from Celeste. Her eyes met Buffy. The slayer was picking herself up from the floor with a wince.

“Willow, stop! She’s dead! It’s over. Stop!”

If Willow could have seen herself at that moment she would have seen an unrecognizable creature. She was wild, her eyes going from black to their usual gray. She fought with herself to get under control again. Eventually her eyes cleared. She fell to her knees, shaking, tears rolling down her cheeks.

Buffy couldn’t care for her best friend. She moved past Willow toward Spike. He lay still and pale. He appeared to be dead. Even more so than as a vampire. She got down to his level, drawing him close.

“Spike,” Buffy whispered, barely audible.

There was no response. She placed his hand to the pulse point on the side of his neck. She couldn’t sense anything under her fingers. She searched around, sure she wasn’t pressing in the right place. But she still couldn’t find any indication of blood flowing.

“No.” She shook her head. She took her palm and moved it to his chest. She couldn’t feel anything there either. “No!” Enraged and desperate, she shook the ex-vampire.

“You can’t do this to me, Spike! You bastard!”

Behind her, Alexis huddled in a corner. Fright was written all over her face. “Daddy,” she muttered.

Buffy raised her head. Water shimmered in her gaze. “Does anyone know CPR?” She looked around for her watcher. He should know. When she found him her heart squeezed. He was unconscious.

“Please,” Alexis begged. “Do something.” She was beseeching with Willow, who was now more composed.

The red-head took a ragged breath. “I- can’t.” Her voice was hoarse.

Alexis got to her feet. She staggered and would have teetered to the ground, but Buffy acted with slayer speed. She caught her daughter, holding her to her as if she were a lifeline. The teen surrendered to her mother’s embrace.

“Make her do something,” Alexis demanded in a muffled tone.

Buffy closed her eyes, overcome with conflicting emotions. When she opened them again she was surprised to see Willow by Spike’s side.

“Stop me if I let it take me over,” Willow said addressing her friend.

Buffy nodded.

Willow placed her hands over Spike’s heart. She breathed deeply. Sparks seeped out of her, going into Spike. His body jerked off the ground. Willow repeated the action a couple times. Mother and daughter watched, captivated.

Suddenly Willow collapsed away from Spike. She panted, exhausted.

“D-Did it work?” Willow stammered.

Buffy and Alexis checked on the man most important in their life. Relief spread over them to discover that his chest rose and fell. His skin was warm and deeper in color.

Buffy rocked Alexis. “Everything’s going to be okay,” she assured her.

Alexis let her eyes droop, letting sleep take her over.

No one noticed that a certain vampire was no longer around. He had escaped right after Willow called upon the goddess for help.

*************************

Alexis slept all the way home. She needed to replenish the strength Celeste had stolen from her. They put her on the couch when they got there. Tara was revived now and had no problem giving it up.

Giles had woken up shortly after Willow had saved Spike. He insisted on going to the hospital and getting his arm set. Buffy wished she could have taken Spike there as well, but this was a mystical case and the medics wouldn’t know what to do. Willow had started Spike’s heart, but he was far from healed.

Spike was taken immediately to Buffy’s room. She hid away with him, locking the door.

Willow sat at the dining room table. She felt itchy and not right. She was startled when Tara came into view.

“Willow, what exactly happened tonight?” the blonde asked.

Willow began to cry. “I’m so sorry, Tara. I’m so sorry.”

“What did you do?” Tara demanded, fearing the worse.

“I used magic,” she confessed. “I’ve been trying not to because I knew you would never take me back if I did. But it was the only way. If I didn’t then the witch would have killed us all. And Spike . . . I saw pain on Alexis and Buffy. I had to save him.”

Tara sat down beside her lost ex-girlfriend.

“I don’t see how this is a bad thing, Willow.”

“How can you say that?” Willow looked over, confused.

“You did good. Magic was needed. It wasn’t some game you were playing to have fun. Don’t you see the difference? I don‘t disapprove of you using magic. I disapprove of the way you use it.”

“You didn’t see me,” Willow went on unsteadily. “I felt all this power and I wanted to show it off. It was intoxicating. I almost let it engulf me.”

Tara looked away for a moment. Then she turned back and put a comforting hand on Willow’s arm. “But you didn’t.”

A sob escaped Willow. “I could have.”

“Y-yes, you could have. The problem is that you don’t control the magic, you let it control you. This witch you killed let the magic blacken her heart. But it doesn’t have to be that way. Instead it can cleanse you, making you a better person.”

Their eyes met. An understanding passed through them then. Willow fell into Tara’s warm embrace.

“Help me,” Willow begged.

Tara ran a hand over Willow’s hair.

“Help me know the right way.”

**************************

Buffy couldn’t take her eyes off Spike. He looked . . . empty. Was he even there inside? Or was he only a shell?

“I. . . I thought I lost you,” she said.

She hoped he could hear her. Even if he was somewhere else she hoped that maybe it would bring him back. Didn’t she read somewhere that talking to someone in a coma could make them wake up? Is that what had happened to Spike? Did he become comatose?

Buffy reached for his hand. She interlocked their fingers. They fit perfectly. Like two puzzle pieces. Why hadn’t she ever realized that before?

“I’ve never been so scared. And that’s saying something. I’ve been through a lot being the slayer.”

She held back the tears that threatened to fall.

“When I thought . . . It was as if something was being taken away. As if half of me was missing.”

The dam broke.

“Why’d you do it?” A wobbly smile came to her face. “Stupid question. I know you had to do it. I know you had to save our little girl. But . . .”

Buffy gasped. A slight fluttering sensation could be sensed in her belly. At first she panicked, not knowing what it was. And then it hit her.

“Oh my god.” Her wobbly smile turned into a bright grin. She took Spike’s hand and placed it on her abdomen. “That’s her. Our daughter. Alexis. She’s kicking. She’s saying hello to us.”

Until that moment Buffy hadn’t really taken in the fact that this was all real. She was going to be a mother. There was something growing inside her. Something Spike and she created.

“Come back, Spike. Please come back. Alexis and I need you.”

She waited for a response. Anything. She studied his face. There was nothing. He remained slack.

“You win, Spike. This game we’ve been playing. This dancing contest. Well, you’ve won.”

It took her a moment to be able to continue.

“You get the grand prize, Spike. You get my heart. All you gotta do is wake up and take it. Please.” Her voice broke. “I love you.”

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Awww, wasn’t that sweet? And kinda sad too.