"Bloody Hell" Spike
screamed staring at the demon god "She played us"
Angel gave her a hard look, anger
rising in him. "I told you not to do that" walking toward the shell
of his dead friend.
"What’s all the commotion
about? I heard yelling"
The voice made Angel stop in his
tracks. He turned to see Fred walking down the stairs. He looked back at
"Damn, this is a freak
show" Faith said. The remark was meant to be funny, but she found no humor
in it. She looked over at Xander who was starting to turn pale. She grabbed him
and helped him walk up the stairs, getting him out before things got even crazier.
* * *
Faith helped Xander get into bed.
She tucked the sheets in around him making sure he was comfortable.
"I really appreciate the
help" he said as his consciousness was starting to slip "But you
don’t have to stay with me"
She smiled at him "I’m not going
anywhere. You just go to sleep. Get your rest"
* * *
Fred’s eyes drifted from Angel to
a blue demon standing behind him. "It that really what I looked
like?"
Angel looked over at
"Willow, what did that spell
do."
"I-I don’t know. When I took
the power from
Angel pondered that for a moment.
It made sense, since
"Maybe when they spell was
over and it no longer needed the power it recreated from the original entity it
made a new body since the host body was no longer available."
"Why couldn’t it just force
it’s way back in like Illyria originally did?" Spike asked trying to make
sense of the situation.
Willow just shrugged. She didn’t
know a lot about Illyria and wouldn’t be much help in that area. She looked
around the room and studied the faces. She didn’t see Xander or Faith, she
figured Faith took him upstairs. Everyone else was still there listening
intently to their conversation. Except for Buffy. She spotted the Slayer
through the window. She was sitting outside her head in her hands, totally
oblivious to what was going on inside. Willow was about to walk out and talk to
her when Angel spoke up.
"She was dead last time,
that’s how Illyria was able to take over her body. But this time Fred was alive
and her soul was still in her body, not allowing the demon to enter."
"While that is all very
interesting, the only thing I want to know is where Wesley is"
* * *
Buffy sat on the edge of the
fountain outside of the hotel. She was overjoyed that Spike was back, more than
he would ever know, but it just made her life more complicated. She often
looked back on the last days before the final battle with the First. His words
"You’re the one Buffy" echoed in her mind whenever she thought
of him.
There was also Angel. Her first
love. Even to this day her heart leapt when she thought of him. It was even
hard having Riley around. The normal boyfriend she had. Normal for her
standards, at least.
Then there was the Immortal. She
wasn’t sure what his role was in this and right now she really didn’t want to
think about it. She snapped back into reality when she heard yelling inside.
The group was huddled around two figures and they looked like they were deep in
conversation. Buffy got up to see what was going on, then stopped.
"I don’t want to know"
she said tur ning.
Faith heard a noise and quickly
opened her eyes. She looked over and heard Xander snoring softly. She looked at
her watch and noticed that she had dozed off for about an hour. She went over
and sat at the edge of Xander’s bed, feeling his forehead. He was burning up,
sweat starting to form on his brow.
Faith laid a cold cloth on his
forehead and took his hand. The color was once again draining from his face and
his skin looked ghostly white. The sight unnerved her. She was starting to
develop feelings for the man. She wasn’t sure if they had always been there or
if she was compensating for the loss of Wood. She laid his hand back down and
sat back in her chair, closing her eyes trying to shake the thoughts from her
head.
"Ah, Fred about Wes"
Angel started, his voice catching. He wasn’t sure how to break the news to her.
He was about to tell her when a cell phone went off. He turned to where the
sound came from and saw the Immortal take out his phone and start to walk out
of the door.
"Can you at least show some
respect?" Angel glared at him.
"I don’t need to show you
anything. I really don’t care about your problems"
"Then why did you come
here?" Angel asked clenching his fist, ready for another fight.
"I came here for Buffy. I
could have cared less if all of you died." The Immortal said a mischievous
grin forming on his lips "If you’ll excuse me I have some business to
attend to"
Once he was outside, The Immortal
answered his phone "How long?" he asked simply.
"In about two days sir. We
have a team taking care of it now" a voice said from the other end of the
phone.
"Good" The Immortal
smiled looking back in the direction of the hotel "This problem is only getting
worse."
* * *
Angel closed the door behind him,
hearing Fred’s sobs through the door. He told her about Wesley, Gunn, and
everything else that had happened since she had died. She took the new of
having a demon double of herself, pretty well considering what else she had
been through. His heart broke for his friend, the only old friend he had. He
had just realized the she was the only member left from his gang. Then he
remembered. Conner. Questions started to fill his head "Did he make it out
okay?" was the one he kept coming back to.
Angel raced down the stairs and
headed for the door, determined to find his son. He was stopped short when
Spike appeared in front of him looking distressed.
"What is it?" Angel
asked trying to read the vampire’s face.
"Buffy" Spike said
worry showing in his eyes " I talked to her last night. She hasn’t been
back since. I even restrained myself and asked Rico Suave over there"
Spike pointed to The Immortal "He hasn’t seen her. Bastard isn’t even
worried. What if he did something to her?"
Anger flashed in Angel’s eyes
contemplating Spike’s theory "No" Angel finally said shaking his head
"He wouldn’t. She probably went out on patrol. You might want to go look
for her though"
"Where are you going,
mate?"
"To find my son"
Spike stood outside the Hyperion
trying to think where Buffy would go. Her scent was long gone he had no idea
where to start his search. He remembered the conversation he had with her
before she disappeared and hoped it wouldn’t be their last. Something triggered
his memory and he had a pretty good idea of where she had gone.
Buffy stood at the edge of the
crater where Sunnydale used to be. She just stood there staring at the gaping
hole in the land, wondering if anyone had even cared enough tp remember there
used to be a little town there. But to most people it was nothing more than a
map dot. She continued to stand there for most of the day, just thinking about
how her life had taken her to this spot. She heard footsteps and knew exactly
who it would be.
"I always said I’d come
back" she said trying to keep her voice even "I thought that maybe if
I came back you would be here or that there would be some way for me to bring
you back"
"What stopped you?"
Spike asked standing next to her.
"Nothing. I just never came.
Told myself a million times that I wasn’t that lucky. There would be no way for
you to come back." she paused tears starting to form in her eyes.
"Every night I save you" she echoed his words barely above a whisper.
Buffy could feel his eyes burning
into her. She wanted to look up and meet his gaze, but her eyes wouldn’t leave
the ground.
"The dreams came every
night. Not always of the battle, but some of the moments we shared. I told
myself it would be time to come back when they stopped"
"W-When did they?"
"They haven’t" she
finally looked up into his eyes. She saw the love he still held for her and was
amazed at how much was still there. They stood there in silence for a long time
just staring at each other.
"I-I" Spike said
breaking the silence "I’m staying here. In Los Angeles"
"Spike"
"No Buffy. You don’t need
this anymore. You made your choice. I love you and I hope you still know that.
That’s why I’m going to let you walk away from me" he said wishing the
words never left his lips. He closed his eyes not wanting to watch her walk out
of his life forever. After what seemed like an eternity he opened his eyes
ready to follow her lingering scent back to Los Angeles.
He found himself staring right at
her. His shocked expression made her giggle, but then she got serious.
"I’m tired of having people
decide what’s best for me. I’m with the Immortal right now, but I’m not sure
what I see in the future with him, if there is a future. So let’s just see what
the future holds. Do you get what I’m saying?"
"An inkling of hope" he
said smiling.
She smiled back , extending her
hand out for him to hold "Walk me home?"
* * *
"What? What happened?"
Xander slurred starting to wake up.
Faith bolted from her seat and
sat next to him on the bed. "Xander! Thank God you’re awake."
"What?" he asked again,
awake, but not coherent.
"The fight. You were hurt,
but I took care of you. You’re okay now" Faith said glad he was awake.
"Anya?"
Faith’s face fell "No, it’s
Faith" he looked at her more closely finally realizing who he was talking
to.
"Oh, sorry. I think I’m
delirious"
Faith just smiled. She grabbed
the first aid kit and took out everything she needed to change his dressing ,
telling him of his heroics during the battle.
* * *
Antonio walked the shadows, watching
the Slayer and the Vampire walked down the road hand in hand. After listening
to their conversation he decided to set things in motion a little quicker than
planned.
"Call The Master" he
said looking at his partner "Tell him we have a problem"