Section Two

Chapter 4

December 1998 – Sunnydale

… “I will allow the weeping tree to complete her long lost spell. The Champions shall be reunited and rewarded with that which they should not forget.”

“But what will you change, sister?”

“Look into the pool and see what was, and what will be.” The man gazed into the pool…

*FLASH*

7 p.m. - Spike found Willow and Xander at the high school. Hitting Xander over the head, he proceeded to kidnap them and retreat to the factory.

*FLASH*

Spike slurred, “A spell. For me. You’re gonna do a spell for me.”

Willow looked confused and fearful at the same time, “Uh, what kind of spell?”

“A love spell! Are you brain dead?” Spike walked over to the dresser. “I’m gonna get what’s mine.” Grabbing a bottle of the stand, he uncorks it. “What’s mine. Teach her to walk out on me.”

*FLASH*

Completely frightening, Willow panted, “Now, now, hold on! I-I’ll do your spell for you, and, and, and I’ll get you Drusilla back, but, but there will be no bottle-in-face, and there will be no ‘having’ of any kind with me. All right?”

Spike grabbed Willow by the neck and bent her over; however he made no move to bite her. Instead he reverted back to his human guise. “Alright.” pushing her away, “Get started.”

Willow stepped around the bed to where Spike dumped the box of magical supplies. Starting to sift through them, she stammered, “Now, I’m not a real witch, you know. I-I don’t know if this is gonna work right away.”

“Well, if at first you don’t succeed, I’ll kill him,” Spike pointed to an unconscious Xander, “and you’ll try again.”

Hurriedly sorting through the supplies, she looked up, “This isn’t enough.”

“What?” Spike stalked toward her.

Backing up nervously, Willow clung to the bag and said, “Well, there are other ingredients, a-and a-a a book. I need a, a spell book. This isn’t it.”

“You’ve got one, though, at home?”

“Not at home. I left it somewhere.”

Spike got right in her face, “Where?”

*FLASH*

Ahhhh,” The female Power sighed, “Here it is, the change.”

Spike had started to leave so he could gather Willow’s supplies. At that moment, the woman nodded her head towards the pool.

Spike stopped and turned around, “You know witch; I changed my mind. You can do the spell now with the ingredients you have, or I can go ahead and eat the boy. If I have to go chasing around town for books and supplies I am going to work up an appetite. And that just won’t do. So here’s how it’s going to be… you try your mojo now, and if it works you can go home. If it doesn’t work, then I’ll eat the boy and then be off for your supplies. What do you say?”

Willow gulped nervously, “I really need those supplies to make sure it works…”

Spike interrupted, “Come here boy, I need a snack before shopping.” He started toward the helpless Xander.

“No wait! Let me try, I can do it… *speaking softer* I can at least try.”

“Well that’s the spirit – how should we start?”

Willow looks around nervously, “I…um… Can I…?”

“Spit it out, girl.”

Willow straightened up and gave Spike her resolve face…“Would you give me a minute to relax and think about it, or are you determined to scare me into submission, which by the way is not conducive to getting your spell done.”

Spike glared at her, grabbed Xander and proceeded to sulk on the other side of the room.

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The sister power smiled… “For this one moment in time the Tree will cease to exist. In this moment, she is beyond the Tree; she will be the Witch who awakened the Scythe, friend of the Guardian and Soldier of the Light. This is my true gift to the Champions - a single moment in time in which they can be reunited and change that which is to come.”

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Willow centered herself and looked at the ingredients Spike had brought. A strange calm had descended upon her, and she began to feel more secure.

She started to hum a soft melody, finding the music stirring the power within her. Without realizing what she was doing she began to chant, raising energy around her. Opening her eyes she gasped. *Oh goddess!* The chanting had raised a circle of energy. Reaching out, she could practically feel the energy that surrounded her *it tingles*.
Willow started to chant again… not in words, but sounds, which corresponded to the energy surrounding her.

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Xander and Spike stared in shock at the red-headed witch… no longer did she resemble the shy and timid hacker who had been experimenting with witchcraft. Before them sat a woman bathed in power. Slowly they both came to realize that a purple glow reflected off of the witch and her hair had turned into an alluring white.

The circle began to pulse with power as Willow’s head snapped back and a mystical voice belonging to a much stronger Wicca reverberated throughout the room…

“I call upon thee, Goddess, to hear my supplication. Grant me my desire and return what has been lost to the here and now. Bring forth this man’s true love. Return the one he seeks and restore the balance. Goddess hear my plea; so mote it be.”

An explosion of brilliance emanated from where Willow was seated, and Spike began to scream.

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7:30 p.m. - Across town Buffy was getting ready to search for Xander and Willow when the phone rang: Buffy answered the phone, “Giles?”

“Hi, Buffy. You still working out?” asked Joyce.

“Uh, no, Mom, actually…”

“I was hoping that we could schedule a college talk later tonight. I admit I overreacted before. You don’t have to do all the way across the country. I, um, picked up some brochures from some nearby schools, okay?”

“That’s great,” Buffy said with fake enthusiasm, “but now’s really not a good time…”

Buffy fell to the ground.

“Buffy… Buffy? Buffy!!!” Joyce hung up the phone, grabbed her keys and ran to the car. All the way to the school she prayed that her little girl would be fine.


“Buffy…..Buffy? Buffy!!!” Joyce hung up the phone, grabbed her keys and ran to the car. All the way to the school she prayed that her little girl would be fine.

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The Powers that Be gazed at the pool below… “It is done...the change has been made, the gift has been given, the past is undone and the balance shall be remade.”

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Joyce pulled into the parking lot near the library and rushed in, calling out, “Buffy?”

Stopping in her tracks she stared… her baby girl had collapsed next to the phone! Snapping out of her daze she ran over and started checking Buffy for injuries. Finding nothing obvious, she scooped her up and carried her out to the car. She should call Giles; he might know what happened to her baby.

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Chapter 5

Factory – 7:45 p.m.

Spike half screamed and half laughed as he felt the fire that had consumed him in the final battle start to fade. He felt himself dusting; with a final thought of Buffy he faded away…

Within that single moment, a calm washed over him and instantly he saw Buffy… laughing at a joke, crying at funerals, fighting the First; scenes from his life and from hers, things he remembered and those which he couldn’t have seen.

He screamed in agony as he saw Buffy on a pier fighting some wanker and heard her whisper his name as she dropped to the ground; her life taken away by the monsters she was no longer chosen to fight.

“Buffy!!!!!!!!!”

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Xander looked aghast, “Hey Wills…. am I seeing things with the head wound here, or is Spike screaming Buffy’s name?”

“Nope, not hallucinating.”

“Can I be?”

Spike turned to the two and nodded his head, “Red, Whelp…. What’s going on?” Stepping back he exclaimed, “Bloody hell, Whelp… your eye!”

Xander reached up and touched his eyes, “Huh?”

“What the hell is going on here? What have you done Red? Is this a spell?”

Willow looked like she was about to faint, “Just the one you asked me for, so no eating Xander!”

Spike looked quite confused as he stared at the couple. “You made the potentials all slayers then? Then what the hell are we doing in the factory?? ”

Xander stared at Spike, “And again with the huh?”

“Bloody hell, let’s go talk to the Watcher. Something has happened. I should be dust, I saw Buffy die, and I know the Factory burnt down and the town exploded.”

Willow gulped and looked at the clearly insane vampire. Less then an hour ago he was threatening to eat them and now he was acting as if they were friends. Perhaps if they played along, they could escape and get Buffy. Besides something had happened during that spell, but of what she was not sure.

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Spike was swearing under his breath as he drove away from where Giles should be… * sarcastic chuckle* should be …. That was definitely the key. While pounding on the door at Giles old place, Red and the Whelp snuck out of the car and ran for dear life.

Giles wasn’t at his old place; the Magic Box was different and held no familiar scent, no training room, and a dead body that was oddly familiar. His head hurt. Everything smelled differently than it had this morning. Yet, he distinctly remembered not only his death but also the collapse of the hellmouth and then Buffy’s death. Unusual, if one took into account that both things happened after his own demise. So where did these memories come from? Why was everything different, but at the same time vaguely familiar?

Spike pulled up the Desoto to 1630 Revello Drive and went to pound on the front door. Perhaps Dawn would be home and could shed light on the situation.

A few minutes later, he felt a presence behind him.

“Spike”

“Angelus”.

Spike ducked as the first punch was thrown, then returned it with a flurry of punches and kicks. It felt good to unleash all the aggression and confusion he felt into a physical battle with Peaches. The spell however had left him slightly weakened, and he begun to falter.


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Angel felt surprise at the skill of his blond childer. Less then a year ago he had been in a wheelchair, cowering before Angelus and whimpering about Drusilla. The blond master who fought him now was more impressive than he would ever have thought possible.

Regardless, Angel always won. Even souled, his skill was matched by no one, certainly not the upstart that Dru took pity on, and it was only a matter of time before he won this match {thunk}.

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Spike looked down in shock. The fight with Angel had been cut short courtesy of a shovel and a brassed off Joyce. Spike did a double take... and stretched out his hand to stroke the cheek of the woman before him.

“Joyce?” A sob welled up in his throat and he hugged the startled woman. “Is it you, is it really you? I have missed you so much”

A confused Joyce returned the vampire’s hug. With a soothing voice she calmed him, “It’s okay Spike. Help me with Buffy, and then we can talk about it over cocoa… “

Sniffs; “Thanks mum for the hand. Everything is so bizarre and confused! Is Angelus evil again? Wait…. What is wrong with Buffy?”

“I am not sure, but I called Giles and left a message. We have to get her inside before Angelus wakes up and attacks.” With a worried tone Joyce continued to explain how Buffy had fallen unconscious during their phone call. Together they got the slayer into the house; neither noticing that Angel had vanished.

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Spike took in the familiarity of being back in the Summers’ home. He watched as Joyce picked up the teakettle from the stove and moved to the island to pour some hot water into a cup for Spike. Joyce listened to the blond vampire while she proceeded to make him his hot chocolate.

Spike sat back at the table and poured his feelings out to Joyce. She was stunned and confused at what he had been telling her. The look in his eyes was haunting; he told her of a love so strong that it transcended the grave. A love that connected him to her daughter, the daughter he claimed had already died three times. She interrupted with questions now and then, but was mostly transfixed by his tale. What was it about this vampire, this ally of her daughter’s, that he seemed to feel stronger then anyone she has ever met?

If he was crazy, then he was insane but devoted; and if he was sane… then her baby has suffered more then she could ever comprehend. For now, it was enough that he was here, helping her and she understood that no matter what the truth would yield, she trusted this strange vampire with her daughters life.

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Buffy’s Bedroom

Buffy stirred and slowly regained consciousness. Her neck ached and her body tingled… more like the tingle that came when her leg fell asleep; not the ohhh the vampire can go for hours tingle… and with the thought of said vampire she gasped, “Spike”.

Suddenly it came back to her - the fight, the wish for release. But above all, she remembered the relief she felt as she realized that the dance was over and she could join Spike in death. Yet her death was denied. For the fourth time in her life she had been given life, and for the second time she realized that she had been denied the peace that she so desperately sought.

A sob welled up in her throat, how could they bring her back again? Hadn’t they learnt the lesson after the last resurrection? She could fight, she could do her duty, but her heart would never live again. It was buried beneath the rubble of Sunnydale and without it - was she really Buffy?

As she thought about Sunnydale, she started to notice a few strange things, such as she was in her bed. A bed she remembered in Sunnydale - which didn’t exist anymore - buried along with all of her possessions and her old life. But it was her room. She stood and walked around the room. Her clothes were in the closet; her diary was under the bed, the pictures on the wall. Everything she remembered being in the room was there, including Mr. Gordo.

Buffy gasped as a flood of memories came back to her, stronger then ever. Dancing with Spike, being held by him, memories of their life together and flashes of what could have been. Buffy gasped and sunk to her knees as more memories kept coming. Things she could not have seen, not have known… a scene with Angel being human came to her, of Spike taking care of her sister when she was dead, good deeds done but never known, and a flash of a prophecy that was gone before she captured it. Tears streamed down her face and she screamed “SPIKE!!!!!!”

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Kitchen

“Buffy!” Spike dropped his mug and raced upstairs. He could feel the pain radiating off of her… he was consumed by one thought and that was to get to his mate.

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