Part 8
It was morning, and Buffy was trying to get Dawn ready for school. "Dawn, hurry up! Xander is going to be here any minute." She yelled up the stairs.

"I'm coming, I'm coming," Dawn called down from her room.

She tromped heavily down the steps. Buffy marveled about how a kid who only weighed a hundred pounds soaking wet could sound like a water buffalo coming down the stairs.

She handed Dawn her lunch and opened the door just as Xander sounded his car horn.

"Bye, Buffy. See ya later!" Dawn gave Buffy a quick hug and ran out. Buffy stood in the doorway and watched her climb into the car. She waved as they drove away before closing the door and walking back to the kitchen to clean up the mess from breakfast.

It had been a hard six months for all of them, with a lot of changes. Spike's death had affected everyone much more profoundly than they ever would have guessed.

Immediately after his ashes fell to the ground Buffy had become enraged beyond reason. She was on the two attackers before they could run more than a few yards. She had stripped the one of his shotgun and hit him in the head with it before breaking it across the legs of the second. By the time the police had arrived all three men were unconscious and tied in restraints. The cops had asked very few questions and Faith was considered to be the victim of her fellow escapees. No mention was ever made of her neck wound or the fact that her body had been drained of blood. This was nothing unusual in Sunnydale.

Xander had been consumed with guilt. In spite of all the harsh words he'd always had for Spike, he had never really wanted to see him dusted. He blamed himself for the removal of the chip and the events afterward. He and Anya had fought bitterly over Halfrek's role, but had made up in time for their wedding three weeks ago. Giles had been unable to attend due to a project he was working on for the Watcher's Council in London.

Dawn had been inconsolable at the news about Spike. It was one more horrifying loss in the course of her young life. She had withdrawn even more into herself before finally opening up and turning back to Buffy. The sisters were finally close again, closer than they had ever been. Buffy had dedicated all of her non-working time to Dawn and they had both grown because of it.

Willow had worked things out with Tara, The two of them had banded together to help Buffy and Dawn deal with this latest loss and they were now sharing a dorm room and attending college full time. They often came over on Fridays and the weekends to visit. Tara was a gem, and Buffy would have become completely disconnected from her friends if it hadn't been for her understanding. Now Tara's energies were concentrated on Willow, as they should have been.

Buffy never went out to the Bronze any more. Everywhere she looked there were painful memories that she couldn't share with anyone. The first time she laid eyes on Spike had been in the alley there where she had just killed another vampire. He had told her that he would kill her that Saturday night. How ironic it was that he ended up saving her. Except for Tara, Xander was the only person who knew the whole truth about her relationship with Spike, and he was too guilt-ridden to confide in with her grief. Her pain would just make him feel worse. The depth of her feelings dismayed her. Spike had been her mortal enemy, her nemesis, the thorn in her side, her uneasy ally, her companion, her protector, her second in command, her confidante, her lover, and finally her savior.

After all this time, she still didn't totally understand why losing Spike had such a deep affect on her. She understood missing his irritating companionship and his help on her nightly patrols, but her grief went much deeper than that. She still did not use the word love in reference to him. She could not accept that she could love a creature with no soul who preyed upon those she was born to protect. Still, she had only felt this despair on two other occasions: when she killed Angel and when she lost her mother.

Buffy shook herself out of her reverie and returned her attention back to her housework. She closed the dishwasher and turned it on, then proceeded to wipe down the kitchen table. The doorbell interrupted her. She opened it to find Giles standing there. She immediately jumped into his arms and held him tightly. "Oh Giles!"

Giles returned her embrace, but sound oddly strangled. "Mmmm Buffy. A little less firm, if you please!" She eased up. "Thank you." He looked at her fondly. "I've missed you Buffy."

"Please come in. It is so good to see you. Why didn't you call to let me know you were coming."

Giles sat on the couch beside her. "Actually Buffy, I am here on Council business, and this is a matter of some sensitivity. I didn't want to contact you until the time was right."

"The Watcher's Council needs my help?" Buffy had her doubts. "Giles, you know these things never go well."

"I think you will want to be involved this time. It deals with... with someone you know."

"Who?"

Now Giles was searching for words. "I...I...I don't quite know how to tell you this. This involves Spike."

"Spike? How?" It was the last name she had expected to hear from Giles.

He paused, looking for the right words to explain to her. "Buffy, it seems that after Spike died, the Powers That Be didn't quite know what to do with him."

"What do you mean? He was gone."

"His presence here on earth was gone, but the Demon entity still existed. There are various dimensions and levels in the netherworld for demons, just as there are for humans.

Buffy was confused. She had no idea where Giles was going with this.

"Normally," He continued, "after a vampire is killed, he is sent to a hell dimension for vampire demons."

"Normally?"

"Er… yes." Giles stopped to wipe his glasses. "Spike presented quite a perplexity. You see, the vampire realm didn't want him..."

"Didn't want him? They have a choice?"

Giles nodded. "It would seem so. And none of the other demon realms felt he fit in either. As you know, vampires are rather looked down upon by other demon groups, since they are so reliant on humans. Spike was a vampire demon that chose not to live like a vampire. Now there are some places for demons that are helpful to mankind, but Spike had been responsible for the deaths of three Slayers. Quite a... blot, I guess you could say, on his record."

"Go on."

"As you can imagine, the heavenly dimensions had no place for him either. He had killed thousands of humans and lived off of their misfortunes for well over a hundred years. Yet he had also helped to save the world on more that one occasion, and he died in a rather, well, noble way."

Buffy looked down at her hands clasped in her lap, memories flashing through her again. "It's sort of like before he was dusted. He never really fit in anywhere here either. We could never figure out what to do with him." She furrowed her brow. "Giles, how do you know all this?"

"That would be the purpose of my visit." He gazed at Buffy intently, his eyes urging her to listen closely. "Buffy, The Powers brought him to the Watcher's Council. They've asked that we help him find a new life"

"Ok, now I really don't understand. He's gone... dead."

"No Buffy, he's back." Giles told her gently, "And he's alive."

Giles rose from the couch and opened the front door. "You can come in now."

Buffy stood and stared in astonishment as Spike walked in from the bright sunlight. There was no smoking blanket this time. His expression is cautious and guarded as he turned to look at her. Emotions briefly flickered across his blue eyes as they gazed into hers, wide and astonished. Time seemed to stop for a beat, and then she heard his low, smooth voice.

"Hello, cutie."

She fainted.