Epilogue

 

 

Buffy tossed in her bed, the images flowing with familiarity. Angel was kissing her, and then it was Spike. She was telling them she loved them, but they died, slipping from her hands into nothingness.

 

“Is it real?” she asked.

 

The words echoed, Is it real? Is it real? Is it real?

 

She awoke, springing upright with her hand pressed to her chest, her heart thudding.

 

*****

 

“I had the dream again,” she announced as she walked into the dining room.

 

Giles and Andrew looked up from the notes and maps spread out on the table in front of them.

 

Buffy had taken the time to shower and freshen up before going to find the others. It felt good to be doing her normal routine again. Since they no longer had the Xander Harris trust fund for their living expenses, they would be packing and moving out today. The plan had been to meet and decide on the next port of call. “Where is everyone?”

 

“Out getting supplies,” Andrew said. “Snack food and magazines and those little bottles of conditioner.”

 

Giles ignored him. “Was it exactly the same?”

 

“The conditioner?”

 

He gave her his exasperated face. “Your dream.”

 

“Pretty much.” She slipped into the chair opposite him and grabbed an apple out of the fruit bowl. “Did everybody already eat?”

 

“Hours ago. You were exhausted. We thought we should let you sleep.”

 

“How’s Willow?”

 

“Recovering. She has a headache, but that seems to be all.”

 

“That’s good.”

 

“Back to your dream…”

 

“Giles, I know that there’s something that I’m supposed to do. It gives me the willies because Slayer dreams are never about good stuff. The fact that I’m dreaming about Spike and Angel all mixed up together doesn’t make any sense.”

 

“You don’t think it has anything to do with the fact that you had a relationship with both of them, or that you were present when each, um, met his demise?”

 

She’d considered that way back when she first had the dream. She shook her head. “No, I really think it’s something more; that there’s something I don’t know that involves the two of them together, as impossible at that is.”

 

“I think I need to go buy some little suitcase stuff too,” Andrew said, scooting away from the table. “Did anyone tell Xander to pick up Pop Tarts?”

 

“Sit down, we’re working,” Giles told him.

 

“I keep going back to the idea that I sent Angel to hell, but he came back,” Buffy continued. “I think we should call him.”

 

“I don’t know how receptive he’d be. He was quite angry about Dana.”

 

“That’s right,” Andrew said. “Don’t call him, just in case he’s been completely seduced by the dark side. The Force is strong in that one.”

 

“However,” Giles continued, “there was word from some of our sources that he was seen in Rome last month, and that he wasn’t alone.”

 

“Angel was in Rome?” Buffy asked. “My Rome? Before or after I pummeled the guy he had tailing me? You know, the one with the tail?”

 

“Excuse me, I’ve got to go tinkle,” Andrew said.

 

“You’re a grown man,” Giles told him. “You can just say it if you need to use the facilities. Besides, you just used them before we started.”

 

Buffy slapped the table hard enough to make it shake. “Angel. Rome. We had a discussion going.”

 

“Uh, yes. It’s nothing definite, just a rumor that was bandied about.”

 

“But last month I was there! That’s when I was seeing…”

 

“The Immortal,” Andrew said, his voice taking on a dreamy quality.

 

Buffy narrowed her eyes at him. “As I recall, you always did seem to like him better than I did.” She turned her gaze back to Giles. “If Angel had been there, he would have come to see me. Did your sources say who he was with?”

 

“Number two!” Andrew shouted. “Gotta go NOW!”

 

“What in hell is the matter with you?” Giles asked.

 

“Flu?” Andrew offered.

 

“You know something about this, don’t you?” It suddenly dawned on Buffy that Andrew had been underfoot constantly in Rome. He would have been at the apartment if Angel had visited. “Did you see Angel? He came to see me, didn’t he?”

 

“Ummmm…”

 

“Talk, you little weasel, or I’m going to flambé your entire collection of Yu Gi Oh cards.”

 

“Oh dear,” Giles said, taking his glasses off and squeezing the bridge of his nose.

 

“I made a promise, Buffy! He didn’t want you to know. He wanted to tell you himself, and you know how loyal I am to…”

 

“Loyal?” Buffy stood and attempted to tower over him. “Since when do you have any loyalty to Angel? You met him for the first time when you went to LA, and I didn’t get the idea that you even liked him. Why would you cover for him?”

 

Giles replaced his glasses. “She has a point. Andrew, why wouldn’t you tell us that you’d spoken with Angel?”

 

Andrew’s throat jerked as he looked from Giles to Buffy and back again. “Can you both promise that no physical harm will come to me?”

 

“No,” Buffy told him.

 

“OK, I’ll talk!” he said. “Can I have a glass of water?”

 

“Andrew!”

 

“It was a miracle. I went to see Angel, but there he was, standing like a specter clad in black leather and motorcycle boots, the kind really designed for riding a bike. I knew he couldn’t be real, but I touched him and he was. He was not a part of the evil corporation like the rest of them and he was the one who found Dana, but said I couldn’t tell you and then she cut off his hands. Angel took him and I took her and that’s all I knew until they showed up in Rome looking for you because they didn’t want you with the womanizing lothario who never dies.”

 

Not much of what he was saying made sense to Buffy, but she knew what he was telling her. She backed away, cold and numb. Oh God!

 

“Buffy?” Giles asked.

 

“Spike, Giles. He’s talking about Spike.”

 

“No, he couldn’t possibly…”

 

“It’s true, isn’t it Andrew?” she demanded.

 

“Yes. The blond vampyre is back from the grave, and his hands have been reattached.”

 

“Why?” She asked. “Why didn’t you tell me sooner? Why didn’t he tell me?”

 

Giles pinned him to his seat with a furious glare. “Why wouldn’t you tell anyone about an event as significant as the only other vampire with a soul also returning from death? There are prophecies involved. This is sure to have a deeper meaning.”

 

“He asked me not to tell,” Andrew said in a very small voice.

 

“And you’re so good with the not talking, right?” Buffy said. “I’m going, Giles. You guys can go on with your plans and we’ll meet up later. I’m headed for LA.” She had no other thought, except to get her stuff and going.

 

“Do you really think you should do this alone?”

 

She stopped at the door, Giles’ last word managing to break through the barrier of her emotions. Alone. She really wasn’t alone. If she’d learned anything since sharing her power with all the other Slayers, it was that there were others who could help her carry her burdens. And Giles – Giles understood what it was to have love slip away, to be left behind.

 

She turned to face him. “Giles? Will you go with me? I… I think I’ll need you.”

 

“Of course, Buffy. We’ll all go, if that’s what you want.”

 

“I don’t know. In the past, when things got weird, I always…”

 

He walked to her. “This isn’t the past and things don’t have to be that way anymore.”

 

“They really don’t, do they?”

 

She felt him lift her hands in his, and then his arms slid around her and pulled her close. She listened as he assured her that when the others returned, they’d all load the cars and go to Los Angeles together. She sighed in agreement, her anger gone and a new sort of happiness in its place.

 

“Does this mean I’m not in trouble anymore?” Andrew asked.

 

Buffy peered around Giles. “I’ll deal with you later.”

 

“I was afraid of that.”

 

She smiled up at Giles and stepped back. “I’ll get my things and meet you all in a few minutes.”

 

“We’ll be ready,” he said.

 

She knew they would.

 

~END~