****

Buffy was in the middle of a group of demons. She threw a demon at a wall of a nearby crypt. Buffy kicked the demon in the chest. He stumbled backwards and tripped over a headstone. Two more demons ran towards her. She pulled out a stake and stabbed the one to her left. She punched the demon at her right. She was gaining the upper hand when they disappeared and a gray mist encircled her. She turned around slowly, looking for an opening, an escape. The mist vanished just as quickly as it appeared. She was no longer standing in a Sunnydale graveyard. She was standing in the middle of a town square. She had on different clothes, old-fashioned clothes. It looked like she was standing in old England. She saw someone emerge from a building. He looked like Spike, only regular blond hair. He had on a raincoat, slacks, and a nice shirt. He put on a top hat. Oh my god, she thought, it must be William. "William," she called crossing the pebble stone road. "William!"

William Foley turned around to see a young blonde running towards him. She had green eyes, and slightly tanned skin. "Do I know you?"

"Well, kind of. You see you get turned into a vampire by a vampire named Drucilla, Dru for short. You go� court her for a little over a century. You kill two slayers. A slayer is the one person who is chosen to protect the world against vampires and other demons. You torture people with railroad spikes, where you pick up the nickname of Spike. You meet me. I'm also a Slayer. You fall in love with me, but I despise you. My friends are Anya, an ex vengeance demon, Xander, a construction worker, Willow, a lesbian witch, Tara, also a witch. Tara is Willow's girlfriend. I have a sister, Dawn. She's the key to the world. She used to be a ball of energy when a group of monks gave her to me for safe keeping against a hell-goddess named Glory. My watcher is Giles, also British."

"So you're telling me I'm a vampire, like Dracula?"

"Exactly!"

"Hmm, interesting. Why don't we take a walk, and you can tell me all about myself in the future." They walked along the path, which lead to a park. "So, all of this really happened?"

"Yes, it's quite amazing. I wonder if there is anyway to get back to the future so I can introduce you to everyone." Buffy admired the lush green color of the plants compared to the drier Sunnydale plants.

"Look!" he pointed to a cherry wood door that was ten feet in front of them. "I wonder where this goes."

"Let's find out." They open the door and step through the thresh hold. They walk into the Magic Box. Willow, Tara, Anya, Xander, Dawn, Giles, Oz, Cordelia, and Angel sat around the table. "Angel, Cordelia, Oz, what are you guys doing here?"

"What are you talking about?" Oz asked. "We're doing our part in the slaying of evil."

"But you guys left!"

"No, we didn't. Are you feeling okay?" Oz asked, becoming concerned.

"Yeah, I'm fine."

Angel was watching William. "Spike?"

"No, it's William." William replied.

"William, Angel, Angel, William." Buffy introduced quickly. "Where's Spike?"

"Right here, luv," Spike wrapped his arms around her waist. Buffy smiled and looked down at the hands wrapped around her waist. There was a gold wedding band on his ring finger. She looked at her own hands and saw the prettiest ring she'd ever seen on her finger.

She looked outside. "How'd you get here? It's day."

"I can walk in the sun, remember. We found a cure so that we could do stuff together during the day without me getting all crispy and such. Are you sure you're feeling alright?" He released his arms and stood in front of her and William.

"Yeah, I'm sure. This is you a few centuries ago."

Spike looked William up and down. "Well I really was a bloke, wasn't I?" he walked around William in a full circle before adding, "Shall we get this over with?" William nodded in agreement. They jumped at each other, as if they were going to fight, but turned into one person. Spike/William took off the top hat to reveal his bleached hair still in tact. Basically it looked like Spike, in William's clothes. "Well that was easy." His English accent was thicker, and he didn't seem as arrogant. "I have the urge to write a poem. Does anyone have paper and a pen I can use?" Everyone looked at him strangely.

"Spare us," Xander said. That earned him a glare from Spike/William and Buffy.

"Uh, there's some on the counter," Giles said motioning towards the cash register. Spike wandered over and picked it up. He chewed on the back of the pen while mumbling, shaking his head, and scribbling things down.

"Buffy?" Angel asked. "Can I see you in the back?"

"Sure." She walked into the training room. Angel followed her and shut the door. "What's up?"

He walked towards her until they were inches apart. "I love you Buffy. Why don't we ditch and go somewhere far, far away. You can quit the Council. We'll go to some other hell mouth. You can be mine. I'm already yours. Please, say yes."

"I'm married. This is my home. All of my friends are here. I'm not going to run away with you, I'm not going to run away at all. I've already done that. It hurt them a lot. I won't do that to them again. I love Spike, not you. My heart belongs to him and him only."

"Come on Buffy, please?" he wrapped his arms around her waist and pulled her towards him so that their torsos' were touching.

"No!" she tried to push him away but he only tightened his grasp. "Let me go!" she started to panic. She strained against him with no prevail. She slapped him across the face, but he still didn't let her go. She started screaming and hitting him with her fists. He put on his game face and growled at her.

"Help! Help me please! Spike? William? Willow? Giles? Xander? Anyone? Help me!" She kneed him in the groin and he let go of her. He groaned and doubled over. She shoved his back towards the floor. He lost his balance and landed on the floor with a thud. She ran to the door and turned the knob. It was locked.

She looked behind her frantically and saw Angel standing up. She turned the knob again and yanked on it. The doorknob came away easily in her hand. Angel stumbled towards her, still clutching his stomach. She pounded on the door and screamed some more. She tried to kick down the door, but that didn't work out to well. She gasped as sharp pain shot up her leg. She limped over to the weapons on the wall. She grabbed an axe and hurled it in his direction, but he dodged it easily. She hurled a knife but missed by a few yards. She kept throwing knives until she had one left. She hadn't managed to hit him yet.

He grinned at her with an evil glint in his eye. She hobbled over towards the swords. She picked one up and twirled it clumsily. She looked around and saw metal bat. She held the sword in her right hand and picked up the bat in her left hand. She moved slowly towards the window, never taking her eyes off of Angel. When she reached the window, she slammed the bat at it. It barely cracked.

Angel cackled. "You think that will do it? You're a little off your game. You should have come willingly. Now you'll have to be punished."

She swung the bat at the window over and over, watching the crack grow until the lines reached the panes. She hit it one last time. The glass shattered and flew in every direction. She could feel the glass slicing her skin. She threw the bat at Angel and used the distraction to jump out the window. She struggled towards the road. She heard Angel jump out of the window after her and his boots crunch pieces of glass. She turned the corner and leaned against the door of the Magic Box. She turned the handle and fell into the room. Everyone turned in her direction and looked at her. It was like they didn't even hear her. She struggled for air as everything went black.

She opened her eyes and saw a white ceiling. She groaned and tried to sit up. "Whoa, easy there," Spike said, placing his hand on her back and helping her. "How do you feel?"

"I have a hell of a headache," she said.

"Yeah, you took a nasty fall."

She looked around. "Where are we?"

"Home. We live here."

"Oh. Did you stop Angel?"

"What do you mean? He didn't come back. He had something to do with this!"

"He tried to get me to go with him. Leave you behind. When I refused, he vamped out and tried to bite me. But I couldn't do any thing; it was like I lost my slaying skills. I had horrible aim, and I couldn't break down the door. I screamed and pounded on the door. Didn't you guys here me?"

"No, Buffy. It was completely silent. Then we see you come in the front door all bloody and you were holding a sword. You were breathing heavily and you just fainted."

"Where was I bloody?"

"Your left arm, neck, and face. Your knuckles were all raw, and you had a long bruise across your lower back. You also broke your ankle."

"How long was I out for?"

"A couple of hours."

"We'd better call Giles and warn him about Angel."

"I'll do it. You need to rest. Can I get you anything?"

"No. But I have a feeling we should stick together. Tell him that, okay sweetie?"

"Sure." He walked into a different room.

"I hope Buffy's alright," Willow said to Tara and Oz.

"I'm s-sure that they're f-fine," Tara said, putting her hand on Willow's shoulder.

"Yeah, she's with Spike now. He wouldn't let anything happen to her."

"You're right. I'll bet she can already walk around." She looked at the "yeah right" looks they were giving her. "Well, with crutches." They were in the training room sweeping up glass. Xander, Anya, and Cordelia were working at the doorknob. Actually, Xander was the only one working, Anya was being the jealous girlfriend and making sure that Cordelia kept her hands off of her fianc�e. Cordelia kept glaring at Anya and flirting with Xander. Dawn and Giles were straightening up the weaponry displays and mopping up the blood. The phone rang and she watched Giles run into the front. She heard a muffled conversation then saw Giles walk back in. "Giles, what was that about?"

"Spike and Buffy are coming over. He said something about Buffy thinking we should stick together and Angel being evil."

"So she's awake?"

"It would appear so."

She turned to her lover and her ex. "Told you."

Buffy picked up her crutches and stood up. Spike walked in and gave her a concerned look. "I'm fine." He still looked at her with the same look. "Well maybe not fine, but I can stand. My slayer-healing powers are doing their job. I'll probably only stay in crutches for week. I will be fine. Let's just go, okay Spike?"

"Okay, but don't call me Spike. I'm not him anymore."

"William?"

"No, not him either. I'm like a combination. Neither of those names seem to fit."

"What about� Spill, or Wike?"

"Better," he said with a smile. "Come on. They're waiting." They crossed their living room to their garage.

"Wow. Which car should we take?" They had her SUV, his Desoto, and a soft top yellow 2001 Corvette Convertible.

"How about the Corvette?" he asked.

"Sounds good." She flashed him an award-winning smile. They backed out and flew down the road towards the Magic Box. Spike helped her out and then walked up to the door and held it open while she hobbled through. "Hi guys!" she exclaimed when the walked out of the training room. "Sorry that I made a mess."

"Oh, that's perfectly alright. What did you say about Angel being evil again?" She went over everything that happened in detail. She noticed Spill/ Wike's hand clenching and unclenching. He is so cute when he's mad, she thought. I think I like Wike better than Spill. Neither is that good though. I'll have to think up something better. What should I call him? "Well, it would appear that Angelus has returned." Giles said, pulling her back to earth. "So, let's get to researching. Buffy, you should go home and rest. You're no good to us if your leg is broken. You may as well be dead!" Buffy was stunned at her Watcher's words. She stared at Giles, doing her best to hold back her tears.

Cordelia saw Buffy's eyes get all watery. "Well someone had to say it. It is true, Buffy. Don't be such a baby."

"Yeah," Willow added. "Ever since you've been back all it's been about is you. Buffy this, Buffy that, we have to help Buffy. Well you know what? I'm tired of it!"

"Why don't you just leave us alone!" Dawn demanded. "Just go away!"

"We probably would be better off without you. I mean no offense, but you are extremely selfish." Anya stated.

"When you sent Angelus to hell, you just ran away!" Oz said coldly. "You couldn't even tell us. Just up and away. Who cares about the fact that you are the only one in the world who can keep the apocalypse from ending the world? You just left and ran out on everyone who cared about!"

"You should leave!" Tara pointed an accusing finger at Buffy. "All you've ever brought us was trouble!"

"I'm so ashamed of you. You're a failure," Xander said.

"You treated me like dirt and banned me from your home. All I ever was to you was someone to have sex with." Spike said, walking over to the group and facing her with crossed arms. They all were giving her disapproving looks.

"Fine," Buffy said in a shaky voice. "You want me gone, I'm gone." She turned, clumsily opened the door, and hobbled out. She hobbled down the street in the direction they came from her and Spike's apartment. Her eyesight blurred as tears threatened to flow down her cheeks. She walked up the path to the front door and fumbled around in her pockets. She pulled out a set of keys and stuck one in the keyhole. She turned it and pushed open the door. She went into the bedroom and dragged out a suitcase. She piled as many clothes as she could fit and then closed it. She dragged it through the house and garage until she got to her SUV.

She opened the back and lifted it easily. She went back to pack some more clothes. When she packed all of her clothes, she moved on to her jewelry. When that was packed, she moved on to shoes. She was only on her third suitcase by the time she moved on to her sheets and glass things. She would wrap up a glass thing in a sheet and pack it. When that was done, she took all of the pillows she owned and tossed them in the back seat. She rummaged through the house and took any money she could find and put it in a shoebox. She ended up finding five, hundred dollar bills and three pockets of change. She stuck the shoebox under the backseat. She went through the house and took every personal belonging she had there. She only left a couple of things out.

Her leather duster Spike had given her, and her collection of weaponry. She hid most of her stakes on her body. She put her duster on over it. All that was left was a jug of holy water, two stakes and a crucifix. She took the holy water, stakes and crucifix out to her car. She hung the crucifix over the rearview mirror, set the jug of holy water on the passenger floor, and hid the stakes under her seat. Well, she thought. That's it. She took one last look to see if she left anything, and she drove away. She had five suitcases, all which fit in the trunk area. She had her pillows, a big poofy comforter, money, her crutches, and an overnight bag in the backseat.

In the overnight bag, she had a change of clothes, her toothbrush, and her purse. In the passenger seat, she had a letter addressed to the gang. The jug of holy water rolled around on the floor. She pulled up in front of the Magic Box. She noted that the Corvette was still here. She found that she didn�t need the crutches anymore when she got out. She walked stiffly up to the door and slid the letter under it. "Goodbye," she whispered. She got back in her car and drove away, not looking back. She stopped at the gas station/ mini mart. She filled up the tank and grabbed some snacks and a couple bottles of water. She drove southeast. While she was driving, all sorts of thoughts twirled through her head. Where should I go? How could they turn on me?

Where is the next best place to the hell mouth? I obviously don't need this cast anymore, who can I get to cut it off? I guess I could pull it off. I certainly could do that. What about Florida? Yeah, I could go there. It has a similar climate to Sunnydale. Where in Florida? Should I go to the northern part of Florida or the Southern part? North. South is all Spring Break hell. I don't want to deal with it. Yeah I think I'll go north. As for living environments, I can sleep in the car and go to public restrooms and shower areas. That'll work until I can get a steady job. I can set the alarm on my watch. I can sell my videos. I can sell some of my jewelry. I can decide what my favorite cds are and sell the rest. I can sell plates and stuff. No, better hold on to those. I can look around and find the cheapest food places where I can eat. She pulled onto a highway. "What was wrong with Buffy?" Anya asked. They had no idea what was wrong with her.

"Oh my god!" Willow said. "I think it was us. "I remember us� saying stuff. Bad stuff to Buffy."

"Oh bloody hell." Spike groaned, heading towards the door. He stopped when he saw something slide under the door. "Hey guys?" he picked it up and walked back towards them. He opened the envelope. The others gathered around him as he read the letter out loud:

"'Giles- you were my watcher. The one person who was always there for me. What you said hurt a lot. As far as the "you may as well be dead" thing is concerned, already died twice.

Cordelia- you were always a bitch.

Willow- you were my best friend. I'm sorry if you thought was that the only thing that mattered was me. That wasn't true. I can understand if you thought that, but it's not true. At least not to me.

Dawn- you got your wish, I'm gone.

Anya- you're on your own now. You are right, I am selfish.

Oz- when I ran away, it was wrong. I'm sorry I left you guys. There's something I didn't tell you before. I didn't send back Angelus. I sent back Angel. I thought that I was a danger to you guys and I needed to get away from it all.

Tara- you knew what you were getting into. One, you were living on a hell mouth. Two, you hung out with the slayer. You can't hold me entirely responsible.

Xander- I'm sorry. You're right. All I am is a failure. I have no plans for my future, couldn't keep a job, and flunked school.

Spike- If I only wanted sex, would I be married to you?

Goodbye you guys. I'm running away again. By the time you read this, I'll be on the road. Don't worry about what to do with my stuff. Stuck it all in my SUV. I'll miss you. But you are right. You're better off without me.

Goodbye,

Buffy Anne Summers-Foley'"

"Oh my god," Xander said. "What did we do?"

Buffy turned in her sleep. She opened her eyes and found tears streaming down her face. She sat up and recognized her room. It was only a dream, she thought. She started laughing and crying. It was only a dream, only a dream. She was so happy and so relieved at the same time. She glanced at her alarm clock. It read 2:00 a.m. She curled up and went to sleep knowing that it was only a dream.

The End