This story has been sitting around in my documents folder for months- literally. I wrote it about the VERY beginning of 6th season and then left it alone ever since. Well, I've re-read it and decided to go ahead and get it out there, so this is in reaction to the Gift.

Ghost

By *~Rachel*~

Disclaimer: Oh yes…they are ALL MINE! (Sarcastic) Haha. RIGHT. Joss Whedon, Marti Noxon, Twentieth Century Fox Productions, UPN, Sandollar Television, and Mutant Enemy own BtVS. No copyright infringements were intended. This is my story and not meant to copy the show.

Rating: Do you watch the show? You can read this. Maybe PG-13ish

Summary: After "The Gift," Buffy stays behind to once again help her friends and sister. Ever seen "Ghost" With Patrick Swayze and Demi Moore? It's like that with a Buffy twist.

Spoilers: All of fifth season, especially "The Gift"

Author’s Notes: <_______> Signifies thoughts. Mistakes are purely my fault…I’m not the world’s greatest typist.

Distribution: The groups I'm sending them out to can archive them, and....anyone else can just ask me first! (I'll probably say 'yes')

Special Dedication: To my friend, Charlie, who helped me with the spells and forced me to rewrite some scenes to see the girls fight!

Feedback? OF COURSE!

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Buffy pulled herself to her feet, looking around at her surroundings. She looked up at the tower where she had jumped into the portal to save Dawn and all of her friends. The portal was gone, just a distant memory now, and everything looked normal. The sun was rising and once again, the world had been saved by Buffy Summers and her friends.

Buffy stumbled around, trying to regain her balance and sense of surroundings. She saw all of her friends over a few feet away from where she had landed. They were all beaten and bruised, dirty and bloody, and yet they were all standing around doing nothing. She saw Spike on his knees holding his head in his hands as he cried. <Why is everyone so sad?> Buffy thought. <Oh no...Dawn!> Her first thought was that Dawn had done something after she had jumped.

"Spike!" She yelled out, "Spike, you better get your peroxide-bleached ass inside somewhere right now before you get turned into a pile of dust." She started walking up to him, angry that he wasn't even caring about his safety. Couldn't he see that it was daylight now? She'd seen him fight Doc, try his best to save Dawn from the bleeding process. She'd seen him fall from 100 stories up, landing on a pile of bricks. He even tried to rise, to give it another go, before fully collapsing. And she loved him for that- his bravery and courage to keep that promise he made towards her.

"Spike!" Buffy called out again. <Damn, why isn't anyone listening to me?> she thought. Buffy walked over to the fallen vampire, trying to get him up and moving. "Spike, get up...please."

Buffy turned her head back to the tower and saw her sister limp down the final steps holding onto her side. "Dawnie," she called out, starting to walk over to her. Her sister was crying also. <Why?> Buffy thought to herself. <We won, we beat the bad person, this should be a happy time.> "Dawn," she said, walking up to hug Dawn. She opened her arms to embrace Dawn and...and she couldn't grab onto her.

Buffy passed right through her, as if her body wasn't even there. Buffy frowned, looking behind her at Dawn and her friends. "What the hell is going on here?" she asked aloud. "Someone, answer me!" She walked back over to Spike and slapped her hand against the back of his head...only to have it completely pass through to the other side of his head. "Dawn? Giles?!" Buffy asked, freaking out.

She whirled around and finally saw why her friends had gathered around in a circle. There, resting on a small pile of rubble and bricks was she. It was Buffy...a very dead Buffy.

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"Okay, this is weird..." Buffy said to herself. "So, I'm a ghost. Which means what? That I have...unfinished business?" She was running through everything that she had ever learned about ghosts from Giles and her experiences as the Slayer. She didn't always listen when Giles was holding the Scooby-meetings.

She followed her friends to her house, talking to herself the whole time, as she watched them drop off Spike. After that, she followed everyone to the hospital to stitch Dawn up from the cuts. Although she was apparently dead, she was still relieved that Dawn made it out with only a couple cuts that would quickly heal.

That didn't take long, and by the afternoon, everyone had met up at the shop. "So, I'm a ghost," Buffy said to herself. It was almost as she still couldn't believe it. "I don't know what I'm doing here, or what I'm doing. I can't do *anything* and I'm suppose to do...what?" She had run everything through her mind and came up with nothing.

It was late afternoon and Tara, Willow, Xander, Anya, Giles, and Dawn were all at the shop still. The shop was closed, and for once, Anya didn't even care. She knew that Buffy wouldn't ever walk through that door again. She wouldn't ever say "hi" before getting down to business about the next Big Bad, and all of them knew that.

Xander and Willow knew from the beginning that Buffy was supposed to die young. During high school she had always joked about it, but it had never happened. And now, faced with the truth, the entire gang was in shock. Nonetheless, the entire gang met up to somehow hope that being together would help the healing process.

Spike had been brought back to Buffy's house. His body was bruised and his stab from Doc's knife was slowly healing. Buffy watched as the gang helped move him back to her home, staying in the shadows to keep spike away from the sun. Buffy stayed behind a few seconds to watch Spike, making sure that he wouldn't do anything like go for an afternoon walk in the park, even though she didn't know what could have done to stop him. He'd lost the woman that he loved, failed protecting the girl who he'd sworn to guard with his life, and Buffy's heart broke for him.

After making sure that Spike was going to stay inside for the rest of the day, she went back to the shop, passing through the door without opening it and watched as they all sat around the table in the back of the shop. Maybe if she talked to one of them long enough then they would realize that she was still there. There was a reason that she was still here, and she knew that...she just needed to figure out what that reason was.

"Hello? I'm talking to all of you! I'm still here!" She called out to them all. She waved her hand in front of Giles' face. "C'mon, you guys gotta help me out here, figure out what's going on."

No one said anything. They didn't even acknowledge that she was in the room. She sighed and sat down in an empty chair, leaning back in it and resting against the back of the chair. Buffy sighed. <This is so frustrating,> she thought. She groaned and kicked at the floor, leaning in the chair and pushing the two front legs up off the ground. Suddenly, she felt herself falling onto the floor. She landed on her back and looking up at the ceiling. "Great," Buffy said. "I can't even relax anymore."

Giles moved towards her and picked up the fallen chair. Buffy's mouth dropped open as she realized that when she had fallen to the floor, she'd brought the whole chair down with her. She thought that she had just fallen through the back of the chair.

"Hey! I can move stuff," she said to herself. "I'm like Patrick Swayze in Ghost." She stood up and looked at the chair, trying to push it again and move it across the floor. She kicked the leg of the chair with her foot, but it only passed through the wood. She sighed again, moving over to the table where the gang sat. Buffy tried to pick up a picture of herself up off the table and her fingers passed through the frame. "Okay...all I need is some practice," Buffy said to herself, going back to concentrating on the picture frame on the table.

"So...what do we do now?" Dawn asked. She winced when she took a breath from the pain in her sides. However, the mental pain and anguish in her heart made the rest of her body was numb. "She's...she's really..."

"Well, I don't really know, Dawn." Giles replied. He threw off his glasses onto the table and sighed, rubbing his eyes.

"Maybe we could bring her back," Willow suggested.

"Yeah, let's do that!" Buffy said, voicing in her own input even though she knew that no one would hear her. She went back to staring intently at that same picture, trying to move it. <Okay, how do I do this again?> she asked herself.

"We can't, Will. Buffy is dead, she didn't just drown in a pool or water for a second. CPR isn't going to bring her back this time," Xander said. "No- nothing is going to bring her back this time."

"Don't say that," Dawn said.

"But there could be a spell we could find to bring her back," Willow said. "And I could do something like that easily."

"Good idea, Will. Let's find a spell. A spell that can get a ghost back into her body." She rolled her eyes when no one replied. What else was she expecting? Figuring that the gang would be safe here talking together, she gave up on making the picture move and started walking through the door. Once outside, she turned and started walking down the street back to her home where Spike was.

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Thanks for feedback!

Disclaimers and everything in part 1

Please excuse all typos and mistakes. This fic is very old!

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She walked up the stairs in her house up to where they had laid Spike down in her mother's room. When she walked down to the hallway where her mom's room was located, it was empty. But when she heard sobs coming from her room, she knew that Spike had gone to her room to brood. She walked through the walls and saw Spike crying and drowning his sorrows with a glass bottle of alcohol. She figured that he'd gone back to his crypt to grab that. <Oh Spike,> she thought, sighing. She could feel his pain, almost as if she had this new connection with him.

"Spike," Buffy said. "C'mon, you've got to get out...go fight some demons, go take care of Dawnie...get up and go do something."

He was looking at a picture of her and her friends. He held back tears as he looked at her smiling face during happier times. <But that was years ago...> he thought. <Before me...before Glory...>

His eyes ran over the collage of her high school and college years on her dresser and mirror as he took another gulp of beer. "Bloody hell, this wasn't how it was suppose to end," Spike said to himself. "I failed you, love. I let you and the Bit down and now...now I can never face her or your friends again."

"Spike, god, this wasn't your fault. Don't manipulate the situation," Buffy said. She wanted to console him, to comfort him, to pat him on the shoulder like he had done to her months ago, but her hands passed through him. Finally, she gathered all of her feelings for him and her friends and pushed them all the way to the very back of her brain. She remained calm, pushing all of her human emotion away and reached out to touch him on the back.

She slowly reached out her fingers and...and she could feel him! She felt the leather under her fingertips before she felt it fade away. Once again, she pushed her emotions away and reached out to feel his skin and the tears that had been rolling down his face. Spike jumped back, dropping his beer bottle to the floor as Buffy lost the touch of his skin. "What the hell?!" He asked, looking around. "...B-Buffy...?"

"Yes! Buffy! That's me!" Buffy said, waving her arms in front of him. "Spike!"

Spike snorted almost before laughing insanely. "Yeah right, mate. Keep dreaming," he mumbled.

"No...no, no, it's me." Buffy said. "God dammit, I need someone to be able to hear me!"

"God, Buffy...I wish you were here," Spike said to himself. He was mumbling and drunk, two signs that were not good. He sat down on the side of her bed, his hand running down the unmade sheets. "I can smell you everywhere in here...your sheets, your clothes...your vanilla and flowers shampoo and conditioner...I'm drowning, I'm still drowning in you, Slayer..." He lay down on the bed, breathing in the scent from her pillowcase.

"Spike, god, don't do this." Buffy said, more to herself than him. "I'm dead, that's the thing you always wanted...me to die, and now I am and you can't stand it." She looked over at him. "God, he really is in love with me, isn't he?"

Buffy thought that Spike's "love" for her was just some perverted way to get in her pants. But behind his tears and pain reflecting in his blue eyes, she could see love and want. "Buffy..." Spike breathed, his body going limp.

Buffy got up from where she had been kneeling and started walking back towards the door to go back to the Magic Shop. Maybe the gang was still there and she could hear what they were talking about now. What would happen if Willow tried to bring her back and couldn't because she was still here? <Giles had talked of this once...something like an asteroid...no, wait...astral body,> Buffy thought. <Maybe if I can touch one of them...or talk to one of them, then I can try to get my message across that I'm still here.> As she headed back to the shop, her brain ran over thought after thought about what she would have to do.

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Buffy walked up to the Magic Shop door, unconsciously reaching for the doorknob and turning to open the door. However, she only ended up tripping and stumbling through the door. <Smooth move, Summers,> she thought. She looked around the room, not finding any of her friends around. "I guess that they all went home," Buffy said. "Maybe they all went to Xander's tonight."

She walked around the shop, noticing that the lights were still on. She heard some sheets of paper rustling around in the loft and she turned her head up to look up at the second level. She heard some books drop to the floor and then the clanking of something banging together. "Someone is up there," Buffy said, walking over to the steps.

When she finished climbing the stairs, she looked around and saw a strange man looking at all of the spell books. He was dressed in a black dressy outfit and his hair was a light gray. <Hey...wait...> Buffy realized. "Hey! You're the guy that I pushed off the tower...you- you cut Dawnie!" Buffy said.

She watched as the man grabbed a couple small bottles of potions and powders that only Willow or Giles would recognize. He stuffed them into a bag before shoving a couple books into the bag. He searched around for something specific, throwing everything that was in his way to the side. "What are you doing?" Buffy asked. She swung her fists at the man, trying to make him stop. "Stop!"

Doc finally found what he was looking for- the chest that Spike and Xander had stolen from him the other night. He opened the top and pulled out all of the manuscripts that were rolled up inside. "Hey! You can't take those!" Buffy shouted. Once again, she tried to reach out and touch him to shove him off of the loft, but her mind kept getting sidetracked. She couldn't concentrate. Doc folded the papers up and placed them also inside the bag before turning on his heels and walking down the ladder.

<Okay, what do I do?> Buffy thought. She didn't know whether she should follow him or she should stay and try to figure out what was going on...maybe if she could concentrate enough then she could try to write up a note for Giles. Doc was already out the door and Buffy slowly walked down the steps of the ladder. She decided not to follow him. Instead, she walked over to the cash register and thought about what she wanted to say.

On the counter, Anya or Giles must have left out a pen and a blank sales receipt. Buffy concentrated and tried to pick up the pen. She failed the first few tries, and she sighed loudly. Finally, she concentrated with all of her might and managed to pick up the pen. Slowly, she started writing a sloppy note to her friends.

<Man, this is going to be a long night.> Buffy said.

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Giles and Anya were the first two in the shop. Buffy had stayed there all night long, finding out that she really didn't need any sleep anyway. She hung around the shop, trying to perfect her concentration to pick up objects. Finally, at sometime before dawn, Buffy thought that she might have had it all figured out.

"So...should we open up today?" Anya asked Giles.

"I don't know...I guess that- that Buffy would want us to continue moving..." Giles said. "I guess we should open up."

"All right, you're the boss." Anya replied. She walked over to the cash register and looked around.

"Yes! Anya, you've found the note," Buffy said.

Anya picked up the sales receipt that Buffy had written on last night and read over it quickly. "Gi- Giles....Giles!" She said, starting to talk louder.

"Anya, what is it?" Gilles asked, walking over to the cash register.

The ex-vengeance demon shoved the piece of paper in his face. "Look!"

Giles read the sheet of paper over.

"Anya, go call the others. Get them all here," Giles started. <B...Buffy?> He thought to himself. <What the bloody hell is going on here?> "Get everyone, including Dawn and Spike."

Anya looked at him, nervous and confused by what was going on. "Okay," she said, going over to the phone.

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I wanna thank everyone who has sent me feedback on this story- at ff.net or through private e-mails. Thanks SO much! I've really liked reading all the positive stuff. Thanks!

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"So....what are we doing here?" Willow asked. She and Tara still hadn't gone back to their college classes yet. The two were taking a break to mourn over Buffy. Xander was at home also. He had given the construction workers the day off also. Everyone's life had seemed to suddenly stop the moment Buffy died. Sure they knew that it was going to happen- she was the Slayer. It was just that she had beaten death so much that being faced with the real truth now was unbearable.

"I want to know, right now..." Giles started. "Who would pull a sick joke like this!" He held up the note to Buffy's friends.

"What is that?" Dawn asked.

"It's a note...from Buffy," Giles said. Dawn's body started to shake, from hearing her sister's name being called. "I want to know who would go to so much trouble...to steal stuff up in the loft and leave this here...after all we've been through."

"No!" Buffy shouted. "Oh my God, you don't believe me? Giles! It's me!" She didn't notice Tara start looking around when she screamed at Giles.

Spike looked at the note. "Are you sure it's not her?" He asked softly. Buffy looked over at him, the more than usual pale vampire sat in the shadows as if he really wasn't even a part of the meeting. He looked as though he hadn't eaten anything in days. "I mean...maybe..." <Bloody hell, that would be a dream come true,> he thought.

"That's it, Spike. You tell him," Buffy said.

Tara looked around the room, a confused look on her face. "Did- did anyone else hear that?"

"What?" Everyone else asked.

"Oh...I- I thought that I heard...never mind." Tara said. Willow glanced over at her, giving Tara a "what is it?" look, which Tara simply shrugged off.

<Did she hear me?> "Tara?" Buffy asked.

"No, there it is again," Tara said. "That voice...there's- there's something in here." She rose from her chair and spun around, looking at the entire room.

"There's no one here but us, Tara." Willow replied.

"Tara! You can hear me!" Buffy shouted. "Tara...tell them! Its Buffy! Tell them I'm here. I'm a ghost, but I'm here."

Tara groaned, and closed her eyes, "No...it's not real. I'm- I'm just hearing things ..." She kept repeating that to herself as everyone else in the room looked at each other as though there were all thinking the same thing: <has she gone insane?>

"Tara! You *can* hear me. OK...want me to convince you?" Buffy paused, thinking. "Remember when your family came to town and- and they wanted to bring you back but Spike punched you, which meant you weren't a demon."

"Yes Buffy, I remember that vividly," Tara said, as if she was having a normal conversation with her.

"Remember *what* vividly?" Xander asked, confused about what was going on.

Buffy smiled. She had gotten her point across. "Good, then I think I've said enough."

"Tara, did you just say, uh, Buffy?" Giles asked him.

"Yeah, I- I can hear her in my head. She- she says that she's a- a ghost." Tara replied. She smiled and shook her head. It was weird being the only one who could hear what Buffy was saying.

"Buffy's here?" Dawn asked, tears forming in her eyes.

"Where?" Spike asked, looking up at Tara for the answer.

Buffy walked over to stand in between Spike and Dawn, the two people who seemed to care for her the most. One, her sister, the person she loved more than anything else in the world. And then Spike, the vampire who she had come to respect, not hate, and quite possible, start to feel something else for. She had felt that way ever since he refused to spill the truth to Glory, but with Glory around she was too busy to think about anything else. "Tara, tell them I'm standing in between them."

Tara pointed in between Dawn and Spike. "She's standing beside you two."

Immediately, Spike and Dawn both looked where Buffy was standing. They couldn't see her, but Buffy saw the tears glistening in their eyes and wished she could hold them and comfort them.

"Well, this is, uh, quite remarkable. " Giles said. "Buffy, uh, maybe you could tell us what happened?"

"You mean besides me haunting the Magic Shop now?" Buffy asked. "Always the one to be all serious and down to the point." Tara chuckled at what she was saying.

"She says that she's going to haunt your Magic Shop," Tara said, smirking.

"Well, that's our Buff," Xander replied.

"Guys, this is no time to be joking!" Willow said. "Don't laugh about this." She shook her head, disbelieving what Tara was saying, even though she was her girlfriend.

"Tell Willow to be quiet," Buffy said. "Oh, and tell her 'thank you' for being my big gun."

"Buffy wants you to shut up," Tara said, smiling at Willow. "And- and that she's glad that you were her big gun...whatever that means. I- I don't really remember since I was out of it."

Willow's mouth dropped open. "She- she told me that before we headed out to face Glory. God, she really is here, isn't she?"

"I think so, Willow," Tara replied. She looked around and watched everyone gasp with shock. Xander's mouth dropped open, not fully believing until then. "Now, Buffy...what happened here last night?"

"Well, that guy...the guy that Xander and Spike went to kill-"

Tara started to say what Buffy had said when Xander interrupted. "Doc?" Xander asked.

Spike's eyes shot open and he straightened up. "What about that bloke?" He asked.

"He came by here last night, grabbed a bunch of stuff from up in the loft," Buffy started explaining. "And he stole all of those papers in the wooden box that Xander and Spike stole from him in the first place."

"He- he took a lot of supplies...I guess spells and such," Tara explained. "He took the papers that Spike and Xander stole from him and-"

"Bloody hell, he took those?" Giles asked suddenly.

"What's so bad about that?" Xander asked, once again confused. "Glory is gone, right?"

"Well, yes, she is gone. But...but those papers had some spells in them that I couldn't figure them out." Giles explained. "I think that they were basically talking about opening the portal through magic and then having the other hell gods come into this dimension."

"What?!" Everyone shouted together, including Buffy. "You mean that you knew about this and you didn't bother to tell us?" She waited for an answer. "Tara?"

"Buffy wants to - to know why you didn't' tell us." Tara said.

"Well, I didn't think that it was necessary. I didn't know that there were other demons that wanted the portal to open and the hell gods to come through." Giles said defensively. "Anyway, I thought that Buffy would...well, defeat Glory and we wouldn't have to worry about it."

"Well, he was here...he grabbed a bunch of bottles of stuff and a couple books and then finally the papers," Buffy said. She walked around and tried to concentrate on the chair. She grabbed onto the back and pulled it out from underneath the table. Everyone watched the chair slide out by itself and then slowly stop. Buffy sat down in the chair and grinned. "Hey, that was me."

"Yeah, we have a poltergeist," Xander said. "Yikes."

"Hey, watch it Xander. I can still hit you...It'd just take some practice first." Buffy said. "I might be dead but I can still beat stuff up."

Tara smiled to herself. It was obvious that Buffy wasn't quite used to the fact that no one could hear her but Tara. "T- that was Buffy. I...I guess you already knew that."

"Oh, hey...like in Ghost, with Patrick Swayze and Demi Moore," Dawn said. She remembered when Buffy and she were younger they would watch that together. It was a sappy romantic film and the two of them used to love watching those types of movies. Of course, at that age they mostly made fun of the movie, but Dawn remembered the entire thing.

"Yeah, it's exactly like that," Buffy said. "Except I'm a lot prettier than Patrick Swayze."

"It's great that you're here, Buffy," Dawn said. "Even if I can't see you, I know that you're there, right?"

"You've got that right, Dawnie," Tara said for Buffy.

"I'm glad," Dawn replied. Buffy concentrated for a second and ran her finger down the side of Dawn's cheek. She grabbed a small handful of Dawn's hair and gently pushed it behind her ear and over her shoulder. Tears rolled down Dawn's cheeks as she grinned. "Buffy..." she whispered.

"I love you, Dawnie," Buffy said.

Tara paused, not knowing if this was something she should intrude on. Although she was the only one who could hear Buffy, she felt somewhat like an intruder on a conversation like this. "She- she says that-"

"Yeah, I think I know what Buffy is saying." Dawn said, smiling over at Buffy.

"So, maybe we should figure out what Doc is trying to do," Willow suggested. "Giles, maybe we could go check what he took besides those papers."

"Of course, Willow," Giles said. The two of them headed over to the ladder and started climbing up into the loft to see what magical components were now missing.

"Tara, could you ask Willow if she could take Dawnie to school instead?" Buffy asked her.

"Willow...wa- wait," Tara said, running after Willow. "Buffy wants you to get Dawnie off to school all right, since we still have Doc around...just- just in case."

"Sure thing," Willow replied. "I'll help you as soon as I get back, okay Giles?" Giles nodded and continued looking around for what was missing in the loft.

"I don't want to go to school," Dawn said. "Shouldn't I stay here and help with research for Buffy?"

"Well, we don't want anything to look suspicious. If people find out that Buffy's...well, all ghost-like, the they might not want you to be living with a bunch of her friends." Xander said over to her. "Don't worry, we'll get her back."

Dawn smiled. "Okay." Dawn grabbed her jacket and backpack and Willow pulled her sweater on over her head and grabbed her purse lying on the table.

"Bye Buffy," Dawn said as she walked out of the door behind Willow.

"Maybe I should go check out Doc's flat," Spike said. "After all, I've got nothing else better to do." He rose from his chair and walked out the door, slamming it behind him.

"Wow, Ghost-Buffy sure knows how to clear out a room." Buffy said. She turned around and looked at the door that Spike had slammed closed behind him. She shook her head, saying, "I wish he'd cheer up. I'm here and everything is okay, right Tara?"

"Ri- right Buffy. Spike is just being...Spike."

"I saw him after I died. God, I've never seen him cry before in my entire life and then there he was...crying because *I* died. The one person he's been bent on killing for like five years...well, until he figured out that he was in love with me was crying because I was dead." Buffy said.

"I saw that too." Tara said. "When - when we were moving him into your house...he- he was so miserable." She sat down at the table where she assumed that Buffy still sat at also.

"Ah, I can already tell that we're talking about Spike," Xander said. "I must agree with you all. Didn't know Captain Peroxide had it in him to let down the ego wall and sob like a baby-man," Xander commented, only hearing what Tara had said.

"Xander, be nice. He...he went through a lot." Buffy said.

Tara repeated her words to Xander as Buffy continued to talk. "I think that he's feeling really guilty about not protecting Dawn. I heard him talking that first night and he said that he could never face her or you guys again because my death was all of his fault."

Tara nodded, listening to what Buffy was saying. Since Spike had somewhat helped prove to her family that she wasn't a demon, she had always had a soft spot for the vampire. She knew something had gone on with Spike and Buffy, but wasn't fully clear what since she had stayed behind to take care of Dawn. "Sounds like Spike has a - a soul instead of a chip," she commented.

Buffy smiled. "I don't think so Tara, but...but he's got something in there than just a chip, I think. I don't know...maybe chips are modern souls."

"Modern souls...I'm su- sure Spike would love to hear about that." Tara said sarcastically.

Buffy smiled. She had never really talked to Tara before and Buffy found out that she was a great person to know. Tara really listened and had such a neutral opinion of everything, she was a great friend. As soon as they stopped Doc and got her back in her body, everything would be okay. She was sure of it.

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Disclaimers and everything in part 1

Please excuse all typos and mistakes. This fic is very old!

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"Isn't this just great?" Dawn asked Willow as the two walked down the sidewalk towards Dawn's school. "We're going to get Buffy back."

"It's great. I'm just hoping that this Doc guy won't be a problem." Willow said.

"Oh, I'm sure that you or Spike can handle it just fine," Dawn said. "You know...either magic or muscle."

Willow smiled at Dawn. She seemed so happy and carefree right now, as if the last 48 hours hadn't even happened. "I'm sure they can, Dawn."

"But then we can get her back and it'll be as though nothing even happened, right?" Dawn asked her, hope reflecting in her eyes.

Willow didn't want to tell her this, but if Buffy were really a ghost, she wouldn't suddenly appear human once again after this thing with Doc was over. Usually, ghosts those had finished whatever they needed to do, would simply cross over and go to heaven, and Buffy would most definitely go to heaven. But she couldn't break Dawn's heart, not after everything that she'd gone through in the last few days. "When this is over, we'll get Buffy back. Don't worry." Willow said, sounding as comforting as she could.

"Good," Dawn replied.

The two walked along in silence before Dawn started speaking up again. "So...what do you think will happen with-"

Suddenly, in a flash of white and black, a figure jumped out at the two from behind the trees. Dawn screamed as she saw his...tongue- <Ewww,> Dawn thought for a second- come out of his mouth and push Willow down to the ground. The stranger turned and faced Dawn and she suddenly recognized him.

"Hey, you're the guy...you cut me...you tried to help me get my mom back." Dawn said.

"That's right, kiddo. Well, I guess the bleeding didn't go so well since you're here and all. That's surprising, I thought the only way to close the portal was with your death." Doc said. "Oh well. I couldn't open the portal for Glorificus, but I surely can open the portal for the other two hell gods."

He grabbed Dawn, trying to grab her by the waist. Dawn screamed and lashed out, pushing him away from her with all of her might. Dawn brought out her right arm and punched Doc. He stumbled back and shook his head. "Wow, kid, you've got spunk." With super-human speed, Doc ran up to Dawn and grabbed her again, this time grabbing her whole body. He turned and began heading back towards the bushes.

Willow ran up to Doc, trying to wrestle Dawn and the demon apart. However, Doc only shoved her with his free hand, pushing her to the ground. Willow skidded on the concrete, scratching the palms of her hand. Willow sat up off the ground, whispering words of a spell.

Doc shook off the spell and continued jumping over the bushes. Willow climbed to her feet and pushed her way through the bushes. By the time she got to the other side of the plants, Doc and Dawn were gone. She couldn't even hear her screams anymore. "Dawn..." Willow said, sighing, and turning around. Quickly, she started running back towards the shop, hoping that Buffy and the gang was still there.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

Spike walked back into the shop with a frown on his face. "Well, the bloke isn't there anymore," he said as he walked through the doorway. "He either was out when I stopped by or was hiding, because he wasn't in the apartment."

"Well, thanks for trying, Spike," Buffy said.

"Buffy says th- thanks," Tara said.

"Bloody hell, I can't believe this is happening," Spike said as he walked further into the shop and went to sit down on a chair. "Are you sure about this, Tara? You can really hear her?"

Buffy turned to Tara. "So what? He still doesn't believe that I'm here?"

"I guess not, Buffy," Tara said. "Look, Spike, I- I can't see her, and I- I don't know what's going on. But I do know that Buffy is- is still here while we try to figure this Doc thing out."

"You tell him, Tara," Buffy said, proud that she was standing up for her in front of Spike.

"Whatever you say, Tara," Spike replied gruffly.

"Y'know, maybe you should listen to her, bleach boy," Xander said. He and Tara were sitting at the table together while Giles was still researching.

"Tell him that he's not a monster." Buffy said, remembering what he had said to her before the final showdown with Glory. She had to figure out a way to fully convince Spike.

Tara smiled to herself once again before speaking. There were many words unsaid between the two, Tara could see that. Her only concern was that she didn't want to be the one that would have to say them. "Buffy says to- to tell you that...you aren't a monster."

Xander rolled his eyes, making sure everyone could see him. Why couldn't anyone else see this sexual tension between the two? Even he could see it and Buffy was technically dead.

Spike looked up at Tara, shock evident in his eyes. "Bloody hell," he cursed. "I wish I had a fag right about now."

Xander made a face and jumped back. "What?!"

"A cigarette, you stupid git," Spike replied, rolling his eyes.

"Ohh," Xander replied, confusion written all over his face.

Buffy giggled at Spike's Brittishness and Xander's shock from his lingo, and pretty soon, Tara joined in with a soft giggle. Buffy stopped smiling once the joke was old, trying to get into her serious Slayer mode. "Tara...we all have to talk," Buffy said. "You, me, and Spike."

"All right," Tara said. "Sp- Spike, she wants to talk to us." Tara started walking into the training room and Spike followed behind her. Buffy walked in lastly, walking through the already closed door.

"Okay...bear with me here, I don't know if what I'm thinking is right but..." Buffy tried to think of the right way to start this conversation. "Dawn, Willow, Xander...they all think that I'm just going to come back to life after we defeat Doc, that I'm just a ghost to help them but..."

"But you- you think that after you defeat Doc that you're just going to..." Tara's voice died off, trying not to talk of the obvious.

"Well, isn't it pretty obvious? I mean, you've seen the movie, we all have," Buffy said.

"What? What is she saying, Tara?" Spike asked.

"Buffy thinks that...that when she...finishes this- this thing with Doc, that she's going to..."

"Cross over," Spike finished. "Yeah, I kinda thought that too."

"Is that why you didn't even seem to care when you heard that I had come back?" Buffy asked. "That you didn't even want to believe that I was still here?" She realized that it was pointless to ask questions to Spike.

"Uh, maybe- maybe I shouldn't be here," Tara said. "Oh, wait...that's right, I have to be here," she added to herself. She watched as Spike looked at her oddly, his gaze asking what Tara was talking about. "Okay..." Tara started.

"What?" Buffy and Spike asked at the same time.

"You can, y'know, use- use my body," Tara said. "You can talk to Spike and just...use my body, like in the movie."

"What the hell are you talking about, Tara?" Spike asked.

"Oh...okay, thanks," Buffy said. She walked up to her, trying to figure out what to do. "Okay, I've never actually done this before. I guess that's fairly obvious." She reached out her hand and took a step forward into Tara's body. Instead of passing right through her, she felt her body mold around hers, her arms controlling hers, and everything else taken over by her mind.

Spike watched as Tara flinched, shaking her head and closing her eyes. <What the bloody hell is going on?> He thought. <Am I really suppose to believe that Buffy is really here?> "Tara...?" he started asking.

Tara, now Buffy, opened her eyes and stared at Spike. "Spike...it's me, Buffy." She frowned when she heard her voice- Tara's lower-pitched and tentative voice in her ears.

"Tara, this is a sick joke," Spike said.

"Spike, this is no joke. I'm serious. I'm Buffy and...I'm kinda dead and a ghost and all, but it's still me." Buffy babbled on. "I thought that of all people, you would be the one who would believe me. I thought that you would be the one person who would want to believe in this the most."

"What? That you're some ghost who's here and whenever you finish your big task will disappear again?" Spike asked. "NO thank you, but I don't want to go through that, love."

"Hey, you called me love...that's a start," Buffy said. "Look...if I could choose to stay, I would. I have Dawn to take care of, my friends..." she looked at him, his expression hopeful that she would mention him. "Spike, I want to stay but after this is over, I'll just end up leaving-"

"And it'll break my heart just a little bit more," Spike said softly. "Bloody hell, I failed you Slayer. I saw you...lying there and something snapped in my brain. I couldn't do one simple task for you. You say that I'm not a monster...you lie. I got you killed, and I got Sweet bit hurt, the only people I truely care for in this bloody town. I am a monster."

Buffy started walking up towards him. She was feeling weak but tried to hold onto Tara's body. This was obviously taking a lot out of her. "Spike, I don't blame you for any of this. There was nothing else I could do back there. It was either me or Dawn, and I wasn't about to let it be her." Buffy raised her hands and placed them on Spike's arms.

Spike resisted the urge to jump back. He saw Tara walking up towards him and showing him affection- NOT Buffy. He was surprised and stunned, but started to try and convince himself that it really was Buffy somewhere in there. Spike closed his eyes, trying to pretend that it was Buffy who was showing him such affection. "Buffy?"

"Spike...it's me, down in here...it's me." Buffy said to him.

<Bloody hell,> Spike thought. <God, it really is her.> He could see her small frame and golden skin before his closed eyes. It was almost as if he could see her soul. Spike grabbed onto her shoulders and pulled her close to him. Quickly, before thinking about what was really going on, Spike kissed her.

<Oh...oh, God...> Buffy dizzily thought. Grabbing onto his shirt, she pulled him to her body. <God, I wish I could stay,> Buffy thought. Suddenly, she felt herself being pulled out of Tara's body. Tara was slowly fighting for control, so Buffy quickly slipped out of his skin, letting Tara take back over.

Tara immediately opened her eyes, wondering what was going on. Spike also opened his eyes, no longer feeling Buffy surrounding him as he had just a second ago. "Woah!" Tara yelled, taking a giant step back from Spike.

"Tara?!" Spike shouted, "Oh bloody hell!"

Buffy stared at her two friends and started laughing uncontrollably. She forgot that once she had pulled out of Tara's body that she'd find herself kissing Spike.

"No....no, it's- it's okay," Tara said, trying to keep things calm. She didn't need Spike to blow this out of proportion. "Just...let's call it a returned fa- favor."

Spike raised one of his eyebrows, wondering what she was talking about. "What do you mean?"

"For- for the time that you- you punched me, but...but proved that I wasn't a demon. I'm- I'm just returning the favor," Tara explained. "Okay?"

"Okay," Spike said after a few seconds.

"Oh man, if only Will and the rest of the gang could have seen that," Buffy said. "What a Kodak moment." She continued laughing, saying, "Oh Tara, what would Willow have said?" Tara blushed and lowered her head.

Spike shook his head. <Bloody hell...one of the lover-Wiccans and me...woah, wait a second. In the beginning, that was Buffy I was kissing. Oh hell, I just kissed the Slayer!> He looked over at Tara. "You know...we don't ever have to speak of this...ever again."

"Got it," Tara replied. "I- I wouldn't want to risk bruising your ego."

"Damn right, Tara." Spike said. "You hear us, Buffy?"

Tara and Spike started walking towards the doors, standing as far apart as they possibly could without letting the others think that something suspicious had happened in there. Mostly it was Spike who was fighting to stay away from Tara. It's not that she didn't like Tara, she was probably the Scooby gang member that he liked the most, but kissing her was seriously creeping him out.

Buffy was still chuckling to herself as she walked out of the room behind them. Jokingly, Tara shot her a glare and Buffy tried to stifle her laughs. Instead, she simply smiled to herself. What she had just seen and done she wouldn't trade for anything.

Suddenly, Willow burst through the doors in the shop, gasping for breath. She had run here all the way from the attack with Doc. "You...we've- we've got to help her," Willow said in between gasps.

"What happened?" Giles asked, climbing off the last few steps of the ladder as he climbed down from the loft.

Willow walked into the shop and sat down. "Doc- Doc, he grabbed Dawnie. I couldn't get to her. Buffy, I'm so sorry. I couldn't save her. He took her and ran off...I don't know where."

"Oh God, Dawnie," Buffy said to herself. "O-Okay, we have to start this *now*. We have to get her back." Tara started speaking, saying what Buffy was commanding. "Where would he take her?"

"Maybe back to his place?" Giles suggested. "Maybe he took her back there along with all of the papers."

"Good idea...Spike, Xander, you two should go check out his place." Buffy said. "See if you can find anything. Willow, Tara...maybe they could start working up some major spell to close an energy portal if we have to face that again. Giles and Anya can research on the other two hell-gods...see if we can find any information on the other two just in case."

Tara reiterated what Buffy had said to him and the gang started splitting up. Xander and Spike started walking towards the door, with the echoing sound of Buffy's laughter ringing in Tara's ears.

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Once again, thank you for all the feedback with this fic- on the mailing lists and @ ff.net. I really appreciate ALL of it!

Disclaimers and everything in part 1

Please excuse all typos and mistakes. This fic is very old!

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"So, what was that all about?" Xander asked on the way to Doc's home.

"What was *what* all about?" Spike asked back.

"You know...you and Buffy and Tara going into the back room together." Xander said, "Someone walked out looking mighty smug."

"Like I'm going to tell you, Harris," Spike replied. "We aren't buddies or anything, so why bother?"

"C'mon, Spike, how bad can it be?" Xander asked. "You two talked, so she must have talked you out of staking yourself, or going for a morning stroll, or she told you that she forgave you, or she told you something about the whole 'monster' thing, or-"

"She kissed me," Spike replied.

"What?! She did what?" Xander asked, now outraged. "That's...that's pretty bad."

"You know, I thought that you might be the one person in this lame gang that would actually understand me, Harris. After all, weren't you once in love with her too?" Spike said.

Xander lowered his eyes, "yeah."

"So you should be able to relate," Spike replied. "Especially since you have the ex-demon in the mix. You love here, right?" Xander nodded at once, not even questioning how he felt about Anya. "Well, I love Buffy, okay?"

"Wait...*how* did you kiss her?" Xander asked. Spike explained what Tara had done for him. Now that the two had started talking, he couldn't simply shut up. "Why'd you kiss her?"

"I don't know...felt like the right thing to do at the time." Spike said. <Bloody hell, was it wonderful,> He thought to himself. He tried to brush off the kiss, making it seem as though it was nothing important.

"Come on, Spike, drop the tough guy act." Xander said. The two were outside of Doc's door, but Xander refused to turn the doorknob before the two of them talked. "Buffy is *dead* and you're just acting like-"

"You don't know what I'm acting like *at all*, Harris," Spike said. "You don't know what is going on."

"I know that you think that you let her down..." Xander started. "That's what Buffy and Tara were talking about. She saw you in her bedroom, and I think she thought that you were going to go and kill yourself."

"No, can't kill myself. I promised...I promised her that I would protect Dawn," Spike said, lowering his eyes.

Xander looked Spike over for a second, seeing the guilt in his eyes. His mind flashed back to earlier today when Tara had said "Sounds like Spike has a - a soul instead of a chip." Now he was really beginning to wonder that himself. "This isn't just a get-in-her-pants type of thing, is it?" Xander asked him.

"What the hell do you think?" Spike asked. He sighed, knowing where this conversation was going. "C'mon, let's go see if they're in there." He pushed past Xander and pushed open the door, walking into darkness.

"Maybe they're not here," Xander said as he followed Spike inside.

Spike look around the room, walking over and turning on the lamps that were on Doc's table. He looked around the living room. There was no sign of Doc or Dawn, but there were some scattered papers and books. "Here," he said, walking over to the corner. Dawn's backpack and jacket were lying against the back of the chair.

"So they have been here..." Xander said.

"Check for papers from that chest," Spike said, picking up Dawn's stuff. Xander walked over towards Doc's table as Spike searched through Dawn's backpack. He pulled out some sheets of paper, but they weren't what they were looking for. Instead, he saw a sloppy drawing on a blank sheet of notebook paper. Spike studied the drawing for a second, thinking that it was simply something that Dawn had drawn in school. His eyes narrowed before widening in horror when he finally realized what she had drawn.

"Harris!" Spike shouted. He walked over to the man and shoved the paper into his hand. "We've got to go *now.*"

"O...Okay," Xander said. "I've got the papers."

Spike grabbed the papers out of Xander's hand and stuffed them into his deep pockets. "We've got to go...Doc's got Dawn, back up on that tower."

Xander looked down at Dawn's drawing, seeing a sloppy image of the tower where she had stood less than 48 hours ago. "Okay, let's head back to the shop." The two men walked out of the apartment building, not bothering to turn out of the lights or close the door.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

Spike and Xander stormed into the Magic Box the same time that Willow and Tara climbed down from the Loft. "Anything?" Tara asked Xander as she walked towards him.

"Something," Xander replied. "He's got Dawn up on that tower thing."

"And we got the papers back," Spike said. He pulled them out of his pockets and lay them out on the table.

"Tara and I found a couple spells that might work on closing small mystical portals, but nothing on huge energy portals like ones made from Dawnie's blood." Willow said, walking over to the table.

"Check the papers, see if they say anything," Buffy said.

Tara told Willow what to do, and they started looking at the sheets of paper.

"Giles? What- what do we know?" Tara asked for Buffy.

"Not a whole lot, I'm afraid." Giles said in a typical Giles fashion. "The two Hell-gods...like Glory, but less powerful-"

"Well, that's good, right?" Anya asked. She hadn't done much helping. She'd gone down to the basement instead to do price checks on all of her goods.

Giles sighed. <Always being interrupted,> he thought. "They are- are less powerful over in *their* universe. Here, they'll be just like Glory...more powerful because there are two of them. They'll cross over from that dimension the moment that the portal is open, allowing them and...and many other beings to cross over as well."

"So this is pretty bad." Xander said. "Instead of ET phone home, we've got ET's parents calling over here collect."

"Yes, Xander...once again, you've put it in layman's terms for the rest of us," Giles said sarcastically.

"No problem," he replied.

"Okay...so, we go stop him," Buffy said. "We've done it before, we'll do it again. All we need this time is to really kill him and get Dawn out of there."

Spike sighed and lowered his head. <Bloody hell, it's like deja vu all over again.> Then, he knew that if he could do this, he would set right all the mistakes he had made the other night. "Let me do it," He said aloud.

Everyone turned to look at him all confused. Only Buffy was the one who understood why he truly wanted to be the one to take on Doc. "Spike-" Giles started.

"No, let me do this." Spike said. "It's the least I can do for her...for you, Buffy."

Buffy smiled. Spike wasn't that bad a fellow when he wasn't so worried about his attitude and ego. "OK, Spike has Doc-detail. What else?" She asked, waiting for Tara to repeat her words.

"Well, as Willow had said, we found some small spells..." Tara started less nervous. "We think that we could postpone or...we-weaken the portal. But- but we don't know if we can totally close the portal with such a little spell."

"To close a portal the size of the one from last night, we'd need a huge amount of energy," Giles said thoughtfully.

"Right, so that's why we don't think that this will-"

"Woah!" Willow shouted, cutting off Tara. "Sorry Baby, but...woah!" She was examining the sheets of paper in her hands and her expression grew in hope with each word that she read.

"What?" Everyone asked together.

"I think...these papers, we can close the portal." Willow said. "We should have just checked here in the first place. It's got a whole reversal spell that we can do...we being me and Tara and...we can work this."

"That's great...Willow the Big Gun to the rescue," Buffy said to herself. "Okay...we've got Doc-duty, closing the portal set up...God, I wish I could fight."

"Okay...so, are we set?" Xander asked.

"Well, we have to wait until nightfall...Doc will probably perform the spell at midnight, so we have some time." Giles said. "Let's get all set up, though, shall we?"

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The ten hours that passed seemed like only minutes. Spike was boiling over with anger, revenge set in his mind to kill Doc. To get revenge on what he failed to do the first time. He was holding an axe in his hand and a couple knifes in his pockets just in case he lost the axe. <OK, I can do this...I can get this bastard.>

"Are we ready?" Buffy asked her friends. She looked around at her friends. Willow and Tara had some herbs and a couple potions in their hands while Spike paced aimlessly around the room. Anya and Xander and Giles were also standing around. They were coming along, but weren't planning to fight.

"Re-ready?" Tara asked everyone.

"I think that we're about as ready as we can ever get," Xander said.

"Good, then let's head out." Buffy said.

Spike led the group followed by Willow and Tara and the rest of the gang. Buffy was the last person to walk out of the store, trying to gather her thoughts in case this was the last night that she would ever be with her fiends. <What am I going to do? Am I going to get to say goodbye? Will I get the chance to thank them all for what they've done for me?> Millions of thoughts raced through her head as she tried to keep her mind focused on what was coming up in a few minutes.

"How ya holding up?" Xander asked Spike, quickening his pace to keep up with the vampire.

"I'm fine," Spike replied coldly. He didn't mean to be so cold to Xander, but wanted to keep his mind confused. He couldn't let his emotions get to him right now.

"Are- are you okay?" Tara asked Willow quietly.

"Yeah...I'm kinda nervous. I've never really performed a spell quite this large before." Willow admitted. "I- I guess that...well, I think we can do this."

"Don't worry, you'll be great...just like you're always great." Tara said sweetly. She gently grabbed onto Willow's hand and brought it up to her mouth, kissing it. Willow smiled, Tara's sweet motion giving her a wave of confidence.

Buffy smiled at her friends. Xander and Spike were becoming friends. Willow and Tara were so sweet together. Anya and Xander were together. Dawn would be alive after this, Buffy would make sure of it. If she were forced to leave her friends, at least she would be leaving them safe and sound.

As the large tower became in view, Willow and Tara started pulling out the stuff that they would need for the spell. Spike twirled the axe around in his hands, getting a feel for the handle. More than anything, Buffy wanted to fight. She didn't feel right if she wasn't helping her friends. "Okay..." Buffy started. "It's time."

"Let's go guys," Xander started as Buffy also spoke. "Let's get this show on the road."

Spike looked up at the black sky, trying to see if Doc and Dawn were already up there. Indeed, he saw Dawn's body and another body up on the plank extending from the main part of the tower. <OK, this is it, mate.> he said to himself. <Buffy is watching, Sweet Bit is up there...I can't let them down now.>

"All right, Spike...you're up first." Giles said. "Willow and Tara are gonna follow you up in a few minutes. Try to get Dawn off the tower so she can be far away from the portal."

Spike nodded and started climbing the steps to the top. He remembered each step he took the night before. <God, this is going to haunt me until the day I die if I don't do this right,> he though to himself.

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Doc and Dawn stood up on the portal together. Doc was grasping a beautiful dagger with jewels and gold encrusted on the handle. Dawn struggled to get free from the ropes. She thought that no one knew where she was or what was going on. <Buffy won't be here to save me this time,> Dawn thought.

"Well...it's almost that time," Doc said, looking down at his pocket watch. "We don't want to be late and miss the opening."

"Please...don't do this..." Dawn pleaded. She twisted her wrists around to see if she could loosen the ropes grasp around her.

"Hey, kid, don't worry. Everything will be okay," Doc said. He looked down at Dawn's stomach, deciding where to cut her. In a flash, his arm traveled across her stomach, cutting Dawn in three places. She screamed from the pain as the blood began traveling down her side and stomach. Doc smiled to himself, pleased at what he had just done. "Well, isn't this just deja vu?"

From behind him, a voice called out, "Well, deja vu isn't what it's all cracked up to be, mate."

Doc spun around and Dawn's head snapped up. "Spike! Its you!"

"Of course, Nibblet. Who else would be up here?" Spike asked, drawing the axe out in plain view.

"Well, well...if it isn't the vampire with a soul, back for another try." Doc teased.

"Now let's not get so low as to insults," Spike said. <Ug, being compared to my pouf of a sire...that's worse than getting beat in a fight.>

"Think you've got what it takes?" Doc said. "C'mon, give it a try."

Spike ran towards Doc, holding the axe out. Doc dived under him, moving like a frog as he quickly jumped back up to his feet. Spike swung the axe and Doc grabbed it with his tongue, trying to throw it out of his hands. Spike staggered up towards Doc, hanging onto the axe handle as he grabbed onto Doc's black coat.

"Like I said, you don't come near the girl," Spike said. He started pulling Doc down with him and the two started falling. Spike couldn't grab onto anything and the two of them started falling down the side of the tower. <Goddamn deja vu,> Spike thought as he went flying.

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Willow and Tara were at the top of the tower as they saw Spike and Doc fall off. The two girls gasped as they watched Spike fall off the side of the tower. "We can't worry about that now, we've got to deal with this."

Willow and Tara looked below the portal and saw a huge circular mist appear, much like an upside-down tornado. The mist had swirling colors of orange and reds and yellows, and would have been considered beautiful if not so deadly. The portal was slowly growing larger and Willow and Tara knew that there couldn't have been much time left until all hell broke loose- again.

Willow ran to the edge of the tower, pulling out a knife from her jacket. She grabbed the rope in her hands and sliced through it, releasing Dawn's wrists. "Run!" Willow said.

Dawn started running toward the steps, casting a worried look at her two friends. "Don't-don't worry, we'll be okay," Tara said. Dawn smiled and started running down the steps of the tower, taking each step two or three at a time.

"Okay...get everything out," Willow said. Tara took out a couple of bottles and the paper that had the spell incantation on it.

"Okay, we should have everything," Tara said. "Do your stuff, Will," she added.

"Okay, here we go," Willow said. She took a deep breath and sat down Indian-style. Tara followed her motions and the two clasped hands together, helping to make the spell that much stronger. Tara gave Willow a reassuring nod before Willow opened her mouth to start the spell.

Willow and Tara could feel the magic flowing throughout their veins. Willow looked below her and saw the portal begin to grow in size. <Are we too late?> she thought to herself. Willow took the potions that were surrounding the two of them and dropped the bottles into the swirling pit. She closed her eyes again and continued the spell.

Willow tightened her grasp around Tara's hands as she fought to stay still as the magic continued to do its work.

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Spike and Doc landed on the concrete floor at the same time. "Bloody hell," Spike muttered to himself, trying to drag himself to his feet. He looked around and saw Anya, Giles, and Xander nearby. The younger two looked as though they were getting to rush into the fight in order to help Spike. He didn't want any help, but there was no way that he could let them know that. He looked around him for any sight of Doc and saw him lying over there about 20 feet away. <Ahh...playing dead this time once again,> he thought.

Spike picked up the axe that had landed beside him and started to limp over to where Doc was lying. He raised the axe high over his head, preparing to bring it down on his neck when Doc jumped to his feet and punched Spike, pushing him down to the floor. <Or maybe not,> Spike added.

Doc leapt over Spike and landed behind him. Spike quickly turned around and looked at Doc, both of their faces naked with surprise. "God, don't you ever die?" Doc asked him.

"I should ask you the same question." Spike said.

Instantly, Spike was brought back to the night when Doc asked him a very similar question. <God, snap out of the deja vu, mate!> He commanded himself. Spike's memories gave Doc a second to attack, and he whipped out his tongue, pushing Spike against a metal pole that served as one of the legs on the tower. Spike tried to free himself but wasn't able to. With his left hand, Spike raised the axe and brought it down on Doc's tongue.

Doc screamed as he stepped back. Spike was instantly released as he watched the remainder of Doc's tongue slid back into his mouth. With that, Spike punched Doc in the face and tried to find the right time to slice his head off.

There was a flash in the sky above Spike and Doc and the two looked up to see the portal suddenly grow in size. <Bloody hell, were we too late?> Spike asked himself. However, unexpectedly, the portal started shrinking. At a rapid pace, the portal grew smaller and smaller until there was nothing left there at all.

"NO!" Doc shouted. "Glorificus! Oh my high and exalted one! Glorificus, I have failed you!" He shouted into the nighttime sky. Spike walked up behind him and followed through with his motion, not stopping until the axe went completely through Doc's neck. Doc fell to the floor, dead. But then Spike saw what had happened the night before, and he couldn't stop hitting Doc with the axe.

"Die you nit! Die!" Spike growled at the dead body, unable to stop.

"Spike!" Xander shouted, running over to where the vampire stood beating the crap out of Doc's dead body. "Spike! Stop! He's dead!"

"Yeah? That's what we thought the last two times also." Spike said, giving one last and final swing to the axe. Blue goo covered Spike from head to toe when he finally stopped and calmed himself down. He had done it. Finally, he had gotten revenge on the one thing that had beaten him. "Okay...I'm done."

"Good job...dead-boy Jr." Xander said, teasing him. He patted Spike on the back, instantly regretting it when he started at his good-covered hand. Together, the two started walking over to where the gang was standing.

"Call me that again, whelp, and you won't live to regret it," Spike warned as he approached everyone. <Whelp isn't that bad once you get used to him,> he thought. Of course, he would never admit that to anyone else.

"Right, you wish," Xander replied. He saw Dawn slowly walking down the stairs followed by a smiling Willow and Tara. "Dawn! Will!" Xander shouted, running over to them.

"We did it!" Willow said. "Oh man, that's the coolest spell I've ever done!" She explained. "Tara and I are kick-ass Wiccans!"

"It was pretty...intense," Tara admitted. She helped Dawn stand on her feet, and smiled down at her before saying, "We need to get Dawnie to a hospital to get these cuts looked at."

"It's...it's okay. It's not as bad as the last ones," Dawn said quietly. She winced as she took another breath. "OK, maybe a hospital isn't such a bad idea."

Buffy slowly walked up to her friends, amazed by what she had seen them do. Willow and Tara were more powerful than ever. Spike had done an amazing job, and she knew that everything would be all right. "Is everyone here okay?" she asked.

Everyone stopped what he or she was doing and slowly started turning around. "Bu- Buffy?" Dawn slowly started asking. She took a step closer to where she had heard the voice come from.

"You can hear me?" Buffy asked her sister.

Spike turned around quickly and watched in amazement as a bright light began appearing in front of them. He took another step or two closer to Buffy and Dawn as the sky lit up in pinks, yellows, whites, and purples, and other colors. As the light appeared a silhouette began forming, slowly lighting up into the figure of a small woman...Buffy. The lights grew lighter until Buffy herself seemed filled with the light. Her entire being was illuminated with light, as though she was visiting her friends from heaven. "Oh God..." Spike whispered under his breath.

Buffy looked behind her at the sky and then back to her friends. "Wow, I guess that I did a good thing." she said. She looked at all of her friends with their stunned expressions on their faces.

"Bu-Buffy..." Willow started. What to say to your best friend that looked so...heavenly?

"I...I think that I'm suppose to walk towards that. I should walk toward the light." Buffy said. She pointed behind her and the illuminated sky. "I think that I have to go."

"No! You said that you could stay!" Dawn shouted towards her sister. She ran up to Buffy, stopping right in front of her. Dawn was unsure whether or not she was allowed to touch her or not, so she simply stood there, trying not to cry.

"Dawnie, I have to go...they want me to go," Buffy said softly, walking up to embrace her sister. Dawn closed her eyes and let the tears fall, refusing to think that she would never see Buffy's face again. Buffy wrapped her arms around Dawn, hugging her tightly.

Buffy cast another glance around at her friends, wishing that there was another way. She knew that her friends could make it without her. They would mourn for her for months, but eventually they would all have to move on. Part of her wanted release from all the recent stress in her life, but a part of her yearned for that stress to keep her motivated. She knew that what she was doing was the right decision. "Look, I'm just going away...think of it that way."

"Except that it's forever," Dawn said.

"NO...no, it's not." Buffy slowly said. And then, something in her brain snapped. It wasn't like she was supposed to know this, but she did. She knew away that her friends would find a loophole and they would bring her back. It almost seemed like a trick, as if it was too simple, but Buffy had to give it a shot. "I-I don't have a lot of time. I need to talk to Spike." She removed her arms and stepped back from Dawn, looking for Spike.

"Buffy-"

"I *am* coming back," Buffy said to Dawn. She kissed her sister's forehead before backing up and away from her. She started walking over to Spike who was standing a part from her friends. It was almost as though he still didn't think of himself as one of the members of the gang.

"So...I guess that the big guy upstairs wants you now." Spike said, lowering his eyes. He didn't think that it was right to look at her. He was a vampire, a demon, and it wasn't right that he should get a chance to see something so extraordinary. It was something that Spike didn't consider himself worthy of.

"Spike...Spike, look at me." Buffy softly commanded. Very slowly, Spike raised his head and met eyes with hers. "I'm sorry that I can't stay longer," Buffy said to him. "Even as a ghost."

"Buffy...dammit, I knew this would happen." Spike said. "I get close to you and now you're leaving me again...only this time, for good. Bloody hell, I-"

And then Buffy was pulling him towards her, kissing him with all the might that she could manage. She couldn't really feel him, she could only reach out and simply grasp things. She couldn't feel his leather jacket or the smoothness of his skin. However, she wrapped her arms around his neck as the two kissed, trying as hard as she could to feel his lips.

Spike wrapped his arms around her waist, wanting to never let go. She was solid. He could feel her skin against his even though she wasn't naturally solid. It was as though he was touching a cross and it burned him on every inch of his exposed skin. But he'd risk it. Spike would have born the weight of ten thousand crosses on his skin just to touch her...this heavenly being.

The Scoobies looked on in surprise but didn't make a word. Wild thoughts were racing through their heads, especially Willow, Xander, and Giles. However, all were too amazed by the beautiful picture they were seeing in front of their eyes. "Spike..." Buffy started as she pulled away.

"Bloody hell, I'm kissing an angel," Spike muttered.

Buffy grinned and pulled him tightly to her, hugging him. "Spike...tell them to look at the sheets. Look at the last page...the last spell," she said cryptically in his ear.

"What are you talking about, love?" Spike asked.

"Bring me back." Buffy kissed him again, feeling his skin against hers start to lighten. Her time was running out, so she continued talking, try to tell him as much as she possible could. "And when I get back? You and me. Date. A nice date, no patrolling for vampires in your car with a little can of whiskey, you got that?"

Spike froze. They were going to be a couple? She wanted him? "Let's just concentrate on getting you back, okay love?" He hugged her tightly, knowing very well that he had to let go. Slowly, he felt her solid body start to dissipate. Fear overcame him...<What if we can't get her back? What if she really doesn't know what she's talking about?> Spike worried that this would be the last time he ever saw her.

"Spike...you have to let go of me." Buffy said.

"I...bloody hell, I can't," Spike muttered. "What if-"

"I'm coming back, Spike..." Buffy said. She stepped out of his embrace and began walking away from him. "Get to these papers..." she whispered, her whispers sounding more and more like the wind around them. The night sky began dimming as Buffy was walking away from her friends. The night sky started overpowering the light, and soon, the two was engulfed in total darkness.

Willow walked up behind Spike, unsure of what to say to him. "Spike..."

"C'mon, Red." Spike said, turning on his heels and started to walk back to town. "We've got to get to those papers."

"What?"

"We've got to bring her back," Spike said. He continued walking into the town and the gang followed behind him. As strange as it may have seemed, they didn't mind Spike leading the group for once.

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Willow shouted an incantation into the sky. The papers that the gang had stolen from Doc showed the way to revive a victim from the portal. However, since they had stopped Doc and assumed everything was finished, if Buffy didn't mention the papers before she left, no one would have caught that.

With Willow's final words, the earth around her shook as the rest of the Scooby gang stood around, trying to stay on their feet.

A large cloud of smoke appeared from out of nowhere. The clouds billowed and crackled with mystical energy. Willow shouted a phrase again as she raised her arms into the sky, commanding the forces around her. As Willow continued chanting, a figure suddenly fell out of the sky. A shaky and small woman, clothed in what she had been wearing the night she died, fell and landed on the ground.

Everyone watched as Buffy swept the hair out of her face and tried to smile up at her friends.

"Buffy!" her friends shouted.

"Hey guys," Buffy said shakily, trying to get used to her surroundings. She gasped for breath, as though she had to get used to breathing once again. She cleared her thoat as if she couldn't speak correctly.

"Bu...Buffy?" Dawn asked. She started walking up to her sister and ended up running into Buffy's open arms.

"Dawn...it's okay, I'm here now," Buffy said.

"Buffy, you're back," Dawn said, wrapping her arms around her sister as she cried. When Spike had told her what Buffy had said, Dawn didn't believe him. She hadn't believed that it would be possible to get Buffy back. Maybe Buffy had said all of that to try to keep Dawn under control...wishful thinking. But Buffy was here now and Dawn could hold her and see her. <Thank you God,> Dawn thought.

The two Summers' women embraced for a few seconds before Buffy pulled back and climbed to her feet. She looked around at her friends who were all staring at her as though she had just come back from the dead. "Oh come on, guys. I might be reanimated flesh, but I'm not going to break!"

That was all they needed. Willow and Xander and Giles, followed by Tara and Anya, all ran up to Buffy, trying to hug onto a part of her body. Buffy embraced them all. <My friends, my family,> she thought to herself. <This is my reason for fighting, my reason for living.> She sighed, content from her friends surrounding her.

Standing apart from her friends, Spike stood and watched the heart-warming scene, unable to move. <Bloody hell, she's back,> Spike thought, watching her reunite with her friends. <She's back and now she expects me to be her poofy boyfriend...her lap dog.> He started freaking. <What the hell am I doing here?>

Buffy looked around, finally noticing that the one person she felt that she needed to talk to the most was nowhere in sight. Finally, she noticed Spike, standing over several yards away from her under a tree. His face was covered in shadows and Buffy knew that he was simply so far apart simply because he didn't know what to do.

"Hey, give me a second, guys," Buffy said, breaking out of the group hug. She started walking over to where Spike was standing.

As Buffy approached Spike, Spike had to fight off the urge to run back home to his crypt. He shouldn't have been here...she should be spending time with her friends instead of him. But he saw her...her glittering eyes, her bright smile, and his feet were still planted to the ground. "Well...I see that the lover-Wiccans brought you back in once piece," Spike started.

"Spike..." Buffy started, trying to speak to him.

"So, I guess that's all you need me for, right? I mean, now that you're back, you really don't need me to help you out or to watch over Dawn or..." his voice died off.

"Spike...what's wrong with you?" Buffy asked.

"Nothing, Slayer...just glad we got you back," Spike said, turning around from her. He started walking away from her, his head and eyes lowered to the ground. Buffy started following him, trying to block him from moving.

She grabbed onto his bare arms, stopping him from walking. She made a face of disgust from the blue goo that was on his skin, but she forced him to turn towards her. "Look at me!"

Spike raised his head and stared at her. "What? What do you want from me?"

Buffy looked down at her hands, feeling Spike's bare skin under her fingertips. "I...I can feel you," she said softly. "Spike...I want to feel you."

He tried to restrain himself. If he really wanted, he could have pushed her away and ran back to his crypt and get away from her. But it was too late. "Oh, bullocks," Spike muttered. Spike pulled her close to him for a kiss. She shook before collapsing in his arms, her body going limp.

Tara watched as Spike grabbed Buffy and wrapped his arms around her. She wasn't really surprised that the two were together, since she had witnessed it firsthand, but she was surprised that they were suddenly so open about it.

Willow gasped, her mouth dropping open. She looked over at Xander and then over to her right to look at Tara. When she noticed that no one else copied her motion, she asked, "So...wait, are we all okay with Buffy and Spike...well, kissing?" Once again, Willow looked at Tara and Xander as they all tried to not watch Spike and Buffy.

"I am!" Dawn said, grinning from ear to ear. Finally, her sister and her one of her best Scooby-gang friends were together. <Aw, how sweet,> Dawn thought, smiling, and secretly dreaming of the day when she'd get to experience something like that.

Tara blushed and lowered her head, not wanting to mention the reason why she knew about Buffy and Spike. "It's- it's not that bad," she said softly.

<Good lord,> Giles thought, rolling his eyes as he rubbed his forehead. <My slayer has gone off and gotten involved with another vampire.> He sighed, dreading what the two would do together. He took off his glasses and massaged his forehead again. <I must be the most cursed Watcher in the history of the Council.>

Xander lowered his head, trying not to watch Buffy and Spike kiss. <Great, it's the Angel-thing all over again,> he thought, groaning loudly. <But at least this time I like the guy...oh wait, I'm a friend to Spike? I need to get my head checked.> "Yeah, and I already knew about it," Xander said.

"How?" Willow asked.

"Oh....he told me," Xander said.

Oh..." Willow said, surprised that this was happening so suddnely. "Tara?" Willow asked, looking over at her girlfriend.

"Oh....uh, it's- it's not big news," Tara said, trying to sound unimpressed and as if she didn't really care.

Xander tried to get their attention without having to walk over to break the two apart. "Oh, c'mon you two wacky lovebirds...let's get back into town before you start out with the make-out session," Xander shouted over to Spike and Buffy.

Buffy and Spike broke apart grinning. Unsaid words were expressed between the two from their actions and the look in their eyes. These two were screaming "love" so loudly, that the others could see it from ten yards away also. Spike pressed one more kiss on Buffy's lips before grabbing her hand and slowly leading her over to her friends. "Ready to get back to the land of the living?" Spike asked her while they were still out of hearing range.

"Ha. Ha. Very funny," Buffy said. Look who's talking." She tried to look mad at his sarcastic remarks, but only broke out into another grin. She hooked her arm around his, looking him over. "You need a shower...you're covered in blue slime." She stopped walking and unhooked arms with him, making a face when she saw the blue slime all over her arm too.

Spike looked down at his outfit, noticing all of the goop on his clothes. "Guess so...want to join me?" he asked her, raising his eyebrows to further express his suggestion.

Buffy made a thoughtful expression, playing along with Spike's innuendo. "Well...I guess I could use a shower too. Coming back from the dead just makes a girl feel all dirty!" She laughed aloud before grabbing onto Spike's shirt and pulling him close to her. She kissed his lips softly before turning around and catching up with her friends. She fell into step beside Dawn and quickly kissed her head.

In a row, Giles, Anya, Xander, Willow, Tara, Dawn, Buffy, and Spike started walking back into town. Buffy held hands with Spike, her other arm wrapped around Dawn's waist. And finally, tightly nestled in between Spike and Dawn, Buffy felt at peace in between the two people that she loved the most.

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T H E!

E N D!

I hope that you all enjoyed this fic! I enjoyed writing it up and reading the feedback in response. :) Hey, it's the most feedback that I've ever gotten for a story before, so I'm happy. Thanks!