Author's Note : This is the product of a pain killer enduced dream I had after my wisdom teeth were taken out. Now concievably, this could never happen on the show for various reasons that I won't go into right now. But, I thought that writing it would be good excercise for my imagination (or what little there is left of it). another point of reference is that this story takes place after Killed by Death. I started it previous to seeing Becoming, so I had no idea how the soul restoration process was supposed to go to I had to fake it. Anyway, enough from me. Read. Enjoy.

Standard Disclaimers : I am not Joss Whedon, nor do pretend to be. Therefore, the characters do not belong to me. They belong to Joss and the WB. I'm just borrowing them in the hopes of creating something entertaining .. or at least mildly interesting.

The dim light of the lanterns hanging on the wall illuminted the foliage of the garden. A single rose reached up to the artificial lght, before it was unexpectedly crushed by the onslaught of a metal wheel. Spike rolled into the garden that he hated so much. After the warehouse had been so carelessly burned by the Slayer's watcher, he and the other vampires had been forced to move. Angel made the stupid decision to take them to the old house just outside of Sunnydale's limits. From the moment they moved in, Spike hated it. Particularly the garden. But Drusilla had loved it so much.

Nowadays it was positively sickening to even look at the two of them. Ever since Angelus had returned a few months ago, he had been all over Dru, and there was nothing he could do about it. Everynight they would go out on the hunt together, and they didn't even mention it to him anymore. He had no idea what they were up to, and maybe it was better that way. Angel always had his smug little comments about Spike and his wheel chair. Of course, he didn't even need the damn chair anymore. He was just keeping up the rouse of being a cripple, because it might someday prove to be useful.

At first when the two of them would go off, Spike would find a private place in the house, away from all those lesser vampires, to try and get his legs to work. And eventually he was sucessfull. Now, he had the full use of his legs, and he was ready for action again. But he was never invited out. No, not Spike the cripple. So now whenever Angel and Dru went off to feed, Spike would go out by himself, always making sure to return before they did. He actually didn't do a whole lot by himself. He would raid the local bloodbank (he wasn't much in the mood for hunting anymore -- infact, he hadn't fed off a human in weeks), he would go and sulk in the Bronze in a corner, or he would go to the cemetary and watch the Slayer in action. There was something about watching that Summers girl kick the crap out of Angel's new aquisitions that kind of turned him on. But lately, he hadn't bothered to go out. He was too depressed over Drusilla and Angel.

However, this night, the two had decided to stay in and grace everyone with their presence. Spike sat in a corner by himself as he watched his Drusilla fawning over Angelus. Angel was no doubt plotting some big elaborate scheme against the Slayer and her friends that wouldn't work and explode in his face like clockwork.

"My Angel looks to the stars for guidence. What do they tell you?" asked Drusilla seductively.

"They're asking a question Dru," he replied in that obnoxious tone of his, "They're askin' what is the best way to hurt the Slayer."

Spike rolled his eyes in self disgust. *Oh bloody hell, here we go again,* he sighed to himself. He had been watching Buffy fighting, and he was totally aware of the fact that the best way to deal with her was not to make her angry. They all remembered what happened the last time after Angel killed that teacher.

He rolled his way out of the room and into his own seclusion. What ever those two were planning, he didn't really want a part of it.

"Okay guys, make sure you have those Javascripting assignments finished by Friday. Your test is next week," announced Willow Rosenberg to the computer class she had been substituting in.

Ever since Ms. Calander's death, Willow had been delegated to fill in for her, because they could not find a suitable replacement. She didn't really mind though. If it were not for the extreme sadness surrounding the teacher's death, she would have been thoroughly enjoying the job. It was kind of satisfying to pass on your knowledge to those with, y'know, less knowledge. She pondered this as she looked over a lesson plan.

"Where's my red marker?" she asked herself out loud.

She looked through the drawers. Nothing. She looked on the floor. Nothing. She scanned the top of the desk, and saw it, teetering over the edge of the table, threating to fall into the space between the table and the cabinet. Willow reached for it, and accidentally knocked it off down into the crack. She sighed and got up to retrieve it. She looked down in the gap. She saw her marker sitting next to a yellow disk.

She assumed the disk to have belonged to Jenny Calander. Driven by her overwhelming curiosity, she fished out her marker and the disk. Willow placed the disk into the hard drive in the computer on her desk.

Buffy Summers, Xander Harris, and Cordelia Chase sat lazily in the library, thoroughly bored out of their minds. Rupert Giles, Sunnydale's resident school librarian and Watcher, had discovered a sketchy millenium prophecy, dealing with weakened vampire activity. He was so enthusiastic about his find, he felt the need to convey it to the ensemble of teenagers.

"Giles, as interesting and incredibly vague this is, I don't think we have to be celebrating about that just yet," said Buffy dryly.

"Yeah, I think all that tweed has gotten into your brain," added Cordelia with a sigh. This was not how she had pictured her afternoon.

Giles shut his book, somewhat disappointed. He thought that the others would show a little more enthusiasm. Of course, what more could he expect out of teenagers on a Monday afternoon.

"Don't worry about it G-man," offered Xander, trying to show some support, "It's just that you know it's time to call it quits when your brain cells are commiting suicide."

Just then, Willow frantically burst into the library. Her face was red and she was wheezing like she had just run a marathon. She was brandishing a yellow computer disk and sheets of paper. Everyone looked at her strangely.

"Program ... Jenny ... Angel ... soul," she managed to say between breaths.

"Okay Willow, we've had this discussion before. No one can understand you when you do your 'Timmy's in the well' routine," commented Buffy sarcastically.

Willow paused and sucked in a few deep breaths, regaining her composure. She started again.

"Okay, I was in the computer lab and I dropped my marker down the side of the table. So when I go to get it, there's this disk on the floor. I assumed it was Ms. Calander's, so I put in into the computer. I don't want to get everyone's hopes up, but it looked like she was trying to write a program that translates the text for a gypsy spell that could ... restore Angel's soul," she explained.

There was a deathly silence in the room. Nobody spoke for what seemed like forever. Buffy was pale.

"Willow, are you sure?" she asked quietly.

Willow glanced around at the faces of her friends, who were expecting an answer of her. "I'm pretty sure," she replied, "I cracked the password on the translation program, and I got into the two text files that were on the disk. One was the text she was gonna translate and the other was a list of stuff she would need for the ritual. It's all your standard ritual-type stuff," she said as she handed the papers to Giles, "But I'm not sure what that last one is."

Giles looked at the list with curious fasination. "An Orb of Thesulah," he said, almost to himself.

"What's an Orb of Thesulah?" asked Xander.

"If memory serves, it's supposed to summon a person's soul... from the ether, store it until it can be transferred. Jenny must have had an Orb," said Giles in explanation.

"Well, I've been through her desk and stuff, and I never saw any orb like objects. But, I did find a Snoopy Pez dispenser," she said proudly, and then retracted her proudness when everyone was looking at her funny again.

Cordelia, who had been pretty silent up until this point, was suddenly struck with a thought. Orb of Thesulah. The name sounded vaguely familiar. Just then, she remembered where she had heard it.

"I have one of those Thesulah Orb things," she piped up.

The assembled crowd all put their focus on her. It was a little odd to hear that Cordelia Chase had possesion of a mystical object.

"Uh ... excuse me?" said Giles in disbelief.

"I have one of them. My daddy got one for Christmas at an office secret santa thing. He used it as a paper weight. But one day I went into his office, and it was sitting in the trash. He said it was creeping him out. I told him I thought it was really pretty so he said I could have it," explained Cordelia.

Buffy couldn't believe this was happening. The one chance they had at restoring Angel's soul could have been thrown away in the trash.

"Giles, let me see that list of things," said Buffy.

The watcher handed his Slayer the list. She quickley scanned down it. "I have all of these things in my closet at home, except a Lariasyst candle and the Orb."

"I have a candle in the backroom," said Giles.

"And I have an orb!" exclaimed Cordy, glad that she could be of a lot of help this time. Xander patted her on the head like a small child for her enthusiasm. She pulled away from him and made a face.

"Listen people. We could have Angel back tonight if we hurried. Cordelia, you go home and get your orb and get back here as soon as possible. I gotta go to my house and get the supplies. The sun will be setting soon, and I don't want to have to have any enconters with the fang patrol," orderd Buffy as she began for the door, "Willow, I want you to go over that spell and --"

Giles swiftly cut the Slayer off, "Buffy, are you sure you want to rush head long into this tonight? Maybe it would be best if we -- " he started, but was intern cut off by Buffy.

"Giles, we have a chance to get him back. We should take it as soon as possible. He's already killed a lot of people, and it's my fault. We need to stop him before he kills again," pleaded Buffy, almost frantically.

Giles sighed in reluctant acceptance to her plan. He made for the backroom to find his candles, as Buffy and Cordelia left to collect their items.

*Why don't they just go* Spike shouted at himself as he watched Angel and Drusilla.

Angel had come up with some sort of plan, and tonight he was implementing phase one. Spike glared at Angelus as he was helping Dru put her jacket on. Angel knew he was being watched, so he exaggeated every movement, just to annoy the crippled vampire. And it was working. Spike could feel the anger building inside of him.

With one final glower at the other vampires, Spike wheeled his chair around and rolled for the television. Angel noted Spike's retreat.

"Where you off to, rollerboy? Don't you want to come with? Oh wait, I forgot. There aren't any ramps for your new wheels where we're going," he laughed as he headed out the door.

Drusilla laughed like an ignorant child, becuase in truth, she was. She hadn't the slightest notion that her psychotic flirtations were the cause of their rivalry.

"Now you boys be nice. Everyone will have their playtime," she gurggled as she followed Angel out of the garden like a puppy dog.

Out of the corner of his eye, Spike watched them leave. He felt lonely and depressed -- well, as much as could be excpected from a vampire anyhow. When he was sure they were gone, he got up out of his chair and into the comfortable armchair infront of the television. He wasn't too interested in their little plan anyway. Besides, Friends was starting in five minutes.

As Joyce Summers drove along her familiar street, she found her mind wandering. Sunnydale did not have the positive influence on her daughter that she had orginally intended it to. In the nearly two years they had been there, Buffy had still held on to her odd behaviour and her unique knack for getting into trouble. She had seen her daughter walking up the street away from her house towards the school a matter of minutes ago. She was carrying what appeared to be a heavy knapsack. She could have sworn she saw wooden stakes sticking out of the top.

When the black SUV approached the Summers residence, Joyces was startled to see a woman on the front lawn. When she pulled into the drive way, the woman came up to the car. Joyce was starting to get scared. She was dressed like someone out of an Anne Rice novel, and sported such a baffelingly bizzare hairdo that even Princess Leia would be dazzled. And there was something about her eyes. They were vacant, almost empty. She got out of her car slowly, never lifting eye contact with her.

"C-can I help you," she faltered nervously.

Drusilla smiled with glee, fully enjoying her role. "No nice lady. But you can help me," she said softly.

She didn't make any sense. Joyce started to panic and began for her door. Drusilla followed her with enthusiasm. It was like a game.

"What do you want?"

"I'm looking for Miss Edith. Have you seen her? The walls are beginning to worry, and they whisper stories to me," explained Dru, if you want to call that an explanation.

Joyce bolted for her front door, only to find her path blocked when somebody jumped out of the bushes ahead of her. She recognized him. It was Angel, the college boy that had been bothering Buffy. But he was different -- horrifyingly different. His face was all distorted and he had teeth until Tuesday. It was like something out of a bad horror film.

"Long time no see, Joyce. How've you been?" asked Angel with mocking sarcasm.

She screamed at the top of her lungs. She startled Drusilla and caused the vampiress to cover her ears.

"Such noise. You anger the stars."

When the order came form her brain to her legs to start moving, she spun around, planning to run. But when she turned, she saw the womans face had changed too. She screamed again, as it seemed her only option. Finally, she decided she was under too much stress and simply fainted. Angel smiled, pleased with his work. He walked over the the fallen woman and scooped her up. Drusilla laughed playfully.

"The stars don't like noise," she said in a secretive whisper, "They take their revenge."

"You like revenge Dru, well, there will be plenty of revenge coming tonight," replied Angel as the two vampires headed for their abandoned house.

In a matter of a few hours, the library reeked of incense and burning herbs. Willow had discovered that this particular spell required quite a bit of preparation and chanting before you could actually cast it. Another interesting factor was that Angel had to be in the same room as the orb. However, it didn't matter the location of the orb in proportion to the area where the spell was being cast. Buffy had decided that she was going to the house with the gypsy orb, while Giles, Willow, Xander, and Cordy stayed in the library and casted the spell.

With the orb safely in her backpack (along with stakes and other instruments of slayage), Buffy was on her way to the house.

"Becareful Buffy," said Willow.

"Yes, do watch yourself," added Giles with concern.

"Don't worry guys. By midnight, Angel with have his soul back, and Sunnydale will be a little safer," replied Buffy.

Giles was worried that she was getting her hopes up. If this spell didn't work, he didn't know what this would do to her emotions. "Now rememeber, we'll be casting the spell at midnight exactly, so do try to be in Angel's vicinity by then, yes."

"I got it Giles, I heard you the first million times," called Buffy as she was out the library door.

Giles, feeling a little scorned by Buffy's sarcasm, turned to the Slayerettes. "Well, let's get started then."

"Are you out of your bloody mind!!" yelled Spike upon Angelus and Dru's return. They dragged with them the unconcious body of a woman, who Spike recognized as Buffy's mother. This was not a good plan.

"Of course not Spike, infact, I don't think I've ever been more mentally sound," replied Angel with a smile.

"My mind plays tricks on me," offered Dru quietly.

Spike rolled his eyes and looked at the woman. "Um Angel, yeah, you do remember Buffy, don't you? What do you think she's going to do when she realizes you have her mother. She'll be over here with that little army of hers so fast ..."

"Yeah, yeah, it'll make your chair spin, I got you. But what do you think it'll do to her when she has to kill her own mother. I'm telling you Spikey, it's a one way ticket to insanity land for her."

"It'll be a one way ticket to stake land for us," said Spike.

Angel narrowed his eyes. He spotted Dru whispering something to the unconcous woman. He walked over to the vampiress and lightly pulled her off, in a big exaggerated show for Spike's behalf.

"Don't you worry about the Slayer. Oh, and don't worry about Dru, I got her covered," he said as he hovered over Dru. He wrapped his hands around her arms. Drusilla lavished the attention and giggled like a child.

Spike sneered at Angel. He wished the Slayer would show up and drive a stake right through his heart. He began imagining all the ways Buffy could kill Angelus. It was fairly uplifting. While Angel was trying to keep Drusilla from fawning over Joyce, Spike wheeled his chair into a private room and locked the door behind him. He got up out of the wheelchair and began to pace. This would be the perfect opportunity for him to get back at Angel. Almost certainly the Slayer would be showing up soon. All he had to do was wait in the shadows until he wasn't suspecting it and then ... he would teach Angelus a lesson.

Buffy checked her watch as she approached the creepy old house. 11:53. Only seven more minutes before they would be casting the final spell. She had to get to Angel. The house was just as creepy as ever when she approached it. It still had the air of mystery and the familiar faint aroma of blood and dirt.

Surprisingly, Buffy found no sentrys at the front door. It was a little too convientient, but it was a risk she had to take. She pushed open the front door and cautiously stepped inside. She walked the length of the front hallway, with a stake in one hand and the Orb of Thesulah in the other. She kept the orb hidden behind her back. She saw a light up ahead, and as she grew closer, she saw that the main area of the house was empty. Not a vampire in sight. This was very suspicious. Buffy walked right into the middle of the room and looked around. She saw nothing, there was no one there.

"Angel," she yelled, "I know you're here."

There was a few seconds of silence, and then the reply from her left. "Gee, I guess there's just no fooling you Summer's."

Buffy whirled around to the direction of the voice. She was momentarily incapacitated with shock when she saw Angel and Drusilla standing there. In one hand, Drusilla had a tight grip on a now concious Joyce Summers. They both had their game faces on.

"Oh my god. Mom!" she exclaimed.

"Buffy, what's going on. What are they?" replied her mother, equally shocked.

Angel laughed gleefully. This was truley one of the best moments in his afterlife.

"Buffy, I'm surprised. All this time and you still haven't told her yet? Now that's not a daughter's love," he mocked.

"Let her go Angel. This is between you and me," ordered Buffy.

"Right you are," said Angel as he began to advance on Buffy.

The vampire was all geared up for a fight, but stopped when he saw a glowing light eminating for behind the Slayer. He backed up as far as he could, until he was caught infront of a stack of boxes. Buffy revealed the object behind her back. Angel cringed with anger.

"An Orb of Thesulah? Where did you, how did you ..." he stammered.

The Slayer smiled with self confidence as she held the orb up to her face. "That's right Angel, the Orb of Thesulah. You'd be surprised to know that Cordelia had one," she explained when she saw the looked of shock on his face, "Oh yes Angelus, we found Jenny's program and right now the guys are casting the spell. In a few seconds, you'll have your soul back and I'll have my boyfriend back."

Angel grew more and more angry as he started to panic. He caught sight of Drusilla trembling in a corner. "Dru, take the nice lady and go to the special place," he yelled, and then turned back to the Slayer, "even if he does comeback, you'll never see your mother again ... well, alive anyway."

Drusilla took off like a screaming banchee, dragging Buffy's mom with her. Angel tried to keep up a false sense of controled anger, while on the inside he was terrified. Terrified of having to become the sniviling toad he once was. He watched in contained horror as the orb began to light up even more and began humming slightly. Buffy checked her watch. Midnight. This was the moment of truth.

The orb began shaking. Suddenly, a great burst of intense light shot from it, and a huge mystical shockewave emmenated from it. It could be traced by a pinkish purplish light circle that started at the dead center of the orb and spread out in all directions, like ripples in a pond. The wave spread through the room, heading for Angel. But before it hit him, it passed through another. What Buffy and Angel didn't know was that Spike had been watching the entire fiasco from a dark corner right behind the Slayer. As the wave passed through him, he felt an explosion of pain inside of him. He grabbed his chest painfully and fled into a small storage closet where he had been keeping his wheel chair.

He tried to scream, but the pain was so great he couldn't get the sound out of his mouth. In an attempt to take out some of the frustration of the pain, he grabbed a metal stool from a corner and hurled it through a window that had been painted black. The glass shattered into millions upon millions of micro fragments, coating the ground beneath the frame. He finally collapsed from the pain, just infront of the window sill.

Back in the main room, Buffy and Angel were having a stand off. When the wave had passed through Angel, the Slayer had watched him with happy aniticipation. Her happiness quickly dissapated when she saw that the wave had no effect on him. When Angel realized the same point, he began advancing on her again.

"Oh, too bad Buffster. You're little gypsy toy didn't work. Not to worry, we can still have lot's of fun together," he laughed.

Buffy, who was totally crushed at this point, was in no mood for a confrontation with him. She looked down at her hand where she held the orb. It's once shiny, clear crystal surface was now an ugly, dull black. It's magic had been used up. In a last ditch effort to make it useful, she hurled the object at Angel. He ducked, and it smashed on the ground. He began to backtrack to another room in the house. Buffy ran after him. He knocked several boxes in her pathway, causing her to trip. When she got back up, she heard the sound of metal slamming on metal. In a small room off to the right, Buffy discovered a huge metal trapdoor. She pulled on it as hard as she could, but it wouldn't budge. As much as she hated to admit it, she was out of options at this point.

"I'll be back Angel. If you even touch one hair on my mom's hair, it's the painful midevil-like torture for you," she yelled as she ran.

As the first rays of sunlight filtered through the open window, they illuminated the tiny room. Spike still lay sprawled out on the floor. But slowly he was starting to come around. When he opened his eyes, the first thing he was aware of was the fact that he felt different inside. It was really weird, like something was missing almost.

"Oh my god," he muttered to himself. The demon. The demon that had inhabited his body after all this time was gone.

He could no longer feel it's presence inside of him, and he was in more pain than he had ever been in his entire vampire life. He was really starting to freak out. He tried to bring up his game face, but nothing happened.

The next big shock came to him when he rolled over. He glanced to his left and saw the smashed window that was allowing sunlight into the room. To his horror he saw that his hand was directly in the sunlight. He jerked his hand back as fast as he could. He managed to haul himself up off of the floor. A wave of dizzyness overtook him, but he remained standing.

Spike held his hand up infront of his face. It wasn't burned like it should have beeen. God only knows how long his hand was actually in the sunlight. This was bad. This was very bad. He tried to recall the events of the past evening, and nearly had a heart attack when he remembered Buffy and the Orb of Thesulah. He had heard of those things. They were gypsy bobbles that were supposed to be able to .... His mind trailed off before he could complete his thought. Could it be? Could Buffy had mistakenly restored him? But even if that had been the case, there was more at work here. And there was only one way to find out.

Spike got back into his wheelchair, which had been sitting in the corner this whole time. He booted open the storage room door and wheeled out into the main room. He looked around for Angel or Drusilla. They weren't there. However, there were several other vampires gathered around the television. To Spike's utter distain, he caught them watching Teletubbies. One of the vampires turned and saw Spike looking at them with a raised eyebrow.

"Oh, hi Spike, we were just watching because," she started but was cut off by Spike.

"Look, I don't care why you're watching them, I just want to know where Angel and Dru are at," he said.

"I don't kow. Haven't seen them since they took off with the Slayer's mom. Angel said they won't be back until tonight," answerd the vampire.

"Good," smiled Spike to himself, "This is perfect."

The female vamp said nothing but shyly turned back to the television with the others. Spike shook his head as he proceeded to the front door. When he was out of sight of the others, he got out of his chair and carefully hid it amongst some boxes, and covered it with a burlap tarp. With the chair safely hidden, he was on to the task at hand. If he was wrong about this, he would be reduced to a pile of ashes within seconds. If he was right, then his suspicions would be confirmed as reality. Spike slowly opened the big front door, hiding behind it as he did so. The sunlight began to fill the front hallway. He took a deep breath, and cautiously stuck his arm out into the rays. He was expecting to feel a searing burning sensation, but instead - unseasonable warmth? Next, he stuck his leg out. Nothing. He was going to do it. He was going outside in the daytime.

First, Spike walked into the middle of the hallway, where the light concentration was considerably less. He had to take a moment to let his eyes adjust, even in the dim light. He just stood there for a second, contemplating his next move. After a little more contemplating he began to walk forward, into the sunshine. His first reaction, *Has it always been this hot in California?* he asked himself, suddenly realizing why Buffy was always in tanktops.

Sunnydale was so different during the day. For one thing, it was so bloody hot. He had not felt sunlight on his skin in nearly 200 years. Well, except for that time in Italy when he almost got caught outside. But the feeling of the light on his pale skin was pretty nice. Spike wondered how people survived at all here, what with the blazing hot weather. But sure enough, there were people. Contrary to the evening, there were a lot of people out during the day, especially in the downtown area. Spike marvelled at how everything looked different during the day. The grass was green, houses had different colours, and there were so many shades of blonde it was remarkable.

Spike went to all of his usual brooding-over-Angel-and-Dru areas. The cemetary, the rooftops, and the Bronze. Infact, while in the popular night club, he found he couldn't even get any alcohol until later, because all of the small kids went there during the day with there parents and what not. So he endulged himself in something else he hadn't had in a while -- real food. It was weird. He had a cappucino and a bagel, because he only had five dollars on him. He decided to try a little experiment. He took a bite out of the bagel. Pretty good. Then, he took the butterknife on the table, and tried to cut his finger open. The thing was practically useless, but he did manage to break the skin after a while. But the pain from the mild cut was enough to make him wince, and it puzzled him. Before, his could sink his teeth into his own arm and barely even feel it. He tasted the blood. What used to be his total life's obsession, now tasted sour and unappatizing. This was a little much for him to deal with. Spike decided that he should probably go and find the Slayer. This was her mess, and she should probably know about it. With that logic, he set out from the Bronze towards Sunnydale Highschool, where she was most likely to be.

When Spike arriverd at the highschool, it was sometime around noon. He had the horrific task of locating Buffy in the crowds of teenagers. Probably his safest bet was to go to that library where she and the watcher always were at night.

The main building was just as crowded as the lawn. He sighed as he tried to navigate through the halls to the library. However, when he rounded a particular corner, he nearly knocked over some guy. Spike vaguely recognized him, but he couldn't put his finger on it.

"Why don't you watch where you're ... who are you?" demanded Principal Snyder.

Spike raised an eyebrow at his rudeness, and as he tried to think of a marketable story. What was he supposed to say, *Oh hi, I'm Spike. I was a vampire until Buffy used this gypsy magic.*

"I'm a friend of Buffy Summers, family friend. I --" he started but was rudely cut off by Snyder.

"Buffy Summers. Why am I not surprised," he sneered.

"Um yeah, well it's been nice talking with you, but I have to go find her now," he said as he began walking. Snyder made a face and called after him. "You remember that this is a school, not a party," he yelled.

*This is school, not a party?* repeated Spike in his mind. He analyzed this statement from all angles, but could not find any relevence to their short conversation. He shrugged it off and continued his quest to locate the library.

About fifteen minutes and several wrong turns later, Spike finally located the library. The familiar double doors sat right infront of him. But what was he gonna do, just barge in there in the middle of the day with a , *Hi, how 'ya doing?*. The fact that he had become concerned about those type of things only filled him with self pity. This having a soul thing was no picnic. He popped his head inside the door and looked around. Nobody was there. He couldn't bloody believe it. How could they not be in there, they were always in there!!!! Spike knew where this was going. He was going to have to walk all around the school looking for Buffy, or one of her little friends.

The Slayer and the Slayerettes sat outside in the rich Sunnydale sunshine, eating lunch and talking about the events of last night. Oz had joined them, regretting the fact that he wasn't able to attend the spell casting thing, but last night had been the last day of his ... changing for the month. Buffy had returned to the library a wreck last night. She was crying and babbling incoherently about Angel and her mother. Willow had taken her home,and stayed with her at her house last night. This morning, Buffy was in more a of sharing mood.

"I'm sorry the spell didn't work out," offered Oz sympathetically.

"Thanks Oz. I was just so confident that it would work, and Angel would get his soul back. I knew I shouldn't have gotten my hopes up. The Angel I knew is gone and he's never coming back," replied Buffy softly.

"Don't say that Buffy. We can try something else. Maybe we did the spell wrong or maybe we didn't have the right ingredients or something. We could always try again," said Willow.

"Well, I don't have anymore of those orb thingies, and daddy refuses to get me another one. He says the thing creeped him out," said Cordelia.

The was a period of uncomfortable silence. Finally, Xander spoke up, "So, what are we going to do about you mom? "

"*We* are not going to do anything. *I* am going after her," answered Buffy sharply.

"Come on Buffy, we want to help. This is kinda our responsibility too. If the spell had worked than you could have gotten your mom back," countered Willow, "We wanna help."

Buffy was lucky to have such understanding friends. She didn't want to put them into any danger, but she learned along time ago that they didn't understand the meaning of no. They would have to come up with some kind of plan against Angel, and they would have to act quickly.

Oz, who had been picking at a balonga sandwich for the last fifteen minutes, decided that it was not worth it and shoved it back into it's plastic bag. He got up and was about to chuck it into the garbage when he noticed something odd. Or rather, somebody odd. He recognized the approaching blonde guy, and could do nothing but stare. Willow noticed Oz's staring and turned to see what he was looking at. When she saw him, her mouth dropped open in surprise.

"Oh my god," she said softly.

Xander, Cordelia, and Buffy all turned around to see what the big deal was. They were all shocked to see Spike standing there in broad daylight. They all stood up and kind of just stared.

"I don't think your spell worked quite the way it was supposed to," he said in reaction to their gaping expressions, "is it always this hot in Sunnydale?"

Rupert Giles sat at his desk, organizing his lastest shipment of watcher materials. He was fascinated by some of the volumes he had recieved recently. Much to his surprised, he had recieved a book that was thought to be long lost. It was a book of world magics, and could be quite informative.

He gathered up some of the other books in his arms, and made for his special 'Watcher Room'. It was a secret room with the school officials probably didn't know about. This was where he kept most of his watcher junk.

Meanwhile, Buffy, her friends, and their guest stormed into the library. "GILES!!" yelled the Slayer, keeping a wary eye on Spike.

Giles came out of the backroom, looking mighty annoyed. "Buffy, please this is a library," he said, and then paused when he took sight of Spike. "Good Lord," he exclaimed in surprise, "What are you doing here ?"

"Well, the long and the short of it is that your spell didn't work the way it was supposed to," replied Spike calmly.

"How did you get here? The sewer system?" demanded Giles as he began to get defensive.

Buffy spotted her watcher's rising anxiety so she stepped in. "Spike here just walked up to us in broad daylight Giles. Our spell, it kinda restored the wrong vampire," explained Buffy.

Giles looked at Spike with morbid fascination, "You - you have your soul back?"

"Actually, I have more than that," answered Spike.

For demonstration, he walked over to a table and picked up a cross. The assembled watched as he pressed it to his chest. "Look everyone, no smoke show."

"Oh my god, you're human again," exclaimed the shocked librarian.

"No more than you lot."

Giles went into his back room and returned a moment later, carrying the computer printouts with the spell on it. He began to read through it frantically.

"How did this happen?" asked Cordelia to no one in particular.

"Why did it get you and not Angel?" said Buffy with distaste.

Suddenly, Giles jumped up with his discovery. "A ha, I've got it!!!! There was a slight error in the translation. The spell we cast told the orb to restore the vampire closest to it, instead of a specific vampire. I think we may be missing some of the original text."

"But wait a second, I didn't see you standing around. How were you closer than Angel?" Buffy asked Spike.

"Umm, I was kinda hiding behind you, " replied the former vampire with embarresment.

"Why were you hiding?"

"That's kinda private and I don't really want to get into it."

"Oh, we'll get into it Spike. You're the reason Angel wasn't restored and why he still has my mother. If she is harmed in any way I won't be responsible for my actions."

An hour later, everyone had gone into full research mode. They were trying to see if they could find any alternatives to getting back Angel's soul, without having an Orb of Thesulah. Cordelia, Xander and Giles were buried in some books, Willow was on the net. Spike had been staring at himself in one of Cordy's compacts for the past thirty minutes.

It was so bizzare. What he saw staring back at him was something he hadn't seen in nearly two hundred years. He had almost forgotten what he looked like. After all, he had no real point of reference. Spike examined all the details of his face, including the tiny scar on his eyebrow. He smiled as he remembered how he got it. He was thrown through a plate glass window by a very large and very drunk man in 1869. Another point of interest was his hair. It was a little startling to how see blonde he actually was, considering his hair hadn't seen any sunlight.

Buffy had been watching Spike for the last hour. She was a little intrigued by his fascination with the reflection. Against any better judgement she got up and walked over to him.

"What was it like?" she asked out of the blue, sitting in the chair next to his.

"What was what like?" he asked, not looking up from the mirror.

"Getting your soul back. Did it hurt?"

"Yeah, I remember it hurting quite a bit," he replied, shutting the compact and turning to Buffy, "It's probably why I passed out. It was weird though. I didn't even realize it at first."

The Slayer decided she wasn't going to prance around what she really wanted to know. "Spike, why were you hiding behind me?"

The former vamp became a little flushed in the face, which was a side Buffy had never seen of him before. "Umm, I was planning on ambushing Angelus," he began to chuckle a little, "he and Dru didn't know I could walk again. I kept puttering around in that damned chair -- it was the perfect cover. He would never suspect it if I attacked him."

"Excuse me? You're gonna have to be a little clearer on this. I thought you guys were glad Angel lost his soul. One big happy vampire family," chided Buffy sarcastically.

"Well, at first I was glad he was back ... no offense or anything. But ever since Angel's been back, he's been moving in on my Dru. They would go out and feed together every night, and just leave me behind. I know that in her twisted mind, Drusilla has a thing for him. Ever since we came to Sunnydale she's been going on and on about 'her Angel'. And now that he's back , Dru's totally forgot about me. She's all over him, it's like I don't even exist to her anymore."

This was definately a new side to Spike. Not only was he extremely jealous, he was genuinely miserable. And though it did look good on him, she did feel sorry for the guy. She knew what it felt like to lose someone you loved.

"Sounds like your girlfriend is nothing but a who--"

"Don't even finish that sentence," hissed Spike, "She's not a slut. She just can't understand feelings, that's all. Do you know what it's like to be with someone who's insane Buffy?"

"No," she answered quietly.

"It's bloody torture, that's what it is. I try to talk to her and all I get is that maddening psycho babble of hers. When I saved Dru from that mob in Prague, she was a mess. Driven totally mad by Angelus. She needed me to help her. I thought she was the most exquisite creature on the planet. But inside, she had the mental capacity of a two year old. And to top that off she was so week she couldn't hunt on her own. I brought her to Sunnydale because I thought that the Hellmouth would be of help to her."

"Was it?" she asked curiously. Not that she was concerned about Drusilla's health, but still, she was curious.

"Not until the ceremony where you crushed me," he said a little sarcastically, "But even after that, she was still a child inside. She would stare at nothing for hours with those dead eyes, and she would have these visions too. She's Angel's broken little plaything, that's what she is. But the thing that attracted me to her was she needed me. *Me*, not Angel. And after he came back -- he's all she can think about."

An akward silence stretched between them. Buffy was starting to feel symapthy for Spike, but quickly shook it off.

"You guys found anything yet?" she called to her friends.

"No, well, unless you want to count a delightful recipe for Toad Wart," replied Xander sarcastically.

"Great. We have nothing, and Angel has my mom," exclaimed Buffy.

"You don't think she's --" started Oz

"No. He'll keep her alive," said Spike to everyone's surprise, "It's part of his game. He might torture her and stuff, but if he's going to kill her, it'll be infront of you Slayer. It's purely for show."

"How can you be so sure?" spat Buffy.

"Because, I don't know where he's keeping her, but Angel plans on your mom sticking around for a while, if you know what I mean."

Buffy lept up and grabbed Spike by the front of his shirt. "Why the hell didn't you tell me??!!"

"Relax, luv. This being human thing is a little new, okay? It's not exactly in my nature to help you people."

Buffy dropped him, and began to pace. "Well, you'd better get used to it, because if you don't find out where my mother is, I'll crack your skull open and use your brains to paint my garage."

When darkness fell over Sunnydale, Angel and Drusilla returned to the house. After safely locking Joyce Summers up, Angel was feeling quite confident in his plan. When they got home, they found the place empty. Well, almost empty. Angel heard the familiar sound of squeaking wheels approaching.

"Where in the bloody hell have you been?" demanded Spike as he came around the corner.

His objective was simple. Spike would find out where they were hiding Buffy's mother, and then he'd go get her. It would be a lot easier for him to sneak her out of there than if Buffy had come. But for the plan to work, Spike just had to make sure that Angel or Dru didn't suspect anything was different about him or get too close, otherwise they would be able to smell blood. He kept his distance.

"Well Spikey, while you've been having another productive day infront of that idiot box, we've been entertaining our ... guest. Oh yeah, she was quite surprised when I told her all about myself," laughed Angel.

"I can imagine. Where'd you stash her?"

"Well, you remember the Master ? Lets just say his place was for rent."

Spike was impressed. He had never met the Master before Buffy had killed him, but he had heard quite a bit about him. He was the guy who tried to open the Hellmouth. No doubt that where ever he hung out, it was fairly creepy.

"Nice touch. Where exactly did he live?"

Light began to filter in through an open sewer grate. Spike, against his better judgement, had decided to take the sewer to the wallpaper shop across the street from the cemetary, because there was no direct route into the cemetary itself, but mostly becuase of habit. As soon as dawn came over the town, he had stashed his chair and was out of the house so fast no one missed him.

It had been friggen hell for him, trying to avoid Angel, Dru, and everyone else all night. Luckily, most of them steered clear. This was mostly due to a prime time episode of Days of our Lives, the favoured soap of vampires. Now that he was in the sewers, he had immediately regretted his choice of travel. He didn't remember the tunnels being so -- funky. After about five minutes of walking, he decided to go above ground, because after all, who was going to see him???

In the short walk to the cemetary, Spike found his mind wandering. Particularly to the fact that he was helping the Slayer and her little friends. If only Drusilla could see him now. Of course, if she were to find out that he was human again, she'd claw his eyes out like a cat on a salmon. It was this little mental image that lead Spike to realize that he couldn't have Dru when he was like this. And it was bloody dibilitating knowing that the girl you loved was probably cozying up to Angel right about now, not even noticing he wasn't there.

Spike continued to mentally shun himself until he reached the Sunnydale Cemetary. Upon his arrival, he noted one small problem. He didn't know which mausoleum he was supposed to go into. After an hour of searching through the tombs, he finally discovered the iron gates. They had long been broken from Buffy's first encounter with them. He stopped, admired her handywork, and then entered the tunnel. Inside it was stuffy and dank. Rats scurried across the floor, searching for something to sink their dirty little teeth into.

*Dru loves rats* he sighed to himself as he pressed forward.

Armed with only a flashlight and a stake up his leather jacket, he wandered around through the underground tunnels for what seemed like an eternity. Due to his lack of a map, he had to guess which way to go. He deduced a likely direction from density of the rat population (he heard they always stayed away from suspected vampire hangouts, or even old ones for that matter), irregular claw scrapings on the cement walls, and pure intuition. He found himself travelling East, which made sense because that was the direction of the highschool and the Bronze -- great vampire feeding grounds.

He knew he was getting close when he noticed there were no more rats anywhere. Suddenly, the tunnel began to drop off into this cavern type of hallway. He felt a presense around him, like this mystical energy. Spike attributed it to the Hellmouth, afterall, he was practically sitting in it. The mouth of this brick-dirt tunnel opened into a huge underground cave. It was a typical evil lair type of setup that one might find in the movies. Spike was fascinated by it. Black candles burned all around him, as they probably had for hundreds of years. They were probably running on Hell Mouth energy. There was also a conspicuous well in the middle of the room. What appeared to be human blood was bubbling inside of it. The Master had definately done well for himself, except for the fact that he was dead and everything.

As he ventured in a little further, he stopped and hid himself behind a huge thing made out of brass. He wasn't exactly sure what it was, just a big heap of mystical crap. In a far corner, Spike spotted his objective. Joyce Summers was tied up to a big black chair on a outcropping of rock. She was also gagged and she looked very frightened. She had every right to be. A small female vampire was guarding her. Spike assesed the situation. He recognized the vamp. Cassandra was a reletively new vampire, changed only fourty years ago. He should have no trouble disposing of her, because she was the only guard here. Spike chuckled at Angel's carelessness. He should have known better than to leave only one sentry. Of course, he didn't probably count on anybody finding the place either, so he assumed he wouldn't have to deal with this. But he did.

Spike reached into his jacket and pulled out the wooden stake. Normally, the very sight of one of these weapons would make him extremely nervous, but now that he was a mortal, they weren't menacing at all -- except for the splinter it gave him. He hid the stake behind his back, sucked in a deep breath, and walked towards the chair.

The vampiress was shocked to see Spike walking towards her. She didn't even notice that her vampire sense was starting to kick in, telling her that human blood was in the air.

"Spike, oh my," she stammered in the annoyingly thick Austrian accent of hers, "You're, you're walking! I thought --"

"Well, you thought wrong," replied Spike, cutting her off.

Cassandra didn't even see the wooden stake until he slammed it into her chest. She screamed a deathly scream, and fell to the ground, imploding in a shower of vampire dust. Joyce squirmed within the confines of her seat. Her eyes must have been playing tricks on her. That woman, whatever she was, just exploded right in front of her. The blonde man approached her.

Spike stepped up to the chair and ripped the gag out of the woman's mouth.

"What ... who are you?" she stammered.

"Relax why don't you," he said, attempting to remove the constraints that bound her, "We're gettin' outta here."

Buffy paced anxiously around the library. It was nearly sundown and Spike still hadn't come back yet. She was beginning to regret including him in their plan.

"We should never have sent him. He can't be trusted Giles, Spike is the enemy, " spat Buffy in anger. Everyone could tell she was riled.

"Well, I don't think we should quite give up on him just yet Buffy," replied Giles.

"Yeah, especially since I'm here," came a voice from behind them.

Spike stood in the doorway with a silly grin on his face. Beside him stood a dishivelled Joyce Summers. Undoubtedly the experiences she had gone through over the past twenty-four hours were beginning to have their effect. She looked pale, tense, and most of all, shocked. Hers was the face of a woman who wanted answers.

"Mom!! Thank god you're all right," squealed Buffy as she ran over and hugegd her mother. Spike watched with a rather amused expression.

"Buffy, what's going on? And this time I want the truth," demanded her mother.

Buffy pulled away from the hug in defeat. She walked back towards Giles and her friends. This was the moment she had been dreading since she found out that she was the Slayer.

"Mrs. Summers, you'd better sit down," advised Willow

She reluctantly sat and kept a wary eye on the teenagers, the librarian, and the bleached blonde guy who had rescued her.

"Mrs. Summers ... uh, Joyce, where do I begin ...."

"SPIKE!! Where the HELL are YOU??" yelled Angel.

His screaming echoed throughout the reletively empty house. The sun had set about fifteen minutes ago and most of the vampires had already left to feed. Spike had not been seen all day. Angel was beginning to grow suspicious of his where abouts. It had been day time, he was in a wheel chair -- there weren't that many places he could have gone.

Drusilla wandered about, clutching her precious Miss Edith. She was supposed to be looking for Spike, but her mind began to wonder. She spotted Angel in a corner.

"My Angel!" she exclaimed with excitement, "Where ever have you been. Miss Edith worries."

"I'm looking for Spike, and you should be too. Have you seen him?" asked Angel impatiently.

Before Dru could respond, one of Angel's hench guys came running up to them. "Angel, something's happened," he huffed. He had obviously been running.

"What are you talking about Austin?"demanded Angel, slightly annoyed.

"I went down to the Master's old place, y'know, to check up on things, like you told me to. But when I got there, that Summer's woman was gone and Cassandra wasn't there. All I found was a pile of ashes and a stake," explained Austin.

"DAMN!" yelled Angel, "Buffy. But how did she know where to look. The only one's who knew she was down there were me, you, Cassandra, Dru, and --"

Before he could finish his thought, Drusilla began screeching like a mad woman (which of course she was, but even more than usual). Angel and Austin turned to see what she was yelling about. Drusilla had wandered a bit further into the hallway in front of the main entrance. She was standing infront of someting that was hidden under a large burlap tarp. Angel approached it, and when he got closer he saw that it was made of metal. It was Spike's wheel chair, minus Spike. He ripped the tarp off of the chair. It just sat there in it's former hiding place, but something was wrong with it. Drusilla reached out and touched it, running her hand along it's worn leather seat. Suddenly, her eyes grew wide and she snatched her hand away from the chair.

"Something has happened," she began in a trembling voice, "the stars have been changed and are realigning. My Spike is gone."

Angel glared down at the wheel chair. What had happened? Was Spike helping the Slayer and her friends. He must have been the one who told them where to find Joyce. But why? Sure Angel had honed in on his woman and over thrown his authority and invaded his home ... but helping the Slayer??? Angel vaguely recalled helping Buffy before, when he had a soul but --. He paused in mid thought. When he had a soul. Did he ...

"The Orb," he said outloud.

Buffy did have an Orb of Thesulah and she and her friends casted the spell. Maybe they had done it incorrectly and somehow, and Spike had mistakenly been restored. Now that he though about it, it would have explained his odd behaviour the night before.

"Dru," called Angel, "we're going down to the high school. Tonight we're having a party ... with two guests of honor."

"So let me get this straight," said Joyce skeptically, "We live on this Hellmouth thing which makes Sunnydale a hotspot for evil demons?"

"Not just demons. We get a whole range of stuff, " responded Xander, "Vampires, witches, evil assasins ... werewolves," he added, glacing at Oz.

"Hey, I prefere the term Lycanthropy victim, thank you," replied Oz, kinda annoyed, "and let's not forget what else we get here, for instance, praying mantis ladies, mummies, and hyena demons."

"Oh no you didn't," exclaimed Xander.

Buffy rolled her eyes. "Boys, calm yourselves. We can go into details later, besides, Angel is going to figure out that my mom is gone sooner or later, and he's going to be pretty angry, especially considering who broke her out, " said the Slayer, turning her gaze over to Spike.

"Look, Slayer, as far as Angel is concerned, I'm still in the chair in front of the television. He probably doesn't even notice I'm not there," replied Spike.

"Come on Spike, he's going to figure it out. You weren't in that house all day and no one knows where you are."

Joyce, who had been listening to this exchange with odd fascination, could not believe what she was hearing. Vampires and demons, and all of the monsters you thought were under bed, were actually real. And her daughter killed them. Her sweet little girl was a Vampire Slayer. From the explanation Mr. Giles and Buffy had given her, it sounded like too much for one girl too handle. She recalled her horrible experience as Angel's prisoner. He 'regailed' her with stories of people he had tortured, stories about murder, and the story about how he regained and then lost his soul. It was awful. Joyce had never been so frightened in her entire life.

Of course now, she was filled with a different kind of terror. The terror a mother feels when her daughter reveals that she kills demons because of her birthright. She looked and the assembled crowd and realized the people she was keeping company with. A Vampire Slayer, a Watcher, a Billy Idol lookalike former vampire, a hacker, a werewolf, and a once-possesed-by-a-hyena boy and his easily kidnappable cheerleader girlfriend. This was all too much.

"Well, as fun and terrifying as this day has been, I think it's time Buffy and I went home," she said boldly.

A look of frustration crossed Buffy's face. She thought she had explained this already. "Mom, you're not listening. You can't go home. The sun set twenty five minutes ago, and home is the first place that Angel and Drusilla will be looking for you. Mom, you are in serious danger. I mean, Angel probably has his cronies all over Sunnydale looking for you. What would you do if a vamp came up behind you? He'd kill you mom."

"BUFFY! I am your mother and as such have special privilages over you, and one of them is authority. You can't talk down to me like I'm some sort of child. Now we are going home and we are going to talk about this in the morning," yelled Joyce.

"You may have parental authority over me, but I'm the Slayer. Which means I have the authority in this situation. This is my responsibility. Angel is my responsibility, and every drop of blood that he spills as Angelus is on my hands. This is my birthright or destiny or whatever. I never asked to be the Slayer, but I am. So you are just going to have to accept that because I don't want to have to bury anyone else that I love," replied Buffy emotionally.

The library went very quiet. It was a truly awkward moment. Buffy had totally humiliated and humbled her mother infront of her friends, her watcher, and her pesky mortal enemy. Joyce sunk back into one of the libraries uncomfortable chairs. At this moment she felt truly stupid. Deep down she knew that Buffy was right, but she wasn't ready to accept all of this.

"Y'know, you people would make a great topic for Jerry Springer," chuckled Spike rather untastfully.

"Shut up Spike," muttered Buffy.

"Sorry, just trying to lighten things up a little. God you people are so sensitive."

The night was an unusually chilly one. A cool breeze wafted it's way throughout Sunnydale, disturbing the unnaturally quiet scenery. Things were too quiet that night. And when things were unusually quiet, it meant something big was about to go down at any given moment. Which was most certainly true for that particular night.

A few stray leaves blew across the highschool lawn. Some of them began to collect into a pile near the front steps of the main building. They crunched into pieces when the wieght of a heavy foot crushed them into the pavement. Angel, Drusilla, and several other vampires approached the school.

"Okay guys, the Slayer and the traitor are mine. Anyone else if free game, " smiled Angel as the group of vampires entered the school.

The anxiety factor in the library was running high. Xander and Oz had been delegated to widle stakes, Cordelia and Willow were filing super soakers with holy water, Giles was researching, Spike was fidling with a knife, and Joyce was just sitting. She was still contemplating the harsh words she had recieved from her daughter. She couldn't believe that Buffy could speak down to her like she did. Joyce attributed it to some kind of Slayer hormones that other girls didn't have.

Buffy noted the expression on her mother's face and wanted to make it go away. It was horrible, like she had just been stabbed in the back by her best friend. Because metaphorically she had been. She walked over and sat in the chair next to hers.

"Mom?" she asked tentatively, "I - I'm sorry. I shouldn't have yelled at you like that, but I just needed to make you see that ..."

"Buffy," said Joyce, cutting her daughter off, "I know you're sorry, but you hurt me. I didn't know you had it in you to talk to your own mother like that."

"I'm sorry mom, but you weren't listening to me. I know we're asking you to believe a lot."

"What I don't understand is why you wouldn't have told me all of this earlier. It's kind of an important factor in your life. I want to be part of your life Buffy."

"Not this part mom. Everyone who knows about my identity as the Slayer is in danger. I didn't want to put these guys in that position, but they insisted that they help me. I wish they wouldn't have become involved with the slaying in the first place, but it's too late now. Mom, I didn't tell you for your own safety. I don't want to have to put you into any danger," explained Buffy.

"Well, well, well, isn't this a Full House moment!" came a familiar, yet obnoxious voice from behind them. Everyone stopped dead in their tracks (no pun intended) and turned to see Angel, Drusilla and a bunch of other vamps in the doorway of the library.

"Angel," said Buffy quietly.

"Yes, well now that we've established my name, we can get down to the business at hand. It has come to my attention that you took something that belongs to me, say in the name of your mother. You let us rekidnap her right now, and I might consider letting the lot of you live ... for a while."

"If that isn't the cliche of the day," muttered Spike indignantly.

Angel turned his attention over to the figure in the chair to his left. Spike smiled a huge fake grin at him.

"If it isn't the traitor himself. Spike my boy, it's not nice to keep secrets from us, is it Dru?" he asked rhetorically to the vampiress beside him. Drusilla took one look at Spike and immediately sensed the humanity that recently overtook him. She became extremely angry, and was seething with rage.

"You betray me, pet," she said in a menicingly low voice, "Miss Edith is angry with you."

"First of all, Miss Edith is a bloody friggen doll. And you want to talk about betrayal Dru? How's it been cozying up to 'your Angel' ? Things change ducks," replied Spike, tossing the knife he'd been toying with aside. The former vampire got up out of his chair and joined Buffy. The two stood side by side, which was a little shaking for Buffy, but she adjusted for the greater purpose.

"You mentioned some business Angel? Let's get to it, 'cause I'm getting a little bored with the chatter," teased Buffy.

"I wouldn't have it any other way Buff."

With that, Angel lunged forward and tackled Buffy. Drusilla screeched madly and took off after Spike. The remaining vampires grouped off and began to circle the 'Slayerettes'. Joyce ran with her instinct and took up a good hiding position behind Giles' desk. Within minutes, the library became a war zone.

Spike discovered that now he was human again, he had lost a lot of his vampire strength. So with much surprise on his part, Drusilla easily knocked him down. She began hitting him in the face and chest, screaming madly with rage. Reluctantly, he took a swing at her, and winced a little when his fist connected with her face.

"I didn't want to have to do that ducks," he said quietly to himself.

Meanwhile, Buffy and Angel were rolling around on the floor, each trying to take the other out of commision. But they were an equal match for each other and the momentum of the fight would switch sides frequently. Buffy managed to get to her feet before Angel did. When he tried to get up, she swiftly booted him in the jaw, sending him flying into a pile of books. The Slayer took the opportunity to catch her breath as Angel struggled his way out of the old volumes of Giles' books. When he did get up, the two faced off, like in an old western movie.

"Top form tonight Buffy. Oh well, that'll only make it much more enjoyable when I kill you," boasted Angelus.

With that, he rushed her again. But before he could tackle her, she took a giant swing and punched him right in the mouth, stunning him for a second. She followed that with a series of roundhouse kicks and a boot to the mid section. Then much to Giles' distain, Buffy grabbed a nearby chair that had been over turned and snapped off the leg. Armed with her makeshift stake she approached Angelus, prepared to strike. This was a big step forward. Months ago she would not have had the nerve nor the savvy to attempt to stake Angel on the spot like that.

As she prepared to ram the wooden object into Angel's chest, he reached up and grabbed her by the arm and squeezed her wrist as hard as he could. Anyone elses bones would have shattered, but as the Slayer, all she experience was a lot of pain. It cause her to drop the stake. It clattered to the floor.

"Looks like only one of us can come out on top tonight Slayer," he whispered in her ear as he drew closer, "and it's not going to be you." With his game face drawn, Angel leaned down to her neck, preparing to bite.

Spike had his hands full with the outraged Drusilla. She was more than a match for him now that he was a mortal again. Blood trickled down the side of his face where she had scratched him with her nails. His efforts were futile. She kept coming after him. In his haste, Spike grabbed a chair and hurled it at his former girlfriend. It successfully knocked her over. He admired his work for a moment before noticing Buffy in Angel's death grip. He was going to bite her. Heroics were not his strong point, however, Spike felt the need to do something. Regretting his foolishness, Spike lunged foreward and tackled Angel. The vampire dropped the Slayer and toppled to the ground. Spike, having the element of surprise, managed to remain standing.

"Well, well, well. I didn't know you had it in you Spikey," said Angel, almost mockingly, "You know, I am so sick of your miserable attitude. And now that you're a mortal again, killing you will be a great pleasure."

"You're awfully confident for someone in your position," chided Spike, "What makes you so bloody sure you're going to kill me?"

A small smile began to play on Angelus' face. "You see Spike, that's the beauty of it. I don't have to."

What Spike and Buffy didn't see was an irate Drusilla sneeking up behind them with the knife Spike had been toying with earlier. Dru reached out a steady hand and grabbed him by the shoulder. He spun around and was horrified as he watched Drusilla thrust the knife into his gut. Spike screamed at the pain. The library went deathly silent as all eyes, vampire and human, turned to witness the scene. All Spike could do was stutter in shock.

"Why?" he asked Drusilla, gazing into her cold brown eyes. They were merciless and full of death.

"Things change pet," she said menacingly, echoing his earlier words.

Spike collapsed to the floor as Dru heaved the knife out if his flesh. He lay sprawled out on the floor, bleeding heavily from the wound his Drusilla had inflicted upon him. She got down on the floor with him and examined his neck.

"I can fix everything pet. Princess is here."

Buffy watched in shock as Drusilla prepared to redo the work Angel had done some 200 years ago. On one hand, Spike was her pesky mortal enemy. On the other hand, he was human again and he was dying. Plus, he had rescued her mother and was prepared to fight Angel and Drusilla with her. The Slayer made a quick decsision. Abandoning Angel, she rushed over the Spike's position and grabbed Drusilla. With a few precision clips to the jaw and a fairly nasty looking upper cut, Buffy sent her flying into Angel, knocking them both back to the floor.

"She saves him," hissed an angry Drusilla, "Time to go home."

With that, Angel and Drusilla got up and signaled to the remaining vampires that retreat was their next course of action. They fled the library, except for Angel, who lingered for a moment.

"Next time you won't be so lucky Summer's," he spat and left in a flurry of anger.

Buffy paid no notice to Angel's threats. Instead, she managed to get Spike into a sitting positin. She examined the knife wound and it did not look good. He was bleeding heavly, and had already lost a lot of blood. Giles, her mother, and her friends gathered around the scene.

"Tell me the truth Slayer," he managed to whispered, "I'm goin' out, aren't I?"

"It's bad, Spike," was all she could offer.

"Y'know Slayer, before I buy the farm, I kinda wanted to thank you."

Buffy raised an eyebrow suspiciously. "For what?" she asked curiously.

"For bein' such a good enemy. Of all the Slayer's that I've fought, you're my favourite, because you're not all business. You do things the exciting way. I always enjoyed pummeling you."

"Well, it's nice to know I'm appreciated," she replied sarcastically

"Yeah, and well, I knda wanted to thank you too for taking Dru offa' me before she could, y'know, try and change me again," he said meakly. By now, Spike was really struggling to get the words out. Blood began to trickle from his nose and mouth.

"I thought you would have wanted to be a vampire again. Y'know, carnage and mayhem a plenty."

"Pfft, what would I do? Sure the maiming and pillaging is always a ball, but the fact would still be Drusilla will want Angel. She doesn't want me anymore."

"I'm sorry Spike."

"Yeah, I'm sorry too. I was kinda hoping to give this bein' human thing a try. Oh well. Y'know Slayer, I - I always thought you were kinda cute. If Dru hadn't been around, I ..."

Before Spike could finish his sentence, he trailed off. He didn't have the strength to speak anymore. The room began to spin, and it seemed as though hs surroundings were melting around him. Things began to wind down as if everything was in slow motion. As the room began to go black, the last thing that Spike saw was Buffy hovering over him.

Everyone watched as his eyes closed and his body became limp. When Buffy was sure that he was indeed dead, she got up off the floor and looked around anxiously at her friends. This was a truly akward moment. No one knew whether to be sad or to be relieved. Instead, they all wordlessly began to methodically clean up the library. Afterall, classes would start the next morning, reguardless of the Hell Mouth. And Snyder would have all their asses in a sling if he found the school library in the state it was in.

The Saturday afternoon sun shone brightly in Sunnydale. The whole town seemed to be illuminated a little bit extra today. However, the cheerful backdrop did not make it any easier for the people in the Sunnydale cemetary.

Buffy and Giles stood over a fresh grave and a new tombstone. A gentle breeze began to make its way through the cemetary, gently caressing the cool granite of the grave marker.

"Are you sure that Angel and Drusilla can't ... get to him?" asked Buffy, never lifting her eyes from the grave.

"Yes. The ground has been consecrated and I had to ... take other measures," replied Giles, not to eagar to have to mention the decapitation.

There were several moments of silence as the pair contemplated the events of the last few days. After Drusilla had killed Spike, vampire activity had dropped to practically nothing. Sunnydale was quiet for the time being. Buffy had a thoery that Spike's death had a larger impact on the vampiric community than they had expected. There was evidence that showed his grave had been visited a number of times. Perhaps Spike had more allies than he thought. There was also a conspicuous black rose on his grave. Not dead, just black. Drusilla was the first name that popped into her head when she had first laid eyes on it.

"This is so weird. I know he was like a totally evil and vicious vampire, but he wasn't such a bad guy in the end," remarked Buffy.

"Quite right. But did prove to be trust worthy ... in the end," agreed Giles, "Burying an enemy and a friend in one day ... it's ironic, isn't it?"

"Yeah. And a little too creepy. You considered him a friend?"

"Well, maybe friend is to strong a word. But he did rescue your mother, fight his own girlfriend, and save you from Angel," pointed out the librarian.

"True," was Buffy's only answer.

They had nothing left to say. Spike may have been an evil, caniving, demonic son of a bitch, but what he did for them was truly heroic. The Slayer and her watcher remained at the grave sight for several more minutes before mutually deciding to depart. The black rose remained undesturbed as it rested at the base of the headstone. The tombstone itself stood strong and firm against the building breeze. Across it's face was the simple message :

Well, that's the end people. Did you like it? Did you hate it? Let me know. I practically live for feedback. After all, it's the only thing that separates us from the animals ... well, except for parrots. Drop me a note at anikka@hotmail.com Flames are never taken seriously because they are just mean. However, constuctive critisism is always welcome.

SIDE BAR - To the best of my recolection, Spike's real last name was never mentioned on the show, so therefore I had to make one up.