Buffy and Faith rounded everyone together. Buffy turned towards the sky. That flying thing was gone. At least they didn't have to fight it, whatever it was. Inside the hotel, the panicked concierge greeted the bunch as they all piled in, soaking wet, full of gashes and wounds. Giles made his way over to him and handed him something. Money? Buffy searched for Dawn. She found her by the elevator talking to Andrew, laughing. Buffy felt someone grab her shoulder. She turned quickly to see Spike staring down at her. Her heart thumped.

"Glad to see you too," Spike sneered.

Buffy's eyes met his. She couldn't believe he was here, fighting with them. Then a wave of anger came over her. He was here the whole time. No phone call, letter, E-mail! She backed away from him and slugged him in the face.

Spike was knocked back a few feet. Cupping his nose, he gasped. "What in the bloody hell was that for?"

Buffy felt tears well up. Oh God, please don't cry, please! "You have been here... this whole time, and not even a peep! What did you think Spike? That I wouldn't want to see you? Hear from you?"

There was silence in the lobby. All eyes were on them. Dawn pressed the elevator button repeatedly. "Open, open," she whispered.

Most of the young slayers piled into the elevator when it finally did open. Giles followed them, taking a quick glance at Angel, who was sitting on the couch watching the show.

Spike shook off the pain and closed back in on Buffy. "Give me a chance to explain, Buffy. There was hell of a lot more to my return than you may think!" he yelled back at her.

Buffy averted her eyes in the other direction. He moved closer until they were just inches apart from each other. "And I did come to Rome. You were just... busy."

Buffy turned to him. Her eyes full of pain and confusion. "You were on an assignment, Spike. With Angel. It just so happened to have been in Rome. I heard the whole story." She looked away from him again after he didn't say anything to defend himself. "Spike," she choked, "I can't understand. Why?"

She caught her words. She didn't want to be doing this in front of everyone, especially Angel. She turned to the crowd, but they were all gone. Only a few random guests were walking around, and the concierge nervously answering phone calls. Probably guests complaining about the slayerfest up stairs. She sighed.

Spike grabbed her arms, gently. He looked down at her, intensely.

"Buffy, I was confused. I had to just to figure out why I was here. I would be a selfish git to show up and make with, Hi honey, I'm home, not dead, in the flesh, yup that's me. Come on an' give ol' Spike a kiss then."

Buffy let out a small giggle but then quickly frowned. "And this evil corporation? Why were you working for them or should I ask, why were you working for Angel?" Buffy looked over at Angel.

Angel met Buffy's gaze. He rose up and approached her. "Buffy, it was a mistake, but we had good intentions. It's not what you think," Angel explained.

Buffy pulled away and stared Angel down who was now standing next to Spike. "I still want answers" Buffy walked over to the elevator and turned around to see her vampire men staring at her. "Later," she continued. "For now, I need some... rest."

Spike stood, confused. That's it? That's all she wants to say?

The door chimed and opened to a very busy floor. Girls everywhere. Some smiled at Buffy and some of the girls took no notice of her. Buffy searched for a room when she overheard one of the girls say to the other, "Isn't it cool that we have actual vampires fighting with us."

The other girl replied, "I know, right! Especially hot ones!"

"Buffy, can I have a minute?"

Buffy saw Giles standing at the doorway down the hall. He looked a mess, but still distinguished as always. Eyeglasses in place. Always in place. As she approached his room, Buffy heard the faint sounds of laughter. She peered in.

"Hey," Willow cheerfully shouted.

Willow and Kennedy shared a chair near the window. Faith and Robin leaned against the window, Xander was sitting on a love seat rubbing Issa's back as she sat on his lap. Next to them was Andrew. He smiled sheepishly, not knowing if he was still in trouble with Buffy or not, although Dawn seemed to forgive him. Dawn was sitting on the arm of the love seat munching on Twizzlers. Giles moved back into the room. Buffy loved this sight. It was like Sunnydale and their old Scooby meetings.

Andrew shifted his gaze to Dawn's Twizzlers and tried to take one out of her hand. "Hey!" Dawn shouted.

Andrew frowned, defeated. "I'm so hungry. All I ate was some crappy tuna sandwich on the plane which I had to throw out because it had celery in it. I hate celery in tuna sandwiches, now fork over some Twizzlers, Dawn!"

Dawn rolled her eyes and handed him one. He reached to grab it, she pulled it away from him then hit him on the head with it.

"Come on," he whined. Dawn gave in and gave it to him.

Kennedy and Willow looked in unison at Andrew. "Don't they have room service?" Kennedy asked.

Willow gave her a squeeze. "Awesome idea Ken! I'm so hungry I can eat a... well, not horse cus that's just gross. How about a triple layer bean dip platter with extra nachos!"

Kennedy laughed.

"Great, cus I'm wicked hungry, I'll take my own plate of nachos." Faith joined in.

Robin chuckled. "You slayers sure do eat a lot."

Dawn's eyes lit up. "And so do the sisters of slayers. Oo, oo" Flailing her hands. "We can order cheese fries and-and chocolate shakes."

"Oh, sundaes too if we're feeling adventurous. Maybe some chimichangas! Do they have chimichangas here?" Xander asked eagerly.

Giles rolled his eyes. "While I'm sure great wars were won with Mexican cuisine and ice-cream, we still have much to learn about what we're up against."

The room filled with laughter.

Issa leaned in towards Xander. "So, is this how you guys get through disasters?" she asked, smiling.

"Well, it hasn't failed us yet." Xander grabbed her tight. He looked at his friends who were all laughing and having a good time. To an outsider, they would all seem to be out of their minds. For sure.

"I don't know what more to expect from these... Senior Partners." Giles continued. "It seems they're taking a breather as I don't believe this battle is over. Angel, Spike, What do know about them?"

All eyes quickly turned to Spike and Angel who were standing at the doorway.

"They won't stop until we're all dead." Angel snapped.

Soon after, Illyria came up behind them. A look of surprise came over their faces.

Andrew stared deeply at her, head turned to the side. "Fred? Wow, love the make-over! It's kind of... hot"

Illyria glanced at Andrew, sizing him up. "You don't know what hot is, little insignificant one, in my day, your blood would boil, your eyes would melt out of your head and..."

"Great, Angel." Giles interrupted, glancing at Illyria. "Maybe you can let us know what we are in for." Giles added, ignoring Illyria and the 'dead' part of what Angel said. He took off his glasses and rubbed them with a tissue he pulled from the table next to the bed.

"Oh, you're role playing. Good on you." Andrew smiled nervously at Illyria, now wondering if maybe she wasn't even Fred at all.

"First things first. Why are you all here? I didn't tell anyone about this." Angel shot an angry look at Spike as if he was at fault for calling in the troops.

Spike shrugged his shoulders. "Don't look at me, mate. I was just as shocked as you!"

Angel sized up the rest of the group. He was angry. He watched Illyria approach Giles and crinkle her nose.

Giles moved back, seemingly annoyed she was smelling him. "Ah so this is Illyria. The one you called me about, Angel?"

"Did she just sniff Giles?" Buffy asked Angel.

Spike spoke for Angel. "It's how she greets people. Like a dog,"

Buffy let out a small giggle which put a smile on Spike's face.

Illyria quickly turned to Buffy. "I amuse you. Is that why you laugh? You find my ways funny, human?"

Buffy almost choked. She didn't mean to offend her.

"Great, is this going to turn into the Goodfellas scene? Cus your outfit says more Night Elf then it does Joe Pesci." Andrew interrupted.

Ignoring Andrew, Buffy held out her hand to Illyria. "No, Fr... I'm sorry, I've just never seen... well. Never mind. Hi, I'm Buffy."

Illyria looked down at Buffy's hand with disgust. "I know who you are. You are the one this half breed wants to mate with. I don't think you're worth..."

Before she could finish, Angel grabbed Illyria's arm and pulled her away from Buffy. He really didn't want a fight, and he was sure Buffy didn't either. Buffy turned to Spike, who was ready to defend Buffy if Illyria got out of line. She leaned into him "You have to tell me about this later," she whispered.

Buffy stepped up. "I got a call. From Lorne." She noticed the shock come over Angel. She was sure Lorne didn't mention anything about keeping that a secret. "He told me everything. He asked me to come. I couldn't back down from this. And who are the Black thorn thingys, by the way?"

Spike answered, "The Senior Partner's golden boys and um, girl. We took 'em all down. Bloody easy if you ask me."

Angel sneered at Spike then turned to Buffy. "Buffy, you have no idea what you're up against. We all got into this with the intention of not coming out! Understand?"

Willow, now noticing someone was missing, stood up. "Hey guys, where's Wesley?"

Spike and Angel's eyes met and they both looked down. Willow understood their body language. She let out a sad "Oh," and sat back down.

Illyria glanced at her and then back to Angel. "I will check on Gunn."

Giles' eyes turned to the floor. "I'm sure he fought well."

Buffy approached Angel. "Angel. I don't know what we have gotten ourselves into, sure, but have you ever known me to back down? Especially when the lives of ones I love are at stake?" Buffy cracked a nervous smile, then looked at Spike.

"Yea, Angel!" Willow interrupted. "It's us. Plus, we have like tons of new slayers. We can handle it!"

Buffy smiled at Willow's confidence.

"Like, do you think the battle of Minas Tirith would have been successful without the Army of The Dead and The Riders of Rohan?" Andrew smiled at the group. Everyone looked at him.

Xander nodded. "Good one, Pippin."

"Come on, we're going to help you, whether you like it or not," Buffy told Angel.

Angel saw how serious she was. He couldn't argue with her. He knew that. There was nothing more to say. Angel turned to Spike as he made his way to the door.

"Spike, can I talk to you for a minute? Alone?" Angel asked.

He walked out into the hallway. Spike followed. Even with the door closed, everyone in the room could hear everything.

"Look, she'll listen to you, though I hate to say it. Tell Buffy to grab her friends and leave. They're going to die. Do you want that?"

Spike scanned the hallway to see if anyone heard Angel's words. "Angel. You know I can't do that. They've made up their minds. There's nothing I can do but fight along side them. Give them a chance. They've got a lot more..."

"What? More what?" Angel shouted.

"Hope. The will to survive! Trust me Angel that helps during the fight you know. You should try it some time!" Spike shouted back.

Angel sneered. "Oh, right, like you're the poster child for survival. Didn't you burn up last year in Sunnydale?"

"You think I was on a suicide mission? You're crazy! I did it for Buffy. That's right. I did it for LOVE!" he shouted in Angel's face.

Angel raised his arm for a punch when the suite door opened abruptly. Buffy walked out between them. She tried to separate them with her hands on either side.

"Guys, can we not. I think we all need to get cleaned up and we'll regroup later, okay?"

Angel backed down. He nodded and walked back to his room. Buffy looked up at Spike who was still grinding his teeth, then she turned and proceeded down the hallway.


Buffy approached room 19. She knocked first to see if it was occupied, no response, so she used the key card Giles gave her. The door opened to a dark room. She flicked the switch on the wall and the lights came on. Buffy sighed as she entered, throwing her jacket on the chair next to the bed. Her clothes were still wet, sticking to her skin and she just wanted to peel them off. She started with her shoes, socks, then slowly unbuttoned her shirt. Looking around, she knew she should feel comfortable and safe, but she didn't. Angel made it clear to her that this job here wasn't what she thought it was and she needed to trust him. Trust. That's all Buffy seemed to do, then, as always, the rug gets pulled form under her feet. Buffy knew Angel and she had a taste of Angelus too. She was sure he wasn't Angelus now, but it all seemed too strange to her. He was a renegade, like Batman, and now he was more like a suit with people working under him. Something just didn't sit right with her. She remembered Giles telling her the history of the Wolf, Ram, and Heart. It made her shiver. She knew big corporations were pretty much evil anyway, but this confirmed that they were, in fact, truly evil.

She tried to let her mind drift as she showered. The water felt so warm on her bare skin. It felt like heaven. She was tired, dirty, and she needed some comfort time. As the water soaked her, she thought of Sunnydale. She thought of Spike.

"Where's the trinket?"

"The who-ket?"

"The pretty necklace your sweetie-bear gave you. The one with all the power. I believe it's mine now."

"How do you figure?"

"Someone with a soul but more than human? Angel meant to wear it. That means I'm the qualified party."

"It's volatile. We don't know..."

"You'll be needing someone strong to bear it, then. You plan on giving it to Andrew?"

"Angel said the amulet was meant to be worn by a champion."

Buffy handed the Amulet over to Spike.

"Been called a lot of things in my time."

A Champion. So that's it. He came back mysteriously through that amulet she gave him, and he probably didn't want to spoil his big show.

"What a wanker! Oh God, I'm talking like him now", Buffy said to herself.

He went down in a blaze of glory, and for what? To come back to his undead life in Los Angeles? It's an ego thing. Buffy hated that ego thing. And at that thought, her shower was complete. She wrapped her hair in a towel and her body in a robe.

"Nice. Free robes"

Buffy needed to check in on Dawn. She hasn't really explained anything to her since she arrived here in L.A., and she owed her little sister that much.

Dawn was dancing around to Snoop Dogg with Vi. They were giggling, singing along, messing up the lyrics. She picked up the phone.

"Hey Buff!"

Buffy sighed. "Hey Dawn. You guys sound like your having fun. I'm glad."

"Oh, we're good. We just ordered like tons of room service. I think we're going to play a dare game to see who can eat the most cannolis!"

"Great, sounds filling."

Dawn chuckled, "Yeah, we figured after tonight, we can carb it out! Hey, are you and Spike together? Is he okay? I mean, after you punched his lights out?"

Buffy felt embarrassed. She didn't mean to punch him, it was just her usual slayer defensiveness. She'd have to apologize to him for that.

"Yeah, I guess. I haven't had a chance to talk to him, really."

"Well after you do, you have to tell me everything. The battle stuff I already know, Vi told me all of it. You have to tell me about Spike. How it happened. I'm dying to know."

"Of course, I will. Now go stuff your faces."

Buffy hung up. She turned noticing Spike standing there. His hair was dripping and a curly mess. He was wearing pajama bottoms, no shirt. Buffy blushed.

"You think they'd at least give us cooler pajamas then these golf ball ones," Spike complained.

Buffy wanted to laugh, but she still had to keep her serious face on. She didn't want him to think he was off the hook. Ego, ahhhh, she had a damn annoying one too.

"Buffy?" Spike looked at her concerned.

"Spike? I think" Buffy said, staring at his pajamas.

"Can we talk?"

Buffy rose from the bed, composing herself. She did feel a bit exposed in her robe, but she stood strong as if she was wearing battle armor. That was her way of letting him know that there was nothing vulnerable about her, which was a complete lie.

"Spike, I'm tired. Maybe later?" Buffy freed her hair from the towel and ran her fingers through her wet trestles.

"Buffy, if you want to punish me for keeping my return to life a secret, I get that, but don't you want to know how it all happened, and why I chose to stay here?"

Buffy sat back on the bed and softened a little. "I'm not trying to... it's just, all weird. You were on my team. Fighting by my side, and now here you are, working with Angel in some evil corporation. So yea, I guess I do want you to explain. Shoot."

Spike neared her side of the bed and sat next to her. He placed his hand on her knee. She felt a fire in her stomach. She tried to hold her gaze to the ground, but turned and looked at him almost in a trance.

Spike couldn't believe it. She was trembling. "Look, there is a lot I want to tell you."

Buffy moved back on the bed to let Spike's hand slip off her. "From the beginning, Spike. From the moment you came back."

Spike took the hint she didn't want to be touched, so he remained at a comfortable distance from her. They sat on the bed, legs crossed, facing each other. He told her everything. From the moment he appeared in Angel's office, to being a ghost and almost thrown into hell, Lindsey, the package, Harmony, Rome, Fred, Illyria. She listened patiently. It was quite a year for him, compared to her boring life in Rome. It was sad to hear about Fred and the whole ghost thing was depressing, but he seemed so cheerful. He appeared to be the same old Spike. It was going to take her some time to get over the fact that he had been alive all of this time without her knowing. Her bond with him was unbreakable, so she thought. She understood him, she knew him well and that made it easier for her to forgive him. It still hurt, that was inevitable.

"I am insanely happy to be here with you right now," Spike said as he rose to peer out the window. Turning back to Buffy, he let a a sigh. "I should have. I know. I know I should have talked to you. I know. I know." The last part was a whisper.

"Yea, that would have been nice." Buffy responded with a smile.

During a brief intermission, she ordered steak for Spike, tea and some chicken fingers for herself. She laughed at how Spike devoured the rare steak. He was so honest sometimes. He noticed her staring at him. He took the final bite, then continued.

"Your turn," Spike said.

Buffy really didn't have much to say. She filled him on Rome, Dawn and Dawn's beau, Antoine, and Andrew. He knew most of it already.

"No, you are forgetting something."

"What? No, I'm not," Buffy argued.

Spike smiled slyly. "Oh yes you are. Something, Immortal..."

Buffy winced. She remembered what Andrew told Spike and Angel about her and that pig. Wow, he must have thought this whole time...

"Spike, I was never dating him. He threatened Andrew and well, things got blown out of proportion. I couldn't..." She stopped.

"Buffy, you spent almost a year in Rome. No men at all?"

Buffy turned her attention to the window. "A dragon", she sighed.

"You dated a dragon?", a confused Spike asked her.

Buffy pointed to the window. " No, Spike, outside. It's a dragon! I knew I saw something flying around out there when we were all fighting!"

He jumped up and ran over to the window. A look of gloom took over his face. Buffy jumped up behind him. It seemed like it was flying towards them.

"Crap!"








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