Disclaimers: Title belongs entirely to Gabriel Garcia Marquez--just borrowing it for the sake of the story. Buffy, Spike, Whistler and all the memories belong to Joss and his crew. All other characters are entirely mine. Lyrics belong to Bruce Springsteen’s Secret Garden, and Luis Miguel's Usted, and are used without permission.

Summary: Series set 100 yrs after "The Gift," Season five finale. This is part AU and futuristic. Spike has been alive for 100 hundred years after Buffy's death. Whistler comes to him to let him know that Buffy has been summoned to fight a new evil. Therefore she will be brought back to life and needs a "guide". When Buffy wakes she finds that the only one to cling to is the only person that left from her time. This is a B/S fiction.

Rating: Overall rating of series is R. (Language and Violence)

Spoilers: I will mention everything that has happened through "The Gift".

Distribution: The only people that have permission to post this series are those who already archive my fic and have asked me for permission. If you want to post it please ask me. I'll be happy to let you. I just want to know where it goes.

Feedback: I adore Feedback, so please let me know what you think of the story so far! bih80@yahoo.com

-Special Thanks: Trish, Nmissi, and Wendy for BETA reading this and for their awesome feedback, Karla for listening to me rant, and One Good Day group--may you be blessed with many chocolate covered naked Spikes! Thanks for all the reviews!

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She'll let you in her house

If you come knockin' late at night

She'll let you in her mouth if the

Words you say are right

"Concentrate," he said from the microphone that came out of the one-sided mirror.

‘Concentrate’, he says. Why doesn't he get his ass down here and concentrate,’ she thought.

The green demon swung a right and she ducked easily. But she knew her moves were rusty. The creature roared and bolted at her in a sudden rush. She rolled on the floor and flipped over to kick him hard and square in the back.

"Good, now terminate him," Spike said.

She glared at the mirror behind which the aggravating voice originated.

The creature staggered from too many hits to the head and torso. Buffy took advantage of his position as he fell, and placed her foot firmly on his neck. In one swift move she twisted her boot and snapped it.

She panted as she looked on the corpse. ‘Live training, not bad,’ she thought. There was applause from behind her, a slow sarcastic clap that made her spin around sharply in fighting position.

Spike stood behind her. "Nice work, luv," he said.

She smiled and wiped her sweaty forehead. "Who are you?" she asked him, playing along.

Spike took out a cigarette and lighted it. "You'll find out tonight."

Buffy frowned, confused. "What happens tonight?"

He smirked at her. "Slayer, I thought you were smarter than that."

She scowled back at him. "Don't have time for this, Spike. I am going to get ready for tonight." She walked past him and out of the room.

The scent of her sweat still surrounded him, as he stood looking at the demon. "Pent," he said, "Get your ugly ass up, I know she didn't kill you." The green mass of goo moved groggily, snapping his head back into place. "Go get cleaned up, you mutt."

The demon stood on shaky legs and glared at the vampire. "The hell was that?" he asked.

"A Slayer," Spike responded, crushing his cigarette beneath his boot.

"Don't fuck with me, vampire," said the demon, cracking his neck. "I've fought Slayers before. That was not a slayer."

"Let's just say she has a bit of divine intervention," Spike said, looking over at the trainer.

Pent took a deep breath, shaking his head. "Something big is coming.”

Spike smirked. "Something big is always coming."

"You callin' the players?" asked the demon.

Spike nodded and walked away. Pent shook his head at the retreating figure, defeated.

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"Are you sure?"

"Ye-yes ma'am," Diego stuttered.

The red head gave a wide, evil smile. "Ain't life sweet." Diego stood motionless as the seductress strutted up to him, swinging her hips invitingly, making him harden instantly. "Really, really sweet," she said, wrapping her arms around him and leaning in to his ear.

"I want her dead."

Diego swallowed and tried to compose himself.

"An- and the vampire?" he asked.

"Bring him to me--we have some unfinished business. Make sure she dies. The master will not be pleased if the slayer is allowed to live.” She grazed her teeth along his earlobe. The man could only nod. "And Diego?" she began, looking at his lust-clouded eyes. “The cartel does not tolerate failure.”

He understood and nodded through his need. "Tonight. They die tonight."

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"Love takes off masks that we fear we cannot live without and know we cannot live within."

James Baldwin

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If you pay the price

She'll let you deep inside

But there's a secret garden she hides

She'll let you in her car

"Can I talk to you for a second?"

Spike spun around. Sammy had sneaked up on him as only he could.

"Claro." (Of Course), Spike said, smiling. He turned back to his closet and searched for a shirt to match his trousers.

Sammy walked over to the large bed and sat at the edge of it, reclining softly into the rich dark velvet.

"So how are you holding up?" he started.

Spike paused. Turning to study the man, his brow furrowed. “What do you mean?”

Sammy took a deep breath, rubbing his dark hands together. "The Slayer. I know what she means to you."

Spike shook his head, taking a seat next to Sammy. "What she meant to me, mate...It's not like that anymore." Sammy nodded. "She's just another slayer. Stay with 'er for a couple of days, make sure she's good and ready. Then I leave--like I always do." Spike picked up his shoes and started putting them on.

"You mean to tell me, that you have no feelings for this girl?" Sammy asked the indifferent blonde.

"Well I care 'bout 'er and all, but it's not the same. Time changes that."

"Time changes nothing. I've seen the way you look at her..." he began.

"Time changes everything! And I look at 'er the same way I look at the other slayers." Spike stood and furiously he yanked a shirt from his closet. He was not listening to this. This wound would not be re-opened.

Yes, he had felt himself melt into her, whenever she looked at him as if he were the last person on earth; as if her entire existence depended on him. He saw it-he saw it in himself. But perhaps if he left her and went away...the reality would not claw at him, it wouldn't remind him of things he had chosen to forget. It would not hurt as bad.

He was jerked back from these thoughts by a warm hand on his shoulder, giving it a light squeeze. He slumped in defeat. He couldn't hide things from Sammy. Since the first time he met the man, he’d always been able to see right through him. There was silence as the men shared a mutual companionship. "It's hard," Spike said, his eyes downcast.

Sammy turned him to look at him. "I know."

"It's not right-she's not supposed to be 'ere. I buried her-she's dead." He paused and licked his lips; he was suddenly very dry. "But when I look at 'er, she's so alive that I can hear the blood pumping through her veins and I can feel her fighting her walls of insecurities and I can see her hurtin', and I can feel myself loving 'er. But I can't." Spike looked at the man before him. "She's gonna die someday again. And I can't bury her twice. How many tears can a man cry?"

"A man cries until he is sated. At the end of the long cry he finds meaning again. You've made it this far and the powers wouldn't choose just any ordinary vampire. They chose you for a reason. You carried her strength and her memories-it's what has made you strong. You're looking at it as if she's the one who has been given a second chance--but in reality it is you who has been given the second chance. The chance to make it right. This...is your payment. Spend it wisely."

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To go drivin' round

She'll let you into the parts of herself

That'll bring you down

She'll let you in her heart

He wondered when he had last seen perfection like this. She was angelic. The valley between her breasts hinted at fuller curves hidden elsewhere on her slender form. Her hips moved in a graceful rhythm as she descended the staircase. It wasn’t what she was wearing. The dress was modest , meeting her knees. No, it was the sheer power burning through that silk, behind those muscled thighs. It left him trembling like a schoolboy; and he hated it. Her eyes were drifted over the people buzzing in and out. There were many, and yet he felt as if she and he were alone on the stairs.

Buffy's breath caught in her throat at the intensity of the gaze of Spike's liquid blue eyes, eyes that screamed lust and desire, eyes that were empty of love. In that frozen moment, she felt a little like Scarlett O’Hara, trapped beneath the knowing gaze of Rhett Butler. It was exhilarating. She was moving, but she was aware of nothing but the pools of sea foam blue that darkened with her approach.

Spike was sure he was salivating. She was more real now than at any moment since she rose. It hit him at that moment: His Buffy was alive. He was no longer guiding a slayer to her path; he was no longer recounting the story of his life. Suddenly he realized that she was truly a living breathing person again- with the capacity to live, love, and break his heart all over again.

It was so very clear; he understood everything. He could hear Whistler's voice in his head. 'You'll see. Love does not go away. It is only ignored. Right now you are all she has. You're what she needs.' He snapped out it; the moment was gone, the spell was broken.

Buffy took a second to compose herself. What the hell had just happened? She couldn't do this, not another vampire, not Spike. No way. She was the slayer, he was a soulless vampire. No matter how glorified he had become, no matter that he no longer slept in a crypt, no matter that he had the blessings of the powers themselves; she knew he was a forbidden fruit. But then, why? Why this tingling attraction towards those blazing blue eyes?

Spike calmed himself down by the time she reached the bottom of the stairs, and was actually grateful that they weren't alone. The silence would have been too awkward and things were weird enough between them as it was.

So the blasting Latin music in the background served as a comfortable bolster for them in their awkwardness. "Hungry?" he asked as he extended his arm to lead her.

She caught herself checking his arm for a weapon. "Oh- yeah," she nodded. Sliding her bare arm through his cashmere-covered one, he led her through the crowd. “There are so many people here. Who are they?” she asked.

He leaned in to her, and spoke in to her ear over the music. “Sammy and Risa know half the town. When they throw a party, everyone is invited.”

She smiled at the people around her. Their blonde heads may have marked them as outsiders, but they were greeted as warmly as anyone. Buffy noticed with some panic that Spike was leading her towards the dance floor. She recalled the way her body had reacted to his, when last they were pressed together. Unconsciously, she anticipated the moment as much as she dreaded it. As if on cue the music changed from a Salsa to a slow sensual rhythm. In some respects she was grateful; she’d had no idea how to move to the other sound.

Swiftly Spike's other arm wrapped around her, his hand at the small of her back, and gently pressed their bodies together. Timidly she raised her free hand to his neck rested it there, his soft hair tickling her fingertips.

She struggled to keep from shivering. This was the weirdest thing she'd ever done. Perhaps it was the fact that his body molded perfectly with hers. With both Riley and Angel her head barely reached their shoulder-with Spike she could see his eyes. And that was the danger zone.

He began humming the slow tune of the sad man's voice on the track. "What does it say?" she asked, resting her head against his cheek.

"You're gonna have to learn how to speak Spanish,” he murmured.

She shrugged. "I still want to know--until then."

He took a deep breath, hesitant to answer her. This song was his feelings incarnated, the raw material he hardly let anyone see even himself.

"You are the guilty one. Of all my anguish, and all my depression. You have filled my life. With sweet anxieties, and bitter disenchantments..." he murmured into her ear. Tingles of lust went though her at the sound of his deeply accented voice driving her senses wild.

"You love is like a scream... that I carry deep in my soul. And deep in my heart... and though I don't want to, I'm slave to your eyes... the toy for your love... "

He turned her to look at him as they moved to the slow, steady rhythm. Their eyes locked on to each other; in this very ‘dangerous’ position he swayed them, translating. “Please don't play with my pain, or with my feelings, because it is all I have... You are my hope.... my only true hope... Please try to understand that...

You make me despair... you are killing me and make me insane... I would give even my life just to pay the price ... of kissing.... you."

These last words came out a bare whisper, as his eyes met her rosy mouth. She felt the burning glint of his eyes as he studied her parted lips. Her own gaze wandered to his lips, and for the first time she noted the absurdity of his mouth. Softened to a pout, a pale pink fullness that cried out to be touched. Instinctively she leaned in closer to meet that demand.

He stood stock still as the slayer leaned into him, eyes locked on his mouth. Impulsively his tongue darted out to wet his lips.

She closed her eyes in anticipation. But seconds before their lips could meet, they were thrown back in shock as amazing fireworks burst in the sky overhead.

'Damn,' he thought, realizing the moment was past.

'What the hell were you thinking?' she scolded herself.

The guests cheered the colorful display. But uninterested in the exhibition, he took her arm and led her gently through the crowd. At a solitary spot on the second floor balcony, they stopped, to watch the garden party.

The scene before them reminded Buffy of that movie "Meet Joe Black." The expansive lawn was covered with elegant chairs and fenced in with white Christmas lights that lined the actual party area. Exotic flowers of violet and yellow were everywhere. The Women were even more exotic, full-figured and glowing with the joy of motherhood. The men were darkly handsome, and gifted with the ability to dance and to joke. The flirting going on below them made the space seem close between herself, and the vampire.

If you got a hammer and a vise

But into her secret garden, don't think twice

You've gone a million miles

He studied her as she watched the scene below. He was still reeling from his epiphany earlier; that it was really she. But the intimate moment cut short earlier left him longing to hold her, to feel her heated skin against him.

But he knew the price of taking, and the waiting was worth it. “The night has a thousand eyes,” he said, to no one in particular.

She turned to him and smiled at the merest glimpse of ‘William’ beneath the visage of ‘Spike’. "So this is home?" she asked, gesturing to the crowds below. She could see their host and his family enjoying each other's company. Spike nodded and turned to rest his back against the balcony railing. Buffy watched as he took out his pack of cigarettes and lit one. She noticed the silver lighter that he flicked with ease.

"Can I see?" she asked, regarding the lighter. Spike thought for a second and then gave in, letting her study his prized possession. She took the shiny metal in her hands. It was engraved.

“Always, Forever, D.”

"Always, Forever, D?" she questioned him. He looked away. Taking a long drag off his fag, he looked back at her.

“Always, Forever. Dawn.”

Buffy stared at him for a moment and then looked back at the engraved silver in her hand. It was a gift. "She gave it to me on father's day." he chuckled.

"Father's day?" Buffy asked, confused. He nodded.

"She was sixteen and wanted something special. So she gathered her lunch money for some months and bought me that. When I asked her where she got the money, I was right angry- her goin’ hungry to get me a present.” He smiled at the memory. “Said she was on a diet anyway.”

Buffy managed a small smile, as she thought about her little sister and how much she had changed this man’s life. After a long silence she spoke. “Thank you.”

How far'd you get to that place where

You can't remember and you can't forget

She'll lead you down a path

There'll be tenderness in the air

Spike was taken back. She had never thanked him before in his life. "For' what?" he asked, confused.

"For keeping a promise. Even if it meant the death of Spike-for a while at least." She gave back his treasure. He didn't know what to say, so he simply nodded. Buffy observed him speculatively, ruminating upon his intentions and his actions. Then she leaned forward. “You’re a good man, William.” Her lips brushed his cheek.

Her warm words washed over him as her hot lips met his cool skin. They stared at each other once again in heartbreaking silence. He broke it suddenly, jumping up from the rail where he leaned.

"Uhm. Do you want champagne, wine, anything?" he asked.

His space-placing device took Buffy aback. She nodded numbly, “White wine." As she watched him retreat though the open balcony doors.

She'll let you come just far enough

So you know she's really there

She'll look at you and smile

And her eyes will say

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She watched them from a distance. Agonizing when they danced, seething with jealousy when they almost kissed, happy when they were interrupted, and purely hating when she kissed his cheek.

So when he walked away from the infamous blonde she made her approach. Ascending the stairs she steered through the crowds and made it to where the thinner girl looked over at the party below.

Buffy sensed someone behind her and quickly turned around.

Val stood before her in her curved clinging red satin dress. The low dip of her neckline revealed a full bust line, hinted at carnality. Her dark mass of hair was pinned up and around her face as her green eyes shot a hateful glare at her. Buffy groaned. The woman seethed with jealousy.

“Nice night,” Val said, giving out a fake smile. But this time, Buffy didn’t return it. She sensed the woman was here on business, and wanted to hear what the full-figured Latina had to say.

"Let me tell you a little story," she began, walking slowly to the railing. “Once upon a time there was a good man who loved a beautiful woman. He loved her with all that he was but she rejected his love. Called him a monster, a creature incapable of love. But this 'monster' stayed with her, was faithful to her, until the day she died. She died never loving him. Now this man was cursed to wonder this earth for a hundred years. Losing everything that made him who he was, flooded by memories of the woman he loved, and her loved ones. But one day he was reborn, when he met another family. They embraced him and did not call him a monster. They loved him with scales and fangs. Then one day, he met another, a woman who loved him for all that he was, willing to give her life for him. Willing to die for him. Willing to do anything just to have a kiss from his mouth. But this man was noble and dared not touch the woman that loved him. But she was faithful and stayed with him. Just when this creature had found new meaning to his life, the woman he loved so long ago was brought back by the gods themselves. The man was confused. He had loved her so long ago and she had no one else in the world. So she wedged herself into this man's life. Shriveled him up into the existence he was back then, and tortured him with visions of what-ifs."

Val stopped, never tearing her gaze from Buffy. Her smile was long gone and her eyes oozed hate. Leaning in, she whispered. "He's mine. And I will not loose him. Especially not to you. So stay away from him."

Buffy crossed her arms over her chest. She was so confused. She didn’t know if she should speak for him.

"He'll be leaving you in a couple of days anyway. So get your kicks while you can. You'll soon be dead, just like every other slayer."

Buffy pressed her lips tightly together as she regarded the beauty before her.

She's got a secret garden

Where everything you want

Where everything you need

Will always stay a million miles away

"Stay away from him? He's yours? Possessive much?" she snorted. "Let me tell you something about Spike. He does what he wants when he wants, and with whomever he wants. And I am not going to fight for him."

Val looked at her and this gave her a genuine smile. "Then you don't deserve him."

Buffy opened her mouth to respond but was cut off by the sound of gunshots below them. Both women turned to the patio and looked in horror as two dozen armed vampires surrounded the guests below.

"Give us the slayer and nobody dies,” the leader cried out, as he pointed a shotgun into the face of a small child.

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