Part 1

Being in Los Angeles had never been so boring. The City of Angeles had fun and exciting things to do, but Buffy felt like doing nothing. Spending the next two months with her Dad seemed promising, even though her mind was still preoccupied on other things.

The shower seemed cold all of a sudden, as the events of that night stirred in her mind…

"Ah, good, the feeble banter portion of the fight. Darling, why don't we just cut to the . . . You're not going to kill me with that thing. You still don't understand your part in all this, do you? You're not the hunter. You're the lamb."

Buffy turned the indicator to hot slowly until it finally felt warm again. After a day of shopping with her dad, Buffy felt good for those few hours that she felt like she was a normal teenage girl like she used to be before.

"I'm waiting for you. I want this moment to last."

"I don't."

"I understand." He said grabbing the crossbow in her hands and throwing it to the ground.

Then the water turned cold again.

"You tried. It was noble of you. You heard the prophecy that I was going to break free and you came to stop me. But prophecies are tricky creatures. They didn't tell you everything."

The water felt just as cold as him.

He whispered intimately into her ear, "You're the one that frees me. If you hadn't come, I couldn't go. Think about that."

Buffy hands reached and touched the bite scar on her neck. Only two puncture wounds were left.

She turned off the water and stepped out of the shower. It was going to be a long night. She looked at her clothes sitting on the vanity unit. Going out to the movies with the her cousin Becky didn't seem as much fun now as it had this morning.

After her cousin dropped her home, Buffy walked slowly to her room. She quickly changed out of her clothes and crawled into bed.

"What are you doing here?"

"I came to see you."

"Why?"

"Contrary to popular belief, I trapped the Master in that church. I cursed him to only be free with the blood of a slayer." Xander walked closer to Buffy.

"But you're not Xander."

"No, I was borrowed." He answered Buffy. He slowly walked up to her and touched her bite mark.

His fingers tickled her skin. He pulled away examining the blood on his fingers. Buffy grabbed her neck and the blood trickled through her fingers.

"It flows in another you know."

"What?"

"Blood. When one dies another is called."

"So there are two . . . of us? Two slayers."

Xander laughed and laughed, "No there's only one."

"I don't get it?"

"You are not the chosen one any more, you are just a girl."

"I am the chosen one. I still have the power."

Xander smiled, "Do you? Do you know what kind?"

The room suddenly changed to the library. Buffy spun around.

"Celia?"

"Buffy? You've grown." The eight year-old smiled. Her blond hair shimmered in the sunlight streaming from the windows.

"Celia?" Buffy felt wave of uneasiness around her. She couldn't say anything.

"You just have to listen, Buffy. You must go and slay tonight. You must go out and save lives tonight. You must save a life tonight. Buffy I have to go. I'm near the post, if you ever need me. Go near a post office and you will find me." Celia whispered as she faded into the background.

A beautiful woman stood before Buffy. Her caramel brown skin glowed in the moon light. Her smile innocent. Her body seductive.

"They don't know about me."

"Who?"

"Oh, you know who. They could never fathom what happened to me. What will happen to you."

"Who? I don't have time for guessing games." Buffy said annoyed that she was standing in the church, in the exact spot where he'd killed her.

"You're not ready. I see that now." She turned from Buffy, her wavy, silky black hair fanned in the air rhythmically.

"Wait." Buffy yelled. All of a sudden the distance that was feet between them turned into meters.

"Yes."

"I am ready." Buffy grasped for some reason… she wanted her to stay.

"No. No, you're not. Other stories will come to you. You must listen to them." She finally turned back toward Buffy. "Look little sister soon turning big. You got lots of challenges ahead. You can change your destiny. His has already been altered. I know your future. Your heartache. Your Pain. The clock's winding down, but it is all wrong. 730. All your praise and Glor . . . Never mind. You'll find out what you are. What's to come. You've only begun."

"Did you have a good sleep honey?"

Buffy stepped into the kitchen giving her father a quick kiss on the cheek, "Yup."

"Uhh, honey? There's an emergency in the New York office and I have to go there to help the auditors before the final report on the company comes out, so I'm going to have to leave you here. Or, I can send you back to Sunnydale with your mom."

Buffy sat stunned. She'd only been in L.A. for a week, and he was leaving already. "How long are you going for?" Buffy asked, slowly and quietly.

"A week, ten days at the most." Hank smiled slightly.

"I'll stay here and wait for you to come back. There'll still be five weeks of summer vac left for you to spoil me rotten!" Buffy replied, stealing a piece of his toast.

Hank smiled as he discussed the parental rules of home alone.

Buffy's first night at home proved to be uneventful, so at around eleven she decided to go patrolling. Walking through the streets of L.A. at night was definitely not like Sunnydale. She had been propositioned twice, and nearly run over by a speeding driver.

When Buffy finally found the cemetery that she'd been looking for, she was expecting to find two 'soon to be risen vampires', but instead, she found five vampires standing over a grave site. One of the vampire's sensed a human presence and turned toward her direction, but before he could react, Buffy pulled the trigger on the crossbow and the vampire turned to dust right before the others' eyes.

"Slayer." One growled. Two of his fellow vampires looked at each other, then at Buffy, and took off in opposite directions, leaving only two left. Buffy charged at the female vampire and struck her to the ground. The other vampire grabbed Buffy by the hair and slung her into the headstone. Buffy felt a wave of nausea pass over her as the vampire descended on her. Teeth snarling, menace in his eyes.

"I want this moment to last." He snarled as he got closer to Buffy.

One, two, three. Buffy head butted the vampire, who fell back and howled, clutching his head. The female vampire ran toward her with Buffy's crossbow in her hands and pointing it at Buffy's heart, only to vanish into a pile of dust.

The male vampire and Buffy looked up to see a blond man wearing a leather coat, standing over the ashes. The vampire howled as Buffy took the opportunity to stake him. Buffy turned toward the good-looking man, searching his face for an answer, a response, but got nothing.

"You helped me?" Buffy gasped as she took in his appearance. Black leather duster, black jeans, black T-shirt. He likes black, she thought. His cheek bones were hollowed and defined, his storm blue eyes, piercing and unmoving. His lips pursed, full and sensuous. A scar on his left eyebrow was the only thing that marred his perfect face, but his face looked cold and tired.

"I couldn't let him kill you." His British accent tantalised her senses and yet she wasn't listening to them.

"Thank's. But . . ." Buffy picked up the crossbow by his feet and swung into action as the new borne vampire emerged from the ground. Before the new fledging even knew what happened, the arrow pierced his heart and he was reduced to a pile of ash.

"I needed one last dance." Buffy heard him whisper. She turned to him.

"What?"

"My name is William the Bloody, aka Spike. Remember that for your watcher. Let him enter it into those volumes of novels they have on you slayers. I killed two of them you know? One in 1900 during the Boxer Rebellion, and the other in 1977... her name was Nikki. That one and I could have danced forever, but her forever wasn't long. Now my forever won't be either."

"You . . . are a vampire." Buffy's slayer senses screamed 'Told you so'.

"Let's do this slayer. Me and you, 'til my death. I have nothing more to live for, so it shouldn't take long out of your busy schedule." Spike braced for an all out assault, but nothing, she hadn't even moved. "Look here you silly bint, I vampire, you slayer. Slayer kill vampire. Vampire go poof. Slayer happy. It's the way of the bloody world."

"I'm not going to fight you." Buffy couldn't believe the words that rolled off her tongue.

"Like hell you're not." Spike put on his game face and charged at Buffy.

Buffy felt like a train had hit her. She was pinned beneath him. He straddled her and laughed.

"Now you are going die." Spike brought his head slowly down to her neck. He waited for her to head butt him like she did the other vampire but she didn't. Her heart raced as teeth grazed her skin. He pulled away from her, confused by her actions. Why had she let me get so close? Why doesn't she fight?

"I could have killed you." His human facade came back. Buffy's wide hazel eyes looked at him. He quickly averted his eyes from hers. He stared down at her neck and gasped at the sight of twin puncture wounds on her neck. Spike let go of her quickly and got up and ran through the cemetery. Buffy sat stunned for a few moments, and then decided to go home.

"What are you doing here?"

"I came to see you."

"Why?"

"Because me and you, we're connected, but you won't listen. You can't hear. You can't listen without prejudice. You're out of order." Spike, dressed in white pants and white silk shirt, moved toward Buffy. She looked down at herself and saw that she was dressed in a white gown.

"Are you borrowed?" Buffy asked as he caressed her cheek.

His fingers left traces of cool air on her skin, as if he had marked it.

"No, I am me. But not really. Not without her."

"Who?"

"Drusilla. You should ask Angel about her one day. I'm sure he'll tell you."

"Angel?."

"Yes." Buffy spun around to see him standing a few feet behind her.

"I don't get it?"

"You won't not yet. You're not ready to know." Angel smiled at Buffy.

"Who is that?" Buffy heard this incessant knocking in her head she spun back around to Spike.

"Me, Buffy." Celia grabbed onto Spike hand with hers. "You just have to listen, Buffy. But you didn't. You let him go. You must save him." Celia faded into the background.

The woman was back, her caramel brown skin seemed dull this time.

"They don't know about me."

"Who? Wait we did this already." Buffy said to the woman before her

"But you didn't get it right, so I better go over it again. . . Oh, you know who. They could never fathom what happened to me."

"Who? I don't have time for guessing games." Buffy said, annoyed that she was going to go through this conversation again. "If I didn't get it the first time why do you think that I am going to get it now?".

"You're right. YOU ARE NOT ready. I see that now." She turned from Buffy. Her straight silky black hair fanned in the air rhythmically as it did before

"Wait." Buffy yelled.

"Yes."

"I am ready. Really I am." Buffy grasped for some reason… she wanted her to stay.

"No. No, you're not." She finally turned back toward Buffy. "Look little sister you got lots of challenges ahead. You can change your destiny if you want. His has already been altered. I know your future. Your heartache. Your Pain. The clock's winding down, 7 3 0 nothing above or below. Dawn is coming, I must go. You have no idea what you are. What's to come. You haven't even begun."

"I'm tired of the hidden messages. I know that this is a dream." Buffy yelled at the woman.

"Fine you want the straight goods." She said a matter of factly.

"Well duh?"

The woman laughed out loud. "You have prophetic dreams. Not telling you' what the hell to do' dreams. You gotta figure it out on your own."

"Here we go again." Buffy sighed.

"You saw something in that vampire tonight didn't you?"

"Yes." The Slayer reluctantly replied.

"Well only you can do something about it. He, like you can become a warrior to our cause. The cause of good. But it's up to you to bring him to our cause."

"Another vampire? Isn't Angel good enough?" Buffy pleaded.

"He will be soon lo . . . Never mind. Too many questions not enough actions. You got to go back out tomorrow. Find him, keep him, save him." The woman vanished.

Buffy got dressed to go out for patrolling again, this time with a purpose to look for Spike, which didn't take long. He was back at the cemetery from the night before.

"Are you ready to kill me now slayer?" Spike asked, swinging his legs off the side of the gravestone.

"No."

Spike hopped off the stone and turned to face her, his game face already on prepared to fight.

"Then it wasn't wise for you to comeback." He lunged at Buffy. She side-stepped his move but lost her footing and fell to the ground. He regained his composure, just as Buffy was picking herself up off the ground and gave her a kick to the stomach. She doubled over in pain as he slammed his fists into her back. She fell to the ground but quickly rolled out of the way as he tried to kick her in the ribs.

She was on her feet in seconds and gave the vampire a roundhouse kick to the face, then she backhanded him, only stunning him for a moment. She kicked him in the groin and he doubled over, howling in pain and anger. The Slayer pulled out her stake and stalked toward him, then drop kicked him. Stunned, he staggered back only to see her fists flying toward his face. He felt the impact and sailed backwards. In fractions of a second she was on top of him, the stake in her hand plunging toward his heart, almost in slow motion.

Flashes of his life as a vampire passed before his eyes. Drusilla. She was the only thing that he'd ever loved and that truly loved him. Her smile, her hair haunted him every time he slept, or fed, or walked, or heard a song. She was gone. She was dead and he must join her. He must go out with the bang that she didn't get. It was unfair her death. If he had only listened to her, to her vision more carefully, he could have stopped it. He could have saved her.

As Buffy brought down the stake, his eyes closed, expecting the pain and then the nothingness of his death. Buffy examined his face. He looked peaceful, almost angelic. He wanted her to kill him, but she wasn't going to. She embedded the stake into the grass next to his head.

He opened his eyes to stare into hers, "What the he . . ." He could see something coming toward him and then it hit him suddenly and he was out like a light.

"What the hell do you do now Buffy?" She said to herself.

Buffy was thankful that some college guys gave an unconscious Spike and her a ride to her dad's house after she told them about her and her boyfriend being mugged. They offered to call the police but she insisted that nothing much was taken and that she'd cancel all her credit cards tomorrow. They helped her and half conscious Spike toward the front door.

"I got it from here guys. Thank you so much." Buffy smiled at the two guys, Michael and Keith.

"You're welcome Buffy."

"Take care of your guy, B." The two men scampered off to there car and drove away.

Buffy held onto Spike as she opened the door. Using most of her Slayer strength to keep Spike upward was hard. "Damn! I didn't realise I hit you that hard!" Buffy said looking at the large blue and purple bruise on the vampire's face. "By the way, come on in, Spike."

The broken invisible barrier allowed for Spike fall into the Summer's house and take Buffy with him.