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I have boldly lifted bits of dialog from "After Life" and following episodes. These show up in red. Footnotes are at the end of each chapter.

148th Day 

Chapter 8

The Witch 

Willow came in, subdued. Willow’s small frame and red hair held a strength even she did not know she had until she met Buffy and joined her in battles against evil. “Hey Dawn.” She turned to her friend where Buffy sat in the arm chair with Spike beside her instead of behind her now. ”Buffy.”

“Hi, Willow.”

Willow’s expression was one of  wonderment as she studied Buffy. “I… I did it. Everything was right. I knew I could do it.”

“Yeah, you did it,” Buffy said quietly.

“I just missed you so much… we all did,” Willow’s big brown eyes were swimming in tears.

“Why?” asked Buffy quietly.

“I did it because you were suffering somewhere. I thought.”

Buffy shook her head.

“But you weren’t really in Heaven… were you?” Willow saw Buffy’s expression and trailed off.

Buffy turned her eyes away, lowering her chin and Spike broke in. “You had no way of knowing, did you? Did you even think of trying to find out?”

“What say do you have in this, Spike?” Willow asked, confused.

“I speak for Buffy. It’s easier for her.” Buffy nodded without glancing at Willow. “Did... you… try... to… learn?” Spike continued.

“No. No… I didn’t believe there was anywhere but Glory’s hell dimension she could be.”

“She died a hero’s death and you didn’t think.” Spike let anger into his voice. “Of course she went to heaven.”

Willow snapped at him, “Shut up, Spike! You know nothing about magic.”

Buffy sat up straight, starting to intervene, but Spike put a hand to her shoulder and gave a gentle squeeze, pushing her back down, not looking away from Willow. He stepped in front of Buffy, closer to the redhead. “Oh don’t I? I’ve been around a long time and I’ve seen a hell of a lot of things. I’ve met people and things more powerful than you.”

“I don’t think so. No one could do what I did.”

“It’s a big world, little witch. You’ve not seen much more than a corner of it. Not only are there more powerful people than you out there, I like them much more.

Willow was on her feet and staring up at Spike. “Why is that?”

Spike was calm, cold. “Because they have more respect for their best friends than you do.”

Willow answered through gritted teeth. “I love Buffy. I risked so much to bring her back.”

Spike barked a laugh in her face. “See, it all comes back to you.”

Willow swept her arm up and intoned a single Latin word. There was a gust of magical wind and Spike was thrown across the room.

Buffy was suddenly on her feet. “Willow, stop it, now!”

Willow was wild-eyed as she realized Buffy had turned from cringing friend to full-on angry Slayer. She had never faced this wrath, though she had seen it turned on the baddies often enough. Oh God, I’m an evil thing. What did I do? She collapsed in a heap, sobbing, “I’m sorry. I’m sorry. It’s true. I can’t stop. I want more and more power.”

Buffy looked down at her sobbing friend and then up at Dawn. “Go get the others, tell them what happened. I’ll be outside for a few.” Dawn went to the back porch to bring them in and Buffy went to where Spike was laying on the floor, shaking his head. “Are you all right?” She helped him up.

“I’ll be fine. Witch has even more umph than I thought.”

Buffy pulled him out the front door as the others came in the back. As soon as the door closed, the Slayer was gone and the frightened Buffy was back. They held each other up on the porch. “I can’t do it, Spike. Free me! Willow’s so…”

“Shh… Shh… Buffy.” He took her head in his hands and made her met his eyes. “It will all work out. I promise.” I so want to kiss her, to comfort her.

“Willow attacked you. She had no thought for me and no respect for you.” Buffy could not take it all in.

 “I goaded her, Pet,” Spike confessed and Buffy gasped, surprised. “With what everyone said, and how I’ve seen her act over the summer, I knew she’d blow. I’m sorry I had to do that.”

“Everyone is sorry these days.” Buffy quietly said.

“I wanted the pot to boil over before it got worse. Giles can take her somewhere she can get trained right.”

“Why didn’t Giles see?”

“I told you, I’ve never seen anyone so unhappy. He was lost, Luv.”

“When will he come back?” Buffy sounded like a child asking after a lost parent.

“I don’t know that anyone’s called him.”

“I want to. I have some more things to tell them, then I want to call him.”

Spike gave her another hug. “That’s a good plan, Buffy.”

They came back in to find everyone gathered in the living room. Willow huddled in Tara’s arms on the couch, her face tear-covered and scrunched. Dawn was in the middle, Anya sat at the other end, and Xander had a hip on the couch arm beside her. Buffy stood with arms crossed and faced them, with Spike at his post beside her, and waited until all eyes were on her. “I want to thank you for coming here. For being my friends. At this point I can't thank you for bringing me back. I… I can't describe how wonderful the place I went was. And now I'm here. I have to live moment to moment. The other night… The way you treated me on the street… it was harsh. None of you would even… touch me. I was about to jump off that tower when Dawn found me. She reached me, saved me. She brought me home.

“Once here, Spike anchored me.” Buffy reached back and took Spike’s hand. Surprised and pleased, he closed the step of space he’d left her and looked down into her eyes. She smiled at him before turning back to the silent crowd on the couch. Dawn had a big grin, Tara was a little frightened, Willow was bewildered, Xander was a little mad and very confused, and Anya was filing her nails as if this was something she knew all along.

“I remember how you... how we all treated Spike in the past. I’ve heard how you treated him this summer. I’ve seen how some of you treated him tonight. He knows something about the dark magicks so you didn’t tell him what you were doing. You excluded him from gatherings, yet used him when you needed to leave Dawn alone to scheme. That ends now.” Buffy looked at each of the four in turn. “Spike is… I need Spike to be here. He is one of us.”

“Gooble, gobble, gooble, gobble, one of us,” put in Xander.

Spike scowled at him. Buffy remembered the creepy black and white film Xander was referring to that they had all watched one rainy night in high school.

“We are all freaks, Xander. If you cannot get along, then don’t come around.”

Xander was startled by this. “Buffy, give a guy a chance to get used to the idea. I mean, you and Spike…”

“There is no ‘me and Spike,’ Xander. I… I need something solid, someone…”

“I’ll be your anchor, pet,” Spike squeezed her shoulder. “I don’t care what they say.”

She smiled up at him. “Yes, you do.”

“I think it’s neat,” Dawn put in. “I’ve known how cool Spike was for years and no one would listen to me.”

“Thanks for that, Nibblet.”

“I have to live… slowly now. I have to feel my way along. You’re all my friends and I love you, but it won’t be easy.” She looked pointedly at the redhead. “Willow. You need help. I’m going to call Giles tomorrow and see what he can do.”

Willow only nodded.

“It’s been… rough. I’m going to bed, now. Good night.” Buffy led Spike up the stairs, neither one looking back.

They left a great silence in their wake which lasted until Buffy’s bedroom door closed.

“Wow,” said Xander, shaking his head. “Buffy taking Spike to bed. Lucky…” He trailed off when he saw Anya glaring at him. “I’m just saying, I was there all through high school and she never…”

Dawn interrupted, “Buffy wakes up… scared. So he sleeps beside her. Sleeps. The bruises on Spike’s face, they came from her hitting him as she wakes up. She was in a box, guys. She woke up in a box. Spike knows what that’s like.”

Xander studied his clenched hands. “I never thought of that. I’m glad he’s here then.”

Anya chirped, “Spike’s got more going for him than you’ve ever given him credit for, Xander. You need to respect him.”

“I’ll do my best, Anya. For Buffy’s sake, if nothing else.”

Willow had said nothing through all this but suddenly stood up. “I’m going to bed now. I… I have classes tomorrow.” There was a chorus of reasons to disband and everyone took their leave.

Upstairs, Spike and Buffy had been listening. “You hear all that noise? You want me to take them out? Give me a hell of a headache, but I could probably thin the heard a little.”[i]

Buffy grinned and motioned for him to turn around so she could change.

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