Walking by His Side

Buffy got up, slapping herself in the head and laughing. "You know what? Maybe I'll go and see what beasties are left and beat them up- we're throwing each other off."

Spike chuckled. "Sure thing, luv. Get that last beating of the night in and out of your system."

Buffy smiled. "You don't wanna come along?" She folded her arms across her chest in mock shock and hurt.

Spike just shook his head ruefully. "No, pet. I'll just stay right here- I've got a lot of thinking to do on my own- and so do you." He leaned over, and picked up his duster, placing it around her shoulders to warm her up. "Thanks for the invite though."

Buffy nodded, glad that he understood that her invitation was just to be polite- and not being hurt by it. "You know...if we both win the fight tomorrow, uh...", she suddenly looked at her fingers, finding them very interesting and wringing them together, "Uh, I might just not mind having you around- at times, you're, um...bearable. Even..." She looked up into his eyes with a question on her face.

Spike smiled. "I get it, pet. Now, go on. You're fidgeting, and I know that means you're just itching to hurt something."

Buffy smiled wistfully, and turned around to head to the stairs. She reached the top step before pausing to say quietly, "I won't hurt you anymore, William. I don't want to."

The door shut softly, and a breeze from the lock snapping whisked past his face. Suddenly, Spike got an inspiration.

"I don't want to hurt you anymore either, Buffy."

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Twenty minutes later, Spike was pounding nails into the walls. The driven synth-beat coming from the cd stereo gave him company. He silently hoped Dawn wouldn't notice the dent mark on the bottom from when he dropped it on his way down the stairs.

Spike finished a line of nails along the ceiling, and let the hammer fall from his fingers carelessly. Seconds later, the pain on his foot registered.

"Ow, bloody....ARGH!" He hopped up and down on one foot, and then paused to glare upwards. "Your stupid, bloody sense of humor, I see? Twice in one night, Oh...balls...ow!"

Spike limped over to the cot where a box with christmas lights lay waiting. Slowly over the next hour he untangled, tangled himself, and untangled the lights, stringing them against the nails all over the ceiling. He stopped momentarily, and looked upwards. "Stars. How...effulgen- wait, I swore NEVER to use that word again..."

He continued muttering to himself as he set up the second cot, broke off the side bars, and pressed the two cots together to create a bigger bedding space. He leaned over to the big box of packed bedding, gingerly laying three comforters and several pillows on the expanded cot. He kicked the box over to a dark corner, then pulled out another box with pillar candles. He covered the sides and surfaces of the room with candles, and lit them all to give the room a flickering glow.

Next, he went over to the enormous pile of flowers from the graveyard. He ripped and pulled all of the rose petals and flowers from their stems as he walked the expanse of the room that was not lit with candles, starting with the top stair of the basement and ending at the cot. There, he piled only rose petals on the bed. Happy with his finishing touch, he turned around to see...

His guide stood before him in her own form, yet it was too dark to see her features clearly. He could barely make out the kind smile on her face as she admired his handiwork. "William, what wonderful work you have done."

Spike shrugged, his arms falling nonchalantly at his sides. "Just, uh...a thing for the lady."

The guide smiled wistfully. "No, dear. I was talking about your efforts since you've been back. You'll make a fine warrior tomorrow- but you must make the right choice." She stepped foward, and placed a hand over his heart.

Spike's body went into shock as warmth and a pulse went through his heart for the first time in over a hundred years. His eyes squinted in pain as his body and veins adjusted to the life flow.

"This is what it is to be human- warm, beating, alive, and redeemed. But you are not human Spike, and Buffy is.

Tomorrow, Buffy will no longer be alone as the slayer. There will be millions on her side fighting the good fight. She can be anything she wants to be after the battle tomorrow. She doesn't know that she'll survive for certain, but if you make the right choice, she will.

However, retirement and no longer being alone as a slayer will cost a lot to Buffy. Something has to be taken form her to ease the scales for the Powers. Changing the entire world does not come without a price. She cannot go against what has been established for many a millena."

Spike nodded slowly in agreement. "I've been around long enough to understand nothing comes without a price, pet. What is it?"

The guide looked at him squarely in the eye. Her heart hated telling him this, but she had to. "The price is beyond current comphrension. Most of all, it is a champion. One with a soul, but greater than human. This is not a slayer, or an ordinary vampire." She looked away momentarily before regaining her composure. "The price is partly you, William. The amulet will guide you tomorrow, and you wil know what to do. You can resist, and let there be life amoungst the champion, but not all the evil on the hellmouth will be defeated. If you want to demolish the hellmouth's gate completely, you must pay the full price."

She placed her hand over his beating heart. "To be human is to make sacrifices for others, to have heart, to have a soul. You can redeem yourself. Make this sacrifice for Buffy, and you will completely and utterly redeemed in the eyes of the powers."

Spike was taken aback. Redeemed? But he had his soul...but then again, that was not simply redemption. It was not a clean slate. The soul had only made him realise how dirty his past was- this next step would clean him of it.

Spike looked up, only to find the guide gone. However, her last whisper was, "You will be a vampire and human until dawn. It help help you understand the price"

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This chapter has been edited for clarity and story arc changes.