Spike knew he was being nosy, but the Scoobies had been acting suspicious for several weeks.  Whenever the Watcher, Dawn, or he would enter a room the shusheing was becoming downright annoying. 

He knew Dawn and Giles were out at a movie that night, so while Willow and Tara were having dinner at Xander and Anya's apartment, Spike slipped into the witch's bedroom... Joyce's bedroom, he thought sadly.  Working quickly, he started nosing through the drawers and the closet.  He wasn't really sure what he was looking for, but he figured something would jump out at him.

Within ten minutes, Spike found what he was looking for.  Hidden between the romance and mystery novels on the bookcase, he found a small magical lexicon and a page after page of notes in Willow's distinctive handwriting. 

"Bloody buggerin' fuck," Spike growled as he scanned the spell Willow had chosen and her careful notes.  He whirled around abruptly, his duster swirling around his calves, and went out into the hallway.  He knew that there was some paper and a pen in the Slayer's undisturbed room.  After he  copied down the spell Willow planned to use to resurrect Buffy, he carefully returned the book to its spot, and went down to make himself comfortable as he waited for the Watcher.

Spike didn't have long to wait before Giles' penis-mobile pulled into the driveway.  He was seething mad and quite agitated, but he struggled to keep it inside.  He didn't want to upset Dawn with the news about Willow's plans, especially since both he and Dawn  had agreed that Buffy was probably in Heaven now.  Despite all her faults and foibles, the Slayer was a good person at heart.

Spike heard the key in the lock followed by Dawn's eager voice expounding on all the virtues of her latest teenage crush.   The vampire rolled his eyes, but he was secretly glad that she was starting to feel a bit better about things.  He got up from his spot on the couch and went to meet them in the foyer.

"I see you enjoyed the movie, Bit," Spike remarked casually while he leaned against the living room door jamb.  "Why don't you make us some hot chocolate?  You can tell me all about it after I talk to the Watcher."

"Um, sure, Spike," Dawn said brightly.  She was thrilled that her best friend wanted to hear about the movie, especially since he hadn't wanted to see it himself.

Giles waited until Dawn had disappeared into the kitchen, and could be heard banging pots around and slamming cupboards.  The Watcher raised a questioning eyebrow at the vampire, who in turn motioned him into the living room.  Giles waited patiently while Spike grabbed some papers off the end table and thrust them into his hands.  He started to read, then gave an audible gasp, and looked up at the now pacing vampire.

"No, Rupes.  Get that thought right outta your head," Spike ordered.  He had been expecting just such a reaction and didn't take it personally.  "It isn't me.   Magic like that always has  consequences.  Always."

"Then who?" Giles growled.  "Who would have the arrogance to perform such a spell?  Because you're right, the consequences would be staggering, not only to the spell caster, but to the Lazarus."

"Well, I doubt very much it's the Wicca," Spike drawled.  "She isn't into blood magic."

"Willow!" Giles spat.  He pushed his glasses down, and he pinched the bridge of his nose.  He could feel the mother of all headaches building behind his eyes.

"Yep."  Spike threw himself down on the couch.  "All planned out for tomorrow night when you're jetting off to the motherland and the Nibblet and I are busy."

"Stopping her won't be easy," Giles mused softly.  "Not if she has the others to back her.  The chip hinders you and even if I called my contacts within the coven, there won't be time to cast the counter spells."

"My old buddy Razor's in town." Spike smirked.  "He owes me a favor or two.  I could rouse him and his gang to come 'round an' interrupt the spell.  I think you better ring your coven anyway, Watcher.  Last person to be resurrected usin' this spell ended up with the spell casters powers."

"Right, then."  Giles glanced back towards the hallway to check on Dawn.  "Do you think that Dawn will be upset if you don't do your 'thing' tomorrow?  I really don't think she needs to be on this little escapade."

"I think it'll be fine, Rupes."  Spike shoved a hand through his hair.  "It's really only to distract her from the fact you're leaving."

"I can't leave now."  Giles didn't look the least bit put out by this news.  "I'll just have to call Travers up and tell him something has come up."

"I'm not sure that's a good idea," Dawn's voice sounded from the hallway.  "Not the calling, I mean.  Do that.  What I mean is that you should make it seem like you did leave."

"Bit, you're eavesdropping again," Spike said gently.  "Good job!"

"Thanks, Spike."  The girl grinned brightly at the vampire before she turned to Giles.  "If you say goodbye to the Scoobies here and have Spike drive you to the airport, they'll never know you didn't get on the plane."

"What about you, Dawn?" Giles asked.  "You were looking forward to a night out with Spike."

"That's okay," Dawn assured him.  "Normally, I'd be full of resentment and have to throw a temper tantrum, but just this once it'll be okay.  Spike can drop me off at Janice's house.  The new Superman series starts tonight and the guy that plays Lex Luthor makes bald look hot."  She smirked when the two males blanched at her words.

The three of them continued to make plans while they sipped the hot chocolate that Dawn had prepared.  As much as they wanted Buffy back in their midst, they believed that the Slayer deserved to keep her place in heaven.  None of them had even entertained the thought that Buffy was trapped in a hell dimension somewhere, but obviously they were the only ones.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

THE NEXT NIGHT         

"Bloody hell, we're too late," Spike growled in a whisper to the man standing next to him.  "Willow moved up the soddin' timetable."

"She's already halfway done.  There is no way we can step in now, not with the spell already partially cast.  It was quite fortuitous that I brought the shovels, isn't it?"  Giles sighed.  "How long before your friend, and I use that term quite loosely, arrives?"

"Well, he was supposed to be here in time to break up this little get together, but now he'll be here just in time for the grand finale."  Spike's voice was filled with barely supressed tension.

"The coven is prepared for this, Spike."  Giles laid a hand on the vampire's shoulder.  "Everything will be fine."  He handed Spike one of the shovels.  "Here, you 're going to need this."

"Thanks, Rupes," Spike said.  "Maybe I can get this right."

"We'll discuss that little statement later.  It's showtime." 

With that, Giles marched out into the clearing where Buffy's tombstone was set, just as the demons arrived on their motorcycles.  He leveled his gaze on the group of humans while he called back to the vampire.  "Spike, tell your buddies that their services are not needed."

Spike stepped out of the shadows into the clearing, the shovel slung over one shoulder.  He marched over to the demons, conversed with the leader for a minute, and waved them away.  He then walked over to Giles and grabbed the shovel that the Watcher was still holding.  Without missing a step, the vampire threw it on the ground in front of Xander.

"Start digging, whelp," Spike snarled.  At this moment he didn't really care about the chip.  If the boy got in his face, he would give him the smack down that he richly deserved.  Spike pulled Xander to his feet and pushed the boy towards Buffy's tombstone.

Giles studied Willow, who had collapsed and was panting like she had just run a marathon.  He couldn't believe how arrogant and stupid the girl was acting.  Hadn't their encounters with Ethan Rayne taught the girl anything?  She said she had learned her lesson after that damned 'Thy Will be Done' spell!  Giles decided it was a moot point now.  He wasn't getting any of the magical vibrations from the redhead that had been there before.  He really had thought that Willow was smart enough to avoid the usual pitfalls of magic useage.

"It's okay, baby," Tara whispered, petting her girlfriend's lank, sweaty hair.  "You'll be back to your old self and doing magic as soon as you rest."

"I think you will find that isn't the case this time around, Tara," Giles said in a frosty voice.  "I don't know if Willow researched enough or simply ignored the consequences of using this particular resurrection spell, but she'll never use magic again."  His tone was marked with finality that made Tara gape at him in astonishment.  "And you, Anyanka, I thought that you at least would inform these children of the dangers of this spell."

"Xander told me to be quiet, Giles," Anya sighed.  "He told me to just go count my money.  Besides, Willow assured us she knew exactly what she was doing.  I'm just a girlfriend."  Her voice was laced with sarcasm, and she shot Willow a poisonous glare.

"Why didn't you come to Spike or myself when you discovered that Willow was going to do this particular spell?" Giles asked Anya.

"She convinced us that Buffy was in Hell."  Anya shrugged her shoulders as she stared lustfully at her boyfriend.  "Take off your shirt, Xander.  You know how I get when I see you do manual labor."  She nibbled on her bottom lip while she watched the two males continue to dig.

"I-if Willow h-has lost her magic, where has it gone?"  Tara asked quietly while she rubbed Willow's back.

"The results are just temporary," Willow announced confidently.  "Buffy was trapped in a hell dimension and I rescued her!  Besides, you don't know everything, Giles.  My powers will return."

"I doubt very much that Buffy is going to agree to give your powers back to you."  Giles let his Ripper persona bleed through to the forefront.  "It will be hard enough for her to return to this hell.  To suddenly have magic thrust upon her - on top of her being the Slayer - will take time for her to assimilate, even with the help of the coven."

"That's not fair," Willow spat between gritted teeth.  "They're my powers.  Of course, she'll give them back.  I saved her from Hell, dammit!"

"I hit something," Xander yelped.  He scrambled out of the hole that he and Spike had frantically dug and went over to put his arm around Anya.  The group watched as Spike broke open the coffin lid.

"Shhh, pet," the vampire cooed softly.  "Spike's gotcha."  He lifted the whimpering girl into his arms, and with a supernatural leap, got himself and Buffy smoothly out of the grave.  Spike looked at the assembled group and said with a sneer, "Left her in the bloody ground.  Smooth move.  And you call yourselves her friends."

"Give her to me," Xander said loudly.  He moved towards Spike, but stopped when Buffy whimpered and curled into Spike's body.  "What the hell did you do to her, Spike?"

"I've done nothing to the Slayer, you git," Spike growled.  "Quit tryin' to put your sins off onto me."

"How do you know she's still the Slayer?" Tara asked.

"Can feel it, y'know."  Spike smiled down at the woman in his arms.  "I get the same twinge on the back of my neck around her as she does around vamps."

"I suggest you all go home." Giles said.  He was still seething on the inside.  "Spike, Dawn and I are taking Buffy and leaving for England."

"You can't do that," Willow sputtered.  "It's Buffy's job to protect the Hellmouth!  She has to stay here and do her duty."

"Actually, the Slayer's in the Los Angeles County jail, Red."  Spike shifted the weight of his burden around to make her more comfortable.  "I'm sure that Rupes here can talk the Wankers into getting her released and sent back here to do her job."

"Well, the least you could do is thank me for getting her out of a hell dimension."  Willow glared at both Spike and Giles.

"Buffy, luv," Spike whispered into the Slayer's ear.  "Were you in hell?"  He smirked at the red-haired former witch when the woman in his arms shook her head.

"S-Spike, how long was I g-gone?" Buffy whimpered.

"A hundred and forty-seven days.  A hundred forty-eight, but today doesn't count, does it?"  Spike smiled gently when Buffy shook her head which was now buried in his neck.  "Let's go, Watcher.  We've got places to go and people to see."  With that, the vampire turned and strode off into the darkness with the Slayer still held firmly in his arms.

"I'll contact you with any news, Anya."  Giles nodded to the ex-vengeance demon before he followed along behind Spike.  He couldn't believe he was in league with another vampire.  One that only had a microchip and an overwhelming love for a Slayer and her sister to hold him back.  Somehow, for this particular creature, Giles was sure that would be quite enough, because Spike had spilled one little secret that no one knew about the resurrection spell that Willow had used.

Buffy had been in heaven.  Her soul had returned to her earthly body.  She had Willow's magic, and she was still the Slayer.  However, the first creature to touch her hadn't been a human.  In fact, hadn't been living at all.  Therefore, she wasn't human or living for that matter.  Buffy the Vampire Slayer was now the Queen of the Vampires.