Willow stared back at him in shock, her eyes bulging. “What? Human? Wait, how do you know he was human? Was he wearing a sandwich board that said ‘Check me out, I’m human!’?”

“Well, there was a sunlight factor, and I didn’t notice him bursting into flames.”

“How can… but he’s dead! Dead dead! Burnt up in the bottom of a crater dead! That’s pretty dead!”

“I know what I saw, Will,” he spoke firmly.

“Are you sure you weren’t seeing the past? I mean, there was that whole Gem of Amara thing, and Spike did get injured a lot…”

“I thought the whole purpose of this awakening was to see what’s going on with the apocalypse?”

“Well,” Willow said weakly as she tried to find an answer. “Maybe we did it wrong. Maybe you’re seeing the last apocalypse?”

Xander shook his head. “This didn’t feel like a glimpse from the past, or the future. It felt… really real. I think Spike’s out there somewhere.”

“Oh my god. Should we tell Buffy?”

“I dunno.” Xander ran a hand over his tired face. “I’m not sure it’s a good idea. It would just freak her out. Even if he is alive, why should it matter?”

“Xander…”

“I mean, I know Spike was Mr. Save-The-World in the end, but that doesn’t mean we have to do anything about it.”

“Then why would you get the vision if it had nothing to do with us?”

Xander put his hands on his hips and shook his head. “Do you think he saved the world again?” he asked dubiously.

“Spike may be many things, but he’s not exactly an overachiever. Did you know where he was?”

“No. I saw mostly colors and flashes of light. Red, white, blue…”

“That’s very… patriotic?”

“Blue,” he added excitedly. “I remember. I saw something blue. No, I think it was someone blue.”

“You saw a Smurf?”

Xander grinned. “Didn’t look like a Smurf to me.”

 

* * * *

“Spike. Wake up.”

He felt something jab him in the ribs and he rolled over, coughing blood. He couldn’t remember having this much blood. Where was it all coming from?

“Illyria… that you?”

“They’re gone,” she said simply, before falling down beside him on the street.

“What?” Spike asked groggily. He must’ve been knocked unconscious, he didn’t remember what he was doing. The last thing he could remember was drinking… lots of drinking. And poetry. And… “Oh god…” he mumbled. “Where are the others? Gunn, we lost him… Angel?”

“I did not see him. He may have escaped into the sewers when the sun rose. Ahh,” she moaned, clutching at her stomach. “This form is weak… it bleeds.”

“You’ve had that body for quite a while, luv,” Spike muttered gravely. “Might as well call it your own. ‘S not like…”

“Spike?”

He started coughing blood. “What… the hell?” He couldn’t remember a chest wound hurting this much. He squinted as he looked upwards. “Hey,” he said weakly. “Is that the sun?”

 

* * * *

“Hey. Morning,” Willow greeted Kennedy nervously as she left the bathroom.

“Morning,” Kennedy replied, giving her girlfriend an odd look. “How did the spell… go?” She frowned when Xander exit behind Willow.

“It worked,” she replied. “Just not like we’d expected. Um,” she moved away from the door. “Bathroom’s free.”

Kennedy glared at Xander’s back as he and Willow made their way towards the living room.

Buffy, Dawn, Giles and Andrew sat in the living room, all looking tense.

“So,” Andrew began when he saw Xander. “Everyone says you saw a vision filled with blood. Could you tell if it was O negative, because I’m not too sure if I…”

“Shut up, Andrew,” Dawn and Giles said in unison.

“So what are we supposed to do with this?” Buffy asked. “You saw blood. We don’t even know what that means. We don’t know whose blood it is, or why it’s there or…” Buffy shook her head in frustration. Willow and Xander did their best to hide their guilty faces. “We need more to go on. Are you sure you didn’t see anything else?”

Willow looked away and Xander shook his head. “No. Just blood.”

“We’re looking into it. Xander and I are going to try and get some sleep. We’re pretty wiped.”

“Yes,” Giles agreed. “You’ll need to keep your energy up. We’ll do our best to keep quiet.

Buffy had a bad feeling about this whole affair. Every time she closed her eyes she could see herself in the mirror, gasping in surprise and clutching a hand to her chest. Buffy knew that it wasn’t just a random pain, there was more to it. She wished she felt so sure about these visions Xander was having.

 

* * * *

She awoke when it had gone dark. A siren sounded in the distance, the first sound she was aware of as she sat up in the dark alley.

Illyria looked down at her middle. Red blood was caked onto her suit, but the pain in her abdomen had dulled considerably. Despite the fact that she had healed quickly, Illyria scowled at her weak body. I have come to call it my own, she noted. Spike would be pleased.

She sat up fully and took in her surroundings. Spike lay still beside her, his chest rising and falling at a slow rate. She moved closer towards him. He was covered in blood, but his body was still warm.

He was still alive.

Illyria cocked her head to the side. Still? His living was the cause of great confusion. Wesley had taught her about the powers and weaknesses of vampires, and she didn’t remember living to be one of them.

Illyria noticed that his eyes were slightly open. She leaned forward and placed her hand over the lids, moving to close them. Spike twitched slightly at the contact and coughed.

“You’re awake.”

He coughed more before responding. “It hurts.”

“You’ve been badly wounded. It also seems that you are mortal.”

“I can’t,” he muttered hoarsely, gasping for breath. Illyria waited to hear more but his eyes closed. He’d passed out again.

He was fading. Illyria wasn't going to let him die, not like Wesley. If she had to live on this earth, so would they.

“Hospital,” she murmured, remembering that it was a place where injured people went for aid. She slid an arm beneath Spike’s head and lifted it off of the great. She would have to carry him to the nearest hospital, even though she didn’t know where that was.

“That won’t do for him.”

Illyria turned towards the opening of the alley. A man in a long brown coat stood there, his skin paler than Spike’s and his eyes dark and hallow looking.

“Who are you?” she asked, laying Spike’s head back on the ground. He moaned slightly but didn’t wake.

“A past acquaintance,” he replied, revealing his blackened teeth. “Ah, I see dear William has not only regained his body, but his mortality as well.”

Illyria stood and faced the stranger. She could sense his intent – he wished to harm Spike. “You will not harm him.”

“Are you going to stop me, little girl?” he asked mockingly, taking steps towards her. “I’ve got quite a bone to pick with him.”

“You will come no closer.”

“He’s the key to my freedom,” he continued, ignoring her commands. “If I destroy him, I am set free. Free to live forever however I choose.”

“I warned you.”

The disheveled man lunged towards her with his arms outstretched. Illyria merely reached out and grabbed his head, then gave his neck a good snap. Pavayne fell dead to the ground.

She returned her eyes to the alley’s entrance. “More will come.”

 

* * * *

There was so much blood. It covered the dark streets in all different colors, coming from all different kinds of beasts and creatures. Most of what he saw was red.

“Spike,” a voice echoed. Everything around him seemed to be tilting from side to side, like he was on a carnival ride. Blue eyes met his. “Spike.”

Xander shook his head. He’d just had another vision, and this time he clearly saw a woman, very blue and very… attractive. OK, focus on more important details. He shot up from the bed and moved into the living room. “Guys!” he shouted, but no one answered. No one was in the kitchen, but he found a note on the counter.

Gone to the grocery store, be back soon.

Did everyone leave? Xander looked out onto the balcony and in Giles' study but found no one. It wasn’t until he opened the door to the guest bedroom that he found he was not alone.

“Willow,” he said, approaching the bed. She lay still on her back, her eyes closed and her arms folded over her middle. “I think I just had another vision, or a really weird dream. It seems to only work when I’m waking up. Gives more meaning to the term ‘awakened,’ huh?”

No response. “Hey, Will,” he said, gently shaking her shoulder. She didn’t move. “Will?” he repeated weakly. She was really still. “Willow, c’mon, you’re scaring me.” She was still breathing, but why wouldn’t she wake up. “Will?”

Xander looked around the room. She might’ve done a spell or something; she was probably in a trance. He had to be sure, though. He saw her laptop sitting on the desk by the door, apparently recently used. Moving closer Xander saw that she’d pulled up a map of Los Angeles, and that a certain part of it was glowing. Not from the computer screen glowing, he could see that she’d used magic to do a locator spell. The light shone through the back of the monitor.

“OK,” he said, processing the information. “I guess we know where Spike is.” He turned to his friend’s rigid body. “Now where are you?”

 

* * * *

Willow navigated her way through the planes, luckily landing in the one she had been seeking. On this plane everywhere and everything was located in one spot, including her essence. If she concentrated hard enough, she could return to a plane that ran parallel to their own anywhere she wanted.

A burst of light shone around her and then disappeared. She found herself in an alley, standing over the body of what appeared to be a transient. “Oh,” she muttered. “Harsh realities of the big city.”

She then noticed that he wasn’t the only one in the alley besides herself, and that he hadn’t died due to lack of resources. Spike lay a few feet behind him in a bloody heap, but it was the figure that stood before her that concerned Willow the most.

“Fred?”