Disclaimers: all the characters in this story belong to the creators of Buffy and Torchwood.

Author's note: This story is set after season seven of Buffy, at the beginning of season five of Angel and after season four of Torchwood. Esther never died at the end of miracle day.

Chapter one

Cleveland, Ohio. That was where the other hell mouth was and that was where the remaining scooby gang and newly gifted slayers had set up shop. There were teething problems at first, of course. They had to find places to live and a new base. With no means of funds, until Giles revealed he had enough money to set up a mega watcher/slayer facility.

That was almost two years ago. A lot had happened since then. A yellow taxi pulled up outside a grey, tall block of apartments. The door opened and Buffy stepped out onto the pavement, grabbing her bag as she shut the door. She took out thirty dollars and handed it to the driver.

"Here. Keep the change."

The taxi driver smiled and tipped his red cap towards the tired looking blonde.

"Thanks mam. Have a nice day!" he said before driving off.

Buffy sighed and wrapped her jacket around herself. Somehow, having a nice day wasn't going to be as simple anymore. In fact, nothing would ever be simple again.

She had already been back in town for four hours but somehow facing the others didn't appeal to her. She had already had so much 'alone' time on the way back from what she thought was a business trip but no matter how long or how many hours it was it wasn't enough for her to get her head around what had happened.

Buffy had tried everything to pluck up the courage to move, to even show any signs of wanting to. They had to know at some point, not that it mattered. None of them really cared, except for Dawn and maybe Willow.

Deep sigh escaped her rosy lips as she turned to face the clock at the side of her bed. It read: 4:30pm. Buffy sat up, running her hand through her golden locks. She looked at the dressing table that sat opposite her bed. Eyes resting firmly on the plain black jewellery box which sat neatly in the middle.

It didn't take the slayer long before she got up and decided what she wanted to do. Slim fingers rested on the lid of the box. Pausing before she opened it up. Everyone would worry about her if they knew she had kept it they would think she needed professional help. Even after two years the feelings were still so raw.

Hand dug deep into the box until the feeling of coldness hit her smooth palm. Keeping tight hold of the small object, Buffy held her eyes shut as she removed the object. She was scared. For the first time in a long time, she felt vulnerable. Tears spilt as she opened up her hand and eyed up the silver rectangle in front of her. Looking up at the mirror, mascara tracks down her cheek, she smiled a teary smile as she flipped the lid and the pale blue spark turned into a deep orange.

"I hope you're happy…" she whispered.

The training facility was amazing. Xander, Robin and some of the slayers had done a good job of making it state of the art. After all, the place needed to be able to cope under the enormous demand. Giles had also trained a hand full of men and women, of whom included Andrew and Willow in being watchers. There had even been talks of opening up a similar place somewhere in Europe but they were still being discussed.

It was past 6pm and everyone was packing away for the night ready for their nightly gathering, of which included a big meal that Robin and Andrew had cooked. However, tonight was different. Tonight they had decided to order out. They had all finished their meals when the door to the dining room swung open and two beige boots walked in.

Buffy immediately noticed the pizza boxes stacked up.

"So, what's the occasion?"

Everyone turned to greet the slayer.

"Hey B! If we had known you were gonna be back we woulda saved you some," Faith said, as she swallowed the last bite of her pepperoni pizza.

"Sorry Buffy," Willow said.

Buffy waved it off.

"It's ok guys. I'm not really hungry."

Her watcher smiled at her, eager to know what had gone on. He could tell by the look on her face that it was a situation that was deeply troubling the girl that he thought of as his daughter. Giles was about to speak but got beaten to it.

"So, how did it go? What did Angel want?" Dawn asked.

"Yeah, Buff. What did tall, dark and broody want?" Xander followed.

Buffy rolled her eyes at her long time friend.

"Xander..."

She looked around the room, eyes stopping at the young slayers. Sighing.

"This is a topic that I'd rather discuss in private...just us original scoobies."

Kennedy slammed her napkin down on the table, causing Veronica and the others to look at her.

"What do you mean by that?!"

"I'm sorry, Kennedy. All of you. It's just...this is a delicate matter."

Buffy swallowed. She didn't like doing it this way but it was the only way she could keep her emotions in check. Sort of at least.

"Come on guys, let's leave them to it," Kennedy spat, signalling the others to join her.

"Kennedy!" Willow exclaimed.

The witch hated dividing her loyalties like this.

Everyone had left the room except for Giles, Xander, Dawn, Willow and Andrew.

"Andrew..." Buffy said, looking at the newly qualified watcher.

"Gee, what's a watcher got to do to get accepted..." he said before exiting.

Buffy had made sure that no one was stood outside before shutting the door. This made the others slightly worried.

"Buffy, what on earth is going on? If it is another apocalypse, I am quite certain they can handle it," Giles enquired.

She let her hand linger on the door handle. This was going to be harder than she thought.

"Buffy...is-is Angel ok?" asked her younger sister.

Buffy turned to face her friends. A mix of fear, dread and happiness seemed to fill her face.

"Angel is fine, Dawn."

Xander eyed Buffy up as if he was trying to work something out.

"If Angel is ok...why have you got that look on your face? Like something bad has happened?"

She slowly walked to a chair at the top of the table and sat on it. How does she word this? Taking a deep breath she began to tell the gang what had happened in LA.

"I didn't believe it at first. Not until I saw it for myself...I didn't-oh god I don't know if I can do this..." Buffy said, feelings coming to the surface.

She closed her eyes and tried not to cry.

"Buffy..." Willow said with concern.

Sigh.

"It's not bad...and it's not good."

"Less with the cryptic and more with the information," Xander piped.

Another sigh escaped Buffy's lips. This was it. They needed to know.

"Spike's alive..."

Silence fell over the room for a few moments before the silence was broken by Dawn.

"OMG! Is he ok?"

She was eager to know as Spike was her best friend, even after what he had done but all that was forgotten after his death. Giles cleaned his glasses hardly.

"Dear lord!" Giles exclaimed.

Buffy looked at her sister.

"He is fine...well, as fine as anyone could be in that state."

"What state?" Willow said.

"When I say Spike is alive, I mean literally ALIVE. Pulse and all."

That was it. Buffy broke down. She couldn't take it. Willow jumped up and wrapped up her friend with her arms. Xander blinked.

"Ok. Captain peroxide being alive...in the sense of not the undead version. Kinda walking on the side of freaky here."

Dawn looked at Giles.

"That's a good thing though. Right, Buffy?" the red head said softly.

She shook her head. Not the way things were right now. Green eyes met the eyes of her long time friends. Even Xander was confused by this sadness Buffy showed.

"He didn't have a clue who I was though. I tried jogging his memory but he was having none of it. The Spike we all know no longer exists," she said sadly.

It was a long while before anyone plucked up the strength to speak. Tear drop falling from her paled cheek, Dawn was the first.

"So, where is he now?" she whispered.

Buffy stood up and adjusted her clothes.

"He is in a safe place, Dawnie."

She reached into her trouser pocket and pulled out a black and red card, tossing it on the table. It read: Torchwood; Los Angeles.

So guys what do you think of the first chapter? Any ideas for the following chapters please feel free to leave with your reviews or pm me.