So, here is the very last chapter of part I of I Would Still Have Loved You Since that title is meant to convey the message of the entire post Chosen/NFA-to-season-four-back-to-post-Chosen/NFA saga, I'm going to have to label the various parts by numbers. I've no idea at this point what that means in terms of how many parts there will be. I'd intended it to be one story, but getting them through season four ended up taking so long that it has become obvious I can't get from there through the crucial season five stuff and on up to the time they came from all in one fic. Plus, I have to do a lot of research before I begin the rest of it so I can make good decisions about what events may have already been changed by their arrival, which ones aren't important enough to do more than refer to in passing, and...most importantly, decide how they will handle Glory and what that will mean for their future relationship. It's possible I can do that in one story, but the experience of working on this one make that seem doubtful. There's a limit to how much can be summarized and/or blown off in a season without making it boring... and of course, the ultimate goal is to see what kind of a future they come back to and if they are still together...

CHAPTER TWENTY-NINE

Jonathan had apparently disregarded Buffy's suggestion not to work the spell making him some sort of Sunnydale superman, but he didn't manage to keep it going for any longer than it took for Buffy and Spike to pay him a visit. After they and Giles had read the just-in-case notes they'd made for themselves, it took no time to track him down at his mansion. His expression when Buffy and Spike marched into his "office" with their intentions clear, would have been funny if they hadn't been dealing with his alternate world for part of the day. When they approached his desk, one going to either side of his chair, he blanched and began to babble his apologies.

"Fix it," Buffy said.

"Now." Spike's agreement was accompanied by a flash of fangs and a snarl.

Nodding and apologizing, Jonathan mumbled some words, and the surroundings went back to a small apartment on the edge of USC Sunnydale's campus.

"What did I tell you? Didn't you believe me?" Buffy glared at him, hands on hips.

"I do now," he said. "But how did you know?"

"I just did. I know a lot of things."

"Try to hold that thought, wanker," Spike said as they turned to leave. "We'll know what you do from now on."

"That was such a lie," Buffy giggled when they were safely outside. "We don't have any idea what he did between now and after I came back. Except that at some point, he hooks up with Warren and Andrew."

"He doesn't know that, does he? Maybe he'll stay away from the wannabe villains if he thinks you'll know what he's doing."

"Maybe. I guess we'll find out eventually."

XXXX

By the time another month had gone by, evenings had settled into a quiet pattern of short Scooby meeting, more for socialization than anything slayer-related, patrols of the cemeteries, and nights spent in their apartment.

"Are you bored?" Buffy asked abruptly one evening.

Spike gave her a wary look. "What makes you ask that, love?" he said, putting down the book he'd been reading. "Are you?"

She sighed. "Maybe? A little bit? I can't believe I'm saying this, but it's almost spring already and there's no looming apocalypse to worry about."

"We've got the mother of all apocalypses coming up next year," he reminded her. "And we don't know if this year's done with us. We really don't know what else might be coming now that we've changed things a bit."

"Well, all I can remember are the weird dreams we all had—not you, obviously, but the rest of us. And the cheese guy."

"Cheese guy?"

"You had to be there," Buffy sighed. "But you're right. There might be something coming that we don't know about."

"If there is, we'll handle it. Just like we're going to handle the hellbitch when she gets here." He shrugged. "I'm kinda looking forward to that, to be honest. She's gonna have a harder time taking on both of us." He smiled at her. "And I miss the Bit. Tantrums and all, it was fun when she thought I was the best thing since sliced bread. Missed that when she decided she hated me."

"She didn't, you know," Buffy said. "She was heartbroken that you died and she never had a chance to make up with you."

"Girl had a right to—"

"She thought she had a right. I let her think that way too long. It's my fault she hated you… which I don't think she really did. I think she was more… disappointed. She thought you were some kind of vampire big brother and hero, and then—"

"And then I showed her what I really am," he said flatly.

"I talked to her about it last year. She's got a better understanding now of what our… relationship… was like that year. She just never got a chance to tell you she wasn't as mad at you as she was when she said she'd set you on fire."

He snorted. "I remember that. I think your little sis might be scarier than you are."

"Well, when she gets here next year, she'll probably be crushing on you just as much as she did before. I'm not sure how knowing we're already together and without you having to take care of her a whole summer are going to affect that, but I'm sure she's still going to think you're a major hottie."

"A hottie, huh?" He stood up and came to sit by her on the couch. "Don't suppose that idea runs in the family, does it?"

Buffy pretended to think. "Well, Mom likes you… or will like you… but I don't think she'd call you a hottie."

"Was thinking more about you," he growled, running a finger down the side of her neck and smiling when she shivered. "Wantin' to know if you appreciate how hot I am."

Buffy giggled and slid her hand under his tee shirt. "Hmmm, feels more like room temperature, to me." She stroked his chest, pausing to pinch one of his nipples before sliding both hands around him to caress his back.

"Trust me, love," he said as he lifted his arms so she could push his tee-shirt off. "You are playin' with fire here, and it's about to get very hot."

"Promises, promises," she gasped as he dropped backward onto the couch, pulling her down with him.

"Indeed it is," he said. "I intend to be the hottie in your life for as long as I'm allowed to have you. Whether that's only another year or another fifty years. You're stuck with me."

"Mmmmm," Buffy responded as best she could while licking and kissing his chest. "I've been stuck worse places."

"Well there you go," he said, working on removing her clothes without disturbing her oral attack on his torso. "As places to be stuck go, this is a good one." Having worked her jeans and underwear off, he suddenly pulled her body up to his face and began his own demonstration of which of them was the true expert at using mouth and tongue.

He held her there, growling as he listened to her increasing whimpers and cries for release. Just before she seemed ready to kill him, he let his fangs down and nicked the little body part he'd been working so hard. Buffy's muffled scream accompanied his vigorous sucking as he tasted as much of her blood as he could from just a tiny hole. Only when she'd stopped quivering did he release his bite and allow her to slide down on top of him where she lay breathing heavily.

"You alright, love?" he asked when she hadn't moved yet.

"I'll let you know," she mumbled into his chest. "When I can feel my body again." She felt his chuckle again her cheek and turned her head to nuzzle against him. "You bit me, didn't you?"

"Maybe… depends. Would it make you mad?"

"Maybe. If it hadn't felt so good."

"But it did, didn't it?"

"Boy howdy," she said with happy sigh.

He snorted a laugh and hugged her tightly. "That's all that matters, then. As long as it pleased you, I'm happy."

"I'll bet if we take this to the bedroom, I can make you even happier," she said, sitting up on him and smiling down. She looked from his bare chest to her own still covered one, and from her naked bottom half to his still fastened jeans. "We just need to get our naked parts matching."

He nudged his hips up, saying, "I can reach my zipper from here." He matched words to actions and slipped his hand between them to undo his pants and pull out his cock to rub it against her. Without any conversation, she raised up just far enough for him to find her entrance and slide inside. They gave matching sighs and exchanged smiles.

"See. We're fine the way we are."

She wriggled on him, laughing when his eyes rolled back in his head. "But I like/you naked."

"Later," he growled, holding her hips still.

"Okay, later," she agreed as she began to move on him. "We've got lots of time to be naked together."

"That we do," he agreed, falling into her rhythm. "Lots of time."

As they carried their actions to a logical conclusion, neither one of them was willing to consider the alternative that might await them in the new future they were creating.

The End

To be continued in a new story taking place in season five.