Buffy had gone to LA to talk to Angel after what happened, but she was back now.

In fact, Buffy and I were walking through the cemetery at night for patrol.

Buffy was telling me about the date Riley had asked her on. "It's just different, you know? A picnic. First of all, daylight... kind of a new venue, Buffywise. And the best part? He said he would bring all the food, so all I have to do was to show up and eat. Those are two things I'm really good at."

"So, he's nice?" I asked.

"Very, very," Buffy answered.

"And there's sparkage?" I asked.

"Yeah," Buffy answered. "He's... have you seen his arms? Those are good arms to have. I really like him. I do."

"But?" I asked.

"I don't know," Buffy told me. "I really like being around him, you know? And I think he cares about me, but... I just... feel like something's missing."

"He's not making you miserable?" I asked.

"Exactly," Buffy answered. "Riley seems so solid. Like he wouldn't cause me heartache."

I feigned worry. "Get out. Get out while there's still time."

"I know," Buffy told me. "I have to get away from that bad boy thing. There's no good there. Seeing Angel in LA, even for five minutes... hello to the pain."

"The pin is not a friend," I told her.

"But I can't help thinking..." Buffy trailed off. "Isn't that where the fire comes from? Can a nice, safe relationship be that intense? I know it's nuts, but... part of me believes that real love and passion have to go hand in hand with pain and fighting."

A vampire jumped out from behind a bush.

I staked him instantly, watching him fall into dust, looking at Buffy as we continued to walk along. "I think I can see where you're coming from."

    ~~~~    

In Giles' apartment, Spike was chained to the bathroom.

I sat on the end of the bathroom, exasperated. "So, you saw their faces, but you can't describe them."

"Well, they were human," Spike told me, playing coy. "Two eyes each, kind of in the middle."

"Uh-huh," I told him. "And the lab?"

"Underground," Spike answered. "I came out through an air vent. I don't know exactly where. I'm done." He gestured to the TV. "Put the telly on." Giles walked in, carrying a mug that read 'Kiss the Librarian' with a straw. It had blood. "It's about time. Hope you got it warm enough."

Giles handed me the mug. "Where's Buffy?"

"On a date," I answered. "With Riley. On a picnic. In the sunlight."

Spike scoffed, rolling his eyes, gesturing to the mug of blood. "Come on, then." I sighed, making a face, putting it close enough to Spike that he could drink the blood through the draw. Spike made a big deal out of it, intentionally disgusting me more. "Don't know why you're so dainty all of a sudden. You've locked up Oz for three nights a month so he could turn into a werewolf. You'd think you'd be able to give a vampire some blood. Coping better with his departure, are you?"

"She still has a way to go, but she is dealing," Giles told him.

"What, are you blind?" Spike asked. "She's hanging on by a thread." He looked at me tauntingly. "Any ninny can see that." I pulled the mug of blood away in exasperated annoyance, leaving Spike with the straw dangling from between his lips.  "Hey! Give it!" 

"Okay, that's it," I told him. "The invalid amnesiac routine is over. The kitchen is closed until you can tell me something useful about the commandos."

Spike drank the left over blood from the straw, letting it fall onto his chest. "I'm trying to remember. It was very traumatic."

 "How long are you going to pull this crap?" I asked.

"How long am I going to live once I tell you?" Spike replied.

"Look, Spike," Giles told him. "We have no intention of killing a harmless, uh, creature. But we have to know what's been done to you. We can't let you go until we're sure that you're... impotent."

"Hey," Spike told him.

"Sorry, poor choice of words," Giles told him. "Until we're sure you're--you're..."

"Flaccid?" I suggested.

"You are one step away, missy," Spike told me.

"Giles, help," I told him sarcastically. "He's gonna scold me." Giles rolled his eyes, looking away. Spike growled, trying to reach toward me, but the chains held him back, only making his struggles comical. "You know what?" Spike gave up, leaning back, sighing. I knelt next to Spike on the other side of the tub. "I don't think you want us to let you go. Maybe we made it a little too comfy in here for you."

"Comfy?" Spike repeated. "I'm chained in a bathtub, drinking pig's blood from a novelty mug. Doesn't rate huge in the Zagat's guide."

"You want something nicer?" I asked, tilting my head away from Spike, exposing my throat tauntingly. "Oh, look at my... poor neck. All bare and tender and expose. All that blood just... pumping away."

Spike leaned closer, but couldn't go far, all but licking his lips.

Giles rolled his eyes. "Oh, please."

"Giles, make her stop," Spike told him.

Giles ignored us, walking into the living room where Willow was.

    ~~~~    

That night, Anya, Xander, Buffy and I went to the Bronze.

I was dancing alone, lively on the dance floor, letting everything just fade away for tonight, actually have a good time. I saw the others at the table, walking toward them. "Hey, guys, come on. This music's great."

"It's nice to see the Boogie Zoey is back, Zo," Xander told me.

I nodded. "Yeah. You know, I know I've been sort of down lately, so I said to myself, 'self', I said, 'It's time to shake and shimmy it off'." I looked at Willow and Buffy, knowing that they would remember when I had said this two times before. "Carpe diem. 'Seize the day'."

"Sounds like a good policy," Willow told me.

"Yeah, and it works, too," I told them. "You'll believe me when you feel it. Come on, guys. Dance with me." Anya, Xander, Willow and Buffy exchanged a look. "Please?"

"Who can say no to that?" Xander asked, taking Anya's hand, leading her to the dance floor, starting to dance with her.

Willow and Buffy stood.

I smiled, taking their hands, leading them to the dance floor. We started to dance on our own.

    ~~~~    

Willow and Giles had tried a truth spell on Spike, but Spike had taken off.

Buffy and I were standing with Willow and Giles now.

"What happened?" I asked.

 "I don't know," Willow told us. "I cast a 'I Will It Be' spell last night before we went to the Bronze, so that I could literally will Spike to tell the truth. Giles had trouble reading the book, and Spike got free, and then took off."

"You--you two should get going," Giles told us. "Now."

"What's the rush?" Buffy asked. "Spike can't hurt anyone, right?"

Giles gave a look to Buffy's general direction.

"All right, we're gone," I told them, grabbing my jacket, walking out, leaving.

Buffy followed.

    ~~~~    

I found Spike instantly. 

Spike was standing alone, confused.

I was confused. "I thought that was gonna take longer."

"Me, too," Spike told me. "I must've got..." He looked behind him. "Turned around." He walked along the grass. I followed. "Hang--hang on. This--" Spike stopped. "This is it. Wait." He looked around. "No. Yes."

"What are you talking about?" I asked.

Spike turned to face me. "The lab. Commando lab." He looked at the ground. "The door was right here where I escaped."

"I don't think so," I told him.

Spike started to dig at the ground angrily. "Open up! I'm gonna kill you!"

"Spike, there's nothing there," I told him.

Spike ignored me, continuing to dig. "Let me in! Fix me."

"Okay, drop the act," I told him, trying to pull him up.

Spike struggled, standing. "Get off me!"

I took off my backpack. "Okay, that's it. I'm gonna gag you."

Spike punched me in the face, holding his head in pain, screaming. 

I punched Spike in the nose.

Spike held his noise in pain, groaning.

    ~~~~    

I had Spike tied up, pushing him back into Giles' apartment.

Spike turned to face me. "Hey! Watch it!"

"One more word out of you, and I swear--" I started.

"Swear what?" Spike asked. "You're not gonna do anything to me. You don't have the stones."

I punched Spike in the face, turning him away, pushing him face first against the window in the wall leading to the kitchen. "What was that?"

"You're not gonna stake me," Spike told me.

I pulled a wooden spoon off the counter, holding it up for Spike to see. "Don't you ever get tired of being wrong?" I called further into the apartment. "Giles! I accidentally killed Spike! That's okay, right?"

Giles called from somewhere. "Uh... just a minute."

    ~~~~    

I grabbed Spike, turning around, pushing him into a chair.

"I get this spell reversed, they'll be finding your body for weeks," Spike told me.

"Oh, make a move," I told him. "Please. I'm dying for a good slay."

"That's how you somehow find the time to move on from wolf boy, isn't it?" Spike asked. "Make the pain go away if you're slaying."

"You wanna talk about tactics of moving on?" I asked. "Drusilla ring a bell? See, at least I'm not the pathetic, needy loser you were when Dru left you."

Spike was as angry as I was.

  ~~~~  

Buffy walked in the main door. "If the two of you could remain... civil... long enough to, uh, to..."

I was sitting in the chair.

Spike was kneeling in front of me.

"It's just so sudden," I told him. "I--I don't know what to say."

"Just say yes... and make me the happiest man on earth," Spike told me.

I smiled. "Spike, of course it's yes." We stood, kissing, pulling away, embracing. I looked at Buffy's look of shock over his shoulder, showing her the skull ring. "Buffy! You'll never believe what's happened."

Buffy narrowed her eyes in completely confused shock.

    ~~~~    

Spike was lounging in a chair.

I carried the novelty mug of blood toward Spike, sitting on his lap. "Here you go. 98.6." I kissed him, pulling away. "Oh. There's so much to decide. Ceremony, guests, reception."

"Well, first thing, I'd say we're not having a church wedding," Spike told me.

"How about a nighttime ceremony?" I asked. "In the park."

"Fabulous," Spike told me. "That way you don't spend your honeymoon with a big pile of dust."

Giles and Buffy were watching from the kitchen, walking in, sitting down.

Buffy seemed disgusted.

Giles seemed confused.

Spike smirked, kissing me.

Buffy groaned. "Please stop."

I chuckled. "Giles, did you see my ring?"

I held it toward him.

"Thankfully, no," Giles answered, leaning against the couch, a hand over his eyes.

I stood, walking toward Buffy, sitting down next to her. "I'm not crazy. And I know that you probably don't approve. But you and Willow... I'd like for you two to be there. You know, maids..." Buffy was surprised. I looked at Giles. "And my father's always on the move, and I don't know if he would want to. I mean, he could... But this day is about family. My real family. And I would like you to be the one to give me away."

Giles was touched. "Oh, Zoey. That's... that's..." 

I smiled. 

Buffy came back to her senses. "Oh, for God's sake. This is crazy. Something is making... you act this way. Don't you realize what you're doing?"

I looked at Spike, smiling. "Living the dream."

"They're gonna have to take a bit of time to get used to it, pet," Spike told me.

I nodded. "They all will." I looked at Buffy. "But we weren't crazy about Angel at first, either."

"No, that's--that's completely different," Buffy told me.

"How?" I asked.

"He has a soul," Buffy answered. "And I knew what I was feeling, and..."

"And?" I asked. "Why wouldn't I know what I'm feeling?"

"Well, because of after everything that happened with Oz..." Buffy trailed off.

Spike looked grumpy.

I tried not to laugh. "You think this is about Oz? Please." I looked at Spike. "So, why don't we talk about where we're gonna register?"

"Well, where would Oz like to register?" Spike asked. "And can we have the photographer Oz would've wanted? And, flowers Oz would have liked?"

I stood. "Hey. You think I don't live with the shadow of Drusilla over my head?" Spike stood. "That I'm not wondering if you're going to be thinking of her on our honeymoon when you're making... sweet love to me?"

Spike shook his head, pulling me into a kiss.

Buffy looked disgusted.

Giles reached for his glass of Scotch, knocking it to the floor.

"Giles, are you okay?" Buffy asked.

"I rather think not," Giles answered. "I seem to be rather... rather blind. Completely, in fact."

Buffy stood, walking toward Giles in concern. "What? How could this happen?"

Buffy waved her hand in front of Giles.

Spike walked toward the bookshelf.

"A spell, I believe," Giles answered.

"Well, we'll fix it," Buffy told us. "Don't worry."

"What you want is a general reversal spell," Spike told us. "Gonna need supplies."

"Are you... helping me?" Giles asked.

"Well, it's almost like you're my father-in-law, isn't it?" Spike asked.

"See?" I asked. "This is how it's gonna be." I walked closer to Spike. "From now on... we're a family."

I wrapped my arms around Spike's neck, kissing him. Spike put a hand on the back of my head and a hand on the small of my back to pull me closer.

Buffy stood, closing her eyes. "All right, I'm gonna go check out the Magic Box." Spike and I pulled away, looking at Buffy. "You two just... keep an eye on Giles. And stop doing that."

Buffy walked out, leaving.

"It's all right," Giles told us. "I have more Scotch."

Giles stood, walking toward the kitchen, feeling along the way on the walls.

      ~~~~     

I was holding a wedding cake topper, walking them up Spike's arm, humming the wedding march. "Duh-dum, da-da... duh-dum, da-da. Duh-dum, da-da, dum, da-da, dum, da-da."

Giles was laying on the couch, a towel over his eyes.

Buffy walked in. "They were all out of Tagas Root at the Magic Box. They'll have more tomorrow. I'm completely on top of it."

I held up the figurines up to show Spike. "Aren't they a perfect little us?"

"I don't like him," Spike told me. "He's insipid. Clearly human."

"Ooh, red paint," I told him. "We could smear a little on his mouth. Blood of the innocent."

Spike smirked. "That's my girl."

Spike held the back of my head, pulling me into a kiss.

Buffy walked closer. "Stop that right now."

We pulled away.

Spike gave Buffy a look.

I smirked, setting the figurines down, picking up a notebook from the table. "We need to talk about the invitations. Now, do you wanna be William the Bloody, or just Spike? 'Cause, either way, it's gonna look majorly weird."

"Where as the name Zoey gives it that touch of classic elegance," Spike told me sarcastically.

"What's wrong with Zoey?" I asked.

"Uh, such a good question," Giles told us.

Buffy nodded, crossing her arms over her chest. "Mm-hmm."

Spike ignored them. "Well, it's a terrible name."

"My mother gave me that name," I told him.

Spike nodded. "Your mother, yeah, she's a genius."

I shook my head. "Don't you start in on my mother."

Anya and Xander burst through the front door.

Everyone stood.

Xander pulled a bookshelf in front of the door. "Board up the windows, and barricade the doors."

"What's going on?" Giles asked.

"Demons," Anya answered. "They keep coming and coming."

"I think we lost them, but I couldn't see," Xander told us. He noticed something. "Spike! He's all untied." He hesitated. "Which you probably noticed."

"Xander, calm down, okay?" Buffy asked. "If you lost them, that'll give us some time to figure this out." She looked at Giles. "Maybe the demons have something to do with you being blind."

"Giles is blind?" Anya asked.

Xander walked toward Giles, waving his fingers in front of his face.

"Please stop whatever you're doing," Giles told him. "You smell like fruit roll-ups."

"This is the crack team that foils my every plan?" Spike asked. "I am deeply shamed."

I held Spike's hand. "Spike's right. We really should get organized."

Xander and Anya looked at Spike and me in confusion.

"Why are you holding hands?" Anya asked.

Spike looked at me. "They have to hear it sooner."

I looked at Xander and Anya, smiling. "Spike and I are getting married."

Xander was baffled. "How? What? How?"

"Three excellent questions," Buffy told us.

I looked at Spike.

"What are you looking at?" Spike asked.

I smiled. "The man I love."

We kissed.

Xander, Anya and Buffy looked disgusted.

We ignored them, continuing to kiss.

"Can I be blind, too?" Anya asked.

Buffy nodded in agreement.

"Wait," Xander told us. "Married. I know something. What is it? Everything's so familiar. Work, brain, work." He remembered. "Oh! Oh! Willow!"

"What about Willow?" Buffy asked.

We pulled away.

"Something about Willow and her spell," Xander answered. "She told me I was a demon magnet and--and you two should get married."

"And that I didn't see anything," Giles told us. "Her 'I will it so' spell actually worked. Whatever she says is coming true."

I looked from Xander to Giles. "And you both were infected. I probably only escaped because I'm a Slayer. Some kind of natural immunity."

"Yeah, right, you're marrying Spike because you're so right for each other," Xander told me sarcastically.

"Xander," I told him.

"That's it," Spike told him. "You're off the usher list."

"People, Willow is out there and she probably doesn't know what she's doing," Giles told us.

"We gotta find her," Buffy told us.

I nodded. "Before somebody gets really hurt."

Giles nodded, starting to walk forward, falling onto the couch.

        ~~~~     

Buffy, Xander, Anya, Spike and I walked down the dorm hallway.

"Why does he have to come?" Xander asked.

"Xander, Spike is gonna be my husband," I told him. "I want him included."

"I agree with Xander here," Spike told us. "Seems like a lot of work for people who aren't us."

"Spike, these are my friends," I told him. "Besides, it's kind of my job."

"For now," Spike told me.

"What, you want me to stop working?" I asked.

"Let's see," Spike told me. "Do I want you to give up killing my friends? Yeah. I've given it some thought."

We walked into the dorm room.

There was a scorch mark on the floor in a circle.

Buffy knelt to the floor, touching the mark, pulling back. "This was burned."

Buffy stood.

"D'Hoffryn," Anya told us. "Bastard. He's opened a portal here."

"Who?" Buffy asked.

"D'Hoffryn," Anya answered. "He made me a demon 1,120 years ago."

"Why would he attack Willow?" Buffy asked.

"I don't believe he did," Anya told us. 

We looked at her in confusion.

        ~~~~     

We walked along the cemetery.

"I'd been dumped," Anya told us. "I was miserable. Doing a few vengeance spells. Boils on the penis. Nothing fancy."

"Please skip ahead," Xander told her.

"D'Hoffryn got with me," Anya told us. "He offered to elevate me."

"Meaning?" I asked.

"They made me a demon," Anya answered. 

"And do you always have to be broken up about something for this guy to come after you?" I asked.

"No," Anya answered. "Just... powerful, and if something like this happens, where you literally bend things to your will. And with a spell this powerful..."

"Oh, God," I told them. "Willow. But you can summon this guy from his crypt, right? You can make him stop--" I walked toward the crypt with ivy growing all along its side. "Oh, my God. Wouldn't this be a perfect place for pictures?"

"I'm not posing for chuff-all," Spike told us.

"Hey," Buffy told us. "Demon." 

A demon slowly walked closer. His skin was green. He had long horns on his head, growing out to the side.

"Okay, listen," I told him. "Now, we're gonna do this without destroying the foliage."

Buffy rolled her eyes, trying to kick the demon. The demon raised an arm to block the move. Buffy kicked him in the head, kicking him in the chest, making him back away. The demon backhand punched Buffy, making her roll over a nearby headstone and fall to the ground. He stepped around the headstone toward Buffy. Buffy rolled back to kick him in the face, making him back away, somersaulting backward to get to her feet, trying to kick the demon. The demon ducked. Buffy punched him in the face, grabbing him by his shoulders, turning around, tossing him aside.

Another demon ran toward us.

"Let's go!" Buffy told us.

We ran toward D'Hoffryn's crypt.

Another demon joined the second demon.

I saw the coffin, running toward it. "This way!"

Buffy and Spike ran closer, helping me lift the lid of the coffin aside, walking toward the doors, using it to barricade them.

Anya knelt on the floor, drawing a circle in the sand around herself, closing her eyes. "Blessed be in the name of D'Hoffryn. Let this space be now a gateway to the world of Arashmaharr where demons are spawned."

        ~~~~     

Buffy was held against the wall by a demon that was reaching through an above-head window to grip her throat.

"Buffy!" I told her.

"We're not doing well here!" Xander told us.

Anya continued her spell. "We come in supplication. We bend as the reed in the flow of a..." She closed her eyes, shaking her head. "No, wait. We, uh... we come in the flow of a..." She groaned in exasperated annoyance, starting over. "Blessed be the name of D'Hoffryn."

Buffy broke the hold of the demon who grabbed her, helping us keep the coffin lid against the door as a barricade.

Spike looked at me. "They're strong, and I can't fight. If they get in, I don't know if I can protect you."

I raised my eyebrows. "You think you have to protect me?"

"Oh, not with the girl-power bit," Spike told me.

The demons forced the doors open, forcing the barricade against us and making us fall back.

The three demons from outside walked inside, trying to go for Xander.

I kicked Demon 1 back.

Demon 2 pushed Spike to the floor.

Demon 3 grabbed Buffy, pushing her aside, walking closer. Buffy kicked him twice in the face.

I grabbed a bar from nearby, using it to push Demon 1 against the wall. 

Demon 3 tried to punch Buffy. Buffy ducked, punching him in the face.

Demon 1 pushed me off of him. I elbowed him in the face, kicking him in the leg, using the bar to spin him around, throwing him into the wall, making him fall to the floor, stabbing him through the chest, killing him.

Demon 3 pushed Buffy onto a stone bench. Buffy used her legs to grab him in a headlock.

Demon 2 punched Spike, pushing him back. I walked closer, spinning the bar, using it to hit Demon 2 in the head, making him fall to the floor, spinning it above my head, stabbing it down into his head, killing him. 

I dropped the bar, kneeling next to Spike. "Spike... are you okay?"

Spike raised his head. "Zoey."

We kissed.

Buffy used her legs to snap Demon 2's neck, letting him fall.

More demons started to bust their way in.

Buffy, Xander and Anya stood guard while Spike and I continued  to kiss.

Willow appeared between us and the demons. "Let the healing power begin. Let my will be safe again. As these words of peace are spoken, let this harmful spell be broken."

Lightning flashed.

The demons and the demon bodies disappeared.

And I realized I was kissing Spike, pulling away, disgusted. "Oh..."

Spike was horrified. "Oh. Bloody hell!"

I stood, turning away, wiping my lips. "Uh. Spike lips. Lips of Spike."

We looked at Willow.

Willow smiled sheepishly, waving. "Hi, guys."

        ~~~~     

The next day, we were all in Giles' apartment.

Spike was tied to a chair.

Willow was baking cookies, putting them onto a plate Anya was holding.

"How long are you going to keep making these?" Anya asked.

"Oh, until I don't feel so horribly guilty," Willow answered. "I figure about a million chips from now. Also, I have to detail Giles' car."

Anya smiled.

Willow took the plate of cookies, leading the way out of the kitchen.

Xander was holding a timer in front of Giles. "Time."

"Uh, five past 2:00," Giles answered. "Clear as day."

"Look, cookies," Willow told us. "Very not-evil thing I did. Oatmeal?"

Giles took off his glasses, leaning forward, looking at the cookies. "Yes. Very funny. They're chocolate chip. I can see them." He took a cookie. Willow walked toward Buffy, Spike and me. "I still need my glasses. You could be more specific and give me 20/20."

Willow offered the plate to Buffy and me. "Eat a cookie, ease my pain?"

Buffy and I took a cookie, taking a bite.

"Better," I told her.

"Well, baking lifts about 30% of my guilt," Willow told us.

"Don't I get a cookie?" Spike asked.

"No," I answered.

"Well, I gotta have something," Spike told us. "I still have Zoey taste in my mouth."

"You're a pig, Spike," I told him.

Buffy was relieved. "Thank God. You two are dysfunctional and at each other's throats as ever. The earth is back on its access."

Buffy walked toward Giles, Anya and Xander.

I walked away toward the hallway, leaning against the wall.

Willow put a cookie into Spike's mouth, walking toward us.

Spike grabbed the cookie, taking a bite.

Willow looked at Buffy and me. "Did I mention about the sorry part?"

"We may be into a forgetting spell later," I told her. I was disgusted and weirded out. "I loved him. We were engaged."

"Well, at least you were getting along," Willow told me. "And at least you got to move on from... you know who... even if it was only because of a spell, and even if it was only for a little while."

"Yeah, but with him?" I asked.

"I'm sorry," Willow told me meekly. 

"No, Will, it's okay," I told her.

Buffy smiled a small smile. "Hey. New deal. No matter what happens, no matter who we meet that we might or might not fall for... we don't let it get in the way of us."

Willow nodded. "I like that."

I smiled a small smile. "I do, too."

We embraced.