1880 - Chapter 8

“Won’t be long.” Buffy breathed as she dashed towards the door.

William didn’t know what to think as Buffy bolted out of the room. He stared at the window she’d been looking out of and then at the doorway she’d just left through.

Sitting in the chair by the fire, he considered going after her for a minute and then realised that by now she would have been out of sight and there was no point in him getting himself lost.

The speed at which she’d left told him that she’d seen something that would aid her quest to get home. She knew the streets well now, she would be able to find her way home, but if she didn’t return by nightfall, he would go and look for her.


Buffy levelled her breathing out as she chased the man down the street, closing in on him. The cobbles were making it hard to catch him, but she could see the park up ahead and instinct told her that he would head that way. All she had to do was follow him and the second they hit easier ground to run on, she’d catch him.

As predicted, once they were in the park she quickly closed the gap between them and tackled him to the floor. Rolling to her feet, she held her fists at the ready, waiting for him to pick himself up off the grass.

The man struggled to his feet and then stumbled backwards as she hit him with a quick one two, restraining herself from hitting him with her full strength so she didn’t kill him. She frowned as he didn’t fight back, and then executed a fast roundhouse kick and followed it up with a direct hit to his nose.

He fell to the floor and Buffy shrugged. Bending over him, she grabbed him around the collar.

“I thought I’d never find you, you need to go home…”

Buffy punched him hard and then bit her lip as she realised he wasn’t resisting her. “I’m sorry, what?”

She watched as the man touched his lip and stared at the blood on his fingers.

“I said sorry.” She grumbled and let go of him when he didn’t make a move to escape.

“You don’t belong here. I’ve been searching for you for days. I thought you’d be easy to find. I thought you wouldn’t have gone far.” He wiped his lip on his sleeve and then slowly got to his feet. “You need to go home.”

“I’m trying to, but someone has the bit of amulet I need. You think I want to be stuck here?”

She went silent as he produced the other piece of amulet and held it out to her. “You should go now.”

“I… I can’t.” She glanced over her shoulder at the direction they’d come in. “I have to do a few things first and then I’ll go.”

“The longer you’re here, the more danger there is of you…”

Buffy cut him short. “I know. I’m being careful. I need to say goodbye to someone.”

The man frowned, his dark brows knitting together and then smoothing out again as he looked at her.

“I’ll make it quick.” She pre-empted him and smiled as she looked at the amulet. “How come it’s okay for you to be here, and not me?”

“That’s a long story… to make it short, I belong here. I’m from this time. I’ve been searching for that amulet for many years. I hadn’t bargained on a girl giving chase like you did. When you return to your time, you must promise me to destroy it.”

Buffy nodded and looked at the metal disc in her hands. “It’s always the small things that are the most dangerous. I won’t let it fall into anyone’s hands, I promise.”

“Go, say your goodbye and leave as soon as possible.” He gave her one last look and then began to walk away.

She watched his back as he moved away from her and then looked down at the half of the amulet he’d given her. She knew it would be safest if she left right now, but she couldn’t leave without saying goodbye to William. He deserved to know that she was leaving and they had to return the books first.

Something told her that saying goodbye wasn’t going to be as easy as it sounded.

She wanted to be happy, glad that she was finally able to return home, but the idea of leaving William made her feel so sad. She couldn’t even bring herself to smile.

Walking slowly back to the hotel, she tried to plan out in her head how it was going to go. They would take the books back to the Council, and then leave. She’d check out of the hotel tonight, and by tomorrow morning she would be back in Sunnydale.

Back where she belonged.


William stood up as the door opened and turned to face it. He smiled as Buffy walked in, her eyes downcast as she looked at something in her hand. Looking there also, he noticed that she was holding both halves of the amulet.

“You found it.” He smiled broadly as she approached him and then noticed that she didn’t look as happy as he’d expected her to. “Is something wrong?”

“No. It was so weird. Apparently he’d been looking for me since we fell through the portal together. He hadn’t intended to be followed. He’d hoped he would make it through alone. He gave me the half of the amulet he had and told me I had to go home.” She slipped the pieces into separate pockets in her combats and then looked up at William. “I told him I had to say goodbye to someone first.”

“I see.” William realised now why she had looked so sad when she’d first come in. Now that he knew she’d shortly be leaving him, he felt as miserable as she looked.

“I have to go.” She felt the tears trying to push their way out of her as she stood looking at him.

“I know.” He caught a single tear as it fell from her eye and wiped it away with his thumb.

“Will you come with me to the Council? I need to return these books… and then I’ll go.”

“I’d be a fool if I said no.” He smiled at her and felt a little better when she managed to smile back at him. “Gather your things and we’ll leave now so you can get home as fast as possible.”

She nodded and went to do as instructed but then realised there was nothing for her to gather. She was wearing all her possessions.

“Ready.” She giggled and held her arms out and then let them fall down to her sides again.

William stacked up the books into two equal piles and then handed one to her. “Then let’s go.”

Stopping in the doorway of her room, she gave it one last look, memorising everything that had been home when she’d had none and then closing the door on it. She would never forget the time she’d spent in Victorian London, not in all her life.

She walked in silence beside William as they headed back down to the river and she hoped that it would be quiet for them tonight. She wasn’t in the mood for fighting. She just wanted a few peaceful moments in which to gather her thoughts and enjoy the last of her time with William.

She offered him a warm smile as he looked at her.

Crossing the bridge to the other side of the river, they walked along the bank, heading towards the Council building. Buffy stared a the buildings opposite, watching the way the street lamps basked them in soft light and how they were reflected in the river.

“Miss Elizabeth?” William said quietly.

“Buffy.” She corrected him and he smiled.

“Buffy?”

“That’s better.” She grinned. “What is it, William?”

“I want you to know that I won’t change anything when you’re gone. I’ll go through with my destiny, if only because it means I’ll be able to see you again one day.”

“Thank you. I don’t think I could live life without you. I’m sure there’s a million times you’ve saved my life, and a million times I’ve thanked you by telling you I didn’t need your help. I’ll have to remember to say thank you when I get back.” Buffy rearranged the books she was holding so she could carry them under one arm and then looped her free arm through his.

William looked down at their joined arms and sighed out through his nose as he saw her fingers playing idly with the sleeve of his jacket.

“There’s no need to thank me. I think I’d do anything for you.” He bit his lip as he finished speaking and avoided her gaze as she looked at him. Keeping his eyes fixed on the distance, he continued to walk in silence when she didn’t respond.

Buffy didn’t respond because she didn’t know what to say. She felt as though she couldn’t face saying goodbye to William. In the short space of time she’d been with him, she’d come to feel something more than friendship for him, but part of her knew that was her feelings for Spike talking.

She wondered if she’d miss William when she got back, or would it be like coming home? She was sure that one of the first people she’d see would be Spike, and she knew that from the second she saw him things would be different between them.

Would William’s knowledge of her in this time and his destiny to become a vampire have an impact on the future? He would know that they were going to meet, surely it would change everything about history from that point on.

What was going to happen?

For all she knew, she could be going home to a world she didn’t recognise anymore, one where she had already instigated a relationship with Spike or one where he may have made a move on her. Surely she wouldn’t have believed a word he’d said about knowing her in the past. She would think that he was trying to fool her into trusting him so he could kill her, or something similar.

God, what if she had trusted him and he’d turned her?

Could she go back to a world where she was a vampire?

Wouldn’t that cause a paradox? Would there be two of her because she was human when she left? Would there now be a vampire version of her roaming the planet?

Would Spike still be waiting for her?

She let go of William’s arm and pressed a hand to her forehead as it ached.

“Are you feeling ill?” William gave her a look of concern as she stopped and closed her eyes.

“Sudden headache.”

“I find it’s best not to think too much about things at the moment, it lessens the ache.” He said with a smile and she smiled too when she realised that she wasn’t the only one that was thinking too much.

“Check, no thinking. I can handle that.” Buffy slipped her arm into his again.

After a short walk, they found themselves in front of the building and Buffy looked up at it. The lights were on. She crept up the steps that led to the front door and placed her books down in front of it. Intimating to William to follow her, she took his books from him when he was standing in front of her and placed them on top of the others.

“What are you going to do?” He asked as he watched her staring at the books and then at the door.

“Ring and run.” She grinned and he frowned. “Ready?”

“Ready for what?”

Buffy rang the doorbell and grabbed his hand as she began to run. “Keep up.”

He was trying to, but she was fast for such a small thing. He resisted the desire to look over his shoulder as he heard the front door open and ran harder, a wide smile creeping onto his lips.

Skidding to a halt by the bridge, William panted hard and laughed along with Buffy and she pressed her hand into her sides. He was glad that she’d left him with another moment to remember her by rather than leaving on the cold and quiet atmosphere that had descended between them.

He grinned as Buffy continued to giggle herself into near hysterics. She seemed to take such joy from something as simple as ringing a doorbell and running.

Buffy took hold of his hand again, leading him over the bridge and back towards the park she’d met the man in earlier that night. She tried to keep smiling as they walked, but each step she took seemed harder and harder. By the time they had reached the park, things had grown quiet between them again and she longed for the laughter they’d shared only a short time ago.

William sighed at the scene in front of him. The autumn sky was clear, the stars twinkling against the backdrop of night and the full moon casting a silvery glow on everything he could see. The dew on the grass caused it to shine silver-blue and the bare trees made patterns in the sky.

“It’s beautiful.” He breathed and saw Buffy smile as though she was thinking the same thing.

Buffy let go of his hand as she walked down the small incline and onto the grass. Taking both pieces of amulet out of her pocket, she held her breath as she looked at their surroundings, listening carefully for a sign of anyone nearby. She was greeted by stony silence.

Fitting the two pieces together, she almost dropped the amulet as it jerked in her hand and a bright shimmering blue portal appeared in front of her.

She sighed and turned to face William.

“Guess this is it.” She stepped up to him where he was stood just a few feet from her and bit her lip as he looked down at her with eyes full of sorrow.

“It is.” He tried to keep the sadness from his voice so he didn’t make it any harder on her than it already was, but for some reason around her, he had no control over his emotions. It was as though she could slip through his defences and bring them out of him no matter how hard he tried to keep them in.

Buffy cursed the tears as they threatened to fall and slipped the amulet into her pocket, buttoning it up so she wouldn’t lose it.

“There is one thing I’d like to do before I leave, something I think I’d regret if I didn’t do it now.” She felt shaky inside as he frowned briefly at her, his head cocking to one side as he looked into her eyes.

Taking that as a green light, she closed the gap between them and pressed her palms to his chest as she tiptoed. Bringing her lips to his, she kissed him softly, memorising the warmth of his breath and his mouth, and the way his heart beat against her hands.

When she pulled away, William was staring open mouthed at her.

He closed his mouth as she giggled and then realised she was walking towards the portal.

“Buffy…” He followed her down to the portal and was thankful when she stopped, turning to face him with a wide smile on her face.

“William?”

“Buffy, I…”

She could almost hear the words before he said them. Quickly stepping up to him, she pressed her hand against his mouth and let her eyes meet his.

“Please don’t say it. All this time back home I’ve pushed you away, I couldn’t let myself love something that was evil and soulless, but being here with you has made me realise something.” She paused as she let go of his mouth. “I don’t love you, William. I love my William, my Spike. I love the man you’ll become. If you still want to tell me you love me in a century’s time, then let it be the first thing you say so I know that you remembered me.”

He nodded and then fumbled in his pocket as she began towards the portal again.

“Buffy, I got this for you.” He held out a small velvet bag to her and smiled nervously as she took it.

“What is…” Buffy opened the bag and let the contents spill out onto her hand.

She flipped the heavy silver heart locket over and ran her fingers over the back of it.

“I bought it today on my way to see you. I wanted to give you something to replace your cross with, and also something to remember this time by.” He smiled slightly as she looked up at him and then back down at the necklace.

Buffy bit her lip as she read what he’d had inscribed on the back.

For what the future will bring, Love eternally, William.

She smiled at the word ‘eternally’ and then hugged him tightly, closing her eyes as he wrapped his arms around her. Letting go of him, she wiped the tears from her eyes and held on tightly to the locket.

“See you soon.” She said and then turned and ran through the portal. “Sunnydale here I come.”

William heaved a sigh as she disappeared and the portal shrank in on itself until it was gone too.

He smiled.

“See you soon.”

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