(Author's Choice of Title)

When Angel is resouled at the send of S2 he runs off instead of just standing there and letting Buffy run him through with the sword (exactly why is up to the author), Spike dither didn't leave with Drusilla or he returned. As part of Angel's bloodline his blood can also close the portal. Buffy grabs him and puts the sword through him, but he's pissed and grabs her arm and doesn't let go. The hell dimension they end up in is a very much like an Alaskan on NTW/Yukon arboreal forest. It's not quite winter yet. I want to see the two of them struggle to survive in this extreme climate, eventually coming to rely on each other and that blossoms into love. There can be a mix of demonic creatures and regular ones (to provide a food source).

You can so as much/take as long as you like over the first part, but eventually it becomes clear that they are here for the long haul. They build a cabin, maybe Spike carves dominos out of deer bones, Buffy figures out how to make candles from rendered fat, etc. etc. They are there for A LONG time, with no one but each other for company. Find some reason Buffy doesn't age. This can be decades or a century or more. I'm picturing this being a good 2/3 of the fic.

The last third, however...

A portal finally opens and Buffy and Spike are pulled through, back into the mansion. They've been gone for perhaps a month in "real world" time. Now they have to try and navigate a world they no longer know and be questioned about a relationship that they've been a part of for years. How do they navigate this? Have fun with them being shocked by the modern world, and I'd love to see things like Buffy being unable to sleep until Spike comes to hold her, but then they both can't sleep because the bed's too soft, so they end up wrapped around each other on the floor.

Must Have

• Eventual understanding on the part of the Sunnydale people and a Spuffy HEA
• A polar bear (can be a zombie)

• A claim: perhaps Spike and Buffy communicate almost entirely telepathically and have trouble speaking aloud when they return
• Dawn

• Buffy being an endless bitch until she suddenly changes her mind, she doesn't have to be thrilled with Spike at the start, but don't have him being extremely nice to her and her only being a pain in return (also he can be a jerk at times too)
• Any other sentient beings in the hell world