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Part 1
“Where are you going?” Giles didn’t bother looking up from his book.
“Out.” Spike grabbed his duster from the hook beside the door and put it on.
“Out where? You’ve been out every night for the last two weeks. I know you’re not out maiming and killing, so what are you doing?”
”Look, you’re not my bleedin’ father. I can go out if I want and what I do is none of your business.” Despite his protest that Giles was not his father, Spike sounded very much like a sullen teenager.
Giles finally looked up from his book, giving Spike his most disapproving stare. “I suppose it will do no good to remind you that the Initiative is still looking for you?” When he saw the stubborn set of Spike’s jaw, Giles sighed and went back to reading his book. “If you come back after about one, you’ll have to climb in the window or something. I’m not waiting up this time.”
“I didn’t ask you to wait up before! If you’d just trust me as much as you do that irresponsible blonde bimbo and give me a damn key, I wouldn’t have to…” Spike ground his teeth together in frustration. Giles was ignoring him again. “Bollocks!” He swung around and stormed out the door, muttering under his breath.
“I’m actually trying to find out the answers to questions those wankers don’t want to ask and I’m treated like I’m ten instead of over a hundred. Of course, they don’t know I’m looking for answers, but still, some respect for their elders would be nice, for once.” Spike headed towards ‘Tommy’s Rendezvous’, an excruciatingly mind numbing piano bar that had opened only six months ago. And not the fun, sing-along kind, either. A real, old-fashioned, cry-in-your-martini piano bar. Soft lights, quiet music, ferns…. “Pure torture. They better appreciate this later or I might reconsider leaving town once my head is fixed.” he grumbled.
Spike had waited outside “The Dungeon’ every night since the ‘sweep’ and the girl he’d seen there finally returned three nights ago. She’d stayed inside the bar for only a few minutes before leaving and going to ‘Tommy’s Rendezvous’. Spike had followed her inside and lurked behind one of the numerous potted plants, watching her. But she hadn’t done anything suspicious. Just sat there and had a few drinks. She didn’t seem to be watching anyone, didn’t talk to anyone, didn’t seem aware of much at all. Then she’d gone to the bathroom and given him the slip. The oldest trick in the book. He’d cursed himself for his stupidity and went looking for trouble. He hadn’t found any; the Slayer and her ‘boys’ were making things annoyingly quiet.
The following night, the girl hadn’t shown at either place, even though Spike went back and forth between the bar and the club until they both closed near dawn. Last night had been the same. He was going to start at the piano bar this time. The girl had looked too comfortable there to not be a semi-regular. “And if that piss-ant plays ‘You Light Up My Life’ one more time, I may kill him, headache or not.”
Spike reached the piano bar and slipped inside, once again taking position behind a large potted tree just inside the door. He could see most of the place from his position, but there were a few blind spots. The girl had gotten a good look at him at “The Dungeon”, so he couldn’t just wander in a take a seat. She was sure to bolt the minute she laid eyes on him and he very much wanted to find out where she lived. “Slow and steady wins the race.” He reminded himself.
The one good thing that seemed to come from whatever the scientists had done to him was that he now had more patience. Before, he would not have cared if the girl saw him or not and would be looking forward to chasing her down and ripping her heart out, after torturing her for the information he wanted. Since that was no longer an option, he was learning what Angelus had always tried to teach him but he had stubbornly ignored. “Slow and steady wins the race, even if it’s bloody boring.”
Leaning back against a column behind the tree, Spike kept watch on the front door and the hall leading to the back. When the piano player started the first chords to “I Write the Songs”, Spike ground his teeth together and sighed. It was going to be another long night of torture.
****************
“Buffy?” Willow sat down next to Buffy on Giles’ couch. “Can I talk to you about something without you wigging out?”
“That doesn’t sound good, Wills. Why would I wig out?” Buffy put aside the magazine she had been leafing through while waiting for Giles to decide if tonight was the night she’d have to save the world again. She hoped it wasn’t, she had a date with Riley later.
“Well, it’s kind of about Angel, but not.” Willow said hesitantly.
“That was certainly specific. Want to try again? And I promise I won’t get upset, even if it’s ‘about Angel, but not’. So spill.”
“Didn’t you ever find it creepy that he was dead?” Willow looked down at her lap and then back up at Buffy. “I mean… well, I don’t know exactly what I mean. I guess I’m asking if you were ever talking to him and then it just hits you; “He’s dead!”, you know what I mean?”
Buffy nodded slowly and stared thoughtfully at the coffee table. “Yes, I do know what you mean. I tried not to think about it, at first. I was just so head over heels, you know? And then, later, I would think about that…. him being basically a dead guy… more and more. I think I just decided not to think about it after a while. Made things easier in my fantasy world.” She blinked and smiled wryly at Willow. “I guess that was a little more than a yes or no. But did it answer your question?”
“Yeah.. I guess.”
Buffy looked closely at her friends face. “No, I don’t think it did. You want to tell me why you were asking?”
”Oh, no reason. I was just wondering. You know, strange things just pop into your head and then you can’t get them out until you know the answer. Like, how come there is Braille on drive-through ATM’s? I mean, if you need Braille to use the ATM, you shouldn’t be driving, should you? And what about….”
”Willow!” Buffy cut off Willow’s babble-fest. “You are avoiding the question. Now, spill!”
Willow was quiet for a few minutes, squirming under Buffy’s gaze. “I should never have brought it up.” She held out for a few more minutes before finally blurting, “I’ve been spending time with Spike and …” Willow stopped when she saw Buffy’s horrified look. “Oh! No, I didn’t mean… I mean, I don’t really like him that way. Just friends, ya know? But sometimes I get all goose-bumpy when he’s talking about something that happened like a hundred years ago and it hits me that I’m talking to a dead guy.”
“Does Giles know you’re hanging out with Spike?”
“Well.. yeah.. I guess. He asked me to vamp-sit a few times. And now that Spike pretty much comes and goes as he pleases, I still see him sometimes. I mean, in places other than here.”
“So you guys are, like, dating now?!?”
”No, I told you. We just talk sometimes. I think he gets bored real easy and I feel kind of bad for him sometimes. It would probably be close to how you felt when you lost your super-slayer-powers. Not that I want him back to trying to kill me, but.. well, you know what I’m saying, right?”
Buffy sighed and nodded her head. “Yeah. Don’t tell anyone, but sometimes I feel just a tiny, ensty-wensty bit, sorry for him, too. But then I remind myself that if he wasn’t fixed, we’d still be trying to kill each other.” Buffy glanced at Giles and then leaned closer to Willow. “Just be very careful, okay? I know he’s being nice to you now, but he can still find ways to hurt you if he wants. That is one thing about Spike, he’s not stupid.”
Willow knew it was useless to say that she didn’t think Spike would hurt her now, even if he got the implant out. She knew it was stupid to think that, but…
”Earth to Will…. you in there?”
“What? Oh, sorry.. just thinking.”
”Buffy.. Willow… “
Both girls turned to look at Giles. “Well, what’s the verdict? World-saveage duties tonight?”
”Thankfully, no. All the conditions were not met, so the world is safe, for now, at least.”
”Cool. I’ll be off for my hot date with Riley, then. See ya…” Buffy got up and practically ran out the door.
”Yes, no need to stay and thank me for spending the last six hours researching this, do go on.” Giles said dryly, as the door slammed behind Buffy.
“Hey, we appreciate you, Giles. Buffy meant to say thanks, but you know how she is when she has Riley thoughts.”
”Which does seem quite often lately.” Giles rubbed his eyes and placed his glasses on the table. “Oh, I know she appreciates me, I just wish she’d remember that there is more to slaying than just staking whatever bad guy she happens to stumble across. She hasn’t been training with any regularity, even with Riley. There is much she still needs to learn.”
”She’ll be okay, Giles. And she’ll be over the ‘new boyfriend’ syndrome eventually.” Willow studied Giles for a moment before getting up and heading for the kitchen. “I’ll make you some tea and then you should probably get some sleep. You look beat.”
”Thank you, Willow. That would be much appreciated. But I can’t go to bed yet, it’s only,” he looked at his watch, “eight-thirty. I told Spike I would be up until at least one and I don’t want him banging on the door when I’m trying to sleep.”
”Why don’t you just give him a key?” Willow called from the kitchen.
”I don’t know. It would make things easier since he insists on spending every night out. Maybe I will give him a key. It just seems so wrong, on so many levels, to do so.”
“Well, since he lives here, now… sort of… I don’t think it’s all that wrong. But it is your place, so… “ Willow set the tea in front of him on the table. “Go to bed, Giles. If Spike pounds on the door later, at least you will have gotten some sleep. Besides, I’m sure he knows another way in.”
”You’re probably right, Willow. I think I’ll take this upstairs and drink it in bed. Let yourself out, will you?” Giles picked up his tea and walked up to his loft.
”Sure. Goodnight, Giles. Sleep well.” Willow gathered her things, making sure a cross and stake were in her outside pockets, and left, heading back to the dorm.
****************
“Wake up, pet.”
“Huh?” Willow opened her eyes and looked up at Spike. “Spike? What….”
“Are you awake? I need to talk to you.”
“Are you really in my room, sitting on the side of my bed at..” she looked at the clock on the bedside table, “three o’clock in the morning?”
“Yes.”
“Then I guess I’m awake. What’s up?” Willow sat up and leaned against the headboard, rubbing the sleep out of her eyes.
Spike moved over to sit on Buffy’s empty bed. “Does the Slayer even sleep here anymore?”
”Yes, why? Never mind. Not that I’m not glad to see you, but what are you doing here?”
”Remember the other day, I told you I had a lead on that girl I saw at the ‘The Dungeon’?” At Willow’s nod, he continued. “I saw her at this piano bar tonight, but for the second time, she gave me the slip. She knows what I look like so I have to ‘lurk’. I don’t know if she knows I’m there or she’s just being generally cautious.”
Spike had not told Willow everything that had happened while she was in her alcoholic haze. Saying only that he’d seen this girl at the bar, watching them, and then later talking to a guy dressed in cammo. Nothing about the ‘sweep’ or how close they had come to being caught up in it. He’d told her he was trying to find out who the girl was, but not to tell Buffy or Giles until he had more info. After all, it may turn out to be nothing. Because Willow had as many questions about the Initiative as he did, she’d agreed to keep quiet, for now.
”Well, if she’s really working with the Initiative, she’s probably just being cautious. You lurk real good, so I doubt she saw you.”
”I need to figure out some way to be able to get closer to her without her recognizing me. The only way I can think of to do that is…. to wear some kind of disguise.” Spike was clearly not happy about this idea. “Will you help me put together my disguise?”
Willow pressed her lips together to keep from giggling at the look of disgust on Spike’s face. “Sure, Spike. What do you want me to do?”
Spike grinned his thanks and started rattling off a list of items for her to bring to Giles’ apartment later that day.
Willow nodded when he was finished. “Okay, I can get that stuff. Good thing it’s Saturday, this may take awhile.”
**************
“Stop moving around so much, you’re going to make a mess.”
”It doesn’t usually take this long. Are you sure you’re doing it right?”
”I’m following the directions, aren’t I? “
”Have you ever done this before?”
“A…a.. few times… with Oz. But he usually did most of the work.”
“How nice for him.” Spike said sarcastically. “But I’m an old fashioned kind of guy. I let the women do all the work…. OW! What was that for? It was a joke!” He rubbed his shoulder where Willow had punched him. “You know I’d do it myself, but I can’t see up there.”
”Ungrateful lout. I said stop wiggling around so much.”
”I’m not wiggling. Hey! Not so hard, you’re going to pull it off.”
“I thought you liked pain, Spike. What’s the matter.. going soft?”
“Now that was uncalled for, Red. It’s just that it’s been so long since anyone but Dru did this, except for the last time and…..”
“WHAT THE HELL ARE YOU TWO DOING IN THERE?” Giles pushed open the partially closed bathroom door. He’d been standing nearby, listening to the conversation between Willow and Spike almost since Willow showed up on his doorstep with two mysterious bags and hustled Spike into the bathroom. Their conversation had been innocent enough, at first. But then, after some odd noises and what Giles was sure was the sound of clothing being removed, they had started… whatever it was they were doing. He couldn’t stand by and not do anything about it anymore. It was his apartment and the thought of Spike taking advantage…..
Two sets of startled eyes looked up at him with confusion. Spike sat in the bathtub, shirtless, while Willow stood behind him, outside the tub, a bottle of hair dye in one hand. “Oh…” Giles now felt very foolish. “You’re dying his hair.” He said, rather inanely.
”What did you think we were doing, Giles?” Willow tried to keep a straight face, but soon dissolved into giggles. “You should have seen your face, Giles.”
Spike narrowed his eyes, but said nothing. ((Does he really think I’d do something to Willow, in his apartment, in the bathroom, with the door open, during the day? Even Buffy would know better than that.))
”Yes, well…. uh.. carry on, then.” Giles started to leave the room when he noticed for the first time what color the goop on Spike’s head was. “Why are you dying his hair black?”
”Oh…um.. well… I talked him into it. You know, just to see what it looks like. I think next I’ll try red.” Willow knew she was lying badly, but she hadn’t thought to have an excuse ready.
”I see. So, Spike just agreed to let you dye his hair black because you wanted to see how it looked.” Giles wasn’t buying it, but as long as they weren’t up to anything dangerous, he wouldn’t question it, for now. “Well, please clean up after yourselves. I’m going to the magic shop for a bit. They called about a new shipment of books.” Shaking his head, Giles went back into the living room, mumbling something about ‘strange children’.
“You don’t lie very well, pet. Now he knows we’re up to something.”
”If I lie so badly, why didn’t you jump in with an explanation then?” Willow finished working the dye into Spike hair and pulled off the plastic gloves. “Now we just have to wait 25 minutes and rinse it out.”
”I didn’t say anything because the Watcher never believes a word I say. He still thinks I know exactly where the underground compound is and I just won’t tell him out of pure meanness.
”I’m sure he doesn’t, Spike. But you have to admit he has reason to be suspicious of you. And remember what happened the last time he trusted a vampire.”
”Yeah, but that was the Poof. And I’m not him. No soul to misplace.”
”Well… sure, but… you can understand, right?”
”Yeah, I guess I can.” Spike conceded. “So, when does this foul-smelling stuff get rinsed out?”
**********
“Well, pet. How do I look? Anything like Spike?” Spike stepped out of the bathroom and stood in front of Willow for inspection.
Willow’s mouth flapped like a landed fish. “Uh… Uh… Uh.. no, not at all like Spike.”
”That bad, huh? Well, at least that girl won’t recognize me in this get up.” Spike sat down on the couch next to Willow and kicked off the loafers on his feet. “How does anyone wear those awful things?”
”It’s not bad, trust me. You look… um.. you look great.” Willow couldn’t stop staring at Spike. He really did look different. His hair was dyed darker than Xander’s, so dark she could see blue highlights where the light hit it, making his blue eyes appear even bluer in contrast. He hadn’t combed it back, letting it air dry into its natural waviness. The oxford shirt, black, at his insistence, fit him a little tight since she hadn’t known the correct size to buy. It was the same with the black chinos that hugged his thighs and rear. They weren’t supposed to fit that tight, but she had underestimated his size.
“Yeah.. well.. it doesn’t sound like I look great. So what do you think I should use for a cover name?” Spike began to fuss with his hair, trying to push it into its former shape.
”Stop that! It looks fine how it is. Why don’t you just use your real name, no one would recognize it.”
“How about just ‘William Smith’? I think I can remember to answer to William and the last name isn’t important.”
“That sounds good. What time are we leaving?”
”What do you mean ‘we’? You aren’t going with me.”
”Oh, yes I am. A guy that looks like you doesn’t go to one of those places alone unless he wants to pick someone up. It would look suspicious if you went by yourself and then left alone. You were planning on leaving alone, weren’t you?”
“You almost sound jealous.” he teased. “But I guess you’re right, pet. If I want to be able to concentrate on watching that chit, I can’t be distracted by the swarms of women that will be sure to follow me everywhere.”
”I’m not jealous and of course I’m right. You didn’t really think you were going to get to have all the fun, did you?”
”This is not a game, Willow. But if you do what I say, when I say it, you should be safe enough. I wouldn’t bring you if I thought there was any real danger.”
”I know it’s not…” Willow broke off when Giles came in the door. “Hi, Giles. Get the book you wanted?” She nudged Spike and motioned for him to stand up. She was interested to see how long it took Giles to recognize the transformed Spike.
”They didn’t have the one I wanted…. you didn’t tell me we had a guest Willow.” Giles came forward and held out his hand. “Hello, my name is Rupert Giles.”
Spike took Giles’ hand, gripping it tightly and said in a cultured accent. “And I’m William Smith. Nice to make your acquaintance, sir.”
Giles’ eyes got very wide and he snatched his hand back from Spike’s. “Spike? You…. I…” He pulled himself together. “This is certainly a … different look for you. What’s going on?”
”You did say the Initiative is still looking for me. Well, they won’t see me like this even if they see me. You know? I’m tired of looking over my shoulder all the time.”
”Yes… well.. “ Giles looked over at the grinning Willow. “So that’s what all that nonsense earlier was about?” She nodded at his question. “You did a good job, Willow. There’s no way anyone who doesn’t know him would recognize him now.”
”Thanks. It was fun having a real, live ‘Ken Doll’ to play with.”
“A what?” Both men asked at the same time.
“Never mind. Is Buffy coming over tonight?”
”No. She and Riley have ‘plans’ again.” Giles turned away and went in to the kitchen to put the kettle on.
He hated the fact that he had sounded bitter. Giles was genuinely happy that Buffy had found someone she could have a relationship with, someone who wasn’t the walking dead. But her attitude towards her Slayer duties and training was starting to get on his nerves. It was bad enough that that horrid woman was corrupting her with her lofty ‘psychological ideals’ but she was corrupting Buffy’s fighting style, as well. Making her think that she had to have ‘back-up’ and high-tech weapons to do her job. But Buffy was an adult and she had to learn to make her own mistakes. He just hoped her decisions didn’t adversely affect anyone else.
Giles returned to the living room and chuckled at Spike, who was trying to pull his pants into a more comfortable position. “If you’re serious about this, Spike, I’ll take you shopping tomorrow, if you like. You’re going to need more than just that outfit if you want to fit in. Besides, it looks a little…. um.. snug.”
When Spike didn’t say anything right away, Willow nudged him with her elbow.
”Uh.. yeah… thanks, Watcher. That’d be great.” Spike didn’t really know what to say. He was still a little stunned that the offer was made in the first place. To cover his confusion, he turned to Willow. “Shall we go, pet? You still need to get changed.”
Willow nodded. “Lead the way, William.”
As she passed Giles on the way to the door, she whispered, “Thanks,
Giles. That was very nice of you and I’m sure Spike will thank you properly
once he comes out of shock.” She hurried into the night after Spike.