True Nature

Chapter 1

Wesley sat at his desk, staring at the book in front of him as if it could provide him with the answer he needed. He sighed deeply as he stared at the unassuming little book

He knew how Angel felt about Buffy, his past, and Spike. So, it wasn’t really that surprising that Angel had hidden what he knew about Spike’s place in Buffy’s life.

It still bothered Wesley, though. Angel had known about Spike and his quest for a soul since May and had never said a word. He’d led everyone to believe that Spike was nothing more than a reluctant ally of Buffy’s.

Of course, Wes knew better. He and Spike had become acquainted over the past few months as he and Fred had worked to discover how Spike came to be with them.

Wes smiled as he thought about that first meeting. Nothing had been accomplished. He and Spike had still been arguing over which football club was the best when a member of his team had interrupted with some important information about another case.

A few days later he and Spike had finally managed to sit down and talk about the battle against the First. Spike had told him in great detail about Angel’s delivery of the amulet, Buffy’s decision to let Spike wear it, the energy flow through the amulet which had destroyed the Turok-Han, and finally Spike’s ultimate demise inside the Hellmouth.

As Wesley thought about the second vampire with a soul he’d met, he looked at the book again, and realized that there was really no question about what was the right thing to do.

He picked up the telephone and dialed the interoffice extension.

“Yeah.”

“Angel, is Spike with you?”

“Yeah.”

“Right here, Wes. What do you need?”

“Could you come to my office? I’ve just received some interesting research materials I think you may need to see.”

Chapter 2

Spike strode down the hall toward Wesley’s office. He wouldn’t have believed it when he first found himself here, but he and the other Englishman had bonded. His first thought when he’d met the man was ‘Nancy-boy.’

But, Wesley had proven himself not only a strong demon fighter, but also a good friend. And they had discovered that they had a great many things in common.

******************

Spike sat on the couch in Wesley’s office in stunned silence, tears in his eyes. Wes had just finished reading Giles’ book to him, cover to cover. He couldn’t believe the Watcher, of all people had written such an evenhanded account.

And the information Giles had about his and Buffy’s private moments; the good, the bad, and the just plain ugly, could have come from only one source: Buffy, herself. He couldn’t even begin to imagine how painful that must have been for her.

Wesley sat on the edge of his desk, just watching, as he allowed Spike to digest what he had just heard. He had questions, but he held back. He had realized while reading it that Spike had never told the others about the trials that he’d endured to regain his soul. They were not covered in the book. But, Spike had told Wesley. Right here, in this very office.

**************

“So, how did you get your soul? Did you have someone curse you, like Angel?”

Wesley realized as he watched Spike react to the book that he thought he knew why he’d never told Buffy or Rupert about the trials. He knew enough about Spike’s reputation to know that he was a well-known braggart. Yet, he had only seen bits of that side of him since he’d been here, and usually only around Angel. Angel always seemed to bring out the worst in Spike. Yet, he had probably downplayed the trials he’d endured to acquire his soul, most likely to take the focus off of the quest itself, and keep it on the result of that quest: the soul.

He thought about the vampire he’d learned about through research and heard about from Angel, as well as Buffy and Rupert. Then compared those stories with the ghost in front of him, and the knowledge that he’d been Buffy’s ally, by her side during the last apocalypse, and had sacrificed himself to save the world, and he wondered if the soul hadn’t given him something else, as well. He seemed so different from the vampire he’d learned about. Despite his frequent pacing, he was less frenetic than the vampire in the research he’d done. He was also calmer, more mature (most of the time), less impulsive, and less temperamental.

Wesley shook his head as he thought about the strange twist his life had taken. Only a few short years before he had been a Watcher, steeped in the lore, absolutely positive that all vampires were soulless creatures, incapable of love, guilt, remorse, or any other human emotion. Demons, in general, were evil creatures to be destroyed. Yet, here he sat, surrounded by demons, many of whom he counted among his friends, including the vampire in front of him who, without a soul, had loved so deeply and felt such strong guilt and remorse, that he had voluntarily sought the return of his soul. While upstairs, his grandsire, the original vampire with a soul, chose to help the helpless in LA. And both of them were in love with a vampire Slayer.

“So...” He let the word hang in the air. Spike looked up at him. “So...what?”

“Well, we know where Rupert is. And, apparently Buffy is with him. So...do you still wish to see her, speak to her?”

Spike’s jaw dropped. He hadn’t really considered that. He’d been so focused on his shock at the Watcher’s fair account and his sympathetic pain for Buffy that he hadn’t thought about what it meant that Wesley was in possession of the book.

“Whe..hm..” He cleared his throat, which suddenly had a lump in it. “Where is she?”

“Cleveland.”

“Cleveland?”

“Yes. It seems there’s another Hellmouth there and they’ve opened a Slayer training facility.”

“What?!” Spike jumped up and began to pace around Wesley’s office. “What in the bloody hell is she doing on top of another bloody Hellmouth? She was supposed to be free. Have the chance to live like a normal person, let the others take over. But, oh no, she’s on another Hellmouth, still the Slayer, probably still patrolling. And, you know what...Yes. I wanna talk to her. Ring her up right now. I want her arse on a plane to LA right this bloody minute. Because I want to know why she’s on a sodding Hellmouth instead of on a nice, sunny beach drinking Mai Tais and Pina Coladas, or some shady campus filled with brainless frat boys trippin’ over themselves tryin’ to impress her because they think she’s the most beautiful girl they’ve ever seen.”

He spun around and stalked over to her photograph. His features softened as he gazed at her face. “I want to know why she’s not living the life she deserves.”

Wesley watched Spike with an expression of amused awe. He never ceased to be amazed by the differences in the two vampires who loved the Slayer. Angel tended to brood and fret and make decisions for Buffy that he felt were best for her. While Spike ranted and raved, and, Wesley suspected, argued with her until he was blue in the face (metaphorically speaking), but in the end let her make her own decisions.

Part of it was simply the difference in the two men. Angel tended to make decisions for everyone. Wesley still remembered being fired by Angel, and when Angel had donated all of Cordelia’s clothes to a shelter for runaways. And he felt a niggling sense of something in the back of his mind, as if there were something he was forgetting, another time that Angel had made a decision, taken something away, for everyone’s own good. And it was a trait that Wesley found himself imitating from time to time. A trait that his own father had.

But, being around Spike helped him remember that not everyone appreciated having Papa Bear make all of their decisions for them. Most adults liked to be able to make their own choices. And that was what Spike allowed Buffy to do. He apparently told her his opinion, often quite vehemently, but he would never take her choices, her decisions, out of her hands. He had attempted to do that one time, and he would never, ever do it again.

But, Wesley also suspected it had alot to do with the fact that they had fallen in love with slightly different people. Angel had fallen in love with teenage Buffy. She was still a child when they had met. Young, immature, inexperienced, innocent, looking for a knight in shining armor. And Wesley was fairly certain that Angel still saw Buffy as that innocent girl he’d fallen in love with.

Spike, on the other hand, had fallen in love with a more mature, worldly young woman. She had been more experienced, had known pain and heartbreak. She’d been made stronger and hardened by what she had experienced. And that was the woman Spike fell in love with.

Spike turned to look at Wesley. “What are you smirking at, you git?”

“Nothing. Blondie Bear.” He chuckled as Spike growled and shifted into game face. “Yes, that’s quite frightening, Spike. Or, it would be if I didn’t know that your fangs are just as non-corporeal as the rest of you. Or...what is your term...’go through-able’?” Wesley chuckled. “Even if I wasn’t aware of your relationship with Buffy, hearing you use that term would have been proof that you spent a great deal more time with her than I had been led to believe.”

Spike smiled as he thought about the odd words that Buffy and her chums used. It was true that they butchered the English language, but he would give anything to hear some of those “Buffyisms”, as he had affectionately termed them, right about now.

Wesley walked out of the office still chuckling as Spike followed. They headed down to the garage and climbed into Wesley’s car. Wes started the engine and pulled out of the garage.

“Where are we going?” Spike asked, as he gazed out the heavily tinted window.

“My place. I didn’t want to call from there. Who knows who might be listening? I’ve got the number right..” Wes patted the inside pocket of his jacket. “No.” He checked the other pocket, then another, and another. “Bloody...I left it on the desk.”

He pulled into a gas station and turned the car around. He pulled the car back into traffic and headed back toward the law firm.

When they arrived back in Wesley’s office, they found a very angry Angel ransacking the office.

“Angel, what are you doing?!”

Angel spun around at the sound of Wesley’s voice. He stalked forward and grabbed Wesley by his collar, yanking him into the office and pinning him to the desk. “Where is it?”

“What?” Wesley struggled to remove Angel’s hands from his collar.

“Let go of him, Peaches.” Spike growled from behind them.

“Shut up, Spike. This is your fault.” He kept his eyes on Wesley. “The amulet. Where is it?”

“Why do you want the amulet?” Wes asked him warily.

“I’m going to destroy it. I’m going to smash it and send him back where he belongs.”

Chapter 3

“I’m not telling you where the amulet is.” Wesley replied calmly. “Are you really willing to kill me over it?”

Angel dragged him to his feet. “You’re protecting this son of a bitch? Even though you know what he did?”

Several members of Wesley’s department, drawn by the noise, had gathered around the door. Someone had apparently notified the other members of the AI team, because Fred, Lorne, and Gunn were pushing their way to the front of the crowd.

“Angel?” Fred gasped. “What..” Spike cut her off. “Back off, Sweetness. He’s lookin’ for the amulet and if Wes won’t give it up, you’re next.” Then he stepped forward.

“Whatever I did, Wes had nothing to do with it. So back off.”

Angel finally released Wesley and turned to face Spike. “Maybe not. But he knew about it.” He bent down and picked up Wesley’s copy of Nature of the Beast from where it had fallen on the carpet. “Didn’t he?”

Spike closed his eyes and shook his head. “I’m sorry. Sorry you had to find out about it that way. Sorry it hurt you. But you know what? It’s between me and her. And she forgave me. So, I don’t really see how you sendin’ me off to the great beyond is gonna fix anything.”

“You tried to rape her!”

“Yes. I did. And I was wrong. And she stopped me. And I did everything I could to make amends. And she forgave me. And you don’t get to choose whether or not I deserve to die for that.” He looked Angel up and down. “I’m not making excuses, but you weren’t there. You don’t know what it was like, what she was like. I wasn’t trying to hurt her. It was just that we were both so fucked up and things got so crazy that I didn’t know which way was up anymore and I lost it. But when she stopped me, when I realized what I’d almost done.” He paused as his voice broke. “I knew things had to change and since it didn’t look like she was planning to, I decided it would have to be me.” He turned to go, but he left Angel with a parting shot. “You always say you love her, but did you ever love her enough to change your nature?”

*******************

“Rupert, it’s Wesley.”

“Yes, I got the book. Thank you. It’s been very..enlightening.”

“Well, yes. I do believe Angel has gleaned some new information from it already.”

“Rupert, the reason I’m calling is that we have a very unusual situation here.”

“Yes, I realize that we do sort of specialize in unusual situations.”

“Well, it seems that a few weeks after your last battle in Sunnydale, someone sent Angel a package. And when he opened it, an amulet fell out.”

“Yes, he said it was the one he gave her.”

“Yes, we know that. We don’t know how it got here or who sent it.”

“Well, you see, when it fell out, there was a mystical energy trapped inside that was released and with it was, um...” He looked at Spike.

Spike smirked and leaned toward the phone. Wes rolled his eyes and held the receiver out to him. Spike put his mouth close to the mouthpiece and smiled.

“Hey, Watcher. I’m back.”

Even without his vampire hearing, Spike was pretty sure he would have heard the thump signaling the Watcher’s body hitting the floor in Cleveland.

********************

Spike paced back and forth in the lobby. “I can’t believe you poncy gits didn’t tell her I was...”

“For the last time, Spike, it wasn’t my decision.”

“She hates it when people keep things from her. She’s gonna be right brassed off when she walks in here and finds out you two tricked her into coming here.”

“We’re not keeping things from her. Rupert just didn’t quite know how to break it to her.”

“Well, she’s still not gonna be...” He broke off when he heard the arrival of the elevator. He stopped pacing and, in a sudden display of fear, hid behind Wesley and faded out to near invisibility.

The doors slid open to reveal the blonde haired Slayer and her former Watcher. As they stepped out into the lobby, Wesley stepped forward to greet them, with Spike staying close behind him.

“Rupert, Buffy. Welcome to Wolfram and Hart.”

“Thank you, Wesley.” Giles shook his outstretched hand as he attempted, surreptitiously, to look about for the bleached vampire. Wesley noticed his look and subtly indicated Spike’s location with his eyes. Giles arched his eyebrow but said nothing.

“Hi, Wesley.” Buffy looked slightly uncomfortable. “Giles said you had something here that you needed to show me that had to do with the fight we had against the First.”

“Yes.” Wesley held up the amulet. Buffy gasped and stepped back.

“Whe...Where did you get that?”

“It was delivered to Angel by mail.”

Buffy’s eyes welled up and her eyebrows drew closer together. “How? It was buried in the Hellmouth. Spike was wearing it when...” She broke off, unable to speak anymore.

“Yes, that’s what Angel told us. But, the most extraordinary thing has occurred.” He looked over his shoulder at Spike

Spike stood up straight and fully materialized. “Hello, Buffy.”

Buffy stared at Spike, as tears slid down her cheeks. “Spike?”

“Yeah, it’s me, pet.”

She stepped toward him and put her hand to his cheek, only to pull back as if burned when her hand went through his cheek.

As soon as Spike saw the look of horror on her face, he knew exactly what she was thinking. “It’s really me, Buffy. I’m not the First. I’m a ghost, or some such rot. I am non-corporeal, but I’m not the bloody First Evil.”

Wesley leaped to Spike’s defense. “It’s true, Buffy. We’ve had Spike here since June, running tests on him and the amulet. We know he’s a ghost, but he’s an unusual ghost, in that he has no ectoplasm, but he has brain waves and he generates a certain amount of heat energy. We don’t know exactly what he is, or why he’s here, but he isn’t the First.”

Buffy looked at them all skeptically, then turned to Giles. “You don’t seem very surprised. Did you know about this?” Her tone was flat, always a bad sign.

Giles nodded. “Now, before you get upset, I wasn’t trying to keep this from you, or protect you because I didn’t think you could handle it. I just didn’t know how to tell you. I thought it would just be best if I brought you here and let you see for yourself that he was here.”

Buffy shook her head. This was all so overwhelming. She was feeling so many emotions: joy, relief, anger, shock, surprise, fear, and, yes, love. She closed her eyes and took a deep, calming breath. When she opened her eyes, she gazed into the beautiful, blue eyes that had haunted her dreams for months. She smiled and he smiled back.

Suddenly, something Wesley said set off bells in her head. “Wait a minute. You said, he’s been here since June. Why didn’t someone call me before now? Didn’t you think I would want to know that he was here?”

She looked at Spike. “Didn’t you want to talk to me? Didn’t you want to let me know that you weren’t dead, or you know, really dead? Didn’t it occur to you that I might be grieving over you, that I might be happy to know that I could stop mourning you?” During her rant, her skin had become flushed and her eyes flashed in a way that all three males recognized as dangerous.

Wesley reached out and put a hand on her shoulder. “Buffy, Spike did want to call you. But, we didn’t know exactly where you were, until Rupert sent me that book, we couldn’t find you.”

Buffy scoffed. “What are you talking about? Of course you knew where I was. I’ve been keeping in touch with...” Her gaze shifted to a spot behind Spike and Giles. “Angel.”

“Hello, Buffy.”

*******************

Giles, Wesley, and Spike watched in silent amusement as Buffy paced in front of Angel’s desk, which Angel sat behind.

“So, let me get this straight. You decided that since I was ‘happy’ and finally ‘free’ that I didn’t need to know that Spike was back? That he wasn’t actually dust?” She paused and looked at Angel.

Angel nodded silently.

“And even though I told you that Spike was in my heart, and that he was good and that he had a soul; and even though Spike told you that he wanted to talk to me, you still decided it was in my best interest to keep me in the dark about his sudden reappearance?”

Angel nodded again.

Buffy stopped pacing and stood in front of Angel’s desk. “Who decided that you and I could never have a future together?”

“I did.”

“That’s right. You did. You ended it, and you told me to find someone else. You said we were through, and when you did, you gave up the right to decide whom I can and can’t be with. And even if we were still together, you would still not have the right to tell me whom I can and cannot see and talk to.

She turned and flounced out of the office. The other men followed her. Spike and Wesley silently directed her to Spike’s suite of rooms. They moved to the rooms, where Buffy collapsed onto the couch and promptly burst into tears.

Giles and Wesley looked helplessly at each other, then at her. Spike rolled his eyes. “Oi, you gits. If you don’t know what to do, then get out. Go find her a non-fat frozen yogurt or a grande latte and come back in about half an hour.”

The men looked at Spike gratefully and left quickly. Buffy watched them go and started laughing through her tears. Spike looked at her with concern for a minute, then he, too, started to laugh.

“Th-they couldn’t get out of here fast enough, c-could they?” Buffy giggled.

“No. Don’t know why tears frighten some blokes so much, but they do.”

“Oh, Spike. This day has just been so...”

“I know, luv. I know. My first day back was a bit like that. Only I kept popping in and out.”

“What? Why?”

“Well, we don’t know. It kind of comes and goes. Odd thing is, it tends to be when I’m thinking or talking about my soul, the last fight with the First, or when Angel’s being a right bastard.”

“So, do you think it’s like a defense mechanism? Like when you get all Big Bad to hide your ‘William’ side?”

“I dunno. But...”

“What?”

“Well, when I pop out, it feels like I’m in...”

“Where?”

“Hell.”

“Oh, Spike, no.” Buffy reached out to put her arms around him, but they passed right through him. She burst into tears again.

Spike brushed his lips across her hair. “It’s okay, luv. It’s the thought that counts.”

Buffy leaned back against the back of the couch. “I’m so sorry, Spike. If I had known that this would happen, I never would have given you the amulet.”

“Now, none of that. We knew it was dangerous. That’s why Angel wouldn’t let you wear it in the first place, right?”

She nodded.

“Well, someone had to wear it. I’m glad it wasn’t you. And, bloody hell, what if it had been Peaches? What if he had been the one haunting us?” He shuddered.

Buffy giggled. She relaxed a little more against the back of the couch and leaned toward where Spike sat. She couldn’t feel him, but she could sense his essence. And she felt safe and protected, sort of like that night, months earlier, when he’d found her after they’d sent her away from the house.

She sighed and closed her eyes. “If I doze off, wake me when they come back with my food.”

Spike smiled and gave his assent. Then he sat back and watched the woman he loved drift off to sleep, in his room, on his couch. He wondered if maybe this was Heaven after all.

Chapter 4

When Wes and Giles returned half an hour later, they found Buffy curled up on the couch next to Spike, sleeping peacefully, as Spike gazed lovingly at her. When they walked in, he looked up, and gestured for them to be quiet.

“She wanted me to wake her up when you got back, but I hate to wake her when she looks so peaceful.” He whispered.

“We’ll just put this yogurt in the icebox, then.” Wesley said, indicating the frozen chocolate yogurt, with sprinkles, no less.

“No, I’m awake.” Buffy said sleepily, sitting up next to Spike.

“When did you wake up, luv.” Spike looked at her, surprised that he hadn’t realized she had awakened.

“Mmmm.” She stretched. “As soon as I heard Wesley make a reference to food. Gimme.” She reached out for the yogurt as Spike and Wesley smiled at her. Giles merely shook his head, a brief smile flitting across his face at her carefree behavior.

Buffy dug into the yogurt with gusto. She looked around as she ate. “Nice place.”

She grinned as she took in the state-of-the-art entertainment center. “Very nice. Beats the hell out of the crypt, huh?” Spike laughed.

“But, why do you need a refrigerator? I mean, if you’re all non-corporeal and stuff, then you don’t eat, right?”

“No, but Wes does. Since my telly is much nicer than his, he hangs over here alot. You know, when he’s not chasin’ demons, or researching mystical trinkets.

“Besides, he always has to have his beer and flowering onion when he’s watching his team get lucky.” Spike grinned.

“Chelsea does not ‘get lucky’. They’re simply a better team.” Wes retorted. “If any team gets lucky, it’s Man U. Oh, but wait, they’ve already lost more matches than Chelsea, so I guess they’re not so lucky after all.” He smirked.

Spike opened his mouth to respond, but before he could, Buffy interrupted him. “Wait, Wes eats that flowering onion thing?”

“Yeah, after I told him how brilliant it was. And Manchester United is the dog’s bollocks, mate.”

“You’re both daft.” Giles interjected. “The only team with any real character is the Tottenham Hotspurs.”

Wes and Spike looked at Giles is dismay, then looked at each other and burst out laughing.

Buffy gaped at them. She couldn’t believe it. They were acting like...guys. In all the years she’d known them, she’d never heard them talk about sports, or cars, or anything...guy-like. Now, they were talking about some sport like regular guys. She wondered...

“Uh, guys, what are you talking about?”

“Football.” They answered in unison.

“Football?” Buffy asked incredulously. “Okay, I may not be much of a fan, but I do know that I have never heard of those teams, so unless there’s some new...”

Spike sat down and put his arm around Buffy. “British football, luv. What you Yanks like to call soccer.”

“Oh.” Buffy blushed. Then she sat up, suddenly. “Spike! Your arm! I can feel it!”

“What?!“ All three men looked at Spike’s arm where it lay across Buffy’s shoulders. But even as they looked, his arm slipped through her, as it became non-corporeal again.

“Bugger!”

“What happened? What were you doing differently?”

“Bloody hell! Nothing! I don’t know!”

“Well, maybe it was unconscious. You know, like when Giles has me train with a blindfold on because sometimes our conscious mind can fool us.”

Spike raised an eyebrow. “You suggesting I use the Force, luv?

Buffy smirked. “Hey, you’re the one who’s all go through-able, Obi-Wan.”

Spike chuckled. “So, tell me what you’re talkin’ about.”

“Well, when you touched me, it wasn’t something you did out of any conscious thought. You were just trying to comfort me because you knew I was kind of embarrassed. You didn’t think about it, you just did it. It’s like second nature to you, to try to comfort me, or make me feel better.”

“Actually, that idea has some merit.” Giles said thoughtfully. “Spike has always been a creature of passion rather than intellect.”

When everyone looked at him, he colored slightly and stammered, “I did, did not mean that as, as an insult. I merely meant that both he and, and Buffy have followed their hearts rather than their heads on more than one occasion and turned out to be right. Sometimes more often than those of us who try to do the ‘rational’ thing.”

They all stood silently for a moment, then they nodded. Giles let out a soft sigh of relief.

Then Spike took a deep breath. “Well, since we’ve sort of tumbled to this subject. Whose idea was it to write the book?”

“Giles’” Buffy answered promptly.

Spike was stunned and made no attempt to keep his surprise out of his voice. “Really?”

“I don’t blame you for being skeptical, Spike. But, Buffy told me about you sealing the Hellmouth, and Faith and the other Slayers told me their versions of what happened. And at that time, I also realized that, with the new training facility we’ve started we needed to replace and update as many records as possible, in light of the loss of the Council and its resources”

Spike noticed Wes looked as if he wanted to speak, but he remained silent.

“I decided to start by updating your history, not only because I believed it to be complete, and because I had so many eyewitness accounts, as well as my own records, but also because I realized that you are truly unique. And I felt that the new Slayers, and those to come should know about you.”

Spike listened to him in silence. Giles walked over to him and extended his hand. “I was wrong, and I am truly sorry.”

Spike cocked his head to one side and gazed at the man who had been like a father to Buffy. “Forgiven.” He put his hand in Giles’. They were unable to shake hands, but the gesture was enough for both of them.

Buffy smiled. “Well, now, would someone care to explain to me what has been going on around here, since I seem to be the only one in the dark here?”

Spike shrugged and looked helplessly at Wesley, who rolled his eyes, but responded, nonetheless.

“About three weeks after your final battle with the First, Angel received a package, no return address, and no indication of what it was or where it came from. When he opened it, an amulet fell out onto the floor. It immediately emitted a magical energy that swirled up around it and turned into Spike.

“We discovered almost immediately that he was non-corporeal, and well, we’ve been running tests on him ever since, trying to determine just what is going on with him. So far, we have been able to determine that, while he is non-corporeal, he is not a real ghost. His essence is linked to the amulet. And although we do not know who sent the amulet to Angel, we do know that Spike cannot leave Wolfram and Hart, and if the amulet is destroyed, Spike will be as well.”

“Excuse me?!”

“Spike’s essence is trapped within the amulet, so if it is destroyed, so is he.”

“You’ve had him here all this time, and you haven’t figured out how to release him? Why didn’t you call me? Oh, wait, that’s right, Angel.” She pulled her cell phone out of her purse. “I’ll just call Willow and get her to do her Witchy Woman thing and release him from that amulet.”

Wes placed a gentle hand on Buffy’s arm. “Buffy, we have witches, sorcerers, and mystics on staff here. They’ve looked for spells and rituals, but they haven’t found anything that covers this. Like Rupert said, he’s unique. But we haven’t given up.”

Buffy looked into Wesley’s eyes and realized he was telling the truth. He would not stop trying to find a way to re-corporealize Spike.

She sighed deeply as she replaced her cell phone. “What can I do to help?” She sank deeper into the couch and crossed her arms.

Spike smiled softly as he watched her. He knew how hard it was for her to deal with something that she couldn’t hit or kill. It was hard for him, too.

“Well, I know how you feel about this, but all we can do right now is...research.”

Buffy groaned. “All right, if that’s all we can do, where do I start?”

Wesley looked at Spike, then Giles, in surprise. He knew, from Giles’ book and Spike’s stories that Buffy had matured, but he had never really thought he’d see the day that Buffy would willingly research with nothing more than a half-hearted protest. He was truly stunned. Then again, he really had no room to cast stones, considering all the changes he, himself, had undergone.

“Well, I suppose the first step is to introduce you around so that everyone knows who you are and no one gives you any trouble if they see you walking around or looking for something.”

Buffy nodded, as did Giles. They followed Wesley, with Spike walking next to Buffy.

As they walked out into the hallway, Wesley turned toward Giles. “Rupert, I may be able to help you out a bit with those missing and incomplete records.”

“How so?”

“Ever heard of Rutherford Sirk?”

“Sounds familiar. I believe he was a Watcher. But, I think I remember hearing that he left before the First’s agents destroyed the Council’s headquarters.”

“Yes, he did. And apparently he took quite a few valuable texts with him when he went. I’ve already seen the Deavandrine Codex, and I’ve no doubt he brought a number of others with him as well. I can watch for them and pass them onto you as I find them. And of course, you are always welcome to borrow anything we have here.”

“Thank you, Wesley. That would be most helpful.”

Buffy and Spike looked at each other out of the corners of their eyes and tried desperately to hold in their laughter at the formal manner with which the two men conducted themselves.

Wesley led them to the lab first. He looked around but didn’t see Fred anywhere. Then he spotted the familiar, dark-haired young man in the lab coat. “Knox, do you know where Fred is?”

Knox looked up from his experiment. “Yes, sir. She’s in the boss’s office. Some kind of meeting.”

Wes looked disturbed at that comment. But before he could turn away, Knox indicated the new arrivals. “Uh, sir. Not to be rude, and I know Spike is in here all the time, but we’re not supposed to have...”

“Oh, these are friends of Angel’s and mine. This is Rupert Giles and Buffy Summer.”

Knox leaped off of his lab stool. “Buffy Summers, the Slayer. Wow, what a pleasure to meet you.” He reached out and shook her hand.

Buffy responded automatically. Then she looked at him a little more closely. “Have we met before? You look very familiar.”

Knox just smiled and waved his hand. “I get that all the time.” Then he turned to Giles. “And you must be her Watcher, the one who wrote the book?”

Giles nodded. “Yes, so you’ve read my book?”

Knox nodded enthusiastically. “Oh, yeah. I think everybody here has. It has been the hot topic for the past few days. There must be two dozen copies floating around here.” He leaned closer and whispered conspiratorially. “Somebody found a couple copies at this occult store downtown and bought ‘em. So, they shared ‘em, then the people they shared ‘em with passed ‘em on, and then the people who didn’t want to wait went out looking for their own copies, and if they couldn’t find one, they ordered ‘em, with overnight delivery. I heard people even got friends and family in other cities buying copies and overnighting them here.” He smirked. “And I think a few of our employees may have invoked their knowledge of the dark arts to get their own copies.”

Spike and Giles tried, unsuccessfully, to hide their smiles at everyone’s obvious enthusiasm over the book. Wesley stayed focused. “Do you know what the meeting was about?”

Knox shrugged. “No, but Angel seemed pretty ticked off about something.”

Wes looked at Giles and Spike, still smirking proudly, and then turned his gaze to Buffy, who looked just as annoyed as he felt. “I’ll give you three guesses what’s got Angel so angry.”

Buffy slid her glance toward the other two British men in the room and nodded her agreement.

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