Spike had closed his eyes, allowing a moment of near bliss at the taste of human blood in his mouth again. Not only the taste of human, but his stomach felt almost uncomfortably full. The down side was the reason why it had happened. No, he hadn't got the bloody chip out, hadn't been able to slaughter the Slayer and bathe in her blood. Instead, he'd been kidnapped and tortured by the scariest evil woman that he'd ever seen, and left to die. Or maybe he'd been intended to barely escape, and be a helpless defenseless wretch when the decided to get him for round two. His body ached all over, especially his back, still a mass of burning pain as his muscles and skin re-knit. Some of the bones had a particular itchy feeling that he knew meant they'd taken injury as well. He hadn't got this blood himself.

Willow had got it for him. She'd gone to Willie's and brought him back blood... easily the equivalent of three grown men. She's tried to tend his wounds, even picking out all the bits of grass and leaves. She'd done her best to help him. It gave him this odd, uncertain feeling. He didn't understand why she would go to the effort, why bestir herself to help him. But she had, and he was grateful, and amazed, and thankful to the very depths of his heart. And once again his ideas of what she could and couldn't do had been turned upside down and shaken.

"Spike? Are you feeling better?" Willow's voice found him, apparently finished with her conversation with whoever had called on the telephone.

He gave a small smirk. "Much better than earlier, Red. But I'm still not quite up to a hundred percent. Who called?"

She sighed, tucking a lock of hair behind her ear, the bottom of the lock curling around her ear like a trickle of blood. "Giles called. He's been looking for information on that name, and wants us to come over to hear the news. Sort of makes me thing he found something and it's bad, you know? Anyhow, he's got Anya helping with the research, and Tara and Xander are supposed to be over to make sure we get there safely."

Considering not only her words, but what she hadn't said, Spike frowned. "What's up with you and Tara anyhow? I know the two of you aren't shagging, so why's everyone think you are?"

Willow blushed. "I... we... You aren't supposed to know that. Everyone's supposed to think that we ARE shagging, as you put it. That keeps me safe from Buffy's matchmaking, and... Tara... she had a few problems. She's sort of using me as a shield from unwanted attention. It's a mutual using thing... except that that sounds so calculatingly mercenary."

"How do you know I won't let out your little secret?" He grinned, hoping that she knew he was teasing her, hoping that she'd blush.

Willow did blush, turning a deep near red that went badly with her hair. The blush didn't hide her almost wicked smile, however. "Got a plan for that. If you try, then we have a cover story - you wanted to make our lesbian duo into a torrid threesome and we turned you down. So, the whole jealousy thing."

"Hey! That's... that's... that would be pretty effective, actually." Spike felt himself grinning, wondering how he'd missed the fact that Willow had such a devious streak in her. "Of course, if you ever decided to try that torrid threesome idea... I'd be delighted to help out."

Willow giggled, her eyes dancing with amusement. "Nah... not going to happen. You are't Tara's type at all."

"I think I'm offended. Why wouldn't I be her type? What's wrong with me?" Spike pretended a bit more outrage than he actually felt. And then it hit him - Willow had said that he wasn't Tara's type. Not that he wasn't Willow's type. Hmmmm... That little fact made wheels start turning in the depths of his mind.

Dropping to sit beside him, Willow grinned. "You're much too scary for her. Too much the big bad, the predatory dangerous type that is sure to have vast appetites and exotic tastes. She'd rather have someone a bit more quiet, maybe even a bit shy. More inclined to poetry readings than wrestling."

Tara thought he was too scary? He had to smile at that, remembering all the effort it had taken to get to be the big bad that he was today. "Not easy to become a big bad. It's sort of reassuring to know that someone's still afraid of me. But... becoming a vampire can liberate your dark side, bring out all sorts of things you didn't know were lurking in there. Want to try it?"

"Eeep. Umm... I've seen vampire Willow. We don't need her here right now. Short attention span, rampant sex drive with a lack of discrimination... No, definitely no return of vamp Willow." Willow had this almost nervous expression, and the faintest thread of fear had entered her scent.

Spike grinned, trying to imagine a vampire Willow, one with an aggressive sexuality and less inhibitions. "How did you see... How do you know what you'd be like?"

"I really hope that I'd never be quite like her even if I did get turned. Although I'm starting to think that the leather isn't quite so bad... I think it should make a difference that I wouldn't... couldn't have the same Sire that she did, and she was insecure fifteen year old Willow, not the me that I am today, if that makes sense." Willow paused, as if trying to explain her objections to the vampire version to a vampire. "She couldn't stay focused on a task very long, she wasn't particularly selective about her sexual partners, and she had no concept of discretion. And she was having sex with the Master. Euugh."

Remembering the one time that he'd ever met the Master, Spike winced. "Blegghh. I can see your point. But you aren't the same person that you were at fifteen, you wouldn't become her. And the Master's dead, so that wouldn't be an issue."

"You sound so confident of that. But we have to start getting you together so that we can go listen to Giles." Willow didn't sound upset with him.

He wished that he could understand why it seemed so important that she wasn't upset. "Clothing? Mine is a bit worse for wear. And if you ever want to find out how the new you would turn out, let me know. I'd be happy to have you as my childe."

She froze, looking at him with wide eyes. "You... you would want to turn me? To have me as your childe? To actually... It would be different to have a parent watching over me for a while..." She shook her head, as if trying to clear things away. "I got you some extra things. Dark jeans, a black tee shirt. It will have to do for now. And you left a pair of boots over at Xander's so you don't need to have bare feet."

Carefully, he changed into the new clothing, testing to see just how badly everything still protested to movement. Willow hadn't reacted the way he'd expected at all. No protests about not wanting turned, she'd just... Focused on the concerned Sire aspect of it. There had to be some significance to that. "Right then, off to see the Watcher."

ed part 5.



Xander and Tara had arrived, and there had been a quite spectacular looking hug between Willow and Tara, causing Xander to try not to stare. Seeing their bodies pressed together like that, Spike could definitely understand the staring. He looked himself, wondering how they could... Well, it looked convincing.

"Giles wanted us to meet him at the Magic Box." Tara's voice was low, and she seemed worried about something.

Xander just shook his head, muttering something about exhibitionist tendencies. Then, in a louder voice he added "Anya said she had a weird feeling of something going to happen, some portent of doom type thing. Any second votes?"

Tara looked over, a half smile on her face. "Sunnydale, remember? When isn't something bad about to happen?"

Willow opened her mouth to say something and just stopped. She closed her eyes, apparently concentrating on listening to something. "Anya's right... I can feel something building... the park?"

Xander just shrugged. "Maybe we should cut through the park on the way back then? Just to see if there's anything."

Tara gave him a weak glare. "You just don't want to hurry back."

The teasing continued as they moved towards the park, going slowly partly ot of the pretext of being thorough, partly out of the faint hope of delaying the news that there was nothing they could do, just an all powerful scary evil that would rip them into painfully screaming slivers with her manicured nails. But then Spike started to feel it too, althoguh he couldn't exactly describe it. The air seemed to get thicker, and there were some of her nasty little minions lurking.

"She sent some minions. Something's definitely up." Spike felt his body tense, trying to be ready for a fight, but there was something else... a tendril of fear at the idea of going back. Fear of ever being in her clutches again.

The group spread out a little bit, enough to have a clear view of the area. They tried to locate the various minions, hoping to prevent them from... well, whatever purpose they had here was probably on Glory's orders, which meant it was probably bad for them.

Slowly, the air began to move, almost as if it was being sucked towards a point, a tiny glowing flicker of pale green. The air swirled around, forming what looked almost like a whirlpool of air tilted onto it's side, sucking up grass clippings, small twigs, and bits of dust. Then, it was as if the current changed directions, and with a flicker of pale green across the vortex, a shape like a man emerged, falling to the ground. The minions surged towards the shape, clearly attempting to capture the who or whatever the portal thingy had dropped.

The Scoobies attacked the minions, and Spike was growling, rejoicing in the chance to hurt these minions, the same creatures that had grabbed him before, the same things that had left him under Willow's hedge. His features had shifted, and he roared a challenge, for the moment allowing himself to give reign to the darkest violent impulses inside of him. He was dimly aware of Tara and Willow doing magical things, of Xander and the person from the portal trying to fight the minions. Finally, there were no more to fight, the entire group of brown demons either dead or run away.

Slowly, he let himself go calm again, every muscle once more screaming agonized protests. He felt the rumbling growl cease, and realized that there was another scent in the air, the scent of the person from the portal. A human scent, one that seemed oddly terribly familiar.

"By chance could someone kindly explain what just happened?" The confused voice carried the unmistakable tones of a proper education, of wealth and correct etiquette. The voice sounded...

Spike spun around, looking at the person that the portal had spat forth. Shoulder length brown hair pulled back by a scrap of ribbon. A brown wool suit, now torn and with bits of leaves and grass clinging to it. A pair of wire frame spectacles perched on his nose, framing confused blue eyes. "Oh bloody hell."

The newly arrived person's eyes grew wide, and he stepped back in alarm. "A vampire!"

Hearing the rapid heartbeat of the man in front of him, recognizing those features, those horrible spectacles, Spike could only repeat his words. "Oh bloody hell."

The others were staring at him and at the mortal looking terrified at Spike. There was no recognition in the mortal's eyes, but Spike didn't need it. "Meet William Exeter, of London."

"Spike?" It was Willow who asked the question on their minds. "How do you know who he is?"

He grimaced, allowing his features to return to their human shape. "Once upon a time I used to be him."

end part 6.

"WHAT?!?" The shocked response came from almost everyone.

"But... but he doesn't look like a demented rampaging killer." Xander's words tumbled out.

"Glasses? And... h-h looks sort of... scholarly, sort of like Giles." Tara's soft words weren't so much a question as an observation.

"I most certainly am NOT a vampire! I assure you that I am very much alive. Can anyone help me get back home?" William's voice carried worry and a bit of concern.

Spike glared at everyone, wondering why Willow hadn't made some sort of comment. "I am not demented, that was Dru. I haven't had a bloody rampage for quite a while now, and he's not a vampire. I used to be mortal. Now, I'm not. As for you, William, you can't get home. You aren't in England, definitely not in London, and the year is two thousand and one."

Willow's voice was soft, only heard due to the stunned silence in the park. "Glory's spell brought him here for a reason. She wanted to get him. Therefore, I suggest we keep him... William, that is, away from her."

"I... could take him back to the apartment. Help him get adjusted to here and now." Tara's offer sounded a bit hesitant, and she kept glancing at William, and then away again. "Besides, Giles in big danger mode... it might be a bit much for him."

Willow nodded, apparently deep in thought. "Yeah... that should work. A lot of things have changed since he got up this morning. The rest of us can go talk to Giles and explain this new development."

So they resumed their trip to the Magic Box. Whatever Giles had wanted to tell them would still be important. They would also need to tell Giles about the arrival of William, and try to figure out what it meant.

"Do you think Tara just wanted to get him alone with her?" Spike leaned over, whispering the question to Willow.

Willow looked up at him, eyes wide with surprise. "I don't think... not like that! That would be more Anya's speed, not Tara's. She might try to learn a bit more about him though..."

"Best hope he doesn't show her his poetry, the poor bloke. Bloody awful stuff." Spike gave a small shudder, not just at the memory of the disastrous reception his poetry'd received, but at the idea that now, these people would learn about the person he'd once been. How pitiful and hopeless he'd been, mooning over some bird that wouldn't give him the time of day.

"Poetry?" Her whisper was filled with amazement. "But... Tara likes poetry. That might not go too badly for him. I didn't know that you used to write poetry, Spike."

"I stopped." He hoped that Willow would let the subject drop. Poetry lead to pain and humiliation.

Willow was giving him this oddly thoughtful look. Somehow, he'd become the focus of her musings. With a sinking feeling, he suspected that it was because of the glimpse into his past that William had offered her. She was the observant one, just seeing him would tell Willow a lot. The idea made him feel oddly nervous. What if she didn't like William? What if she thought he was as miserable as Cecily had? When did it start to matter what Willow thought of him?

"I wonder what made Glory think you know something about the Key, anyhow."

end part 7.

Willow was trying to make sense out of everything. For some reason, Glory thought that Spike had or knew something about this mysterious Key thing. Spike didn't want to talk about why Glory thought that he knew something. Glory had tortured Spike to try to get him to talk, and had her minions dump him afterwards. Glory'd almost killed Spike. Willow wasn't quite certain why the idea upset her so much. Spike had threatened to kill them all in general and specific many times. He wanted to turn her, which should really bother her far more than it did. He was still in love with Dru. Even if he didn't talk about her anymore, you don't spend over a century with a person, have them break your heart and just wake up a few months later all better.

Spike hadn't told Glory what she wanted to know, mainly because he didn't know it either. But Glory wouldn't accept that answer, so... Obviously, Glory had some sort of plan to get information. How did that connect with her not being able to read vampires and using a big scary spell to pull the mortal version of Spike to Sunnydale? Did she think that Spike had known about her key even then? Or... was William some sort of test model? She felt herself run cold at the idea. That would be evil, despicable... well within the things that Glory would be willing to do, actually.

But she was filled with so many questions after seeing William. If that was how Spike had been as a human... he'd changed a lot after being turned. Had it been gradual, or just... I'm dead now, cut and bleach the hair, loose the spectacles, change the wardrobe? Had it been just being changed, or had he deliberately reinvented himself, the way that actors and musicians sometimes did? How much of William was left in Spike? How much of Spike lay buried inside William? Would William be able to adjust to being here, almost two hundred years later in time?

Remembering the way Tara had been looking at the confused young man, she had the feeling that he'd have quite a bit of help. And William had been a poet? Most likely Tara would be smitten. Best hope that William treated her gently. Hmm... if Tara hooked up with William, that would effectively end the lesbian charade, leaving Willow free to... But that didn't matter. She didn't do well with dates. They were always falling short of her internal standards, only, they really didn't even go asking to begin with.

"All we have to do is survive this... hopefully without anyone becoming dead... or deader than they already are." She wasn't quite certain why the words emerged, having been lost in thought.

Spike reached out, his hand touching her elbow for a brief moment. "Sounds good, Red. But how do we make that happen?"

Willow tried to smile, looking at his intense blue eyes. "I... really wish I knew."

They entered the store, slouching behind Xander, who immediately flipped open the donut box. Holding a powdered donut, Xander looked over at Giles and Anya and made his statement in his best profound voice. "Strange things are afoot at the Circle K."

"You mean I was right? What happened? You didn't get hurt, did you?" Anya was beside Xander, one hand touching his arm, curling over the muscles in what could have been possessiveness or admiration.

Giles looked at them, his eyes filled with worry. "Where's Tara?"

Willow sighed. "Well, that's sort of an interesting story. The short version is that there was a magical portal vortex thing that spat out a person, and Tara took him home to try to adjust. umm... we're pretty sure that it was Glory's doing, her minions tried to grab him. He's... umm... he's the guy who later became Spike."

That had been fairly short, covered the main points, and shouldn't have been confusing. Except that she was already feeling confused over the fact that there was now William, Tara seemed interested in William, they had an unknown evil woman trying to get William, and would William being here affect Spike's existence in a creepy Back to the Future no longer existing sort of way?

"She pulled someone through time? But... that could cause issues with Spike existing, depending on what spell she used. It could cause a dimensional shift, or disrupt an alternate reality..." Anya was frowning. "Just remember that this wasn't my fault. Not like that other Willow."

Giles frowned at his teacup. "What would she want with William? Unless... no, someone from two centuries ago wouldn't know about her Key. Which reminds me, I did some research on that name that you gave us."

Frowning, Giles sank into a chair. "She's a hell-goddess. I found some records of her exploits. Very violent and vicious, rather vain as well. One source connects her to the Greek Maenads, powerful madwomen who followed Dionysus. Another story tries to connect her to Teshub, a powerful force of destruction from Babylonian myth. I have no idea what could stop her."

"Way to be Mister Sunshine." Xander's dry comment made people wince.

"We can't just give up. How was Teshub dealt with in the Babylonian myth? I'm not going to just step back and let her take over or whatever she wants. She's evil, and cruel, and... I don't like her."

Spike gave a small snort. "Because you don't like her? Can't pull the same trick that got rid of Teshub - another god had to drop a volcano on him to contain him. Didn't kill him, just locked him away."

Giles looked surprised. "Ahh... yes, Spike is correct about the story of Teshub. And I do not advise attempting to blow up another building."

Anya made a small motion, almost like waving her hand. "D'Hoffryn said something about a Glorificus once. Apparently, that was someone thrown out of one of the more powerful demon councils. There's nothing of the same power level that's been banished here before. And she's much worse than an Asencion."

Willow sank into another chair, her mind spinning. "A hell goddess... a powerful demon worse than the Mayor... oh dear. This is going to turn out really bad."

end part 8.