Title: Ordinary World

Author: HLynn

Rating: PG-13

Summary: B/S. Is Buffy attracted to the monster, or the man? She begins to find out in a way she never imagined. UPDATE, Ch. 4: A crossover with the Angel gang, as the Scoobies try to figure out the true culprit for Spike's sudden humanity. A/N: I made some corrections to the earlier parts, based on the transcript from IWRY. Nothing major, but I needed to fix it for my own satisfaction. :)

Chapter 4 - Of Vampires and Men

The task of getting Spike's stuff from the crypt wasn't too much of a struggle. Various boxes were filled up, and his TV and bed, along with the scavenged furniture from the dump, were left behind. Afterwards, the gang met at the Magic Box after sunset, planning to take the information they managed to glean from the books they had and apply it to Spike's situation. The object of their inquiry joined them out of curiosity, if not for the sudden need of companionship.

Dinner that night had been one of the best things he'd had in the past 120 years, and he didn't mean the food, although it was good. No, it was the fact that Dawn had taken it on herself to do it for him. The conversation had been mostly light-hearted, but he felt a connection with Willow and Dawn that he'd never had before, and never really had with anyone outside of his family. He knew Willow could sympathize with him as he struggled to adjust to being normal and powerless, since she was doing her own version of the same thing. As for Dawn, she could finally show her affection outwardly, without fear of being chastised. In that way, he had no regrets about his new status.

With Buffy, however, his feelings were still mixed. He watched her as she sat at the table in the shop, glancing his way occasionally, smiling sometimes, sometimes not. She told him that she wanted to find out if she could fall in love with him, and hearing those words from her at the time meant so much to him, it was almost more than he could bear. But the elation tapered into melancholy as he mulled it over, and now he wondered if her dedication was merely a way to justify her conscience, before rejecting him.

Still, he didn't plan on giving up, not when she wanted to try. He was going to fight for her, stay with her, even until the bitter end. He wasn't sure what he planned to do with his life, but one thing he knew was that it involved Buffy in some way. He wanted it to be for requited love, but he knew there was a good chance it wouldn't be.

"Has anyone called Giles, yet?" Buffy asked, and Spike's attention was pulled away from himself and back to the outer world. Dawn was still in the next room, doing her homework, he expected. Willow nodded, and Xander looked to Anya, who frowned in annoyance.

"Yes, but he wasn't any more help. Xander and I looked through all the books here, and Giles looked through his collection, but there wasn't anything on Mohra demons, except for the normal one sentence description. 'Very rare demon assassin for hire'. No mention of the blood."

Willow suddenly brightened. "Hey, wait a minute. Buffy, you said Angel knew how to kill a Mohra, right? Maybe he or Wesley knows about the blood. Besides, we ought to tell them about what happened to Spike."

Buffy looked over to Spike, a thoughtful expression on her face. He smiled as encouragement, but he couldn't feel it. He didn't exactly relish the thought of Angel turning human, since he knew who would win the Slayer's affections in a fair draw.

"If nothing else, we can get their collective brains behind this," Xander added. "Just the idea of turning vampires back to humans...it's amazing."

"And if there was a way to change that energy into a spell..." Willow began, but the looks from everyone else at the table stopped her cold.

Then Buffy stared at Willow, in sudden realization. "Oh my god. What if it could be done?"

"No more Slayer?" Xander offered. "Well, maybe not, but definitely no more slaying of vamps."

However, Anya appeared more alarmed than intrigued. "Is this something we should be doing, though? Wiping a type of demon off the face of an entire dimension?"

"It would be saving a bunch of human lives," Xander argued in counterpoint. "I don't see the Powers That Be having a problem with that."

Spike stayed silent, not sure where he stood. He could see Anya's point--messing around with magic on such a large scale would only mean horrible consequences later. And he knew a number of vampires who enjoyed what they were. Hell, it was hard to think of a vampire who didn't. But the boy had a point, as well--it would save countless lives, including those who were vampires, themselves. Most had never asked to be turned, and in fact, shouldn't have been turned in the first place, Harmony being a stellar example of that.

Instead of voicing his opinions, he remained quiet, listening to everyone else hash out the logistics and ethics. Maybe they could come to the right conclusion on their own, and he wouldn't need to display his divided thoughts.

In the end, the issue still remained undecided, but Willow took it upon herself to call Wesley right then and there. The question might be moot if they didn't pinpoint what the substance was, and whether it was able to be duplicated in any way or form.

Wesley picked up the phone on the third ring, almost too engrossed in his studies to notice it at all. "Angel Investigations."

"Hi Wesley, it's me, Willow."

"Willow! You're calling with good news, I hope."

"Good, and possibly really good. But I need your help with the possibly good part."

"What can I do?" He asked, a little puzzled. Willow went on to explain about Spike, which caused him to nearly fall off his chair. "Dear Lord."

"That's just what Giles said. But aside from knowing it glows, we have no idea what this stuff is. Anya thinks it might be Mohra demon blood, or something from a Falgor demon, but neither ours or Giles' books seem to have anything. We're kind of hoping you might be able to find it."

He was already picking through his books. "I'm glad you thought of me in this, Willow."

"Well, we're also thinking that Angel might know about this, too. Apparently the last time Buffy was in L.A., he killed a Mohra demon, and from what we've managed to find out, it's not easy."

"Mohra demons are regenerative assassins, I believe. Normal attacks won't kill them, it'll only make them bigger, more powerful."

"What doesn't kill them makes them stronger? And here I thought that was just an old self-help cliché."

"Quite. Ah, here we are, the Book of Kelsor," Wesley said distractedly, pulling an old tome from the bookshelf. "It specializes in the more dangerous demons in our world. It's Angel's book, so that might explain why he knew of it."

It only took him a few turns of the page to find the woodcut print of the demon, looking vaguely insect-like. "Here's the text...powerful assassins who are soldiers of darkness, needing vast amounts of salt water to live. Their veins run with the blood of eternity..." He stopped, his mind whirling at the phrase. Blood of eternity--that had to be...

"Wesley?"

"I don't believe it. It's true." Realizing he was getting ahead of himself, he explained, "The blood of eternity means regeneration. And in the instance of vampires, that would mean--"

"Life," Willow finished for him.

"Yes, it would." He felt numb. Did Angel know this, and not tell him about it? It mentioned the way to kill it, but maybe he didn't know what the blood of eternity meant. "Willow, I'll have to call you back. I need to speak to Angel about this. And-and I need to tell him what happened to William th--I mean, Spike. This is...well, it's amazing, especially in light of the birth of Angel's son."

"The birth of Angel's what?" Willow cried out, stunned.

Buffy lifted her head up in surprise. "What's going on, Will?"

Willow's eyes were wide, as she listened to Wesley on the other end. "You're kidding, right? I mean, that just can't happen. Yeah, I know, Spike's human, but that's totally diff--wait, what was that about Darla?"

Another long stretch of explanation ensued, making Willow even more stunned, if that was possible. "Oh. Wow. Oh, wow. Hey, wait a second--why am I finding out about this now? You didn't think to call and let us know? Or at least Buffy?"

Now Buffy was at full attention. "What's this about me not knowing?"

Willow gave her a helpless glance, then replied into the receiver, "No, it's okay. I'll tell her. If she has questions, she'll give you or Angel a call, I'm sure. Thanks for checking on this. Bye."

Buffy was in a state of readiness for panic. Hearing birth, Angel, and Darla mentioned so close together had inspired odd and troubling thoughts. Willow turned to her, her face filled with a blend of compassion and worry.

"Buffy, I think maybe we need to talk in private."

"Just tell me, Will. Please."

The former witch exhaled, clearly not relishing her duty. "Okay, but this isn't going to be easy to hear. And you might want to lift that prohibition on booze."

Wesley found Cordelia with Fred, helping set up the baby area in Angel's room. They'd already gotten the crib built, and were now adding the final touches. "Where's Angel?"

"Down in the basement, training," Cordy mentioned off-handedly, tucking the baby sheets around the crib's mattress pad. "I told him that he had to stay there until we were done. He was driving us crazy."

"Cordy, I just got off the phone with Willow. Apparently, we forgot to tell them about Connor."

She froze in mid-tuck. "Oh God. Angel didn't call?"

Wesley shook his head soberly. "But there's a more interesting reason for why she called. It seems that William the Bloody, aka Spike, is no longer a vampire."

Cordy gave out a short laugh. "So, he finally got dusted?"

"No, I meant he's among the living, as in fully human."

She and Fred gaped in surprise, but Wesley noticed Cordelia recovered the quickest. "How did this happen?"

"The blood of a Mohra demon. Interestingly enough, the information came from one of Angel's books. I have reason to think that..." he trailed off as he saw recognition flare in Cordy's eyes.

"Wes, Angel knows. He told me about it, but it was before you joined, before...Doyle died," she answered in a sad sigh. "There was something about turning back time, and being human for a day. I don't remember it, but if it didn't happen, then I guess I wouldn't, huh?"

"I see," Wesley replied, feeling something not unlike anger boil slowly to the surface. "So all those hours I spent researching the possibility of Angel being turned human as a reward was for naught, since he already bloody knew how to do it himself? And he didn't think to tell me!"

The words echoed in the small room, left unchallenged. Fred shrank slightly at the tone of his voice--he instantly noticed the reaction, and paled. "I'm sorry...I didn't mean to--"

"No, don't apologize. You're right to get mad," she replied. "I'd be mad in your place. Heck, I feel a little perturbed, myself." If she hadn't said it in a cheerful voice, he might have believed her.

Cordy placed her hands on hips. "He wasn't supposed to be human, Wesley! It was a fluke, not a 'Powers That Be' thing. He can't be the vampire with a soul mentioned in all those prophecies if he's human, now can he?"

He opened his mouth to protest, then quickly closed it. "You have a point. Conner wouldn't exist, would he?"

"Exactly. Angel's the Champion. He can't be human until the Powers give it to him."

"But why didn't either of you tell me about this?"

Cordy shrugged, and tossed a few stuffed animals into the crib. "Maybe because in the beginning, we didn't like you. It's different now, of course. I have to admit I totally forgot about it. And it's not like you run into Mohra demons everyday around here."

Wesley mulled this over, then sighed. "Well, I wish someone had told me this earlier. When your friend Harmony was here, we could have used Mohra blood to turn her back into a human."

The suggestion made Cordelia sink into the rocking chair in the corner, anguish suddenly overcoming her. "Lorne said I was her guide, but I didn't even think...God. She was so unhappy as a vampire, and I had the solution all along."

"So did Angel, and he didn't mention it, either."

"That's true," Cordy replied, staring at the crib. "And now with Spike...Angel's gonna flip."

"Really?" Angel's voice filtered in, and a second later they saw the vampire himself, looking only mildly exhausted. "I was thinking maybe a somersault."

At the look of disdain he got from Cordy, he held up his hands in surrender. "Kidding. So, what's this about Spike?"

Buffy didn't take the news well at all, Spike noted with worry. He wanted to go to her, but their affair had been secret, and showing anything other than distant concern would raise too many questions. Instead, he watched her as she shifted from anger, to sorrow, to self-pity, to anger again, in a vicious circle. Anya had shielded the most expensive items in the store with her body, so the Slayer had to satisfy herself with venting her anger into a punching bag in the training room.

"Oh, this is so like him. I get to die again, and he gets a baby--with Darla!" Her fist connected with a loud thud. "I have to try and pay off back debts with zero income, and he gets a millionaire to fund his little agency or whatever. It's just not fair!" She kicked the bag, and it nearly broke loose of the ceiling.

"Love, it's not gonna be all happiness and light for him, not if Angel Jr. came with a prophecy attached."

"I know, but...he slept with Darla, and not only didn't he lose his soul, she got pregnant. It was supposed to happen, foretold in some ancient scroll. And it wouldn't have happened if he'd stayed with me," she finished softly.

He sighed, as realized the true root of her grief. "You weren't meant to be together, Buffy. Even if he'd stayed, it wouldn't have lasted."

"It could have, but it's a moot point now."

"No, Buffy." He walked over, mildly concerned at his more vulnerable state as he approached her. "You were a sixteen-year-old girl who fell for an older man who knew better than to get involved with you. You're not the same girl you were, for good or ill. People grow, they drift apart...or they become closer."

Spike glanced through the open door, and seeing no one was watching, decided to risk a little more. He leaned towards her and took her hand in his. "Do you really want the past? Or are you willing to give the future a try?"

Her fingers tightened around his, a sign of hope. "You know what I want. Who I want," she corrected, moving an inch closer to him. "That hasn't changed. Yeah, I have regrets. I can't stop that from happening. And it hurts to see your dreams crashing down around your ears, then just when you thought it was over, something happens and crushes those dream fragments into powder. As the Slayer, I don't get maternity leave, or even life insurance. Life happens all around me, but I can't join in."

"Life is what you're living right now. It's you and me, and your friends and your sister, Dawn. You're in the world, Buffy. It's just waiting for you to notice you're already here."

Slowly, she absorbed his words. He could see her struggle over it, wondering if could be that simple. "What about you, though? You can have a family, get a job, live the American Dream...even though you're British."

He shrugged, knowing this would come up eventually. "The normal life's not for me. It never was. And you won't get rid of me that easily, Slayer, so you might as well not even try."

Spike finally saw a smile emerge from her, more out of relief than anything. She didn't even pause to check whether anyone was watching when she pulled him close, matching her upraised lips to his. The kiss deepened in mutual assent, and soon the both of them were lost to their surroundings, unaware that anyone else was in the shop.

Which, of course, wasn't the case at all.

The sound of colorful and somewhat odd swearing drew them out of their embrace, the panic not setting in until they saw Xander standing in the doorway, his jaw slackened and his eyes nearly bulging. Buffy turned to Spike in dread, and he sighed in a gesture of mock defeat.

"Oops."