Spike clashed down on the keys as he stopped playing and ran over to where William was supporting his mother's arm.
"Are you alright mother?" William asked not hiding the worry in his voice. Spike placed a hand on her back while they waited for her to finish most of her coughing.
"Fine, fine. I just need to lie down. Help me to my room dear." She said between coughs to William who started bringing her from the room. "Sorry to stop the night short dears." She called over her shoulder before William brought her out.
"No, it's no-" She left the room before Buffy was able to finish "-trouble." She mumbled back out turning to face Spike. His eyes shifted with worry as he followed the path his mother had taken from the room. "Spike?" Buffy walked over hesitantly. "Are you okay?" She contemplated touching his arm but thought better of it.
"Fine." He growled out, turning around to the fire which was slowly diminishing.
"Is she okay?" Buffy thought she probably knew the answer but was still worried. In the short time she knew his mother she had grown quite fond of her. She was sweet but fierce. That was something she admired.
"She's sick." He said looking at the mantle over the fireplace.
"I'm sorry." Buffy replied softly. It must have been something very bad to make Spike be so quiet.
"M-mother sent me to apologize. Sh-she wishes you don't think too poorly of her." Buffy turned to face a very worried William in the doorway. He was playing with his glasses and took them off to clean them before playing with his hands. Her heart pained at the look on his face. She wanted to run over and hold him and she may have if it wasn't for the Spike-like appearance. Spike wasn't exactly one for the cuddles.
"We wouldn't dream of it." Buffy replied for them as Spike was still turned towards the fire.
"I'm going to retire for the night. Please stay in this room as long as you like." He didn't wait for replies as he turned on his heal and headed back for the stairs. Buffy turned back to Spike and waited for him to do something. When he didn't move she decided it was best to return his attention to the present. She knew no other way of getting his mind off whatever he was thinking about. Moving closer she turned at his side and saw the withdrawn look on his face. The glow from the fire made it almost heartbreaking. It looked as though he was halfway to jumping in.
"Is it alright if we try and figure out what's happened to us now?" Her voice was timid when she spoke. She had never seen Spike like this and she really didn't know what to do about it. A part of her wanted to argue that he was just a demon who couldn't feel things like sorrow or remorse but the physical evidence in front of her was too much. Maybe she had been wrong about vamps. Or maybe something really did happen to Spike.
"Yeah." Spike spun and sat on the couch where his mother had. The smell of her was everywhere in the room and it was hard to get her off his mind. He ran a hand over his face trying to clear himself of the memory of her sickness. It was devastating and painful to watch. It was the reason he turned her, after that he tried not to think much about it. The memory was too uncomfortable.
"Can we go over what we remember again?" Buffy wasn't sure why she was asking, normally she would be commanding. It was just awkward seeing Spike so bent out of shape.
"Yeah." Spike said as he continued staring ahead into nothing. Buffy sighed and decided it was better to start than to argue.
"I remember walking home and going straight to my room because it was so late. My mom and Dawn were already asleep and so I just went into my room. I was so exhausted after…well after that night so I kicked off my shoes and jacket and curled into bed. All I did was sleep." Buffy waited for something to sink in but nothing did. She waited for Spike to start. "Spike?" No reply. "Spike?!" She moved to him and waved her hand in front of his face. He grabbed her wrist and shoved her hand away without breaking his unfocused stare.
Spike did not want to recall the night. His time there was not proving well to block the memory though. He just didn't want Buffy to know how pathetic he was after she had left. You're beneath me. He didn't want her to know how much it hurt him to the core. "I got some drinks in the Bronze. Met a nice lady, we talked. I went home. Woke up in the alley."
"Wait you talked to someone?" Buffy stood in front of him to make him pay attention.
"Yeah. What of it?" He looked up at her face for the first time.
"What did you talk about?"
"Stuff. What do you care?"
"What did you talk about Spike?"
"I don't know. I was really drunk. Why?" Sure he had the idea, lay your heart out on the table talk, but he didn't remember details and he did not want Buffy to know them.
"Please tell me you didn't make any wishes."
"What? Why? Make any wishes. I didn't-" Spike's mind rounded on the word wish and he tried to think harder and harder about the conversation he had. The more he spoke the more he realized he had. He had wished for Buffy to see his humanity. Too see his William side. "Oh bloody Hell."
"You made a wish to a demon?!" Buffy wanted to yell but thought better of it and whisper-yelled glancing at the door and punching him in the arm.
"I didn't know okay!" He glanced to the door as he also whisper-yelled rubbing his punched arm.
"What did you wish for?"
He was not going to tell her that. "I don't remember." He looked back into the fire contemplating whether or not the slayer would burn him alive after finding out.
"Spike. I will knock the memory back into you if you don't tell me." Spike looked up at her with a frown on his face. It was going to be humiliating. Not only would she hear about how he whined about her for hours while drunk but she would also get the satisfaction of knowing he made a wish on her. Maybe satisfaction was the wrong word, maybe it was leverage.
"Fine." He sighed for good measure. "I wished that you would see the humanity in me. The William side of me." He groaned and rolled his head so he was looking at the ceiling. Of course he did this.
Buffy paced putting together the pieces of the night before. "That's why we're here. Because you made a wish to a vengeance demon." She threw out her hands in frustration. "Okay so what does that mean? What do we do here?"
"Don't you just break their necklace? Isn't that what does them in?" He would have thought Anya would have told them that by now.
"And how are we supposed to find this demon and her necklace? I don't suppose you got a name?"
"Melanie." Spike mumbled towards the ceiling.
"What?"
"Her name was Melanie." He rolled his head forward to glare at her, speaking to her like she was little again.
"Okay great. We have a name. Now how the hell are we supposed to find her?" Of all the stupid things Spike had done this was just the cherry on top. Didn't vampires know better than to make wishes to random people? Okay, so Spike wasn't that smart. Of all the things he could have wished for though, he had to drag her into it. Forget how nice he had been acting, it was obviously just part of the spell, she was fed up with him. She walked over to the chair near the table where William had sat earlier and crossed her arms onto the table, laying her head down on top of them.
"I could go to the local demons tonight." Great, he felt bad. Probably worse than he normally would. His home, 19th century London, seemed to bring those emotions he normally easily suppressed to the surface. It was irritating.
"How is that supposed to help?" Her voice was muffled by her arms.
"We could see if they know any vengeance demons."
"What if she doesn't even exist yet?" Even if they could find a vengeance demon and make them help, it didn't mean Melanie would exist. Maybe if they found Anya she would be willing to help. It was doubtful with her. Only Xander really knew how to handle her.
"Then we'll figure out something else. Maybe a vengeance demon knows something, have the go around. Get a get out of jail free card for us."
"I wish Giles was here. He'd be in research mode and tell me what to do." She lifted her head from her arms and ran her hands down her face.
"Yeah research. It's all them council people are really good for." Spike scoffed.
"The council? That's a good point." She turned to face Spike surprised he just gave her an idea.
"What?"
"What if we just go to the council? They should help us right?" The council had been around since the first slayer. They were bound to help any slayer, from any century. It couldn't be the first time something like that had happened.
"I thought you gave up on them."
"I'm not saying they're right, I'm saying they should help."
"So where is this council?"
"Here, in London. I don't know where-where exactly."
"So how are we supposed to find it?"
"I don't know." She groaned into her hand. "It can't be that hard can't it? It's just a big library."
"What if I get some demons in on it? Other vamps. Tell them I plan to storm the council, see if they know where it is."
"Because that's just what we need, to help a bunch of vamps attack the place we need help from."
"I'll take care of it." She looked at him uncertainly. "You have a better idea I'm all ears pet."
"Fine. Just handle it." Spike stood up and started for the door. "Wait." Spike turned, obviously wanting to get out as soon as possible. Buffy needed to ask this question though, there was no good timing. "Where is the bathroom?" Spike's frown twisted into a smile and he laughed out loud at her. "What?" She was utterly confused.
"Outside love." She stared him waiting for him to give the real answer. He just continued to gaze at her with a smile on his face.
"What?" She asked again worried and he laughed.
"They're public. I'll take you to them. They're across the street." He laughed again and headed out the door towards the main entrance. Prissy slayer was about to get a taste of the 19th century.
"Wait! Spike, I still don't have shoes." She called as she ran after him towards the front end of the house.
