"You know, Willow and Tara would probably be a better resource for investigating your possible immortal status," Anya commented as she walked down the street beside Buffy.

The girls had just finished sharing lunch at a sandwich shop on the square. Although he didn't get to come along because it was deemed a totally girl talk only meal, Xander had been the supplier of the cash for the pair to enjoy their afternoon. Anya had wanted all the details on the first Slayer and Vampire date last night. At the end of the meal and after Buffy shared just how wonderful Spike was at kissing, the Eternal One had mentioned their conundrum. She needed to know if her past body with her overwritten consciousness was still trapped in an immortal cycle.

"You know a lot more about magic than I will ever know," Buffy complimented. Despite all her years alive, magic had never been a skill she acquired. Her interests had tended towards more physically useful studies like medical care, engineering, and agriculture. She had relied on other more gifted individuals in regards to anything magic related. "And to be honest, I am not really comfortable with sharing the details of my existence with the two witches. Not now. Perhaps not ever."

"I think Tara might be trust worthy but Willow? Something is way off there," the Slayer added. The Eternal One might not know why she didn't trust her supposed best friend but her repeated visceral responses to the witch kept her on edge. She was assaulted with nagging unease every time Willow approached her. It had obviously strained their chance at a friendly relationship. Buffy would be the first to admit though that she wasn't upset by this development. She was quite content with being friends with Anya, Xander and Spike.

"Hmm, she does tend towards the jealous and irresponsible," Anya admitted as she considered the red head and all the problems she had caused with either her magic or her meddling in Buffy's life. "I can see you not feeling comfortable including Tara. With them being lovers, I am sure she would share anything you told her."

"On the other hand, I have not told Xander your secret so perhaps you could share with Tara only? If you stress the secrecy importance?" the former demon speculated.

Buffy promised to consider her suggestion if they were unable to find answers themselves.

In a few minutes, the pair reached the magic store.

"Nice location," Anya muttered as she glanced up and down the street. "Lots of foot traffic in this region. Not too far from residential areas and bordering on one of the more demon populated neighborhoods. If the merchandise is of good quality, I am sure the proprietor does quite well."

Buffy merely shrugged. Economics were not really one of her interests. As long as she had access to her current needs, she was thrilled beyond measure. Customer service and profit margins bored her to distraction. Additionally, the concept of money had fallen into obscurity as the influence of humanity waned. Bartering skills for items had become common place. Luckily for the Slayer, the Eternal One had very unique skills available for those moments. She had seen little need for accumulating whatever was considered wealth for whatever culture was prominent at the time.

The bell above the door jingled jauntily as the pair entered the store. Although the lights were lit, no one greeted them. Anya commented on the strangeness of the missing welcome. She insisted that a good shopkeeper would want to make her customers feel comfortable. They would spend more money that way. They would also be more likely to return and spend more in the future.

Buffy shook her head at her friend's strong Capitalistic leanings.

"Hmm, I think I found why he offered no hello," Buffy stated as she moved down one of the aisles in the book section.

Anya hurried towards her friend.

"Ah yes... that would do it," the former demon easily agreed as she noticed the dried husk that was the former proprietor. Unlike how most folks would respond, neither girl seemed particularly upset at finding the body. They took death in stride and shifted directly to practically problem solving the situation. They both moved around the dried corpse cataloging what details were easily observed.

The mummified body was crouched on the floor with its hand slightly raised towards the bottom shelf. A rusted and cracked price tagging device remained clutched in the dead man's hand. The proprietor had been pricing new merchandise on the lower shelf when whatever killed him occurred.

"Interesting. Instant mummy," Anya observed.

Buffy nodded. It was obvious from the body's position that whatever killed the man had been instantaneous. There hadn't even been time for the man to fall or drop his trade tool. The Eternal One moved around the room until she found a thin yet inflexible strip of wood. She pulled it from a display of hard wood wands. She rolled her eyes. She never remembered ever seeing any magic practitioners waving magic wands. They must have been for fools and non-practitioners. Liking the way the smooth wood felt in her hand, she slid the original one into her back pocket and then snagged a new one. Returning, the Slayer knelt beside the body. She used the wooden wand to shift a bit of the man's rotting clothes to check underneath.

The cloth disintegrated into bits of smaller pieces and dust. The desiccated skin under the dried cloth was just as wrinkled and dehydrated as the visible skin. Buffy hummed as she moved around the body and continued to poke and prod like a kid performing a dissection. She intently studied as much of the body as she could. She even got down low to the floor so she could look inside the dead man's nose. Leaving the wand beside the body, she stood.

"Not really a mummy. Brain cavity seems intact so it wasn't pulled free," the Slayer observed. She tapped her chest. "No signs of organ removal either."

Anya tilted her head slightly then frowned.

"You remember how mummies were made but not details about your own life?"

Buffy shrugged. In most cases and barring serious trauma, she only found flashes of long lost lifetimes but knowledge that she encountered a number of times seemed to stay in place. She had a horde of languages rattling around in her head and even though English had fallen into forgotten language status, the thoughts in her mind had still been created and expressed in Buffy's original language. She thought in English and translated to all the other languages she had learned. Bits and pieces of history remained too. She knew that both the second and third world wars stemmed from a combination of empire building as well as racial and religious intolerance. She knew that she had not been alive for WWII but she retained vivid memories of WWIII. She recalled human exploration in space as well as the first alien crafts to arrive on Earth. Natural disasters, massive battles, and years of fighting against and fraternizing with the Immortal rattled around in her brain. They all swirled in her head in a jumbled mess.

After almost five minutes of staring into space as she jumped from image to image, Anya snapped her fingers in front of the Eternal One's eyes until she focused once more on the present. Buffy apologized then dredged up an explanation for her knowledge about mummification.

"Forever is a long time. I spent years and years reading books and holoscans. I even lived in the remains of a massive library for a couple hundred years. That was actually one of the nicest homes I ever maintained. Additionally, the Knarth mummify their dead to ensure their return to their god after death. Otherwise, they believed their sentience was trapped forever on this plane. Not where they wanted to remain. They had this whole hierarchy thingy. It was based in the same deities and theories as the Egyptian traditions. Wasn't a fan."

"Zealots can be scary," Anya stated sagely.

Buffy agreed. Religious zealots, no matter what creed, race or composition, orchestrated so many acts of evil in her past. It had been a repeating pattern in both humanity and demonic cultures. She had never understood it. She doubted she ever would. Taking a deep breath, Buffy forced away her melancholy thoughts about the futility of the worlds populations. She shifted her focus back to the strange mummy. It was something she stood a chance at addressing.

She speculated that the effect was a spell gone wrong or a possible attack against the shopkeeper.

"You know, you have a great resource you could use for just this kind of thing," Anya offered. When Buffy just frowned in confusion, the former demon reminded her that she had a Watcher. Investigating things like strange spells or magical backlashes were right up his alley.

Buffy blushed as she admitted sheepishly that she had forgotten about the research assistance. She explained that it had been so long since anyone had provided her with help investigating strange phenomenon that she hadn't considered asking for assistance. Anya understood. She kindly offered to call Giles and request he come to the magic store.

Once Giles promised to arrive as soon as possible, Buffy and Anya flipped the open sign so that no unsuspecting customers would enter while there was a corpse in the aisle. They then settled on the steps near the entrance to wait for Rupert. To fill the time, Buffy asked Anya about her more interesting curses as a vengeance demon. She happily complied by weaving tales of punishment of misogynistic philanderers that quite impressed the Slayer.

Buffy complimented the former vengeance demon on her creativity as well as her longevity. Since everyone else always wanted her to refrain from discussing her past, Anya preened. The Slayer's interest provided a validation and acceptance of her past that was sorely missing from her current life. She had just started a tale about the wish that led to the 1905 Russian Revolution when Giles arrived. She promised to finish her story later as the former Watcher fumbled into the store.

Giles complained about the lights which Buffy had turned off to maintain the closed atmosphere. Anya flipped the switch while Buffy showed him to the body. Intrigued, Giles repeated the same investigating steps that the Eternal One had already performed. Settling back on his heels beside the dried shopkeeper, Rupert removed his glasses and tapped them against his thigh.

"He looks remarkably like the victims created by Ampata. Don't you agree, Buffy?" he questioned while looking to the Slayer for conformation.

Buffy froze for a fraction of a second. She was unsure how to respond to the observation. She was saved from needing to reply when Anya jumped into the ensuing quiet.

"OH! Inca Mummy Girl. She totally wanted my Xander. Glad she didn't suck him dry. I would have hated to miss all my Xander induced orgasms."

For a moment, Rupert appeared as if he swallowed his tongue. He shook his head. The older British man was never sure how to take some of the more provocative statements made by Xander's girlfriend.

"Yes, Anya. That would have surely been a tragedy."

"I know. Totally," the former demon concurred with a wink towards Buffy.

The Eternal One offered her friend a thankful smile. The socially inappropriate comments nicely distracted Giles from pressing her on an incident of which she had no recollection.

Giles suggested that they search the store to see if they discovered any clues about the source of the death. Lacking any better suggestions, Buffy and Anya agreed. The three methodically moved through the shop while searching for anything that might have caused the dried husk that used to be Mr. Bogarty.

As he sorted through papers behind the counter, Giles uttered an exclamation of amazement.

"Good lord," he muttered as he double checked the accounting book he found underneath a stack of mail order purchase requests.

"What?" Buffy asked as she exited one of the aisles. She was instantly concerned by his exclamation and scanned the store for a possible threat.

"Well, I had no idea the profit margins on a shop like this were so high."

Buffy frowned but Anya immediately agreed. She started raving about the store location and merchandising possibilities. For the first time in ages, Giles found himself impressed with Anya's insightful observations. The pair became side-tracked with the potential profits to be acquired by this particular magic store. The Slayer put up with the conversation for a few minutes before she finally snapped at the distracted capitalists.

"This is really not helping with the whole mystery mummy," she reminded them.

Duly chastised, Giles and Anya returned to their investigation. Unfortunately, none of them found anything of merit in regards to the proprietor's condition. Finally, Giles mentioned his intention to call the police while Anya did a quick turn through the store and collected the things that originally brought Buffy and her to the store. She slipped the items into a bag and followed the Slayer from the store since Giles had offered to wait for the patrolman to arrive. He never noticed the girls sneaking away with a number of books and supplies. He was too busy sifting through the sales and profit details for the store one additional time before the authorities could usher him from the store.


Later that day, Buffy bounced into the kitchen from the back yard where she had been playing with her pet demon. The Eternal One had needed a distraction from her worries about her possibly retained immortal status. She hoped that Anya found something to help her soon.

Billy Gilly clamored across the linoleum floor as he scurried to the ferret fountain Joyce had purchased for the little guy so that he could have fresh water when neither Summers woman were home. With his butt in the air, the little demon rapidly slurped some of the cooled and circulating water. Once satisfied, he moved to rub against Joyce's leg as she sat on a stool at the counter. Absently, Buffy's mom rubbed his head without lifting her eyes from the article in the most recent addition of ARTnews. She no longer found the little demon even remotely threatening and was actually impressed with how well her daughter was caring for the pet.

After reaffirming his place in Joyce's affections, the tired demon moved from the kitchen to take a nap in his little cat den. Before Buffy could pass through the room on the way to her bedroom and her own possible afternoon nap, her mother called to her. Joyce closed her magazine and watched her daughter perch on the stool opposite her position. She smiled in return when Buffy grinned at her while snagging a pretzel from Joyce's snack bowl.

"Would you like to order some Chinese for supper tonight?" Joyce inquired. She hadn't planned anything for the meal because she had originally thought she would be working late at the gallery. Since her superhuman summer help had gotten her latest acquisitions unpacked and displayed a day ahead of schedule, she had gotten a reprieve.

"Sorry mom," Buffy answered with real regret. "I have already have plans."

"Are you going out with Spike again?" Joyce inquired. She kept her tone empty of any inflection which would indicate her concern about her daughter having yet another relationship with a vampire.

With a silly smile on her lips that her mother was sure hadn't been seen in years, Buffy nodded happily.

Joyce glanced down at the counter while she debated with herself once again about her feelings regarding Buffy's latest beau. Although she hated to burst Buffy's current happy bubble, the seemingly older Summers woman decided not to remain silent. She cared too much for her daughter's future to refrain from voicing her concerns.

"About Spike," she opened.

"What about him?" Buffy questioned as she reached to the fruit basket for a couple grapes. She popped one of the purple seedless fruits into her mouth while waiting for her mother to explain. She happily chewed. Having easy and tasty snacks at her fingertips without any real effort was still an incredible joy. The Eternal One doubted she would be losing that enjoyment any time soon.

"Are you sure you want to start something with another vampire?"

The smile slid from her daughter's face to be replaced by a pinched frown.

"Don't you like Spike?" Buffy responded. She was confused. Her mother always treated Spike well. They had long discussions about art and books. She didn't understand why Joyce would suddenly be concerned about his vampire status.

Joyce pressed her lips together and took a deep breath.

"Yes. Of course I like him," she replied. Her fingers absently slid back and forth over the binding spine of her magazine. "He's quite personable and polite with me."

A tentative smile returned to Buffy's face.

"He's totally a cutie too," the Slayer added.

Nodding, Joyce had to agree. The bleached blonde vampire was quite attractive despite his rather dated clothing choices. In her worried mother mind, his attractiveness physically or personality wise were not the issue.

"Don't you think you would be happier dating a human? Someone a bit more normal? Who would enjoy some of the non-slayer related parts of your life. Maybe a nice college boy? Someone who could give you a real future. Support you. Share a life. Give you children."

Buffy froze. She blinked slowly as her mind spiraled onto one of the topics she had avoided for so many ages just like regular folks avoided the plague and elevator music. She stood so quickly that her stool toppled to the floor. Joyce flinched at the unexpected crash of furniture smacking the floor.

"Buffy?" Joyce called as concern instantly clenched in her chest. She too stood as she watched her daughter's face seem to lose any and all expression. It was like a switch flipped inside the Slayer that turned off her humanity. A shiver crept up Joyce's spine as she repeated her daughter's name.

The Slayer failed to respond to the verbal prompts. Instead, she blinked one more time before taking a step backwards. She turned and shuffled towards the kitchen door.

Slightly panicked, Joyce rushed after her daughter. She clasped her by the shoulder in a bid to turn her child back to the room. The Slayer shook off the touch without a word. She opened the back door and Joyce grabbed her once again. Buffy violently jerked from her mother's hands. Without looking back, the Eternal One fled into the backyard. While Joyce called to her anxiously, Buffy vaulted the fence and sped into the twilight.

Joyce was left standing and gaping in the glowing light of the kitchen doorway as her daughter disappeared into the shadows. She already regretted bringing up the topic of Buffy's relationship with Spike.

As if on autopilot, the Eternal One wandered through Sunnydale. While she traveled down streets and alleys, through playgrounds and parks, she noticed nothing about her trip. She was so lost in her own head that she never realized when her feet naturally took her along paths she normally traveled for patrol. Despite the route, she wasn't looking for supernatural targets. In fact, she strode right past a cowering gramft demon that had been feasting on the innards of some unlucky person's pet. Normally, the Slayer would have disposed of the nasty little creature that preyed on anything smaller than itself. Its diet normally included wildlife, house pets, and small children. Pretty much anything alive that was smaller than a German Shepard was on the menu.

Buffy was in no condition to be the Slayer in this moment and the gramft had a chance to slink into the sewers unmolested.

Just like a shattered and recently resurrected Slayer would seek comfort and escape in a cold crypt in the arms of a vampire less dead than she felt, Buffy's feet found their way unerringly to the same crypt. Her mind might have lost the memory but her subconscious had not. It might even have been locked into her muscle memory. Still unaware of her surroundings, she stopped moving. A fine tremble had taken hold of her body as she leaned her forehead against the cool metal door. Unconsciously, her hand raised to rest beside her head. She moaned softly.

Standing inside his home and mixing burba weed with his pig's blood, Spike raised his head. He glanced towards the entrance as the Slayer's presence called to his demonic nature.

With a scrape of metal, Buffy stumbled into the doorway as Spike pulled open the outer crypt door.

"Slayer?" he murmured in confusion as her forward momentum halted when she came to rest against his t-shirt covered chest. Automatically, his hand released the door and wrapped protectively around the Slayer as she collapsed into him.

"Luv? Bit early for our date," he prodded in hopes of getting an answer about why she was at his crypt when they had plans for him to pick her up in an hour. He had already noticed that Buffy was not dressed as nicely as she would have for their date. Her lack of date apparel and her strange strange lack of affect made it obvious that something was seriously wrong with the Summers woman.

When all the Slayer did was lean against his body and shiver, Spike pushed her slightly away from his chest. Releasing her right bicep, he pressed up her chin with his left hand. His body mirrored her shivers as he noticed her unfocused eyes. This was worse than a simple bad day. An unexpected level of concern pricked at Spike's conscious. Hoping to get some answers, the vampire shook the Slayer lightly while calling her name. She still failed to respond.

"Bugger me," he growled when she remained locked away in her own mind. It was obvious she wasn't waking to herself with any normal means. Bracing himself for the inevitable pain, Spike stepped back and smacked the side of Buffy's face with his open hand. The force rocked the Slayer back a couple steps while the chipped vampire cringed and grabbed for the side of his head.

Time seemed to freeze. It was just for a moment but if felt like an eternity to the shocked vamp.

He slowly lowered his hand from his strangely not throbbing skull. His wide eyes reflected momentary shock before a light of life that had been missing for ages sparked. The same shimmer that was lacking in Buffy's eyes found a home on Spike's face. The vampire felt alive and vital in a way he had not since his capture by the now defunct Initiative.

Stalking towards the Slayer, Spike called to her in a taunting song of her position instead of her name. He stopped directly in front of the mentally lost blond. She was a victim waiting for easy destruction at the hands of a true predator. He skimmed a fingertip over the slightly swollen imprint of his fingers on her cheek.

"Slayer..." he purred with just a hint of malice in his predominately sultry tone.

Sliding his hand along her cheek until his fingers carded lightly through her hair, Spike leaned towards her opposite ear. He nipped her earlobe before murmuring directly into her ear.

"Come back to me, Pet, or I'm gonna resort to something a bit extreme here. Not sure you want that happening."

The Eternal One merely leaned into Spike's body and rested her bowed head on his shoulder.

"Buffy... wake-y, wake-y Slayer," Spike coaxed before morphing into his bumpies and fangs. He dragged his teeth across the delicate curve of her neck. The tiniest hint of blood welled in the thin scratch lines. His tongue swiped over the almost instantly healing injury. Taste exploded across his senses. He clutched the Slayer against his chest tighter while a shivery moan escapes from his parted lips. He warred within himself as he sheltered the ultimate prize in his arms and just waiting for the sting of his fangs.

"Whoah, Luv!" the vampire exclaimed as the Eternal One collapsed against him fully. He caught her against his chest before shifting his support. After shaking off his game face, Spike lifted the limp girl with one arm under her knees and the other supporting her back as her head rested tonelessly against his shoulder. All thought and joy over the lack of chip response fell to the back of his mind as he focused on the woman in his arms.

Spike carried Buffy over to the chair he had purchased from a second hand store with his first paycheck from Joyce. He settled into the comfy plush seat and prepared to wait for the Slayer to return to her senses.

Although not the most patient fellow normally, Spike remained in place for almost twenty minutes before Buffy finally swam back to the surface of her vast ocean of painful memories.

"William..." she whispered almost reverently.

"Hmm?" Spike responded when he thought she was finally addressing him. He couldn't have been farther from the truth.

Tears began flowing down her cheeks as she repeated the name.

"William. He was my first."

Confusion clouded Spike's thoughts as he realized Buffy was not actually seeing him as she spoke. Somewhere in her past she had held some other William close to her heart. That fact seemed to cause her an untold amount of pain.

"His eyes were the brightest blue. His soul was gentle. He should never have been the child of a Slayer. Too soft. Too trusting," she whispered in a choked voice shared between ragged breaths.

"A Sharl dismembered him in my front yard."

"Oh, Buffy... Luv..." Spike whispered in horror as he finally realized the specific horror haunting her.

"It took me three years of almost non-stop hunting. Nothing existed but the kill. The hunt. Destruction and pain. Until finally the entire Sharl species was extinct."

Spike found himself speechless. How could he possibly respond to her still paralyzing pain? He was left itchy and uncomfortable with his inability to ease her pain. Unaware of Spike's desire to help her but insecurity about the proper actions, the Eternal One continued to share.

"Mitsuko and Shinobu came only a few years apart. She grew to be a radiant beauty. Called at..." Buffy paused. The details were a bit fuzzy along the edges even if the images of her second and third children were seared into her memory.

"At fourteen," the Slayer confirmed with a nod. "I failed to save her from an apocalypse that leveled the city. Almost the whole island actually. So many dead but her brother never forgave me for crawling from the rubble. He died of old age on the continent. Never spoke to me again."

For the next hour, Buffy rambled through names of children who died hundreds, even thousands of years ago. Each one was a sharp and jagged reminder of her failures and weaknesses. Although she might have forgotten herself, those dead children remained. Some died horrible deaths at the hands of evil monsters of both the human and demonic varieties. Others lived full lives that still tore at the Eternal One when they escaped their mortal coils. They were ghosts in her mind that never fully faded. The longer she spoke, the more horrified Spike become. He could not imagine giving life over and over again with the hope of happiness only to have it shattered a few years later.

"After the fall of humanity and the last of the vampires crumbled to dust, there were eleven," Buffy shared before falling silent. Her silent tears turned to wracking sobs that shook both her body and the body of the vampire who cradled her protectively. Memories of the more than forty years she spent captive in a Dreski'an fortress assaulted her. The advanced demon culture had captured her when she was incapacitated with one of her bouts of crippling depression brought on by loneliness. She had been subjected to all manner of torture and abuse while under their rule. She had been so devastated that it had taken her years to find the strength to plan and execute a successful escape. She could not even remember how many times she died in the hell hole. Panic overtook the Eternal One as it always did when she thought about that time period. She started to thrash and scream.

Spike's head snapped back as her elbow connected with his jaw. He clutched at her desperately in hopes of preventing her from hurting herself or him further. Because of the violent struggle, they ended on the dusty and cold crypt floor with her pounding on his shoulders and back as Spike trapped her beneath his body. He was lucky that Slayer was so distraught. It made her actions and attacks wild and mostly ineffective. Despite her lack of skill currently exhibited, he knew his shoulders and back would be blanketed in bruises by the end of the night. Slowly the blows died away until Buffy only clung desperately to William's shoulders. She clutched him in an embrace that would have crushed a normal man. As it was, his shoulders creaked and protested the painful hug.

Drawing on years of comforting Drusilla when she came unhinged, Spike just held Buffy and whispered soothing words against her neck while he held her just as tightly as she held him.

With her voice little more than a raspy whisper after all her screaming, Buffy shared the end of her litany of dead daughters and sons. Three of the half demon babies died when she was beaten to death. They did not regenerate with her immortal body. The others had survived gestation only to be torn from her arms and devoured by her hellish captors.

"After I finally escaped, I vowed that there would be no more children."

"Please tell me the Dreski'an met the same end as the Sharl."

Buffy nodded. It had taken a couple decades but the Immortal had helped her ensure the destruction of their entire civilization. She fell silent and still. Spike rolled off her body and leaned back against the chair. He gathered the disheveled Slayer into his lap and set to working the tangles out of her hair as he waited for her to resume speaking.

When she offered no explanation for her foray into past trauma, the vampire asked her for one.

"Joyce wants me to find a nice normal man, get married and give her grandchildren."

Spike's eyes narrowed as he realized the unspoken rejection of their budding relationship by the Slayer's mother.

"That what you want, Kitten?" he asked as he continued to pet and sooth her. His hand no longer shook as he trailed it through her now smoothed hair.

Buffy shook her head. Her trembling had ceased also. A bone deep weariness settled into her entire body and she sagged further against her vampire.

"No," she firmly stated. "A world of no. Even if we find out I'm no longer immortal, the answer will probably still be no way in hell."

Spike pulled her tighter into his embrace. She sighed contentedly and snuggled into a more comfortable position against his chest.

"Vamps can't make babies," he stated quietly.

Buffy tilted her head up and offered him a soggy but sincere smile.

"Just one more reason why you might be perfect to me," she replied before pressing a quick kiss against the under side of his chin. Although his only reply was to momentarily tighten his hug, Spike rejoiced in her easy acceptance of their relationship. They might have been just starting to build something, but he was thrilled that she saw him for who and what he was. It was official. Spike might not be in love with the Slayer but he suspected he would be falling pretty soon. The vampire smiled softly and rubbed his chin against the top of her bowed head. He definitely preferred this Buffy Summers over the previous one.