Summary: Very AU. It was a simple dare. Just spend an hour inside Sunnydale's own haunted mansion, Crawford Manor. But Crawford is no ordinary house, and William 'Spike' Giles is no ordinary kid. Now events set in motion decades ago are finally coming to ahead, the gates to hell are opening and its up to Spike and his friends to figure out what his role in this is before it's too late.

Spoilers: None.

Pairings: Buffy/Angel, Willow/Tara, Cordelia/Riley, Wes/Fred, Cordelia/Angel with hints of past Darla/Angel and Xander/Anya and future Buffy/Spike.

Author's Notes: It's been awhile. I have no excuses. I lost inspiration for this story but I finally got an idea of how I want it to end. Its only got two more chapters to go. Hopefully I'll have this finished by the end of October. I hope that people enjoy this new chapter. One quick note, nothing major. I changed the summary as well as the category. This really doesn't feature Buffy as much as it does the relationship between Spike and his father, so I changed the main characters to Spike & Giles.

Acceptance

"Eureka!"

Wesley looked up from the book before him to see nine pair of eyes blinking at him in mild surprise and in certain cases horror. "You know it's a good thing you're cute or else," Fred trailed off, shaking her head. "So exactly what has caused your eureka moment?"

"And can you never say it again?" Xander added. "It borders on a side of uncool that even I wouldn't touch."

Wesley narrowed his eyes. "Yes, that's right. Let's all just taunt the person that may have found a way to save Spike." All joking and teasing was pushed aside and he knew he had their full attention. "Now that that's settled, here's what I've been working on. I've been thinking about what we were talking about earlier. If Spike is connected to the house then destroying the house wouldn't work. What if we cut the connection between the two of them?"

"How would we go about doing that outside of torching the place?" Angel asked. "Because I'm all in favor of just burning the place to the ground at this point."

"But that wouldn't solve the problem. Spike would still be connected to the hellmouth even if the house wasn't standing. But if we were to perform a binding spell, we might be able to separate the essence of the hellmouth from the house, and consequently Spike."

"And then we can worry about the Crawford's and Spike," Giles concluded. "That actually might work. If we can just get the hellmouth out of the picture for now, it would be easy to get rid of the house."

"Finally all that geekiness paid off," Tara grinned in Wesley's direction. The younger teen merely blinked wondering just how she had managed to insult and compliment him in the same sentence. "So who wants to have the honor of telling the brat that we found another way?"

There was a moment of silence and slowly all eyes flickered to Xander. The teen in question narrowed his eyes, shaking his head in disappointment. "Why do I have to go?"

"You're expendable?" Cordelia suggested with a shrug of her shoulders. "It doesn't matter why, just go do it!"

Xander rolled his eyes but still stood up. He stretched his suddenly aching body. Sitting in Giles' dining room chairs for more than an hour wasn't exactly a pain free experience. Giles really needed to invest in new chairs. He shook the random train of thought out of his head as he walked up the stairs towards his friend's room. Shortly after his talk with Buffy, Spike had gone upstairs claiming to be too tired to even attempt reading a book. Periodically one of them had checked to make sure that he hadn't snuck out a window while they weren't looking. And that is why Xander was surprised to find his friend's room empty with an open window taunting him.

"Spike?" his eyes scanned the room, hoping that he was just missing something. That his friend was in fact sitting right there and that he was just apparently blind. But no, there was no sight of the bright, platinum locks. There was however a piece of paper fluttering in the light breeze. "Crap." He grabbed the note and ran down the stairs.

All it took was one look at Xander's face to know what happened. He waved the note in the air before crossing his arms over his chest. "He's gone."

Never before had two words inflicted such deep pain in Giles. Spike was gone. He had more than likely gone back to that house. He was going to kill his son one of these days. That is if, the house hadn't done so already.

"Get the supplies," he heard himself speaking but he wasn't sure how. His voice sounded calm when he felt anything but on the inside. "Tara, you, Willow and Wesley make a list of the supplies and get them together."

"And then what?" Fred asked, instantly shrinking back behind Wesley as Giles' face darkened.

"And then," he started in response, "I'm going to rescue my idiot son."

Tara cleared her throat, resting her hands on her hips. "I think you mean that we're going to rescue your idiot son. No way am I sitting this one out."

"Well, I found the spell," Wesley sniffed.

"I am not going to be left behind," Fred chimed in. "Again!"

"We're in," Willow and Xander replied in unison. Slowly all eyes shifted towards the Fang Gang who had yet to speak.

Cordelia rolled her eyes, but a slow smile curved her lips. "I'm mad you even need to ask. Like hell I sat here all night reading books older than my grandmother just so we can sit around and do nothing but twiddle our thumbs!"

"I think what Cordy means in her usual tactless way is that we're in," Angel translated for those not fluent in Cordelia.

"Bah, tact is just leaving out the true stuff."

Giles smiled tensely at the assembled teens. "While I appreciate your enthusiasm, I can't ask you to risk your lives, even for my son."

"Well then it's a good thing you didn't ask, now isn't it," Buffy pointed out, smirking and looking eerily like her boyfriend in the process. "We all care about Spike, Giles. We all need to see him safe and sound." She paused for a moment. "So we can kick his ass."

"Come on, Uncle Giles. You can always use the extra hands. And if push comes to shove, Xander is the man at distractions."

"Great, I've officially become cannon fodder. I'm really going to kick his ass!"

"Take a number," Tara retorted. She draped an arm around her uncle. "So what do you say, Uncle G?"

The smile on Giles' face spread a little wider. He didn't even bother correcting the hated nickname. By saving Spike, they very well could be saving the world as they knew it. And this was his team. "The world is doomed."

Spike shoved his hands in his pockets as he shifted from one foot to the other. He had done the unthinkable. He had run away back to his own private hell. He knew that by now they had figured it out. He wouldn't have long before they were here. He knocked on the door one final time before it swung open. He was greeted by a morose Faith.

"You knocked?"

He shrugged. "Every time I've barged in here something bad has happened. This time I figured I'd try something new." He paused, tilting his head to the side. "Can I come in or what?"

Faith's hand tightened over the door knob. "Are you sure you want to do that? You know if you come in this time, you're never going to be able to go back. You'll be here forever."

"Forever has a short shelf life when it comes to this family," he said, pushing his way past the girl… ghost. Faith closed the door behind them with a heavy sigh. Spike arched an eyebrow. "And here I thought you would be all about the Hellmouth opening, ducks."

"You thought wrong," Faith hissed, walking away from him and straight into a wall that hadn't been there a moment ago. She frowned. "The house is already responding to you. It knows why you're here."

"Goody," he deadpanned. He ignored his reluctant hostess in favor of further exploration of the ground floor. As he walked through the rooms, the years of dirt and grime lifted off the furniture revealing beautiful and almost new surfaces.

"Welcome home, William."

Spike stopped in his tracks to glance up at Elizabeth. The woman was smiling ear to ear. He simply frowned in her direction before continuing his inspection of the main parlor room.

"Now, now, Will. What's with the attitude? You chose to come back here, did you not?"

"Like you gave me a bloody choice!" he snapped. "All this because daddy didn't spend enough time with you? Bit pathetic don't you think?"

A cold feeling seeped in his bones as Elizabeth's eyes darkened. "You would do well to learn your place, little brother." As she spoke Spike felt his body being lifted off the ground before he flew across the room. However, instead of crashing into the wall, he found his fall cushioned by one of the parlor chairs. He sat up slowly as the chair descended. A smirk formed on his lips at the look on Elizabeth's face.

"Well, it seems I've learned my place quite well, don't you think? You would do well to keep your hands of the merchandise. That is unless you're willing to wait another eighty years."

Elizabeth narrowed her eyes but visibly restrained herself. Spike let out a quiet sigh of relief as the warmth returned to his body. She gave him a tight smile and spoke through clenched teeth.

"So what brings you by tonight, William?"

"You know what," he retorted, sharply. "But before that, I have some questions that need answering."

Elizabeth sat down in a chair of her own, smiling almost serenely now. "Go ahead. Ask what you please."

"Okay," he said, shakily. "How is this even possible? How are you still alive? You should be dead. And how is my mother involved in all of this? What did you do to her? Was all of this just to get back at the one that got away?"

Her smile melted into a teasing smirk. "My dear little brother, it seems that you've got quite a bit of things wrong here. I am dead, for starters. I'm able to live because of my connection to the house. It keeps me here and alive as long as I provide it with healthy sacrifices every once in awhile. And in a town like Sunnydale there is no shortage of people willing to die for my cause."

"You're sick," Spike hissed, venomously. His eyes flickered to Faith who was standing in the doorway listening intently to the pair talking. "What about Faith? Is she dead too?"

"No, she's still alive. But only because I let her be. She is bound to this house and to me. Should she cross either of us, I might not be so generous."

Spike shook his head. "I don't think there enough words in the English language to describe how fucked up you are." He paused in thought. "But you said I got a few things wrong. What else did I miss?"

Elizabeth laughed and the sound sent chills down Spike's spine. "You seem to be under the belief that this is my show. I'm good, but I'm not that good."

"Then who…."

"You," she replied, with an even wider smile. "It's you, or rather, the original William Crawford."

Spike's eyes widened and he was distressed to notice that his jaw had dropped slightly as well. Thankfully, a quick glance out of the corner of his right eye showed that Faith was in a similar state of shock. Elizabeth laughed again fully solidifying Spike's decision to shut her up one way or another. Using that determination, he was finally able to overcome his shock enough to speak.

"Huh?" well that was smooth.

"I'm dead, William. But this house is very much alive. It's alive because you are. William found a spell to bring our mother back in order to be born again. He used his connection to the house to keep me alive until the time he would be born again. So that I could usher him, or rather you, to your true destiny."

"But how? He was shipped off for parts unknown. How the hell did he even know about this freak show house?"

She shook her head. "My darling William, or should I call you by that detestable name, Spike? You're not very quick on the uptake at any rate. I know your father has read my journals by now. I wanted this to happen. I'm in tune with this house as well. Mother was the only other person who knew this house. That's why it chose her as a vessel. I was not about to let the house's will be undone by the stupidity of a weak, spineless man."

Spike snorted. "You must have been daddy's favorite."

"He had no favorites. He was too consumed by his work," she spat. "He never paid any attention to any of us. He bought this house without knowing the true history of it. But I figured it out. It spoke to me. And it told me that mother would bring it to life. And she did. Unfortunately that meant she had to die in the process."

"So why my mother? How is she involved in this?"

"Isn't it obvious? Your mother is my mother. We are for all intents and purposes biologically brother and sister."

"So why didn't my mother die giving birth to me?"

Elizabeth's smile dropped at this and her eyes darkened slightly. "Your father."

Spike arched an eyebrow. "My father?"

"Yes, apparently his DNA runs a bit stronger than even I suspected," she muttered. "Your bond with your father is what keeps you from knowing who you really are. I can sense William in you but he's buried underneath the boy you think you are."

Though he kept it hidden, Spike was warmed by the words Elizabeth had told him. He was his father's son. Her smile returned as she lifted her eyes to meet his. "But you're here tonight. And I can't help but wonder why."

"Why do you think?"

"Well, it could be because you have some noble idea in your head that you can actually stop this somehow," Elizabeth rolled her eyes. "You think you're going to be able to break the connection you have with the house and the hellmouth. But you'll fail."

"I guess if that was my intention, then yeah, I'd probably fail. Luckily for all us," he grinned. "That was never my plan."

Elizabeth leaned forward, visibly interested. "Really now. So what was your plan?"

"I want this over. I want the dreams to end. I want it all over. You said that it would stop once I just accepted who I am, right? So fine. I'm here because I want this to end. Tonight. I want my mother back."

"Aw, how perfectly sweet," Elizabeth cooed, mockingly. "Are you serious though, William? If you accept who you are, there is no turning back from this?"

His eyes flickered briefly to Faith, who was silently pleading with him to just back away from this plan entirely. He gave her a small smile before covering it up with the bravado only he could muster in the face of a crisis. "I think you might want to get the door. It seems like we have company."

Both women looked confused by the sudden change in subject. That is until the front door slammed open. Spike rolled his eyes. "Buffy the door slayer strikes again," he mumbled before rising from his seat. With just a simple thought, the parlor they were standing in opened up allowing his friends and family to enter the room.

"How did it…" Xander trailed off, shaking his head. "I don't think I want an answer to that question."

"Good thinking," Cordelia agreed. "Okay, Spike, you've had your insane moment of the evening. Given that you think we have to kill you, you're entitled to it."

Elizabeth gave a startled laugh. "So you did figure it out."

Tara crossed her arms over her chest. "Figured what out?"

"The only way to end this is for you to either kill him or for him to open the hellmouth. There is no other way. So your little bag of tricks there won't work."

Giles swallowed but kept his eyes trained on his son, who was refusing to meet his gaze. His blue eyes were locked on the ground beneath his feet. "Spike, just come over here. Wesley has found a way that might work."

"I'm sorry, dad. I just can't wait for maybe anymore. I have to do this."

"Do what?" Buffy asked, quietly.

Spike finally lifted his eyes which were glowing white. "End this," he replied, in a voice that was not his own. It was much older and the accent was more refined. They could barely register that fact before the foundation of the house started to shake.

"Earthquake?" Fred suggested hopefully. She was met with eight stares of disbelief. "Well we are in California. It could've been an earthquake."

Elizabeth stood up and crossed the distance between herself and Spike. She put a hand on his face and laughed joyfully. "William, at last!"

"What the hell is going on?" Cordelia asked holding onto Buffy and Angel, as the shaking became more intense. The floor before the two siblings started to crack. Elizabeth's laughter became louder taking on an almost maniac quality.

"Spike, what did you do?" Giles yelled over the commotion.

"What I was born to do," 'Spike' said, with a cold smile. The edges of the floor surrounding the crack were starting to fall apart, prompting the Scoobies and company to step backward less they fall in. Giles and Tara exchanged worried glances before looking at their worst nightmare in the center of the room. The hellmouth was officially opening.

Evil, huh?

"Oh, we are so screwed," Cordelia groaned.