AN: I'm sorry this chapter took so long. I was haveing some compositional issues with it, then we had renfair this past weekend. I hope you enjoy it.


"Hold on," Riker said, "This bellman just attacked without cause?"

Spike was slightly annoyed at the question, but Riker and the Doctor had been patiently listening the whole time. This was the first time either one had interrupted. Spike leaned forward and put his hands on the desk, trying to emphasize his point.

"You're not getting it, mate," he said in a very matter of fact tone, "He had cause. He was looking to stop Willow from giving this prophecy."

"And this is the prophecy that you read us earlier?" The Doctor interjected.

"Yeah, only this is-"Spike stopped himself mid sentence, "Look, there's more to the story."

Riker held up a finger to forestall him. "Before you continue, I want to bring Admiral Picard in on this conversation," he tapped the badge on his chest, "Riker to Picard."

Nothing happened.

Riker touched his badge again, "Riker to Picard, Please respond."

Again nothing.

"Computer, locate Admiral Picard," Riker commanded.

Spike was starting to recognize the female voice of the computer. "Admiral Picard's current location is classified."

All three men looked at each other in confusion. Riker tried a different track, "Computer, is Picard on the ship?"

"Affirmative."

Riker huffed "Computer, what level clearance is the classification?"

"That information is classified," the computer responded.

"We can't even know the clearance level?" Riker yelled in frustration.

"Negative," came the response, "You do not posses the necessary level of clearance."

Riker rubbed his temples, "What level of clearance would I need to be granted that information?"

"That information is classified," the computer said again.

Spike snickered, "Should of seen that one coming, mate."

Riker shot Spike a smirk, "Yes I suppose I should have."

"Computer, have any of Admiral Picard's vitals gone outside of normal range?" the Doctor asked.

The computer chimed twice, apparently gathering the information, "Negative, Admiral Picard's vitals are within normal levels."

Riker leaned back in his chair, "Well, until the Admiral becomes available again, I guess we should just continue. Spike?"

Spike nodded picked up where he left off.


Spike looked over his shoulder. "'I find your lack of faith disturbing'?" he quoted in a questioning tone.

Willow grinned. "Sorry," she said, "Too much time with Xander."

Spike shook his head. He turned his attention back to the corpse on the floor and knelt beside it. He dipped his finger in the spreading pool of blood and brought his wet fingers to his nose. The blood smelled human, but there was something else, something not quite right. Tasting it, he realized that it didn't have the metallic quality that human's blood did.

"He's not human," Spike stated

"Well, duh," Willow said from behind him. He stood and turned to face her.

"Sorry," She said, turning red and avoiding his eyes. A knock came from the still open front door. They both turned to see a very confused Reg standing with a cart identical to the one that the imposter had brought in. His confusion changed to horror when he saw the body.

Willow put up her hands and walked slowly toward him. "Easy, Reg," she said in a soothing voice, "Calm down. This isn't what you think."

He looked at her, his face still twisted, "How the bloody hell do you know what I think?"

Willow continued to advance, "Because I can read your mind."

"Wha-" Reg seemed unable to finish the thought. Willow chanced a glance over her shoulder and gestured toward the body.

"Look at his face, Reg," she said.

His eyes focused over her shoulder at the body. Willow moved swiftly to his side an instant before he fainted. She caught him on his way to the floor, but was unable to hold him up. She instead controlled his fall so that he didn't hurt himself.

Spike stood, "We need to get out of here."

Willow held up a finger, "Not yet, Spike. I need to be sure he's okay and get someone to clean up this yuk."

Spike was instantly on her. He grabbed her upper arms and lifted her to her feet. "We don't have time for that!" he whispered through gritted teeth. Her arms suddenly burned his hands, like touching a cross. He let go. The instant he did, an unseen force knocked him back several feet. Willow stared him down, the abyss of her black eyes freezing him in place.

"I know you still think of me as the timid little red head who hung around with Buffy," she said, her voice laced with dark magic, "But I have been doing this for a long time. I know what I'm doing, okay?"

"Okay, love," he said slowly, "I'm sorry, I didn't mean to scare you. We'll do it your way."

The deep blackness receded into her pupils, uncovering her normal, green irises. She smiled. "Good. I need to call Xander. The Watcher's Council has demon-goo-cleaner-uppers. I'll be right back."

As Willow walked out of the room, Spike held his breath until she had disappeared completely. He decided that he needed to be more careful around her in the future. Realizing that they weren't going to stay the night in the hotel, Spike went to the bedroom, grabbed his still damp shirt and pulled it on. He was pulling on his boots when Willow walked in.

"Xander sent some cleaner-upper-people," she said, "He also has a plane at the airport waiting for us. My coven is based in Rome. I think we should make our way there."

Spike could see the insecurity in her eyes. She looked at her phone for a while, and her eyes began to tear up. He stood and walked over to her. "What's wrong?" he asked.

"I'm not cut out for this, Spike," she whined, "I'm supposed to be in charge of a coven, the most powerful coven in the world, but I can't even get a little mess cleaned up. I have to go running to the Slayers and the Watchers every time there's a tinsy bit of trouble."

"Hey now," Spike said, trying to reassure her, "You found me didn't you."

She exploded, "I should have found you weeks ago. It wasn't my spell that found you. It was Debbie's. Spike, I think my coven is losing faith in me."

Trying a different track, he grabbed her roughly by the shoulders. He eyes went wide with surprise. "Come on, you worthless little twit," he yelled, "Where's that uber-powerful witch I just saw?"

Her face relaxed into a dead calm as the black of her pupils bled over the rest of her eyes. "You want a powerful witch, Vampire?"

Spike released her. "Yeah, that's what we need right now. That, right there is proof that you deserve your position. Everybody needs help every now and then." The words came out faster and more frantic than he had intended. He didn't want to admit it to himself, but she scared him.

"Very well," she said, her eyes retaining the abyss, "Let's get moving."


They had to rush to get to the airport before sun up. Spike was sure they had only made it because of the cloud cover. The plane wasn't big, but it was fancy, with twin jet engines and the name "Knight Enterprises" panted in red on the hull. A man in captain's blues stood at the base of the stairs, awaiting their arrival.

"Willow," he said, reaching out for her, "How are you?"

"Good, Dominic. I'm good," she answered, embracing him, "How is Xander?"

Dominic smiled as he followed them into the small plane, "He's good. He told me to tell you that he misses you and, how did he put it? 'Get your slayer-loving-witchy-butt down here once in a while."

They both laughed and Spike rolled his eyes. The interior of the plane was a testament to luxury. Two small beds with satin sheets sat on either side of the cabin and large plush chairs facing each other from the heads of the beds.

"What's with the company name I saw on the side of the jet?" Spike asked.

Dominic answered his question as he moved to the front of the plane, "Dummy company. The council set it up as a cover for our various bases and for moving slayers around the world. The company itself is private, so there are no 'share holders' and we have a very large team of lawyers and accountants keeping things looking on the up and up."

Spike sat in one of the two chairs as Dominic strapped himself into the pilot's seat. Willow sat in the other and started to strap herself in.

"Spike," she said, "I know this is hard, but we've been through worse. I mean, just think about Glory, or the First. You were all ghosty for a while, but we all made it through okay."

"Not all of us, Pet," Spike said, "You ever hear what happened to Fred?"

Her eyes widened, "Is she…dead?"

He shook his head, "Not just dead. Gone. Completely. Her soul got eaten by a big bad known as Illyria. It's a long story, but the short version is that it used her to resurrect itself. Illyria still has her memories, and occasionally will become her, but it's not her, not really."

The plane began to accelerate down the runway, gathering speed for takeoff. He looked at the witch, her face gone white. Her mouth opened and closed several times before she finally answered, "Spike, that's…that's awful. I'm so sorry."

Spike waved off the apology as the plane began to make its accent, "It was a long time ago. I imagine you guys probably got quite a few gravestones over the last couple of years."

Willow nodded, "Yes, we have. Dozens of watchers, countless slayers. We even lost Faith a few months back."

The vampire did a double take when she said the name. He remembered the brunette slayer from the final battle of Sunnydale. The two had started to become friends, but the whole thing had gone by so quickly, and after coming back incorporeal at Wolfram and Hart, she had been about the furthest thing from his mind. Now, hearing that she was dead, he felt sudden regret at not trying to contact her after becoming corporeal. He'd always assumed that she would be with Buffy and the Mini-Slayers.

"What happened?" He heard himself ask.

"Giles took her on a mission to stop some demon-y threat," She said, her voice empty and hollow, "The thing escaped to its own hell dimension, and took her with it." Spike stood up straight to say that there might still be hope, but Willow was already shaking her head. "Giles did everything he could, but even if he had been able to open the portal, time moves differently in that place. One day to us would be like a year there. By the time we found out, she would have been long dead from old age, if she'd been able to survive that long."

Spike slumped in his seat. Too many good people had been lost in this war, and for what? To save a bunch of ungrateful humans from themselves. He knew he should just forget it all, go live out his unlife somewhere and let the humans get swallowed by whatever evil came next. Yet here he was, flying to Rome to meet a bunch of witches to hear a prophecy about him and saving the world.

"I need to be banjo'd," he decided. He looked to the pilot, "You got any booze on this plane?"

Dominic reached into his pocket and pulled out a half full bottle of Jack Daniel's and handed it to Spike. The vampire took it, unscrewed the cap and took a long swig.

"You keep booze on you when you're flying," Willow asked, clearly shocked.

"Of course," Dominic said, smiling, "I used to fly for Delta."


The plane landed at Leonardo Da' Vinci airport and Spike (wrapped up in a blanket) climbed into a car with Willow and Dominic. They made their way through the winding roads and ancient cobblestone streets to a small, out of the way church. Spike, still wrapped in a blanket, was guided inside. When he finally uncovered himself, he found himself facing several women of ranging in age from young teenagers to sweet grandmotherly types.

"This is him?" one of the older ones asked, "I wasn't expecting a Billy Idol look alike."

"Who's Billy Idol?" a younger one asked.

"Never mind," Willow interjected, "This is him, the only vampire on earth currently in possession of a shiny, new soul."

"Not exactly new," Spike muttered.

"Are you sure?" one of the others asked. Something about this woman's eyes bothered Spike. They almost seemed to be hiding something, as though something malicious were lurking just beneath the surface.

"I'm sure Debbie," Willow answered, "I keep seeing his face whenever I think about the prophecy."

A younger witch, maybe eighteen, stepped forward and tapped Willow on the shoulder, "We've prepared the sleep spell and we're ready to draw out the prophecy."

"Thank you, Lacey. I think I've carried around this prophecy long enough. Spike, you'll need to watch this. None of us is totally sure what's going to happen."


Spike stood in the shadows in the back of one of the chapels in the church. Willow was at the front, directly below a statue of the Virgin Mary suckling Baby Jesus. She wore a simple, floor length, white gown with long sleeves. An older witch lit a bowl of incense and handed it to Willow, who took it and breathed in the smoke.

Even from the back, Spike could see her eyes turn coal black and the veins in her face become more pronounced. She let go of the bowl, but it didn't drop. It floated in mid-air to a shelf in the wall. She opened her mouth and light exploded out, shining directly on Spike.

"Step forward, Vampire," She said in a voice not her own. It was deep and masculine, as though something were speaking through the witch. Spike did as command.

"These next words are for you, Vampire. Hear them well. When humanity is seeded among the stars, they and their allies shall face a threat so great that if not stopped, will engulf all of reality in its evil. This evil will send robotic demons disguised as one of humanity's oldest enemies calling for peace. The Vampire with a Soul must sacrifice his future to help a reluctant captain and a doctor made of light save all that is and all that will be, or he will spend his existence burning in the fires of hell."

Spike felt his stomach drop. After all that he had done, everything that he had sacrificed, he had to give up the little bit that he had managed to keep. If he didn't, none of it would matter. He would find himself in hell, and this time he wouldn't be able to declare himself lord of Beverly Hills.

"And now you must sleep," Willow said, "When you awake, you will be where and when you need to be."

"Horse Hockey!" Spike yelled, "I don't get any more then that?"

Willow, or whatever had a hold of Willow, shook her head, "There are no more words to the prophecy."

"Bullocks!" Spike shouted, even louder this time, "If you expect me to give up everything, I need more sodding help than that."

"You will be given more," the thing said, "but not in the form words. You will know what to do when the time comes." Willow's hand came up and covered his eyes. "Now sleep."


"When I came to," Spike said, "I was naked and lying on the alter. Willow showed me the trunk and that container. She told me the combo so I would remember it when I woke up. The witches said some magic words and now, here I am. The whole thing seemed a little dodgy to me, but I really wasn't given much choice."

Riker considered him for a moment, "You actually believe this, that these women were witches with magical powers and that this is a real prophecy."

Spike pinched the bridge of his nose in frustration, "Mate, I'm only going to say this one more time. I. AM. A. VAMPIRE!"

Riker threw up his hands, "Sorry, it's just that this is a little far fetched."

The Doctor started to speak but was interrupted by Admiral Picard's voice over the intercom, "Picard to Riker."

Riker tapped his badge, "Riker here, Sir. It's good to hear from you. Where were you?"