Giles glared into the large glass of lager. His taste buds weren't the same in this form and this was just swill. He turned toward his companion and growled, but Spike merely chuckled and summoned Willy to them.

"My friend is unhappy with his drink. Get him something better suited." Spike clapped his hand down on the bar and grinned when the human scampered off. Giles resisted the urge to growl. The desire to break the bar and rip apart it's other occupants simmered inside him. He snarled when a large stein was pressed into his hand.

"You should like this," Willy said as he stepped back, wiping his hands on a bar towel. "It has a big kick."

Giles grumbled his thanks and gulped down the stein's contents. It was oddly warm. He closed his eyes. It was best not to examine these things to closely. He knew what Fyarl demons ate. He forced his eyes open. It would do no good to hide from reality. He gestured toward the barkeep and nodded when the man scurried to fill the mug again.

"Know your girl is special, right? She's a bit daft when it comes to vampires, but she's got me trained now, only drinking bagged stuff and swine. She's strong, can throw me about like a rag doll, but she comes over all fragile and it destroys me even more." Spike took another sip of his drink. "I've known slayers in ways your journals could never grasp. They are the iron fists of the light. They don't do soft. Some are weaker, but in the end they aren't all that human. Buffy is. Humanity is her real strength. The power of the slayer didn't overwhelm the girl."

"She's mine." Giles looked over at Spike and considered ripping him apart. The vampire had no business sniffing around his mate.

"Not denying that. I don't think of her like that." The vampire made a face. "She's like family now, like my human family. I had a sister. She was older than me, funny and sweet, a bit irreverent for the time. She was unusually independent for the Victorian era. I've missed her all this time, still do. Buffy can't replace her, but she has carved her own little bit of me out and poured herself in. Only relief is knowing that when some stupid evil git has his lucky day and takes her from the world, I'll be ashes first. You won't be so lucky. You'll be left to carry on."

Giles felt his stomach clench. The vampire's words spun through his mind, the pain, the anguish of it. The urge to rip something limb from bloody limb surged through him. He was moving before his mind caught up with his body, bones were breaking before reality returned. A grathorn demon dangled from his fingers. It's neck was broken. It was a pity that wouldn't kill the beast. He paused and grasped it's head, wrenching it free of the body. The creature died with a gurgle. He dropped the remains to the floor and stared at his hands. Human shame and demonic satisfaction battled for supremacy within him.

The slow clap of hands drew him back to the bar. He turned and watched Spike applauding him, a knowing smirk on his face.

"Come finish your drink. Nothing like a spot of violence to whet your appetite." Spike's voice grated on his nerves.

"Shut up."

"Sounding more and more like a proper fyarl with every word." Spike smirked. "Wonder what Buffy will think of the new vocabulary?"

He clenched the edge of the bar and fought the urge to rip apart this vampire Buffy had built a secret relationship with. Another bloody vampire with another bloody secret line to his slayer's heart. The rage simmered as he considered her lies. He grabbed the stein and emptied it.

"More." Willy scurried to get it. The little man's fear smelled wonderful. He closed his eyes and savored it.

Spike shrugged and spun back around to face the bar. Giles watched him from the sides of his eyes. His demonic side sensed no threat from the vampire, but his human intellect tried to focus on the larger picture. There was something he was missing in all of this, but he couldn't see it.

His heart ached. She was lying to him. After everything, she was lying to him. He downed another drink. He could remember her hands upon his horns, her body warm and pliant in his arms. The stein made its way to his lips again and he smiled at Willy in thanks for keeping the damn thing full. The vampire's voice drifted in and out of his awareness. The words didn't matter. His mate was a liar and out in the night alone.

He shoved up to his feet and headed for the door. He had to find Buffy. There could be no more lies between them. He roared into the night and headed out to look for her, annoyed by the blithering idiot of a vampire that wouldn't let him alone.

Each step, each minute he spent searching solidified his rage. She was choosing to keep them apart with her lies and her secrets. His mate was denying him. Her precious secrets, kept with the best of intentions no doubt, were destroying them. He tried to focus his mind. Where would she be? The never ceasing babble began to make sense again.

"Your bird's with the dark slayer. She spends most nights there." Spike's voice pricked at him. "We don't have to tour the whole bloody town. You do remember the damned commandos, right?"

What was the dark slayer? Why would his mate be with such a thing?

Giles stumbled over a seam in the sidewalk. His body began to quake, and he fell to his knees. Magic swirled around him. His body seemed to boil and melt, reforming painfully. He looked down at his human hands.

"Well, human again, Watcher. I was so enjoying the aimless rampaging." Spike snarked. "Best head home and get yourself some togs."

"No." Giles broke the window of the men's shop and stripped the mannequin. The black slacks and sweater suited him well enough. "I've had enough waiting for the truth, and don't call me by that odious word. Name's Ripper."