Author: Kelley (beanyb1999@hotmail.com)
Rating: PG-13 yet again.
Distribution: Ya want it? Really? Hahaha! Heh, just let me know.
Feedback: Yeah, baby, yeah. Bring it on!
Summary: Tara and Spike figure out what is wrong with Buffy. Spike gets to fix the problem.
Disclaimer: "Buffy the Vampire Slayer" and all characters are sole property of Joss Whedon, Mutant Enemy, UPN, and the other people who own them. They still don't know about my evil plot to kidnap Spike and make him do whatever I want him to. Ooops, did I just say that out loud?
Dedication: For Christy, who has been helping me. She's got the flu right now! Let's hope she feels better soon since being sick really sucks. For Shelley, my co-writer for some other Buffy fanfic. We finally started the sequel to "I'll Most Likely Kill You In The Morning"…so uh, yeah. Smile n stuff. A huge thanks to all my awesome reviewers. You guys rule!
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Everyone sat around the table in the Magic Box. They were all wondering why Tara had called them there.
Tara smiled, waiting for Spike and Buffy to arrive.
As if on cue, Buffy opened the door and walked in. Spike ran in right behind her, the blanket covering him smoking. He threw the blanket off and sat down at the table. Buffy remained standing.
"Buffy, you might want to be sitting down," Tara said.
"Where is Drusilla?" Spike asked.
"Drusilla? Wait a second! No one said anything about Drusilla being here!" Xander exclaimed. Tara looked behind Xander and nodded. Everyone turned around as Drusilla slowly emerged from some hidden part of the shop.
"Merciful Zeus!" Xander exclaimed in terror, jumping back and grabbing the nearest stake he could find. Spike and Tara grabbed his arms to stop him.
"Calm down, Harris," Spike growled, giving the young man a threatening look.
Xander mumbled, "Fine, but you better keep her under control."
"Uh, why? Why is she here? Why isn't she tied up?" Willow asked, her look of terror matching Xander's.
"She's here to help," Tara explained grimly.
"Help? Help with what? The body count?" Xander asked sarcastically.
"Shut up, Xander," Anya said, smacking his arm.
"What's going on?" Dawn questioned.
Drusilla smiled. "The witch solved the puzzle. Now it's time to finish the rhyme!"
While Tara went on to explain, Spike kept his eye on Drusilla.
"Well," Tara began. "S-Spike and I did a little re-research last night. I l-looked more into the Resurrection spell we did on Buffy." Tara smiled a little and fidgeted. "Unfortunately, the spell had a consequence, as is the case with most spells like this."
"What went wrong?" Willow squealed. "I did everything I was supposed to!"
"A n-number of things, Willow. She could have come back as a different person altogether, but luckily she didn't. That was a known risk. B-But you d-didn't get to fin-finish the spell."
"The spell wasn't finished?" Buffy asked incredulously. "How did it even work at all?"
"W-Well, it was almost finished . . .close enough at least."
"Ok, so what's wrong then?" Xander asked.
"We got up to asking for her physical being. Unfortunately, the end of the spell was a key point."
"That being . . .?" Dawn asked as Willow got a horrified look on her face.
"Buffy, w-we got you back, but your s-soul stayed behind."
"Oh goddess," Willow said faintly.
"Wh-what?" Buffy asked, a nervous smile playing on her lips. "No, that can't be right. I mean, that would make me evil, like a vampire." She looked at the two vampires in front of her, confusion evident all over her face. "No! I'm not like them! I'm not evil!"
Tara put her hand on Buffy's shoulder. "It's true though. You don't have a soul, but you're not evil," she said compassionately.
Drusilla sighed. "The Slayer has so much to learn. No, dearie, you aren't like my Spike. He's more human than you are." She grinned evilly.
Buffy shot an angered look at the vampire and tried to go after her, but Spike stopped her, forcing her to take his seat. She gripped the edges of the table, her knuckles turning white.
"What does this mean?" Dawn asked.
"It means nothing! I'm not soulless! It's a mistake!" Buffy cried. "I'm not evil!"
"Bloody hell!" Spike growled. "You've got to learn a few things, pet! Being soulless does not make a person evil, contrary to popular belief."
"You're evil! You have no soul!" Buffy screamed. Upset about her predicament and caught up in the moment, she got up and punched him. He punched her back.
"Then how come I can do that, pet?"
"He lost his chip! Why isn't anyone staking him?" Xander called out, turning the stake towards Spike.
"I still have my chip, whelp. I can hit Buffy because she doesn't have a soul."
"But she's still human," Willow pointed out.
"Red, the thing that differentiates vampires from humans is a soul. Well, actually, just a human soul. That's why I can hit her. She has no soul at all, not even a bleedin' human soul."
Buffy cried out and punched him again, wanting to leave the shop. It was too much for her to take in. "I'm not I evil! I HAVE A SOUL!" she yelled. She tried to run towards the door, but she found herself suddenly shoved into the chair and stuck in the seat. She glared at Tara for using another spell on her. Tara looked guilty, but shrugged her shoulders nonetheless.
"Angel has a human soul," Dawn said. "How come you can hit him?"
"He's still a vampire, just one with a curse," he replied.
Tara cleared her throat. Everyone turned their attention to her.
"I'll gladly explain this to you guys if you sit down," Tara said confidently.
The group, except for Spike and Drusilla, sat down. Buffy, still seeing red, muttered obscenities under her breath, causing a few brief stares from the people sitting closest to her.
"Go on, Tara. Tell them what you know," Spike said.
Tara took a deep breath. "A soul," she started, "is what makes a person feel. Buffy, you aren't too big with the emotions now. Basically, you feel anger and frustration. Those are pretty basic. Love, happiness, sadness . . . those are more of a challenge because you can't really feel too deeply at the moment."
She paused for awhile, letting the explanation sink in thus far.
"So . . .anyways. Vampires don't possess human souls. Their demons, however, do have a soul of sorts. Vampires, as well as other demons, can feel. Spike and Drusilla have a soul."
"Just not nancy-boy souls," he once again reminded her.
"Thank you, Spike," she muttered. "Buffy, you're not evil even though you don't have a soul. You still have a conscience, you know the difference between right and wrong and it means something to you. That is what vampires do not have though. That is what makes them essentially evil, no remorse for killing someone. Think of the thousands of humans with human souls though who commit hate crimes and murder every day. Even though they have a soul, they are evil . . .pretty much. They, most of the time, recognize the difference between right and wrong, but don't care."
Buffy narrowed her eyes and bit her lip. What Tara said made perfect sense, she supposed. Dammit! Then she really did see love in Spike's eyes. Things were sliding into place. She sighed. Then she noticed everyone was looking at her. She really wanted her soul back. She looked at Tara.
"Is there a way we can get my soul back?" she asked quietly.
"Yes, there is," Tara said, smiling at the Slayer. "This has actually happened before."
Buffy stared at Tara quizzically.
"Oh, not to another Slayer, but a Watcher. I had to dig pretty deep to find it. The Slayer called her Watcher back through a Resurrection spell, and the Watcher came back without a soul."
"What happened?" Dawn asked.
"Well, strangely enough, they figured out how to get it back quite by luck, but it didn't elaborate on how they found it. This particular Watcher had a vampire lover. It happened back in the late 30's. The Slayer didn't want a new Watcher. So, anyway, they figured out a way to get his soul back. The spell said that only a lover or faithful companion could retrieve the soul. They didn't want to send the Slayer, knowing full well that as a human, she would not want to come back. So, they sent his vampire lover. They figured that being a demon and all would make things easier. She successfully managed to retrieve the soul for him. The only thing is . . ."
"Of course, there would be a catch," Buffy retorted, interrupting the witch.
"The only thing is, the vampire came back different. She didn't want to kill anymore. She avoided the Watcher she'd once fallen in love with. Actually, she felt remorse for killing people. She became skittish. Her entire personality changed."
"She got her human soul back? Kinda like Angel," Anya said, finally speaking up.
"Well, I don't know. She seemed to have a soul, yes. She was very sad. I believe she ended up staking herself, out of desperation. She said she missed Heaven. That was the weird part. You'd think that a demon like a vampire would want to get out of Heaven as soon as possible. No one could actually ever explain what happened."
"That's really sad," Willow mumbled.
Everyone was silent. They all looked around.
"So, uh, who's supposed to get your soul back, Buffy?" Xander asked.
"I am," Spike replied.
Buffy laughed humorlessly. "Yeah, like I'll trust the fate of my soul to you."
"The spell calls for a trusted companion or lover though . . ." Tara began.
Buffy looked down. Spike wasn't going to say it. He was going to wait for Buffy.
"Oh" was all she said.
"Should I call Angel?" Willow asked.
Spike suppressed a growl. Buffy looked at him. "No, Willow. Don't call Angel. It's too risky. He'd want to stay." She glared at the vampire. "No worry of Spike wanting to stay."
"You got that right. All those angels prancing around will make me want to heave."
"It wasn't a compliment, Spike," she said, emphasizing each word hatefully.
Spike walked away from the group for awhile.
"I can't believe I'm trusting my soul to Spike. It's insane. Kiss my soul goodbye."
"It's nice to know where I stand, Slayer," Spike replied, slight hurt evident in his voice.
Buffy flinched. For some reason she felt guilty, but she quickly pushed that thought out of her head.
"Uh," Tara said again, "It has to be a lover or . . ."
Buffy sighed loudly. She turned her head towards Spike. He was looking at her peculiarly. She frowned and covered her face with her hands.
Buffy got out of her chair and walked towards Spike. She tilted her head. "Would you really do this for me, Spike?" she whispered, searching his eyes carefully.
He nodded. "Anything for you, Slayer," he said sincerely.
She smiled slowly, deciding to trust him. She turned to look at the group as her hand found Spike's. "Spike qualifies," she said, trying to sound confident. She faltered when no one said anything, but still managed to keep a smile on her face.
Everyone looked at her dumbfounded until the realization behind what she was actually saying hit them all. Their looks varied from shock and surprise to despair, confusion, anger, annoyance, and amusement. They looked back and forth at each other, but said nothing.
The silence was suddenly interrupted by a short laugh and then a loud thud as Xander Harris passed out, his head hitting the floor.