A/N.- This is chapter Twenty-two of the ENOUGH series. Thanks to all who have read this story and reviewed. This chapter reveals a lot of things, thanks again for being patient and keeping up with the story. By the way, the warehouse was placed really near to Bath, which is where Giles lives. Thus explaining the lapse of time from when the watchers disappeared from London on plain day and woke up on the night. On with the story.
Disclaimer.- You all should know this belongs to Joss Whedon and the parties involved in getting this show on the air.
Feedback.- As you wish.
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William.
"Spike?" Buffy asked, barely containing the shock she was feeling, "what about him?"
Giles sighed, time to get the cat out of the bag.
"Yes, Buffy, I saw him tonight." Giles said. Once again, Buffy's breath changed.
"Did he do anything to you?" Buffy asked, being possesed by the slayer in her. Giles didn't like the way the question came. Buffy was really a stubborn girl.
"No, Buffy," Giles answered, "he didn't do anything to me. But listen to me, Buffy, I'm going to tell you some things and you have to promise to hear me out and won't hang up on me and won't get mad, ok?"
Buffy huffed a bit.
"Ok, what is it?" She said.
"Promise me first." Giles said. He needed her calm and at least controlled enough to hear what he was about to tell her.
"All right, Giles, I promise." She said.
"Very well," Giles said, and took a deep breath, "Buffy, I have known where Spike was for the last year."
"What?!" Buffy screamed at the phone.
"You promised, Buffy," Giles blurted a bit too harsh, "you need to hear this and after I'm finished you can scream all you want!"
Buffy was going past angry to frustrated to feeling betrayed, but she owed the man respect and willed herself to calm down.
"Ok, continue." Buffy growled. Giles took off his glasses and placed them away. He closed his eyes and continued his story.
"About a few weekks or so after he left Sunnydale I found him outside my house," Giles said, "he explained about his chip and he also wanted to know some other things."
"What other things?" Buffy once again interrupted.
"Please, Buffy, let me talk," Giles said, "I will explain everything."
"Go on, sorry." Buffy said, barely controlling herself.
"He wanted to know all I knew about the Council of Watchers," Giles continued, and heard once again the change of breathing of Buffy, "he came every night to my house for some months, learning all I had to say about the council."
On the other side of the ocean, Buffy was feeling her rage once again boil to the surface. Giles had been lying to her openly about Spike's whereabouts. She even dared to let slip a bit that she missed the vampire and Giles was lying to her the whole time. She was going to have a severe discussion when Giles ended his story.
"After those days, Spike then disappeared," Giles said, "and today, after seven or six months without knowing from him, he showed up on my doorstep again."
Buffy once again focused on the conversation, and she was debating about waiting for Giles' next visit or if she should herself go to England.
"What did he want?" Buffy asked. Giles didn't know how to explain what the vampire had delivered.
"He brought some papers for me to see." Giles said, there was no turning around so he decided to go through with the truth.
"Buffy, Spike made the Council sign a contract," Giles said, "a very important contract."
"Oh, I bet he did it to protect his ass, didn't he?" Buffy blurted out.
"Buffy, shut up and listen." Giles said, holding on to his last vestiges of patience. "The contract doesn't grant anything to him, in fact, it will place him in great danger."
"What do you mean?" Buffy asked, now having her curiosity taking over.
"Buffy, listen well," Giles said, "Spike made Quentin Travers sign a contract that grants you a monthly salary, being retrospective to all the years you worked for them."
Buffy now was shocked. Those were the last words she ever expected to hear. She stood quiet, her mind racing through the things that she had just heard,
"What?" She whispered.
"That is not all," Giles continued, "the contract also states that no one from the council will ever try to reach you again, but you may reach any of them for any information you might require. It, uhm, the contract also reinstates me as a watcher, with salary and all. But it makes me more of an outside agent, I won't have to answer to them if I don't want to."
"Oh." Buffy couldn't really take much of it all. She was now feeling a bit dizzy and her knees were buckling under her.
"There's more," Giles said, still not believing all that Spike had covered, "the contract also protects your friends. Willow, Tara, Anya, Dawn, myself, and even Xander. No one from the council may reach them or harm them in any way."
Buffy's breath became even more irregular. The contract also protected her friends. She slumped to the ground barely holding on to the phone.
"And the final clause," Giles said, "states that the concil will select another slayer, so that she will help you in Sunnydale, making you her teacher instead of the fighter. You will no longer be alone fighting there."
Buffy now heard the words as if she were underwater. She was having trouble breathing and her sight was becoming misty.
"I'm not sure how they'll manage that," Giles said, "apparently, Spike didn't consider Faith's safety with this clause. The council will probably kill Faith for a new slayer to come forth."
The other side of the line was now mostly silent, and Giles wondered if Buffy was still listening.
"Buffy?" Giles asked, "Are you there?"
Buffy nodded, not realizing that Giles couldn't see her.
"Buffy?" Giles once again asked.
"Yes..." Buffy managed to answer.
"You understand everything that this contract implies?" Giles asked, he was still thrilled by it. It guaranteed that Buffy might lead a semi-normal life, not having the death threat hanging from her neck.
"Buffy?" Giles asked when Buffy didn't answer right away, "are you really grasping what this contract means?"
Buffy was now coming with the terms of what the contract meant. That piece of paper was giving her what she had wanted for so long. A shot at a regular life. She'd have money, and she'd manage to be a better parent to Dawn. Her friends would not be bothered by the annoying Council, and now she was going to get another slayer to help her. A lot of problems seemed to disappear with the existence of that paper. But there still was one other small matter.
Spike.
"Where's Spike, Giles?" Buffy asked. Giles knew that the question would pop up sooner or later.
"I don't know, Buffy." Giles answered.
"Don't lie to me anymore, Giles," Buffy stated, "I need to at least talk to him."
"I don't think that's a good idea." Giles said.
"What do you mean with that?" Buffy almost shouted.
"Buffy, Spike didn't want me to tell you what he has done," Giles said, "it's hard for me to tell you this, but he went feral as soon as I mentioned your name."
"What?" Buffy whispered. She remembered the rare vampire that Spike had become when he last talked to her. She hoped that after all this time, he'd want to at least talk to her.
"He was very insistent that I shouldn't tell you what he had done." Giles said. He knew that it would hurt Buffy, but she needed to be aware of how things really were.
"Why?" Buffy once again whispered.
"I don't know what happened between the two of you, Buffy," Spike said, "but he's really against the thought of seeing or knowing anything about you."
Buffy felt as if a car ran over her. She felt once again just like the time she had called Giles when she found her dead mother on the couch. The idea of Spike not wanting to have anything to do with her shouldn't have hurt her. After all, it was what she had asked him to do. So why was she feeling like this?
"Listen Buffy," Giles said, "I didn't call to distress you, I wanted to tell you about the good news. Tomorrow morning I'll leave for London in order to present the contract to the Council attorneys. I'll make effective this contract the first thing tomorrow morning."
Giles kept talking but the girl on the other line was not listening anymore. She was now remembering all the things she had done to the vampire. For the first time, she was measuring what it must have felt for Spike. The vampire who behaved like an animal for most of his life had been trying to be a man with her. She had shut him out and treated him like something you find on the sole of your shoe. Spike had tried to be with her what he had been a long time ago. And she used him and beated him to the ground.
Buffy just mumbled a goodbye on the line and hung the phone. The same thought replaying itself on her mind. An idea that was now present on her mind. Over and over again.
Spike was trying to be William for her.
End of Chapter.
