Spike slept for the better part of the next two days, only regaining consciousness to drink blood that had been prepared for him. The wiccas' spell lasted almost twenty-four hours before wearing off. By that time vampire healing had kicked in and most of his bones had set. His other wounds, however, the ones no one could see, they still ached and his soul was still in shock. It would be weeks before it came out of its shell. In the meantime, his demon, much better at handling pain, was seething and angry at the treatment that had been visited upon it.

Giles came and went, as did most of the Scoobies, but Buffy was strangely absent from the visitor's list. He wasn't sure how he should feel about that, and in truth he was very conflicted. Giles had alluded to Buffy's deep remorse for beating him to a pulp, but no one had come out and actually said that she was sorry. He felt that if Buffy's guilt was truly genuine, then the Slayer would have made some attempt to make amends, but so far he hadn't seen hide nor hair of her, not even a message sent through another member of the group.

He knew Joyce had gone back into the hospital for her surgery and was crushed that he had missed it. Dawn and Joyce actually treated him like a man, and even if he had decided to give up on Buffy, he had no intention on giving up on the rest of his girls, or abandoning his plan. He took comfort, however, in knowing that the woman came through the surgery fine and was expected to make a full recovery. Knowing in advance that Joyce would die of a blood clot gave him some options. After thinking about it, he decided that the best course of action was to convince Joyce to go on blood thinners as soon as possible.

Of all the Scoobies, Tara was the most solicitous, but her attentions made him uncomfortable because she always looked at him with those all-knowing eyes. She would cast him questioning glances and make leading comments, and he was hard pressed to relax around her because he was afraid of slipping up. The girl was too observant and too smart. One wrong comment on his part and he would give everything away. As it was, he was certain that she was onto him.

Giles seemed perplexed by him as well, and Spike wondered if he wasn't being enough of a pain in the ass. The Watcher kept giving him odd looks, perhaps comparing this visit against the last time he had been a guest in the Watcher's house. The notion irritated Spike, not only because his soul berated him for wanting to be a poor houseguest, but also because he felt that he deserved to be quiet and withdrawn after his ordeal.

Next thing you know, he'll be busting my chops for not being evil enough.'

The Watcher was particularly disturbed by Spike's nightmares, and he was terrified that he'd said something revealing during one of his dreams. Giles hadn't said anything, and he'd explained it off as post-traumatic stress from being beaten to within an inch of his un-life, but he could see the doubts in the human's eyes; questions that swam just beneath the surface, and he knew he had to get out of there. Besides, the wheel was still turning, and there were things he had to do if he wanted to protect Dawn and Buffy. He decided to leave as soon as he could fight again.

On the third day he fell asleep on the couch and woke up sitting upright. An experimental tug of his arms revealed that he was chained to one of Giles' dining room chairs.

Oh goody. Bloody deja-vu.'

He opened his eyes and raised his head to see Giles sitting on the couch, facing him. The Watcher was watching him quietly, his face pensive and sad.

"Oi, Rupert. What's this all about then?" he asked, trying to stay calm.

Giles sighed, swallowed and took a deep breath. "While I don't support or condone what Buffy did to you, I do share her sentiment that you are not being entirely forthcoming with us. It's been three days since the incident in the training room and I felt that you were sufficiently along in your healing to answer a few questions."

Spike swallowed and set his jaw, inwardly trying to calm the butterflies in his stomach. Giles removed his glasses and cleaned them.

"I don't suppose that you feel up to answering truthfully of your own free will?"

He didn't answer, but raised his chin and straightened his shoulders defiantly. Giles sighed and looked away, to a book and bag on the sofa next to him.

"I thought not."

Giles reached for the book and bag, and Spike knew with frightening clarity what the man intended to do.

"I'm afraid you have left me no choice but to cast a truth spell on you and force you to answer. These are dangerous times we are in and we need to know what you know."

"I'm not working against you, Rupert. Leave it at that," he tried, a note of warning and desperation creeping into his voice.

Giles opened the book to a pre-marked page and removed the spell components from the bag. "I'm afraid I can't accept that from you, Spike. Your history and very nature lend you to dishonesty."

His mouth went dry and he tugged at the chains. "Believe me, Watcher, you don't want to do this."

"I'm quite sure I don't, however, you've left me no choice."

He closed his eyes and gritted his teeth as Giles cast the spell. He felt the magic move into him, tingling through his borrowed blood, and he fought to hold back tears. He heard Giles set up a tape recorder and set it running.

"Let us begin with your name. Who are you?" Giles asked.

Spike tried to fight the compulsion, but his mouth opened and words came out. "Spike. William the Bloody, Scourge of Europe, Slayer of Slayers."

"Why are you here?"

He bit his tongue but it made no difference. "To fix it," his mouth betrayed.

There was a pause, then Giles asked tentatively, "To fix what?"

"What happened."

"You mean what happened with Glory?"

"Yes."

His hands clenched and unclenched. He felt the shackles digging into his wrists. His mouth was full of his blood from biting the inside of his cheek, but it was a losing battle. The spell was too strong and he was too weak.

"You know what she is planning?"

"Yes," he replied, beginning to rock and sweat from the strain.

"You have an informant in the demon underground?"

"No."

"Are you working with Glory?"

"NO!" he roared, his demon coming forth. "Never! I would never help that Hell Bitch!"

"And yet you have knowledge of her plans. How do you know this?"

He shook off the demon and set his jaw, fighting the compulsion. He started to shake.

No, no, no. I will not answer. Dru said daises always die. They die, they die, they die. Run and catch, run and catch, the lamb is caught in the blackberry patch'

"How do you know this?" Giles demanded forcefully.

Spike bared his teeth and howled, trying to rip his arms free of the chains.

"How do you know this? William the Bloody, answer the question!" Giles ordered, pulling on the magical line of compulsion.

"Because I saw it!" the reply tore out of him, shredding his efforts to contain himself.

"You have knowledge of future events?"

"Yes."

"How?"

He snarled and growled, writhing on the chair, but he was unable to break the shackles and he realized that the Truth spell was also a spell of Binding. "You've Bound me, you bastard."

Giles was relentless. "It will wear off in a few hours. Answer the question. How do you know of future events?"

"Because I was there! I lived it!"

The answer broke him and he slumped back in the chair, his head bowed. Tears streamed down his cheeks.

"You lived it? How?"

He gave the man a hateful glare, breathing hard. "How do you think?"

Giles looked at him, stunned, then the shock of realization came over the man's face. "You've come back in time?"

"Yes."

"How far?"

"Two years."

"How?"

"Demon. In Africa."

"Why?"

"Because I wished it."

"Why?"

"Because I have to make amends."

"Why? Did you betray Dawn to Glory?"

"NO!"

"Why do you need to make amends?"

He was crying freely now, the tears running down his cheeks as he fought the pain and memory. "Because I hurt her."

"Who?"

"Buffy. And I wished to make it better, to do it different so none of it would ever have happened. I didn't say when or how far, and the demon sent me back here. I thought it was so I could make all of it better, stop Glory before before"

Giles stopped and both men stared at each other, breathing hard, then Giles spoke softly, "Something truly horrible is going to happen, isn't it?"

Spike nodded. "Yes."

"Buffy dies trying to save Dawn."

He gave a hysterical laugh that broke into a sob. "Oh Rupert, that's only the beginning."