Over the next several hours Giles dragged the story out of him, ripping it out with endless questions until Spike finally gave over, too exhausted and raw to fight any longer. The details of events came out in all their sordid glory, and a few times Giles had to stop to get a stiff drink. Spike asked for some bourbon himself, but Giles refused on the account that it would mean him having to unchain Spike before the interrogation was over.

As the session wore down, Giles took another swig from the bottle and swallowed it down shakily.

"So, after you tried to to rape Buffy, you left Sunnydale."

"Yeah. Heard about a demon shaman over on the Dark Continent. Granted wishes if you passed his tests."

"You passed, and wished to go back in time."

"Not exactly."

"You didn't pass?"

"Oh I passed alright. If I hadn't, I'd be a pile of dust, although there are times when I think I am and this is just some twisted version of Hell."

"I assure you that this is not Hell, unless of course, we're in it together."

"Seen any demons with horns and pitchforks lately?"

"Can't say that I have, and I will not be distracted. You haven't answered my question."

"What question is that?"

"If you didn't wish to come back in time, what did you wish for?"

Spike gave a deep sigh and looked away. "My soul."

"Excuse me, did I just hear you say you wished for a soul?" Giles blurted.

"Yeah."

"You asked the demon to curse you?"

Spike's head shot up and his eyes flashed. "Hell no. I *earned* this. Passed that bloody pillock's trials fair and square. The soul was my reward."

"So it's permanent?"

"Damn straight it's permanent! Didn't let a legion of scarabs play Pac-man with my insides just to lose it on my first happy."

Giles took another drink. "Yes, well, thank you for the visual."

"No problem. Damn beetles pinch by the way."

"I'm sure they do. So, you have a soul."

Spike frowned. "Yeah. I'm all soulful. Just call me Peaches Junior."

"On the contrary. Angelus was cursed with his soul against his will. You, on the other hand, sought it out and accepted it willingly. That's quite remarkable for a demon we have believed to be incapable of higher motivations and emotions."

Spike growled angrily. "See, now that's where you're wrong. Demons *can* feel, we *can* love, we can do all of that. It's just that some of us feel more than others. You wankers are under the delusion that a vamp's just a demon inhabiting a borrowed body, but that isn't true. Everything I lived, everything I knew, everything I was, I still am. It's still here inside of me. I was passionate in life and I'm passionate in death. I love, I hate, I care, I feel pain"

He stopped, unable to go on for a moment. Giles waited him out.

"It wasn't the soul that went to Africa, it was the demon. It was the demon that sought and fought for the soul. The *demon* who loved Buffy, the demon who felt guilt over what he had done, and the demon who decided that it was change or die. The demon did all of that, no soul required."

Giles nodded, then rose to his feet. "As I said, quite remarkable."

He walked over to Spike, retrieving a key from his pocket and unlocked the shackles. As Spike was rubbing his raw wrists, he handed the vampire the bottle of bourbon. Spike accepted and took a deep swig.

"Thanks, Watcher, much obliged."

Giles sat back down with a heavy sigh. "So, now that we've had this chat, we must decide on a course of action."

"'S easy. We kill Ben."

"No, I refuse to believe that's our only option."

Spike almost spit out his latest mouthful of liquor. "What? Are you completely knackered? Did you not just hear me tell you that Ben is Glory?"

"I heard you, but I also heard that he was pretty much an innocent in all this"

"Bollocks! He knows full well that he timeshares with the Hell Bitch!" he yelled, standing up.

Giles held up a hand for patience. "I know. I know."

"And he took Dawn back to Glory after she escaped!"

"Yes, yes, I understand that"

"So what part of ripping his entrails out and stuffing them down his throat are you having trouble with?"

Giles turned green. "Spike, you really need to learn to control that temper of yours. I'm not saying that we won't have to kill him, but I want to explore other options. A binding spell, perhaps."

"Bind this, Rupert!" Spike countered, giving him two-fingers. "The Hell Bitch has to die, ergo Ben has to die. I'd do it myself, but this little piece of government plastic in my head prevents me from hurtin' humans, even if they do turn into Hell Gods that want to kill the people I love!"

Giles punched Spike in the nose, sending the vampire falling back to floor. Spike yowled and grabbed his face but Giles' punch wasn't hard enough to break anything.

"Now that I have your attention," Giles said coolly as Spike glared at him. "We will kill Ben only if it is our only option."

Spike fumed but looked away. "Have it your way then, Watcher."

Giles reached down a hand to help Spike to his feet. Spike accepted and slumped back into the chair, jaw tight and angry.

"We both want the same thing, Spike. We want to protect Dawn and save Buffy. The information you've given me may allow us to do that without any bloodshed at all. Can you blame me for wanting some time to explore all avenues?" Giles said gently.

"Yeah, well, you'd best get crackin' coz things are gonna start heatin' up pretty soon."

"Indeed," Giles agreed and sat down again.

Spike grabbed the bourbon and drank deep.

"'S one more thing, Rupert," he said after a bit.

Giles put his head in his hands. "No more, please. I can't take any more."

"It's important."

Giles sighed and looked up. "What?"

"You didn't ask me about Soldier Boy."

"Riley? I I just assumed he was helping us with Glory."

Spike shook his head. "Nope. Soldier Boy flies off to save the world after Buffy finds out about his extra nocturnal activities."

"What do you mean?"

"Captain Cardboard can't stand bein' just a normal boy with the Slayer for a girlfriend. He's been walkin' a bit on the dark side, visitin' bars and warehouses on the wrong side of town, and payin' vamp whores to bite him," Spike replied, smirking. 'Let Ole Rupert handle this one'

Giles gasped in shock. "You can't be serious!"

Spike shrugged and took another drink. "You take that truth spell off me yet?"

Giles sighed, defeated. "No."

"Then you know I can't lie. He's been goin' at night, after he leaves Buffy. Last time around yours truly was the one to give 'im away, but I think I'll let you have that honor this time."

Giles put out a hand in askance for the bottle and Spike gave it to him, feeling somewhat vindicated. It made him evil, wanting a little payback for what had done been to him, and he gave a little mirthless grin.

"Y'know, Rupert. I'm glad we had this talk. I mean, I did fight you fist and fang, but you bested me- by cheating I might add- and forced me to give over. But now that I have, I feel as if this great weight has been lifted off my shoulders because I'm not alone with it any more." Seeing Rupert's glazed expression made him want to twist the knife just a little bit more.

"Thank you, Rupert, for being strong enough to do what you had to do. It took a lot of balls, but then I always knew you had it in you, didn't you, Ripper?"

Giles looked up at him dazedly and shook his head at the smiling vampire.

"I'm glad one of us feels better," he said, taking a swig from the bottle.